First I recommend that you read Kinder's book "Ship of Gold". It will tell far more about Tommy Thompson's early years that set the stage for his groundbreaking discovery of the S. S. Central America shipwreck. It's an extremely interesting and engaging story about a very different type of treasure hunter. He's not in the mold of a, say, Mel Fisher. He's an engineer whose childhood love of sea adventure became a mission to find a storied lost ship and its reported cache of gold. This all emerged out of land-locked Ohio. A very improbable story where you root from the kid with a dream.
This film gives a concise rundown on those early years concentrating on the actual mission over three years that culminated with Thompson's team finding The S. S. Central America moving on through all the legal complications once the ship's treasure, was partially recovered. Legal problems brought the status of who owned the treasure to a halt for years. After Thompson's group was awarded the bulk of their haul and future rights to the remaining treasure it seemed things were righted. Not so as the viewer soon realizes. When the treasure was sold none of the investors received any profit and were still in for their original investments. The company formed by Thompson and his investors were actually in debt, a lot of debt. With this turn of the cards there was great doubt in how Thompson had handled the whole business side. Left with heavy debt and the cloud of suspicion it seemed Thompson rebelled. He became a ghost in the wind. Said to have absconded with 2.5 million in gold coins a whole new round of lawsuits came forward, this time aimed at Tommy Thompson himself. The value in watching this documentary series is that it picks up this bizarre part of the story that Kinder's book did not address, probably because at the time of it's publication most of this had yet to unfold. Personally I always wanted to know this part of the Tommy Thompson saga. And, the documentary does a pretty good job of it. I learned far more than I had by reading various articles regarding Thompson over the years. In the end it's well worth the time I feel if you are at all interested in deep sea treasure hunting. Hollywood couldn't come up with this stuff as truth is often stranger than fiction.
