Der Spion, der mich liebte

After the critical and commercial beating taken by THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, producer Albert Broccoli, now solely in charge of the 007 franchise, had to re-evaluate the series for the third time in less than ten years. Certainly, Roger Moore would never be believable in a Sean Connery-type Bond film, but couldn't some of the series' best elements be restored, and the comedy reduced a bit, to make Moore's Bond a bit more believable?

The research, which became the basis of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, took over two years to complete, and the script went through many writers before the final draft, by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum. With a renewed emphasis on more realistic action, Broccoli brought back Lewis Gilbert to direct; his earlier Bond effort, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, while not a major 'hit', had featured the most spectacular action sequences of the series. With Gilbert on board, the production became very reminiscent of the Connery film (Even the concept of a supertanker 'swallowing' submarines echoed YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, and the spacecraft-'eating' SPECTRE capsule).

As the villain, esteemed German actor Curt Jurgens was cast as Karl Stromberg, an ideal choice, as the actor, with his bulging eyes, 'fit' the role of a fish-like megalomaniac. Playing his henchman, Jaws, in an inspired piece of casting, giant Richard Kiel, complete with 'bear-trap' steel teeth, would provide Moore with the greatest danger he'd ever face as Bond. Kiel was, in fact, so good in the role (possibly the most popular villain of the entire 007 franchise), that he would return in MOONRAKER, to bedevil Bond some more. Less successful, dramatically, but still astonishing to watch would be Stromberg's 'hit woman', Naomi, played by voluptuous Caroline Munro.

In an effort to 'update' Bond into an era of feminists, the strongest, most independent love interest to appear in at Bond film to that point was introduced. Major Anya Amasova, played by Ringo Starr's wife, the exotically beautiful Barbara Bach, was Bond's opposite number on the Russian side, an equal to 007 in every way. In a pivotal scene, she would display a knowledge of Bond's past that even included his dead wife, Tracy (the first time Bond's marriage had been mentioned since ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE). Moore's reaction to her comment would be both emotional and abrupt, and demonstrated that he could do far more than just deliver witty one-liners.

From the spectacular ski chase pre-title sequence, climaxing with a parachute free fall off a cliff (love that 'Union Jack'), to Bond and Anya's confrontations with Jaws, in Egypt (reminiscent of Bond's fights with Oddjob in GOLDFINGER and Tee Hee in LIVE AND LET DIE), to the amazing Lotus that would do service on land and in the ocean, to the massive tanker battle while Bond disarms a nuclear warhead (shades of GOLDFINGER), THE SPY WHO LOVED ME would do homage to 007's previous adventures, and utilize humor in support of the on-screen action, instead of spoofing it (other than the brief use of the LAWRENCE OF ARABIA theme...you'll spot it).

And to top things off, Carly Simon's rendition of the film's title tune, "Nobody Does It Better", would become a Top Ten hit, worldwide.

Critics and audiences loved THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, hailing it as Moore's best work, and one of the better Bonds of all time. Things were, again, looking up for 007...but STAR WARS was about to debut, and things would go dreadfully amiss, when Broccoli decided to send Bond into space, in MOONRAKER...

James Bond (Roger Moore) teams with a sexy Russian agent (Barbara Bach) to stop a web-fingered megalomaniac (Curd Jürgens) from destroying the world and rebuilding it as a new Atlantis.

"The Spy Who Loved Me" is fabulous nonsense, superior to all the previous Roger Moore Bonds, even with the obvious model shots, process shots and the occasionally corny background music by Marvin Hamlisch, who also wrote the music for the theme song, "Nobody Does It Better." (It's popular, but you can have it.) The gadgets, sets, stunts and one-liners are more outrageous than ever. Jürgens makes a good villain, and so does the shark he unleashes on traitors; but the bad guy everyone remembers is Jaws—not another shark, but a metal-mouthed giant played by Richard Kiel. He is Jürgens's best henchman—not good enough to outmatch Bond, but enough to survive for the next Bond adventure.

With Roger Moore making the part his own by this; his third bond film, Albert R. Broccoli had to come up with a strong action-packed epic, if they were to attract audiences that had been spoilt rotten by 'Star Wars' the same year.

'The Spy Who Loved Me' offers no new scenarios, in fact you could easily dissect each key scene and match it to something that's been done before. There's an underwater battle like the one in 'Thunderball' a ski chase not too dissimilar to the one in 'Her Majesty's...' and even the final big shoot out is not unlike the one in 'You Only Live Twice' which was also directed by Lewis Gilbert. However 'The Spy Who Loved me' is more than merely a sum of its parts, and when each part is handled as expertly as these, you don't seem to care if it has indeed been done before.

The film like Moore exudes a certain charm, and provides a certain amount of nostalgia looking back at it now, with it's lively 70's fashions, even Bond's theme gets the disco treatment, quite superbly. Ken Adam's stunning larger than life sets fit the film's extravagant, big budget flavour perfectly. Appreciative nods must also go to some fantastically attractive women, Caroline Munro playing the enticing Naomi has to be one of the most seductive looking femme fatales to steam up a wide-screen, and more's the pity that she didn't grace it longer. Barbara Bach is equally alluring, and a fine match for Roger Moore in every sense of the word. The film also offers a wealth of laughs while not forgetting the chills and spills, Richard Keil providing all as the relentless and unforgettable Jaws. The scene where he tears open a Sherpa Van like a sardine can is particularly memorable, as is him brushing himself off after plummeting into a farmhouse from a flying Mercedes. Some fine touches of drama too, Bond's response to XXX's remarks about his career and wife are handled with compassion and reverence.

