Even tho the James Bond film franchise is pretty much box office gold today it wasn't always the case as back in the mid seventies the franchise was on the verge of dying out. With both Live And Let Die and The Man With The Golden Gun not getting really that good reviews and not doing that good at the office coupled with the fact that franchise co-producer Harry Saltzman had some serious debts of his own to pay off there really was alot of pressure on this film to succeed to prove to people that James Bond really can survive outside out of the sixties and so then join me as I review the film saved the James Bond franchise with the film in question being called simply just "The Spy Who Loved Me" enjoy.
The plot of this film is James Bond is tasked with teaming up a Russian spy in order to stop a reclusive megalomaniac from creating a new world under the sea. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us n this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured /presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad but that's also the problem as the plot of the film isn't all that good either as while the plot of this film is alot more better then that of the previous two Sir Roger Moore James Bond films it is still a boring plot that really gives us nothing new as all it does is give us the exact same things that we've seen done better in other James Bond films only it's done in away that doesn't understand what it was that made those things work in the previous film with them just being there for the same of being there and that's really it with the plot of this film not really being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Of course this film stars Sir Roger Moore as James Bond , Bernard Lee as M and Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny. Also starring in this film is Desmond Llewelyn as Q , Eva Rueber-Staier as Rubelvitch , Geoffrey Keen as Sir Frederick Gray and Walter Gotell as General Gogol. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good with all of the MI6 regulars turning in some really good performance with the likes of both Geoffrey Keen and Walter Gotell more then holding there own when it comes to acting against the series regulars and really nailing there characters right from the get go with the MI6 regulars themselves turning in the kind of performances that you'd expect from them and really having a fun time playing there respective characters with this being more evident with Sir Roger Moore who is alot more comfortable in the role of James Bond this time around and delivers a really cool and confident performance because of it.
Starring in this film is Barbara Bach as Anya Amasova , Curt Jürgens as Karl Stromberg and Richard Kiel as Jaws, Also starring in this film is Caroline Munro as Naomi , Barbara Jefford as The Voice Of Naomi , Edward De Souza as Sheikh Hosein , George Baker as Captain Benson , Vernon Dobtcheff as Max Kalba , Michael Billington as Sergei Barsov , Nadim Sawalha as Aziz Fekkesh , Robert Brown as Admiral Hargraves and Shane Rimmer as Commander Carter. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good with all of this films cast members turning in some really good performances with some of them turning in that good of a performance that they would become well known for playing the character that they play in this film as that's just how good there performances really are in this film with the acting in this film really being helped by the fact that the script for this film is just so good that all this films cast have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.
This film main Bond Girl is Major Anya Amasova who is played the really seriously stunning Barbara Bach. With Anya being one of if not the first Bond Girl that is truly Bonds equal as she is every bit of a top notch secret agent as Bond himself is with her willing to do whatever it takes to get her job and while she doesn't have that good a fighting skill when compared to James Bond what she does have is her street smarts and the fact that she's more willing to use the things that people are sensitive about against like the fact that she willingly brings up Bond's dead wife Tracy and then proceeds to mention the fact that she might have found something that he's very sensitive about and while the character could have been written as she does fall into the damsel in distress trap during the films third act it's also something that oddly works in her favor as she was a character that was presented to us as someone who doesn't know how to handle herself a in a fight and as a result of that is the fact that it does make sense that she would do nothing when she's captured because she would just end up getting herself into more danger which is something that she doesn't need to do when she knows that Bond himself is coming to rescue her.
This films other Bond Girl is Naomi who as mentioned before is played the really seriously stunning Caroline Munro. Who despite being dubbed over in this film is still a really solid character and while she's not as good a character as Anya was due to the fact that Naomi really isn't on screen for that very long before she gets killed of what little screen time she does have on screen is enough to make a lasting impact on us the audience with this film making is painfully clear she was killed of by Bond unlike in Thunderball where it's dateable if Fiona was killed by Bond or not here there's no question about it with the character also being a very memorable character as she does serve as the villains only henchwoman with her doing alot of the villains dirty work just because she knows that she get away with it as she's just that good and that effective at what she does as while yes she is a very glamorous henchwoman she's also one that knows how to get to the job when the job calls for it and with the character also being oddly likable as well which makes the reveal that she's a villain all the more shocking and her death even more shocking that what it already is.
