The Spy Who Loved Me is the Moore era's finest Bond film and the entry that demonstrated the franchise's capacity for operatic spectacle at its most completely realised, a work of striking visual ambition and real entertainment intelligence that combined the series' most iconic henchman, its most capable Bond girl, and its most spectacular production design to create an experience of pure cinema entertainment the Moore era never again equalled. Lewis Gilbert's 1977 film is not merely the finest Moore Bond. It is one of the finest Bond films of any era.
At a Glance
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Runtime: 125 minutes
Starring: Roger Moore, Barbara Bach, Curd Jürgens, Richard Kiel, Caroline Munro
Release: 1977
Critics Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 stars, the Moore era's finest and one of the franchise's greatest)
Audience Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 stars, spectacular)
Review Breakdown
Plot
Bond and Soviet agent Anya Amasova are forced to cooperate to investigate the theft of British and Soviet submarine tracking systems, uncovering a megalomaniacal shipping magnate's plan to destroy civilisation and rebuild it beneath the sea. The pre-title ski sequence is the franchise's most sharply constructed opening, a demonstration of practical stunt filmmaking of such complete ambition and such precise execution that it remains one of the most celebrated sequences in Bond history. The plot's Cold War cooperation premise gives the film a dramatic intelligence and a thematic coherence the more conventionally adversarial franchise entries did not always achieve.
Characters
Moore's Bond is at the peak of his franchise performance, a portrayal of complete wit and real physical authority that gives the character a confidence and a charm the more dramatically restrained earlier Moore entries did not always achieve. Barbara Bach's Anya Amasova is the franchise's most dramatically capable Bond girl to that point, a Soviet agent of real professional competence and real personal complexity whose professional obligation to kill Bond for the death of her lover gives the film its most dramatically interesting tension. Richard Kiel's Jaws is the franchise's most iconic henchman, a figure of such complete physical menace and such real comic presence that his survival at the film's conclusion felt entirely inevitable and his return in Moonraker entirely warranted. Curd Jürgens' Stromberg is a villain of adequate menace and real visual distinctiveness whose underwater lair gives the franchise's central antagonist dynamic its most spectacular physical expression.
Tone
Gilbert pitches the film at a register of spectacular entertainment and real espionage tension, giving the film a tonal confidence and an entertainment intelligence the Moore era's more overtly comic entries did not always achieve. The film balances its spectacular ambitions with a dramatic intelligence that makes it the most completely satisfying Bond film of the Moore era.
Meaning / Themes
The film's central concern is the relationship between East and West, between Bond and Anya's professional opposition and their eventual personal alliance, a meditation on the possibility of cooperation between ideological opponents the more conventionally adversarial franchise entries did not attempt. The film's treatment of the Cold War as a context for personal connection rather than merely political conflict gives it a thematic depth the more spectacularly scaled franchise entries did not always achieve.
Direction
Gilbert's direction is technically masterful and spectacularly assured, with a command of the film's action sequences and its spectacular production design that gives the film a visual grandeur and a dramatic coherence the franchise's more anonymously directed entries do not always achieve. Ken Adam's Atlantis set and submarine interior are among the franchise's greatest production design achievements. Carly Simon's Nobody Does It Better is the franchise's most romantically accomplished title song, and Marvin Hamlisch's score gives the film a distinctive sonic identity that suits its spectacular ambitions.
Cultural Reception
The Spy Who Loved Me was a major critical and commercial success on its release, widely regarded as the finest Moore Bond film and one of the finest entries in the franchise's history. Its reputation has only grown in the decades since its release, and it is now consistently ranked among the top five Bond films of any era. The pre-title ski sequence is widely regarded as the franchise's finest opening, and Ken Adam's production design is recognised as among the most impressive in the franchise's history.
Who Should Watch
Essential viewing for everyone. The Spy Who Loved Me is the Moore era's finest Bond film and one of the most purely entertaining films the franchise has ever produced.
Final Verdict: The Moore era's finest Bond film and one of the franchise's greatest achievements. Moore is at the peak of his Bond performance, Barbara Bach's Anya Amasova is the franchise's most dramatically capable Bond girl to that point, Richard Kiel's Jaws is the franchise's most iconic henchman, and Lewis Gilbert's direction gives the film a spectacular ambition and a dramatic intelligence that makes it one of the most completely satisfying Bond films of any era.
0 comments