Thunderball: Warhead Edition

Not often do you get to see the original Thunderball edited, usually it's the nefarious remake that gets the attention, but the original source has it's own share of problems and rangerkris is out to correct them, it's mainly in the pacing that the edit excels, though I do think the initial fight scene in the pre-credits is slightly too quick, I found myself taken out of the zone a few instances with a second-long look at some shots before cutting back to the action. Aside from that, everything felt faster and more to-the-point. Narrative wise it is a film that takes a while to get going, and maybe the edit could have tried bolder cuts instead of fixating itself on the pacing issues...but that's just the experimental perfectionist in me. As it stands it is a fine edit and if you had problems with the original, you will want to give this a go.

....and so here we go....THUNDERBORE...as I used to call it when I was growing up.
This was my first cinematic bond movie ...and for a 5 year old...it almost killed the franchise stone cold for me.

There have been many bond edits but none as ambitious I think as this. The Never Say Never edit was a tonal question... was a more a PLEAS STOP BEING BORING issue...and for the most part it succeeds.

After getting over Connery's eyebrows on this, this is a vas improvement on the material as originally presented. I think that of all the bond outings this is the one that could do with a real trim and RANGER613 has not held back.

Pacing was generally fine. There were a few points where I felt something had gone but I could not glean what. I have seen this bond many time but not for at least 6 or 7 years, ideal.

What did shock me is how some of the sexist misogynist Bond swagger grated on me in this truncated form...to that extent I think leaving in a bit more of those sequences might have dulled that. I note that Thundeball is full of plot holes even before this got pruned..and the is some improvement n that respect.

Audio...I being a bit of a fascist here since I own all the score so I notice a few things...But there are some nice score enhancements (I have not checked on the cutlist) which work really well. Agree with the below...you have to watch this properly to gain the feel of it. I did enjoy and not only recommend it but will burn to disc and am grateful for the coverart that matches the DVD discs in my 007 Briefecase.

The video wipes were well executed and apart from some compression artefact...generally good (but would love a1080p version)

Overall, this is my least favourite bond and enjoyment would be 4/5 for the uncut version, so a 7 is a vast improvement (6 would be too harsh).

Well done...sir. A Brave edit IMO.
W