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Ghosts of Mars was to me a cross between a torture-porn B-film and the live-action Doom flick with Urban and Johnson. It might not be outright terrible, but it was trying to be.
Anyway, the other day I was at the market and their used DVD section had a slew of Bond films, a bunch of them on Blu-ray. I selected Dr. No, Moonraker, and Thunderball, passing on The World is Not Enough and License to Kill. For only $13, these were steals, loaded with extras and in hi-def.
Thunderball (1965)
"Try to be less than your usual, frivolous self, 007."
James Bond faces off against a plot by SPECTRE, a sinister extortion organization that steals nuclear warheads and threatens detonation unless a massive ransom is paid.
Only had time to watch a little of the making of this, but holy hell, was the film really balls-out for a 1960s spy flick. Even by Bond's standards, which are tame by today's comparison, the film is really impressive, and probably one of the first big-budget blockbusters even before Jaws.
And to think, this was NOT the first time audiences got to meet James, even going by Connery. The TV adaptation of Casino Royale (with Peter Lorre as Le Chiffre, which I've seen) was a flop and the books weren't selling so well in the early days, and Dr. No only moderately boosted things. The background really is surprising, learning how Thunderball and the Bond franchise as a whole came together and took off.
Perhaps most surprising secret was the jetpack, because I thought that was a rigged stunt and not a fully-functional military device!
And after watching this, it is stunning to see just how much the first Austin Powers film imitated: the card game, Largo, the SPECTRE stuff, the sharks (which was another fun film secret).
Really glad I got this and chose to watch it over Dr. No. Highly recommend.
Anyway, the other day I was at the market and their used DVD section had a slew of Bond films, a bunch of them on Blu-ray. I selected Dr. No, Moonraker, and Thunderball, passing on The World is Not Enough and License to Kill. For only $13, these were steals, loaded with extras and in hi-def.
Thunderball (1965)
"Try to be less than your usual, frivolous self, 007."
James Bond faces off against a plot by SPECTRE, a sinister extortion organization that steals nuclear warheads and threatens detonation unless a massive ransom is paid.
Only had time to watch a little of the making of this, but holy hell, was the film really balls-out for a 1960s spy flick. Even by Bond's standards, which are tame by today's comparison, the film is really impressive, and probably one of the first big-budget blockbusters even before Jaws.
And to think, this was NOT the first time audiences got to meet James, even going by Connery. The TV adaptation of Casino Royale (with Peter Lorre as Le Chiffre, which I've seen) was a flop and the books weren't selling so well in the early days, and Dr. No only moderately boosted things. The background really is surprising, learning how Thunderball and the Bond franchise as a whole came together and took off.
Perhaps most surprising secret was the jetpack, because I thought that was a rigged stunt and not a fully-functional military device!
And after watching this, it is stunning to see just how much the first Austin Powers film imitated: the card game, Largo, the SPECTRE stuff, the sharks (which was another fun film secret).
Really glad I got this and chose to watch it over Dr. No. Highly recommend.
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