The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) | As Bond as it Gets

Much like how Goldfinger managed to create a lot of Bondisms in the third installment of Sean Connery’s Bond, the third film to star Roger Moore as the iconic superspy manages to establish even more traits and details that would be synonymous with the series for one reason or another. And while James Bond would see many villains after this, the similarities with antagonists from the Connery films cannot be ignored.

Pros

Opening stunt off the mountain is extremely impressive
Solid theme song and title sequence
Premise of having competing spies with a vendetta work together is a good one with the potential for tension
Villain, while not iconic, manages to be a good amalgamation of Bond villains
Decent climax with some solid explosions, models, and gunfights
Good cinematography with great camera work during certain chase scenes and using the backdrop of the locales
A female spy who isn’t a ditz for a change
One of my favorite Bond moments

Cons

Takes too long for the vendetta between Bond and Amasova to come to light
More shark abuse
Jaws (Richard Kiel) is kind of dumb as a concept in the same way Oddjob was
Continues the tradition of not killing people (or just Bond) when they have the chance or every reason to do so
A villain’s base explodes without a reason given
Aquatic car is hideous and stupid

Plot & Thoughts

The movie opens with two different couples in separate locations in the same sort of circumstances. One includes James Bond (Roger Moore), post-coitus in a secluded cabin, the other couple are Russians who claim to be deeply in love. An order from their superiors forces them to part ways and we quickly learn they’re both Soviet spies and the film focuses on Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) as she confirms the order. Meanwhile, Bond leaves his cabin, hops on his skis, and is ambushed by various Soviet assassins. One of whom happens to be the lover of Amasova, whom Bond quickly dispatches. Bond then leaps off the mountain and releases his parachute to reveal the Union Jack and then the theme song for the film kicks in.

After the title sequence ends, the overall situation of the movie is established. Bond and Amasova are both tasked by their superiors to find some nuclear-armed submarines of their respective countries that have gone missing and are given the same leads to follow. Amasova is informed of her lover’s death, though his killer is not revealed to her, establishing the conflict that we know will come to a head eventually.

Meanwhile, the villain of the film, Stromberg (Curt Jurgens) is introduced in a room of his secret lair. His ruthlessness is quickly established by killing off his girlfriend and his guests in surprising ways. The leads the two spies are following bring them to Egypt in search of some tech stolen from Stromberg. Unfortunately for them, Stromberg seems to be one step ahead at first with his iconic, silent henchman Jaws (Richard Kiel), who manages to survive a few incidents that would kill a person not wearing plot armor.

When the two spies finally get the information they need and figure out who the true villain is, the movie shifts to the sunny locales of the Mediterranean and kicks things into high gear. The first half of the film is more traditional espionage with Bond and Amasova competing for leads and information. It also includes one of my favorite Bond moments in Egypt when Bond has to fight a henchman on a rooftop. When Bond gets the upper hand, the henchman nearly falls off the edge of the roof and grabs Bond’s tie. In another instance of Roger Moore nailing the serious side of his character, he demands information from the man who is desperate not to lose his grip on the tie and fall to his death from the rooftop. Upon revealing the information Bond needs, he immediately slaps the man’s hand away from his tie, killing the poor fool. It’s brief, but satisfying seeing Moore dispatch his enemy with prejudice after getting what he needs from him.

The second half of the movie makes the uneasy alliance of Bond and Amasova more formal as their respective superiors order them to work together on finding Stromberg and uncovering his plot. This is also where a lot of the action and gadgetry gets really wild. While I think that the aquatic sports car filled with gadgets is a hideous design and pretty ridiculous, the chase sequence that leads up to the car’s ability to go underwater is well-shot and impressive. There are some quality stunts and the helicopter pursuing them pulls off some great maneuvers. There are also two climaxes in The Spy Who Loved Me as James Bond has to infiltrate the giant ship that is responsible for stealing the nuclear-armed submarines as well as Stromberg’s secret lair in explosive and dramatic fashion. The action gets pretty wild with several big gunfights, lots of dead henchmen, and both the bases exploding—there’s no reason given for by any of the characters as to why the first one suddenly starts to explode, but whatever.

The Spy Who Loved Me is a fun ride that dips into the realms of ridiculousness. I won’t be too hard on the logic of The Spy Who Loved Me when it comes to realism because there’s a very tall guy named Jaws with metal teeth who bites sharks. He’s just as absurd in concept as a man who throws a hat to kill people, but at least he is intimidating with his immense size and metal dentures that he uses to bite people’s necks. Another thing that makes it wild, aside from the submarine car, or the boat that captures submarines, is Stromberg’s hideout. It’s a massive station that resembles a larger version of the Legion of Doom headquarters from the 1970s cartoon Super Friends. Why is his headquarters so massive? It has to do with his evil plot.

Let’s quickly talk about Stromberg as a villain. I don’t have an issue with him as a villain in isolation. He works fine as a Bond villain in being an eccentric and over-the-top man who likes to dress like a dictator the same way Blofeld in You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever does—he also has webbed hands because they wanted to continue the body anomalies trend after the three-nippled man, I guess. The style suits his persona. He is a man who hates humanity and loves the ocean. He believes that with our nuclear powers inching closer and closer to oblivion, the best course of action is just to delete humanity with a nuclear holocaust and let nature take over again. Meanwhile, he and those loyal to him can remain safely under the ocean’s surface until their dying days. Not sure how he is able to convince so many people to believe the same thing and go along with his plan, but he’s extremely wealthy so maybe he just hired all the idiots who think his money will be worth anything after the world’s destruction and don’t know any better. I bring all this up because the next film, Moonraker, suffers a great deal for it, but we’ll get to that in Moonraker’s review.

The last little note I have about the movie has to do with the premise of Bond working together with a Russian spy. I think the idea is cool because it automatically adds some tension to the scenario. You don’t know when they’re going to potentially double-cross one another. The first half of the movie where they are working against one another but not necessarily with any animosity is more interesting because of this tension. When they start working together as a team, the relationship becomes less interesting and it loses that anxiousness, which is why I wish they didn’t wait so long to reveal to Amasova that Bond killed her lover. With how much she talks about loving her dead boyfriend and wishing vengeance upon his killer, she certainly gets over him quickly in exchange for Bond. I think if she had been more aware of it earlier, it would have allowed for more time to fall for him and forgive him. When she learns about it, there’s not much time before the climax happens and he has to save her. Again, I cannot judge it too harshly when the movie gets as wild as it does.

TL;DR

The Spy Who Loved Me is a point in the Roger Moore era for the James Bond franchise when things start to get a little wild and potentially off the rails. However, I still think it manages to be a fun and interesting film that balances some of its absurd moments with some good old espionage. With the extravagant evil lair of its eccentric villain with a dictator’s taste for fashion, the iconic evil henchman, the threat of nuclear war, the unbelievable gadgetry and vehicle capabilities, and incredible stunts, it’s about as James Bond as it gets.

Hair of the Dog Drinking Game Rule

This film was the introduction to the durable, iconic, and occasionally stupid henchman Jaws. Since he plays a bigger role in this film than any that follow, and because he’s thematically more appropriate with this movie’s aquatic plot, it makes sense to include him in the drinking game.

Take a sip of your drink whenever Jaws uses his metal teeth to do something. If you’re feeling particularly daring, you can take a sip whenever he bares his teeth.