Movie Review # 373: 007: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Ladies & gentlemen, today, we dive into the spy community once again, as we talk about the tenth installment of the 007 series. Wow, did time really fly between years 1962, and 1977! It ended being three years between this 007 film, and the one before it. It was released the same year that Star Wars began it’s legacy, as well as Disney coming out with two Disney animated films, with The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh, and The Rescuers. With all that said, let’s talk about 1977’s 007: The Spy Who Loved Me.

Plot: After a criminal mastermind damages a submarine with crew members on board. James Bond (Roger Moore) is sent to investigate the matter. Can he find out who was behind such an attack, as well as rescue the surviving crew members before it’s too late?

As I’m sure many of you know, after watching 007: Man With The Golden Gun recently, you may have recalled me mentioning that that one was not one of the best 007 films. Sure, it had some good action, a somewhat okay mystery, and a very good villain. However, Man With The Golden Gun was overall not that great. So now, you may be wondering, “Did 007: The Spy Who Loved Me improve upon the last installment?” Well, everyone, I’m relieved to tell you that it did. Wow, and thank God too! So the question remains, what did the writers, and the MGM company overall do differently this time? Well, it’s likely safe to say that the fact that this film was apparently released three years after 007: The Man With The Golden Gun probably served as a beneficial factor. I think part of the problem might have been that Golden Gun was released only a year after Live & Let Die, and that might have been too soon in that case? You got me! How, then, did things improve this time around with 007: The Spy Who Loved Me? Well, for one, the intro song “Nobody Does It Better,” which was sung by Carly Simon, that played in this film, seemed really catchy! While I doubt that it won the Oscar for Best Original Song, then hopefully, it at least got nominated. It certainly deserved a nomination, as beautiful, and catchy as it was. Not to mention the beautiful backgrounds that were set up while the song played. Also, the way that this 007 film is set up is rather clever as well. Of course you have the setup with James Bond, and his adventures. However, this time around, it’s almost like you also have a Sherlock Holmes, or Zootopia type of story thrown in as well. Seeing as that didn’t seem to be something that was thrown into the mix in a James Bond film before, that was most likely a breath of fresh air in this case. There is also the scenery of areas like Egypt, or whenever we are at the ocean. Oh man, especially with the ocean, it seems to look really beautiful like it did more so in real life back then than it may now. Picture this! You’re watching a documentary, or just real footage, of sea life. Whenever it gets to the ocean scenes, you may feel like you might be watching Finding Nemo, except with real fish. And yes, when the film goes to Egypt, you seem to get a taste of Egyptian culture as well. As for the villain, oh man, these villains are not ones that you want to mess around with. As for the story, it’s evident that the writers seemed to learn from their potential mistakes in the last film, and tried to improve as much as possible here. This time, there seemed to be much more substance, and meat, as well as overall great ingredients that have helped make a good majority of the James Bond movies as good, or great as can be. The only issues that this film seemed to have would be that one, the ending for this James Bond, while decent, seemed to end a little too abruptly. Not only that, but the ending might feel a little confusing as well. As for Anya Amasova/Agent XXX, she was certainly better than the love interest 007: The Man With The Golden Gun, that’s for certain. Sure, Agent XXX may not have exactly been one of the best characters, but a very good one nonetheless.

And that’s my review for 007: The Spy Who Loved Me. No doubt that even if this franchise set a new low with the 007 movie before this one, 007: The Spy Who Loved Me undoubtedly upped their game in the action, the characters, and the overall plot. Because of this, this James Bond Movie seemed to prove that this film series was getting back on the right track. Of course that’s a praise God, considering how many films would be coming out in this series after this! Well, definitely make a point to see 007: The Spy Who Loved Me if you haven’t. It’s guaranteed that you won’t regret it.

Final Grade: A