The Spy Who Loved Me is the 10th film in the series and after Harry Saltzman sold off his half of the partnership following the release of The Man with the Golden Gun, Albert "Cubby" Broccoli wanted to give audiences the biggest Bond film to date. In certain aspects he succeeded. The film is audacious in certain aspects, but at the same time it is a retread of what has come before. When broken down to its simplest form, The Spy Who Loved Me is a remake of You Only Live Twice with certain elements tweaked. Both films were directed by Lewis Gilbert and before some legal issues regarding the rights to the Blofeld character caused the writers to make a change, Stromberg was going to be the leader of SPECTRE.
I used to enjoy this movie more as a younger fan of the series, but the more I've watched it and the older I get the farther it falls down the rankings. I feel bad for the shade I throw at Sir Roger Moore's Bond movies, but his take on the role has never resonated with me. That being said though, I still respect what Broccoli, Gilbert, and Moore did with this movie and the parts I do like, I really like.
1. This pre-title sequence is in my top five of the series and it has the greatest payoff of all of them. We start with a (mostly) exciting ski chase as the music gets funky with the disco rhythm of "Bond 77" playing throughout. This leads us into one of the most rousing stunts of the series that is a complete surprise for first-time viewers. Then we end with the beautiful opening piano of "Nobody Does it Better," the film's theme song.
2. Carly Simon's power ballad is my favorite theme song that is not an instrumental. The top of my rankings are "The James Bond Theme", the "On Her Majesty's Secret Service Theme," and then it's "Nobody Does it Better." It might be the first song to play during the opening credits about the franchise's hero (which this is up for debate since nobody is sure who Tom Jones is singing about in Thunderball), which is incredible as its the 10th movie in the series.
3. Another remnant of the Lewis Gilbert movie that came first, but Stromberg's underwater lair Atlantis is similar to the hollowed-out volcano from You Only Live Twice. While not as incredible as the volcano or even as great as a later set piece built in the largest "silent stage" at the time, it is still an iconic villainous lair that has influenced future films in other action series and been mocked in spy spoof films.
4. When he is first introduced and throughout most of the movie, Jaws is a menacing henchman that likely scares some viewers with how horrifying and powerful he is. When battling Bond and Anya Amasova in certain scenes you truly wonder how they will get the best of him, but the way the filmmakers and writers handle those escapes is what makes Jaws a less threatening henchman than someone like Donald "Red" Grant or Oddjob. It turns out that Jaws made such an impact with audiences the ending was changed to allow for the character to return in a future movie.
5. And yet another retread of You Only Live Twice, instead of Little Nellie we get Wet Nellie. The Lotus Espirit submersible vehicle is a great gadget-laden car and the payoff of it splashing into the sea is almost as great as when the car comes out of the water on the beach. The cherry on top of it all is Roger Moore dropping the fish out of the window (even though it doesn't make any sense as the car/submersible was air tight and any leaks would have been too small for the fish to enter).
6. The delivery from Roger Moore in the scene where he explains that he did in actuality kill Anya's lover in Austria is his best in the entire movie. His response is compassionate as he didn't enjoy what he did to someone she loved, but at the same time he explains the reality of their profession.
7. "What's the matter sailor? Never seen a major taking a shower before?"
8. And one last repeat of You Only Live Twice (Gilbert obviously knew where his strengths were), the big battle between Stromberg's men and the British, Russian, and American navies on the Liparus, which is that giant soundstage built for this movie specifically, is a great ending to the film.
9. I love the way Bond catches Jaws on the magnet and drops him in with the shark. It is an ingenious way to hoist him by his own petard.
10. "Bond, what do you think you're doing?" "Keeping the British end up, sir."
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