Movie review: ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’

FloridaGator80
A promotional photo from the movie “The Spy Who Loved Me.”

Every “007” fan has a favorite Bond female co-star and mine is Barbara Bach from “The Spy Who Loved Me.” Bach’s “Maj. Anya Amasova” isn’t the best femme fatale character in the series, but Bach is so good at being coldly professional while so amazingly beautiful that she stands at the top of that particular heap from the franchise – and she was agent “XXX” more than a generation before Vin Diesel. As Bond films go, it isn’t top-tier, but also it doesn’t hover above the bottom like “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (or any of the putrid Daniel Craig efforts). Further, according to IMDb.com, “The Spy Who Loved Me” is the last film that Elvis saw in a theater and it introduced the Jet Ski to the world. So, if you’re looking for a bit of fun and rollicking adventure, you know you cannot go wrong with “007” and “The Spy Who Loved Me” is a good one to watch despite its limitations.

‘The Spy Who Loved Me’
(1977; 125 minutes; rated PG; directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Roger Moore, Barbara Bach and Curt Jurgens)

007 SUPPOSED TO BE SPECTACULAR; ‘SPY’ NEARLY THERE

(NOTE: I reorganized and expanded this review with additional opinion, more trivia and the updating of links on Aug. 20, 2017. I again expanded the review on June 26, 2020. I again expanded it on Aug. 15, 2026.)

“The Spy Who Loved Me” isn’t the best of the “James Bond” films. I’d rate it below my personal favorites – “Diamonds are Forever” (click here to read my review) and “The Man with the Golden Gun” (click here to read my review) and far below the best pure Bonds (“Dr. No,” “Goldfinger” – click here to read my review – and “Thunderball” – click here to read my review).

However, it does have Barbara Bach and she’s the best actor to play 007’s femme fatale in any of the Bond films, topping even Jill St. John and even better than the most interestingly cast actor to go up against 007: Grace Jones.

Also, “The Spy Who Loved Me” is the introduction of Richard Kiel as “Jaws,” a metal-toothed killer who puts the bite on his victims (and most anything else).

A promotional photo from the movie “The Spy Who Loved Me.”

I like to watch “The Spy Who Loved Me” once in a while, like all Bond films, but this is one is usually so refreshing to watch because it isn’t one of the classics that I’ve seen many times. It’s that freshness that obscures its flaws and pushes Bach up to the top of the femme fatale ladder.

Bach, who plays Russian “Maj. Anya Amasova – Agent XXX,” has the “cold” part down: She’s all business, pretty much all of the time. She’s also got a score to settle. At the same time she matches completely and exceeds a couple of the so-called “Bond” girls that grace the screen with the world’s most recognizable spy (I can never not chuckle when I think about the irony of this fact – since everybody everywhere knows him, how does he get a job done?).

Roger Moore plays “James Bond” here and he’s out to save the world (again). He’s up against a shipping tycoon who has developed technology to track and hijack military submarines. So, Cold War enemies England and Russia toss their best agents together and a competition begins between Moore and Bach. What she doesn’t know initially is that Moore killed her lover on a recent mission and that ultimately throws a monkey wrench into the works when she finds out.

A promotional photo from the movie “The Spy Who Loved Me.”

The jet-setting continues here as the action moves from the oceans to Europe to Egypt and finally off the island of Sardinia. After one great underwater scene where a car (a Lotus Esprit) changes into a sub, things get sticky. The U.S. gets involved by letting Bach take a shower on one of their subs – “What’s the matter sailor? You never seen a major taking a shower before?” the skipper asks one of his crew in a delightfully Bond-ish one-liner.

OK, so that’s not why they’re aboard a U.S. sub, but, hey, it’s a Bond movie. It’s the best explanation you’ll need for wondering why she’s in a shower scene.

In any case, Bach finds out … is really distant … both work hard and save the world and Moore (of course) wins his showdown with the bad guy and he and Bach come to terms and ultimately find bliss together in an underwater escape pod.

Cut!

Here’s a look at some of the principal cast:

  • A promotional photo from the movie “The Spy Who Loved Me.”

