Topol

Blofeld is alive and tries to kill Bond by trapping him inside a remote controlled helicopter. But Bond manages to take control back, locate Blofeld and attack him with the helicopter. The British information gathering vessel (spy boat) St Georges, which holds the Automatic Targeting Attack Communicator (ATAC), the system used by the Ministry of Defence to communicate with and co-ordinate the Royal Navy's fleet of Polaris submarines, is sunk after accidentally trawling an old naval mine in the Ionian Sea. MI6 agent James Bond (Sir Roger Moore) is ordered by the Minister of Defence, Sir Frederick Gray (Geoffrey Keen) and MI6 Chief of Staff, Bill Tanner (James Villiers), to retrieve the ATAC before the Soviets, as the transmitter could order attacks by the submarines' Polaris ballistic missiles. Q (Desmond Llewelyn), Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell). The head of the KGB, General Gogol (Walter Gotell), has also learned of the fate of the St Georges and already notified his contact in Greece. A marine archaeologist, Sir Timothy Havelock (Jack HEDLEY), who had been asked by the British to secretly locate the St Georges, is murdered with his wife by a Cuban hit-man, Hector Gonzales (Stefan Kalipha). Hector was identified by Timothy's daughter Melina (Hector was the pilot who flew Melina in to her Parent's yacht). Bond goes to Spain to find out who hired Gonzales. While spying on Gonzales' villa, Bond is captured by his men, but manages to escape as Gonzales is killed by a crossbow bolt. Outside, he finds the assassin was Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet), the daughter of Sir Timothy, and the two escape together. With the help of Bond, Q uses computerized technology to identify the man Bond saw paying off Gonzales as Belgian underworld enforcer Emile Leopold Locque (Michael Gothard) (a Belgian-hired assassin known by his octagonal-rimmed glasses), and then goes to Locque's possible base in Cortina, Italy. There Bond meets his contact, Luigi Ferrara (John Moreno), and a well-connected Greek businessman and intelligence informant, Aris Kristatos (Julian Glover), who tells Bond that Locque is employed by Milos Columbo (TOPOL), known as "the Dove" in the Greek underworld, Kristatos' former resistance partner during the Second World War. But now Columbo is Kristatos' enemy and he convinces Bond to side with him. Bond finds Melina in Cortina and she is attacked by assassins. She tells Bond that she came because Bond messaged her, when he didn't. Bond convinces Melina to let him handle the case. After Bond goes with Kristatos' protege, figure skater Bibi Dahl (Lynn-Holly Johnson), to a biathlon course, a group of three men, which includes East German bi-athlete (and KGB agent) Eric Kriegler (John Wyman), chases Bond, trying to kill him. Bond escapes and then goes with Ferrara to bid Bibi farewell in an ice rink, where he fends off another attempt on his life by three men in ice hockey gear. Ferrara is killed in Bond's car, with a dove pin in his hand. Bond then travels to Corfu in pursuit of Columbo. There, at the casino, Bond meets Kristatos and asks how to meet Columbo, not knowing that Columbo's men are secretly recording their conversation. After Columbo and his mistress, 'Countess' Lisl Von Schlaf (Cassandra Harris), argue, Bond offers to escort her home with Kristatos' car and driver. The two then spend the night together. In the morning, Lisl and Bond are ambushed by Locque and his men, who run Lisl down, killing her. Bond is captured by Columbo's men before Locque can kill him; Columbo then tells Bond that Locque was actually hired by Kristatos, who was a double agent during the resistance and is currently working for the KGB to retrieve the ATAC. To prove his accusation, Columbo and his crew take Bond on a raid on one of Kristatos' opium-processing warehouses in Albania, where Bond encounters Locque and uncovers naval mines similar to the one that sank the St Georges, suggesting it was not an accident. After the warehouse is destroyed, Locque escapes; but Bond gives chase and kills