Thunderball

"Look up! Look down! Look out! Here comes the biggest Bond of all!"

1965 2h 10m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

🍅

85%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.9

IMDB

★6.7TMDB · 2,743🍅85%Rotten Tomatoes●64Metacritic★6.9IMDB · 136,583

AdventureActionThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A criminal organization has obtained two nuclear bombs and are asking for a 100 million pound ransom in the form of diamonds in seven days or they will use the weapons. The secret service sends James Bond to the Bahamas to once again save the world.

“Look up! Look down! Look out! Here comes the biggest Bond of all!”

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Cast

Sean Connery
James Bond
Claudine Auger
Dominique 'Domino' Derval
Adolfo Celi
Emilio Largo
Luciana Paluzzi
Fiona Volpe
Rik Van Nutter
Felix Leiter
Guy Doleman
Count Lippe
Molly Peters
Patricia Fearing
Martine Beswick
Paula Caplan

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Terence Young
Writers: Richard Maibaum, John Hopkins, Jack Whittingham
Languages: English, French
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $141M — a 15.7× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

61 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "James Bond Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Terence Young, shot by Ted Moore. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Barry. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ernest Hosler shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sean Connery and Claudine Auger and Adolfo Celi carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Terence Young directs. Ted Moore behind the camera. John Barry scores. Ernest Hosler cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Grossed $141M — a 15.7× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
261 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.
4Part of the "James Bond Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Terence Young, shot by Ted Moore. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by John Barry. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Ernest Hosler shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Sean Connery and Claudine Auger and Adolfo Celi carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Look up! Look down! Look out! Here comes the biggest Bond of all!".
10IMDB entry: tt0059800 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 18 themes, including "sea", "florida", "paris, france", "spy".
12Released under 19 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Ted Moore
Original score: John Barry
Editing: Ernest Hosler
Production design: Ken Adam
Costume design: Anthony Mendleson
Makeup / hair: Eileen Warwick
Runtime: 130 min · 2h 10m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $9,000,000
Box office: $141,200,000
Return: 1569% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Thunderball (1965)
Rotten Tomatoes: 85% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 64/100
IMDB rating: 6.9/10 · 136,583 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

Won 1 Oscar. 5 wins & 5 nominations total

Academy Award for Best Visual Effects

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

James Bond Collection

The James Bond Collection is a legendary spy film series based on Ian Fleming’s novels, following MI6 agent 007, James Bond, as he takes on global threats with style, gadgets, and charm. Produced by EON Productions, the franchise spans 25 official films (1962–2021) and has featured six actors, from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig. Known for its thrilling action, iconic villains, Bond girls, and unforgettable theme songs, the series remains a cornerstone of the spy genre. With espionage, luxury cars, and shaken-not-stirred martinis, Bond continues to captivate audiences worldwide.

