I’d be curious to know if you saw the film in the U.K.,because as someone who lives in the Boston area,l can’t imagine any film going crowd near me applauding when the Union Jack appeared.
Why does everyone always never mention just how superbly directed, edited and choreographed the action sequence is that follows the crews breaking out of the Liparus. It is one of the best sequences of cinematic history.
First Bond film I ever saw at the pictures. Loved it as a small child. After many, many years of insisting that the only good Bond films are ones with Sean Connery in them, I finally went back to loving Roger Moore in all his Austin Powers glory, and I think this one is my favourite now.
I have to say Bach's Anya Amasova was the most attractive of ALL the classic era "Bond Girls." Yes, this includes Maude Adams' two appearances and Ursula Andress. AND Jane Seymour.
Another quality review. I grew up watching Sir Roger as 'The Saint' and this is the Bond movie that finally seemed to play to the same strengths so apparent in that series. Favourite line is Bond on seeing Caroline Munro's 'Naomi' - "What a handsome craft, such lovely lines". Roger that ... er ... Roger.
@@StamFine 'For Your Eyes Only' would be my personal pick after this one. Frankly though, I'd watch any of Sir Roger's Bond movies. He was always worth the money on the ticket. His brand of charm and charisma may seem dated by today's standards but that says a good deal more about today's standards than it does about Sir Roger. Moore's the pity, as you so wittily and accurately pointed out.
The plot was basically a remake of You Only Live Twice even down to the same blast shutters, and directed by the same guy Lewis Gilbert. But instead of US and Russian space capsules it's submarines. The Lotus was cool though
Great Review ! 👍 You're spot on The Spy Who Loved Me was the best 70's Bond movie and THE best starring Roger Moore as James Bond. Upon Roger Moore's passing last year they replayed a 1984 interview where Roger Moore said they should have stopped in 1977 but DEFINITELY after the um . . . quote " that Moonraker nonsense" that blatantly tried to cash in on the huge Star Wars impact. Amazingly Moore continued and said he was stunned that after Octopussy and its ridiculous convoluted 'go nowhere story' they brought him in for .... A View to a Kill. Apparently no one was surprised more than he Roger Moore. In that same interview he said "I was too old to play Bond after The Man with the Golden Gun " . . . wow. 🤷🤦♂️
Supposedly Moore wanted to stop after For Your Eyes Only, but they paid him a lot to come back when they learned Connery was making Never Say Never Again, as they didn't want a new Bond to go up against Connery. Moore wanted to leave again after Octopussy, but producers talked him into returning for A View to a Kill. I think Moore's run as Bond would be better regarded if he had left after For Your Eyes Only.
Moore was contracted for THREE films, whether too old or not (well, he should have negotiated for only 2 films, or flatly passed on the iconic role when Lazenby left and Connery declined to continue after Diamonds). Personally, Moore really ought to have left for good after Moonraker; the new bloke would already have had one film under his belt by the time Connery returned again in early 1980s!
Another fantastic review, thank you! It would have been far worse of the Esprit was banana yellow! I'm still reeling over 1:53 with the best triple-entendre ever used 😂
The single best James Bond film of the1970s. The best James Bond performance by Roger Moore. Defines two low bars to clear. This movie ain't good but it's watchable and enjoyable.
At 3:37, the American sub, the one in the middle, carries the number 593. The USS Thresher, lost with all hands in April, 1963, carried the number SSN 593.
I like the novel, but yes, this was the film that needed to be made. It's a bit of a rehash of You Only Live Twice's plot but the added subplot of Bond and Anya was actually quite surprising in how well it worked. I wish Jaws hadn't been played for laughs quite as much and his menace from the first quarter of the film was kept into the latter parts, and Stromberg... well, he's not the most memorable Bond villain. Still, it's enjoyable, Moore is great and there's genuine tension in the climax.
Two problems this movie never addressed in regards to Stromberg's plan. First, why did he need to destroy the world in order to live under the ocean? He wanted to stay there, not repopulate the Earth. Second, women. He had hundreds of men in orange jumpsuits and only two women in his employ. He killed on and Bond killed the other. No other women are seen in his aquabase until he kidnaps Anya. It's almost like they made Moonraker to address these plot points, but made everything else worse.
