Time: 125 Minutes
Studio: MGM Fox
Rating: PG
SRP: $34.98

FEATURE: A

The villain group, SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) takes down a plane carrying nuclear warheads with an undercover agent posing as a pilot. Intelligence suspects the plane is submerged underwater after it goes off the radar somewhere in the Bahama waters. Agent 007 (Sean Connery) leads a team in Nassau to find the weapons before they can be used against the allies. He meets not one, but two curvaceous redheads, Domino (Claudine Auger) who is linked to mysterious Largo (Adolfo Celi), a shark aficionado with a mansion off coast. Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi) enters the arena who turns out to be a SPECTRE agent with a nasty bedside manner. Can he and his allies find the plane, the nukes, and save the day in time to tag both Bond girls? Of course, we are talking about James Bond here.

Terence Young directs, sadly his final Bond film arguably the best of the lot. A raw energy flowed through his three films, unseen in many of the later films. He created spy epics without unwarranted excess. Mystery, suspense, and seduction were always present in nearly every frame under Young’s and Thunderball, achieved the perfect blend of those qualities with an imaginative spy script. Fortunately as directors come and go, and different men get fitted for the tuxedo, the constant force behind the films remains constant with producers, Alfred Broccoli and Harry Saltzman who with Thunderball managed to salvage the production from legal troubles when former Ian Fleming collaborators, Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham tried to sue back in 1961, when it was thought to be the first Bond film. Thankfully, the much-storied past off-camera did nothing to tarnish what happened on-camera.

It’s the fantasy world of espionage that we’re drawn to, men–dark and mysterious, women–exotic and deadly, situations–we’ve played out as children. But it’s the most capable agent, James Bond, was born a movie icon because he was unpredictable. He got the job done but he was never a boy scout, these were stories based off pulp fiction. 007 killed who he needed using his body as a weapon and then seduced the weak for the good of gaining information–but he always used his smarts and thought on the fly. Connery conveyed all of these qualities better than anyone else and is a big reason Thunderball remains as one of the best 007 films ever. Released for the first time on blu-ray, Thunderball remains a timeless gem that now has the benefits of high definition to match the quality of the film for years to come.

PRESENTATION: B+

The packaging is a standard case in a cardboard slipcase. There are two stickers that cover the slipcase, one of which is a promotion for e-Movie Cash towards the new Quantum of Solace film. The problem though is when you pull the label off to reveal the redemption code, part of the ink of the code and the adhesive stays behind. I wound up using the the adhesive of the other sticker to clean up the case, a tedious and unnecessary annoyance.

As in all of the newer James Bond releases, the same menu design is carried through with a modern and sleek appearance. A spiraling gun barrel frames the screen as silhouettes of shapely women and clips scroll by. The navigation has a spy theme with choices like “Language Decryption” for “Audio”, and “Initiate Mission” for “Play.” Moving within each selection like the extras can be a little cumbersome moving up and down and then to the left to get out of that nav bar, and “Play All” is only an option that shows up some of the time. Once you’ve viewed a special it automatically moves down the menu when your natural instinct is to move to the next selection. Another awkward default is that in the commentary selections it starts at the last track and you have to move up to see the rest. White subtitles are available in English and Spanish.

AUDIO: A–

With each film, the sound mix gets better and better. In this, the fourth 007 film, more sound effects pan around and behind you like gunfire and helicopters. The subwoofer gets much more constant work than in Dr. No and From Russia with Love. The rumble from jets is robust and plumes of the explosion are accompanied with the rattling of your floorboards. Everything sounds great on this new, 5.1 DTS-HD lossless audio track and it’s exciting to hear a film this old sound so good. The original English and Spanish Mono tracks are included for the nostalgic, and so is a French 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack.

VIDEO: A+

The 1080p transfer is AVC MPEG-4 encoded and is in 2.35:1 and the Lowry Restoration process works wonders on Bond–the Connery films especially. The set designs have so much more depth to them with frescos on the walls and ornate decor throughout and in general seem like more color-rich films than the 1970′s era of 007. Maurice Binder’s title sequences dazzle in the high def. Crisp details of those voluptuous silhouettes have defined edges and the primary hues illuminate the room you’re watching it in. Blacks are deep, dark, and truly black. The range of blues and greens in the Nassau coral reefs can be picked up at a glance and underwater sequences look like a freshly-cleaned aquarium. Note the dramatic contrast in outfits in the climactic scuba brawl especially when the camera pans out to fit over twenty stuntmen in one shot. In older versions of the film both sides look they’re all wearing dark suits when the allies are actually wearing bright red-orange scuba gear.

