Original subtitles

(OMINOUS MUSIC)

Knight to King one.

Lovely.

Yeah.

INTERCOM: Bridge? C.I.C.

We have a surface contact bearing 2-7-0 at 2,000 yards.

Just appeared.

Bridge, aye.

Ask the lookouts what they see in the port beam.

Atent, port beam, 2,000 yards.

Bridge, aye.

Lookouts report what appears to be a submarine, sir.

A submarine?

I saw a World War II German U-boat.

What did you see?

The same thing, sir.

Signals. Raise him on the light, get their name and nationality.

Aye, sir.

And give...

Na... nationality.

Tell him to stand clear, I am armed and dangerous.

Captain.

"Stand clear"?

Who the devil does he think he is?

Tell him he's entering U.S. territorial waters and to stand clear.

Repeat: stand clear. Aye, sir.

Go to general quarters.

Sound general quarters.

(SIREN WAILS)

She's coming to general quarters.

Stand by to dive.

Start sending our message.

He's maintaining course and speed, sir.

Very well. Bring all guns to bear.

Yes, sir.

(HYDRAULICS WHIR)

The idiots! They're turning their guns on us.

Forward torpedo room: fire one!

Take 'er down! Dive! Dive! Dive!

She's diving, sir.

Lookout reports torpedo wave, port quarter, sir.

Left full rudder! All ahead flank!

Left full rudder! Aye, sir!

All ahead flank, aye, sir.

Very well.

(LAUGHS)

I didn't really think we could hit them with one of those antiques...

but now at least we've made them sit up and take notice.

Next time they won't be so rash.

Thank you.

Signal bridge received this message before it submerged, sir.

"Demand twenty million dollars or will contaminate."

Is that the whole message?

Yes, sir. That's all they sent before the dive.

Whoever that is gotta be crazy!

Take a flash message to Fleet Headquarters.

"Have evaded torpedo fired from what appears to be...

"a World War II German U-Boat."

FLIGHT COM: It looks good at NASA One.

B-52 PILOT: Roger.

BCS Arm switch is on.

FLIGHT COM: Okay, Victor.

B-52 PILOT: Landing Rocket Arm switch is on. Here comes the throttle.

Circuit breakers in.

STEVE: We have separation.

B-52 PILOT: Inboard and outboards are on.

I'm comin' forward with the side stick

FLIGHT COM: Looks good.

PILOT: Ah, Roger.

STEVE: I've got a blowout in damper three.

SR-71 PILOT: Get your pitch to zero.

STEVE: Pitch is out. I can't hold altitude!

B-52 PILOT: Correction. Alpha Hold is off. Threat selector is emergency.

STEVE: Flight Com. I can't hold it! She's breaking up! She's breaking...

ANNOUNCER: Steve Austin. Astronaut.

A man barely alive.

Gentlemen, we can rebuild him.

We have the technology.

We have the capability to make the world's first bionic man.

Steve Austin will be that man.

Better than he was before.

Better, stronger, faster.

(MAIN TITLE THEME)

Oh, good, you're here.

I'm sorry to cancel your leave, Steve. But I need you. Something big is brewing.

I was briefed on the plane.

Did they show you this?

No. What is it?

It's an interior design of a VII-C German U-Boat...

just like the kind that fired on our destroyer this morning.

I want you to memorize it.

You may be paying a visit to whatever's down there.

Meanwhile, I've gotta do some fast explaining to the Navy.

They're due here any minute.

Surface. Blow ballast.

Not all the trim tanks are clearing.

She can't take another dive like the one we did this morning.

U-509's a basket case, but with him aboard...

she'll hold up for another $20 million worth of service.

"$20 million, or will contaminate."

Will contaminate what?

With what?

That's why the Chief of Naval Operations has agreed too a 24-hour hold...

on all naval action against the U-509.

We need time, gentlemen. Time find out.

We agree with your caution, Oscar.

But we've got to know what we're up against.

Every available agent is tracing clues all the way to Bonn, Admiral.

