PRODUCTION
Thunderball, you will recall, is based on an original story by Kevin McClory, Jack Whitlingham, and Ian Fleming. McClory won the film rights to THUNDERBALL in 1963, after a two-year court battle with Fleming and Ivar Bryce, while Fleming retained the rights to his published novel. Meanwhile, during the filming of Goldfinger, Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman were planning the next Bond film (which was to be On Her Majesty's Secret Service). But these plans were dropped when McClory was approached by the producers with a deal to coproduce Thunderball.
McClory proved to be invaluable to Broccoli and Saltzman in the making of the film. An avid water sportsman, McClory lent his expertise in scuba diving to the production. His many contacts in this field were helpful, and the coproduction was a success.
The producers decided to make Thunderball even more larger than life than Goldfinger. Allotted a budget of two and a half million pounds, the film emphasizes exaggeration. There are more gadgets, and the technology of the film takes the starring role. As a result, Thunderball is spectacular visually, but this approach has its detrimental effects as well. Beginning with Thunderball, Eon Productions began to lose sight of the James Bond character, as well as the special world created by Ian Fleming. James Bond became a character with no motivation—a man simply manipulated by the technology filling the screen. Credibility also began to go out the window; the James Bond films became something resembling science fiction.
Thunderball, however, is still better than any of the Bond films produced after 1970. It manages to retain some of the hard edges found in the earlier films. This is most likely due to the film's director, Terence Young, who is back after a one-picture absence. But even Young was dissatisfied with the film; he admits that it "is not his favorite by a long shot." Thunderball tends to bog down under the weight of its own bigness. Parts of the film are extremely slow moving, the plot is overcomplicated, and the film is too lengthy. Assets of the film include impressive visual effects; underwater photography; a fairly good cast; the most exotic locations yet; a fine John Barry score; and a few moments here and there which stand out as pure Bond.
The film was made on location in the Bahamas and interiors were shot, as usual, at Pinewood Studios in England. In terms of box office receipts, Thunderball was a phenomenal success.
SCREENPLAY
Richard Maibaurn wrote a screenplay based on the novel THUNDERBALL in 1961 when it was considered for the first of Eon Productions' series. These plans were dropped when the title went into litigation, and Dr. No was substituted. In 1964, Maibaum wrote a new screenplay with John Hopkins. The final version of the script is fairly faithful to Fleming's novel, with a few variations.