Possibly the most memorable henchman in the James Bond series made his debut in a completely unrelated action movie. The ’70s was a turning point for the James Bond movies. Sean Connery officially bowed out from the EON series with Diamonds Are Forever, with Roger Moore inheriting the role. Moore brought a more comedic energy to the character, though the likes of The Man with the Golden Gun still saw him trying to inject some of Connery’s machismo in certain scenes. The critical and commercial disappointment of the latter led to talk of the franchise ending.
It was felt that after nine movies, audiences were over 007. That’s why Roger Moore’s third Bond movieThe Spy Who Loved Me became so important, because if it had flopped, the series was done. Instead, the film doubled down on the elements audiences loved; there were more outrageous stunts, exotic locales, beautiful women, expensive sets and so on. The 1977 blockbuster set a high bar for future entries, and is considered by many – including Christopher Nolan – to be one of the best Bond films.
Richard Kiel Played A Jaws Prototype In Silver Streak
Reace looks an awful lot like 007’s most famous foe
The Spy Who Loved Me introduced Richard Kiel’s Jaws, the hulking, indestructible henchman of main villain Stromberg (Curt Jürgens). Jaws is famous for his metal teeth, which he uses to bite victims to death. The character was supposed to get eaten by a shark in the movie’s finale, but test audiences liked him so much he was spared and later returned in Moonraker. No list of iconic James Bond villains is complete without Jaws, but, oddly, nobody recalls Kiel playing another metal-toothed villain in Silver Streak the year before.
This 1976 action comedy was the first movie pairing between Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor, with the former playing a book editor who witnesses a murder onboard a train. The film is a breezy romp overall, with a supporting cast that includes Patrick McGoohan, Scatman Crothers and Ned Beatty. In Silver Streak, Richael Kiel plays the near-mute henchman Reace, who has metal teeth and is introduced tossing Wilder’s George off the titular train.
Kiel’s Reace reappears a few times and is eventually killed by George with a harpoon gun on top of the train. There are key differences between Silver Streak’s Reace and Jaws; Reace doesn’t kill anybody with his teeth or have outlandish displays of strength, while he’s far easier to kill. That said, it’s hard not to look at Reace as a prototype for Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me, which arrived only a year later. The fact the latter has a large fight scene with Jaws onboard a train only strengthens the link.
Richard Kiel Dismissed The Link Between Jaws And Reace
Jaws’ performer denied any connection between the characters
What’s strange is that nobody involved with The Spy Who Loved Me acknowledged that Kiel’s Silver Streak character had any influence on Jaws whatsoever. One of the few times the connection was brought up was during a 2004 interview with Kiel at Commanderbond.net, where the actor was asked point blank if “.. Jaws was simply a retread of your character Reace from Silver Streak?” Kiel’s answer was direct.
Kiel seemingly never once thought of Silver Streak’s Reace while playing Jaws, which again feels strange, given the number of similarities between them. It’s true that Reace does occasionally speak, but Jaws himself ended up talking briefly in Moonraker. Jaws also has no issue using guns, even if his teeth were his primary killing tools.
Kiel Played Two More Unofficial Versions Of Jaws
Jaws never returned for a third James Bond movie
Following Moonraker – which made Jaws more of a lovable figure – there was talk of bringing the character back again. It was decided that Moonraker had gotten too cartoonish and over the top, so the next Bond film needed to bring the series down to Earth – quite literally. Hence, Jaws was dropped from For Your Eyes Only, though Kiel later reprised the role for 2004 video game Everything or Nothing, starring Pierce Brosnan.
Following Moonraker, Richard Kiel played two similar, copyright-dodging versions of Jaws in other movies. In 1999’s Inspector Gadget, Kiel is seen donning metal teeth in a “Minion Support Group,” next to villains who look a lot like Oddjob and Nick Nack, and the actor is credited as “Famous Big Guy with Metal Teeth.” Hong Kong action comedy Aces Go Places 3 heavily parodies the Bond movies, which includes a British agent called Mr. Bond, and Kiel – sans metal teeth – portraying another hulking, unstoppable villain called Big G.
James Bond
- Created by
- Ian Fleming , Albert R. Broccoli
- First Film
- Dr. No
- Latest Film
- No Time to Die
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- James Bond 26
- Cast
- Sean Connery , George Lazenby , Roger Moore , Timothy Dalton , Pierce Brosnan , Daniel Craig
