Bond Underwater

Underwater sequences have long been a staple of the 007 series. From huge-scale battles to a thrilling set-piece of keelhauling to gut-wrenching emotional goodbyes, Bond’s adventures beneath the waves have delivered a wide range of drama and, in so doing, tested the filmmakers to the max. 

Thunderball (1965)

BTS (Beneath The Surface): The first and biggest 007 sub-aqua adventure. In the Bahamas to recover two nuclear warheads stolen by SPECTRE Operative Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi), James Bond (Sean Connery) infiltrates a squad of SPECTRE divers sent to retrieve the missing missiles and plant them off the coast of Florida. Bond barely escapes an underwater skirmish and informs CIA agent Felix Leiter (Rik Van Nutter) of the warheads’ whereabouts. Leiter calls in a crack unit of US Navy frogmen who, along with Bond, parachute into the water and engage in a massive battle with Largo’s men. Bond takes out numerous SPECTRE divers, be it through high-tech wizardry or his bare hands, before leaving to chase Largo’s hydrofoil, the Disco Volante. 

BTS (Behind The Scenes): Directed by Ricou Browning, there were 18 underwater sequences comprising 83 scenes. For the big battle, the good guys wore orange, and the bad guys wore black to help audiences make the distinction. To up the danger factor, Browning had many sharks captured for the film and included them at every opportunity.

You Only Live Twice (1967)

BTS (Beneath The Surface): During a mission in Hong Kong, Bond (Sean Connery) is gunned down by two assailants and left for dead. A funeral at sea is arranged, and the casket is ceremoniously slid into the water. When it reaches the seabed, MI6 agents in scuba gear retrieve the casket and take it to a submerged submarine. “Request permission to come aboard, sir”, says a very much alive 007 after he is released from the coffin. Bond later enters Japan without detection by being fired from the submarine’s torpedo tube.

BTS (Behind The Scenes): The burial at sea was shot by the second unit, directed by Peter Hunt, in Gibraltar on board HMS Tenby.

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

BTS (Beneath The Surface): Now played by Roger Moore, Bond returned to the deep blue sea a decade later. Investigating marine industrialist Karl Stromberg (Curd Jürgens), the trail leads to Sardinia, where 007 and Russian agent Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) are chased by Stromberg’s men around winding roads until Bond’s Lotus Esprit drives off a jetty and into the sea, transforming into a submersible vehicle. Coming under attack from Stromberg’s men, Q Dept trickery such as depth charges, surface-to-air missiles and black dye (think octopus ink) sees off the attackers both above and below the surface.

BTS (Behind The Scenes): The special effects unit, led by Derek Meddings, started work in Nassau in August 1976. Shot by Lamar Boren, the miniature Lotus was manipulated around by ultrathin wires. For the moment the Lotus goes underwater, the model was simply let go by a diver and captured as it floated down. 

For Your Eyes Only (1981)

BTS (Beneath The Surface): Bond’s mission this time is to find the missing ATAC (Automatic Targeting And Attack Communicator), a valuable offensive and defensive device desired by the Russians but hidden in the wreckage of the spy ship the St. George off the coast of Albania. 007 and companion Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet) explore the ship wreck in a mini-submarine and, after some nifty bomb diffusing, retrieve the ATAC. 

The pair escape a run-in with a diver and a mini-sub but are captured on the surface by heroin smuggler Kristatos (Julian Glover) who takes the ATAC from them. The pair are towed behind Kristatos’ yacht, acting as bait for sharks and narrowly missing jagged coral. Bond is able to snap the line binding them, and they retreat to a scuba tank Melina left on the ocean floor. Kristatos exits, believing Bond and Melina to be dead.

BTS (Behind The Scenes): The underwater sequences were shot in the Bahamas by an underwater unit led by Al Giddings. For close-ups of the actors, Carole Bouquet had an inner ear problem and couldn’t spend any time in the water, so her reaction shots were shot through the glass of a fish tank, with a wind machine to make her hair float. Bubbles were added later. 

A View To A Kill (1985)

BTS (Beneath The Surface): Bond (Roger Moore) goes underwater in two very different circumstances in A View To A Kill. The first puts an unconscious Bond in the back of a Rolls-Royce that is pushed into a lake by May Day (Grace Jones). Waking up, Bond escapes from the sinking car and survives underwater by cleverly breathing air from one of the car’s Michelin tyres.

The second sees 007 using scuba gear to explore the underwater pumping system in the San Francisco Bay. As the pumps are turned on, Bond thinks quickly and jams it into the pump propeller to avoid being chopped up.

BTS (Behind The Scenes): Producer Cubby Broccoli’s Rolls-Royce was used on dry land, but it is a double that is rolled into the water.

Licence To Kill (1989)

BTS (Beneath The Surface): Underwater action features almost from the get-go in Timothy Dalton’s second 007 adventure. In a daring underwater rescue, divers free drug dealer Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi) from an armoured van after it has been pushed off a bridge. The rest of the film is filled with sea-bound action, from Bond avoiding detection by swimming under a manta to a fight underwater with a quartet of divers, and 007 using a stolen speargun to grapple onto the pontoon of a seaplane. As it takes off, it pulls Bond to the surface, water-skiing without the skis. 

BTS (Behind The Scenes): The scenes involving Bond at sea were shot in Isla Mujeres, Cancún, directed by Ramón Bravo. The stunt of Bond water-skiing on the surface was performed by barefoot-skiing world champion Dave Reinhardt with close-ups of Timothy Dalton added later.

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

BTS (Beneath The Surface): After performing a death-defying HALO jump from a Fairchild C-123 aircraft high above Vietnamese waters, Bond (Pierce Brosnan) swims down to identify the sunken naval frigate, HMS Devonshire. 

Lighting a flare, he explores the flooded interior of the vessel, moving past dead sailors, and enters the missile room where he encounters Chinese agent Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh). Soon, an underwater avalanche traps them in the sunken wreck and, removing their scuba gear, they swim through the torpedo tube to safety. 

BTS (Behind The Scenes): Pierce Brosnan and Michelle Yeoh filmed with the underwater unit at Pinewood’s 007 stage, the first time the stage was used for a Bond film since The Living Daylights.

Casino Royale (2006)

BTS (Beneath The Surface): After Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) betrays Bond (Daniel Craig) in Venice by keeping the winnings from Casino Royale, Bond tracks her down to a gutted Venetian villa undergoing restoration, supported by large flotation devices. Shooting at the men collecting the money, Bond ruptures the flotation bags, causing the building to sink. 

Meeting Bond’s eyes (“I’m sorry, James”), Vesper locks herself in the lift as it plummets into the water. 007 dives in and does his best to wrestle open the metal elevator gates. Vesper grabs his hands, and the couple spend a tender moment together. Bond forces his way in and brings her back to the surface, doing his best to resuscitate her — that she does not respond leaves Bond helpless and distraught.

BTS (Behind The Scenes): Once Daniel Craig took the mask off under the water and lost an air supply, the actor had no more than a minute to deliver the emotion of the scene. “You’re given a spot to look at,” recalled Craig. “You try and play love and anger but you might as well be acting to a brick wall.”