Review of Thunderball: Special Edition (James Bond)

Introduction

Once again Bond must thwart the evil plans of “SPECTRE”. Opening with the famous jet pack sequence and finishing on probably the best underwater battle ever made. Thunderball always wanted to go big but somehow always felt limited. The story is a little too run of the mill and tends too lose its way especially during the middle of the film. Sure you get the gadgets, girls and the usual comedy quips but the story has nothing to keep you interested during the slower bits of the film. Saying that the stretch machine in the health spa is hilarious, along with the widow assassin. The underwater battle at the climax of the film is also superbly done and is surprisingly gruesome for a Bond. Also the usual pick up of Bond and the girl at the end of the film is suitably over the top. Thunderball may not be the best Bond but it certainly has some entertaining moments.

Video

The picture is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic and is quite variable in quality. Sometimes the picture is soft, a little grainy and colours are subdued. Other times, usually in bright well-lit scenes the picture is really quite nice showing a decent amount of detail, good colour tones and decent contrast. There are quite a few bits of dust evident throughout the picture but its not too distracting. The sky shots do tend to suffer from grain though and night scenes especially seem a bit smudgy with the black levels suffering and appearing a muddy gray. A didn’t notice any artefacts and the underwater scenes didn’t seem to suffer at the hands of the compression. Considering its age the pictures not that bad and apart from the odd problem here and there this remains a decent if not brilliant print.

Audio

How many times have I read in numerous magazines that this soundtrack is in mono? I know the packaging says mono but did they even watch the disk? Come on.
This has, I’m pleased to tell you been remixed to 5.1. Hurrah. And it’s a decent attempt too. All right it doesn’t even compare to modern soundtracks but there’s some decent enough surround effects here, checkout the Vulcan flyover.
The front soundstage seems fairly wide with a good range especially on the musical score. I was even surprised to hear the sub rumble on occasion, especially near the start where an automatic door starts to close which produces a nice bit of bass. (Must be one heavy door). Dialogue though remains a little tinny and can appear raspy at times.
Altogether a top remix job which adds a little bit more spice to the film.

Features

Another full DVD from MGM I’m glad to say.

"Inside Thunderball" featurette. A short documentary, which discusses the different versions and cuts, made to Thunderball over the years including never used scenes, dodgy overdubs and the like. Narrated by Patrick McNee.

"The Thunderball Phenomenon". Patrick McNee narrates this documentary which concerns itself with the hype surrounding the release of Thunderball. Some rarely scene clips from the 60’s, memorabilia and cast and crew interviews.

"The making of Thunderball" Narrated by Patrick McNee this documentary is more of a making of which goes into considerable detail about the movies beginnings and making through to the big premiere.

If this wasn’t enough the DVD also include two commentary tracks featuring Terence young and cast and crew along with Peter Hunt, John Hopkins and others. There’s enough historical detail and anecdotes here for the most ardent bond fan. Good stuff.
The disk also includes the usual trailers, Tv/radio spots and an extensive gallery of photos from every aspect of the film. The navigation of the gallery is especially easy and convenient to use, something other DVD producers should take note from.

Something to look out for or rather listen out for is a hilarious grunt on some of the radio spots. It sounds like someone getting slugged in the guts. What its doing there God only knows but it made me laugh. Thanks to “gun” for pointing that out.
The disk is rounded of with the usual high quality animated menus and subtitles.

Conclusion

Another great Bond DVD from MGM. These guys have packed this disk to the brim and together with a decent print and remixed audio Thunderball has never looked or sounded better. It may not be the best Bond film ever made but it sure did get first class treatment.