Review: Thunderball + Ultimate Edition James Bond

Hey hey! I finally went into Best Buy to pick up my James Bond DVDs as their warehouse still hadn’t sent them from my Boxing Day purchase. Sure enough, the store honoured the price I ordered them online for ($45 bones each!!!, down from $80) and I managed to get Volume 2 with a bonus 007 Scene It disc! Excellent day yesterday was.

So after realizing that my Xbox wasn’t making the cut in the DVD playing department (the Special Features disc had Japanese menus and I couldn’t figure out how to get rid of them) I switched my old DVD player on and it worked! I then rewired my entire home theater system so I don’t use my Xbox for watching DVDs anymore. It will only be used for gaming and watching files on the network (read: TV shows we download).

I was thinking of watching them from the beginning but am toying around with the idea of having ‘Nights of Bond’ again so I decided not to start with Dr. No, but to watch Thunderball as I had just read the novel last month and wished to see how it related.

Considering the novel had ideas from the producer, Kevin McClory, it stayed pretty true to the novel. I was very impressed and have realized that I’ve only seen Thunderball one other time in my life back in Long Sault with my buddy Regan. That was…13 years ago? Wow, it’s been awhile.

What’s the big deal with the Ultimate Editions of James Bond films I picked up? The digital restoration my friends! It was amazing. The picture…oh my…it looks like something created in 2007. The sound…the glorious DTS soundtrack…the bombastic horns when an action scene in in full tilt. This is what James Bond is supposed to be like.

Thunderball is an epic Bond film (actually the first filmed in Widescreen) and it makes use of the new technology (1965ish). The spanning vistas create a painting of exoticism. I never realized how great of a film Thunderball really was. It may be up there in my Top 5 Bond films. I believe From Russia With Love takes the Number One slot but I’ll have to watch it again to see if it holds true today.

The special features disc was pretty great also. Chock full of documentaries, I watched what the world was like back in ’65 when the movie was released – commercials spawning James Bond ‘Action Slacks’ for purchase were hilarious, as well as other oddities.

I am most impressed with the Ultimate Editions of James Bond and no doubt will have rave reviews for the rest of the series.

iplaying: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is – JET (Shine On)