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Thunderball cemented the James Bond franchise as one of the biggest in the world, and very nearly established its own shared spy movie universe. While the first two 007 adventures Dr. No and From Russia With Love had been huge hits, 1964's Goldfinger took its success to another level. The film established the formula that many future outings would follow, including exotic locales, outlandish villains, high-tech gadgets and expensive setpieces. Thunderball was the fourth outing and was eagerly awaited by audiences. Adjusted for inflation, Thunderball remains the most successful Bond movie in North America.

This James Bond movie was a true spectacle for audiences in 1965, especially thanks to its then-groundbreaking underwater photography and action setpieces. In the aftermath of the film's success, there was a rash of films trying to cash in or parody 007's success, including James Coburn's Our Man Flint or Operation Kid Brother, which starred Sean Connery's brother,...

By Lee Pfeiffer

Ennio Morricone, the Oscar-winning and prolific film composer, has died in Rome at age 91 from complications resulting from a fall that had left him with a fractured hip. In the course of his career, Morricone rose from composing music for little-seen Italian films to becoming an icon of the movie industry. He worked virtually non-stop, turning out a head-spinning number of film scores. However, it was his collaborations with director Sergio Leone that brought him to international attention. When United Artists head of production David V. Picker saw Leone's A Fistful of Dollars  and For a Few Dollars More, both of which had been sensations at the European boxoffice, he purchased the distribution rights for the movies for English language territories. He also agreed to finance the third and final film in the series, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The films proved to be sensations...

Election Day is just days away and it’s making celebrities like Rachel Bloom, Elizabeth Banks and Adam Scott unite to sing out in support for Hillary Clinton.

In an attempt to inspire others to vote for the Democratic nominee, the “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” creator and star shared a hilarious anti-Trump music video titled “Holy Sh*t (You’ve Got To Vote).” Co-written by Bloom, Zach Reino and Jack Dolgen, the Funny or Die clip features a slew of celebrities including Moby, Mayim Bialik, Jaime Camil, Adam Pally, Melissa Rauch, Jane Lynch, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Paul Scheer and so many more.

“Holy Sh*t” begins with Bloom at the piano, singing about how “an orange talking Std” has driven her to the recording studio.

The track is very “We are the World” and includes lyrics like, “And it really doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know / When your rocket’s f**cking racist,...

Lena Dunham is showing her support for Hillary Clinton with an amusing Funny or Die rap music video titled “Sensual Pantsuit Anthem.” Calling herself Mc Pantsuit and wearing a red ensemble, the “Girls” creator defends “the nation’s baddest grandmother” and raps about Clinton’s accomplishments. Singer and actress Cynthia Erivo and Charlamagne tha God are also featured in the clip.

“Worked harder than her man did, still saw her grandkid, and people have the nerve to ask her what her plan is?,” raps Lena. “Her plan is to win against hatred and slur. Break it down in three words, I’m. With. Her.”

Read More: Ben Affleck Encourages ‘Kid Brother’ State New Hampshire to Vote in Funny or Die Video

She also mentions Donald Trump by saying that Clinton is “going up against a dude who’s a climate change denier” and rapping, “I can’t believe she’s...

It’s no secret that Julia Louis-Dreyfus is Team Hillary Clinton. In a new video for NextGen Climate, the Emmy Award winner is reminding millennials to vote not only for the Democratic nominee but also to elect the right people to the U.S. Senate.

“Hi millennials. I’m Julia Louis-Dreyfus, your parents’ favorite performer from something called the television,” the “Veep” actress jokes in the clip. “I play a bombastic, woman-hating, narcissistic politician on my show, and it’s really super-fun to watch because, let’s face it, I’m extraordinarily talented. But it’s not a reality that any of us really wants.”

Read More: Ben Affleck Encourages ‘Kid Brother’ State New Hampshire to Vote in Funny or Die Video

Louis-Dreyfus goes on to slam Donald Trump for his “pervy love of Putin,” his “fake colleges he can bankrupt for profit,” and for not believing in climate change...

In early autumn next year, the film industry will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first James Bond movie, Dr No, after which there will be rather smaller celebrations to mark the anniversaries of the more short-lived pseudo-Bonds, anti-Bonds and Bond send-ups including Jason Love, Harry Palmer, Matt Helm, Derek Flint and, for die-hard chroniclers of the genre, Neil Connery in Operation Kid Brother.

Harry Saltzman wore belt and braces in the early 60s, co-producing the Bond films and the Palmer series launched by The Ipcress File. Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working Title Films have now done something similar as producers of the deadly serious Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (where the guests at an MI5 Christmas party sing along to the comic theme song of the 1965 Bond rip-off Licensed to Kill) and the 007 parodies featuring Rowan Atkinson as the dim spy, Johnny English of MI7, a child-like,...

When it came to saving the world, bedding the babes, breaking Q’s gadgets, James Bond was the man, even if his tongue-in cheek adventures are a long way from the very real spy world of John le Carre and Harry Palmer.

Although Eon productions owned the movie rights to the Ian Fleming novels, it hasn’t stopped film-makers from making a couple of unofficial Bond flicks as well as several interesting variations on the character. So here are some of the parodies, pastiches, parallels and strange oddities that make up this alternative world of 007!

Our Man Flint (1966): Hollywood was now getting in on the Bond act with the Matt Helm movie series (1966-69) and TV’s The Man from U. N. C. L. E. (1964-68). But this effort is the ultimate of sixties cool with James Coburn in fine charismatic form as brilliant super-agent Derek Flint. Armed with...

This isn’t so much a review of “Quantum of Solace” as it is a rhetorical question with my two cents thrown in. I know it features the same cast and names as every other Bond film, but this movie makes no mention of familiar Bond traits. The question is can “Quantum of Solace” be considered a real “James Bond” film?

Here’s my basis for the question. Many Bond-ophiles have been arguing for years that there are actually only 21 Bond films (including “Quantum of Solace”). They cite “Never Say Never Again” as an example of a Bond film that really shouldn’t be considered a Bond film since it was a non Eon productions film and is actually a remake of “Thunderball”. Even the boat, the Flying Saucer, is the English translation for Disco Volante, the ship name in “Thunderball”. The film has the Broccoli name on it, but...