A Henchman That Cannot be Killed - The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) || From Rewatch with Love Ep11

Often cited as Roger Moore's favourite of his own Bond films, how will Graham and Matt enjoy the underwater car chases and metal-teethed wackiness of The Spy Who Loved Me?
Episode 11 - The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Graham & Matt are here to talk about the first blockbuster film franchise! It's Bond... James Bond, as we lead up to the release of the 25th Bond movie, with this rewatch podcast full of our thoughts on the series and plenty of trivia!
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#Rewatch #Bond

[@alexcohen700]

Honestly the most surprising thing this episode is that there isn't an online movie train database considering how obsessed with trains people are

[@loadingreadyrun]

I was shocked!! I assume it exists and I just couldn’t find it.

[@Doodlesthegreat]

@@loadingreadyrun As Ray Kroc, founder of the McDonalds Corporation, would say: "See a need, fill a need." >_

[@FFKonoko]

@@loadingreadyrun there isn't a full train database, but there is a British railway film database. railwaymoviedatabase.com/a-z-list/ Edit: I presume that most of the avid train enthusiasts are either too busy outside, or enjoying Microsoft train simulator to maintain an online database.

[@juliereno4873]

Pardon the reply to a 3-year-old comment, but: I couldn't find a complete database for trains in movies, but I DID find the British Railway Movie Database, which catalogs the film appearances of British and Irish railways in exhaustive detail.

[@jarvy251]

After near disaster in Goldfinger, Bond *OBVIOUSLY* decided to make a point of learning how a nuclear warhead works.

[@Weazel1]

So Jeremy Bulloch, who played Boba Fett in Empire Strikes Back and ROTJ, was in three bond films starting with this one. He plays the sailor who sits down to watch the chess game at the beginning of the movie. He goes on to play Q’s assistant Smithers in For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy. “How’s the arm, Smithers?” “Much better, sir.”

[@lyndonray1010]

Another nice cameo is that the first officer of the British sub is the actor that plays Mr Gibbs in Pirates of the Caribbean. He's apparently someone related to the navy in almost all works he appears in.

[@Bojack727]

He was also 'Hal the Archer' in the 1974 Doctor Who story "The Time Warrior", and was under consideration to join the Third Doctor as a companion.

[@TheWAYF]

Hard disagree on Nobody Does It Better, that song rocks.

[@BrotherAlpha]

I agree. One of my favorite Bond themes. However, it works better on its own than it does in the movie.

[@TheJohnWhites]

Dude! Yes! Rules!!

[@adiuntesserande6893]

Honestly, I consider it the best Bond song there's ever been, with the possible exceptions of For Your Eyes Only and All Time High.

[@IainJChrist]

I knew I could find the real heads

[@julianlockwood3040]

With you. IMO the best Bond theme of all time .. AND .. it made #2 and #7 respectively in the US and UK charts.

[@LeviRamsey]

The head of MI6 has always in real life been coded as C (going back to the original head of the SIS, Mansfield Smith-Cumming), so having Miles Messervy be called M and then his successors keep the code is genuine.

[@loadingreadyrun]

Neat!

[@JustAnotheNeoSilver]

Yeah. There's also the fact that all of the holders of the M codename in the franchise after Messervy do actually have a name starting with "M"; Hargreaves is the odd one out in that it's his given name (Marian) and not the family name as it is with Hargreaves' successors.

[@LeviRamsey]

@@JustAnotheNeoSilver To my knowledge it's never been confirmed that Brown's M is Hargreaves. Did Gardner's LTK novelization call him Hargreaves?

[@JoaoPessoa86]

I just thought they "Darrin from Bewitched"d M and it's the same character, different actor

[@adamgauntlett4815]

Not long after this film's launch Victory Games publishes the James Bond RPG, which means Jaws has stats. In that setting the villains get Survival Points, which work pretty much as you'd expect. Pussy Galore gets 2, Scaramanga gets 8, Oddjob gets 8, and so on. Jaws gets 10, and at the end of every mission he appears in he gets another 10, and they stack. So he might start at 10, jump to 20, then 30 ...

[@adamgauntlett4815]

Odd additional trivia: Victory had a lot of trouble convincing the film guys that an RPG scenario shouldn't play out exactly the same way the movie did, because if the players knew ahead of time what, say, Goldfinger was planning, they'd just squish him in act one. The film guys saw the RPG as advertising, so they weren't thrilled at the idea of a scenario that wasn't 110% fil-accurate.

[@hfar_in_the_sky]

You know what's kind of interesting? General Gogol's attitude, especially towards the western powers, kind of reflects the USSR's attitude towards the western powers at the time of each movie. Which means that Gogol in a way kind of thaws towards M16 and James Bond as the movies progress, to the point where he's actually drinking tea with M in A View to Kill. What makes this kind of funny is that in a sense, this means General Gogol actually gets some of the most character development over the course of the franchise of any recurring James Bond character.

[@RobJaskula]

He awards Bond the Order of Lenin in A View To A Kill and is allied with Bond/M/Pushkin in Living Daylights - I'm a big fan of the turn!

