Thunderball Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tom Jones

1965 (the year "Thunderball" was released) was early in Tom Jones' rise to international stardom. He also recorded the theme song for another film that year - "What's New Pussycat?", and that song became a lifelong Tom Jones anthem. Even the name Tom Jones was taken from a film. Jones' manager, Gordon Mills, took the name from the film, "Tom Jones" which was very popular and had won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1963.

When the "Thunderball" theme was recorded by Tom Jones in the recording studio, he held the final high note so long that he fainted.

Answer: A jetpack strapped to his back

Colonel Bouvar couldn't resist attending his own funeral disguised as his widow. Bond confronts him at his mansion and kills him. He has to fly off the roof of the mansion with a jetpack to escape.

Answer: Shrublands

Shrublands is a very exclusive health spa and clinic. At Shrublands, Bond meets Count Lippe and, inadvertently, the mysterious Angelo Palazzi. Mr. Palazzi is heavily bandaged and his face cannot be seen. He is supposedly at Shrublands to recover from a bad auto accident. Actually, he is the man SPECTRE is using to replace Commander Derval of NATO.

He is really there to take the place of Derval in a flight at the nearby NATO air base. Because he has had extensive plastic surgery so that he looks like Derval, he remains bandaged at the clinic. Later Bond finds the real Derval's body in the clinic and begins to suspect that something very sinister is taking place.

The NATO flight with the "new" Derval aboard launches the beginning of SPECTRE's fantastic plan of world blackmail.

The location for Shrublands was a converted hotel near Pinewood Studios. It is the Chalfont Park House, Chalfont Park, Buckinghamshire.

Answer: Red Dragon of Macau

We never hear the Tong sign or the Red Dragon of Macau mentioned again in the film. However, having seen the Tong sign on Count Lippe's arm, Bond decides to search his room while Lippe is out. Bond is seen leaving the room and Lippe later attempts to kill Bond while he is strapped to a motorized traction table.

Answer: 2 Atomic bombs

SPECTRE steals two atomic bombs and blackmails the world to pay to get them back. The two atomic bombs are on a routine NATO flight which leaves from an airbase very close to the Shrublands health spa and clinic. It is at Shrublands where SPECTRE has hidden Angelo Palazzi. Palazzi has had extensive plastic surgery to look exactly like Commander Derval, who is to be a member of the flight with the bombs aboard. Because Palazzi looks exactly like Derval, he is able to get onto the airbase and aboard the flight.

The real Derval is killed and left at Shrublands to be identified as Angelo Palazzi. The "fake" Derval poisons the crew during the flight through their oxygen masks, killing them all instantly. He then lands the plane in the water near the Bahamas and SPECTRE takes the bombs off the aircraft as it rests on the bottom of the ocean.

Answer: Q

Q says this to Bond when Q arrives in Nassua. As usual, Q comes bearing gifts of an unusual and top secret nature. In this group, there is an underwater camera for taking pictures in the dark with infrared film, a pocket size underwater breathing apparatus, a camera that is also a geiger counter, and a tracking device that Bond has to swallow.

Answer: Diamonds

Well they are a girl's best friend. SPECTRE insists that the payment be "blue-white flawless diamonds between three and eight carats, total value to be not less than 100 million pounds, present market price." This is specified in the recording SPECTRE sends which gives instructions for payment.

Answer: "Somebody's probably lost a dog."

Even in the face of very real danger, Bond always has that bit of wry humor. He is always ready with a quip to lighten the moment. This occurs in the office just before Bond enters the huge conference room, where he and the other 00 agents hear about the stolen atomic bombs and the blackmail by SPECTRE.

Answer: Bond shoots him with a spear gun.

Vargas finds Bond and Domino on the beach and is sneaking up behind them when Domino spots him. She warns Bond, who then picks up a spear gun and shoots Vargas, pinning him to a palm tree.

Answer: Disco Volante

It is the Disco Volante, registered in Panama. Disco Volante is Italian for "flying saucer". We hear the name of the yacht frequently in the film and members of the crew can be seen wearing t-shirts with the name on it while on board. However, we only actually see the name on the stern of the yacht in one scene.

When Largo attempts to escape after the film's climactic underwater battle sequence the stern of the yacht is clearly seen. It reads 'Disco Volante' and 'Panama' beneath it.