The Bond series went well and truly comic strip with this gadget-filled extravaganza that too often cuts plotline corners to squeeze in all the hi-tech hardware. Playing 007 for the fourth time, Sean Connery is still getting a kick out of the role, but he's less the suave spy and more the man of action here than in previous outings. Adolfo Celi makes a worthy opponent, but Claudine Auger is one of the least memorable Bond girls. Director Terence Young never quite solves the pacing problems posed by filming underwater, but John Stears's Oscar-winning special effects more than compensate.

A criminal organization has obtained two nuclear bombs and are asking for a 100 million pound ransom in the form of diamonds in seven days or they will use the weapons. The secret service sends James Bond to the Bahamas to once again save the world.