him. Bond then rendezvous with Melina on her yacht. Using her father's daily log, they locate the St Georges and recover the ATAC from the wreckage (They are attacked relentlessly by Kristatos's men, first inside the submerged ship, whom Bond blows up with the explosive charge tied to the ATAC. and then when he and Melina get inside the two-person mini-sub, they are again attacked by another mini-sub belonging to Kristatos. Bond manages to push the other mini sub inside the submerged ship and escape). However, Kristatos is already waiting for them when they surface, and he takes the ATAC. After the two escape an assassination attempt through shark-infested waters (Melina spots an underwater hiding place with air pockets), they discover Kristatos' meeting point with the KGB with the help of Melina's parrot, Max (who was present when Kristatos discusses the meeting point with Kriegler, the KGB agent). With the help of Columbo and four of his men, Bond and Melina break into St Cyril's, an abandoned mountaintop monastery. Bond climbs up the mountain face with climbing gear and then activates the basket system to pull the rest of his team up, including Columbo and Melina. As Columbo confronts Kristatos, Bond kills Kriegler. Bond retrieves the ATAC system and stops Melina from killing Kristatos after he surrenders. Kristatos tries to kill Bond with a hidden switchblade, but is killed by a knife thrown by Columbo; Gogol arrives by helicopter to collect the ATAC, but Bond throws it off the cliff, destroying it and declaring detente. Bond and Melina later spend a romantic evening aboard her yacht when he receives a call from the Prime Minister (in a cameo by Margaret Thatcher impersonator Janet Brown), leaving Max to flirt with the Prime Minister, much to the annoyance of Q, Grey, and Tanner.

The story opens with Emperor Ming the Merciless (Max von Sydow) declaring that he will first play with, and then destroy, the Earth, using seemingly natural disasters which include earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, and something called "hot hail". Sometime later on Earth, New York Jets football star "Flash" Gordon (Sam J. Jones) boards a small plane. Onboard, he meets travel journalist Dale Arden (Melody Anderson). Mid-flight, the cockpit is hit by a meteorite sent by Ming and the pilots are sucked out. Flash takes control, and manages to crash land the craft in a greenhouse owned by Dr. Hans Zarkov (Topol). Zarkov, who believes the disasters are being caused by an unknown source in space which is sending the moon toward the Earth, has secretly constructed a rocket ship with which he intends to investigate. Zarkov's assistant refuses to help him, so he lures Flash and Dale inside the rocket. After a struggle, the rocket launches into orbit, taking the trio through a vortex to the planet Mongo. There, they are taken prisoner. Flash, Dale and Zarkov are brought to the palace before Ming. Ming orders Dale to be prepared for his pleasure. Flash attempts to resist but is overpowered by Ming's bodyguards. Ming orders Zarkov to be reconditioned and Flash executed by lethal gas. Ming's daughter, Princess Aura (Ornella Muti), manipulates Ming's Chief Surgeon into helping her save Flash, to whom she is attracted, by having him injected with an immunity serum helps him escape from the palace. Zarkov is seemingly brainwashed by Klytus (Peter Wyngarde), the golden-masked de facto regent of Mongo and Ming's right hand man. Meanwhile, Aura and Flash flee in a shuttle to Arboria, the kingdom of Prince Barin (Timothy Dalton), Aura's lover. En route to Arboria, Aura reluctantly teaches Flash to use a telepathic communicator to contact Dale. He uses it let her know he is still alive. Dale informs Flash that she is locked in Ming's bedchamber. Encouraged by Flash, Dale escapes. Klytus dispatches Zarkov to intercept Dale, who informs Zarkov and a listening Klytus that Flash is alive. The two then escape, as Zarkov reveals he was able to resist the brainwashing process. But after fleeing the city, Dale and Zarkov are captured by Prince Vultan's (Brian Blessed) Hawkmen and taken to his kingdom, Sky City. Aura and Flash arrive at the forest moon Arboria. Aura asks Prince Barin to keep Flash safe. A distrustful Barin, who is in love with Aura, agrees not to kill Flash, but then contrives to force him to take part in a deadly ritual. Barin and Flash take turns sticking their hands into a hollow stump with a poisonous creature inside. When Barin compels Flash to take an extra turn, he pretends to be stung by the creature and begs for a quick death, using this as an opportunity to escape. Barin follows, but they are both captured by Prince Vultan's Hawkmen. Back in Mingo City, Klytus informs Ming that Flash is alive and gains Ming's authority to discover the person responsible. Aura returns alone to Mingo City only to be taken prisoner and tortured by Klytus and General Kala (Mariangela Melato), the head of Ming's secret police. They force Aura to confess to helping Flash escape, and Ming orders her to be banished to the ice moon Frigia after his wedding. Meanwhile, Flash and Barin are taken to Sky City, where Flash and Dale are briefly reunited. Flash is forced to fight Barin to the death, but Barin joins forces with Flash when he saves his life. Klytus arrives and threatens Vultan as well as everyone else for their insolence. Flash and Barin double-team up to overpower Klytus and kill him. Knowing that this will bring retribution on the Hawkmen, Vultan orders them to evacuate Sky City, leaving Barin, Flash, Dale and Zarkov behind. Ming's ship arrives shortly afterwards and he orders Barin, Zarkov and Dale to be taken aboard. Ming finds himself impressed with Flash, and offers him lordship over a subjugated Earth in exchange for fealty, as an alternative to death, which Flash refuses. Ming returns to his ship and gives the order to destroy Vultan's kingdom with Flash still on it. Flash cheats death by finding a rocket cycle in the city and escaping before Sky City is destroyed. Flash contacts Vultan, whose people have found refuge on Arboria, and they plot an attack on Mingo City. Flash pretends to attack Mingo City alone on his rocket cycle. General Kala dispatches the war rocket Ajax to bring back Flash's body, but the Hawkmen army intercepts and Flash and the Hawkmen seize control of the rocket after a fierce battle. In Mingo City, Princess Aura overpowers her guard and frees Barin and Zarkov from the execution chamber. Flash and the Hawkmen attack Mingo City in Ajax and Kala activates the city's defenses, as Ming and Dale's wedding starts. Mingo City's lightning field shield protecting the city can only be penetrated in time to save Earth by flying Ajax in to it in a suicide run. Flash volunteers to stay at the helm to ensure it is successful and allow the Hawkmen to invade the city. Just before the rocket hits, Barin manages to kill Kala then then sabotage the lightning field generators and Ajax plummets into the city's great hall where the wedding is taking place; the ship's bow impales Ming. Ming falls off the rocket nose, seriously wounded, and Flash offers to spare his life if he will stop the attack on Earth, but Ming refuses to submit. Ming attempts to use his power ring on Flash but his power falters and nothing happens. He then aims the ring at himself and is seemingly vaporized by its remaining power seconds before the counter to the destruction of the Earth reaches zero. A huge victory celebration ensues with planet Earth apparently saved and Barin is proclaimed the new ruler of Mongo. Vultan is named general of all of Mongo's armies including the Hawkmen. Thus Mongo's population can live in peace. Aura chooses to marry Barin and stand alongside him. Flash, Dale and Zarkov are asked to stay on Mongo for the time being since the vortex to Earth has been severed with Ming's demise. They all agree to stay, while Zarkov will plan on a way to get the three of them back to Earth somehow. The final shot focuses on Ming's empty power ring, as an unidentified individual picks it up. The words "The End?" fade onto the screen, followed by an echo of Ming's evil laughter.