The skiing of the cliff scene would be a big yawn today as it would be CGI. It has become legendary *because someone had to actually do it* by putting their life on the line. And if memory serves, it almost was a disaster as the flying ski almost damaged the parachute as it came out. Def my favorite Moore film! And the Esprit was my favorite car growing up, undoubtedly in part due to this movie.
First Bond movie I ever saw and it was in the theater. At the time, Anya seemed kickass, and I loved it. Looking back, while better than most, Barbara Bach never really got in on the action all that much and was ultimately another damsel in distress, but it was a decent try for the time.
It's actually CurD Jürgens...he was a big European star at the time and I can not imagine his discomfort seeing his name spelled wrong in the credits...Still rubs me the wrong way everytime I see this movie..How could this have happened...
One error in the review, stating that this film started the tradition of Bond turning up at foreign MI6 HQ's. The previous film had him visit one inside the wreck of The RMS Queen Elizabeth in Hong Kong harbour.
Fun fact: Jurgens famously had webbed fingers, which got him the part of merman Karl Stromberg. But he refused to let them be shown onscreen, so Hollywood hand model Bella Clagoon was hired for pick ups
The original idea was a a new generation SPECTRE, made up of terrorists from around the world, who open the film by killing off the old generation. However, the McClory rights prevented it and they went back to the typewriter. A time crunch pretty much led to a mish-mash of Thunderball and You Only Live Twice. That said, it is my favorite of the 1970s Roger Moore films (For Your Eyes Only is my favorite, but it was in 1981). I'm not as down on Man With the Golden Gun, as everyone else; but, this one is terrific, with a minimal silliness. Moonraker on the other hand.......
Out of Moore's Bonds, I've always kinda preferred FYO - possibly because it was the first Bond movie I ever watched at the cinema. I would agree that "Spy" probably defines the Moore-era best, though. What with the insanely silly gadgets, awful outfits for Bond (although those do get even worse for Moore in later films), the otherworldly speed with which any hot girl Bond encounters will want to get freaky with him and the over the top spectacle of it all. However: I cannot ignore the total lack of acting skills of the main Bond-girl. Bach looks pretty hot in a 1970s kinda way, but she couldn't act her way out of a wet paper bag. And before anyone says that this is just how it was with the leading Bond-ladies at the time I will say: Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg, Shirley Eaton or Luciana Paluzzi. The baddy is also pretty "meh". Curd Jürgens was a good actor but in this he seems weirdly disinterested and tired. Perhaps he was just too old for the role at the time, looking more like a grumpy grandfather. Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger he clearly is not.
Moore was my least favorite Bond as he helped make his films bad jokes. However this this film is excellent. Trivia: only specially designed skis can go backwards; a normal pair doesn't. PS: Ken Adam couldn't figure out how to light the inside of the sub...so he asked his friend Stanley Kubrick for advice!
Barbara Bach got that "just happy to be here" vibe because she can't act, always with the slightly off facial expressions like she's in another movie or out of sync with the others. She was hot tho.
I've never gotten much out of this one. Bach isn't all that convincing to me as the Soviet super-spy, and Stromberg has to be the worst Bond villain of the entire series. Plus, it soon reveals itself to be a rehash of You Only Live Twice. (Lewis Gilbert had only one Bond plot in him, but he certainly brought an immense scale to all three of his films.) Oh, and I'll just say it: the Lotus Esprit is an ugly, ugly car. But it introduces General Gogol, so the movie gets points for giving Moore a much-needed recurring storyline for the rest of his tenure. And Jaws is fun, if absurd.
I know it's Neanderthal for me to say, but an average guy will best an average woman physically and a trained guy will beat a trained woman physically. It's not even a question up for debate. It's why competitive sports are divided by sex. It's only modern day movies that reject this fact of life that make Anya in TSWLM look like something less. She's a sexy Soviet honeypot spy (of which most known women spies of history are of that variety) who is able to use those attributes to her advantage. I'll note she had an opportunity to kill Bond in the end just like she said and proved she bested him.
