Great Scene: “The Spy Who Loved Me”

October is Great Scene month at Go Into The Story whereby we put a spotlight on notable movie scenes, then analyze and discuss them. Their structure, themes, character dynamics. Why do they work? What are their narrative elements that elevate them to greatness? Let’s face it: In a fundamental way, screenwriting is scene-writing, so the more we learn about this aspect of the craft, the better.

Today’s suggestion by Jon Stark: The 1977 movie The Spy Who Loved Me, written by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum, characters by Ian Fleming. IMDB plot summary:

James Bond investigates the hijacking of British and Russian submarines carrying nuclear warheads with the help of a KGB agent whose lover he killed.

Here is the scene from the movie:

Jon’s comment about the scene: “The car chase with the Lotus that turns into a submarine. Did anyone expect it? And where else could that wild creativity actually not pull you right out of the film?”

The thing that always gets me about these super technology scenes in Bond movies is how casual Bond is when employing the devices. That elevates the cool level several notches.

How about you? Is this a favorite Bond moment for you? How about other great scenes from James Bond movies?

To read all of the entries in the Great Scene archive, go here.

Thanks for the suggestion, Jon! If you have an idea for this Great Scene series, check out the responses people have made so far here. If you have a different scene in mind you think would be worthy of analysis, please post it there or in comments for this post. Thanks!