The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) movie review

[NecroVMX]

@frankfrmshamless You are stupid.

[LegitimateCriminal7]

That would be so epic if you could prove who was the best Bond by using science.

[hoogys]

I gotta admit Moore's Bond films Live and Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me, A View to a Kill had some of my favorite songs.

[baldridgeda81]

In my opinion The Best Bond Movie ever made

[whitbyjet65]

@baldridgeda81 That's probably because Roger moore was the best Bond.

[baldridgeda81]

@whitbyjet65 I agree with you completely

[DaveM599]

I'm a little surprised that you didn't mention the pre-credits sequence explicitly. (I realise a review isn't meant to discuss every single aspect of a film) This was definitely the point at which that part of the film really became a highlight of the films. Just think of the pre-credits from L&LD and TMWTGG and then the pre-credits of the movies after TSWLM. I take your point about re-creating FRWL, but 'Spy' always reminded me more of YOLTwice in terms of plot and scale of production.

[funkeytoad08]

I love this movie. The ONLY thing that I didn't like was the casting and acting of Barbra Bach. She is one of the loveliest Bond girls ever but her fake as hell Russian accent is the only killer for me, and how they turned her caractor into that dumb woman who always has to rely on Bond to save her.

[RobRobertTheMusicMan]

Why does Carly Simon have to be a Buzzkill?

[MegaVergan]

Jaws was great in this film!

[xxxdarkheartedboixxx]

i've been told by a few people that the spy who loved me is basically a remake of you only live twice. how true that is i'll never know :/

[MrRandomcommentguy]

Lotus Esprit is pronounced "Es-pree" by the way

[pun1978isher]

For your information... It is a Lotus Esprit. (the t is silent) sounds like espreee.

I have never heard it pronounced S prit.

[LeoTCK]

I absolutely hated this movie, while I tend to agree with most of your bond movie reviews, I consider this surprisingly as the worst bond movie, because of the over stylized things, bond in the beginning wears silly costume nad has the UK parachute(can you be more patriotic than that? uhh), the film is so unrealistic and not comedy enough anyway to forgive that for me(not to mention the cock/balls thing that Bond rides). From the 70s, Live and Let Die was the best one, although they all sucked.

[klaascarlover]

indeed best moore bond movie

[Wadsy591]

The Spy Who Loved Me is very impressive, and I can probably see why it is classified as one of the best. Roger Moore finally had a good bond picture at his hands. LALD was mediocre and TMWTGG was pathetic. Though, despite my liking of TSWLM, I do consider it overrated. Its probably my third favorite of the Roger Moore era.

[nuclearbugman]

My favourite bond film is still The Living Daylights. But the Spy Who Loved me is a close second and was my favourite before I saw Daylights.

[dafmurray]

TSWLM still looks impressive over 30 years later. The large budget was well spent. It's well made but it owes a fair amount to You Only Live Twice in terms of plot and production design. And how come Marvin Hamlish was nominated for Best Score Oscar when John Barry had never been nominated for a Bond film!

[TheGuyThatsAwesome]

I know most Bond fans think this was one of the best, but I can't say I enjoyed it that much and I am a huge Bond fan. I found it rather boring and at least a half hour longer than it should be, though I did like some scenes.

[ingareinar007]

Dolby stero, but no surround. Moonraker was the first there. The best 007 picture maybe, the solid one, together with From Russia With Love.

[desotowrong]

I love this movie, it was the first really good Bond film starring Roger Moore.

[YourSexisOnFire100]

Ever since seeing this as a child, the Lotus car has always stood out in my mind when I think of this movie. To think this was produced back in the seventies when technology and engineering was still quite primitive. No one would of probably dreamt of there ever being a car that would go under water. It just goes to show you how far ahead of his time James really is.

[Ragan6fan]

now there is acually a lotus that can turn into a sub

[sheemobile]

Moore makes his mark here as Bond IMO

[BondHeaven007]

First apperance of Jaws.

First appearance of General Gogol.

First Bond movie filmed in Dolby Surround Stereo.

[Wadsy591]

First appearance of Robert Brown who later returns as 'M' on Octopussy, AVTAK, TLD and LTK

[BondHeaven007]

I liked Bernard Lee more than Robert Brown. But Brown gives an great performance too.

[Lighteningpictures]

I understand Stromberg was supossed to be Blofeld. But he doesn't remind me of him. He reminds me more of Dr. No. Like Kamal Kahn and Max Zorin remind me of Goldfinger.

