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The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) poster

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Adventure, Action, Thriller • 2h 5m

Director: Lewis Gilbert

Best video & English-friendly release

Updated 4 months ago


Best audio release

Original 4-Track Mix: MGM 1990 LaserDisc

General release mono mix: CBS Fox VHS Hi-Fi but time compressed
5.1 remix of 4-track mix: MGM Blu-ray (a lossless version of the remix from the Ultimate Edition DVD)

The 5.1 track on the earlier THX LD/DVD and SE DVDs is not the same as the later remix, and appears to be more faithful the original mix (likely a simple upmix). The UE DVD remix has a lot more surround activity.


About the film

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.

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Alternative Titles
James Bond - The Spy Who Loved Me

Part of James Bond 007

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Director: Terence Young

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray, despite prevalent frozen grain

Best Audio:

1991 Criterion LaserDisc with end credits from 1992 MGM LaserDisc

Additional Info:

Criterion LaserDisc includes an exclusive commentary, which was later banned by EON and caused the release to be recalled.

Director: Lewis Gilbert

4K · Solid
Best Video, Audio & English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Director: Guy Hamilton

4K · Solid
Best Video & English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1988 MGM VHS Hi-Fi, 1988 LaserDisc analog

Additional Info:

Criterion LaserDisc includes an exclusive commentary, which was later banned by EON and caused the release to be recalled.

Director: Terence Young

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray despite frozen grain

Best Audio:

UK mix: 1984 CBS Fox VHS Hifi but missing one scene
International mix: WB 4K Blu-ray though source origin is unknown

1995 MGM stereo remix: 1998 LaserDisc and 2000 DVD fix gunbarrel dropout

Director: Terence Young

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray despite some frozen grain

Best Audio:

1992/1993 MGM LaserDisc

Additional Info:

Criterion LaserDisc includes an exclusive commentary, which was later banned by EON and caused the release to be recalled.

Director: Guy Hamilton

4K · Solid
Best Video & English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

MGM 1990/1993 LaserDisc

Director: Martin Campbell

4K · Solid
Best Video & English-Friendly:

MGM 4K Blu-ray

Director: Sam Mendes

4K · Solid
Best Video & English-Friendly:

MGM 4K Blu-ray

Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga

Best Video & English-Friendly:

US Universal 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

(for original forced subtitles font)

Additional Info:

IMAX sequences have not been released on home video to date

Directors: Val Guest & Ken Hughes & John Huston & Joseph McGrath & Robert Parrish

Best English-Friendly:

MGM Blu-ray 

Best Video:

MGM Blu-ray despite dated master

Best Audio:

Sony Columbia 1994 LaserDisc Mono

More from Lewis Gilbert

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Director: Lewis Gilbert

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

4K Streaming

Best Video:

4K Streaming SDR master seems to be from the same scan and looks like it has less tinkering than the Blu-ray

MGM Blu-ray is the best physical media release

Screencaps of the 4K SDR master: 007 on Home Media: Moonraker (1979)

Best Audio:

Dolby Stereo: 1990 MGM LaserDisc

More from Fox

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Director: James Gray

4K · Solid
Best Video, Audio & English-Friendly:

Fox 4K Blu-ray

Director: John Ford

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Fox Blu-ray

Director: Mike Judge

Video format: 4K Streaming

Best Video & English-Friendly:

4K Streaming on HBO MAX/Disney+ or Fox Blu-ray

Director: David Fincher

Best Video, Audio & English-Friendly:

20th Century Studios Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Digipack release includes an Amazing Amy book the standard edition doesn’t have.

Director: Jean-Luc Godard

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray/BFI Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Criterion and BFI very similar

Best Audio:

Fox Lorber DVD

Director: Chris Columbus

Video format: 4K Streaming

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Disney+ has Streaming in 4K

Video Notes:

Fox has Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1995 Fox LaserDisc

Director: David Butler

Video format: Only Unofficial Sources

Best Video:

The DVD isn't an official one, and according to a user review on Amazon:

This DVD comes from Archive.org, where the movie can be viewed for free. The original source, comes from the Fox Movie Channel

Director: James Cameron

4K · Disappointing
Best Video & English-Friendly:

Fox Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Fox Blu-ray for original cuts without the extra scene added in the re-release and AI upscaling

Newer Blu-ray/4K has the extra scene, but is poor and has excessive AI upscaling

Additional Info:

An additional scene was added to the ending of the movie in the 2022 re-release: https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=493908

Director: Peter Faiman

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Australia Cut: Australia Fox DVD

International Cut: Paramount Blu-ray

Encore Cut: Germany Winkler Film 4K Blu-ray, censored but good encoding

Upcoming Release:

US Paramount 4K Blu-ray, is the International US Cut and not the Encore Cut

Best Audio:

Australia Cut: Laserdisc

Additional Info:

The film exists in three versions:
- the original Australian cut (~104 minutes at 24fps/~100 minutes at 25fps);
- the American/international version (~98 minutes at 24fps/~94 minutes at 25fps) trimming some exposition in the Outback first half of the film and some shorter extensions of a few seconds in the New York section, altering some of the dialogue – including censoring a "fuck" to "screw" – but featuring one additional dialogue extension not in the Australian version (a comparison of the two cuts can be found at Movie Censorship);
- the Australian Encore Cut (~95 minutes at 24fps/~91 minutes at 25fps) which uses the international version source so it already has those alterations but also removes approximately three minutes consisting of parts of two scenes featuring Mick grabbing the crotch of a cross-dressing prostitute and a later sequence when he does the same thing at a party to a woman with a deep voice (a comparison of the international version and the Encore Cut can be found at Movie Censorship).

Director: Ridley Scott

4K · Excellent
Best Video & English-Friendly:

Theatrical Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray 

2003 Directors Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray 

Video Notes:

(additional scenes appear to be upscaled)

Best Audio:

Original Theatrical 70mm 6-Track Stereo: Fox 4K Blu-ray (DTS-HD MA 4.1)

Original Theatrical 35mm Matrixed Dolby Stereo: 1999 DVD? (2.0 mix on the UHD is a downmix)

2003 Directors Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray, Fox Blu-ray (DTS-HD MA 5.1)

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Researched and maintained by

cbccaptainsolocommandrbond

· last reviewed 4 months ago

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