16 replies to this topic

[Daddy Bond]

OK, excuse my ignorance, but was I just watched Thunderball again last night and I have some nagging questions that I thought someone(s) here could answer.

#1 - Toward the beginning when Bond is being chased by the black car, who is in the black car??? Why are they following Bond and trying to kill him??? What was that black car doing when we see it earlier in the movie???
#3 - Why does Fiona destroy the black car with her motorcycle???
#4 - Is the black car associated with Count Lippe?

I must be missing something!

Thanks for any help.

[00Twelve]

You kinda answered all your questions.

Count Lippe was in the car, following and shooting at Bond because Bond had roasted him in the Turkish bath.

Blofeld had ordered Lippe killed, so Fiona rode up behind him (and totally unaware of Bond, I assume) and blew him up.

[Daddy Bond]

You kinda answered all your questions.

Count Lippe was in the car, following and shooting at Bond because Bond had roasted him in the Turkish bath.

Blofeld had ordered Lippe killed, so Fiona rode up behind him (and totally unaware of Bond, I assume) and blew him up.

Ah, so Lippe was killed for his mess up with Palazzi, and it's pretty much a coincidence that Fiona inadvertantly saved Bond's life?

Now, why exactly was Bond at the same health spa as the bad guys? Was he investigating something or is it just one of those amazing movie coincidences? You'll have to excuse me if I missed anything obvious, it was about 2 am when I turned the TV off (I wasn't necessarily fully alert).

[Single-O-Seven]

It was an amazing coincidence.
In the novel, Bond got sent to the clinic due to the poor state of his health. Lippe just happened to be there. In the film, I take it Bond was sent there for health reasons and, just by chance, Lippe et al were there putting the finishing touches on their plans (namely the plastic surgery).

[crheath]

You kinda answered all your questions.

Count Lippe was in the car, following and shooting at Bond because Bond had roasted him in the Turkish bath.

Blofeld had ordered Lippe killed, so Fiona rode up behind him (and totally unaware of Bond, I assume) and blew him up.

Ah, so Lippe was killed for his mess up with Palazzi, and it's pretty much a coincidence that Fiona inadvertantly saved Bond's life?

Now, why exactly was Bond at the same health spa as the bad guys? Was he investigating something or is it just one of those amazing movie coincidences? You'll have to excuse me if I missed anything obvious, it was about 2 am when I turned the TV off (I wasn't necessarily fully alert).

That's one of the complaints with Thunderball. It's more luck that Bond just happens to be at the same spa as the villians. The book does a better job of explaining this.

[Daddy Bond]

You kinda answered all your questions.

Count Lippe was in the car, following and shooting at Bond because Bond had roasted him in the Turkish bath.

Blofeld had ordered Lippe killed, so Fiona rode up behind him (and totally unaware of Bond, I assume) and blew him up.

Ah, so Lippe was killed for his mess up with Palazzi, and it's pretty much a coincidence that Fiona inadvertantly saved Bond's life?

Now, why exactly was Bond at the same health spa as the bad guys? Was he investigating something or is it just one of those amazing movie coincidences? You'll have to excuse me if I missed anything obvious, it was about 2 am when I turned the TV off (I wasn't necessarily fully alert).

That's one of the complaints with Thunderball. It's more luck that Bond just happens to be at the same spa as the villians. The book does a better job of explaining this.

I'm not too fond of these types of coincedences in movies - bit irritating actually. Oh, well. I mean what are the chances that Bond would happen to be hanging out at the same place where the bad guys are hanging out - the same bad guys who would just so happen to be involved with the case Bond was about to work on? Bond happens to not get along with one of the bad guys, and just happens to get saved by the bad girl who coincidentally just happens to kill the bad guy before he kills Bond.

[Judo chop]

And don't forget the convenience of the jetpack.

Nevermind the plot, Daddy. It's never going to be a great film for that reason. It's to be enjoyed like a perfectly mixed margarita; cool and refreshing, but not requiring a whole lot of contemplation. If you want a Bordeaux, crack open FRWL. A rich Napa Cab... CR. Or, if you want your tequilla straight with the worm, LTK.