[NWAfan]

Best Moore ever. Probably a top 3 or 4.

Goldfinger, Thunderball, and YOLT are better. IMO

[naziazoheb]

Greatest adventurous as well as highly stylized best bond movie ever.Brilliant spies Moore with Barbara and an unforgettable Richard Kiel aka Jaws fantastic rivalry wit bond.

[sserpent21]

This movie rocks. My only other favorite is From Russia With Love

[GamingShadow01]

i have no interest in reading the book.

[sserpent21]

Don't worry, the book sucks and Bond is only in the last third of the book.

[GamingShadow01]

which is exactly why i wont read it.

[RogueRotting360]

You loss.

[emilbertillo]

This is probably Roger Moore's best outing as Bond. No campiness involved in here, just pure genius.

[Darthzilla99]

@emilbertillo It has that silly song playing as the van breaks down. Otherwise, one of Moore's more serious films.

[Glenn1967ful]

This was the best Moore entry as it had a convincing Bond girl, a tough plot and excellent special effects as well as a convincing villain, in this case a paranoid who is obsessed with destroying the world and living under the sea.

[TheSamsungSamurai]

0:36 Thats not Roger Moore im not sure if its supposed to or not

[NecroVMX]

it's not supposed to be bond at all

[jexplink]

@NecroVMX He actually looks a lot like George Lazenby, strangely enough ;-)

[petzxy]

According to Wikipedia actor Michael Willington (at 0:36) screen tested for a couple of Bond movies and was producer Albert Broccolis first choice after Roger Moore, Bond could have looked like that!

[EmpireLS56KW]

@NecroVMX Total asshole with web fingers LOL He’s a fucking nutter!

I guess Strongberg got the point being shot hardcore in the bollocks!

Last time I saw TSWLM was at the Empire Leicester Square, in Dolby cinema digital custom JBL 56KW THX sound system on the largest THX screen in Europe with biggest THX sound system as well! The director Lewis Gilbert was there and got a picture of myself standing next to him in the lobby.

[NecroVMX]

@EmpireLS56KW that sounds like a pretty cool experience

[EmpireLS56KW]

@NecroVMX Seeing projected again on the BIG TRUE SCREEN since summertime 1977 was delightful.

There was some technical flaws with digital. It had DNR applied to the image which removes the grain from 35mm! Also they added EE SIGH it almost amounted to bluray HD quality! The soundtrack was unchanged from the DVD edition or maybe it’s the THX Laserdisc edition! It’s a bit fake since the film never really had stereo surrounds. It was originally mixed in mono!

[EmpireLS56KW]

@EmpireLS56KW The Dolby digital mix got screwed up 60min into the film and for the first time, since visiting the Empire since Sep13th 1989, I had to leave my front and centre row seat and report the issue to the management that the centre channel had gone out! All that was heard was the foggy left and right fronts were the dialogue hovers in-between as if it was stereo only mix!

[EmpireLS56KW]

004 weren’t as lucky as Bond had a new assignment to kill them.

[EmpireLS56KW]

@NecroVMX Well it was 100% right and about 80% left and I had to lean over to the left to balance out the sound issue! Yes I was pissed off because I fucking missed at least 40mins of the film and my day was totally fucking ruined!

The sub bass LFE.1 was still working along with the stereo surrounds and the Sub bass in Empire is 20KW that rolls over your chest body uniformly from seat to seat.

[EmpireLS56KW]

@NecroVMX So no it was a great day it was total fucking disaster and I’ll never watch old classic films in digital cinema ever again! I’ would have sooner watched a scratched up 35mm mono print on the JBL THX sound system than some fake rubbish digital transfer that’s going to end up on bluray with DNR and EE!

[EmpireLS56KW]

@NecroVMX The real fact of the matter is that the digital transfer failed on the Dolby server in the decoding of the audio. Or one of the dbx4800 that powers processes the centre fucked up! No its not that! This was on the digital transfer as the sound moved from left to right with the centre cutting in and out then OUT till the end credits finished. SIGH

The projectionist said it was okay. Bullshit! He's ether a fucking lousy projectionist who doesn't know what to listen for. £15.00 wasted

[charlieiscool1000]

NO that was a russian agent who appears with another girl near the beginging of the spy who loved me

[IndianaKatarn]

@TheSamsungSamurai

He's Sergei Borzov, a Russian agent. It was referenced in the movie that he died on a mission in Berngarten.

