James Bond investigates the hijacking of British and Russian submarines carrying nuclear warheads, with the help of a K.G.B. agent whose lover he killed.
James Bond is back again and his new mission is to find out how a Royal Navy Polaris submarine holding sixteen nuclear warheads simply disappeared while on patrol. Bond joins Major Anya Amasova and takes on a a web-handed mastermind, known as Karl Stromberg, as well as his henchman Jaws, who has a mouthful of metal teeth. Bond must track down the location of the missing submarine before the warheads are fired.—simon
As British and Soviet ballistic missile submarines vanish into thin air, the British Secret Service and the KGB send their top agents to get to the bottom of the mystery. Now, suave MI6 agent James Bond and his beautiful Russian counterpart Major Anya Amasova must cooperate on the time-sensitive, peril-laden mission to trace a dangerous megalomaniac bent on ushering in a new era. However, personal grudges and a formidable, steel-toothed adversary stand in the way of success. Can Bond, and the spy who loved him, ferret out the delusional super-villain before he obliterates the world?—Nick Riganas
A shipping magnate, Karl Stromberg, has employed two brilliant scientists to develop a submarine tracking system. Once it is finished, he assures them of multimillion-dollar payouts to their Swiss bank accounts, but not before ruthlessly murdering his young assistant by dumping her into a tank inhabited by a man-eating tiger shark. Shortly afterward, British and Soviet submarines vanish while on routine moves, and Bond is called into action. Also called to duty is his Soviet counterpart, Major Anya Amasova. Though they are initially working against each other, the British Secret Service and K.G.B. begin to work together to find the microfilm that contains the tracking system. Bond and Anya must deal with Stromberg's goons, who have been ordered to eliminate anyone who comes into contact with the microfilm. One of these is Jaws, a seven-foot towering Goliath with metal teeth. When a U.S. submarine is also hijacked, Bond and Anya must move quickly to avert World War III, which Stromberg is hoping to start.—Derek O'Cain
The British and Russians are amazed when a submarine from each country disappears, and the only link is a microfilm detailing the movements of the British submarine meaning that somehow a submarine can be tracked via it's "wake". The British sends Agent James Bond and the Russians send Major Anya Amasova, otherwise known as "Triple-X". After first fighting against each other over the microfilm, the two agents are ordered to work together against the real enemy, mad shipping billionaire Carl Stromberg who plans to use the submarines to destroy the world via nuclear missiles so that any survivors are forced to live in Stromberg's dream world beneath the sea. However, James must also defend himself against Anya as she finds out that James had killed her lover on a previous mission.—Lee Horton <[email protected]>
The Pre-title teaser shows three different events: first, a British nuclear submarine experiences a serious disruption of power. The captain (Bryan Marshall) looks through the periscope and sees something foreboding, however we do not see what he does. In Moscow, Colonel Gogol (Walter Gotell) hears from M (Bernard Lee) that the British sub has disappeared. Gogol becomes concerned, especially since his own government has lost contact with one of its own subs. He promises the aid of his government and calls his best agent, Anya "XXX" Amasova (Barbara Bach) to investigate.
In Austria, James Bond is enjoying a romantic encounter in a remote cabin in the Alps when he's called back to duty by M. He dons his ski gear and leaves, his lover says she needs him to which James replies, "So does England!" As James skis away from the cabin, he's pursued by a group of Russian agents. James is able to evade his attackers and, using a ski pole that doubles as a type of rocket gun, kills one of them, a man who happens to be XXX's lover. Bond approaches a sheer cliff and skis over it, free falling several thousand feet until he opens a parachute decorated with the British Union Jack, escaping his attackers.
XXX reports to Gogol in Moscow where she's given her new assignment - the search for missing submarines. Gogol also informs her that her lover was killed in an operation. Amasova is visibly shaken but says she'll dedicate herself to the mission at hand. Bond meets with M at a British naval yard where the mission path for the lost submarine is studied: Bond shows M, the Minister of Defense Frederick Gray (Geoffrey Keen) and others a transparency that shows the route had somehow been stolen. M orders Bond to Cairo on his first lead.
In the Mediterranean Sea, two scientists who have developed a sophisticated submarine tracking device, meet with Carl Stromberg (Curt Jürgens), a rich and powerful businessman who lives in a specially designed city, Atlantis, that can submerge beneath the ocean surface. He thanks the two scientists for their invention, but before he allows them to leave, he deals with his secretary, who has stolen information from him; she enters his elevator & Stromberg opens the floor dropping her into a large water tank where a tiger shark eats her alive. As the two men leave by helicopter, Stromberg activates a bomb that destroys it and kills them. Stromberg also meets with two hired assassins, the fat Shandor and the tall Jaws (Richard Kiel), so named because he has steel teeth.
