'The Spy Who Loved Me' revisited

With 'Quantum of Solace' due to hit our screens soon, we take a daily look back at the 21 official Bond films. Day 10: ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977, Lewis Gilbert)

Villain: Karl Stromberg
At Stake: A nuclear winter
Candy: Barbara Bach as Agent ‘Triple X’
Gizmo: Sub-aquatic Lotus Espirit
Theme song: ‘Nobody Does It Better’ by Carly Simon
Quote: ‘A British agent in love with a Russian agent? Détente, indeed!’

'Stop getting Bond wrong!!!'

If cultural commentator and well-known Bond-o-phile Alan Partridge considers ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ to be 007’s finest hour, then who are we to argue?

A majestic opening – the one where James skis off a cliff before opening a parachute emblazoned with the Union Jack – sets the tone for a beautifully shot and action-packed adventure that sees a lean and surprisingly capable Moore ditch the crap one-liners and finally get down to business.

It’s still a great deal of fun, but much more rounded than Roger’s previous outings as he teams up with a female Russian agent to stop shipping magnate Karl Stromberg (Curt Jürgens) implementing a harebrained scheme to wipe out mankind and create a new world order in his hi-tech Atlantis.

This is pretty much a barefaced conflation of ‘Thunderball’ and ‘You Only Live Twice’ but it’s filmed with such energy and enjoys such excellent production design that it feels truly fresh. Ken Adam’s cavernous submarine hanger remains wildly iconic, but men of a certain age will feel that it’s Bond’s sub-aquatic Lotus Espirit that really steals the show.

The film had at one time been offered to beardy tyro Steven Spielberg, only to be ultimately lensed by ‘You Only Live Twice’ veteran Lewis Gilbert. The wily old pro appears to have taken note of this new breed of young, smart directors who were busy raising the stakes for action blockbusters and duly meets the challenge with the best Bond of the ’70s.

James Bond will return in… ‘Moonraker’

Read our original review of 'The Spy Who Loved Me'

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