James Bond Is Back! But Is He Better?
For those following along with my review of every single 007 film in order of release, you know that the previous film in the series, Roger Moore’s second time as the British Secret Agent with a “license to kill”, was a bit of a disaster:
“The Man With the Golden Gun” was a critical and commercial failure, so the pressure was on for Bond to come back big – and boy did he ever!
As you can see from the film’s poster, there is a swagger and confidence on display here, and in the film as well! How did that happen?
First, Producer Harry Saltzman sold his interest in the franchise while the movie was in pre-production.
It was also 3 years since “Golden Gun”, and for this 10th installment, the pressure was on to “right the ship” – in fact, twelve screenwriters worked on the script – which went through to fifteen drafts!
So what did they do to fix the franchise? Everything!
Check out the trailer:
As the trailer says: It’s the biggest. It’s the best. It’s Bond – and BEYOND!
Here is the plot:
James Bond joins forces with sexy Russian agent Anya Amasova – played by Barbara Bach to defeat a shipping magnate who is threatening to destroy New York City with nuclear weapons.
Kurt Jergens plays the bad guy Karl Stroomberg with a subtle evil lurking in every line he utters. Bach is the “Bond Girl” who proves to be an equal match for 007 – and in one of the franchise’s greatest ideas, Bond’s most deadly adversary on the case is Stromberg’s henchman, Jaws!
Richard Kiel is the seven-foot giant with terrifying steel teeth! He quickly became a fan favorite! Those teeth were actually tightly packed tin foil that was so uncomfortable Kiel could only wear them a few minutes at a time!
The film opens with one of the greatest beginnings of a Bond film as well – take a look:
That Parachute!
This iconic sequence had audiences hooked before opening credits – and Roger Moore was, from this moment on, THE 007 audiences were waiting for!
By the way, this great trivia:
“The opening parachute ski-jump that could have gone horribly wrong for stuntman Rick Sylvester. After the jump, a disengaged ski clipped the unopened chute as it was falling. The ski could could easily have prevented the chute from opening. It can still be seen in the final footage that the ski clips the about-to-open parachute. Rick Sylvester was paid $30,000 for the skiing stunt in the opening sequence.”
We find out that Anya seeks revenge against Bond for killing her lover – but first, they must team up because both the UK and Russia fear the breakout of a world war if Stromberg’s missile strike hits the US.
This allows Bond and Anya to go around the world – with great action sequences in Egypt in the pyramids – every single thing about the film is BIG : they knew that the previous two installments felt too small for Bond – and they even brought back Bond’s martini: “shaken not stirred!
Moore shook off the previous two films and shows up here with a confidence that lifts the series: it feels like for the first time he IS James Bond 007!
Bond shows up at this hotel in Sardinia and there’s a terrific car chase in the mountains. The film never slows down, and Moore takes complete command of the role…and of course, the Producers added another nice touch:
Cult Actress Caroline Munro shows up in a bikini – but guess what?
She is a helicopter pilot trying to kill 007 as well!
The globe-trotting adventure ultimately ends at Stromberg’s lair in the ocean, where his giant oil tanker has “Swallowed” a nuclear sub – and here’s how 007 shows up!
This was actually the first commercial use of what would be known as a”jet ski!”
It all ends with an explosive finale, with huge sets, lots of action, Jaws there of course – and conveniently placed instruction manuals for Bond to disable the missiles…but why complain?
Because of how much they loved the character while filming, we see that Jaws survives, and when audiences saw that in the movie theater they cheered!
Roger Moore confidently ends the film with a very cheeky quip to end the movie on an amusing note…which led to this provocative poster for the next film in the series:
Bond Will Be Back…In WHAT?!?!
As always the film ends with a tease to the next film – but in this case, it wasn’t!
Yes, they teased “For Your Eyes Only”, but because “Star Wars” was such a massive hit at the time, they decided to send 007 into outer space next instead! That’s why the tagline “Outer Space Now Belongs To 007” is so prominent on the next installments poster!
