Connery At His Best In Large-Scale Bond Film, 31 January 2005 Author: Hal-900 from WA, USA Fourth Bond film, and a return to the gritty, more realistic and serious tone of the first two films. "Goldfinger" was an entertaining sequel, but that film added a lot of silly trappings to the series. "Thunderball" seems to take the best elements of all three previous movies. It combines the fast-paced action, good plot, and griminess of the first two movies, with the overblown, large-scale set-pieces that characterized the third film in the series. The result is one of the best movies in the series (this is actually Connery',s personal favorite), and probably the Bond film that best balances comic-book attitudes with the much more serious realities of the world of espionage. Humor is plentiful, but it is subtle and clever. The action sequences are spectacular, the underwater confrontation is among the best action-pieces in the entire series of films. I also loved the sequence where heartless Fiona (Luciana Paluzzi is a tasty, if poisonous candy bar) and her henchmen pursue Bond. In actuality, I think Fiona is one of the most fascinating villains Bond had to confront. This is the very first time a woman takes Bond for a ride (literally and figuratively). Fiona uses 007 and he is obviously disturbed by the fact that a woman can use sex to her advantage (what an interesting twist!). I like how we see more of both "M" and Miss Moneypenny. Only a few things prevent the film from achieving total satisfaction. The title song simply sucks, and the pre-credits sequence is very lame. I also think Connery is beginning to look old (he was only 35 at the time!) and surprisingly out-of shape. But these are minor distractions in a rock-solid film. Sadly, this is director Young',s last Bond film, and I have to say he leaves the series with a bang. Young seems to be the secret weapon of the three films he made, and his departure from the series is not something that needs to be celebrated. Overall, count this one as one of the best Bond movies.