"Nobody Does It Better" than Roger Moore in the first of the James Bond adventures to really go to town on the budget. It's well-acted (with less reliance on slapstick humour than normal), smartly cast (metal-toothed Jaws, played by Richard Kiel, makes his first appearance and Barbara Bach is the alluring Russian agent Anya Amasova) and lavishly directed by Lewis Gilbert. This exceptional spy escapade is far-fetched mayhem of the highest order, with a welcome accent on character realism rather than just spectacular sets.

Russian and British submarines with nuclear missiles on board both vanish from sight without a trace. England and Russia both blame each other as James Bond tries to solve the riddle of the disappearing ships. But the KGB also has an agent on the case.