Out of both of the characters it's Anya who is the better written of the films two Bond Girls due to the fact that we the audience get to spend alot more time with her as a character. Which does mean that we get to understand a bit more about her character and the fact that there's ticking time bomb affect all throughout the films second and third act as Bond is the one that killed her boyfriend during the films opening pre-title sequence it means that there's this air of tension all throughout the film which is something that does make the character all the more interesting as we the audience know exactly what she's going to do to the person who killed her boyfriend as she openly said so near the start of the film and as a result of that is the fact that we the audience become more engaged with her character as we patiently wait for her and Bond to realise that there fates have been tied together since the start of the film ad seeing her slowly come over to Bonds side does show a sign of characters development as she only does fully trust Bond only after he saves her life during the films third act.
Doing the production design for this film is of course Sir Ken Adam and if you've seen any of these reviews for any of the James Bond films that he's worked on then you know exactly what's coming next. As the sets that he created for this film truly were amazing to look at as all of the sets that he created for this film looked like that they fit in with the world of the James Bond films with the best looking set in the whole entire film being the truly massive Liparus interior which is just stunning to look ta and it really does make you wonder how the team managed to create such a massive set all practically with no matt paintings or anything with the set itself being something that's truly wonderful to look at and while yes the James Bond films especially in it's early years really did excel in creating massive sets here it felt like that they took what they learned from the previous films sets and stepped it up a notch as this is a set that really does look and feel like that it really does belong in the world of James Bond.
As was mentioned at the start of this review this is the film that really did save the James Bond franchise. As original franchise co-producer Harry Saltzman was having some very serious money troubles thanks to investments that didn't really pay off at all and as a result of that is the fact that he had to sell his share in the franchise and in EON Productions in order to pay of his massive debts and with one producer now at of the picture it was up to Albert R. Broccoli to help to save the franchise and he did that be putting alot more effort onto the story and the characters and by changing the character of James Bond in order to fit Sir Roger Moore something which really did pay of in the long run as it allowed the character to be alot more softer in nature something which is very like Sir Roger Moore himself was and in order to help to prove to people that Bond could still be a thing in the seventies there had to be a huge statement and what better statement to make then having a union jack flag appear on the back of Bonds parachute during the films pre-title sequence it's a little thing but it's something that lets you know that this version of Bond has changed with the times and yet is still the character that audiences will know and love.
To be frank this films villain Karl Stromberg is not only the franchises weakest villain but is also the franchises most boring villain as well. As he has nothing all that interesting about him whatsoever with his plan being at least somewhat inventive and it is something that would be done alot better in he very next film as well but there's nothing to this character as he just does nothing for the vast majority of this films running time and because of that he doesn't come across as being all threatening as all he does is get Jaws to all of his dirty work where as Blofeld for example would be willing to kill his own workers in order to distill a level of menace and make his employees scared of him something which this films villain fails to do and heck he doesn't have anything all that interesting about him either with him looking just like an ordinary person with this not really being helped by the fact that as a character he's not written all that well either with him being written as one of the franchises more weaker villains and as a result of that is the fact that it makes Bond himself look weak as a character as a hero is only as good as the villain that there put up against.
What also lets this films villain down is the fact that he's given such a weak death scene as all that happens is that Bond shoots him with his own under the table gun and that's it. Just to compare Dr. Kananga gets blown up like a balloon and explodes and Blofeld has had many creative and fun death scenes and yet all Karl Stromberg gets is being shot twice and that's really it and as a result of that is the fact that it comes across as the fact that the makers of this film really didn't know how to kill of this uninteresting villain in an interesting way this is despite the fact that they could have used his shark lift to gave the villain be dropped into the the pool of sharks which would be fitting as Bond villains are always killed of by the very thing that helps to set them apart and one of the things that helps to set Karl Stromberg is the fact that he has a trap door that leads to a pool full of sharks and yet the makers of this film don't use it in a way to kill of the films villain or even Jaws for that matter both of which really would have made some very satisfying death scenes for either Karl Stromberg or for Jaws for that matter.