[@kryptych]

I do enjoy that aspect of Gogol's character arc across the movies, and I think it was a conscious decision to reflect the real life changes in the world. It also brought further emphasis to the producer's outlook that one day the Cold War would end - otherwise, Russians, East Germans, Chinese, etc. would always just be the de facto bad guys as they pretty much were in the Fleming's books. Sure, Gogol was ultimately a good soldier in the service of Mother Russia and still tried to out maneuver the British in For Your Eyes Only and A View to a Kill... but even then, he never gave the impression of the "evil" or "bad" Russian as Fleming likely would've painted such a character in the novels. Even considering that Pushkin was supposed to be Gogol in The Living Daylights (I forget if it was due to illness or simple unavailability that Gogol was reduced to a brief cameo at the end, but the Bond/Pushkin relationship in that movie totally should've been Bond/Gogol), he has those moments of familiarity and detente and respect, almost to the point of friendship... and of course, by that movie (1987), the Cold War was truly approaching its end.

[@griffindor65]

Something that's always struck me about this film: Yes, they did prevent two major cities from being nuked, but Bond DID still detonate 2 (presumably) multi-megaton nuclear devices in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. I feel like that may....Have some consequences?

[@empath69]

...you mean APART from the two thousand and eighty-seven nuclear tests performed by a handful of nations since the 40's? (Based on a graph of the tests by year, my estimate is a little under two-thirds of all tests had been performed by 1977, but your research may find more specific information.) Two more mid-oceanic surface bursts are...well... Also, *consequences* isn't really a word that entered into the cultural zeitgeist yet, even with the fledgling environmental movement, and...gee, the oil crisis. (tl;dr - to steal from Men in Black: "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it." People as a group are dumb; the bigger the group, the dumber, and when you're talking about *nations* and *cultures* and even *the whole species* )

[@griffindor65]

@@empath69 Yeah, if you're looking at scheduled detonations, sure. To the rest of the world, these are two nuclear missiles being detonated with seemingly no explanation. People are going to ask questions.

[@Doodlesthegreat]

@@griffindor65 In the novelization of the movie by Christopher Wood, this is actually addressed. Bond gets on the Leparis' radio and sends a signal (Some handwavium MI5 set up or something) telling the UK not to react before the ship sinks. Why he just didn't haul ass and do it from the US sub is a bit of an oops. Presumably the US crew tells Washington the same thing, as well as to try to get on the hotline to Moscow fast to let THEM know what happened. Would it work? Your guess is as good as mine.

[@empath69]

@@griffindor65 Oh, right - THAT, and the whole 'you saved the world but we must keep it a secret and tell no one, lest we cause mass hysteria over how close things got." Well, I guess the REST of MI-6 (and -5 for domestic UK), along with the KGB and the CIA all be their relatively competent at THE EFFING *COVERT PART* of being a spy organizations...once again, cleaning up Bond's loose ends. Maybe leak some info about 'secret tests of nuclear blast defenses' to the media and later shuffle them into the retroactive documentation of 'official tests'...just...unannounced. etc. etc. I love the series, but let's be honest, for a *SPY*, Lt-Cmdr (Cmdr? wonder if he got promoted for one of his 'saves' in lieu of something more public) James Bond, R.N.R. is about a subtle and sneaky as a mugging via a brick in the face! He's a great 'special agent' and aces the *overt* parts of his job, but half of his adventures don't even have him USING A COVER IDENTITY...and the rest that do are 'too late in his career' (how often have we heard the villain say something like "Ah, the famous James Bond! I'm honoured to be thought of so highly!" and NEVER WORK! :D Also this fits into my headcanon that M (right back to the start) is always grumpy with 007 around BECAUSE he sucks so much at the 'subtle, covert spy' part and ends up creating more work for M. "007, when I send an agent into enemy territory to obtain intelligence about a new weapon or technology or similar, I expect them to come back with their cover intact and SOME information. A good spy accomplishes his mission without anyone knowing he was even there. You however, invariably come back WITH the technology in question," and M paused, glancing down at his desk, his fingers tracing a series of dents in it, where it appeared that a large and heavy object had once been placed upon it, before resuming his dressing-down. "But you do so invariably with your cover in tatters, the designer of the technology - and on several occasions its guards - HAND-CUFFED to it, and with Moneypenny keeping General Gogol, or the head of the CIA or le Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire or some other member of the Club de Berne on hold for me. Honestly, Bond, your efforts have been a net benefit for international relations ONLY because you have forced me to cultivate a skill at apologising to my opposite numbers in other intelligence organizations!"

[@FFKonoko]

Godzilla Vs James Bond

[@Bucketroo]

Hey kids, the reason the jetski has "WetBike" written on it is because it is, in fact, a WetBike(tm) and not a jetski. It's a different design. It rises out of the water when at speed and handles more like a bike. And it has a front fork with a wide hydrofoil on the end of it, which is how you steer it, like a bike. So it's more like an hydrofoil bike.

[@bradforddillman7671]

Richard Kiel actually appeared as a metal-toothed villain in Gene Wilder/Richard Pryor movie “Silver Streak” in 1976. It’s never really explained why he has metal teeth in that movie, but I guess someone liked it enough to cast him as Jaws. Very strange

[@dporiua]

This is the best series you have done, they're the highlight of my every week now.

100%. It's weirdly coinciding with my own rewatch of the Bond movies, and it's really fun hearing their trivia and insights.

[@olly123451]

It's easily my favourite podcast, the only one I consistently watch all the way through in a single sitting.

