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Comments
YKMN and SF are in a league of their own in radioland.
As for NDIB it was an instant classic and brilliantly launched what was a new phase for Bond films.
Having watched The Spy Who Loved me over the weekend, I can't help but love it. It's Moore's best for me, easily. A great 007 adventure that's always a top 3. For this ranking though, i'm going to have to say that I enjoyed OHMSS more and, therefore, place it at number 2.
New ranking
1. OHMSS
2. TSWLM
3. GF
4. FRWL
5. DN
6. LALD
7. TB
8. YOLT
9. TMWTGG
10. DAF
Previous Ranking
1. The Spy Who Loved Me
2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3. Casino Royale
4. From Russia With Love
5. Skyfall
6. Goldfinger
7. Octopussy
8. Spectre
9. Dr No
10. The Living Daylights
11. Goldeneye
12. Live And Let Die
13. Licence To Kill
14. A View To A Kill
15. For Your Eyes Only
16. Moonraker
17. Thunderball
18. Quantum Of Solace
19. Diamonds Are Forever
20. Tomorrow Never Dies
21. You Only Live Twice
22. The Man With The Golden Gun
23. Die Another Day
24. The World Is Not Enough
Bond actor and performance
I know the Moore era has it critics because of the silliness that seemed to hamper the movies he starred in but, for me, this is his crowning glory. I think that Moore is on top form here and pulls of all the one-liners, the ruthless Bond etc. off to a tee. The finishing of Sandor in egypt is one of my favourite Bond moments of the series and Moore does it well. Yes, he has the silly moments, such as the "Let's try reverse...." and other lines but he can only work with what he is given. I like how he also shows his sensitive side, when XXX mentions his wife. Very nice to see it get some recognition. He does it well here and I think it's his best movie of them all, with Moore on great form.
Bond girl/s and performance
While she looks great, Barbara Bach doesn't emote all that well. She does come across as wooden for the most part, which is a shame, but she certainly plays her part in an excellent adventure.
Caroline Munroe is excellent as the sadistic Naomi. Not one to be messed with and she looks great. That bikini.....ding dong!!!
Bond henchman and performance
Sandor does what he needs to do in the little time he has on screen, being part of one of the best of Moore's ruthless killings.
And obviously, we have the most iconic of them all. Richard Kiel as Jaws is just brilliant, not even speaking he gives off such a threat, That's probably his size but he plays the part ever so well. Love the guy.
Bond villain/s and performance
Curt Jurgens is also excellent as Stromberg. For me, he's like the Dr No of the Moore era. He doesn't go far but gives such menace throughout.
Supporting cast performances
All their usual charming selves but don't really get to see too much of them. We have now added General Gogol who is played very well by Walter Gotell.
Gun barrel sequence
A slight change here, with the music and the addition of Bond's flares. Always love the gun barrel anyway.
PTS
The most iconic of them all. A fantastic sequence. We have a quite excellent ski chase ending with the most memorable of all stunts, the parachute jump. Fantastic and, for me anyway, one that hasn't been bettered.
Locations
Egypt is another wonderful location for a Bond movie. The streets, the pyramids all make for fantastic viewing.
Gadgets
The Lotus Esprit, a wonderful and iconic car, only second to the Aston Martin DB5. Looks an amazing car that would still look great today. One issue - how does that fish get inside the car? One of the Bond movies great mysteries.
Action
The action never lets up, right from the PTS, with wonderful ski chase and brilliant parachute stunt, to the massive battle abord the suprtanker. Absolutely superb, the big battle in particular vey well done, finally giving us something to rival the final battle in YOLT.
Humour
As always, lots of great one-liners for 007 but, for me the best, funny, line in the movie belongs to Max Kalba.
Bond: My name's Bnd, James Bond
Kalba: What of it?
Genius, and puts Bond down a peg or two. The whole thing trying to get away from Jaws at the pyramids, in the car, funny to some extent, but wouldn't get away with it nowadays. The following drive through the desert and the music as well, good for kicks but not as funny as they thought.
