Major Anya Amasova could have been a very interesting character… unfortunately, she’s played by Barbara Bach. The woman has no chemistry with Moore, can’t act and if it wasn’t 1977, you’d think she’d used Botox (not approved for cosmetic use until 2002 and not identified as having that effect until 1990s). The accent is atrocious and the only thing she’s really got going for her is her cleavage. You don’t make Bond girls like this today – which I am sure we can agree is a good thing.
Moore is nicely settled into the role; throwing off a lot of one-liners and still being able to handle the action scenes. The supporting cast aren’t as strong as some of the previous films and Stromberg is no Ernst Stavro Blofeld in this essential remake of You Only Live Twice. Mind you, Jaws is great.
Marvin Hamlisch’s music is sparse, but generally well used if more than a bit disco-y. Full and massive props to Ken Adam’s production design; the tanker set is superb. Just as big props to Cubby Broccoli, who when finding there was no stage on Earth big enough for the set decided to build one instead of telling Adam to scale things down a bit. There’s a lot of money thrown at this and it’s clearly visible on screen.
This isn’t the quickest film to get going, but the final battle is superb. In a way, it’s sad that EON doesn’t go in for these sort of things any more.
Conclusion
Another enjoyable Moore movie; although the weaknesses in it mean that it is not a classic. In a way, this is one of the most stereotypical Bond movies – not that it’s a bad thing.
7/10
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