What if Thunderball was first?

CB0012 · March 2017

Watching this recently got me to thinking if Thunderball would have been better or worse if it had been first as originally intended.

It intrigues me how the film might have played out with the grittier style used for Dr. No vs. The Goldfinger formula we all know.

Interested to hear othersome opinion

Golrush007 · March 2017

I guess we would lose the film's pre-title sequence, and one or two other little scenes such as the humorous Bond/Q scene in the bahamas. Crucially, we probably would be without John Barry's 'Bond sound' and have a lacklustre score like Dr. No. The film of Thunderball is pretty faithful to the novel though, so I don't imagine it would be totally different to the film as well know it, it just would lack those touches of classic Bond that Thunderball has by virtue of it being the fourth film, and the one that came after the formula defining Goldfinger.

Number24 · March 2017

They would also have a significantly small er budget, so a lot of the more costly scenes would be cut or made on the cheap.

heartbroken_mr_drax · March 2017

Number24 wrote:

They would also have a significantly small er budget, so a lot of the more costly scenes would be cut or made on the cheap.

That's right. I actually wonder if TB done in the style of DN would even really be that much different to DN. Considering that DN was done predominantly in one location etc. ala TB, it would've have missed the score, the longer scenes (Vulcans/underwater etc.) and probably had a bit less sex (less to get away with).

Revolver66 · March 2017

I love Thunderball and think it's great as it is, so I'm probably biased on this one, but I can't see how it would have been improved by being the first film. Thunderball I believe was filmed for around $6 million, whereas Dr.No had a budget of just the one million. Imagine Thunderball on a budget that size. There goes the pre-titles, there goes the underwater sequences, there goes the disco volante, possibly the DB5 and and most likely a number of other production aspects. The size and opulence of the production is one of the reasons I think the film is so entertaining, and the under water scenes are essential. Also the formula had been discovered by 1965, and Thunderball benefits greatly from that. Obviously in 62 they were figuring it all out, and I just can't see it working as well as Dr. No did for the first story. So whilst it would be intriguing to see it as the first, I can only see it as being a down grade.

Napoleon Plural · March 2017

It would have been less long-winded, the film does get bogged down as it goes on, esp in Nassau.

But TB lacks that touch of the bizarre that needed to be there from the outset. Dr No has it - the three blind men, the tarantuala, No himself. TB only really has it with the jet pack and other gadgets which isn't quite the same. It would have been in danger of just being another clunky adventure film.

superado · March 2017

Since TB began life as an aborted film project that produced the novel, I think in its most basic form it was already a viable movie on its own. It might not have turned out like the big production it became, but more like the novel and its earliest scripts, which I think could have been "interesting" like DN with its modest budget that forced the filmmakers to be more creative and innovative.

The biggest production challenges would be the sequences involving the hijacking and ditching of the Villiers Vindicator and the Disco Volante, sequences which I think could have still been done with quality on a smaller budget. Like DN, the story would focus more on character and location, which like the movie TB came to be, largely based in Shrublands and the Bahamas, but more so without the benefit of the "wow elements" of the larger budget.

In sum, like DN I think it would have made for a neater, and maybe even more interesting "more quality with less" movie, much closer to the already very interesting novel.

Napoleon Plural · March 2017

And there'd be a 'Thunderball - Overrated' thread on this forum.

What if Thunderball was first?

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