20 Things You Didn’t Know About Thunderball (1965)

4. “And He Strikes Like Thunderball!”

As mentioned, retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Charles Russhon used his military connections to procure an experimental rocket fuel so that the filmmakers could destroy the Disco Volante - now a high-speed hydrofoil - when it crashes into the coral reef and explodes.

However, the fuel was so powerful that, when the explosion was set off, the reverberations from it blew out the windows in Nassau’s Bay Street approximately 30 miles away! This was because it arrived late and John Stears and his crew had not been able to test it.

When the Disco Volante was detonated on location, it simply vanished, leaving Stears and his crew nonplussed, wondering where the wreckage was. They soon discovered that it was raining down upon them from above and they dove out of its way; fortunately, no-one was hurt during filming.

Stears won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for Thunderball, making it the second Bond film to win an Oscar.

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I started writing for WhatCulture in July 2020. I have always enjoyed reading and writing. I have contributed to several short story competitions and I have occasionally been fortunate enough to have my work published. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I also started reviewing films on my Facebook page. Numerous friends and contacts suggested that I should start my own website for reviewing films, but I wanted something a bit more diverse - and so here I am! My interests focus on film and television mainly, but I also occasionally produce articles that venture into other areas as well. In particular, I am a fan of the under appreciated sequel (of which there are many), but I also like the classics and the mainstream too.