I don't get it, this is the worst Roger Moore Bond movie for me. It's the first one I saw in the theater and I was bored silly by it. I always see that so many other people love it and I have watched it again as an adult (instead of a 10 year old) and it's still terribly boring. My money goes to For Your Eyes Only as Moore's best, and Moonraker next. As awful a thing as it is to say, The Spy Who Loved Me (though I do love the theme song) is as bad as many of Daniel Craig's (I know that's super mean to say, as Craig's are just awful - minus Casino Royale and Skyfall).
I couldn't disagree more. The Spy Who Loved Me was the last classic Bond film that despite failing to reach some of the highs of it's predecessors, still kills it in it's execution. The time is long past for Bond to be a hero once again instead of being portrayed as a middle aged drunk that is beaten down by these nutty politically correct times.
I remember the audience in our cinema applauding when James Bond's parachute opened with the Union Jack.
I’d be curious to know if you saw the film in the U.K.,because as someone who lives in the Boston area,l can’t imagine any film going crowd near me applauding when the Union Jack appeared.
Why does everyone always never mention just how superbly directed, edited and choreographed the action sequence is that follows the crews breaking out of the Liparus. It is one of the best sequences of cinematic history.
You are delooooded, Mister Bont.
The best Bond movie ever. With the best song EVER
First Bond film I ever saw at the pictures. Loved it as a small child. After many, many years of insisting that the only good Bond films are ones with Sean Connery in them, I finally went back to loving Roger Moore in all his Austin Powers glory, and I think this one is my favourite now.
I have to say Bach's Anya Amasova was the most attractive of ALL the classic era "Bond Girls." Yes, this includes Maude Adams' two appearances and Ursula Andress. AND Jane Seymour.
brightened up a rainy summer holiday in morecambe and my all time favourite
First Bond 'wow' moment - Ski jump.
And the theme song kicked arse!
This movie had the 2 hottest Bond women, Barbra Bach and Caroline Munro!
Love you videos! Your commentary for this bond movie was top notch just like this Bond outing ❤
A dingo stole my submarine. Love the accent. Entertaining review too.
Roger Moore's own favourite of his films, and mine too! One of my Top 3 favourite Bond films, easily! (ok, at least Top 5!)
Another quality review. I grew up watching Sir Roger as 'The Saint' and this is the Bond movie that finally seemed to play to the same strengths so apparent in that series.
Favourite line is Bond on seeing Caroline Munro's 'Naomi' - "What a handsome craft, such lovely lines". Roger that ... er ... Roger.
Moore's the pity, it would be a very long time before there was another Bond film as good as this.
@@StamFine 'For Your Eyes Only' would be my personal pick after this one. Frankly though, I'd watch any of Sir Roger's Bond movies. He was always worth the money on the ticket. His brand of charm and charisma may seem dated by today's standards but that says a good deal more about today's standards than it does about Sir Roger. Moore's the pity, as you so wittily and accurately pointed out.
If I remember right, Barbara Bach had a Logan's Run/Jenny Agutter moment. Oh the good ole' days.
Kids joy riding cracked me up
The plot was basically a remake of You Only Live Twice even down to the same blast shutters, and directed by the same guy Lewis Gilbert. But instead of US and Russian space capsules it's submarines. The Lotus was cool though
Great Review ! 👍
You're spot on The Spy Who Loved Me was the best 70's Bond movie and THE best starring Roger Moore as James Bond.
Upon Roger Moore's passing last year they replayed a 1984 interview where Roger Moore said they should have stopped in 1977 but DEFINITELY after the um . . . quote " that Moonraker nonsense" that blatantly tried to cash in on the huge
Star Wars impact.
Amazingly Moore continued and said he was stunned that after Octopussy and its ridiculous convoluted 'go nowhere story' they brought him in for ....
A View to a Kill.
Apparently no one was surprised more than he Roger Moore. In that same interview he said "I was too old to play Bond after The Man with the Golden Gun " . . . wow. 🤷🤦♂️
Moore's Bond, he does it better
Supposedly Moore wanted to stop after For Your Eyes Only, but they paid him a lot to come back when they learned Connery was making Never Say Never Again, as they didn't want a new Bond to go up against Connery. Moore wanted to leave again after Octopussy, but producers talked him into returning for A View to a Kill.
