Plot
When a British and a Soviet submarine carrying nuclear weapons go missing, the MI6 and KGB put their best agents on the case; Commander James Bond, and Major Anya Amasova… code-names 007 and XXX.
Little does Bond know, he recently killed in combat the significant other of Amasova… and she is eager to end the man who ended her man.
Direction
Directed by Lewis Gilbert, who would go on to direct the following Bond film Moonraker.
There are some great ups, such as the use of international settings, some use of night time lighting, and some bad in some comically bad green screen.
Cast
Roger Moore is back for Bond in his third film. He still has a great physical presence about him, but now nearing 50, his age is slightly starting to be a noticeable.
Barbara Bach plays Amasova, and is easily the best Bond Girl since Tracy Bond. However because this is a Bond film they do have to utilise her sexuality – in quite a few scenes.
Curd Jürgens plays the villain Karl Stromberg. Richard Kiel makes his first appearance as the henchman and assassin, the seemingly un-killable Jaws.
Bond regulars Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell and Desmond Llewlyn play their respective roles of M, Moneypenny and Q.
Breakdown
In the tenth James Bond film, and the third with Moore, has a more succinct and basic plot narrative; bad guy does something bad, Bond investigates, investigations lead to bad guy, and takes him down. The natural progression of the investigation is written well, and I enjoyed this ‘detective’ aspect – rather than Bond ‘dumb luck’ his way into things.
This bad guy has orchestrated a plan to essentially start WW3, and Bond (along with the equally brilliant/cunning and “bed-mate” XXX) must try to stop him from unleashing nuclear warfare on the planet.
The start of the film, when we are introduced to XXX, is quite clever, as you think that it is going to be the man in the bed, but this is a clever ruse that reveals, no it is Barbara Bach who is going to be the KGB’s version of 007. Once the pair meet, they have their moments of loggerheads – before the revelation that it was Bond who killed her significant other (in a pre credits action sequence). There is also moments of tenderness, and genuine conversation between them (between them being between the sheets) where it is revealed that this is indeed the same Bond of Lazenby and Connery’s era (as the mention he was married once). But of course, by the end credits – she has truly forgiven him.
Richard Kiel’s Jaws is a great inclusion to the franchise (and will go on to appear in Moonraker too. His physical presence (Kiel stood at 2.2m tall, or 7’2), as well as Jaws’ muteism make him a terrific Bond villain (and better than the primary antagonist). He has a great jump scare moment, that actually startled me at one point.
The international settings are quite admirable, especially those in Egypt. The colouring during some of the night shows, and some tense moments are quite spectacular.
The action is actually quite brutal at times too, with great use of squib work – and like the previous film – a brutal gun battle between Bond and Stromberg. This, along with the gunfight at the Atlantis base – has memories of earlier films in the series.
Overall
I’m not at all disliking Moore’s era of Bond films. Despite his age (almost 50 here) – he is still showing all the signs of a physically capable super agent.
With a strong narrative, an even stronger Bond Girl, a terrific secondary villain. This was a great re-watch, and solid entry in the series.
4/5
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