[@Doodlesthegreat]

This movie holds a special place in my heart, as it was the first Bond movie I got to see in a theater, instead of watching an edited broadcast on the ABC Movie Of The Week. In fact, I ended up seeing it three times in the theater, which was two times more (Moore?) than I saw Star Wars that same summer. Whilst both films were targeted at a teen-aged audience, the difference that made me watch the one film over the other could be explained in four little words: *James Bond Gets Laid* I was thirteen and a half, and puberty had hit with all of the subtlety of a rocket-propelled freight train wearing a clown mask. Given the choice of a girl with buns in her hair or a girl with BUNS, my hormone-flooded body responded predictably with remarkably impressive speed. And let's be honest with one another, Barbara Bach is a little slice of heaven (I was so enamored of her at the time I even went and saw "Caveman"), and the other ladies of the film were certainly no slouches in that department either. It also didn't hurt that Major Amosova was honestly competent in comparison to most of Bond's femme fatales, and in many ways Bond's equal. (I hadn't seen OHMSS previously and thus didn't have Diana Rigg's greater performance to compare against.) Watching him get shown up by her at various points in the movie remains a treasured highlight, and she needed better treatment near the end. I think a dichotomy is always more interesting than a matched set, and having Amosova basically try to be Bond with a Russian accent would have been as boring as 99% of the buddy cop pairings of the 80's. She's the Kim Kitsuragi to Bond's drunken cop without trousers. (Have I mentioned that "Disco Elysium" is one of the greatest games yet made?) -The theme song remains one of my favorites from the entire series, though I must admit to not seeing any of the most recent films with Mr. Craig in the lead. Shirley Basset remains the best of the belters, but Carly Simon's ballad goes down smooth as silk. Couldn't disagree with you more about it sucking the energy put of the room, instead it gives us a brief respite from all the subsequent action. Now the NEXT movie's theme... that one sucks the life out of everything, despite being sung by Shirley Bassey. -It also has some of my favorite background music of the series, the music playing during the tanker sequence being especially moving to me. It was the first time I really appreciated how music and film could compliment one another well and add to the overall feel of a scene. And let's be honest, there had never been a track like "Bond '77" (DISCOOOOOO BOND!) before this point, and wasn't going to be anything like it after either. Moore's the pity. ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿ -Obviously this movie has nothing to do with the book, a saucy story where Bond doesn't even show up until the last third, focusing instead on the life of a Canadian woman who becomes caught up in an insurance fraud scheme before Bond's unexpected arrival. It was "The Petrified Forest" with spies... -What happened to the British sub is that the nuclear reactor has been thrown out of kilter and "scrammed," going into emergency shutdown and leaving the sub without power, which leads the captain to perform an emergency blow to bring the sub to surface as quickly as possible. How the reactor was screwed with remains one of those handwavium things movies like to use. -I want one of those Dymo watches. It'd beat the hell out of a Fitbit. -I like to call what's-his-face who's schtupping XXX Chekhov's Dead Lover. You know she's going to find out, you're just waiting for how. -Mr. Hamlisch is an extremely well known composer from the 70's with a bit of an ego, and Saturday Night Live once did a skit called "The Hamlisch Maneuver" where a choking victim was saved by throwing up after being exposed to the guy's taking about himself for about 30 seconds. -Real world: Thermal imaging from satellites /is/ part of what the US uses to track submarines, though the majority of the work is done using sound-based systems such as the SOSUS underwater network. We now know the Soviets (and by extension the Russian Federation) used different systems to detect subs, which worked surprisingly well without having to lay a huge network of microphones over the whole furshlugginer ocean. Though it wasn't until the heyday of Tom Clancy that all this technobabble would enter common parlance. -I'm pretty sure that this movie is the point when Mike Meyers was inspired to create "sharks with frickin' LASER BEAMS on their heads." -After seeing this, I made a point of finding out any other films the late Richard Kiel had appeared in. I think the poor man was given a bad hand in life, as everything I have heard about him has been complimentary, even if he was saddled with bad guy/tough guy roles almost the entirety of his career. Just that he was still willing to put up with movie magic after "EEGAH" is a testament to his tenacity, and all I have heard was that he was a gentle giant who passed away far too soon. -The Lotus Esprit remains my favorite Bond car, and what happens to it in "For Your Eyes Only" had me crying with laughter. (SPOILERZ) -Carpeted bathrooms are not just weird, they're NAS-TY. Like, "more bacterial breeding ground than if it was a giant Petre dish" nasty. Like "your home value is gonna lose a chunk because folks WILL have to rip it out and do a bathroom remodel" nasty. -The underwater fight is one of Amosova's best moments, as she's the one who takes care of the submersible with the Lotus, then casually informing Bond she stole the plans for the craft a year prior. I also think it's a funnier line than any quip Bond makes. Unfortunately, it was the last chance she got to shine in the film. -I get all of my staff at "Minions-R-Us!" Minions, henchmen, gangsters, mobs, mercenaries, and all the other staff your evil lair needs at warehouse rates! We're freeway close! As us about our 2-for-one deal on obsequious toadies! Member of the Better Business Bureau." (This is a Crapshot waiting to happen, guys.) -TEETH TEETH TEETH TEETH TEETH TEETH TEETH TEETH -Now here's where you and I disagree, Okay, yes, she gives up the idea of killing Bond rather quickly. But think of that's just happened in this final sequence: She's in Stromberg's base, and the U.S. sub has direct orders to blow it up ASAP. She's KGB, so neither the Americans or British have any reason to assist, and her own boss would consider her expendable. Bond also has no practical reason to save her, and could have just solved the problem of her killing him by letting the torpedoes fly. But instead, he convinces the sub's captain to give him time to get aboard, kill Stromberg, go another round with Jaws, and free her before the thing sinks. I don't know about you, but if someone went to that extreme to save MY ass, I'd be happy to throw bygones out the window. "But he was her long-term sweetie pants!" And, as Bond said in the movie, he was an agent like they were and all of them know the risks of the job, especially since HE was trying to kill Bond in the first place. Tracy's death was cold-blooded murder, but XXX's Lover was self defense. So they go through the rescue and she finally realizes "Fuck it, it's the job." and forgives him the same way two soldiers from opposite sides of a war often do long after the fighting stops. With less sex, sure, but same idea. Oh well. No hard feelings. Want a cookie? -Next week... The 3rd remake of "You Only Live Twice!" As Kathleen said, "That movie's dumb!"

