Thunderball

I suppose it's silly to call a James Bond film bloated. The stock-in-trade of a Bond film is its numerous exotic locations and its series of setpieces. But Thunderball feels bloated, and it has a large problem. Much of it takes place underwater, where everything moves more slowly, more quietly, and with less clarity. This is interesting for the first three or four long sequences where this happens – mostly because of the novelty of the underwater activity – but having an underwater battle at the end of the film makes the climax feel a bit off, timing wise. 

Also this is a very violent Bond film. I was actually quite surprised. Many many people die and there is even quite a bit of blood. But harpoon guns just, like, keep going into people's chests and arms. I cannot believe this was rated PG. Connery is great, and is looking great, but Thunderball also has quite a few more little dumb one-liners than it needs, too.

All of the James Bond films are free on Amazon Prime right now, and Connery had just passed, so I decided to watch this one – there are only a couple I haven't seen.