03/05/2024
Thunderball and Never Say Never Again
Both movies are based on the same novel with a little variation over incidents & characters. The two adaptations also serve as a unique example of how same plot seems horribly different due to poor ex*****on.
Variation of incidents:
In NSNA, James Bond is portrayed as a retired MI6 agent reluctantly brought back to service. Pilot jack petachi himself & not his duplicate, betrays with the American air force. Moreover Largo's house palmyra, was given more importance in thunderball.
Variation of characters:
1) James Bond - According to many bondians, Sean Connery is the first & foremost James Bond. Well, their ideology cannot be nullified as he's the bucko who initiated the everlasting franchise. Hence unarguably, Sir Sean excelled both in his original persona & also the mirthful variant.
2) Emilio Largo vs Maximillian Largo - Undoubtedly, Adolfo Celi's portrayal of Emilio Largo, is regarded as one of the most heinous villains of the bond franchise. But, certainly there ought to be missing something in the portrayal which was later fulfilled by Klaus Maria Brandauer. The desperate eyes of Maximillian & his unbounded insanity certainly made him a larger than life character surpassing the original stereotype.
3) Dominique Derval vs Domino Petachi - Both Claudine Auger & Kim Basinger delivered almost the same personation of 'Domino'. Serene, cosy yet shaky from the repeated battering of Largo. But, Basinger's version is a bit bolder.
4) Fiona Volpe vs Fatima Blush - Luciana Paluzzi was earlier auditioned for the role of Dominique Derval. But whatever might be man, she was just born to play the iconic Fiona Volpe. Her dreadful glance conveyed imminent impact for unspoken sinisterness. On the other hand, Barbara Carrera's fatima blush was nowhere near an assassin. Her disgustful hamming & buffoonish caricatures were hard to digest at times.
5) Ladislav Kutze vs Kovacs - Kutze (George Pravda) has his own identity instead of being overshadowed by Largo like in the case of Kovacs (Milos Kirek).
6) Count Lippe vs Lippe - Count Lippe (Guy Doleman) is a spectre agent & belonged to the aristocratic class. Whereas, Lippe (Pat Roach) is an ordinary assassin hired by spectre.
7) Paula Caplan vs Nicole - Both the British agents (Martine Beswick & Saskia Cohen) are equally ill fated. The former committing su***de by swallowing cyanide pill while the latter being killed by Fatima Blush.
8) Pinder vs Small-Fawcett - Pinder (Earl Cameron) was a native of the Bahamas unlike Small-Fawcett (Rowan Atkinson) who belonged to the British embassy.
©Satyaki Banerjee