[@RighteousBrother]

There are not many people that could pull out EEGAH! As a reference!

[@wearwolf2500]

I had the exact same "Where do they get all their goons?" thought during the control room scenes on the tankers. I wonder if MI6 could get ahead of the villains easier by just monitoring recruitment agencies.

[@thmanwithnoname]

With all of the talk about casting decisions that we've had, I'm disappointed that you guys didn't mention how Barbara Bach's role was later given to Vin Diesel

[@loadingreadyrun]

HA!

[@jon9828]

Movie joke!

[@kiranspees6048]

I've never watched a James Bond movie, and yet, this podcast has become one of the highlights of my week. Thank you, Graham and Matt and Matt, for such a good time!

[@swordfishspike7636]

Next week's episode (Moonraker) is probably the one I'm looking forward to the most. I know from the comments that there are several viewers who haven't seen the Bond films, and I'm genuinely curious to see how they're going to react to it.

[@flannelshirtenthusiast4159]

I'm very excited for Moonraker, my only context for it is from season 2 episode 14 of The Panalysts where Kathleen and Adam make a joke about reenacting the plot of Moonraker with Kathleen as Jaws and Adam as Jaw's "Strong Girlfriend."

[@LeviRamsey]

@ Moonraker works really well until it becomes the Thunderball underwater battle combined with the YOLT/TSWLM mass battles, but in space.

[@TehFrenchy29]

@ I'm actually super excited for Moonraker for largely the same reason. On the one hand, as a spy action flick especially looking back post Brosnan and Craig Bonds it's TERRIBLE. On the other hand it's a wonderfully campy romp with Moore-Bond at some of his most Moore-Bond and it's an immensely entertaining popcorn and pizza on Friday night after work kind of just easy to watch silly movie.

[@williamh0809]

I love Moonraker if only because I was taken to see it at the Odeon, Leicester Square in London on my 16th. birthday! Recently I've listened to the commentary on the DVD and became concerned with Lewis Gilbert's obsession over the lovelies who accompany Drax.

[@nathanjay4660]

For me, parachuting off the mountain raises a question in a similar vein to Bruce Willis's character in Armageddon. I'm wondering if it's easier to teach a skier how to BASE jump, or to teach a BASE jumper how to ski

[@Yora21]

The skiing in that stunt doesn't look that difficult. Just don't fall over before you go over the cliff.

[@Bloodn0k]

This is actually my first time seeing all of the Moore Bond films. It's been really good watching them. Then getting insight, trivia and a great-up-to-3hours-of-content a couple of days later.

[@KristofDE]

Here's some random linguistic trivia. Richard Kiel always reminds me of the Polish word Kieł, which means "fang". So him playing a guy named Jaws makes perfect sense in at least one language ;-)

[@SGrahamArt]

Note for US audiences (and the makers of this video). Regarding the opening parachute stunt, the Union flag is not the English flag. It's the flag of the United Kingdom. the England flag is just white with a red cross. So, no, not 'Yeah England!', more 'Yeah The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland!'. Anyway, not quite as snappy sounding. It will be interesting to see if this flag survives the next few years.

[@loadingreadyrun]

That’s correct, my bad for misspeaking. ALTHOUGH, fun fact, it’s not even technically the Union flag, because it’s incorrect! The red St. Patrick’s Cross is improperly offset in the white St. Andrew’s Cross!

[@TwilitLugia]

I was honestly surprised by you two's reaction to the opening them, because when I re-watched it for the podcast I actually started tearing up due to how good it was and I have it at number 3 behind Live and Let Die and Goldfinger. I just felt like it was a tremendously made and performed song.

[@hfar_in_the_sky]

TwilitLugia To each their own I suppose. I like many of the ballad style openings (For Your Eyes Only is one my favorite songs and You Only Live Twice is one my favorite openings) but “Nobody Does It Better” for some reason has never really done it for me.

[@rockinchimp]

This is definitely my favourite Roger Moore effort, not by a massive margin but it gets so much more right than anything that is wrong with it.

[@lirazel6414]

What, no comment about Roger Moore's amazing white bellbottoms (?) in the strolling through Cairo scenes?

