Roger Moore's third outing turns out to be a real charm. This time, Bond is sent to investigate the disappearance of a British sub. Little do the British know that a Russian sub has disappeared as well and have deployed their own special agent, Major Anya Amasova or Triple X (Barbara Bach). From the Swiss Alps to Egypt and then to Sardinia, Bond and Anya play against each other and then with each other to finally outwit Karl Stromberg and his lethal en-dentured servant, Jaws.

This is by far the best Roger Moore/Bond film. Mainly because it is well tailored to Moore's style and humor. Moore looks like he's having a good time and the cast plays it straight even though the premise is outrageous. Moore can also play it seriously, but not for too long. When Anya rattles off Bond's dossier at the Mojave Club and brings up Bond's ill-fated wife, Bond abruptly stops her by saying, "All right, you've made your point." Highlights of this film are the opening ski chase, Jaws, the amphibious Lotus Esprit and the Liparus tanker battle scene on the world's largest interior set. Special kudos go to Ken Adam, Derek Meddings, Maurice Binder and Carly Simon who gave us the second best Bond song of the 70s, Nobody Does It Better. In my humble opinion the only part in this movie that did not work for me was the scene where Stromberg and Anya are taken by boat back to the Atlantis Laboratory. The special effect of the boat launching out of the tanker looks to fake compared to the rest of the film which had the best miniature effects in a Bond film up to that time.

Most Memorable Dialogue:

After kicking Jaws off the train, which Anya and Bond are traveling on, Anya says,

Anya: "What happened?"
Bond: "He just dropped in for a quick bite."

Dr. Shatterhand's Scale from 1 to 10

"8"

CAST

Roger Moore . . . . . . . . . . James Bond OO7

Barbara Bach . . . . . . . . . . Major Anya Amasova

Curt Jurgens . . . . . . . . . . Karl Stromberg

Richard Kiel . . . . . . . . . . Jaws

Caroline Monro . . . . . . . . . . Naomi

Walter Gotell . . . . . . . . . . General Anatol Gogol

Geoffrey Keen . . . . . . . . . . Minister of Defense Frederick Grey

Bernard Lee . . . . . . . . . . M

Lois Maxwell . . . . . . . . . . Miss Moneypenny

Desmond Llewelyn . . . . . . . . . . Q

Shane Rimmer . . . . . . . . . . Commander Carter

George Baker . . . . . . . . . . Captain Benson

Michael Billington . . . . . . . . . . Sergei

Olga Bisera . . . . . . . . . . Felicca

Edward De Souza . . . . . . . . . . Sheikh Hosein

Vernon Dobtcheff . . . . . . . . . . Max Kalba

Nadim Sawalha . . . . . . . . . . Fekkesh

Valerie Leon . . . . . . . . . . Hotel Receptionist

Sidney Tafler . . . . . . . . . . Liparus Captain

Sue Vanner . . . . . . . . . . Cabin Girl

Robert Brown . . . . . . . . . . Admiral Hargreaves

Milton Reid . . . . . . . . . . Sandor

Cyril Shaps . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Bechmann

Milo Sperber . . . . . . . . . . Professor Markovitz

Eva Reuber-Staier . . . . . . . . . . Rubelvitch

Jeremy Bulloch . . . . . . . . . . HMS Ranger Crewmember

Irvin Allen . . . . . . . . . . Stromberg Crewmember