Thunderball

“Look up. Look down. Look out.” Words used on the original Thunderball movie poster. Just as Goldfinger set certain things in motion, Thunderball does the same being the first big budget James Bond. Massive sets, exotic places, and a complete underwater battle truly make this one of the best James Bond films. All Bond films to follow trying to hit the high mark of Thunderball.

Sean Connery again picks up the role as James Bond. Not much to say about the performance, he IS, James Bond. Thunderball also introduces two of the more memorable Bond girls, recruiting French actress Claudine Auger to play the role of Domino and Luciana Paluzzi as the villain Fiona.

I am a very big James Bond fan, and to me, this may be the best  James Bond ever. Casino Royal with Daniel Craig is a very close second though. I would highly recommend this for an average movie watcher who just wants to see a fun spy movie with plenty of class, Bond girls, and action!

Goldfinger

It is hard to believe this movie is 45 years old now. James Bond, by far the longest running franchise in movie history. Goldfinger is one of my top James Bond films. In many ways, I think this one is what really jump started everything to come. This is the movie that introduced the mini adventures, nothing pertaining to the plot of the movie to come. In my opinion, this is also the film that brings the Bond villains and Bond girls to the forefront.

Gert Frobe (The Longest Day) makes a great Goldfinger, even though not speaking a word of english. All of his lines were dubbed in at a later point. Harold Sakata plays a villain with the over the top abilities similar to Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker. And who can forget one of the most popular Bond girls ever, Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore.
Everyone knows the plot to this, Auric Goldfinger tries to break into Fort Knox. Seeing this on bluray was like seeing it again for the first time for me. Some purists often think you need to see the movies with the original mono soundtrack, as for myself, I love seeing older movies with the updated Dolby Digital soundtracks. As with most bluray releases, the colors are very vibrant and blacks hold up very nicely, especially in the opening sequence with Bond swimming ashore with the bird on his head.

I am a huge Bond fan, but if I were to recommend Bond movies to non Bond fans, this would be on my list as one of the ones to see. This is Bond at his best!

NO BOND STEELBOOKS?

I would normally only write about movies I have watched and share opinions and ideas with others. But MGM has me so pissed off I have to rant and rave a little bit. I am so disappointed that the latest 2 James Bond releases on Blu ray, License to Kill and The Man with the Golden Gun, are not available in a steelbook edition. I paid premium prices to the earlier editions to get these and build a nice set of Bond steelbooks…only to have the rug yanked out from under me mid way. I hope MGM will come through and make this right for all of us that went through the extra effort to get the steelbook editions. I can’t say I won’t buy the others, because I am a huge movie fan and love the James Bond films, but I will make my voice heard at MGM. 

Here are a few links to a current petition…..please sign them and see if we can get all the Bonds in steelbook like they had originally intended!

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/bondsteelbook/

 

Also feel free to write MGM and tell them how you feel.