[TheSunmanho]

@TheSamsungSamurai

that's a Russian spy! haven't you seen the movie? James Bond kills this Russian spy during the ski fight scene. he was the lover of the female Russian spy XXX - she swears revenge but later falls in love with Bond.

why don't you know that???

[xxxdarkheartedboixxx]

@TheSamsungSamurai its a guy called michael billington, was supose to play bond after old roger in octopussy but they felt old roger would stand a better chance in the battle with never say never again against sean connery. shame he never got the chance to play bond as roger was getting very old in the 80s!

[SFisher1993]

The BEST Bond-Moore film!

[Roger007Poore]

Spy Who Loved Me isnt really a completely original concept.

Its pretty much a Roger Moore remake of You Only Live Twice.

Both movies were directed by Lewis Gilbert.

[ingareinar007]

Your kinda right. Gilbert tells this in a interview :)

[jasonofaolain]

He was her lover, not husband.

[bigzooweek]

They finally write to Moore strengths and he is brilliant in the film. I just wish they gave his more drama at times, cause he is quite capable at it.

[DrPepperAndSteak]

@bigzooweek When he kicked the car over the cliff in For Your Eyes Only, I knew that was the true Bond.

[anahiemduck1]

on her majesty's secret service is a much better song than nobody does it better

[burger4g]

It's a fantastic film...Roger Moore is superlative, there's some amazing characters (obviously Jaws), great setpieces - who can forget the underwater car? - and the opening sequence is the best of the lot.

Still never quite worked out why Curt Jurgens has a massive magnet over his swimming pool, but there you go...

You're right - it's one of the best, only just beaten into second place by FRWL.

[5648378]

what was the spy who loved me novel was it like I know it diffrent from the movie does Tripple X tell the story from her perceptive and narrots the stroy in the novel the spy who loved novel or no I'm just kinda wondering

[NecroVMX]

Triple X isn't a character from the book, the movie was an entirely original concept. It does deal with a canadian girl and it tells a bit about her past, and she does narrate it. basically she's caretaking a resort and these two thugs show up to burn it and her along with it and collect insurance money, bond happens to be stopping by with a flat tire and rescues her.

[James38]

Ian Fleming never liked the novel. Much of the story is set in a hotel room. That's why he only allowed Broccoli and Saltzman to use the title and allowed the two to make a different story.

[beanio12]

Nevermind trwent, I figured it out. I had a stupid moment. hahahah!

[tootcb]

Christopher Wood was the screenwriter.

[trwent]

One thing that always puzzled me about this film is this: Remember, this was still during the time of the cold war, with the USSR and the West being enemies. It is one thing for a western and a Soviet agent to work together on a particular case, but there is one scene in which all of Q's gadgets are on display in front of the Soviet general and agent XXX. Are we to believe that this one mission of mutual cooperation would totally remove the need to keep any secrets from the Soviets?

[beanio12]

Good point...

[trwent]

Why are you playing the music from On Her Majesty's Secret Service in a review of The Spy Who Loved Me?

[NecroVMX]

The concept of video annotations and the description must be difficult.

[nihits]

i dont remember any part taken from live and let die or you only live twice novel.. can you point out which ones? btw the characters of jaws and shandor were based on the spy who loved me novel's sol horrror horowitz and sluggsy morant

[NecroVMX]

Other than Sluggsey having metal caps on his teeth (which is a pretty common thing) those characters bear very little resemblance.

[50008Thunderer]

Ha ha, you said 'wood'!

[mstoons]

I always liked that car.

[DarkeningNite]

I heard Jaws was originally going to die after getting thrown into a furnace or something.

Also, Bond had no witty line after killing Strongberg D:

[DURound]

Actually, this may have been Moore's best movie. And Barbara Bach is by far one of the best.. maybe THE best bond girl ever.

[Ins0mnia365]

cool, thanks for the clarification. If you are ever in NL, ill take you for a spin in the BMW.

[Ins0mnia365]

Awesome reviews necro's am enjoying them al and actually F5ing all the time at work or at home. :-)

btw, whats the exact name of the track you have used?

[NecroVMX]

It kinda says it in both the annotations and the description it's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" by The John Barry Orchestra

[Ins0mnia365]

hmms, your's is slightly different then what i have from Ski Chase.

[NecroVMX]

It's the full version, from the soundtrack, when they play it in the movie it's cut differently.