Review of The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) by John P — 22 Oct 2010

Here we arrive at the Bond film that had the most energy since Goldfinger. Despite it being basically a ripoff of You Only Live Twice (with the same director, hmm....), and no doubt being inspired by the big-budget disaster/thriller films of the early 70s (The Towering Inferno, Jaws), it's a big pile of fun. Roger Moore finally finds the right footing as Bond, being serious one minute, and fun the next. I really think he's underrated. Sure, he had the worst films of all the actors, but he's still a fun dude.

Anyway, the music's dated, the main villain sucks, and the camerawork is a bit sloppy, but at the time, it had the grandest scale for an action-adventure movie. That is, until a little movie called Star Wars came along. Also, Richard Kiel makes a great "Jaws", and Mrs. Ringo Starr is a great Bond girl. Good stuff all around.