Deep Trouble (Thunderball, 1965)

Bond and Felix are back out in the helicopter, scouring the area for the sunken plane. They can find no sign, and are on the verge of giving up when Bond spots some sharks below. Felix tells him that this area is the Golden Grotto, and the only thing he’ll find there are sharks. But Bond remembers that these are the sharks Largo has in his pool. He senses a connection and asks Felix to land.

He sees an indistinct shape on the sea bed. He uses a glass-bottomed bucket for a closer look.

There’s definitely something down there. He tells Felix to shoot one of the sharks, which will distract the others. He grabs a SCUBA tank and dives in.

Bond swims down. There’s a large object on the sea floor, covered in a seaweed-encrusted net. He finds a hole in the net and swims inside.

Success! It’s the Vulcan! There’s a problem, though. The bomb doors are open and the warheads are not there. Bond swims up to the cockpit and finds the body of “Derval”, a.k.a. Angelo. He takes Derval’s ID tags and watch off him and returns to the surface. If the bombs aren’t aboard the Vulcan, then they’re either on the Disco Volante, or will be soon. He needs a spy onboard the yacht.

And, with Derval’s personal effects, he might just have a way to do that.

Elsewhere, Domino is swimming around a coral reef. Bond finds her, swims up to her, and they embrace. They then sink behind a rock and have sex underwater.

Wait, they what? I mean, it sounds like a romantic idea, but I’m pretty sure that’s a somewhat awkward, not to mention dangerous, thing to do. Still, whatever floats your boat, or anything else for that matter.

After doin’ it deep-sea style, Bond and Domino swim up to the beach. Domino steps on some sea egg spines and cries out in pain. Bond’s solution, naturally, is to suck them out of her foot.

Domino jokes that Bond is the only person to ever make her cry – apart from her brother François. Bond hesitates, and then says that he has something to tell her. Wordlessly, he shows her the ID tags and watch.

Domino immediately realises the significance of them. Her eyes fill up as it sinks in that her brother – the only man in the world she truly cared for – is dead. Bond tells her that Largo was responsible, and that he wants Domino to help him.

Domino is no idiot. She realises that Bond only had sex with her to get her on his side. She turns away, filled with grief and anger. Bond tries to impress upon her the seriousness of the situation – without her help, a lot of people are going to die. Domino looks down at François’ tags and watch. Filled with resolve, she asks how she can help.

Bond dons some nifty shades and tells her about the nuclear warheads, and that he needs to know as soon as they are onboard the Disco Volante. He hands her his camera, telling her it has a built-in Geiger counter (uh, wasn’t it the watch that did that?). When it starts clicking, the bombs are nearby.

At this point, Domino glances over his shoulder. She tells Bond that Vargas is sneaking up on him. Not a problem for Bond.

He grabs his harpoon gun, whips round, and spears Vargas to a tree. “I think he got the point,” he remarks dryly.

Domino has to get back to Largo, but she agrees to help Bond. One condition, though: no matter what, Bond will kill Largo for her.

Later, acting on information from Domino, Bond finds a small area at the back of Palmyra where Largo’s men are preparing for a dive. The timing cannot be coincidental. They must be going to retrieve the bombs. He decides to swallow the radioactive pill Q gave him, and then settles down to wait for Largo and co. to arrive. Meanwhile, Domino returns to the Disco Volante.

Night falls. Largo and his men show up and suit up in the SCUBA gear. Bond knocks one of them out and takes his place. They swim under the Disco Volante and board through the underwater hatch. Largo tells his crew that they’re going to pick up the bombs, and then head to the target city: Miami.

The yacht sails out to the warheads’ hiding place. Bond has managed to remain unnoticed and joins the team swimming out to collect the bombs.

They swim up to an underwater rockface. Largo reveals a hidden valve and twists it, causing the whole rockface to split and swing inwards.

The bombs are inside. Largo’s men load them up on underwater vehicles. As they are doing so, Largo suddenly spots Bond. One of his henchmen does battle with Bond, and is killed in the process. However, the distraction allows Largo to escape with the bombs and trap Bond in the underwater cave.

Back to the Disco Volante. Having loaded the nukes, they set sail for Miami. Domino activates the Geiger counter and finds out that the warheads are now onboard. However, Largo catches her in the act.

Realising her treachery, he drags her into her cabin and closes the door behind them. He does not look happy.

Back in the underwater cave, Bond finds a way to the surface. He’s now trapped in a gap between two large rocks. Of course, he did swallow the tracking pill. Felix will be able to find him, but with Largo already on course to Miami, will it be in time?

In Domino’s cabin, something very sinister and unpleasant is happening. Largo has trussed her up, and announces that he is going to interrogate her.

He has a lit cigar – for “heat” – and ice cubes – for “cold” – which will be applied “scientifically and slowly; very, very slowly”.  Oh God, this can’t be good.

Fortunately, before he can “apply” the stuff, Largo is interrupted by Kutze, the scientist overseeing the usage of the bombs. They are preparing to activate them. Largo leaves, promising he will return to Domino later.