My hunch is that the U-509 will attempt to complete this message...

and then we'll take it from there.

That's fine.

But you understand, we can't sit idle, Oscar.

The destroyer on the scene is trying to pinpoint that sub's location right now.

And other ASW units have been alerted.

I understand your position, gentlemen. I understand your responsibilities.

But at the same time, you have to try to...

(BUZZER) Excuse me. Yes?

Good.

OSCAR: All right. I've got it.

That was a signal relayed by the Coast Guard from the U-509.

Precise and to the point.

What are their demands?

None yet.

They want a man representing the government...

to be a Discovery Point at 6:00 AM tomorrow morning.

We try anything funny...

and twenty million people will die.

A bluff.

Perhaps.

But at least let's try and get a look at their hole card.

Steve, I want you at Discovery Point tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM.

Something may happen where only you might be able to handle it.

What position do I bargain from?

Just listen.

Find out everything you can.

How can they threaten twenty million people?

I mean, what's aboard that submarine, Oscar?

Toward the end of World War II...

the Nazi's were experimenting with a great many secret weapons.

Unless, I miss my guess...

somebody found themselves a submarine...

with something unexpected inside.

MAN: I saw you walk on the moon.

You reminded me of myself at that age.

Proud, devoted to duty, dangerously naive.

I'm very pleased.

I think my little rendezvous deserves someone of your caliber.

It's, um... it's Austin, isn't it?

And you?

Irrelevant and unimportant.

That doesn't sound like a man who's holding the entire East Coast for ransom.

What do I sound like to you?

A dangerous man bent on an impossible mission?

Come on. Make your pitch.

Very well.

Midnight tonight, $20 million airdropped...

at 72° 30' East...

by 39° 15' North...

in a airtight drum with a UHF transmitter.

You want that in small bills?

Don't joke.

If you foul up on one minor detail, you can kiss twenty million people goodbye.

I think it's time you explain how you plan to do that.

The U-509.

She was launched by the Nazis late in the war...

on a very unpleasant mission against the U.S.

But she went down off Nova Scotia when a patrol plane damaged her steering.

We know you have the sub.

What you haven't explained is how you plan to kill twenty million people.

Gas, Mr. Austin.

U-509 is crammed to the gunnels with highly toxic nerve gas.

One flip of the switch and it bubbles to the surface where the wind does the rest.

Everything within a radius of 80 miles dies.

Now I know what you're thinking...

but if I'm not back in one hour, the gas will be released.

How do I contact you if the government agrees to your terms?

Well, you can't.

So I suggest that you see that they do agree.

And before you deliver your psychological profile of me...

as I'm sure you've been instructed to do...

tell them I'm not some idiot extortionist trying to get into the evening papers.

Good day.

And, um, one more thing.

The gas is stored in water soluble containers.

If you sink us, the gas will be automatically released.

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

Nerve gas.

That's just too incredible to make up.

I'm gonna have to believe you, Steve.

He looks and sounds like a World War II sub commander.

English and as sane as you and I.

If we can get some prints off that armrest you brought in...

we'll contact the Royal Navy.

Meanwhile, I wanna get you down to that sub.

You're talking like you know where it is.

The Navy does.

We got it over the radio while you were on the point.

It's sitting in 300 feet of water a couple of miles off Cape May.

Then we got 'em.

Up to a point.

Our 24 hours is almost up...

and the Navy wants to either surface that U-Boat or sink it.

I don't buy it, Oscar.

Submarines skulking around loaded with nerve gas.

Nazi revenge.

We sank it once before, didn't we?

We were lucky.

Oscar, I'm not about to attack that sub...

when there's a danger of Americans getting hurt.

But we just can't sit around and pay the man.

Now, what's the alternative?

I have an idea.

I'm listening.

Send a man down there to check the sub.

If there are no gas canisters, we'll issue a order of surrender.

If there are...

we'll seal the gas canisters in a plastic, reinforced case...

and then we'll eject it out of the submarine.

(CHUCKLES)

That's a fine idea.

