007: La espía que me amó

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)

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...

Roger Moore as James Bond has got another assignment involving the fate of the whole world. British Intelligence never gives him anything less. This time he's investigating this disappearance of both British and American nuclear powered submarines while on duty with no trace at all.

The evil genius behind it all is Curt Jurgens playing the role of an Onassis type billionaire shipping magnate who wants the world made to order for him. And in this case he believes mankind should start all over again in an undersea world which of course he will run. Just another case of a guy with all the money in the world thinking that entitles him to decide how everyone else should live and behave. Jurgens has the resources to make it stick unless 007 can do something about it.

With both the Russians and the British working on this, the powers that be which in this case is General Walter Gotell of the Soviet KGB and M of course played by Bernard Lee have decided to stop working against each other. In this case it means Moore working with beautiful Russian agent Barbara Bach and you know of course she'll be Bondified before the film is over.

Probably up to this point the most dangerous foe that James Bond ever faced was Odd Job in You Only Live Twice. But when Richard Kiel as Jaws made his appearance, he took that title away and retired the crown as far as I'm concerned. That is one menacing dude, 7'2" with a mouth full of steel teeth that finish off most people. Of course 007 ain't most people.

The Spy Who Loved Me garnered three Oscar nominations for Best Musical Score for Marvin Hamlisch and for Best Song with Nobody Does It Better for Hamlisch and Carole Bayer Sager and one for Art&Set Direction. I'm not sure, but this might be the most recognition the Motion Picture Academy gave a Bond film.

And this film review is dedicated to Tom Golisano, another megalomaniac billionaire who thinks he ought to be running things. We're well used to the type in my area.

I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs. Revisited it recently. This is the tenth in the Bond series n the third to star Roger Moore as the secret agent James Bond. This is also one of my fav Bond film n it is very entertaining.

This time Bond has to deal with a reclusive but ultra rich scientist Stromberg, who plans to create WW3 and later aft the nuclear war, build a new civilisation under the sea. Lol. He shud have consulted Aquaman first. To thwart Stomberg's plan, Bond teams up with a Russian agent known as triple X.

This movie has one of my personal fav scene, the Union Jack-parachute scene.

This time Bond gets to cool off with Sue Vanner n Barbara Bach. And we get to cool off our eyes with Caroline Munro's amazing cleavage.

Apart from Stromberg, Bond has to face a motorbike henchman with a rocket sidecar, a small army of soldiers in red, an atractive helicopter pilot (Munro) n Stromberg's two fierce henchmen, Jaws n Sandor.

Some info on Stromberg from the book- he is totally bald, lacking eyebrows, and has a small mouth. Only the pinkie and ring finger of his left hand are webbed, as opposed to all of his digits in the film. His character is also given a rather lengthy backstory, revealing how he made his fortune and got into the shipping industry.

Some info on Jaws from the book - he used to b a basketball player but due to his sluggish reaction and his lack of speed, his career ended. Later he was arrested by the secret police for having taken part in a riot n beaten by the cops with hollow steel clubs encased in thick leather, breaking his jaw beyond repair. It was Stromberg who hired a prestigious doctor to create an artificial jaw for Jaws, that created the two rows of terrifying razor-sharp teeth.

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.