Thunderball, released in 1965, is the fourth spy film of the British James Bond series, and the fourth to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent Commander James Bond. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. It was directed by Terence Young with screenplay by Richard Maibaum and John Hopkins.

The film follows Bond's mission to find two NATO nuclear bombs stolen by SPECTRE, who holds the world to ransom for £100 million in diamonds, in exchange for not destroying an unspecified major city in either England or the United States of America (later revealed to be Miami). The search leads Bond to the Bahamas, where he encounters Emilio Largo, the card-playing, eye-patch wearing SPECTRE Number Two. Backed by the CIA and Largo's mistress, Bond's search culminates into an underwater battle with Largo's henchmen.

Thunderball was associated with a legal dispute in 1961 when former Ian Fleming collaborators Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham sued him shortly after the 1961 publication of the Thunderball novel, claiming he based it upon the screenplay the trio had earlier written in a failed cinematic translation of James Bond. The lawsuit was settled out of court and Broccoli and Saltzman fearing a rival McClory film allowed him to retain certain screen rights to the novel's story, plot, and characters. The film had a complex production, with four different units and about a fourth of the film consisting of underwater scenes.

The film was a critical success, and earned a total of $141.2 million worldwide, exceeding the earnings of the three previous Bond films and breaking box office records on the first weekend of opening in France and Italy. The film won an Academy Award for Best Effects, Special Visual Effects awarded to John Stears in 1966 and Ken Adam the production designer was also nominated for a BAFTA award.

James Bond (Connery) continues on his fourth mission, with his aim to recover two stolen warheads. They have been taken by the evil SPECTRE organisation. The world is held hostage and Bond heads to Nassau. Here, he meets the beautiful Domino (Auger) and is forced into a thrilling confrontation with SPECTRE agent Emilio Largo (Celi), on board his boat, the Disco Volante. Will 007 prevent the killing of millions of innocent victims? Written by simon_hrdng

SPECTRE hatches its most audacious plot to date when its agents hijack a British Vulcan bomber armed with two atomic bombs and hold NATO to ransom for the sum of #100,000,000. The British send all their "00" agents, including James Bond, to recover the warheads before SPECTRE carries out its threat to detonate the devices on the UK and US mainlands. Written by Dave Jenkins

In a bold and deadly scheme, the evil SPECTRE organization hijacks a NATO plane and seizes two atomic warheads, each capable of killing millions of innocent people. As the world is held hostage by the threat of a nuclear nightmare, Bond jumps into action, racing against the clock as the trail leads him to tropical Nassau. There he meets Emilio Largo, a high-ranking agent of SPECTRE, and the stunning Domino, with whom he shares an irresistible attraction. The confrontation builds to an epic battle on the ocean floor, as Bond and his allies fight to avert a catastrophe of immense proportions. Written by Robert Lynch

When a British Vulcan bomber is stolen with two atomic bombs on board, James Bond is one step ahead of his fellow agents when they are assigned to track down the aircraft. S.P.E.C.T.R.E. then announce that they have the plane and will detonate the bombs unless 100 million worth of uncut diamonds are delivered. He tracks the plane down to the Bahamas but still has to deal with the deadly Emilio Largo. Written by Graeme Roy

When two colleagues of James Bond are murdered, James follows the widow of a double agent who has been killed - and a confrontation ensues. The double agent is part of SPECTRE, and the organization's meeting in a secret lair in Paris regrets the agent's passing as it deals with new criminal business. Emilio Largo, a ruthless and flamboyant one-eyed enforcer, has hatched a scheme against the North Atlantic Treaty powers that begins at a rehabilitation clinic near an RAF airbase. Scheduled to pilot an RAF Vulcan strategic bomber on a normal "fail-safe" flight is Francois Derval, who is having a passionate affair with the magnificently endowed beauty Fiona Volpe - an affair that SPECTRE exploits. Soon, the Vulcan and its warload of two nuclear bombs has been hijacked, the bombs seized by Largo, for use in SPECTRE's most audacious extortion scheme yet. James Bond, however, finds a key clue in the sister of Francois Derval, Dominique "Domino" Derval, a beautiful young woman who is a passionate scuba-diver living in Nassau. When James investigates Domino, he comes into contact with a SPECTRE operation on the island, and he gets help from HMSS' man in Nassau, Pinder, and in old CIA chum Felix Leiter. But when James and Felix find out what SPECTRE is up to, it may be to late to save a major US coastal city from nuclear annihilation. Written by Michael Daly (fanstp43@aol.com)