And that class U-boat does have a double hatched rescue compartment.

But there isn't a diver in the world that could open the outer hatch at 300 feet!

I was thinking of Col. Austin.

King Kong couldn't open a hatch at that depth!

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

(METAL BREAKING)

Good grief! Is this a prerequisite on going to the moon?

I'll explain it to you later.

Sorry to mishandle government property, Admiral.

That's okay, son.

That's okay.

Steve, once you get in the water, you can't communicate.

You're on your own.

Find out if there's any gas in that sub. If there isn't, get out of there fast.

Once I find the canisters, I'm supposed to seal them in this.

Right.

Good luck, pal.

(SEAGULLS CHIRP)

(SONAR BEEPS)

Passing directly above us.

(SONAR BEEPS)

Moving away.

Didn't even slow down.

Some weekend hotshot out playing sailor.

How many poor slobs buy a boat and think they've got the world by the tail?

Tell us again how you're gonna spend your share, Covell.

Lewis can only think about booze and broads.

You give it the master's touch.

All right.

First I'll construct a challenger for the America's Cup.

Something that I design myself.

6,000 square feet of rigging.

She just moves smooth over that water like fog.

Not like this piece of junk.

I just hope she holds together long enough for the payoff.

Her pumps are shot, the batteries are so eaten away...

we're lucky to get 45 minutes of juice each dive.

There's more rust on 'er than a coffin nail.

The U.S. Navy could sink us with a dirty look.

Oh, come on now. I've been in worse spots than this.

I remember in '40 we were caught in shallow water off Sicily.

The Gerries, for seven hours, threw everything at us.

The only thing that kept that tub together was the guts and ingenuity of the crew.

And they were serving for something like ten bob a day.

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

Lewis, go and get my chess book like a good chap, will you?

The Spanish attack. It's the one in the brown cover.

I want to loan it to Shoemacher here. He's gonna need it.

Aye, sir.

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

(WATER DRIPPING)

14 hours to go.

Time is relative, Shoemacher.

The 509 has been waiting for this day for over 30 years.

They will pay, eh, Bulman?

I mean, they believe we have the gas.

Of course they don't believe it.

God, I've given this a lot of thought.

No world power with its egotistical mentality...

can deal rationally with a situation like this.

Well then, how do we convince them?

We show them that this nightmare is reality.

In a few hours I'm going to give the United States government a lesson in humility.

I think about 30,000 casualties might just do it.

(DOOR UNLOCKS)

Somebody's gotten into the sub.

That's crazy.

Well, this didn't get in here by itself.

Where'd you find it?

The aft torpedo room on the deck, and it's still wet.

Get the rest of the crew together and find out how that got in here!

The prints from the armrest belong to this man, Admiral.

Bulman, Henry C. Formally of Her Majesty's Royal Navy...

discharged in April 1949.

He was one of England's most decorated submariners.

In 1941, off the Tunisian coast...

he sank four enemy troop transports in as many hours.

15,000 men were drowned.

Our friend in the U-509 has killed helpless people before.

Nothin'.

He must be invisible.

It ain't natural.

Stow it, Lewis.

This is not a spook house.

Check the lockers.

Whoa!

Oh, dear!

If it attacks again, Lewis, shoot to kill.

Well, let that be a lesson to you all.

Like a good submariner, I chose my points of ambush...

and let the enemy come to me.

What's this?

It's garbage now.

Gentlemen, this is Steve Austin, astronaut extraordinary.

He seems to be some sort of go between for the United States government.

How did you get in here?

Hatch.

At 300 feet?

Well, I'm here. And the Navy knows exactly where you are.

Oh, yes. The Navy knows exactly where we are.

When you come to think about it, it really doesn't matter, does it?

Because if they were going to attack, they wouldn't have sent you.

No one's ever seen this gas of yours.

Oh, now I understand.

You were sent here to find the gas and take it away in your little dilly bag.

How theatrical.

Let's take a walk, shall we?

All right, come on. Let's go, let's go.

(KNOCKING)

There is no nerve gas on board the sub.

