Review of The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) by Cecilia C — 13 Mar 2009

This is by far my favorite Roger Moore ?Bond? outing. And, even one of the best in the entire Bond series. The Spy Who Loved Me begins very similar to another one of my favorite Bond films?You Only Live Twice with Sean Connery.

Both films start with the capturing of crafts?in You Only Live Twice it is a space rocket and in The Spy Who Loved Me it is a submarine. Obviously, we know that these ?stolen? crafts are not to work of a sane person or entity.

But, who is it? Is it Russia? Is it China? Basically once the craft is captured, it is up to 007 to save the day, as usual. Where both films differ is in the villain. You Only Live Twice has the ever-popular Blofeld, who by the time You Only Live Twice came out, was getting a little passé.

But, in The Spy Who Loved Me, Curd Jürgens plays Stromberg?one of the best Bond villains. His evilness is intense and not prolonged?if he wants to kill someone, he just does it (unlike the other Bond baddies who talk and talk and talk about killing before they actually get around to it).

Moore also has excellent chemistry with his Russian counterpart?played by Barbara Bach. They play well off of each other, even though Bach is a little stiff at times. Moore's quips usually get to be too much after a while but Bach does a good job of countering his jibes with some of her own.