[@THESP-rz3hg]

14:00 You said "Ski Pursuit" so many times it became Skeeper Suit. So thanks for that, brain.

[@2nd3rd1st]

Haha, no, thank you!

[@darrin7632]

There's an evil villain Union you have to get your henchmen from

[@lirazel6414]

I love this concept! But it needs a name... Evil Henches International? Global Order of Minions? United Goons?

[@empath69]

@@lirazel6414 "Universal Personnel, International"? ...or maybe just "Manpower" **ahem**

[@Chasmodius]

The quality of your henchmen is going to be very poor unless you get them through the Guild of Calamitous Intent.

[@darrin7632]

@@Chasmodius Only reliable source for good henchmen

[@Tesseract_King]

"The Evil Henchmen's Union: Our villainous henchmen have plenty of scars, but no scabs!"

[@mangledpixel]

Unfortunatly Shane Rimmer is no longer with us, he passed away in 2019. I had the honour of working on a project that he had a role in back in 2016, an indie scifi short called Darkwave: Edge of the Storm.

[@janosbornemisza1807]

This series has quickly become the highlight of my week - I've even started hoovering up any bond film that's on TV so I can be more current (though I think your a month or more away from any I've seen recently)

[@mgonzalez3458]

My favorite Bond film. Also, I watched it in theater with my parents when I was 6 years old. Owned on VHS, Criterion Laserdic & DVD.

[@menkomonty]

This was a great recap of the film. But sadly nobody can topple Alan Partridge's recap of The Spy Who Loved Me.

[@tomunderhill8037]

“You’re doing Bond wrong”

[@Paul91-]

"Well now you've got Norfolk's maddest man!!!!"

[@Paxford0502]

I find that my opinions very closely match Matt's. This is easily my favourite Roger Moore movie. It finds a lovely balance of silly while also injecting some human moments for Moore's Bond, probably more effectively than any of his others. That said, I get where people come from when they aren't fans. Stromberg feels like knockoff Blofeld, the submarine rebellion sequence goes on a tad long, and the pacing is a bit wonky at times. But dammit, Jaws is great, Moore is great, and Barbara Bach is great. The Spy Who Loved Me, I love it back.

[@Paul91-]

I disagree about the submarine battle sequence. That sequence was just awesome. I just love how there are a lot of key moments that make the sequence actually matter and have relevance and high stakes like Bond disarming the nuclear warhead. To me I feel that the final act on Atlantis feels like it goes on for too long. More than anything else.

[@hirosmirnov8287]

Alright! This is as far as my latest rewatch went, so now I will be watching these synchronised the podcast! Very cool!

[@noahsark342]

I believe Graham was about to say you wouldn't be able to take a train to Sardinia because it's an Island. Let me tell you folks, there are trains which ride onto boats, travel over the water, then ride back onto tracks the other side and it is WILD!

[@TurbosTantrums]

Shane Rimmer was a Canadian living in England, so he's all over British productions that need "American" accents - Doctor Who, Bond, Dr Strangelove, Star Wars. He's also the voice of Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds.

[@loadingreadyrun]

Oh dang I knew he was Scott Tracey and I forgot to mention it!

[@TurbosTantrums]

@@loadingreadyrun *picard facepalm*

[@nelspaulson3099]

On the James Bond name, some part of me likes the idea that these are MI6 case files and to protect those involved the names have been changed. Much like say John or Jane Doe, James Bond is the name for the given Field Agent at the time of "declassification". Other names are intentionally goofy to show they are blatantly a false name.

[@FFKonoko]

That's a fun headcanon, but leads one to wonder about the mindset of the fake name guy when it comes to all the ladies. :P

[@nelspaulson3099]

@@FFKonokoYes or.. we can add 1 more layer. The "classified" declassified files would then be given to a studio for production. Studio then "enhances" the case files into a script. it might be the studio.

[@dhwwiiexpert]

@@SgtDax *HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!!*

[@aidancox5481]

The camera robot is obviously the ancestor of Wheatley from Portal 2

[@aether9461]

Everything they tried to do with Anya's character is done perfectly with Michelle Yeoh's Wai Lin in tomorrow never dies, basically. It's disappointing

[@Gacko54]

Not really, Michelle's character was very bland

[@DarkAkaros]

@@Gacko54 Underwritten at times (and then used as a hostage twice during the finale if I remember right which bites), but still actually really effective and fun when she's allowed to be at 100%. I'm with Aether94 here, it's still the best case of competent frenemy female spy we get.

[@Paul91-]

Not really. I really do not get the love Wai Lin gets. She is easily one of the most overrated Bond girls ever.

[@Treblaine]

"enormous miniatures" is that like "a gigantic minibar"?

[@stvdagger8074]

RE: Whether Jaws should have come back in a third movie. They could have gone the route that the Fast & Furry movies did and given some of the side characters their own movie. Who wouldn't want to see a Sheriff Pepper, Jaws & Double-Take Guy spin-off?

[@johnpotts8308]

And the double taking pigeon!