The U-509 was transporting six Nazi war criminals to South America.

The gas story was just a ruse to keep the Allies from attacking the her.

It's all here in this old War Department Intelligence report.

Somehow the word never got out and our boys sank her...

same way they would any other enemy sub.

This report is dated November, 1945. Seven months after U-509 was sunk.

It could mean they were just covering up the tracks of those six Nazis.

Oscar, we've got to at least consider the possibility that Bulman's bluffing.

And it's my responsibility...

to see that lunatic doesn't put his next torpedo in a U.S. cruise ship!

What about Colonel Austin?

Your man's been down four hours.

We don't even know if he made it to the sub.

We'll give him until 1600, then we have got to go in.

BULMAN: There you are, Mr. Austin.

Take a good look, friend.

After I let your leaders thump their chests for a while longer...

I'm going to release one of those little gems...

and make an example of several thousand people.

Just to make sure that the money's on the way.

I still don't believe you'd do it.

When your enemy has no face it's an easy thing to do.

Whether it's for God and country, or for $20 million.

You think I'm a monster, don't you?

What did your government give you for going to the moon, Austin?

A couple of ticker-tape parades and a medal?

They risked your life, and what do you got to show for it?

The view! had from a quarter of a million miles out is worth more than money.

You are naive.

About as naive as I was trying to be a bloody hero.

And after it was all over...

my grateful government ruined my family's business...

with massive takeovers.

My family, my wife, my friends, my self respect...

all gone.

They owe me.

And now you're getting your due.

Tell me something.

During the war did you fight against the Nazis... or for them?

Check.

The area's being watched closely.

We've seen no sign of Colonel Austin.

And we have no evidence there is any gas aboard that sub.

I'm sorry.

Admiral, I'd like to request a personal favor.

Make it a limited attack.

What do you mean?

Limit the attack to one destroyer and conventional depth charges.

That way the sub might surface.

Most likely it'll just sink.

But at least he'll have a chance that way.

All right. A limited attack.

Thank you, Admiral Prescott.

I wanna express my thanks to the Navy in all this.

Where are you going?

I'm going to review the contingencies for...

evacuation of the Eastern Seaboard.

How did you open that outer hatch?

I said the magic word.

How'd you happen to sign on board with him?

I'm a submariner in the Royal Navy.

I was on leave when I happened to meet this fellow...

who was looking for someone like me.

(PIPES CREAKING)

The idea of making $2 million American while on my holiday was rather appealing.

Yeah, I can imagine.

What's the matter? (GROANS)

These things give me claustrophobia.

You know, all those lives. I just don't see how you can do it.

You mean let go of the gas.

I can live with it.

Where's the release mechanism?

There ain't none.

We just say the magic word.

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

(LOUD ALARM)

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

(ALARM STOPS)

Surface propellers moving fast.

2,000 yards and closing.

Give me those.

Slowing.

Could be anything. A garbage scow.

Skipper!

Skipper!

BULMAN: I think you'd better stop this nonsense before you regret it, Austin.

My finger is on a white button.

A little more pressure and a canister will be released, courtesy of Steve Austin!

So, [suggest you surrender quietly. Now.

I don't know what you hoped to accomplish by running.

You can't get to the gas and there's no place to hide.

Yeah, this guy keeps bugging me the way he keeps popping in here.

(EXPLOSION)

Get to your stations!

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

We're hit!

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

(SONAR BEEPS)

MA TE: Bridge, sonar.

We are picking up secondary explosions. Sounds like the sub might be breaking up.

Bridge, aye.

Cease the depth charging.

Notify fleet headquarters we're holding the attack...

until sonar information can be evaluated.

We might have hit it.

Yes, sir.

I don't get it.

I could've sworn we've taken a bad one at this end.

BULMAN: Damage?

Nothing. Tight as a drum.

And our friend here?

He had it better than the rest of us.

Did he?

Secondary explosions.

Any toxic material? None.

Right. Resume the attack and notify Mr. Goldman.

Somebody up there is not convinced.