DAF is the hangover.

I'm kinda having fun with this.

[dee-bee-five]

You kinda answered all your questions.

Count Lippe was in the car, following and shooting at Bond because Bond had roasted him in the Turkish bath.

Blofeld had ordered Lippe killed, so Fiona rode up behind him (and totally unaware of Bond, I assume) and blew him up.

Ah, so Lippe was killed for his mess up with Palazzi, and it's pretty much a coincidence that Fiona inadvertantly saved Bond's life?

Now, why exactly was Bond at the same health spa as the bad guys? Was he investigating something or is it just one of those amazing movie coincidences? You'll have to excuse me if I missed anything obvious, it was about 2 am when I turned the TV off (I wasn't necessarily fully alert).

That's one of the complaints with Thunderball. It's more luck that Bond just happens to be at the same spa as the villians. The book does a better job of explaining this.

I'm not too fond of these types of coincedences in movies - bit irritating actually. Oh, well. I mean what are the chances that Bond would happen to be hanging out at the same place where the bad guys are hanging out - the same bad guys who would just so happen to be involved with the case Bond was about to work on? Bond happens to not get along with one of the bad guys, and just happens to get saved by the bad girl who coincidentally just happens to kill the bad guy before he kills Bond.

And people raise their eyebrows when I say I find Thunderball the dreariest Bond film. I find it moves so slowly and the dull Shrublands sequence, which seems to go on forever, is a major part of that.

And don't forget the convenience of the jetpack.

Nevermind the plot, Daddy. It's never going to be a great film for that reason. It's to be enjoyed like a perfectly mixed margarita; cool and refreshing, but not requiring a whole lot of contemplation. If you want a Bordeaux, crack open FRWL. A rich Napa Cab... CR. Or, if you want your tequilla straight with the worm, LTK.

DAF is the hangover.

I'm kinda having fun with this.

For me, Thunderball is the prune juice...

[HildebrandRarity]

Shrublands is M's favorite health clinic and it just happens to be near a NATO air force base.

Bond is sent by M to Shrublands for legitimate health reasons. (Explained, as mentioned before, in the book.)

Since there's plastic surgery involved, SPECTRE uses a health clinic (a perfect cover) that's the closest to the NATO base.

It makes sense to me. Thunderball makes more sense to me and is more plausable for its time than half of all the James Bond movies do for their own time (or any time, period.)

What's the difficulty?

[DaveBond21]

You kinda answered all your questions.

Count Lippe was in the car, following and shooting at Bond because Bond had roasted him in the Turkish bath.

Blofeld had ordered Lippe killed, so Fiona rode up behind him (and totally unaware of Bond, I assume) and blew him up.

Ah, so Lippe was killed for his mess up with Palazzi, and it's pretty much a coincidence that Fiona inadvertantly saved Bond's life?

Now, why exactly was Bond at the same health spa as the bad guys? Was he investigating something or is it just one of those amazing movie coincidences? You'll have to excuse me if I missed anything obvious, it was about 2 am when I turned the TV off (I wasn't necessarily fully alert).

That's one of the complaints with Thunderball. It's more luck that Bond just happens to be at the same spa as the villians. The book does a better job of explaining this.

Well, it was probably the best health spa in Britain. And so there was always a chance that Bond would come across something useful there, because plenty of rich people have dodgy businesses and associates.

[Double-0-7]

I had no problem following the plotline around Shrublands, but I don't cut out all the parts of the movie related to sex, violence, and other forms of evil.

[jaguar007]

Also remember that Bond was supposed to be assigned to Canada but requested Bahamas because he coincidently saw Derval at Shrublands.

[crheath]

You kinda answered all your questions.

Count Lippe was in the car, following and shooting at Bond because Bond had roasted him in the Turkish bath.

Blofeld had ordered Lippe killed, so Fiona rode up behind him (and totally unaware of Bond, I assume) and blew him up.

