The world is held for ransom with stolen nuclear bombs.

My wife tells me that this isn't meant to be a comedy. I didn't believe her, until I read online just now that the jetpack was a real working jetpack. So... I guess it's just a bad movie. I still enjoyed it, though, as an Adam-West's-Batman-style campy comedy.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: D
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: B

Enjoyment: C plus

GPA: 1.8/4 ( )

Rating: 4* of five

I am viewing the Bond films on Amazon Prime. 20 are available on Prime for free viewing until 1 Sept. This entry in the book series is a little odd, because the story and the book were the subjects of prolonged litigation among the writer of the story, the author of the book, and the producers of the film. As a result, this film was made again in 1983 by the title Never Say Never Again, Sean Connery's swansong as Bond.

That was a better film.

This one also has a crap theme song sung by Tom Jones. I remembered it not at all from the first time I saw the movie in a theater, probably 1966 or 1967. I was much more impressed then by the underwater fight sequences. Now they just make me claustrophobic.

So nuclear bombs stolen by Blofeld, pretty girl tries to kill Bond, Blofeld's second in command screws up and hires the only white men in the Bahamas as henchrats and all of them screw up. Bond repeals the laws of physics as he opens metal hatches underwater with trivial ease and slams through aboveground hatches without causing any sound. Bond uses someone who deserves to die as a human shield against a 9mm round, and the bullet stops inside them. Yakity blah blah, standard Bond stuff.

What elevates this silly romper-room antic mess into four-star territory is the sheer verve and the evident glee with which all involved go after the action. Connery's genuine terror of the sharks involved in the plot makes his performance sharp. Apparently his marriage was in trouble, so he went after the women with a starved hunger that's impossible to mistake. And the world's stupidest supervillains make some HILARIOUS mistakes...fixed water cannons that could easily be sidestepped? C'mon...but gosh was this fun.

Doesn't hurt one little bit that Connery wore racy bathing suits for quite a lot of the film. Yum.

So anyway, it's not the best Bond film and it's not the best film-film, but it has zest and zing and I'm glad I rewatched it here these *gasp* forty-five or more years later. That song...what a shame. A good tune would've put it over the edge into 5-star territory! ( )