Plot plausibility
Cranked up a lot from any Bond but I have no problem with ludicrous plots, all makes for a massive Bond adventure.
Villains scheme
Absolutely crazy and one that we may well see again. How Stromberg thinks he can pull this off is beyond me but I guess the bigger the scheme, the bigger the movie. Plus, it's handled well thoughout.
Direction
Lewis Gilbert is back here in his first Bond movie since YOLT and can't we tell. The YOLT influences are there for all to see, the supertanker swalling up the subs, the massive final battle aboard the supertanker. Excellent and much improved on YOLT.
Opening title design
The parachute jump morphs seamlessly in to the opening titles, which look great throughout. A step up from TMWTGG.
Script
Great script that makes for a super movie. Maybe take a little bit of the humour away, but would that spoil it? No issues here as this is always a top 3 Bond for me.
Cinematography
A great looking movie, with some wonderful shots of Egypt and Sardinia. If nothing else Bond movies mostly look outstanding.
Music
No John Barry here but I don't think it shows massively, Marvin Hamlisch does a good job of the music. One part of the music I do enjoy is when Bond turns off the monitors on the Liparus towards the final battle and as he pulls the plug, the James bond theme stops.
There's also a very good title song attached to this from Carly Simon. Very fitting lyrics and sound great over the opening titles.
Editing
Some great editing sone on this movie, can't remember seeing any issue of note throughout, thanks to John Glen.
Costume design
Much prefer the costume design here to that of TMWTGG, Nice to see Bind in his naval uniform too.
Sets
As I've said before, there are striking similarities to YOLT on show here and the sets also give this away. The Atlantis looks amazing and the Liparus amazing. Certainly sets to rival the volcano lair in YOLT and no surprise that Ken Adam is responsible for them all.
NEW STANDINGS:
1) GF
2) FRWL
3) OHMSS
4) TSWLM
5) TB
6) DN
7) YOLT
8) LALD
9) DAF
10) TMWTGG
From "So does England!" to "Keeping the British end up, sir", this was a pure, unadulterated joy. Sure it’s too implausible at times, but it also has a fair bit of introspection that balances out the fantasy. Moore establishes his legend in this film; not just in terms of his Bondian performance but also his stature as a leading man.
Maurice Binder, Marvin Hamlisch, John Glen, Claude Renoir and Carly Simon go some way to making this a wonderful escapade, but the big two crew members that make this such a brilliant film, are Gilbert, whose direction is brisk and stylish, and Adam; the latter is a master of his craft. Simply stunning. Spy has one of my small, but favourite moments; it occurs when Bond is in Cairo, he is silhouetted against the sky, with a minaret behind him, with a superb cue from Hamlisch. Absolutely wonderful.
After the drab trio of films directed by Guy Hamilton, Spy is a breath of fresh air, that embraced being a Bond movie, instead of playing it safe with overt, predicable humour, and latching on to whatever current cinematic trends that were in that year. It recalls such classics as Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice, the definitive Bond films, the ones that has seeped into the public consciousness. Sure, superficially, it has some resemblance to Twice, but the dynamics of the film, especially the Bond/Anya subplot are completely different.
Bond and actor performance
Moore himself is on fine form in The Spy Who Loved Me, and possibly his best performance as 007. Moore refined his version of Bond with Lewis Gilbert, a man whom Moore found to be great company. He worked well with Gilbert, in a similar vein to Terence Young and Sean Connery. Like Young and Connery, Moore found he and Gilbert to share the same sense of humour.
Instead of Moore's 007 aping Connery's 007, Gilbert encouraged Moore to express himself, the result being a supremely composed and understated, authoritative performance. Moore subtly commands the screen, with great panache and grace. It is to Gilbert's credit that he was able to coax the performance of out Moore.
Moore also, displays a more sombre side to 007, in two fantastic scenes. The first is when Bond and Anya encounter each other in a Cairo bar, the first of their games of one-upmanship. Playfully trading blows to see who knows more about each other, things take an unexpected serious turn, when Anya mentions Tracy, the first time that she has been mentioned since Majesty's. The brief shadow that falls across Moore's face is a superb, yet subtle, piece of acting.