Ah, so Lippe was killed for his mess up with Palazzi, and it's pretty much a coincidence that Fiona inadvertantly saved Bond's life?

Now, why exactly was Bond at the same health spa as the bad guys? Was he investigating something or is it just one of those amazing movie coincidences? You'll have to excuse me if I missed anything obvious, it was about 2 am when I turned the TV off (I wasn't necessarily fully alert).

That's one of the complaints with Thunderball. It's more luck that Bond just happens to be at the same spa as the villians. The book does a better job of explaining this.

I'm not too fond of these types of coincedences in movies - bit irritating actually. Oh, well. I mean what are the chances that Bond would happen to be hanging out at the same place where the bad guys are hanging out - the same bad guys who would just so happen to be involved with the case Bond was about to work on? Bond happens to not get along with one of the bad guys, and just happens to get saved by the bad girl who coincidentally just happens to kill the bad guy before he kills Bond.

Actually, Bond didn't really get saved by the bad girl. He was about to do away with Count Lippe by using his Aston Martin tricks but never got a chance. She just saved him the trouble.

[Turn]

You kinda answered all your questions.

Count Lippe was in the car, following and shooting at Bond because Bond had roasted him in the Turkish bath.

Blofeld had ordered Lippe killed, so Fiona rode up behind him (and totally unaware of Bond, I assume) and blew him up.

Ah, so Lippe was killed for his mess up with Palazzi, and it's pretty much a coincidence that Fiona inadvertantly saved Bond's life?

Now, why exactly was Bond at the same health spa as the bad guys? Was he investigating something or is it just one of those amazing movie coincidences? You'll have to excuse me if I missed anything obvious, it was about 2 am when I turned the TV off (I wasn't necessarily fully alert).

That's one of the complaints with Thunderball. It's more luck that Bond just happens to be at the same spa as the villians. The book does a better job of explaining this.

I'm not too fond of these types of coincedences in movies - bit irritating actually. Oh, well. I mean what are the chances that Bond would happen to be hanging out at the same place where the bad guys are hanging out - the same bad guys who would just so happen to be involved with the case Bond was about to work on? Bond happens to not get along with one of the bad guys, and just happens to get saved by the bad girl who coincidentally just happens to kill the bad guy before he kills Bond.

TB is not the only Bond film where a huge coincidence plays a role. If it's really damaging there for some people, consider these:

One of the most famous is OHMSS where Bond is trying to escape SPECTRE and he just happens upon Tracy. It's a great coincidence, but a huge one nonetheless. She supposedly wants to be near Bond, but why in the world would she be there if she knows Bond is undercover? Because it makes for a better experience.

Same in GE. Bond just happens to be in Monte Carlo and happens upon Xenia, who just happens to have counterfeit plates on her car and in town to steal a helicopter.

There's probably dozens of other examples. YOLT is littered with little things like handy gadgets and lapses in logic.

[DaveBond21]

There are always lots of handy coincidences in the Bond movies. For example, in FRWL, Bond gets lucky by being able to see Tatiana enter the room above when using the periscope.

[Napoleon Solo]

It was an amazing coincidence.
In the novel, Bond got sent to the clinic due to the poor state of his health. Lippe just happened to be there. In the film, I take it Bond was sent there for health reasons and, just by chance, Lippe et al were there putting the finishing touches on their plans (namely the plastic surgery).

It always seemed to me that Bond was there because of his injury from the fight in the pre-credit sequence. Pat comments about the "nasty bruise," which Bond explains came from "a poker in the hands of a widow."

[Double-0-Seven]

OK, excuse my ignorance, but was I just watched Thunderball again last night and I have some nagging questions that I thought someone(s) here could answer.

#1 - Toward the beginning when Bond is being chased by the black car, who is in the black car??? Why are they following Bond and trying to kill him??? What was that black car doing when we see it earlier in the movie???
#3 - Why does Fiona destroy the black car with her motorcycle???
#4 - Is the black car associated with Count Lippe?

I must be missing something!

Thanks for any help.

It appears you are indeed missing something. You are missing question two.