5 ways that Moonraker did everything in The Spy Who Loved Me better
- The villain
For both are outlandish films means a big time villain, and one could get it with Hugo Drax, his lines were great, had more personality, laid out plot, we've got to know more of him (his other aspects like hunting, his business Venini Glass store, and even his favorite sandwich), he's a fleshed out Bond villain with great wit and great performance by Michael Lonsdale. These are something that Curt Jurgens seemed to lack, he comes off as a meshed up of all the stereotypes of a megalomaniac villain but not giving him some personality, his motivations for his plot was not explained either, and was effortlessly killed by Bond, even his own henchmen (Jaws and Sandor) overshadowed him.
- The Bond Girl
Holly Goodhead is for me what Anya Amasova should've been, competent, independent, kick ass and tough, and didn't fell to Bond's charms (she pretty much resisted him), for whatever Chiles' faults in her acting, makes up for a good character, but Barbara Bach is no better either, and moreso of having to carry a fake Russian accent that detriments her performance even moreso than Chiles, and her most disadvantage was her character, Anya, I'm so disappointed with how Anya was played in film: at first, she's intelligent and intimidating in her first meeting with Bond and even got to drive a van in Egypt, stolen the microfilm, and knocked Bond up with her cigar, it's all pretty going well, until it's changed 360 degree angle once the Egyptian scenes ended: Bond saved her many times: first at the train scene against Jaws (thanks for Anya not being resourceful enough to fight him whereas Bond used his wits to beat Jaws), and second was when she's taken hostage by Stromberg (tied to reclining chair waiting for Bond to save her), and then you have the KGB/MI6 agent rivalry, but there's Anya falling in love with Bond so easily that when Naomi (Stromberg's secretary) came into picture (in that bikini) she's suddenly became jealous of her because Bond was clearly attracted with Naomi, then Anya did nothing for most of the second half, almost staying beside Bond all the time and doing nothing, her missed opportunity came at making a revenge for her dead boyfriend, but she had chosen to sleep with Bond instead, for me she's no Holly Goodhead (Goodhead doesn't need Bond to work on her mission, she had never fell for his charms and helping him and even saving Bond's life many times, and even using seduction to deceive him, just like what Bond usually does).
- The danger
This is one of the reasons why The Spy Who Loved Me lessened it's rewatchability for me, it never thrilled me because there are no danger present, I've never felt that Bond was in danger in TSWLM, because he'd got everything in control and killed the villains so effortlessly, and he's always at the top of his game. With Moonraker, that's not the case, because one may see the uncertainty in Bond's eyes while he's on the mission, and been put to many deadly scenes like the centrifuge scene,the fight with Chang in Venice, the python scene in Drax's Amazon, the very tense Rio scene with Manuela and Jaws, and the killing of Corrine Dufour. There's always a danger present, and that's something that is missing in TSWLM, because it's mostly fun.
- James Bond himself
Bond in 'The Spy Who Loved Me' for me is what Connery was in 'Thunderball', just being cool, being dismissive of Anya, and treat her as his sex object, that's not the case in 'Moonraker' because there's a progression in Bond's character, in the beginning, Bond was shocked to learn that Dr. Goodhead is a woman, and he usually played up to his old tricks, but once the film starts progressing, Bond's view of Goodhead suddenly changing, he became impressed with her and challenged by her, so in the end, it taught Bond a lesson to respect women which he would bring to the later films (For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy and A View To A Kill), that's because of Goodhead.
And even moreso showed vulnerability in some scenes like again, the Centrifuge scene, his scene with Manuela in Rio after saving her from Jaws, the anxiety and anger on his face in that Canal Boat chase in Venice, his fight with Chang in Venice, the scenes in Amazon rainforest when he'd fought a python and even did a great move in the space shuttle by pretending to collapse only to press a button that would disable the gravity inside the space shuttle.
- The acting
We all know about the acting, Curt Jurgens, Barbara Bach, Valerie Leon, they're all a bit monotone in their acting, lacking in emotions, movements, facial expressions, and deprived of life in their performances, this was in contrast to 'Moonraker', where the acting felt natural and more livelier from Lonsdale to the actress playing Manuela (forgot her name) and yes even Dolly, they all have life in their performances, even Moore himself (with the exception of his scene where he'd admitted to Anya that he'd killed his boyfriend), the rest of his acting in TSWLM felt a bit lacking, especially in line deliveries (delivering humor and quips) that fell flat, or being forced upon him to say. In 'Moonraker', his acting felt more comfortable, more natural, he even had more facial expressions and more reactive to his surroundings, and delivered a great banter and humor with Lonsdale and again, the showing of vulnerability which he'd only showed once in TSWLM, but he had showed more often in 'Moonraker'.
Sure while it has its ups and downs, like the space thing and Jaws (although I really expected him to do a comic turn because the character itself was over the top with steel teeth and unbelievable height), but what 'The Spy Who Loved Me' has done, 'Moonraker' did better, not even mentioning the cinematography, score and the use of locations.