I think Moore's run as Bond would be better regarded if he had left after For Your Eyes Only.
Moore was contracted for THREE films, whether too old or not (well, he should have negotiated for only 2 films, or flatly passed on the iconic role when Lazenby left and Connery declined to continue after Diamonds). Personally, Moore really ought to have left for good after Moonraker; the new bloke would already have had one film under his belt by the time Connery returned again in early 1980s!
That interview doesn't exist.
But nice try anyway.
Another fantastic review, thank you!
It would have been far worse of the Esprit was banana yellow!
I'm still reeling over 1:53 with the best triple-entendre ever used 😂
The single best James Bond film of the1970s. The best James Bond performance by Roger Moore. Defines two low bars to clear. This movie ain't good but it's watchable and enjoyable.
At 3:37, the American sub, the one in the middle, carries the number 593. The USS Thresher, lost with all hands in April, 1963, carried the number SSN 593.
"So virile he only needs to look at women to make them pregnant" -- I almost fell out of my chair laughing at this one.
I like the novel, but yes, this was the film that needed to be made. It's a bit of a rehash of You Only Live Twice's plot but the added subplot of Bond and Anya was actually quite surprising in how well it worked. I wish Jaws hadn't been played for laughs quite as much and his menace from the first quarter of the film was kept into the latter parts, and Stromberg... well, he's not the most memorable Bond villain. Still, it's enjoyable, Moore is great and there's genuine tension in the climax.
Great reviews. The Russian general was also in "From Russia With Love"
The Man With The Golden Gun Was Slap Stick Comedy ! Where As The Spy Who Loved Me a Great Film
5:40
At 6:40: Thank you! All too many people take Jaws seriously.
Two problems this movie never addressed in regards to Stromberg's plan. First, why did he need to destroy the world in order to live under the ocean? He wanted to stay there, not repopulate the Earth. Second, women. He had hundreds of men in orange jumpsuits and only two women in his employ. He killed on and Bond killed the other. No other women are seen in his aquabase until he kidnaps Anya.
It's almost like they made Moonraker to address these plot points, but made everything else worse.
He hated people. So, destroy the world.
And he wanted to create a gay metropolis under the sea. Of course!
The skiing of the cliff scene would be a big yawn today as it would be CGI. It has become legendary *because someone had to actually do it* by putting their life on the line. And if memory serves, it almost was a disaster as the flying ski almost damaged the parachute as it came out.
Def my favorite Moore film! And the Esprit was my favorite car growing up, undoubtedly in part due to this movie.
This is almost a remake of You Only Live Twice but better..Spy Who Loved Me has it all
Great Moore movie, but imagine how good it not have been with an original plot.
First Bond movie I ever saw and it was in the theater. At the time, Anya seemed kickass, and I loved it. Looking back, while better than most, Barbara Bach never really got in on the action all that much and was ultimately another damsel in distress, but it was a decent try for the time.
Loved it when I saw the UK TV Premiere in the early 80's.
However not dated well for me.
Diamonds are forever was the best bond film
It's actually CurD Jürgens...he was a big European star at the time and I can not imagine his discomfort seeing his name spelled wrong in the credits...Still rubs me the wrong way everytime I see this movie..How could this have happened...
Jaws, the Lotus, Caroline Munro not being plundered by a randy Bond, what's not to love?
Not enough Munro, that's what!
Randy Bond seems like the sort of nickname JB people at MI6 would call him behind his back.
@@StamFine Especially Moneypenny, sitting there wistfully daydreaming her own Randy Bond fabrics.
One error in the review, stating that this film started the tradition of Bond turning up at foreign MI6 HQ's. The previous film had him visit one inside the wreck of The RMS Queen Elizabeth in Hong Kong harbour.
The book of The Spy Who Loved Me is still a decent read, even though it's not a par with the others, plotwise.
Fun fact: Jurgens famously had webbed fingers, which got him the part of merman Karl Stromberg. But he refused to let them be shown onscreen, so Hollywood hand model Bella Clagoon was hired for pick ups
Barbara Bach: The spy who everybody loved!
"Moist triangle". Hahaha!
I lost it at that too.
