The Spy Who Loved Me (film) big budget was not wasted. Interestingly, while the sets and gimmicks were the most spectacular to date, Bond and the other characters are toned down (there's a minimum of slapstick humour) so that they are more realistic than in other Roger Moore films. Moore gives his best performance in the series ... [Bond and Anya Amasova] are an appealing couple, equal in every way. Film is a real treat – a well acted, smartly cast, sexy, visually impressive, lavishly produced, powerfully directed mix of a spy romance and a war-mission film." Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" considered the
James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me is escaping from a cabin on the top of Aiguille du Mort, a mountain near the town of Chamonix. After the mysterious death of Fekkish, SMERSH appears yet again, this time capturing and torturing Bond for the whereabouts of the microfilm that retains plans for a submarine tracking system (Bond escapes after killing two of the interrogators). The revival of SMERSH goes against the latter half of Fleming's Bond novels, in which SMERSH is mentioned to have been put out of operation; however, it is explained within the novel as being Colonel-General Nikitin's doing. Members of SMERSH from the novelization