Tevye (Topol), the philosophical village milkman, explains the customs of the Jewish people and their lives in the Russian shtetl of Anatevka in 1905, where life is as precarious as the perch of a fiddler on a roof ("Tradition"). At Tevye's home, everyone is busy preparing for the Sabbath meal. His sharp-tongued wife, Golde (Norma Crane), orders their five daughters, 19-year-old Tzeitel (Rosalind Harris), 17-year-old Hodel (Michele Marsh), 15-year-old Chava (Neva Small), 12-year-old Shprintze (Elaine Edwards), and 10-year-old Bielke (Candy Bonstein), about their tasks. Yente (Molly Picon), the village matchmaker, arrives with news for Golde. Lazar Wolf (Paul Mann), the wealthy butcher, a widower of Tevye's age, wants to wed Tzeitel, their eldest daughter. Tevye must be persuaded to meet Lazar to arrange the marriage. The two middle daughters, Hodel and Chava, speculate excitedly about what their mother and the matchmaker were talking about, but Tzeitel warns them not be so hasty. They are poor, so their parents will have no choice but to take whatever husband Yente brings ("Matchmaker"). Tzeitel is not eager to have a match found for her, as she is already in love with the tailor, Motel Kamzoil (Leonard Frey), her friend since childhood. Tevye's horse is lame, and he must pull the milk cart himself. He asks God, who it would hurt "If I Were a Rich Man?" The men of the village confront Tevye, as he is late delivering their milk and cheese. Avram (Alfie Scopp), the bookseller, has news from the outside world about pogroms and expulsions. A student from Kiev, Perchik (Paul Michael Glaser), newly arrived in town, hears their conversation and scolds them for doing nothing more than talk. The men dismiss Perchik as a radical, but Tevye takes a liking to him and invites him home for the Sabbath meal, offering him room and board in exchange for tutoring his two youngest daughters. Golde tells Tevye to meet Lazar Wolf after the Sabbath but does not tell him why, knowing that Tevye does not like Lazar. Tzeitel is afraid that Yente will find her a husband before Motel asks Tevye for her hand. But Motel resists: he is shy and afraid of Tevye's temper, and Jewish tradition says that a matchmaker arranges marriages. Motel is also very poor and is saving up to buy a sewing machine before he approaches Tevye, to show that he can support a wife. The family gathers around for the "Sabbath Prayer." After the Sabbath, Tevye visits Lazar Wolf. Teyve assumes that Lazar wants to buy his milk cow. After the misunderstanding is cleared up, Tevye agrees to let Lazar marry Tzeitel. With a rich butcher, he knows that his daughter will never go hungry. The two go to Mordcha's inn to seal their agreement with a drink. Many of the villagers are there, including a group of non-Jews. All join in the celebration of Lazar's good fortune; even the Russian youths at the inn join in the celebration and show off their dancing skills ("To Life"). Outside the inn, Tevye bumps into the Russian Constable (Louis Zorich), who has jurisdiction over the Jews in the town. The Constable warns him that there is going to be a "demonstration" in the coming weeks (a euphemism for a minor pogrom). The Constable has sympathy for the Jewish community but is powerless to prevent the violence due to his loyalty to the Czar. The next morning, a hungover Tevye delivers the news to his family that he has agreed that Tzeitel will marry Lazar Wolf. Golde is overjoyed, but Tzeitel is horrified and pleads with Tevye to reconsider. Motel arrives and gathers the courage to tell Tevye that he and Tzeitel gave each other a pledge to marry. Tevye is outraged at this breach of tradition, but Motel argues that even a poor tailor is entitled to some happiness. Tevye is impressed when the once-timid young tailor stands up for himself and, moved by his daughter's earnestness, gives his assent ("Tevye's Monologue"); but he worries about how to break the news to Golde. An overjoyed Motel celebrates with Tzeitel ("Miracle of Miracles"). That night in bed with Golde, Tevye has an inspiration: he tells Golde that he has had a nightmare ("Tevye's Dream"). She offers to interpret his dream, and Tevye "describes" it. Golde's grandmother Tzeitel (for whom their daughter is named) returned from the grave to bless the marriage of her namesake, but to Motel, not to Lazar Wolf. Lazar's formidable wife, Fruma Sarah, also rises from her grave to warn, in graphic terms, of severe retribution if Tzeitel marries Lazar. Tevye's superstitious wife is terrified, and she quickly agrees that Tzeitel must marry Motel, much to Tevye's secret relief. On the road outside of town, Tevye's middle daughter, the bookish Chava, is teased and intimidated by some Russian youths, but one of them, Fyedka (Ray Lovelock), protects her, dismissing the others. He offers Chava the loan of a book, and a secret relationship begins. The wedding day of Tzeitel and Motel arrives, and all the Jews join the ceremony ("Sunrise, Sunset") and the