    Moore is his usual off-hand, flippant and disrespectful of about anything self here. Although it isn’t a bad effort in his seven 007 films (“The Spy Who Loved Me” was his third, but he just doesn’t have the energy he does even in his last effort: the sadly lame “A View to a Kill”). He was also in “ffolkes” (click here for my review) and abominable “The Wild Geese” (click here for my review). The elegant actor died at 89 of cancer in May 2017.

  • A photo from “The Spy Who Loved Me.”

    I’ve already pretty much covered Bach and so I’ll just note here that she has also been in the disappointing “Force 10 From Navarone” and has been the wife of former “Beatle” Ringo Starr since 1981. She had only 25 acting credits in a career from 1968 until the final one in 1986 for “To the North of Katmandu” (plus, an appearance in a music video in 2007).

  • A promotional photo from the movie “The Spy Who Loved Me.”

    Kiel would parlay his “Jaws” character into a second Bond film “Moonraker” (click here to read my review) and become an ally of Moore in that one. He does a commendable job with the role – limited as it is. He would later be in “Happy Gilmore” with Adam Sandler (click here to read my review). Actually, Kiel did a metal-mouth character in a movie the year before “The Spy Who Loved Me” (it was “Silver Streak” with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder – click here to read my review). He died in 2014 at the age of 74 of possible acute myocardial infarction, according to IMDb.com.

  • A photo from “The Spy Who Loved Me.”

    Just as Moore’s effort is just so-so here, so, too, is the one by Curt Jurgens as evil bad guy “Karl Stromberg” (the actor was later billed as Curd Jurgens). He’s OK, but doesn’t really distinguish himself in a role as a supervillain. Jurgens had a prolific career of 166 credits over six decades and was in “The Enemy Below.” Jurgens died in 1982 at the age of 66 of a heart attack.

  • A promotional photo from the movie “The Spy Who Loved Me.”

    Walter Gotell plays “Gen. Anatol Gogol” and is the Russian counterpart of Moore’s boss. Gotell does the stereotypical Communist boss well and was in another Bond film. His career also included films such as the classic “The African Queen” with Humphrey Bogart. He was in four other 007 films and I liked his effort in two small roles: One in “The Boys from Brazil” (click here to read my review) and the other in “Black Sunday” (click here to read my review). Gotell was also in the World War II classic “The Longest Day” (click here to read about D-Day films). He died at 73 in 1997 of cancer and notched 170 acting credits in a career spanning six decades since the first in 1942.

I haven’t typically reviewed the work of Moore’s well-known boss; his boss’ assistant (“Miss Moneypenny”), who pines after him all the time; or the gadget guru who comes up with the neat toys for 007 … and I’m not starting here.

Here are the links to all my reviews of 007 films and which actor played “James Bond” in each:

“The Spy Who Loved Me” was the ninth-ranked film at the U.S. box office in 1977 with $46.8 million in ticket sales, according to Wiki. In another reference from Wiki, “The Spy Who Loved Me” reportedly made $185.4 million worldwide on a $4 million budget. “The Spy Who Loved Me” had absolutely no chance of challenging for the No. 1 spot because 1977 was the year of the release of that most iconic U.S. sci-fi film: “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope” and its box office haul of $307.2 million. Here are the other films from 1977 that I’ve reviewed for my blog:

Assorted cast and film trivia notes (via IMDb.com):

  • Bach’s birth name is Barbara Ann Goldbach and she was born in Queens, New York; Jurgens’ full birth name was Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens; and Kiel’s full birth name was Richard Dawson Kiel,
  • The chain that Kiel bites through at the pyramids is made of licorice.
  • Jurgens’ character has webbed hands that are more easily noticed when the film is on a large theater screen.
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “Singer, Elvis Presley saw The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) on Wednesday, August 10th 1977 during a special viewing at the General Cinema in Whitehaven, Tennessee. It was the last movie he saw as he died six days later on Tuesday, August 16th, 1977 at the age of 42.”
  • A promotional photo from the movie “The Spy Who Loved Me.”

    Click here for IMDb .com’s extensive trivia page about “The Spy Who Loved Me.”

  • Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “The film introduced a spy sea scooter known as a “wetbike” (better known now as a jet ski) to the world, sparking a new water-sport industry. This gadget was commonly referred to as the ‘motorbike that rides on water.’”

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