[@troybadoo]

This was my first Bond film, my mother, a big fan of Roger Moore, took me aged 7 to our local cinema, I was hooked from the moment he went off the cliff to open the parachute! Loved Bond ever since although think he's far too serious these days, for a kid this movie was a perfect introduction to 007, gadgets, a really cool car, I had the toy version as did most of my friends, a brilliant villain, Jaws being the villain, not the other guy. Laugh out loud moments and edge of the seat tension, seven year old me absolutely loved this film, I also had a child crush on Barbara Bach (50 year old me commends my good taste, she looked stunning in this film), I will always have a soft spot for this film. Moore was "my Bond" as I grew up with him, I backtracked and watched all the previous ones after this and loved the next few especially. Hard to say what my favourite of all is, Connery was incredible, Moore was great fun, the less said about Dalton the better, Brosnan was born to play Bond and like I said, Craig got too serious although portrays him really well and possibly the best actor. Goldfinger, Live and let die, this one, Goldeneye and controversially I think my first spot goes to OHMSS.....Lazenby would've been really good, but we may never have had Moore ah well.

[@shaxxsextmag3612]

The craig movies don’t make sense without continuity, especially spectre and, presumably, no time to die

[@nikolaiquack8548]

Totally disagree with you guys on the opening title sequence. I love the song as a Bond theme and the titles are among the best of the Maurice Binder titles.

[@bigbigfizzi]

These guys from the beginning have a hatred for Roger Moore. They shun the beach boys song in View to a Kill but literally feel fine when Spectre had Stop Spreading the News. Both of these "comedic?" moments really dull down the action but you don't hear of them saying anything really bad about Craig (yet they went on a 3 minute rant condemning Moore. Double standards anyone?). So, they are giving biased judgements. Anyway, no reply to my message please.

[@counterburn1216]

Hello Doctors LRR. Long time watcher, first time commenter. This podcast has inspired me to watch the Bond movies to reconnect with my dad. James Bond was a big part of his childhood and we’ve been watching along with the podcasts when we can. Thank you so much for doing this and making the quarentimes better.

[@loadingreadyrun]

Thank you!

[@Bahumot]

1. The editing continues to make this just as much fun to watch as it is to listen. More props to Matt for the awesome editing (Was just guessing Matt until I actually heard the end of the Ep :-p) 2. I am rediscovering a lot of my childhood and figuring out how many different bits of different Bond films got mixed up in my head. This has inspired me to start re-listening to the old title themes at least :) .

[@MechaShakes]

Your recasting of Stromberg as this inept Kermit the Frog voiced old man who reacts with "Homer Simpson in the Land of Chocolate" like glee at forcing people to live under the sea has now made him my favourite bond villain.

[@Happymali10]

I love that the ford flies off the highway at a flat angle, but hits the roof perfectly straight down. Like, they don't even try to pretend that it jumped in there.

[@randybrickson4290]

Best Bond stunt ever, never to be surpassed. God bless Rick Sylvester.

[@yakkers221b2]

My personal theory is that James Bond is such a Chad that he just regenerates every once in a while like a time lord

[@darc1290]

I think the reason why Anya fell for Bond in the end is because he came back for her. He saved her life

[@Skulduggery_TV]

I was always under the impression that the Bond universe was a floating timeline like the Simpsons in that as the years go on the writers move up the timeline of past events to fit the year the film takes place. So if your watching a Brosnan Bond movie we assume the events of the other films happened just in the 90s and early 2000s. Hell the Bond game Everyhting or Nothing fearures a villain that was mentored by Max Zorrin from View to a Kill and Brosnan's Bond references those events with a quip. "Yes we played bridge together. He lost." Jaws is a character in the game too. I know the games aren't considered canon but still it's an interesting idea. Really enjoyable podcast, lads. Grew up watching reruns of Rodger Moore's era in the mid 90s and TSWLM was always one of my favorites. Nice to hear all the behind the scenes details I'd never even knew about like the matte paintings and the pyramids being models. It goes to show just how well the effects hold up to this day.

[@Bojack727]

12:03. LOL, I loved it when Matt chimes in with "From Game of Thronies?"

[@michaelbugliosi735]

The first act of this film is literally perfect. Almost every scene is beautifully shot and the set pieces are really imaginative, just like OHMSS and Skyfall (much later!). The Egyptian scenes in particular are pretty iconic. Compared to the prior three films, which felt stuck in the 60s, this film is shockingly modern; it looks like it came out a decade after The Man With the Golden Gun. To be honest, I don't think this film was topped visually until the Dalton pictures. The villains are colorful and all of the campy elements toe the line between excitement and absurdity; can't say the same for the next film! 1977 was a good year for pulpy films.

[@saiconjr]

My personal weekend starts off right with some Bond love! Thank you for this wonderful podcast series!

[@slidetrombone]

they're good train fights, Mitt

[@empath69]

They're ALL good train fights, Mott!

This is unquestionably my favourite of the Moore films. And I have to say, I'm a huge fan of this pod. I'd love it if you guys kept it going after the Bond films and expanded it to other franchises (Jason Bourne, Kingsmen, Austin Powers) and even standalone spy films. You guys have amazing chemistry, you clearly enjoy what you're doing and I'd kill to hear you guys discuss obscure spy movies like THE NUDE BOMB and CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND.

[@OuterGalaxyLounge]

Along with Cinema Tyler's ongoing series about Apocalypse Now, this is the best movie review series going right now on KZbin. Super work, guys.