Back to Bond. Felix has arrived in a helicopter, following the homing signal. Bond uses his miniature flare pistol to let Felix find him, and Bond is saved.

He tells Felix to warn his people that Miami is the target, and also that Largo now has the bombs with him. Time to stop SPECTRE’s plans once and for all.

Largo’s men are back in the water, now carrying one of the nukes to its final destination. However, the cavalry arrives!

The good guys, clad in orange wetsuits to contrast with SPECTRE’s black, show up and a massive shootout begins. Both sides are armed with spear guns and there’s a lot of deaths on both sides. Bond himself has been provided with a special SCUBA tank by Q, loaded with spears, and he uses it to wreak havoc.

The battle is epic, certainly, but because it’s underwater, it moves rather slowly. Stare at the images for about five minutes each and you’ll get the idea. Here’s a clip to let you get the idea:

Eventually, the good guys defeat the SPECTRE goons and secure the bomb. However, Bond sees Largo fleeing back to the Disco Volante and heads off in pursuit.

When he gets onboard, Largo tells his crew to weigh anchor immediately. They still have one nuke left, dammit, they’re not out of the game yet! The Disco Volante begins moving. A couple of destroyers approach and open fire, blasting the yacht with explosives. Largo has one last trick up his sleeve, however:

The Disco Volante is actually capable of shedding its bulky rear end and converting into a hydrofoil. They do so, leaving the unlucky guys on the back half of the boat behind while Largo zooms off at high speed. Needless to say, the ones left behind don’t last long.

The hydrofoil accelerates away from the destroyers. Down in Domino’s cabin, Kutze has realised just how mad his employer is, and helps free Domino from her bonds. He insists that she tell Bond that he, Kutze, was only acting under orders. Well, I’m sure he’s very sorry, but we kinda have more pressing issues at the moment. The good news is, though, he has deactivated the second warhead, meaning it cannot be detonated.

Things shift into high gear as the Disco Volante races through the water, her speed ever-increasing. Bond has managed to clamber aboard and bursts into the bridge. Largo’s men attack and a fistfight ensues, with Bond beating the shit out of the bad guys. Largo loses control of the yacht and it begins to swerve around madly, narrowly missing a few reefs along the way.

Finally, it’s down to Bond and Largo. They struggle for a bit, and then Largo gains the upper hand.

He has Bond at gunpoint. Has Bond come this far, only to fall at the last possible moment?

…

…

…

THUNK

Largo’s back suddenly arches in pain. He slowly falls to the side, a harpoon in his back.

And Domino is behind him, carrying a speargun.

“I’m glad I killed him,” she says, after a moment.

“You’re glad?” Bond replies, awash with relief.

Just then, Kutze shouts a warning. The yacht is heading straight for some rocks. Bond tries to alter her course, but Largo’s body has fallen on the steering wheel. It won’t budge.

Seeing no other course of action, Bond, Domino and Kutze throw themselves overboard, Kutze wailing that he can’t swim. They dive into the water and watch as the Disco Volante runs into the rocks. SPECTRE’s plans come to a fiery end.

Well, mission accomplished, so it’s time to get busy with the Bond girl. A plane swoops over and drops an inflatable dinghy, conveniently giving Bond a place to do so. They both climb in. No mention is made of Kutze, and indeed he seems to have disappeared, so we can presume he drowned.

When they’re in the dinghy, Bond mystifies Domino by strapping a harness on, and then sending up some sort of balloon. He then grabs her and holds her tight. This is going to be silly, isn’t it?

Yup.

Thus concludes Thunderball – with Bond and the girl being whisked away on a wire attached to a plane. Because why the hell not?

Thunderball is a complicated film, not least because of the legal issues over it. The plot is good, being one of the first examples of “holding the world to ransom with nuclear weapons” that has become so popular. The women are all extraordinarily stunning, there’s some fun gadgets, and Largo is a sinister and menacing villain. Domino is particular is an interesting Bond girl, and her revenge on Largo is a satisfying end to the story. Oh, and there’s the fantastic belter of a theme song.

But the film suffers a major problem, which is the pacing. Probably due to the abundance of underwater scenes, the film drags along in places, and it seems to take forever to get to the next plot point. It even takes a while to get to the Bahamas in the first place, with the scenes at Shrublands taking up the first third of the film. And several of the underwater scenes could do with a bit of editing. Also, while Largo is a good villain, he is essentially a henchman; Blofeld is the true villain of the story, and he spends the entirety of his scenes with his face hidden.

While these factors weaken the film slightly, it is by no accounts a bad film. It is a great Bond film, and highly enjoyable, providing you don’t mind the leisurely pace.

So what’s next? Bond has been to the Caribbean twice, has been to various parts of mainland Europe, and has stopped off in the USA as well. He’s covered a lot of the Western world already. Where can he go next?

How about East?

JAMES BOND WILL RETURN IN

YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE

For cast and crew details, check here

Screencaps courtesy of screenmusings.org