When a space shuttle goes missing during a test flight, James Bond (Roger Moore) is the man who must track it down. His investigations take him to Venice (where he uses his specially customized gondola), Rio de Janeiro (where he fights steel-toothed henchman Jaws on top of a cable car), and finally into outer space (where he uncovers a ruthless plot to wipe out the human race and replace it with genetically engineered humanoids). Highlights include Bond's encounters with NASA scientist Dr Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles) and the climactic battle aboard villain Hugo Drax's (Michael Lonsdale) space station.

When the activating button for a nuclear launch is lost at sea, it is up to James Bond to retrieve it before it falls into the wrong hands. Roger Moore once again plays 007 in this, the 12th Bond outing, director John Glen's first Bond film and the first without an Ian Fleming credit. Highlights include a climb up a sheer rock-face; a car chase down a steep, winding mountain road; an underwater battle; and what might be the greatest of all Bond's celebrated ski chase sequences.