[@MAMoreno]

The continuity of every film up to and including A View to a Kill is perfectly fine. Bond doesn't drastically de-age until The Living Daylights, so there's no reason to assume that Connery, Lazenby, and Moore exist in different timelines or whatever. The movies never explain what happen with the Bond girls, but the answer from the books is adequate: Bond can't successfully maintain a relationship for long, and the women leave him. Bond and Blofeld are both in disguise in OHMSS, which is sufficient to wave away why they don't recognize each other. It's standard Clark Kent stuff, and even that's assuming that Bond and Blofeld aren't just playing each other. The only notable continuity hiccup is that Diamonds are Forever probably happens right after You Only Live Twice, as For Your Eyes Only depicts its ersatz Blofeld with a neck brace in a nod to OHMSS. Considering how Diamonds are Forever seems to ignore its predecessor, this small tweak to the timeline is sufficient to smooth over the one significant bit of discontinuity.

[@JoaoPessoa86]

I've always just looked at it as an anthology series

[@MAMoreno]

@@JoaoPessoa86 I'd say it's more like an episodic TV series (at least until the Daniel Craig era), with every seven films being akin to a "season" of the show. Each "season" has some recurring characters and plot lines, but they're generally standalone stories. In this analogy, "Season 1" (starring Sean Connery) is mostly focused on the SPECTRE story, and "Season 2" (starring Roger Moore) is largely tied together by Bond's interactions with the head of the KGB, General Gogol. This analogy certainly gets weaker with "Season 3" because of Dalton's relative age and because the Brosnan films don't really make any efforts to share explicit continuity with the earlier movies.

[@JoaoPessoa86]

@@MAMoreno I see that, but I think it's better when the "episodes" are more self contained. I think the Craig era suffers from trying too hard to tie it all together to the point where they're writing themselves into a corner.

[@MaraK_dialmformara]

Opinion from someone who doesn't hate the theme song: It's extremely memorable. Like earworm levels of memorable. Last episode Graham said he could still almost sing The Man with the Golden Gun. That's me but for this song. So it's in my top three because (1) I remember it and (2) it's not sung by Shirley Bassey, whose voice I cannot stand. (My top two Bond Songs are Live and Let Die and Skyfall, and it amuses me that I've got one favorite in each category.)

[@Bucketroo]

There's a funny bit with the underwater Lotus Esprit that makes me laugh every time. Bond uses his turn signal, then goes the opposite way and rams one of the bad guys!

[@bluevan12]

Inside the Car Bond seems to get a sexual kick out of ramming the diver who appears to be so badly injured by the car ramming him blood pours out of his chest and yet there isn't a single dent on the car?

[@AmethystinePython]

Just want to say, I listen to the podcast version and I love this show so much. Keep doing what you're doing, guys!

[@hamishian0]

Thanks Graham and Matt. Awesome commentary as always.

[@Paranundrox]

They're all good train fights, Bront

[@J4Y_4NDY]

As someone who has only watched a few Bond movies. I really enjoy this podcast and this makes me want to watch the other Bonds

[@YayapLives]

I don't normally watch podcasts but man I'm excited for every Monday now

[@bradt48]

Late to the game, but I started with Dr. No and cannot get away from these amazing rewatches.

[@TheUnspokenKibbles]

Hearing about the final scene where Anya and Bond are in the escape pod tickled something deep in my memory, and after some digging I finally remembered that I first saw a synopsis of this movie Yahtzee's review of it, posted on his blog way back before he reviewed games. What a blast from the past.

[@Jam3sA]

With Shane Rimmer being singled out, I was expecting a reference to the fact he was Canadian, or to Thunderbirds. Graham also says he's still with us, but he passed away last year.

[@benjamindickel3868]

My new head-canon: Each Bond actor is in a different universe/timeline, and James Bond: 007 is a destiny that is fulfilled by one person in each timeline.

[@MaraK_dialmformara]

Mine is that he's a Time Lord, created as a prototype for River Song and discarded for Reasons in the British government's backyard

[@IainJChrist]

YO, Nobody Does It Better is one of the greatest songs of ALL TIME, Bond tunes apart. Enjoying the show, doing an intermittent series run through with my family that's taking years, this is a nice accompanyment. Goldeneye next!

[@coaxtl1413]

I love how Canadian you guys are. Like me, you get so excited when Canada gets mentioned. As Matt put it in a later episode “We’re relevant!” Also that stunt definitely adds to my desire to see Baffin Island one day

[@emkerr90]

Between listening to this podcast and seeing the new trailer for No Time to Die, I am actually excited about a bond movie for the first time in...more than a decade? How dare you and thank you

[@williamh0809]

Shane Rimmer also the voice of Scott Tracy, pilot of Thunderbird 1. Derek Meddings also involved in design for both Thunderbirds and SWLM, as you mention.

[@empath69]

This has a special place in my heart as 'my first' Bond movie. It's the earliest I remember seeing - we were taking Easter Vacation to visit extended family in the UK and this premiered on television while we were there, and I watched and enjoyed it (too young to see any of these in the theatre) Not the top of my rankings, but it might be a step or two higher for the sentimental value. :)

[@EllieODaire]

The villains really make or break the movie for me, and this one is dead middle of the pack because of how great Jaws is and how much I dislike Stromberg canceling out to a perfect "it's fine." Man With The Golden Gun, Live & Let Die, OHMSS, and Goldfinger are my top 4 now and probably pretty secure until the Brosnan era.

