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Thunderball
Movie

Thunderball

1965 • Unknown

Woke Score
1
out of 10

Plot

A criminal organization has obtained two nuclear bombs and are asking for a 100 million pound ransom in the form of diamonds in seven days or they will use the weapons. The secret service sends James Bond to the Bahamas to once again save the world.

Overall Series Review

Thunderball is a 1965 espionage action film pitting a British secret agent against a global criminal organization's plot for nuclear extortion. The narrative is driven by a focus on duty, state security, and the hero’s hyper-masculinity, consistent with the cinematic norms of the era. The conflict is purely secular, pitting the stability of Western governments (NATO) against a nihilistic syndicate (SPECTRE) motivated solely by colossal financial gain. The film is a classic defense of Western institutions against a transnational threat. Female characters are primarily defined by their relationship to the central male characters, either as the hero’s romantic conquests or as a capable but ultimately defeated villainess, embodying a traditional gender dynamic.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics1/10

The narrative's central conflict focuses entirely on an intelligence operative's skill and merit against a global criminal plot, not on race or immutable characteristics. Main characters and hero/villain dynamics are defined by their allegiance and competence, not by intersectional hierarchy. The film contains no commentary or focus on race, vilification of 'whiteness', or 'race-swapping'.

Oikophobia1/10

The plot centers on saving Western civilization—specifically the US and UK—from nuclear destruction at the hands of a stateless criminal organization. MI6 and NATO are depicted as the heroic institutional shields against global chaos. There is no element of civilizational self-hatred or demonization of home culture or ancestors.

Feminism1/10

The film emphasizes hyper-masculinity and traditional gender roles. Female characters' agency is often reliant on the hero's intervention, and one key scene involves the hero using blackmail to sexually coerce a female employee, which the narrative normalizes. While one SPECTRE assassin shows competence and challenge, she is ultimately defeated and killed, reinforcing the male hero's dominance.

LGBTQ+1/10

The film maintains a completely normative structure with no centering of alternative sexualities, deconstruction of the nuclear family, or discussion of gender ideology. Sexuality is presented exclusively through the prism of the hero's heterosexuality and promiscuity.

Anti-Theism2/10

The core villain motivation is mercenary: nuclear blackmail for a ransom of diamonds. The conflict is purely secular, pitting an intelligence agency against a global terrorist-for-profit syndicate. The morality is objective (saving the world is good, nuclear terrorism is evil), but it is a transcendent *secular* morality rather than a religious one, avoiding active anti-theism but also having no explicit religious framework.