History YMMV / Thunderball

* AssPull: Q never once explains to Bond that the infra-red underwater camera has a built-in Geiger counter (only that the watch does) which comes as something of a surprise when Domino uses it later on in the film. (In the commentary, actor Desmond Llewllyn complained that his favorite part of the Q scene ended up on the cutting-room floor; perhaps the explanation was part of that bit.)

** Creator/JohnnyCash ([[CountryMusic of all people]]) also recorded a song, also called "Thunderball", and submitted it to the EON producers. Unsurprisingly, it sounded too like a [[TheWestern western]] for a Bond film. Still, sometimes one likes to imagine that in a AlternateUniverse Cash's music is the theme for a ''[[Television/TheWildWildWest Wild Wild West]]'' movie starring Robert Conrad and Ross Martin...

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8DbPSXzvxg&feature=related The theme.]] "SO HE STRIKES! Like thunderball...."
*** Music/TomJones actually ''passed out'' after holding that really long note at the end.
** Music/JohnnyCash and Music/ShirleyBassey also recorded themes (the latter was called [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4m9ptFefwo "Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang"]] and subsequently rerecorded by Dionne Warwick after there were problems with Bassey's singing). Both of them are pretty good in their own ways (though the Cash one feels a bit out-of place since it's country).
*** The film was set to go with Warwick's version of the theme, but at the last minute the producers insisted that, no, the theme ''had'' to have the word "Thunderball" in it, so a new song was hastily written to be recorded by Tom Jones and parts of the film were rescored to feature the instrumental version of that song as a leitmotif. An instrumental version of "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" is heard at various points during the movie as a kind of secondary leitmotif. The producers planned to use the Warwick version of "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" over the end credits, until Shirley Bassey sued.
*** The Dionne Warwick "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" is featured in its entirety on the secondary commentary track of the ''Thunderball'' laserdisc/DVD/Blu-ray.
*** Sometimes one likes to imagine that in a AlternateUniverse Cash's music is the theme for a ''[[Television/TheWildWildWest Wild Wild West]]'' movie starring Robert Conrad and Ross Martin...

* SpecialEffectsFailure: The final battle on the Disco Volante is obviously sped up and looks highly fake.

* {{Asspull}}: Q never once explains to Bond that the infra-red underwater camera has a built-in Geiger counter (only that the watch does) which comes as something of a surprise when Domino uses it later on in the film. (In the commentary, actor Desmond Llewllyn complained that his favorite part of the Q scene ended up on the cutting-room floor; perhaps the explanation was part of that bit.)

** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8DbPSXzvxg&feature=related The theme]]. "SO HE STRIKES! Like thunderball...."

** Bond on the overcranked stretching machine DeathTrap is supposed to be something that has the audience on the edge of their seats, but it just [[http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/241179/Thunderball-Movie-Clip-Traction-Table.html looks ridiculous.]] Quite frankly, he looks like he's ''humping the table.''

* ValuesDissonance: One of the worst in the series for it, with the scene of Bond blackmailing a civilian woman into sleeping with him (the best you can say is he didn't intend to do it, but he's quite willing to take advantage of her misconception). The fact that she's wearing a big goofy grin indicates she's deliberately PlayingHardToGet, but that doesn't make it much less creepy. Plus, the cold open has the VillainousCrossdresser give himself away because there's no way a woman would ever open a car door for herself.

* {{Woobie}}: Domino. She's the mistress of a sadist, her brother gets murdered and Bond is using her to get to Largo.

* EarWorm: The underwater theme.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The plot using a nuclear weapon to extort a ransom was considered a unique idea when this film came out, now it's arguably the most cliched EvilPlan in the book..

* {{Woobie}}: Domino, she's the mistress of a sadist, her brother gets murdered and Bond is using her to get to Largo.

** Fleming also goes on a very clear AuthorTract about how having 4 women in a car is bound to cause terrible accidents because the driver will turn around to chat with her friends and probably cause a car accident.

