Released: August 1977

Directed by: Lewis Gilbert

Cast: Roger Moore, Barbara Bach, Curt Jurgens, Richard Kiel, Caroline Monro, Walter Gotell, Geoffrey Keen, Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, and Desmond Llewelyn as Q.

In 1977s The Spy Who Loved Me, shipping tycoon, scientist, and one of the richest men in the world, Karl Stromberg is thinking big. Unlike a guy like Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who likes to hold the world hostage for ransom and power, Stromberg (Curt Jurgens) wants to destroy the lonely planet Earth. Then create his own self-styled utopia, under the sea. This is a diabolical scheme for sure, and having stolen two nuclear submarines with relative ease, Stromberg’s plan might just work.

The nuts and bolts of Stomberg’s scheme, as outlined in 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me, involves the theft of a pair of Soviet and British nuclear submarines. Accomplished through the shady creation of a submarine tracking system.

The subs, both armed to the teeth with nuclear missiles, are the instruments of Armageddon. Each submarine will launch a missile, one aimed at Moscow, the other at New York City, and within moments both cities will cease to exist. Global destruction will follow, and a new era will begin. Stromberg will build his new and beautiful world beneath the sea.

So far, Stromberg has implemented each step of his plan with perfection. Leaving no ‘loose ends’. However, the disappearance of two nuclear submarines will not go unnoticed. There will be investigations by the governments involved. Fortunately, for the world, the submarine tracking system has been discovered. Providing a lead for MI:6.

Up until and including this story, Karl Stromberg is quite possibly the James Bond series most diabolical, not to mention selfish, super villain. He’s going to murder every single person on the planet, save his followers, which is likely small in number. Not even Blofeld aspired to such heights of mass murder. 

Stromberg does point out that civilization is corrupt and decadent, and will inevitably destroy itself anyway, he’s merely accelerating the process. He may have a valid argument, but it does seem like a high price to pay to live with the fishes. So, the stakes have not been higher for James Bond.

What is not made clear in Stromberg’s dastardly plan is once the world has been destroyed, and he’s safely tucked away in his undersea kingdom, is there room for women? His secretary (Marilyn Galsworthy) is fed to the sharks after she betrays Stromberg by leaking the plans for the submarine tracking system. Naomi (Caroline Munro), Stromberg’s beautiful aide and helicopter pilot is blown to bits while trying to destroy Bond and Anya on Sardina. Other than these two, there are no other women as part of Stromberg’s dream.

I know, it’s a 2-hour movie, and going into that much depth of Stromberg’s plan would slow down the plot. So, I guess we are left to assume that Stromberg’s underwater lair isn’t a men’s only club, and there will be ladies present.

Stromberg does hold Anya hostage, with the assumption that he’s keeping her for himself. But if she’s the only woman living in Atlantis, Stromberg’s going to have a mutiny on his hands. Being a careful planner, I doubt he’s overlooked this important aspect of human society.

Curt Jurgens’ performance as Stromberg makes him the perfect villain. Although Stromberg is not renowned for his patience, he only resorts to anger as a last resort. Confident and arrogant, there are little signs of mental instability, which makes him the most dangerous of characters. Jurgens plays this perfectly, conveying so much with a simple look. He is a man of superior intellect with a diabolically organized mind.

The Spy Who Loved Me is the tenth James Bond film. Roger Moore’s third turn in the role, and arguably his best. Although some may say For Your Eyes Only, or Octopussy are his best. My personal favorite is Live and Let Die, but The Spy Who Loved Me is Roger Moore’s best all-around Bond adventure.

Not only does The Spy Who Loved Me have an extremely diabolical villain, it also features one of the series’ most dangerous and enduring henchmen, Jaws (Richard Kiel). And teams 007 with beautiful KGB agent Triple-X, Major Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach), who is every bit Bond’s equal. It doesn’t end there. Q provides 007 with the amazing and exotic Lotus Esprit Turbo, with some added accessories. Throw in Derek Meddings’ amazing special effects and this film is the peak of over-the-top Bond.

The Spy Who Loved Me was the first James Bond film I saw in the theater. The same summer Star Wars was released. I would end up seeing each film 3 times in the theater. It was an amazing summer.

In viewing The Spy Who Loved Me this time around, I was thinking about that energy just before I hit play, and it all came back. Like I was seeing it all over again for the first time, through my 13-year-old eyes. My memories of seeing these films are most vivid surrounding the first act. Seeing 007 skiing off the cliff and opening his Union Jack parachute is just as thrilling now as it was then. An adrenaline rush by proxy that I haven’t felt from a movie for a very long time.

In the final analysis, Stromberg almost gets away with it. To his credit, his scheme has gone perfectly right up to the final moments before the launch of the missiles. His only failing is his inability to stop 007 and Triple-X. And it seems like their efforts are going to be too little too late. Maybe that was Stromberg’s weakness, overconfidence, and an unhealthy dose of arrogance.

With that, you’d think that the worlds’ super villains would get the message. Not likely. A short two years later, Hugo Drax, of Drax Industries, will try and pull the very same stunt. Where others have failed, he is sure to succeed. Super villains never learn. They’re dealing with Bond, James Bond.

The Spy Who Loved Me is available on DVD and Blu-Ray, as well as subscription, buy, or rent streaming services.