The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) * * * 1/2

Directed by:  Lewis Gilbert

Starring:  Roger Moore, Barbara Bach, Richard Kiel, Curt Jurgens, Bernard Lee, Desmond Llewelyn

Roger Moore is at the top of his Bond form in The Spy Who Loved Me, among the best in the Bond series.  What is Bond all about?  The exotic locales, the impregnable villain lair, the villain's explanation of his dastardly plan to destroy the world, wipe out a segment of the population, or become even more obscenely wealthy than he already is.   Oh and the women.  The enemy in The Spy Who Loved Me is Karl Stromberg (Jurgens), an ornery billionaire industrialist who lives in an underwater fortress and plans to destroy the planet with nuclear missiles so only what's underwater will survive.   He's the kind of man who thanks the scientists who invented a nuclear submarine tracking device for his use by blowing up their helicopter.  And a man who hires gigantic, unstoppable goons like Jaws (Kiel), who bites people's necks with his metal teeth like a vampire.  Like Bond, Jaws won't die no matter what you do to him.   He just shakes the dust off and keeps moving forward, like a taller, ungainly Terminator.

Moore's job is to thwart Stromberg while being to forced to team with a Soviet counterpart (Bach-the future Mrs. Ringo Starr), whose lover he unknowingly killed in the pre-credits sequence.   Forced may not be an apt term, since it doesn't take much arm twisting to coerce Bond into joining forces with this voluptuous, sexy woman in the name of British-Soviet detente.   Major Amasova already knows Bond killed her boyfriend, a KGB assassin, but doesn't seem to hold it against him for very long.   We know Bond and Amasova will be in each other's arms doing the rumpy-pumpy before the end credits roll.   One of the charms of the Bonds of Sean Connery and Roger Moore was their droll humor, double entendres, and of course, the women.  Did I mention them?   Not just any woman, but a type which became known as the Bond girl.  It's difficult to describe what makes up a Bond girl, but you know it when you see it.

What allows The Spy Who Loved Me at the upper echelon of Bond films is its zeal and sense of naughty fun.  It's done with high style and a Bond we like, one who doesn't take himself or any of the situations he finds himself too seriously.  This was a James Bond who enjoyed showing up to work every day.