Bond arrives in Egypt, meeting with a old contact Sheikh Hosein (Edward De Souza), an Arab sheikh and old friend of Bond; they were schoolmates at Cambridge, who tells him to find a man named Fekkesh (Nadim Sawalha). Bond goes to the man's house where a woman tells him Fekkesh isn't home and refuses to reveal his location. As Bond kisses her, Shandor tries to shoot him. Bond uses the woman to take the bullet and chases after Shandor, fighting with him & dangling him over the edge of the house's roof. He forces the assassin to reveal Fekkesh's location and then lets him fall off the building, killing him. Bond goes to Giza to meet Fekkesh at the pyramids where he sees XXX has already found the man. While the pyramid light show goes on, Fekkesh notices Jaws standing to the side. He quickly leaves, Jaws in pursuit. Jaws corners the man and kills him with a bite to his neck. Jaws also escapes Bond.
In order to continue the investigation, Bond must meet with a man named Max Kalba (Vernon Dobtcheff) at his club in Cairo. Amasova also meets him there and the two meet with Kalba to obtain a valuable microfilm containing designs for the submarine tracking system that may have been used to abduct the missing boats. Kalba prepares to negotiate a price with the two government's agents when he's called away to the phone. Jaws kills him in the phone booth after obtaining the microfilm. Bond and XXX stow away in Jaws' van and he drives out to a site of ruins in the desert. The two agents chase Jaws through the ruins, finally cornering him and obtaining the microfilm. Bond and XXX escape in Jaws' vehicle and make it to a boat on the Nile. Bond examines the microfilm on board without Amasova's knowing and the two settle down for the journey. XXX renders Bond unconscious and takes the microfilm.
Bond recovers and reports to another site of ruins where he finds Amasova, Gogol and M waiting. With the assistance of Q (Desmond Llewelyn), they examine the microfilm, which is worthless, a conclusion that Bond came to when examining it on the boat. However, they do find evidence of a symbol hidden in it that identifies Carl Stromberg. Their superiors order Bond and Amasova to investigate on the island of Sardinia, where Stromberg lives. The two travel there by train in a scene that recalls the train ride in From Russia With Love. They are attacked by Jaws, however, Bond is able to fight him off and expel him from the train.
Upon arriving in Sardinia, Bond and XXX meet Q who has brought Bond's car, a Lotus Esprit. The two meet with Stromberg's assistant, Naomi (Caroline Munro), who takes them out to Atlantis. Bond poses as a marine biologist and meets with Stromberg, who tells him of his love of the sea and how an underwater city (like the model he has in his private chamber) may be the only hope for the future of humanity. As they leave, Naomi is telling Anya about Stromberg's largest ship, a supertanker named the Liparus. Bond remarks that the design of her bow is unusual. As they speed away in Bond's Lotus, they are attacked by Stromberg's men, led by Jaws. Bond is able to throw off their pursuit using the car's defenses. They are also attacked by Naomi in a helicopter. As the chase continues, Bond drives off the end of a pier and converts his car to a small submarine. He uses a small missile to destroy Naomi's helicopter, killing her. He proceeds to Atlantis, now submerged. Unable to find anything conclusive from outside, they prepare to leave and are attacked by several frogmen and mini-subs. Bond destroys them all with the Lotus' defenses, however, they are forced to surface on a beach when the Lotus is damaged by an underwater mine.
Back at their hotel, the two plan their next moves. When Bond lights one of Anya's cigarettes, she notices that the lighter he uses is from the city near where her lover was killed. She confronts Bond on the issue, to which Bond replies that he acted in self-defense when he killed the man. Anya vows revenge as soon as their current mission is over.
The two spies next find themselves on an American submarine monitoring the Liparus. While surveying it, the sub is rendered inoperable and is swallowed by the Liparus; the bow of the Liparus opens, revealing a large submarine dock inside. The crew are forced out of the sub and taken prisoner. Bond and XXX are identified almost immediately and are also taken prisoner. Stromberg plans to use the nuclear missiles aboard both the American and Russian subs to ignite a nuclear war between the superpowers. The resulting nuclear holocaust will destroy the surface world, leaving Stromberg the opportunity to rule an underwater kingdom.
Stromberg departs for Atlantis with XXX, leaving his crew to begin the assault. Bond escapes before he can be imprisoned and frees the British, Russian and American sailors. They lead an assault on the Liparus' bridge, successfully transferring the coordinates of each submarine to the other, causing them to destroy each other. The remainder of the crews board the British sub and escape the Liparus before it explodes and sinks. They set course for Atlantis, which has been ordered to be destroyed. Bond argues that Anya is still on Atlantis and should be rescued first. He is given a wet-bike (an early Jet-Ski) and arrives at Atlantis ahead of the sub. Searching for Anya, he encounters Jaws and outwits him, using an electromagnetic crane to seize his metal teeth and drop him into the shark tank. The shark is no match for it's namesake; Jaws quickly bites and kills it.
Bond next finds Stromberg in his massive dining room. Stromberg attempts to kill Bond with a harpoon gun located under the dining table but misses. Bond returns fire, hitting the villain in the chest, killing him. Bond finds Anya in a torture room slowly filling with water. The two escape from Atlantis in a pod that surfaces. Jaws himself is also seen escaping the stricken Atlantis and swims off. The escape pod is found by a British vessel which captures it. M, Minister of Defense Gray and Moneypenny find the two agents in the midst of a romantic encounter inside.
