The second in our series of the domestic one-sheet posters of the James Bond series is an extremely popular entry in the series as a film. Being the ninth sequel (making it the tenth overall for all you Mensa flunk outs), the Bond producers wanted an extravagant, over-the-top movie. Maybe they should have carried that mentality over into the poster design.
23. The Spy Who Loved Me
The artwork for The Spy Who Loved Me is about as much of an opposite from our first entry in the series, Licence to Kill, as you can get. It is colorful, shows some of the action and locations that the movie will feature, and includes a sexy look at Bond girl Barbara Bach. However, the problem this poster has is that it is too much of everything. There is just too much going on in the frame.
Also, if you've seen the movie, you will know that the poster could give away a fun spoiler. While nearly 40 years later it is an iconic point in the series, at the time had unknown audiences gasping/cheering. Again, for those who haven't seen the movie I don't want to ruin anything, but looking closely at the poster would somewhat ruin the surprise/unveil of a certain action scene.
Although the poster isn't a complete failure, for the tenth movie in the series where the main focus was to go big or go home, this poster is a bit of a let-down. And finding a better poster from anywhere around the world wasn't any easier.
The Japanese poster is similar to the United States one-sheet in that it provides plenty of action and even more sex appeal, but it also gives away the same spoiler-ish item from the first poster. But I don't know if spoiler issues were as prevalent in 1977 as they are in today's Internet/social media world. It is unlikely that moviegoers stood in the theater, combing over every minor detail of the poster like people do today online.
Overall, the marketing and art departments didn't do so well with The Spy Who Loved Me, which according to the U.S. one-sheet was labeled the biggest and the best. It's Bond ... and B-E-Y-O-N-D. What does that even mean?
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