EXTRAS: A+

Like all of the Bond blu-rays, they’ve transplanted all of the extras from the recent DVD releases. They are in standard definition, widescreen and sport a 2.0 Dolby Stereo mix. Each of these Bond films have a different degree of strength concerning the extras. Some have a literal vault of archival footage, which can be nice, but also can be dull. Thunderball though is a strong all-around disc complete with two phenomenal Audio Commentaries and some great finds in the MI6 Vault.

John Cork of the Ian Fleming Foundation returns to moderate the first commentary to teach us yet more lessons in Bond 101. His comments allow you to study particular points of scenes while the folding in the excerpt interviews with the cast and crew members such as director, Terence Young, composer John Barry, Luciana Paluzzi, and Ricou Browning who coordinated the underwater scenes that add new dimensions to the viewing experience. Cork hosts the second commentary with screenwriter, John Hopkins and editor, Peter Hunt. They even have a little fun here mixing in the Spanish audio for a change and playing the original title song “Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” sung by Dionne Warwick. Whether you’re a casual fan or a diehard double agent, these two extras are invaluable pieces of cinematic history–DO NOT pass them up.

In the MI6 Vault is an NBC TV Special from 1965 called, The Incredible World of James Bond (50:54) which is an encyclopedia of sorts of the first four Bond films. Lots of it is redundant material if you’ve watched all of the early films, and is a comprehensive overview if this is your only Bond purchase. A Child’s Guide to Blowing Up a Car–1965 Ford Promotional Film (17:09) make believes that you’re a bored young boy with an over-zealous and cinephile father who’s been invited on the set during the shoot of the car chase. It’s an ingenious way to do a behind-the-scenes spot, but it runs a bit long for my taste and…frankly gets annoying, but it does have cool title sequence. On Location(13:06) is a cool trip down memory lane with set designer, Ken Adam and the pre-production footage of him, Harry Saltzman, and Albert Broccoli scouting where and what to shoot. The Rocket Man Movies (3:54) interviews Bill Suitor, the man strapped to the infamous rocket pack Bond uses to getaway in the opening scene. He discuses what it feels like to go up in the air with the suit and the revelation of why Bond suddenly though, “safety first.” Thunderball Boat Show Reel (2:51) is a publicity clip of a much shorter alternative cut of scuba brawl scene, where amusing 1965 TV commercials advertise the official 007 raincoat, pants, and secret agent spy pen and paper in Selling Bonds (2:05).

007 Mission Control is the throw-away extra which allows users to access all of the major elements of film strung together in different branches: opening credits, women, allies, villains, mission combat manual, Q branch, and exotic location. The best purpose I see for this is to showcase the action scenes for reference material or to pull out the great Maurice Binder credits. Three 1995 featurettes make up the “Mission Dossier”, Making of Thunderball (27:34) takes you on a basic overview of the big moments of the film, casting and Connery, Claudine Auger, and Luciana Paluzzi reflect on memorable scenes. The Thunderball Phenomenon (31:04) gives background to the James Bond “novel” beginnings, memorabilia and Ian Fleming facts, and the insane popularity of the series. The Secret History of Thunderball (3:56) shows that there were varying versions of a handful of scenes where different dialogue was used, or it was dubbed differently or the scene was taken out completely. No real explanations are given though. In the “Ministry of Propaganda” are three theatrical trailers (8:26), six TV spots (3:31) and ten radio commercials (5:03). An extensive gallery full of promotional and behind-the-scenes images closes out the extras.

BOND. THUNDER BOND – OVERALL SHOCK VALUE: A

As stated above, Thunderball encapsulated the right mix of spy games and sexual tension. Its fresh screenplay aimed big, but succeeded with the basics. The action was never over the top, nor did the gadgets seem out of this world. The Bond girls electrified the screen and Connery’s leading man mojo is as fierce as ever. The only thing it lacked was a legendary villain. Trumping the recent DVD with better sound and even better video, another classic film benefits from the blu-ray treatment.