"Goodbye Mr Bond." "Well let's say au revoir, I have the oddest feeling we'll be meeting again sometime"Proving the theory that bigger is sometimes better and in particular that Cubby could work as sole producer on the biggest film series of all time, without the aid of his partner of the last nine films, Harry Saltzman, the 10th Bond adventure was born. Fans would have to wait two and a half years after the release of The Man With The Golden Gun for Spy to premiere which, by today's standards, is fairly average but at the time was an agonising wait for fans of the series. Only the title of Fleming's novel was to be used which gave Broccoli and his writers an unenviable task of constructing a taut adventure story for Roger Moore's third outing as Bond.
Bond faces off against Bond heavy Jaws, a performance relished by Richard Kiel
The majority of fans disappointed by Moore's previous film and its inability to take itself even remotely seriously could now rejoice, as The Spy Who Loved Me is big, bombastic and thoroughly entertaining. The elements gel brilliantly; there is just enough humour to distance Moore's Bond from Connery whilst there is also ample opportunity for Moore to perfect some excellent dialogue, particularly Anya's short and sharp reference to Bond's short term marriage in On Her Majesty's Secret Service which Moore responds to in a subtle but very effective fashion. The sets are incredible, the women are beautiful - some of the very best in the series - and the locations, Egypt in particular, look stunning under the cinematographic eye of Claude Renoir.
Moore and Bond girl Barbara Bach hunt down Jaws in the desert
Just as it is easy to see why Connery favours the exciting, totally Fleming-like From Russia With Love, so too it is easy to see why Moore clearly enjoyed working with director Lewis Gilbert on The Spy Who Loved Me. The humour is there but the film is not reliant on the humour to drive the story forward. The film also looks unlike any Bond film released up to that point. While some draw parallels to You Only Live Twice in terms of the enormous set pieces - volcano versus super tanker - Spy triumphs as a film first and foremost because it is arguably more entertaining, the characters are more interesting, yep, even Jaws, and the film is simply more engrossing. On the series' 15th anniversary, Broccoli's gamble to pay out the big bucks and put Bond back on the big screen with a bang paid dividends. Still one of the biggest box office successes in the series, The Spy Who Loved Me proves its title singer Carly Simon right - Nobody does it better. 7/7/77 could really have only belonged to one man.
Bond faces off against Bond heavy Jaws, a performance relished by Richard KielThe majority of fans disappointed by Moore's previous film and its inability to take itself even remotely seriously could now rejoice, as The Spy Who Loved Me is big, bombastic and thoroughly entertaining. The elements gel brilliantly; there is just enough humour to distance Moore's Bond from Connery whilst there is also ample opportunity for Moore to perfect some excellent dialogue, particularly Anya's short and sharp reference to Bond's short term marriage in On Her Majesty's Secret Service which Moore responds to in a subtle but very effective fashion. The sets are incredible, the women are beautiful - some of the very best in the series - and the locations, Egypt in particular, look stunning under the cinematographic eye of Claude Renoir.
Moore and Bond girl Barbara Bach hunt down Jaws in the desertJust as it is easy to see why Connery favours the exciting, totally Fleming-like From Russia With Love, so too it is easy to see why Moore clearly enjoyed working with director Lewis Gilbert on The Spy Who Loved Me. The humour is there but the film is not reliant on the humour to drive the story forward. The film also looks unlike any Bond film released up to that point. While some draw parallels to You Only Live Twice in terms of the enormous set pieces - volcano versus super tanker - Spy triumphs as a film first and foremost because it is arguably more entertaining, the characters are more interesting, yep, even Jaws, and the film is simply more engrossing. On the series' 15th anniversary, Broccoli's gamble to pay out the big bucks and put Bond back on the big screen with a bang paid dividends. Still one of the biggest box office successes in the series, The Spy Who Loved Me proves its title singer Carly Simon right - Nobody does it better. 7/7/77 could really have only belonged to one man.
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