A mine in the Ionian Sea accidentally sinks the spy ship St Georges,
the ship was equipped with the ATAC communications device, and both
the British and the Russians are seeking it. Marine archaeologist
Sir Timothy Havelock's daughter Melina (Carole Bouquet) returns home
and sees her parents murdered by Hector Gonzales, a Cuban hitman.
James Bond (Roger Moore) is briefed by the Chief of Staff that the
Havelocks were looking for the ATAC - Bond therefore travels to Madrid
where Gonzales is staying, and witnesses Gonzales being paid by a
ruthless-looking man. A crossbow bolt fired by Melina kills Gonzales,
Bond helps them both escape, and Melina is set on revenge although
Bond tries to dissuade her.
Bond identifies the paymaster as Emile Leopold Locque, a Belgian
enforcer last seen in Cortina, northern Italy. Bond liases with the
local agent, Ferrara, who introduces him to Ari Kristatos (Julian
Glover), his contact among the Greek underworld. Kristatos tells Bond
that Locque works for his rival, Colombo (Topol). Kristatos is sponsor
to Bibi Dahl, a young ice skater, and Bond agrees to take her to the
biathlon. Bond spots Melina, who was lured to Cortina by a fake telegram
from 007, and saves her life before packing her off back to Corfu.
Bond and Bibi watch Erich Kriegler, an East German champion, perform
in the biathlon. Locque's thugs with the aid of Kriegler try to kill
Bond in an extended ski chase, a further attempt on Bond’s life
is made when he says goodbye to Bibi, after which he discovers Ferrara
dead clutching a white dove, Colombo's sign.
Bond travels to Corfu and meets Kristatos, who points out Colombo
to him. To find out more about Bond, Colombo's mistress, Countess
Lisl, makes an unsubtle play for him to which he responds, but the
next morning she is killed by Locque. Men wearing clothing with a
white dove insignia save Bond, he awakes in Colombo's headquarters
where the smuggler persuades him that Kristatos is really the enemy,
and will prove it during a raid on a factory in Albania. This he does,
and at the end Bond kills Locque.
Bond and Melina find the wreck of the St Georges and collect the
ATAC; Kristatos’s men in specially equipped diving suits and
a small mini-sub attack them. When they surface, they find Kristatos
waiting. He relieves them of die ATAC, then heads to St Cyril's where
he awaits collection by the Russians. Bond and Melina are keelhauled
but they manage to cut themselves free and use a spare diving tank
luckily left on the sea floor. The Havelocks' parrot, Max, repeats
the phrase 'ATAC to St Cyril's' to them, and, via Colombo, Bond discovers
that this is a monastery at the top of a supposedly insurmountable
mountain. Bond climbs it, and lets a basket down to allow Colombo,
his men and Melina, to come up. Tension is rising in Kristatos's camp,
as he tells Bibi and her trainer that they are going to Cuba. They
therefore decide to leave, and help Bond and his party deal with Kristatos's
guards. General Gogol arrives to collect the ATAC, but before he can
get it Bond throws it off the mountain. He stops Melina from killing
Kristatos, but Colombo deals with him anyway.