It was so popular the last time we did it, I've decided to have another special James Bond Grudge Match, so tonight's Saturday the 14th event is "Thunderball" vs. "Thunderbirds Are Go," or Thunder in the Jungle!! So let's get the ball and the bird rollin'....10 rounds, and no holds barred!
We'll lead off with "Thunderball" since it came out in 1965! The opening credits are spectacular no doubt!
But you've gotta admit, the credits for "Thunderbirds Are GO" which came out a year later in 1966, are much more brazen and bolder!
02 Handsome Leading Man
Even at his nerdiest, as in this rocketman getup, Sean Connery.....
....is going to be cooler than four or five puppets, now if it had been Muppets, that might have been a different story!
03 Hot Women
Although her voice is that of "Thunderbirds" co-creator Gerry Anderson's genius wife Sylvia, Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward just doesn't really do it for me! I don't know how to say this without being offensive, but she looks like a puppet!!
Martine Beswick as James Bond's assistant Paula, on the other hand does! Check out Martine's silhouette in the bottom picture, that's it, I am convinced the woman is perfect!
04 Hot Cars
Every way I turned, I read that Bond drove a Bentley Mark II Continental in "Thunderball," but after being corrected, I realized this was an Aston Martin DB5 as I first had thought! What a beautiful car!
This is the FAB1! It was based on the Chinese-six car, four in front and two in back, and was also known as the Bassackwards! They constructed a real-life copy to transport Gerry and Sylvia Anderson to the London premiere of "Thunderbirds Are GO," and the car broke down before they got there! Gerry and Sylvia were forced to take a taxi to the premiere, and I think that's funnier than Hell! As you can see, the FAB1 was also an amphibious vehicle!
05 Meeting of the Minds
This is a tough one, but I'm going with the extra big cut-out giant desk with the matching centerpiece in "Thunderbirds Are GO!" Pretty scary, but unless I miss my guess, that puts "Thunderbrids Are Go" ahead 3 rounds to 2!
06 Bathing Beauties
This isn't even worth discussing! Score is tied!!
07 Tantalizing Titillation!
"Thunderbirds" bounce back with fake little zine titled "Riviera," and the article "girls, girls, Girls," and the back cover is "TANS!"
08 Coolest Sunglasses
A strong choice by both contenders, I declare this round a draw!
09 Night Life!
Anything on a tropical island is amazing, but how can you compete with a restaurant called the "Swinging Star" that features outdoor dining on something akin to one of the rings of Saturn!
10 Explosions!
How is it possible that a fake explosion could be even better than a real fake explosion? Damned if I know!
So a puppet movie manages to beat out a classic James Bond adventure in a grueling ten round match? It was a split decision but that's the way the three judges, Jeff Tracy, Scott Tracy, and Virgil Tracy saw it!!! I think the real clincher was the music!!!
Cliff Richards and The Shadows puppets perform
"Shooting Star"And here's just a taste of the theme from
"Thunderball" written by one of the masters, John Barry, and sung by the iconic aTomic Jones!
Wow! How's that for a trilogy of heavyweight champions? Well, that's the amazing array of talent that this 1961 version of "Mysterious Island" brings to the table, so you know there's going to be a great story, grandiose music, and killer special effects!
The balloon prison escape that starts the film will well make you wonder if anybody got hurt during the filming, it's that wild!
These paintings might look fake as Hell to the discerning eye, but no matter what, they sure are visually stunning! Whenever I see a scene like this, I'm always expecting a very large monkey to show up sometime soon!
You've got five guys stranded on a deserted island, so what could be better than having a couple of good lookin' women wash up on the beach, and one's a seamstress!! Joan Greenwood and Beth Rogan are Lady Mary and Elena Fairchild!
All the Harryhausen creations are awesome as always, but "The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad" will always remain my favourite Harryhausen film!
I'm pretty sure this was the most exciting film that Joan or Beth ever appeared in, although Beth did make one more small appearance in "Salt and Pepper!"
The best thing about having to deal with extra large species of animals, is that after you kill them, there's a bountiful harvest of food to go around! Too bad they didn't have a freezer, because that looks like a bunch of cooked crab that's going to go to waste!
What a great way to get all five guys in one shot! Left to right, here's Percy (Enemy From Space) Herbert as Sergeant Pencroft, Dan (Exorcism At Midnight) Jackson as Corporal Neb Nugent, Gary (Destination Inner Space) Merrill as Gideon Spilitt (what a handle), Michael (13 West Street) Callan as Herbert Brown, and last but not least, Michael (Elephant Gun) Craig as Captain Cyrus Harding! What a crew!
It's pretty obvious I had problems picking out pictures on this film, there was just so much eye candy to choose from!
Herbert (Phantom Of The Opera) Lom as the extraordinary Captain Nemo, shows off his best side on more than one of the sets!
Break out the wine, and everything starts getting kinky, and this is supposed to be 1865, shouldn't Elena have some bloomers on?
The soundtrack was written and conducted by Bernard Herrmann, and performed by the London Symphonic Orchestra, and like everything else in this film, is bigger than life itself! Here's just a taste to whet your appetites, and make you thirsty for what's left to come!
This version of "Mysterious Island" has some of the best underwater footage I've ever seen, and as you can well see, is truly fantastic!
This reminds me of a shot from our "Silver Angel" movie, only underwater, maybe it's because I worked about a week to create a few seconds of ray gun flash!
There's something you don't see much any more, all seven of the cast members made it, but I will bet they all felt pretty silly getting into costume for this final shot!
