Any action scenes set underwater.
Actually, it's time for another good underwater diving sequence.
Agreed. The THUNDERBALL underwater finale is one of the most breathtaking fight sequences in the entire series. Revolutionary and very well choreographed. Must have been a nightmare to edit.
Are we discussing the same scene? The scene where a bunch of anonymous frogmen wriggle around in slow-motion for seven days and seven nights? The scene where you can't even tell which guy is on which side? Where nothing happens and nothing whatsoever is at stake? The scene that lasts long enough it ought to have its own intermission? The scene so boring that the film itself begins to fast-forward?
They're not anonymous (apart from Bond). They're good vs. evil. Manichean logic. And yes, while they're moving slowly (as expected), they violent editing and Barr's music keeps everything on its feet, at a brisk pace.
The fate of Miami's at stake, if you were wondering. The Disco Volante could easily do an atomic kamikaze off the coast.
And if you can't tell which man is on which side, then you should give me the name of your oculist. Colour blindness is a terrible thing.
Red = US Coast Guard.
Black = SPECTRE.
What's so heart about that?
That scene is tedious even in comparison to underwater sequences in other Bond films. Those in For Your Eyes Only and The Spy Who Loved Me are vastly better, chiefly because they are shorter and more to the point. Hell, I even prefer the "underwater scene" in AVTAK - you know, where Bond is breathing from the tires - to the melee in Thunderball. Underwater scenes may occasionally be useful for conveying tension and mystery, but once overt action breaks out, it's like watching paint dry.
Comparison to those sequences is useless, because of they're not of that ilk. The THUNDERBALL finale is of the gypsy camp raid, volcano assault, battle at Piz Gloria, oil rig attack and Liparus breakout. They're epic struggles, pure pulp. Not short to-the-point skirmishes or plot devices.
Personally I find the FYEO scene far more laborious and plodding (a lot down to the fact that they're slowed done even more, by diving bells and bathosubs!), and Hamlisch's disco pørn score for the TSWLM scene doesn't help at all.