The second happens when Anya discovers that it was Bond who killed her lover, in the PTS; the sub-plot between her and Bond. This gives the audience an increasingly rare moment of introspection, in which the film-makers try to humanize Bond, which counterpoints well with the more fantastical storyline of Spy.
Bond girl/s and performance
Undeniably stunning, Bach fails to live up to the potential of the script for Anya. Notwithstanding, Bach shares a genuine chemistry with Roger Moore, and some of the films best moments, is in Bond and Anya's games of one-upmanship. The romance that blossoms between her and Bond is quite believable and quite touching.
Bond villain/s and performance
Curt Jürgens is Karl Stromberg, a shady shipping magnate, whose dream is to induce a global nuclear war, in order to live in his underwater city, Atlantis. Stromberg views the terrestrial population as “decadent and corrupt”. Stromberg's scheme is in the spirit of the latter Connery films, giving Spy an expansive sense of scale. Jürgens brings an understated menace to the part. He also has one of the great villainous lines;
“Witness, Mr. Bond, the instruments of Armageddon.”
I particularly like how Bond shuttled Stromberg of this mortal coil - shoot in the nads. Despite appearing rather jovial, one doesn't want to get on this Bond's bad side. He could be a right mean bastard.
Locations
The location footage in Spy is rather exceptional. It occurred to me that this was the first “epic globe trotting” film in the series. Each of the films thus far has a specific location/region;
DN – Jamaica
FRWL – Istanbul and the Baltic
GF – America, with a brief sojourn to Switzerland
TB – Bahamas
YOLT – Japan
OHMSS – Europe
DAF – America
LALD – Jamaica/Southern states of USA
TMWTGG – Far East
As an “amateur Egyptologist”, it’s great to see Bond in the “Jewel of the Nile”.
When Bond meets Sheikh Hosein, one can see the Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, about 1 hour from Cairo.
After Jaws assassinates Kalba, Bond and Anya hitch a lift to the ancient capital of Thebes – City of the Dead. Featured prominently is the Karnak Temple, with Jaws, Bond and Anya touring the great hypostyle hall, built by Seti I and Ramesses II.
Exteriors were shot at Abu Simbel for the MI6 HQ in Egypt, some 12 hours from Cairo.
Main Titles
The last great effort by Mr. Binder, although I enjoyed DAF and LALD, with their diamonds and Voodoo motifs, TMTGG was a little lacking. Binder surpassed himself this time - what a title sequence and what a song, all meshing in synch. Probably the greatest one – two, of credits design and title song, in the series. My favourite moment has to be Moore pushing over the marching female Soviet soldiers.
Great work as always chaps! I hope you enjoyed tolerated this rambling review of Spy, as much as I have enjoyed your observations.
Royale’s Ranking -
1. From Russia With Love
2. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
3. Dr. No
4. Goldfinger
5. Thunderball
6. The Spy Who Loved Me
7. You Only Live Twice
8. The Man With The Golden Gun
9. Diamonds Are Forever
10. Live and Let Die
The Spy Who Loved Me - Actor Notes
A lot of people consider this to be Roger Moore’s best performance as Bond.
It isn’t.
If anything he is finding his feet and relaxing in to the smug persona he adopted almost fully in Moonraker.
In Live And Let Die and The Man With The Golden Gun Moore gave more thoughtful, rounded performances. Here he switches on and off between that earlier Bond (the much referred to scene where it is revealed Bond killed Anya’s lover, the bar scene, the moment he sees Gogol in Egypt), and the overly amused playboy Bond who sees no real danger when his truck is being ripped apart by a 7 feet tall killer.
Moore looks good though and his authoritative way of taking charge in the last half hour in the super tanker is quite convincing. And despite my reservations his disposal of Stromberg, Sandor and Naomi are all quite cold and ruthless.
