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With Roger Moore making the part his own by this; his third bond film, Albert R. Broccoli had to come up with a strong action-packed epic, if they were to attract audiences that had been spoilt rotten by 'Star Wars' the same year.

'The Spy Who Loved Me' offers no new scenarios, in fact you could easily dissect each key scene and match it to something that's been done before. There's an underwater battle like the one in 'Thunderball' a ski chase not too dissimilar to the one in 'Her Majesty's...' and even the final big shoot out is not unlike the one in 'You Only Live Twice' which was also directed by Lewis Gilbert. However 'The Spy Who Loved me' is more than merely a sum of its parts, and when each part is handled as expertly as these, you don't seem to care if it has indeed been done before.

The film like Moore exudes a certain charm, and provides a certain amount of nostalgia looking back at it now, with it's lively 70's fashions, even Bond's theme gets the disco treatment, quite superbly. Ken Adam's stunning larger than life sets fit the film's extravagant, big budget flavour perfectly. Appreciative nods must also go to some fantastically attractive women, Caroline Munro playing the enticing Naomi has to be one of the most seductive looking femme fatales to steam up a wide-screen, and more's the pity that she didn't grace it longer. Barbara Bach is equally alluring, and a fine match for Roger Moore in every sense of the word. The film also offers a wealth of laughs while not forgetting the chills and spills, Richard Keil providing all as the relentless and unforgettable Jaws. The scene where he tears open a Sherpa Van like a sardine can is particularly memorable, as is him brushing himself off after plummeting into a farmhouse from a flying Mercedes. Some fine touches of drama too, Bond's response to XXX's remarks about his career and wife are handled with compassion and reverence.

So in all everything is here you could possibly want in a 007 adventure; top stunts, beautiful women, cool villains, those gloriously huge Pinewood sets and THAT car, wrapped in an exciting globe-trotting story line where Bond has to save the world from certain destruction, accompanied by the svelte tones of Carly Simon singing 'Nobody does it better' it's not surprising that the 'Spy Who Loved Me' is one of the most memorable of all Bond films.

James Bond (Roger Moore) teams with a sexy Russian agent (Barbara Bach) to stop a web-fingered megalomaniac (Curd Jürgens) from destroying the world and rebuilding it as a new Atlantis.

"The Spy Who Loved Me" is fabulous nonsense, superior to all the previous Roger Moore Bonds, even with the obvious model shots, process shots and the occasionally corny background music by Marvin Hamlisch, who also wrote the music for the theme song, "Nobody Does It Better." (It's popular, but you can have it.) The gadgets, sets, stunts and one-liners are more outrageous than ever. Jürgens makes a good villain, and so does the shark he unleashes on traitors; but the bad guy everyone remembers is Jaws—not another shark, but a metal-mouthed giant played by Richard Kiel. He is Jürgens's best henchman—not good enough to outmatch Bond, but enough to survive for the next Bond adventure.

After the critical and commercial beating taken by THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, producer Albert Broccoli, now solely in charge of the 007 franchise, had to re-evaluate the series for the third time in less than ten years. Certainly, Roger Moore would never be believable in a Sean Connery-type Bond film, but couldn't some of the series' best elements be restored, and the comedy reduced a bit, to make Moore's Bond a bit more believable?

The research, which became the basis of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, took over two years to complete, and the script went through many writers before the final draft, by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum. With a renewed emphasis on more realistic action, Broccoli brought back Lewis Gilbert to direct; his earlier Bond effort, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, while not a major 'hit', had featured the most spectacular action sequences of the series. With Gilbert on board, the production became very reminiscent of the Connery film (Even the concept of a supertanker 'swallowing' submarines echoed YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, and the spacecraft-'eating' SPECTRE capsule).

As the villain, esteemed German actor Curt Jurgens was cast as Karl Stromberg, an ideal choice, as the actor, with his bulging eyes, 'fit' the role of a fish-like megalomaniac. Playing his henchman, Jaws, in an inspired piece of casting, giant Richard Kiel, complete with 'bear-trap' steel teeth, would provide Moore with the greatest danger he'd ever face as Bond. Kiel was, in fact, so good in the role (possibly the most popular villain of the entire 007 franchise), that he would return in MOONRAKER, to bedevil Bond some more. Less successful, dramatically, but still astonishing to watch would be Stromberg's 'hit woman', Naomi, played by voluptuous Caroline Munro.

In an effort to 'update' Bond into an era of feminists, the strongest, most independent love interest to appear in at Bond film to that point was introduced. Major Anya Amasova, played by Ringo Starr's wife, the exotically beautiful Barbara Bach, was Bond's opposite number on the Russian side, an equal to 007 in every way. In a pivotal scene, she would display a knowledge of Bond's past that even included his dead wife, Tracy (the first time Bond's marriage had been mentioned since ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE). Moore's reaction to her comment would be both emotional and abrupt, and demonstrated that he could do far more than just deliver witty one-liners.

From the spectacular ski chase pre-title sequence, climaxing with a parachute free fall off a cliff (love that 'Union Jack'), to Bond and Anya's confrontations with Jaws, in Egypt (reminiscent of Bond's fights with Oddjob in GOLDFINGER and Tee Hee in LIVE AND LET DIE), to the amazing Lotus that would do service on land and in the ocean, to the massive tanker battle while Bond disarms a nuclear warhead (shades of GOLDFINGER), THE SPY WHO LOVED ME would do homage to 007's previous adventures, and utilize humor in support of the on-screen action, instead of spoofing it (other than the brief use of the LAWRENCE OF ARABIA theme...you'll spot it).

