The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Lewis Gilbert

Writers:

Christopher Wood (screenplay) and
Richard Maibaum (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 August 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

He's Bond. He's Back. He's 007.

Plot:

James Bond investigates the hijacking of British and Russian submarines carrying nuclear warheads with the help of a KGB agent whose lover he killed.

Plot Keywords:

Submarine | British | Jaws | Teeth | Sea

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Roger Moore	...	James Bond
Barbara Bach	...	Major Anya Amasova
Curd Jürgens	...	Karl Stromberg (as Curt Jurgens)
Richard Kiel	...	Jaws
Caroline Munro	...	Naomi
Walter Gotell	...	General Anatol Gogol
Geoffrey Keen	...	Sir Frederick Gray
Bernard Lee	...	'M'
George Baker	...	Captain Benson
Michael Billington	...	Sergei Barsov
Olga Bisera	...	Felicca
Desmond Llewelyn	...	Q
Edward de Souza	...	Sheikh Hosein (as Edward De Souza)
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Max Kalba
Valerie Leon	...	Hotel Receptionist

Runtime:

125 min | Sweden:123 min (cut version)

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Italian | Arabic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Ireland:PG | South Korea:15 | Brazil:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Iceland:12 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1977) | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Argentina:13 | Singapore:PG | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Abu Simbel Temple, Abu Simbel, Egypt

Company:

Danjaq

Trivia:

The Aquapolis, the enormous Japanese floating sea structure, was considered as an exterior set for the Stromberg Marine Research Laboratory, Atlantis. It resembled an oil rig (something which had already been used in Diamonds Are Forever (1971)), had a gigantic three-tiered deck which was also a helicopter pad measuring 100 m2, and was supported by about a dozen major pillars. It cost 13 billion yen and had been built in Hiroshima in 1975 then transported to Okinawa for the International Ocean Exposition. Depending on weather conditions, it could partially rise or submerge into the ocean, in a similar fashion to the Atlantis setting of the movie's script. At the time of the location scout, it was incomplete and after attempts to make the mega-structure work, production designer Ken Adam felt that it lacked the right creative elements for the nautical villain's lair. Disappointingly, the floating sea city was rejected as an exterior location for Atlantis and the filmmakers decided to go with a model. Sadly, it was closed to tourist visits in 1993 and in 2000, after twenty-five years, the real-life floating city in the ocean was sold for scrap after the company that owned it went bankrupt.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In the opening credits, the last girl who is doing flips supposedly on the end of the gun barrel pulls down the actual bar during rotation to the point where it shows under the gun barrel (blue; during director credit).

Quotes:

[first lines]
HMS Ranger Navigator: Captain wants to keep 500 feet.
Young officer, HMS Ranger: [over PA] Maneuvering, Control. Come in shallow to 500 feet.
Young officer, HMS Ranger: [to crewman] Keep 500 feet
HMS Ranger crewman: Keep 500 feet, sir.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Filmpje! (1995)

Soundtrack:

Nocturne No. 8 in D-Flat, Op. 27 No. 2

Bond, Back to Basics...

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...