His disposal of Sandor is every bit as jolting as Locque in FYEO but I guess the latter impresses the masses more because Bond has no half amused quip to offer.
Sometimes Bond is overshadowed by the hardware, which was Sean Connery’s greatest fear over the role (apart from not making as much money as he felt he deserved). But Moore has enough presence to cope.
Barbara Bach lacks everything necessary to suggest Russia’s best agent. She bobbles around like Lady Penelope (except she’s more wooden) and the unintentionally funniest moment of the film is when she strikes up the karate pose amongst the Egyptian ruins. I still laugh at this after two dozen or more viewings.
And while I’m at it, the pigs ear she makes of remaining inconspicuous on the Liparus
Is quite farcical.
Finally her delivery of the line “You saved my life” on the train carries the conviction of a 2x2 plank of best timber.
Naomi is around all too briefly. She really shouldn’t be allowed out in day light looking like that. Bond’s disposal of her is unnecessary and not exactly the actions of Moore’s gentleman Bond.
Curt Jurgens is a little sombre as Stromberg. Some history would be useful; find out what makes him tick. Exactly why is he driven to achieve total destruction of Earth? He gives a sort of speech to Bond but it doesn't feel enough. After all we found out a bit about Scaramanga, Goldfinger, Carver etc. We felt we knew what drove them and why.
Elsewhere, Jaws, the world’s most incompetent killer (he fails so many times to kill Bond it does make me wonder exactly why Drax is excited at the prospect of hiring him in Moonraker) makes his debut.
We also have General Gogol on first name terms with M. What’s that all about?
Finally Michael Billington is an interesting choice as XXX’s lover. A nearly Bond he does look the part. The one that got away?
Not overly in depth but my intention is to note things that strike me on viewing. Back later with the rest of my thoughts, with Moonraker hovering in the wings...
Stromberg's plan, motivations, etc. don't really seem very well fleshed out. That's a failing Eon will address in Moonraker!
Jaws has evidently killed lots of other folks. His inability to kill Bond could well be his first (repeated) failure in a long career of henching.
Gogol & M on first name terms? Call it professional courtesy...
Michael Lonsdale is an enjoyable Hugo Drax, soft spoken while still being an egotistical lunatic. I’d put him about on a par with Curt Jurgens’ Stromberg. Lois Chiles, unfortunately, is in the running for the most wooden performance ever delivered by a Bond girl. From Barabara Bach’s Russian Major Amasimova, this sort of stiff portrayal can be written off as being the difficulty of speaking in a language not her own. For the American CIA agent Holly Goodhead, no such excuse can be entertained. For that matter, why is this American agent so reluctant to join forces with 007? He’s only saved her country from disaster a half dozen times or more already in this series -- you’d think she’d be a little more likely to trust Bond much earlier on. She doesn’t necessarily have to fall into his bed right away -- the end of the movie is plenty enough time to have him take her around the world -- but once he’s figured out that she’s standard CIA issue, the question of detante shouldn’t even come up. Besides, that was a term for the thawing of relations between Russia and the Western democracies, not between England and America!
But probably, Moonraker’s biggest failing when placed alongside The Spy Who Loved Me, ahs got to be in its portrayal of Jaws. Throughout TSWLM, Jaws is played as a near perfect amalgamation of scary henchman and comic relief. He kills people effectively and ruthlessly in TSWLM, failing only when it comes to eliminating Bond. We’re not sure quite how abnormally strong he is…but he can kill a shark in tooth-to-tooth combat, so he’s pretty nearly super-powered. But then, so was Oddjob and nobody ever blinked at his level of invulnerability. (Personally, I always thought he had a stash of radioactive kimchi, something along the lines of Popeye’s magical cans of spinach.) Throughout the first ¾ of Moonraker, Jaws is about on the level of Oddjob in both strength and fanaticism…but then, something fatal and unpredictable happens: Jaws falls in love, and just like Sampson, love blunts his effectiveness. Jaws turns against his lunatic employer and decides to team up with Bond. Oh well. Move over, Sheriff J.W. Pepper -- there’s a new has-been in town.