celebration ("The Wedding Dance"). Lazar gives a fine gift, but an argument arises with Tevye over the broken agreement. Perchik ends the tiff by breaking another tradition: he crosses the barrier between the men and women to dance with Tevye's daughter Hodel. The celebration ends abruptly when a group of Russians rides into the village to perform the "demonstration." They disrupt the party, damaging the wedding gifts and wounding Perchik, who attempts to fight back, and wreaking more destruction in the village. Ever practical, Tevye advises everyone to clean up the mess. Months later, Perchik tells Hodel he must return to Kiev to work for the revolution. He proposes marriage, admitting that he loves her, and says that he will send for her. She agrees ("Now I Have Everything"). They tell Tevye that they are engaged, and he is appalled that they are flouting tradition by making their own match, especially as Perchik is leaving. When he forbids the marriage, Perchik and Hodel inform him that they do not seek his permission, only his blessing. After some soul searching, Tevye finally relents; the world is changing, and he must change with it ("Tevye's Rebuttal"). Tevye explains these events to an astonished Golde. "Love," he says, "it's the new style." Tevye asks Golde, "Do You Love Me?" She admits that after 25 years of living and struggling together and raising five daughters, she does. Other events are moving apace. Yente tells Tzeitel that she saw Chava with Fyedka. News spreads quickly in Anatevka ("The Rumor"). Perchik has been arrested during a demonstration in Kiev and is being exiled to Siberia, and Hodel is determined to join him there. At the railway station, she explains to her father that her home is with her beloved wherever he may be, yet she will always love her family ("Far from the Home I Love"). Hodel then leaves on the train while Tevye watches her leave. Meanwhile, Tzeitel and Motel become parents when their son is born, and the latter finally buys the sewing machine for which he has long scrimped and saved. Weeks pass, and Chava finally gathers the courage to ask Tevye to allow her marriage to Fyedka... a young Christian. Again Tevye reaches deep into his soul, but marriage outside the Jewish faith is a line that he cannot cross. He forbids Chava ever to speak to Fyedka again. When Golde brings the news that Chava has eloped with Fyedka and they got married in a Russian Orthodox church, Tevye wonders where he went wrong ("Chava Sequence"). Chava returns and tries to reason with him, but he refuses to speak to her and tells the rest of the family to consider her dead. In a soliloquy, Tevye concludes that he cannot accept Chava marrying a non-Jew. He accuses her of abandoning the Jewish faith and disowns her. Meanwhile, rumors are spreading of the Russians forcing Jewish villagers to leave their villages. While the villagers are gathered, the Constable arrives to tell everyone that they have three days to pack up and leave the town. In shock, they reminisce about the miserable town, and how hard it will be to leave what has for so long been their home ("Anatevka"). Tevye, his family and friends begin packing up to leave, heading for various parts of Europe, Palestine, and the United States. Yente, the Matchmaker, plans to emigrate to Jerusalem, and says goodbye to Golde with an embrace before departing. Lazar plans to emigrate to Chicago, to live with his former brother in law, whom he detests, but "a relative is a relative". Lazar and Tevye share one last embrace before departing. Tevye receives a letter from Hodel mentioning that she is working hard in a large town in Siberia while Perchik stays in the Siberian prison. It is hoped that when Perchik is released, they will join the others in the United States. Chava and her husband Fyedka come to Tevye's house one last time and tell the family that they are leaving for Kraków in Galicia, being unable to stay in a place that would force innocent people out. Tevye shows signs of forgiving Chava by murmuring under his breath "And God be with you", silently urging Tzeitel to repeat his words to Chava. Golde calls out to Chava and Fyedka, telling them where they will be living in New York City with a relative. Motel and Tzeitel and their child go to Poland as well but will join the rest of the family when they have saved up enough money. The Constable and the Russian soldiers silently watches as the mass evacuation of Anatevka takes place. The community forms their circle at a crossroad one last time before scattering in different directions. In the final scene, Tevye, his wife Golde, and their two youngest daughters, Shprintze and Bielke, somberly walk down the desolate snowy road with Tevye pulling the cart with all their belongings in it. As Tevye stops for a short rest, he sees the fiddler behind them in the distance playing. Tevye motions to him to come along with him... symbolizing that even though he must leave his town, his Jewish traditions will always be with him.