And to top things off, Carly Simon's rendition of the film's title tune, "Nobody Does It Better", would become a Top Ten hit, worldwide.

Critics and audiences loved THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, hailing it as Moore's best work, and one of the better Bonds of all time. Things were, again, looking up for 007...but STAR WARS was about to debut, and things would go dreadfully amiss, when Broccoli decided to send Bond into space, in MOONRAKER...

A megalomaniac named Stromberg plans to destroy the world and create a new civilisation. British Mi6 agent James Bond teams up with a Russian agent Anya Amasova to stop him.

Quintsessential Bond that encapsulates adventure, fantasy and excitement. A strong score, cast and storyline help Roger Moore's 1977 outing sidestep other Bond shadows with a fine script that feels more suited for Moore's gentleman killer spy. 

Barbara Bach while distant (possibly due to her steely character Anya) is a fine Bond girl addition who is given more purpose and motivation. Strongburg is played perfectly by Curd Jürgens who portrays the ultimate antagonist. 

The locations are interesting, acting as a fitting background, the Egypt segments are particularly atmospheric and well filmed, veteran director Lewis Gilbert deserves credit for crafting such a lavish 007 adventure to the screen. As expected Ken Adams sets are superb, the effects, miniatures and stunts are outstanding, notably the Pre title ski jump.  Maurice Binder's titillating titles are a highlight coupled with the wonderful theme tune.

Debatably Spy has the best James Bond score (composed by Marvin Hamlisch) to complement the action and emotion. The sound design is bold at times, fitting and also not afraid to be silent.  With Bond girls galore, celebrated series characters are all present- KGB Head, M, Q and Miss Moneypenny. All are reliable as ever putting in great performances and Jaws has his debut. 

While not the most serious or hard hitting in the franchise, this instalment is the most fulfilling and entertaining. It's a captivating experience with a wide audience appeal catering for young and old. 

Its a spectacle, sharks, gadgets, underwater cars and hideouts, submarines, helicopters, henchmen with metal teeth and a fight on a train, it's Moore's Bond at his most balanced and best. 

Extraordinary, a must see.

This time James Bond-Roger Moore third outing and best entry ,he join forces with female Russian agent named Anya Amasova(Bach)to eliminate a nasty villainous(Curt Jurgens)and his henchman, a giant steel-toothed named Jaws(Richard Kiel).He schemes to utilize captured US and Russians atomic underwater with objective to destroy the world.For the first time nuclear submarines from Russia,Britain are sailing side by side.It may look like the beginning of WWIII,but don't worry .As usual,intervene Q (Desmond LLewelyn),MonneyPenny(Lois Maxwell),M(Bernard Lee) and Russian general Gogol(Walter Gotell).Roger Moore plays perfectly the master spy,Moore tells about his Simon Templar,The Saint, that he was a private person doing things for other people to help them and was rather a boy-scout following the rules of television and James Bond is an assassin licensed to kill.He's right,the tone is perfect for the times and for Roger Moore's brand of James Bond.Times have changed and for example, the Ian Fleming book based the film ,has nothing to do with cinematographic adaptation.His beautiful co-star is Barbara Bach and of course no Bond movie would be complete without the gorgeous Bond girls(Caroline Munro,Valerie Leon,among others).The movie is an agreeable blending of frenetic action,spectacular and exciting sets and humor with tongue in cheek.The film contains the world's largest sound stage specially constructed by production designer Ken Adam.In the inauguration day was even as special guest,former Prime Minister,Sir Harold Wilson. The motion picture is shot in Sardinia, Cala Volpe.There appears the car Lotus Esprit,¨Sweet Nellie¨, with weapons and rapidly become in sub.There's a very funny scene when the Lotus comes out of the water,but in order to avoid seeing the car underwater,Kem Adam had a speedboat doing waves .The scenes were really very simple attached a cable under the van to the front of the Lotus and pulled the car out the water.The Lotus could function underwater,but had to wear breathtaking equipment inside.The producer Albert Broccoli tells that they went to Egypt in the mid-1970s,tensions were hight in the Mideast.It took some careful negotiation to get out crew into Egypt.They had to submit the script in advance and an Egyptian government official had to be present during the shooting to make Egypt certain and did not portray the country in a negative light.The most challenging sequence was the night shooting in pyramids Giza,where was re-staged the ¨Son et Lumiere¨,despite the dramatic lighting effects much of the show had to be recreated in studio(Pinewood) using special effects.While the Bond films are not travelogues ,the producers do like to take viewers to spectacular places and show them things in a way that they've never seen before.The producers gambled that audiences were ready for a more fantasy-laden Bond film.Egypt(with an impressive temple of Karnak) was a great location for cameraman Claude Renoir,made it look elegant and exotic,Claude was the nephew of the great director,Jean Renoir.He helped photograph many Renoir's great films,like the ¨Grand illusion¨.He also shot second unit on ¨Cleopatra¨and photographer the 60s cult classic,¨Barbarella¨.This is his last major film as cinematographer.The film is well directed by Lewis Gilbert who had previously directed¨You only live twice¨a decade earlier.This picture is one of the more memorable Bond-Moore.