Blu-Ray Review:

James Bond:

Thunderball

By Jason Gillard

*Screenshots are not from the Blu-Ray source.

Movie

Thunderball has the distinction of being the only Bond film made twice with the same actor.  In the 1980's they made Never Say Never Again.  I am not sure what Connery was thinking because Never Say Never Again is an inferior film in many ways.  Thunderball is great and is 60's James Bond at his best.  The movie has a little bit of everything including great one-liners from Bond, Scuba Diving, Jet Packs and Bond dodging sharks.  You name it this film has it.  I should also mention that Connery has James Bond down pat. I personally think Connery is at his best in this film.  Like I mentioned before this film has everything and is definitely worth your time.  Here is a description of the plot:  When a British Vulcan bomber is stolen with two atomic bombs on board, James Bond is one step ahead of his fellow agents when they are assigned to track down the aircraft. S.P.E.C.T.R.E. then announce that they have the plane and will detonate the bombs unless 100 million worth of uncut diamonds are delivered. He tracks the plane down to the Bahamas but still has to deal with the deadly Emilio Largo (Written by Graeme Roy).

8 out of 10

Video

Like the other Bond films released on Blu-ray it has been given the complete restoration.  It is presented in a 2:35:1 aspect ration at 1080p.  Again this is the best this Bond film has ever looked, but there are a few instances where the film shows it's age.  There is a slight amount of grain present but nothing too distracting.  There does not seem to be any compression artifacts present which is great.  The print is relatively clean.  I did notice some areas that don't seem to have very much colour compared to other scenes in the film and I can only assume it had to do with damaged film.  Overall though I am sure you're not going to find a better transfer of this film anytime soon.

8.5 out of 10

Audio

Like the video transfer, the audio has been remixed for 5.1 DTS Master Audio.  The results are quite spectacular.  The film sounds as good or better than it probably did back in 1965.  The dialogue comes across nice and clear but occasionally has that tinny sound.  There are even directional effects as well, and they have been implemented with the utmost care.    It amazes me what they can do with the restoration so many years after the fact.

8 out of 10

Extras

Here is what is included in the way of extras:

-"The Complete Special Features Library: Mission Dossier" - Audio Commentary Featuring Terence Young and Others
-Audio Commentary Featuring Peter Hunt, John Hopkins and Others "Declassified: M16 Vault"
-The Incredible World of James Bond - Original 1965 NBC Television Special
-A Child's Guide to Blowing Up a Motor Car - 1965 Ford Promotional Film
-On Location With Ken Adam
-Bill Suitor: The Rocket Man Movies
-Thunderball Boat Show Reel
-Selling Bonds - Original 1965 Television Advertisements
-"007 Mission Control" Interactive Guide Into the World of Thunderball
-The Making of Thunderball
-The Thunderball Phenomenon
-The Secret History of Thunderball
-"Ministry of Propaganda" - Original Trailers, TV Spots, Photo Gallery and Radio Communication

These are all the same extras that are on the ultimate edition DVDs.    My favorite extras of the bunch would have to be "The Making of Thunderball" which is exactly what the title implies.  I also liked selling bond, which is old 1965 TV advertisements.  For some reason I really liked seeing the material from 1965 and I also liked The Incredible World of James Bond.  There is certainly a lot here for the fan of this movie or James Bond in general.  I just wish that they would have included some specific HD extras.

8 out of 10

Overall

If you're a fan of this film there is definitely no reason why you should not pick this up.  Better picture, sound and a good collection of extras.  And now with this review out of the way I am going to watch it again!

8 out of 10

Thunderball is available now from Amazon.com