[@hfar_in_the_sky]

Ellie O'Daire Agreed! As for Brosnan era bond villains, Goldeneye will always have a place in my heart, in no small part because Sean Bean as Alex Trevelyan is such a great performance. Which makes some of the subsequent Brosnan Bond villains so...disappointing. Especially Die Another Day

[@sankethbhaskar4236]

The sound and light thing is totally still a real thing. I went to Egypt in December and saw it. Had some koshari while we watched too.

[@gavinrive5877]

This theme song is one of the best. Roger is at his best here.

[@flannelshirtenthusiast4159]

I am getting strong Deep One vibes from Stromberg and I'm diggin' it.

[@Yora21]

It's been a few years that I watched it, and I forgot almost everything. But I know exactly what you mean! :D

[@chan742]

I'm loving this series. It allows me to go back over these films in my memory (I don't always rewatch with you). But i had a problem with this film. I wasn't sure I had seen it. Turns out, I did! New problem: I remembered this as "For Your Eyes Only". Which means I've have no recollection of For Your Eyes Only.

[@kimh9736]

I agree with Matt this is an iconic Roger Moore Bond movie, I watched this one along with Moonraker many times as a kid. Fond memories of VHS tapes.

[@vegas_party_animal7737]

Time for the best part of Monday!

[@ThinEndOfTheSWedge]

Also worth noting that Shane Rimmer is another Gerry Anderson connection- he was the voice of Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds. Similarly Ed Bishop who had his badge stolen by Bond in Diamonds Are Forever was his fellow ‘Rent a Yank’ and was Captain Blue and later Ed Straker.

[@womble1981]

Shane was in too many Bond films. He’s very recognisable. I play a game of spotting him when I rewatch them.

[@Panquernic]

This is the first film I rewatched since listening to the podcast because I remembered I liked it. It's strange because I saw it a lot when I was around 12 years old and I remembered a lot. I LOVE the song and actually think it fits the tone of the film. I like that bond can move slightly into different subgenres and I think this film does that nicely

[@Endocrom]

33:28 Meanwhile, at the Hall of Doom!

[@bonghunezhou5051]

Personally, I rank this entry as quote-unquote middling, higher than "LALD" and "View/Kill" but lower than "FYEO" and "Octopussy" (a "stealth" remake indeed, which in turn was re-made as Moonraker and even Tomorrow never Dies).

[@drewjeers815]

This is of my favorite Bonds & certainly favorite R.Moore

[@KS-ui4hi]

I will continue to petition for a quirky henchmen teir list and a bond villain lair teir list

[@RWSCOTT]

Munro was a staple of Hammer & various sci-fi, fantasy & horror films of the era. She's known especially for playing the smuggler Stella Star in Starcrash.

[@Ade2bee]

When I was a small boy, and a massive James Bond film, my mother took me around to this submarine set that you speak about, it was incredible, there was only a small rope to separate you from around the actual working surfaces of the submarine… I wonder where it is now if it even exist?

[@andykrew336]

I got a bingo in Scrabble with the word "intercut", and It took me a few minutes to realize that most people don't use that word and that I had been binge watching these podcasts.

[@GrandiaKnight]

Time for one of my top 3 Bond films!

[@rovercoupe7104]

The flag is called the Union flag and it is the flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, not just England M.

[@Yora21]

I super love cinemascope. The ultra wide screen is to me the pure look of the great classics.

[@RighteousBrother]

I read that as "I cinema love superscope"

[@dparis2172]

"Not crazy about it as a Bond theme"? It is THE Bond theme.

[@IAmNotKira]

I haven't finished the episode but I'm disappointed you didn't use the parachute scene as an excuse to talk about the London Olympics opening ceremony tribute to it. Loving the series so far.

[@dtuk22]

The Submarine Lotus in the Goldfish bowl....'Brilliant idea' , i want one. If i can't buy one, i'm gonna make one 👍

[@HS_Gomikubi]

G: A.K.A 'Lady Starky' " M: From 'Game of Thronies?' I'm not even sure why but I laughed _real_ hard at this joke.

[@HS_Gomikubi]

Also the "James Bond's gigantic cigars will return" edit, precious.

[@Happymali10]

Compare: Lotus' car-handler saved the shoot, more or less, got them good footage. Aston Martin's car-handler drove a handmade preproduction DBS into a lake without any cameras rolling, while moving between locations

[@caffeine-nom3280]

I was really surprised Graham didn't like this one as much based on his fondness for Roger Moore. I thought this would be in his wheelhouse. Anyway, this is my favorite and first James Bond film.

[@OmegablueWolf]

every time i have seen that base i have gone 'Mean While in the hall of doom, home of the legion of doom!'

[@CountZeroOr]

Jaws is basically Jason Vorhees as, to use the Mayfair Games James Bond Tabletop RPG term, a Privileged Henchman. EDIT: Also, funny you should mention carpeted bathrooms, because Giant Bomb had an extended conversation about them on their podcasts.

[@steamcastle]

while not in a movie, there is an episode of Ironside where they are looking at some film shot of a riot, they then stop it at a point and zooms in on something, now they didn't really stop the film and you can see people breathing, and zooming or dolling in on what Ironside wanted to get a closer look at.