I'm going to release one of those canisters just like we planned right now.

Wait a minute, skipper.

You're not really going to pop one of those canisters, are you?

I mean, it's all been a bluff, right?

Wrong. No bluff.

SHOEMACHER: There's people up there.

Think of the people down here, Shoemacher.

If we give in now, they'll throw you in a cell so small...

it'll make this tub feel like a grand hotel!

(EXPLOSION)

She's back, laying a saturation pattern.

BULMAN: Prep torpedo tube one and two!

Lewis? Covell?

Fill number two with bedding, anything that'll float.

Make them think we're finished.

And vent some slick on the surface.

You won't get away with it.

Any schoolboy who's been to the movies knows that trick.

If you want to stay alive, you'd better surface.

Fast.

You're absolutely right, Mr. Austin.

Of course it won't work.

Unless of course we send up something a little more convincing.

Like, um...

your body.

He's not a body.

You fire him out of a torpedo tube...

at 300 feet without any oxygen, he will be.

Get him into number one.

Flood one and two.

One flooded.

Two flooded.

Open outer doors one and two.

Fire two.

(LOUD WHOOSH)

Two fired.

This one's mine.

(LOUD WHOOSH)

Close outer doors one and two.

Could be an old trick. I've gotta be absolutely certain.

Secure depth charging.

We'll just sit and listen.

U-509 isn't going anywhere.

(SUB CREAKING)

It worked.

The fools think they've got us.

What good is that? Can't you see something's gone wrong with the scam?

They're trying to sink us, not pay us.

BULMAN: Covell's right.

The money's not coming.

I'm going to release some of the gas.

Just enough to convince the Navy we're serious.

Any objections?

Right. Let's do it.

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

(BANGING)

Ahh!

Stay away from me.

Don't touch me.

You're supposed to be dead! I didn't wanna put you in the tube.

It was Bulman!

How is the gas released?

Electrical switches! Control room!

Forward panel!

No!

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

BULMAN: What the devil? Get some light in here.

Right. Get the torch on the pump key.

The government man! In the ship.

I think he's out the power!

My, God. How many times do I gotta kill him?

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

(METAL CREAKING)

I'm in command of this sub now.

Anybody who doesn't like it can take a walk.

You're the skipper.

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

I'll be right back.

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

(HISSING)

Scuttling charges!

MATE: Bridge, this is Sonar.

We just heard another explosion at about 200 feet.

(ALL SHOUTING)

She's gonna sink so deep, she'll implode.

The gas will escape. There's nothing you can do to stop it.

Where are the pumps?

They may help in a minor emergency.

You're talking about thousands of gallons of water.

Where are they?

Aft. In the after torpedo room.

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

STEVE: Now move it! Come on! Move it!

You too.

I took my shot and missed.

I'm going to go down with her.

That's what you think.

There went the bow tank!

We're being squeezed like a bloody accordion.

Come on! Let's go!

That blast twisted it! We'll never get this open!

Let me in there.

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

(METAL CREAKING)

Where's the pump? There!

(LOUD THUD)

LEWIS: What was that?

We've hit bottom. She can't go any deeper!

So deep now it doesn't matter.

(GRINDING)

Can this thing be operated manually?

Forget it, Austin. We're dead men.

Answer me!

(CREAKING)

(BIONIC SOUND EFFECT)

(ALL CELEBRATE)

Before this thing stands on its end, can anybody fly it?

You got a deal.

OSCAR: Well!

If you'll excuse my choice of words...

I'm sure glad to see you in one piece.

Well, it's good to be that way.

So that's the gas, huh?

Where's Bulman?

They just took him away with the rest of his crew.

He's gonna spend a long time in another kind of tin can.

You know, it's funny.

He was the one who really saved all those millions of people he was threatening.

Bulman saved them?

If it hadn't been for him, the 509 would've stayed on the bottom.

The sea would have eventually rusted away the hull, and released the gas.

In a way, he did us all a favor.

Well, pal.

Let's go home.

(END THEME MUSIC)