Also by

Terence Young

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2015-10-04
★ 7/10
Sir, I'd respectfully request that you change my assignment to Nassau. Thunderball is directed by Terence Young and adapted to screenplay by Richard Maibaum and John Hopkins from a story by Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham and Ian Fleming. It stars Sean Connery, Adolfo Celi, Claudine Auger, Rick Van Nutter and Martine Beswick. Music is scored by John Barry and cinematography by Ted Moore. The fourth outing for James Bond (Connery) sees 007 assigned to the Bahamas to try and thwart SPECTRE's number 2 operative, Emilio Largo (Celi). Largo has hijacked two atomic bombs from NATO and sets about extorting huge ransoms of money. If his terms are not met he will blow up major cities. It was meant to be the first James Bond film, but Thunderball became part of a long drawn out legal battle between Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham and Ian Fleming. Eventually an out of court settlement was reached and Thunderball rolled into theatres in 1965. After the colossal success of Goldfinger, and Bond as a pop culture phenomenon, producers Albert Broccoli & Harry Saltzman knew that they had to try and up the ante to keep Bond on top. They were also acutely aware that many imitators were springing up on film and TV. These facts led Bond to go epic, with the producers going for a more is more approach, however, Thunderball is a considerable step down from Goldfinger. As with many other Bond movies, Thunderball polarises opinions amongst the fans. Some are happy to laud the pure entertainment value on offer, the reliance on hardware and gadgets viewed as an aid to the Bond persona and not a hindrance to his humanistic worth. Technically the film is often exceptional, be it on or under the water, director Young really crafts some Bondian quality. The exotic Bahamas locale is beautifully realised by Ted Moore, Barry's blunderbuss score is one of his best for a Bond movie and Connery has charisma in abundance. The girls, too, are delightful, particularly Auger who positively sizzles with sexuality. Bond's by play with M, Q and Felix Leiter (Nutter very enjoyable and more charismatic than Cec Linder in Goldfinger) is well scripted and performed. While for those who adore the gadgets and daring stunts? Thunderball excels with its assortment of trick vehicles, under water weaponry, aids and radioactive pills! Without doubt the near $6 million budget is all up there on the screen. Yet for other fans, and this is the category I fall into, it's a film of too many flaws to be considered one of the greats. Whilst it's undeniable that when it hits the high points it excites royally (the extended underwater battle is eye popping brilliance), but there's too many languid passages in the overlong running time. Young himself lamented that he couldn't get the pace right on account of the plot structure. The other major problem for me is Celi as Largo. Visually he's striking, with his white hair and eye patch, he looks well villainous, but physically he's wrong and someone you can't buy into as a man able to not only take on Bond, but to overcome him as well! While the finale lacks a grandness to reward those having sat for over 2 hours with the film. But what do I know? Film made a stunning $141 million at the box office! And the fanaticism that began with Goldfinger had now reached epic proportions. The more is more approach worked for the makers, and it ensured that for the time being Bond was going to stay in this epic, gadget effects strewn groove. Connery wasn't happy though, he had voiced his concerns about Bond becoming characterless, while he hated the mania surrounding the films and his role within them. He would return for the next instalment, You Only Live Twice, but the question was, would it be his last performance as Bond? 7/10
Peter McGinn2020-08-29
★ 10/10
It can be difficult and not very useful to compare the early James Bond movies to the later ones. The female characters become more than merely ornamental and more interesting, the plots become more intricate, the villains less stereotypical, and the special effects better and better. Having said all that, I must confess I give Thunderball a pass on any such criticism or comparison, for a rather odd and personal reason, and not just because I like Sean Connery! As a teenager I sort of inherited the soundtrack album for Thunderball, either from my dad or an older brother. That was well before I ever saw the movie. Except for the Tom Jones title song, the album is all instrumental, and I found myself playing the album while doing school work, or reading, or writing short stories and later on, novels. I am surprised I didn't wear the grooves out. Later my taste moved towards instrumental new age and finally on to ambient music. Where was I? Oh yeah, so when I finally watched Thunderball, I recognized the background music whenever it came into play. So I liked this film in a way I never quite experienced with other James Bond films. I admit I don’t know that this helps prospective viewers, so I will add that if the newer Bond films seem to glossy and too much like each other for your taste, Thunderball is a slightly different animal, so you might enjoy it. And did I mention it includes a Sean Connery?
Wuchak2021-05-25
★ 8/10
James Bond underwater adventure with the best female cast After a couple atomic bombs are stolen from the RAF, agent 007 (Sean Connery) travels to Nassau, Bahamas, to clash with SPECTRE agent Emil Largo (Adolfo Celi) and his femme fatale accomplice (Luciana Paluzzi). Claudine Auger is on hand as Largo’s naïve woman. "Thunderball" (1965) is one of my favorites of Connery’s run in the franchise due to the interesting intrigue, the Tom Jones’-sung title song, and the best cast of women in the series. Other than Luciana Paluzzi (Fiona) and Claudine Auger (Domino), Molly Peters plays a voluptuous masseuse at a health clinic while statuesque Martine Beswick is on hand as an MI6 agent in the Bahamas (Beswick previously appeared in “From Russia with Love” as one of the Gypsy cat-fighters). I was surprised that the bulk of the flick takes place in the Bahamas as “Dr. No” (1962) took place mostly in Jamaica, which is 400 miles south in the Caribbean. For those interested, “Thunderball” was remade as the non-canon “Never Say Never Again” (1983), which was Connery’s final excursion as 007. I prefer this one, which was the most successful Bond flick of the 60s (at the box office), but “Never Say Never Again” is worth checking out even though it’s not as ambitious as Roger Moore’s dynamic “Octopussy,” released the same year. The film runs 2 hour, 10 minutes and was shot in Château d'Anet, Anet (opening) & Paris, France; England; and the Bahamas. GRADE: A-