The James Bond Film Festival. Part 1: Dr. No
The James Bond Film Festival. Part 2: From Russia with Love
The James Bond Film Festival. Part 3: Goldfinger
The James Bond Film Festival. Part 4: Thunderball
The James Bond Film Festival. Part 5: You Only Live Twice
The James Bond Film Festival. Part 6: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
The James Bond Film Festival. Part 7: Diamonds are Forever
The James Bond Film Festival. Part 8: Live and Let Die
The James Bond Film Festival. Part 9: The Man with the Golden Gun
Half way through the series!
To tell the truth, I don’t remember which was the first Bond film I ever saw. But I think it was The Spy Who Loved Me.
Curt Jürgens portrays Karl Stromberg, a reclusive industrialist who is collecting submarines. His Evil Plan™ is to use the nuclear missiles on the submarines to detroy New York City and Moscow, causing a nuclear war that will destroy the world. In its place, he plans to build an underwater Utopia. James Bond (Roger Moore) teams up with Russian agent Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) when Soviet General Anatol Gogol (Walter Gotell) and M (Bernard Lee) decide they have a common interest in getting the submarines back. A minor complication is that Bond killed Amasova’s boyfriend (Michael Billington) on his previous mission. This is only a minor complication though, designed to cause some friction when she finds out Bond is the killer.
Jaws (Richard Kiel) makes his first appearance in this film as the toothy assassin. Stromberg has another assistant by the name of Naomi (the beautiful Caroline Munro). Munro, IMO was much prettier than Bach. There’s something rat-like about Bach’s face in this film. Maybe it’s her teeth. Not that she wasn’t pretty – just a little odd-looking.
The Spy Who Loved Me has some of the coolest, most memorable gadgets and scenes in a Bond film. Or I may just remember them because this might have been the first one I saw. The trademark shot is during the pre-title sequence. Bond is being chased by Russian agents in Austria. He escapes by skiing off of a cliff and parachuting to safety. The Union Jack parachute is classic! And who could forget Bond, in his RN Commander’s uniform, scooting along on the stone-aged Sea-Doo? (I think it was a Sea-Doo. If anyone knows the manufacturer for certain, please let me know.) Then there was the Lotus Esprit. When I was a kid, that was my dream car. Even 26 years on, the lines of the classic Lotus are inspiring.
Speaking of the Lotus, I think this must have been the most outrageous Bond car to-date. The Aston-Martin had its gimmicks, but the Lotus turns into a mini-sub! Rather preposterous, but I liked it when I first saw it.
A couple of points bugged me in the film. Seriously; James bond wearing a Seiko? No Rolex Submariner this time. (And this won’t be the last film in which Bond wears a Seiko. I’ll mention it when the time comes, but there’s a scene in another film where a Seiko billboard figures prominently.) I also didn’t like the funkified Bond Theme during the ski chase. Way too disco. Fortunately they had the presence of mind to cut the music entirely when Bond goes off the cliff. The silence was quite effective.
I’d have to say this is the best Bond film since On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Moore plays it straight and does a good job. Kiel’s pastel blue leisure suit made me smirk, but I guess that was the style back then. Other than that, he makes a good henchman. I mentioned that Bach is a little strange-looking, but that doesn’t matter as much as her acting – or lack thereof. I don’t know if it’s because she was struggling with the Russian accent, but her performance was rather wooden. Even with the face though, she was nice to look at. (I would have liked to have seen more of Caroline Munro.) But overall this was a good effort. The pacing was good, the story was good, and Ken Adam’s sets were fabulous. The Big Battle™ in the ship was spectacular.
Two details to look for: First is the scene where the Lotus comes out of the ocean. There’s a guy on the beach who looks at his bottle of vino and thinks he’s drunk and seeing things. He shows up in at least one other Bond film (although I don’t recall which). The other thing is in the end credits: “JAMES BOND will return in FOR YOUR EYES ONLY”. Actually, For Your Eyes Only will be released in 1981 – two years after Moonraker (1979).