So in all everything is here you could possibly want in a 007 adventure; top stunts, beautiful women, cool villains, those gloriously huge Pinewood sets and THAT car, wrapped in an exciting globe-trotting story line where Bond has to save the world from certain destruction, accompanied by the svelte tones of Carly Simon singing 'Nobody does it better' it's not surprising that the 'Spy Who Loved Me' is one of the most memorable of all Bond films.

You don't review James Bond movies, you evaluate them, rate them according to how well they meet expectations. There are certain things one has come to expect, even demand of a Bond film and each individual effort either delivers or it doesn't. So, here are ten elements that make a Bond film a Bond film and how THE SPY WHO LOVED ME rates on a scale of 1 to 10:

Title: THE SPY WHO LOVED ME: The title seems more appropriate for a Harlequin Romance novel, and if suitable at all for a Bond film, it would have been a better title for ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE. Yet, it does finally work the word "spy" into the title of a Bond film. 7 points.

Pre-Credit Teaser: It's all very nicely done: Within a few minutes, we see a submarine stolen and its crew kidnapped; we meet the Soviet's top agent, who just happens to be -- surprise! -- a woman; and we get the added treat of one of Bond's greatest stunts, the great skiing-skydiving trick. A pretty cool way to kick off the film and set up the various story lines. 9 points.

Opening Credits: Arguably the silliest of all of Maurice Binder's efforts, the opening sequence finds 007 bouncing around on a trampoline while various miniature, and apparently naked, babes do gymnastics on the barrels of guns. (Pity he didn't come up with that idea for THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN.) Bordering on self-parody, it is nonetheless naughty and fun and colorful and oh-so very James Bond. 9 points.

Theme Song: No beating around the bush here, the song gets right to the point: "Nobody does it half as good as you, Baby, you're the best." Just what Bond is best at is open to interpretation. The music by Marvin Hamlisch is swanky and matched by Carol Bayer Sager's dreamy and only slightly sarcastic lyrics. And Carly Simon's vocals bring it all home. Maybe not the best Bond song, but right up there. 9 points.

"Bond, James Bond": Moore finally makes the role his. The number of smug one-liners have been trimmed, yet he still invests the character with humor -- plus some warmth and charm, and unexpected sadness. And we get to see a bit of Bond's vanity as he matches wits with a female agent who is his equal and not impressed by his stock-and-trade flirtations. Moore's best appearance as Bond. 9 points.

Bond Babes: The prevailing notion has always been that "Bond Girl" equals "Bimbo," which is only partly true. Most of the women Bond encounters are highly skilled professionals -- as well as being bimbos. But Soviet agent Major Anya Amasova, a.k.a. XXX, is the first Bond Girl to give James a run for his money. She's smart, sexy, capable, resourceful and it takes her almost the whole movie to actually fall in love with Bond. What will power! As played by Barbara Bach (a.k.a., soon-to-be Mrs. Ringo Starr), Anya ranks as one of the best Bond Girls, easily worthy of 9 points.

Bond Villain: Karl Stromberg (nice villainous name, by the way) is one of those mad billionaires who hopes to create a new world order by mass genocide and building a new society, this time underwater. It is pretty much a cliché character and unfortunately Curt Jurgen plays the part like a grumpy old man and can't seem to muster up even a maniacal laugh. 5 points.

Bond Baddies: Oddjob look-a-like Sandor, played by Milton Reid, puts in an appearance long enough to die a memorable death, but it is Richard Kiel who steps into the limelight as Jaws, one of the great Bond villains. If being a hulking, seven-foot tall muscle man weren't enough, he also has steel teeth and an amazingly obsessive desire to kill 007. Playing Wile E. Coyote to Bond's Road Runner, Jaws earns 9 points.

Sinister Plot: Stromberg steals a Russian and a U.S. sub, as well as a British one, with the hopes of starting World War III and destroying the civilization as we know it today. Been there, done that. 4 points.

Production values: Romantic imagery, clever lighting effects and intriguing camera angles make this the most visually appealing Bond film. In the past, the emphasis was always on the most effective way to film action sequences, but here director Gilbert Lewis strives for that little bit extra as far as mood and romance. 9 points.

Bonus Points: Connery had his Astin Martin and Moore gets a Lotus Esprit. It is not nearly as snazzy, but it does turn into a submarine and you never know when that will come in handy. 5 points.

Summary: It had been hinted at in the three previous Bond adventures, but a new sense of style is fully apparent here. The roughness and grit that many of the purists loved about Connery's films are pretty much gone in favor of a polish and panache. Whether that is being suave or merely superficial is open to interpretation, but it does set the tone and the expectations for all future Bond adventures.

Bond-o-meter Rating: 84 points out of 100.

I have to admit that I have a soft spot for this film as this is the first James Bond movie that I anticipated and then saw in a movie theater (I did see both The Man With the Golden Gun and Live and Let Die as the 2nd feature at a drive-in, but they don't count). So, I was a little apprehensive about re-watching a film that is a cherished memory.

I am happy to report that this movie holds up. From the tremendous "ski off the mountain" opening shot, through Maurice Bender's always terrific opening credits to Richard "Jaws" Kiel and villain Curt Jurgens underwater hideout, I was entertained throughout. True, this movie has to overcome some truly tremendous 1970's synth-pop soundtrack, but add in Barbara Bach's wonderful turn as Agent XXX, andyou have the quintessential Roger Moore Bond movie.

So, why is that? I think it is because Moore finally came into his own as Bond. In his third movie, Moore (and director Lewis Gilbert) dropped any attempt at Moore copying Sean Connery's roguish toughness and started cultivating Moore's natural tendency towards comedy. This comedic bent will, ultimately, overcome Moore's portrayal of Bond in future installments, but in TSWLM, they strike exactly the right tone.

Go back and checkout THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, you'll be pleasantly surprised on how good this movie is.

7 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank (of Marquis)