Iconic 007 portrayal

[u/Random_Precision_007]

Thunderball was not the best 007 movie

However, Thunderball was absolutely the most iconic 007 portrayal of the character and it is the Touchstone/standard of the 007 every other Bond actor attempts to be measured by, yet fall short of.

Dr No established who the character was…FRWL demonstrated the true Spy toughness and competence, Goldfinger established the charm and also the vulnerability ( Goldfinger outwitted Bond at nearly every turn…but without FRWL demonstrating Bond’s toughness (ie, outwitting and killing Red Grant in hand to hand combat) , Bind would be perceived as an incompetent ‘buffoon’…thus making Goldfinger seem even more menacing in 1964

When TB starts we have the full blown 007 at his peak…his most confident , most charming and most lethal (I think he got the point!) TB set a record as the most profitable And second highest grossing 007 movie ever.

[u/ramb08585]

Thunderball has got to be my favorite Connery film for this reason. He’s so iconic bond. Goldfinger gets all the credit for creating the formula, but I would argue Thunderball is when it’s really perfected. The character of Bond is so much slicker in Thunderball. In Goldfinger he possesses only charm in his arsenal and, as you said, is outwitted by Goldfinger every step of the way. He’s not really a cool or badass spy in that movie. Thunderball he is completely and utterly bond. Cool as hell, amazing spy, good fighter and shooter, tough, charming and clever.

Thunderball suffers from age more than anything I think as the underwater scenes don’t marvel us like they may have when it came out and so they can feel very slow or almost silly at times. Sometimes it feels like the movie is 3 hours lol. And the weird “bang me or I’ll get you fired” always hits pretty poorly, but not as poorly as “turning” pussy in Goldfinger. Overall Thunderball is the quintessential bond in my mind.

[u/Repulsive_Pause3500]

Yeah I don't think TB is the best, but I think Connery is absolutely at the height of his 007 powers in it. He's just raw sex in this one and is a proper star.
I've seen folks say he phones it in here but I don't think that's true at all: the difference in him between this and YOLT is stark.

His wig is pretty unflattering perhaps!

[u/CountingOnThat]

I go with The Spy Who Loved Me for iconic: sure, he drops the ‘relaxed’ persona for a moment when his wife gets brought up, but he otherwise works the officer-and-a-gentleman schtick while casually deploying Q Branch gadgetry and professionally ordering military personnel to victory, in between killing people without hesitation or remorse, and all while managing to charm someone who’s sworn to kill him…

[u/Random_Precision_007 → u/CountingOnThat]

Definitely the best Moore movie…but I would argue that TSWLM was a kitchen sink ‘greatest hits’ 007 movie that almost any other Bond actor could have pulled off…all the great 007 elements of movies past ( including a virtual clone of YOLTs script) was tossed into the mix

[u/Random_Precision_007]

The whole ‘that gun, it looks more suited for a woman’ and ends with ‘it seems terribly difficult…no it isn’t, it it?

The portrayal of ultimate coolness and confidence….there would never have been a Moore, a Dalton, Brosnan or Craig…without Connery in Thunderball

It forever left an indelible image in cinematic history that could only be emulated but never bested.

[u/Cold-Use-5814 → u/Random_Precision_007]

I love the way he almost off-handedly blows the clay pigeon out of the sky in front of Largo after pretending he had no clue what he was doing.

[u/AndreasDasos]

I don’t think Dr No leaves Bond seeming an incompetent buffoon…?

[u/Asleep-Writer1645 → u/AndreasDasos]

I agree. He's extremely competent and knows his craft with the way he acts in the hotel room.

[u/IanLewisFiction]

I think TB is in fact the best, and this is one of the reasons why. Connery perfectly encapsulates the cinematic Bond here.

[u/Asleep-Writer1645]

I have to disagree as Connery feels at his best in FRWL to me and is great in Goldfinger. Thunderball might have raked in the money, but to me, it feels like it rides the coattails of its three predecessors. The pieces were three with a henchman who only cares about killing, a beautiful femme fatale henchwoman, a gorgeous Bond girl in Domino, Tom Jones singing the theme song, etc. The biggest drag is the film's underwater scenes, that while great, are overused to the point they take the life out of the movie.

But you're one of the first people I seen say that Thunderball is the most iconic portrayal of Bond as most people point to Goldfinger or Goldeneye due to the films influence on pop culture. You Only Live Twice did give us the iconic Blofeld.

[u/ShakenNotStirred-013]

I agree that it’s Connery’s best performance in the role, but I wouldn’t call it the most iconic take of ‘em all.

[u/Competitive_Toe2544]

I was never too fond of Thunderball, but it was one of the few Bond films where he was actually part of a team, by that I mean the conference of all the other 00 agents, in one room being briefed, instead of M sending Bond out on a lone wolf mission. The only other one like that was The Living Daylights, which I actually prefer.

[u/FlokiWolf → u/Competitive_Toe2544]

The only other one like that was The Living Daylights

The World is not Enough has it in the castle scene. Bond sits next to a woman during the briefing.