James Bond - Thunderball

(aka 'Ian Fleming's Thunderball' or 'James Bond, Secret Agent')

directed by Terence Young
UK 1965

The fourth Bond, marking the point at which spectacular hardware began to dominate the series. Sleek and quite fun all the same, with SPECTRE holding the world to ransom after stealing a couple of nuclear bombs, Bond almost getting his in the villain's shark-infested swimming pool, and a cleverly choreographed underwater battle to provide the icing on the mix.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: December 9th, 1965

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DVD Comparison:

MGM - (Special Edition) - Region 2,4 - PAL vs. MGM - (2-disc - part of Ultimate Collection Vol. 2) - Region 1,3 - NTSC

(MGM - (Special Edition) - Region 2,4 - PAL LEFT vs. MGM - (Ultimate Collection Vol. 2) - Region 1,3 - NTSC RIGHT)

DVD Box Cover
Distribution	MGM - (Special Edition) - Region 2,4 - PAL	MGM - (Ultimate Collection Vol. 2) - Region 1,3 - NTSC
Runtime	2:04:56 (4% PAL speedup)	2:10:08
Video	2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.81 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.91 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate : Paramount
Bitrate: Paramount (Anniversary Edition)
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 5.1)	English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (DTS), DUB: French (Dolby Digital 1.0)
Subtitles	English, English (HOH), None	English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Thai, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: MGM (Europe) Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.35:1 Edition Details: • Commentary with director Terence Young (and others) • Commentary with Peter Hunt, John Hopkins (and others) • Inside Thunderball Featurette • The Thunderball Phenomenon Featurette • The Making of Thunderball Featurette • 3 trailers • 5 TV Spots • 10 Radio Spots DVD Release Date: November 3rd, 2003 Keep case Chapters 32	Release Information: Studio: MGM Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.35:1 Edition Details: • Commentary with director Terence Young (and others) • Commentary with Peter Hunt, John Hopkins (and others) • Incredible World of James Bond • A Child's Guide to Blowing Up a Motor Car • On Location With Ken Adam • Bill Suitor: The Rocket Man Movies • Thunderball Boat Show Reel • Selling Bonds • Interactive Guide • The Thunderball Phenomenon • The Secret History of Thunderball • The Making of Thunderball • Original Trailers • Photo Gallery • Radio Communications DVD Release Date: November 7th, 2006 Transparent Slim Keep Case inside cardboard box Chapters 32

Comments

NOTE: James Bond Ultimate Collection Vol. 2 contains - Thunderball, The Spy Who Loved Me, A View to a Kill, License to Kill, and Die Another Day.

Quite a dramatic difference between the two releases - in all areas - including color and framing where the new Ultimate Edition vaults dramatically ahead. Boosting on the PAL edition appears quite prominent when the two releases are put side-by-side (note the consistent reddish skin tones on the UK release). It has strongly affected the colors in many scenes. Also the older DVD image shows extensive dirt and scratches in many sequences. The screen captures below indicate the extent of the cropping on the image of the PAL release.

Subtitles - I will lean to the earlier release with a small, less intrusive, font and italicizing of some of the appropriate dialogue (see example below).

The DTS track on the Ultimate edition sounded very good although I am usually one for the pureness of original tracks - I have to admit I was quite impressed with the robust sound. I noticed no difference between the new 5.1 but I did not test it extensively.

Extras: The commentaries are the same but the new Ultimate has added optional subtitles for them - a valuable step forward. A couple of the featurettes are duplicated (The Thunderball Phenomenon , The Making of Thunderball) but there is much more - actually they pretty much the same as on the UK Ultimate edition (see HERE). I am presently wading through them. One might use the word 'excessive'.

My biggest gripes with the new Ultimate editions in region 1 - Why aren't these films in chronological production order? and why aren't they being sold separately? I'm certain the latter point is simply to gouge us for more money and the former probably has something to do with that as well. Bad move MGM.

- Gary Tooze

DVD Menus

(MGM - (Special Edition) - Region 2,4 - PAL LEFT vs. MGM - (Ultimate Collection Vol. 2) - Region 1,3 - NTSC RIGHT)

Disc 2 - Ultimate Collection Vol. 2 - Region 1,3 - NTSC

Screen Captures

(MGM - (Special Edition) - Region 2,4 - PAL TOP vs. MGM - (Ultimate Collection Vol. 2) - Region 1,3 - NTSC BOTTOM)
Subtitle Sample: Not exact frame