Well, that’s the only misstep in “The Spy Who Loved Me” and a funny bit of trivia – the only time they put the wrong film at the end!
“The Spy Who Loved Me” opened with a Royal Premiere attended by Princess Anne at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on 7 July 1977. It grossed $185.4 million worldwide, and was, at that time, United Artist’s highest-grossing film ever!
The title song “Nobody Does It Better” sung by Carly Simon was so successful that the title “Nobody Does It Better” has become part of James Bond universe phraseology.
“MI6-hq.com – The Home of James Bond” had that as well as a ton of other great trivia – like this!
Stanley Kubrick’s Bond!
Here’s what the website reported:
“The eyesight of cinematographer Claude Renoir was failing at the time and he could not see to the end of the massive supertanker set. As a result, he could not supervise the lighting. Ken Adam turned to his friend Stanley Kubrick, who under the condition of complete secrecy supervised the lighting.”
So that massive setpieye was lit by Stanley Kubrick!
And finally, some “tasty” trivia:
During the Egyptian shoot, the catering didn’t arrive. Producer Albert R. Broccoli jumped into action and took a jeep and some crew, went into town and got some tomatoes, pots, pans and pasta was flown in from Cairo. Broccoli, well known as an amateur chef at home, cooked up a feast for the cast and crew, served by him and Roger Moore. A sign was painted in the mess-room: “Trattoria Broccoli.”
So Bond was back for sure! But could they keep the momentum going? My “Moonraker” review is next!
If you’ve been reading along, you know I had some harsh words for 007’s previous outing – you can read the review here to see why:
It could have derailed the series, or Roger Moore’s future as 007, but they came back strong – not so for the “one and done 007:
Even though it is now considered one of the greatest Bond films of all, George Lazenby only played the role once – click here to see why:
The “one and done 007” George Lazenby film was one of the best Bonds of all time, and it all happened because Sean Connery left the series!
“You Only Live Twice” was the end of Connery until “Diamonds” – here’s my review of that film and details of “The Rock’s” connection to 007!
You can see all of the reviews for every Bond film by going to my front page.
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Categories: 70's Cinema, Action Films, British Cinema, Cult Movies, Film Fight Club, Great Films, Movies, Pop Culture
johnrieber 
This was a great movie. I also enjoyed Jaws.
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Thanks Robbie! He was such a hit that they brought Jaws back and that will be part of my next review! This was a great comeback for 007 after the poor reception to the previous one…I appreciate you sharing the story as well – thank you!
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I am really enjoying these Bond film reviews.
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Thank you for reading Robbie – it is much appreciated. I mentioned to Pete that after WordPress did something to reduce spam, my daily views plummeted more than 60%…it has led me to re-evaluate continuing to post but we will see…
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Really, that is interesting. I hadn’t noticed anything but I never look at stats for my posts.
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great review, and I love the food and lighting backstories
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Thank you for reading and commenting!
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Roger Moore was too tongue in cheek for my taste, but Caroline Munro is always worth looking at!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, one of the interesting aspects of watching in order is seeing how each Actor came to the role…Moore is much stiffer than Connery, and the quips don’t work as well because it’s clear to me it’s just a line read and they loaded him up with way to many groaners…but yes, Munro had a fun small part!
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What a great post, John. This was definitely one of the best Bond movies. I love all the behind the scenes and trivia.
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Thank you so much for reading. It was a massive hit because they looked at how they had gotten off track and figured out the formula for 007’s success…there are more stumbled ahead but for a while, they fired on all cylinders!
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Yes, they did! It was worth the time spent to get it back to 007 success.
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Bach made the movie worth watching….at least for me….good review my friend chuq
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Thanks for reading! Yes, she was empowered, strong and kicked ass…the best type of “Bond girl” because she was also crucial to the story
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