The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Among my top five Bond films from the Connery-Moore Era, and second favorite song (after Goldfinger). They poured a lot of money into this one and it shows. Moore hit his stride here although Curt Jurgens is not one of the memorable Bond villains.

It's always a pleasure to see Richard Kiel in a movie. The guy really fills the screen. I agree, killing the shark was a bit much. Unfortunately, the inclusion of the theme from Lawrence of Arabia when they are crossing the desert is a disheartening portent of the series eventual descent into self aware camp.

It's my favorite of the Moore films.

Easily Moore’s best 007 movie. The action is surprisingly intense and I’ve always liked the villain quite a bit.

For Your Eyes Only is also my favorite Moore Bond film. I like The Spy Who Loved Me, and think it was Moore's best at the time. But I can't help but notice it's essentially a remake of You Only Live Twice with submarines instead of space capsules.

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), directed by Lewis Gilbert.



When the Brits and Soviets each lose a nuclear submarine, they team up to find out what's going on. James Bond gets an unsmiling but ravishing KGB partner. They become pretty comfy until she discovers that he killed her boyfriend on an earlier mission. That puts a chill on things but they still have to hunt down Captain Nemo / Blofeld / the latest megalomaniac and penetrate and blow up his vast ocean facility.

Somehow I had never seen Bond #10, Roger Moore's third, before. It's widely considered his best and the story does flirt with seriousness, although never for very long. He kills more than usual this time, but has a submersible car and an unending supply of quips. Dr Evil has a shark tank (sigh). We have sporadic action scenes until it really picks up with large-scale fighting in the final quarter.

We see the slow evolution of the Bond Girl into a more estimable, challenging woman. As I've said, I think this was to appeal to the female demographic, but it also makes for better stories. 007 has no difficulty handling her at this stage. Barbara Bach was in Playboy during those years, although I forget to what "extent".

7'1" Richard Kiel is the unstoppable "Jaws"; he'll be back.

I don't think nuclear weapons (two of them) have ever actually exploded in any other Bond film.

Varied score by Marvin Hamlisch. The bits of period funk hurt. Carly Simon sings the famous theme.

Available on Blu-ray.

8/10. It's also my favorite of the Roger Moore Bond films. As noted before, the plot borrows from You Only Live Twice, but the détente between adds a new angle. Jaws was a memorable henchman, and even overshadows the main villain Karl Stromberg. Speaking of Stromberg, the character reminds me of Aristotle Onassis, although in early drafts, it was meant to be Blofeld.

I adore the title song, and Marvin Hamslich's score is one of the series' best. I listen to "Bond 77" every now and then. The production design by Ken Adam, particularly of the expansive set of the Liparus, is top-notch.