The Spy Who Loved Me – Roger Moore’s Bond at his best

If the Roger Moore era had a peak, it was definitely ‘The Spy Who Loved Me.’ It seemed to be the perfect combination of everything Bond.  It has everything from – arguably – the most beautiful Bond girl in the (perfect!) form of Barbara Bach, a nice overtone of Cold War paranoia (that was prevalent at the time of filming in the late seventies) and naturally the stunts, car chases and Q’s gadgets (the pinnacle of which being that awesome car which doubles as a submarine!).  The plot follows Bond on a routine (or that’s ‘routine’ for him!) mission where he retrieves a delicate microchip while being pursued by those faceless enemy agents who can’t shoot straight on a ski slope.  Naturally he offs a couple with considerable ease, only to find that one of his targets wasn’t quite as faceless as they normally are.  It was a case of a henchman with a backstory (think those cutaway scenes in the first Austin Powers movie) where he was dating another female spy.  And, when she gets assigned the same mission as Bond, there’s more than a little s3xual tension between the two.

Yes, there may be a supervillain in there who lives in an underwater lair (some people seem to object whenever a supervillain comes into play, as it does always lean the story to the far-fetched), however the film gets so much right that even the most die-hard supervillain haters can’t help but give this one a pass.  Perhaps another reason people lay off ‘Stromberg’ is because he’s not in it that much (which is a good thing, because, if this film does have a weak link, it’s him – he is pretty wooden – almost worse than ‘Drax’ from ‘Moonraker’).  The real villain is Jaws – possibly the most famous and beloved of all the foes Bond has ever gone up against.  Yes, Jaws never sets out for world domination,  however he’s simply far more dangerous and enjoyable to watch than any cat-stroking megalomaniac.

It’s also worth noting that the largest ever set was built (at the time of filming) to accommodate an action set-piece that would be impressive even by today’s standards.  An entire studio was repurposed as a submarine pen in order to accommodate a massive battle which definitely stands up to today’s standards.  In short: best story, best sets, best gadgets, best girl, best villain (Jaws not Stromberg!) and best Bond (my opinion only on that last one!).   Apart from the main villain himself, there’s almost nothing negative to say about this film.  In fact… I guess the theme song sums this film up when it sings, ‘Nobody does it better…’ Okay, you could argue that Connery did it better, but the simple fact is that no Roger Moore Bond outing is better than this.  If you only watch one Moore film, watch this one.

10/10 The Monty Python Knights of Camelot are currently looking for this