Thunderball

SPECTRE hijacks a NATO bomber carrying two atomic bombs and demands £100 million in diamonds, or a major city goes up in flames. Bond, recovering at a health clinic, had already spotted something odd there and ends up in Nassau. He looks up Domino, sister of the murdered pilot and mistress of Emilio Largo, SPECTRE's number two and owner of the yacht Disco Volante. With Felix Leiter, Bond finds the sunken plane. Domino learns Largo killed her brother and agrees to help, but she's locked up. A huge underwater battle between U.S. divers and Largo's men settles it. On the yacht, Domino kills Largo with a speargun, and the two are plucked away by a sky hook before the boat explodes.

1. Behind the scenesMeant to be the first film

   Thunderball was planned as the series opener, but Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham sued Fleming, saying the novel came from their screenplay. The settlement gave McClory producer credit, and the rights fight would keep going for decades.

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2. Behind the scenesThe shark got through

   In the pool with live sharks, a Plexiglas partition protected Connery. One shark got past it and the actor scrambled out of the water.

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3. Behind the scenesThe jetpack was real

   The rocket belt Bond escapes with in the opening was a working Bell device, later flown at Super Bowl I. John Stears won the Oscar for visual effects for the film.

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