11 Things You Learn Rewatching The Spy Who Loved Me
4. The Cinematography Is Among The Series' Best
The Spy Who Loved Me was the final film shot by cinematographer Claude Renoir - nephew of legendary filmmaker Jean Renoir - and he sure went out with a bang.
In large part due to the film's emphasis on ornate locales and, yes, Lawrence of Arabia-homaging sunsets, this is easily one of the best-shot Bond films, second only perhaps to Roger Deakins' sublime lensing on Skyfall.
Renoir clearly put a lot of thought into framing and took uncommon advantage of depth of field to ensure that even the movie's most boring moments at least look pretty fancy.
A fun piece of trivia: Renoir's eyesight was deteriorating while working on the movie, so in order to light the soundstage correctly, Stanley Kubrick visited Pinewood on a weekend - when only minimal personnel were on-set - to instruct the crew on lighting the set.