I’m not trying to pretend that Moonraker has no positive qualities -- quite the opposite. Bond’s ordeal in the multiple-gravity testing device is actually quite tense, and Moore’s recovery from it (shakily refusing Goodhead’s offer of assistance) is one of my favorite moments from Moore’s Bond. Corrine’s attempt to escape Drax’s pursuing Dobermans is to my mind one of the most frightening scenes in the entire series. The free-falling PTS is a fine follow-up to the PTS of TSWLM, and the revelation of so many of Drax’s lovelies in the Amazon rainforest is an “only in a Bond film” moment that never fails to impress even a Fleming/Connery true believer like myself. A few years back, in a review of this film for the SirHenry’s thread, I stated: “This may not be your grandfather’s favorite James Bond film -- but it probably IS Jerry Garcia’s!” By which I mean to say, copious amounts of mood-altering substances are probably helpful in assessing this movie positively. When I first saw Moonraker in its initial release, it immediately sank very nearly to the bottom of the pack in my assessment. It’s still not one of my own favorites (I’ll probably never attain Garcia-like status in that regard!) but I can at least find substantial sources of amusement in it today.
Except for the Bondola. I’ll never forgive them for the Bondola…
UPDATED RATINGS:
1) GF
2) FRWL
3) OHMSS
4) TSWLM
5) TB
6) DN
7) YOLT
8) LALD
9) DAF
10) MR
11) TMWTGG
The Spy Who Loved Me - Production Notes and Bond elements
Nice twangy guitar during gun barrel, followed by a PTS that features Sir Hilary Brey!!
Particularly enjoyed an updated Bond theme driving the ski chase along. Take note Guy Hamilton. Culminates in one of the most famous stunts in all Bond-dom. The ski jump seems to open a new phase for Bond. Harry Saltzman is gone, Cubby has looked at the previous films, and basically stripped it all down like a rusty old engine, and rebuilt a new, sleeker model.
The titles have Bond leaping around waving his gun about in true Maurice Binder phallic splendour.
Marvin Hamlisch has written a beautiful title track and contributed a thoughtful score full of mood, and always in keeping with the appropriate locations.
Elsewhere he uses classical music to reflect the overall grandeur of this picture (and not just for comic effect as happened with Moonraker).
The Bond theme amusingly strikes up when Bond emerges from the sea in his submarine car.
The sets are of course spectacular, especially the Liparus. As the plot takes a deep bow towards You Only Live Twice (and why not indeed) the amazing sound stage makes one think of Ken Adam's previous crazy but brilliant idea - the hollowed out volcano.
The pot is of course utterly bonkers. As @BeatlesSansEarmuffs says his plan to re-populate Earth under the sea seems to be taking shape without any women. And how Stromberg has managed to recruit all of these men is difficult to comprehend.
Add to this Stromberg's ruthless disposal of anyone who betrays him or outlives their usefulness and we have a man Blofeld would be proud to shake by the flipper.
Claude Renoir is director of photography and does a great job shooting Egypt and Sardinia. Finally we have a Bond film showing the money on the screen. Possibly the first to do so since On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
The action is very good, especially the spectacular climax. Jaws is also good despite my comments about him being a hopeless killer. As others have said it's only Bond he has trouble disposing of.
Worth noting that when Jaws' car drops through the roof of the old man's hovel, the poor man manages to be more emotive and convincing in 20 seconds than Barbara Bach manages in 2 hours.
Finally a last word on Roger Moore. The scene in Egypt where he enters the MI6 'building' and sees Gogal; Moore passes by the pillars watching his supposed enemy with utter suspicion. Lewis Gilbert gets so much out of this scene, not least a very fine performance from Moore. It's these moments that show what a good screen actor Roger Moore could be, if only he tried.
You have Moonraker ale?
Also when Corinne declares herself to be a 'humble pilot' in Drax's employ she then retires to personal quarters that suggest anything but.