The Spy Who Loved Me (PG, 1977)

Stromberg (Curt Jurgens), a shipping tycoon who dwells in a fantastic amphibious complex and has secretly developed technology to track and disable submarines, hijacks missile-laden submarines belonging to Britain as well as the USSR. London and communist Moscow set aside their enmity, charging James Bond (Roger Moore) and one of his Soviet counterparts, the Russian woman superspy Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach), to work together to find out who is responsible.

THE SPY WHO LOVED ME was conceived as the biggest James Bond movie ever made, and indeed no expense was spared. A vast soundstage built in England for the ocean-going villain's lair set a world's record for size and was actually dedicated with great ceremony by the British prime minister. Even three decades later, in an era of digital landscapes and countless computer-generated extras, this movie looks impressively huge and also moves with a brisk pace, despite the bulk.

Of course, it is a Bond movie, and sex and spying go together here, almost comically so. That tone is set early on as both Bond and Anya are roused away from their respective bedmates by summonses from headquarters. The pre-AIDS era glamorous, casual sex was as inseparable from the Bond landscape as the action sequences, and comes across as much an unrealistic fantasy as the supervillain's world-domination plans. Still, some parents may find it makes The Spy Who Loved Me unsuitable for smaller kids.