Anyone ever wonder how hard it would be to land a parachute in ski boots?
Still not forgiven for killing Caroline Munro. Sacrilege.
KARL Siegismund Gustav STROMBERG ;
the only Swedish Bond villain to date .
The original idea was a a new generation SPECTRE, made up of terrorists from around the world, who open the film by killing off the old generation. However, the McClory rights prevented it and they went back to the typewriter. A time crunch pretty much led to a mish-mash of Thunderball and You Only Live Twice. That said, it is my favorite of the 1970s Roger Moore films (For Your Eyes Only is my favorite, but it was in 1981). I'm not as down on Man With the Golden Gun, as everyone else; but, this one is terrific, with a minimal silliness. Moonraker on the other hand.......
Love your line at 3:00 about Moonraker being a very different film. As opposed to being a very similar film to THIS abortion?
Out of Moore's Bonds, I've always kinda preferred FYO - possibly because it was the first Bond movie I ever watched at the cinema. I would agree that "Spy" probably defines the Moore-era best, though. What with the insanely silly gadgets, awful outfits for Bond (although those do get even worse for Moore in later films), the otherworldly speed with which any hot girl Bond encounters will want to get freaky with him and the over the top spectacle of it all. However: I cannot ignore the total lack of acting skills of the main Bond-girl. Bach looks pretty hot in a 1970s kinda way, but she couldn't act her way out of a wet paper bag. And before anyone says that this is just how it was with the leading Bond-ladies at the time I will say: Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg, Shirley Eaton or Luciana Paluzzi. The baddy is also pretty "meh". Curd Jürgens was a good actor but in this he seems weirdly disinterested and tired. Perhaps he was just too old for the role at the time, looking more like a grumpy grandfather. Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger he clearly is not.
Moore was my least favorite Bond as he helped make his films bad jokes. However this this film is excellent. Trivia: only specially designed skis can go backwards; a normal pair doesn't. PS: Ken Adam couldn't figure out how to light the inside of the sub...so he asked his friend Stanley Kubrick for advice!
Barbara Bach got that "just happy to be here" vibe because she can't act, always with the slightly off facial expressions like she's in another movie or out of sync with the others.
She was hot tho.
I've never gotten much out of this one. Bach isn't all that convincing to me as the Soviet super-spy, and Stromberg has to be the worst Bond villain of the entire series. Plus, it soon reveals itself to be a rehash of You Only Live Twice. (Lewis Gilbert had only one Bond plot in him, but he certainly brought an immense scale to all three of his films.) Oh, and I'll just say it: the Lotus Esprit is an ugly, ugly car. But it introduces General Gogol, so the movie gets points for giving Moore a much-needed recurring storyline for the rest of his tenure. And Jaws is fun, if absurd.
The woodenness of a certain Bond girl kept me from enjoying this one.
I know it's Neanderthal for me to say, but an average guy will best an average woman physically and a trained guy will beat a trained woman physically. It's not even a question up for debate. It's why competitive sports are divided by sex. It's only modern day movies that reject this fact of life that make Anya in TSWLM look like something less. She's a sexy Soviet honeypot spy (of which most known women spies of history are of that variety) who is able to use those attributes to her advantage. I'll note she had an opportunity to kill Bond in the end just like she said and proved she bested him.
I don't get it, this is the worst Roger Moore Bond movie for me. It's the first one I saw in the theater and I was bored silly by it. I always see that so many other people love it and I have watched it again as an adult (instead of a 10 year old) and it's still terribly boring. My money goes to For Your Eyes Only as Moore's best, and Moonraker next. As awful a thing as it is to say, The Spy Who Loved Me (though I do love the theme song) is as bad as many of Daniel Craig's (I know that's super mean to say, as Craig's are just awful - minus Casino Royale and Skyfall).
I couldn't disagree more. The Spy Who Loved Me was the last classic Bond film that despite failing to reach some of the highs of it's predecessors, still kills it in it's execution. The time is long past for Bond to be a hero once again instead of being portrayed as a middle aged drunk that is beaten down by these nutty politically correct times.
MOONRAKER Is NOT terrible. Give that wrong old saying a rest.
Just never read the novel the title (only) was taken from. Complete trash.