* ValuesDissonance: One of the worst in the series for it, with the scene of Bond blackmailing a civilian woman into sleeping with him (the best you can say is he didn't intend to do it, but he's quite willing to take advantage of her misconception). Plus, the cold open has the VillainousCrossdresser give himself away because there's no way a woman would ever open a car door for herself.

* ValuesDissonance: One of the worst in the series for it, with the scene of Bond blackmailing a civilian woman into sleeping with him (the best you can say is he didn't intend to do it, but he's quite willing to take advantage of her misconception). Plus, the cold open has the CrossdressingVillain give himself away because there's no way a woman would ever open a car door for herself.

** Music/JohnnyCash and Music/ShirleyBassey also recorded themes (the latter was called [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4m9ptFefwo "Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang"]] and subsequently rerecorded by Music/DionneWarwick after there were problems with Bassey's singing). Both of them are pretty good in their own ways (though the Cash one feels a bit out-of place since it's country).

* ValuesDissonance: Bond is impressed by Domino, because she "drives like a man". (In the movie, he says she "swims like a man.")

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The plot using a nuclear weapon to extort a ransom was considered a unique idea when this film came out, now it's arguably the most cliched EvilPlan in the book.

** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8DbPSXzvxg&feature=related The theme]]. Tom Jones actually ''passed out'' after holding that really long note at the end.

* OneSceneWonder: Patricia Fearing the nurse, especially when she's being massaged.
** This is true on a larger level, too. Due to a dispute with her agent, Fearing's actress Molly Peters was unable to follow up on the career bump even one-scene Bond girls usually got--she never landed another major film role.

* ShamefulStrip: Bond arguably does this to Patricia the nurse-- in a public sauna of all places-- when he blackmails her into having sex with him. The "no means yes" style smile does not make it easier to watch.

** Music/JohnnyCash and Music/ShirleyBassey also recorded themes (the latter was called [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4m9ptFefwo "Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang"]] and subsequently rerecorded by Music/DionneWarwick after there were problems with Bassey's singing). Both of them are pretty good in their own ways (though the Cash one is a bit out-of place since its country).

*** The film was set to go with Warwick's theme, but at the last minute the producers insisted that, no, the theme ''had'' to have the word "Thunderball" in it, so a new song was hastily written to be recorded by Tom Jones and parts of the film were rescored to feature the instrumental version of that song as a leitmotif. An instrumental version of "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" is heard at various points during the movie as a kind of secondary leitmotif. The producers planned to use the Warwick version of "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" over the end credits, until Shirley Bassey sued.

** Music/JohnnyCash and Music/DionneWarwick also recorded their own themes (the latter was called [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4m9ptFefwo "Mr Kiss-Kiss Bang-Bang"]] and also recorded by Music/ShirleyBassey). Both of them are pretty good in their own ways (though the Cash one is a bit out-of place since its country).
*** The film was set to go with Warwick's theme, but at the last minute the producers insisted that, no, the theme ''had'' to have the word "Thunderball" in it, so a new song was hastily written to be recorded by Tom Jones and parts of the film were rescored to feature the instrumental version of that song as a leitmotif. An instrumental version of "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" is heard at various points during the movie as a kind of secondary leitmotif.

** Music/JohnnyCash and Music/ShirleyBassey also recorded their own themes (the latter was called [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4m9ptFefwo "Mr Kiss-Kiss Bang-Bang"]]); the Tom Jones one was just deemed the best. But both of them are pretty good in their own ways (though the Cash one is a bit out-of place since its country).

* {{Asspull}}: Q never once explains to Bond that the infra-red underwater camera has a built-in Geiger counter (only that the watch does) which comes as something of a surprise when Domino uses it later on in the film.

* ValuesDissonance: Bond is impressed by Domino, because she "drives like a man".

** Bond on the overcranked stretching machine DeathTrap is supposed to be something that has the audience on the edge of their seats, but it just looks ridiculous.