- The Spy Who Loved Me feels a bit like "The Best of James Bond," and I don't mean that as an insult. You liked Dr. No's undersea lair and deformed hands? You'll love Karl Stromberg (Curd Jürgens). You adored Maud Adams' cheekbones? Here's Barbara Bach. It's probably impossible to have as colorful a henchman as the derby-throwing Oddjob, but this film tries with Jaws (Richard Kiel) and his 24-karat teeth. Underwater battles, gadget cars, Russian spies, traincar fights, amazing stunts (including a truly remarkable ski jump), and a ship that swallows other ships--it's all back and bigger than ever. The only conspicuously missing essentials are a John Barry soundtrack and, of course, the original Bond. Despite the theme song's claim that "nobody does it better," Connery is king.
- Still, in large part because it borrows so heavily from the earlier installments, The Spy Who Loved Me is easily the greatest film to feature Roger Moore as Bond. The plot involves Bond's usual struggle to save the world from a madman, with the added twist that he must now work with the Russians rather than against them. Complicating matters further is the fact that Bond's Russian counterpart, Anya Amasova, a.k.a. "Agent XXX" (Bach), knows that Bond recently killed her lover in the line of duty. Does this mean that Amasova will kill Bond when their mission is over, or will the debonair British spy find some way of adjusting her mood? Okay, the outcome is predictable, but isn't that part of what we love about James Bond?