Doing the opening titles for this film is of course the great Maurice Binder who really did turn in some really great looking titles for this film. With the titles for this film being the first titles to actually feature the then current James Bond in the opening titles with the opening titles themselves looking really good as they have all of the elegance that you'd really expect t see in a James Bond opening titles with this titles really matching the tone of both the film and the films opening title song really well and as a result of that is we the audience get to see some truly iconic titles for the film that are a good example of just how good Maurice Binder's opening titles were during the Sur Roger Moore era as later on in the Sir Roger Moore run of James Bond films his titles would seem lazy and uncreative and yet with this films opening titles it's the opposite that's true as the titles for this film are really creative and are anything but lazy and as a result of that is the fact that we get see opening titles that look fantastic and really hold up all of these many years later.
This films opening song is of course the great "Nobody Does It Better" which is of course sung by Carly Simon. With this films title song being one of if not the best James Bond theme song ever as it's just something that really does capture the tone and feeling of all of the previous films as well as doing something different by having the song itself describe James Bond and be told from the point of view of someone who has loved Bond in the last with the titles for this film really helping to sell the fact that this song is all about James Bond by having him appear in the actual titles for this film with this song really being helped by the fact that the song itself is not only really well written but it's also a song that's really well sung as well and while yes there are James Bond theme songs that are sung better like Goldfinger for example this films song is one of the few songs where everything from the music , the writing and the singing just comes together perfectly and as a result of that is the fact that we get a song that is really beautiful to listen to.
This is the film that introduces us to the villain jaws with the character in this film being portrayed more as a threat then what he would be portrayed as in the next film. As while yes the character does have his more goofy moments like for example the idea that after all of this abuse during the the fight in Egypt it's a rock falling on his foot that causes him pain which us funny it's not something that takes away from the seriousness of the characters where as in Moonraker they made him so goofy that it made him less of a threat which does make sense as the character was really popular with kids but at the same time tho this film got the balance right by giving him some more goofy and lighthearted moments but they balance that out by making him this quite literally unstoppable killing machine who can push Bond to his limits and forces both James Bond and Anya to think out side of the box every time that they fight him which is something that really does make him come across as being a really strong henchman and come across as someone who is actually a much more stronger character then what the films main villain ultimately ending up being like.
Now then while I cannot for the absolutely life of me remember whatever this films running time even was I do know that for a fact that this film really does have a grand total running time of exactly two hours and five minuets. Which is a bit on the long side of things for this film as even tho the film does have more then enough there interms of plot to really cover that large amount of running time by making the film as along as it was all it does is put a bigger spotlight on all of the films of issues with them going from minor issues to becoming major issues which while they don't make the film unwatchable they become more of an issue due to the fact that the film is as long as it is but the thing is you can't really cut anything out of the film as alot of the films running time is all about advancing the plot of the film and as a result of that is that if the film needed to be fixed it would've have to been done at the script level and not at the editing level but I will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is an action film that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With the film having a lot of really fun action sequences in it all of which are really exciting to see in the film and are easily some of the most fun action scenes in the entire James Bond franchise with alot of them being just as fun and as over the top as you'd want them to be altho with that being said some the fight scenes in this film do look bad with it being hard to tell what it is that Sir Roger Moore is trying to do alot of the time but that doesn't stop the rest of the films action from being some really fun action with the best action in this film coming from this films third act which is just so fun to see and is quite easily the best action scene in this whole entire film in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall this is a great film and is one that is a better example of just how good Sir Roger Moore is as James Bond as while both Live And Let Die and The Man With Golden Gun are good films they don't give you a good idea of just how this version of James Bond acts and that's something that this film does really well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in his very review ell then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official James Bond fandom wiki page , Tenor , Wikipedia and Google Images. With my personal favorite website to use to get the images that I used in this very review being the official James Bond fandom wiki page just simply due to the fact that pretty much all of the images that are featured / presented to us and are currently up and also on the official James Bond fandom wiki page are all fairly high quality and as well as being fairly high definition and well then boys and girls just freaking like James Bond I will return.
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