After a three year hiatus (the longest of the series), The Spy Who Loved Me was a renaissance, of sorts, for the Bond series, which had been suffering from a lack of confidence after the tepid release of "The Man With The Golden Gun". Harry Saltzman had sold his share of the Bond rights. Kevin McClory was beginning to make noise with his attempts to get his rights to remake Thunderball off the ground. Between 1974 and 1977, Bond was facing his toughest opponent: internal problems. Everyone involved with bringing The Spy Who Loved Me to the screen knew the stakes. Another mishap could be the end of the series.

Fortunately for Bond fans around the world, The Spy Who Loved Me was one of the best, and insured that the series would continue. It features one of Roger Moore's two finest performances as 007. It teams him up with an equally capable female Russian opposite, a megalomaniacal villian, and a henchman that far surpasses any henchman before and since.

Ian Fleming never cared much for his own novel, The Spy Who Loved Me, and stipulated that that book could only be used in title only. In order to get back to the grandiose, larger than life type of film like You Only Live Twice, the producers literally went back to You Only Live Twice and took it's plot and even brought back it's director, Lewis Gilbert, after a 10 year abscence.

Most everything is top notch in the film. Great song, soundtrack, locations, and pre-title sequence. Moore is better in `spy who loved',than in The Man With The Golden Gun because he's able to successfully blend humor with a harder edge, as opposed to coming off as just a brute in 'Gun'. Bach, on the other hand, isn't quite up to the task of convincingly playing a Russian agent. If she's their best, then they're are in trouble, because I felt she really didn't show she earns that title. Her acting is uninspiring, and throughout the movie, she hardly even moves her face! A brick wall has more personality but she's the only setback. The direction is solid, the Lotus Espirit diving underwater still is one of my favorie Bond scenes of all-time and the sinking of Atlantis is also up there on my list. Jaws is excellent and remains one of best henchmen in the series. All in all, The Spy Who Loved Me continues today to be one of the best.