Bond Review.
Title: Evokes a sense of mystery and is quite an inviting title.
Pre-Titles: Bond leaves the grave of his wife in a helicopter which is then taken control of by a bald man (who appears to be Blofeld). After a struggle in mid-air, Bond regains control and dumps the man in a chimney shaft. This opening is both exciting and poignant, with Tracy's grave and the Blofeld reference both being used to great effect. Bond trying to regain the helicopter contains some excellent stunt work and it is just an entertaining opening.
Theme Song: Sheena Easton's title track is truly fantastic and one of the series best. It has such a beautiful melody which is romantic without feeling out of place and when it reaches the chorus it really soars. Easton delivers the vocals perfectly and even the seductive lyrics are catchy.
Plot: Bond is sent to locate a missing device called an ATAC that sank with a British ship, with the Russians also after it. Along the way he suspects that two notorious smugglers are involved and attempts to help Melina Havelock who believes one of the smugglers killed them. This is a fantastic story and feels like something for the early Connery days. The plot is played out much more seriously than in the previous Moore films and there a sense of realism throughout that is very welcome. I also think that the story flows smoothly with very few scenes feeling out of place or unnecessary, everything feels like it has a purpose compared to the excess we saw in the likes of Moonraker.
James Bond: Moore gives his most serious and probably best portrayal here. Of course he still gets plenty of one liners and is enjoyably suave, but he acts more ruthless and even a bit weary which are interesting additions. Some might think he looks a bit old at this point , but he still pulls it off here.
Bond Girls: Carole Bouquet does a solid job as Melina. It's nice to have a tougher leading lady and she handles the more emotional scenes very well. However she isn't given a great deal to do and she doesn't really have great chemistry with Moore. Lynn-Holly Johnson is dreadful as ice skater Bibi. The character is just incredibly annoying and Johnson's wooden delivery doesn't help matters.
Villains: Julian Glover is perfectly fine as Kristatos given the serious tone, but he just isn't memorable. The issue is that he just isn't given anything that interesting to say or do. But he plays the role with a ruthless nature that fits and he certainly looks the part as his scenes with Moore are always engaging. Michael Gothard does a great job as the assassin Locque. Despite not having a line, his intense expressions and quiet presence definitely leave an impact.
Support: Chaim Topol is great deal of fun as Bond's charismatic ally Columbo. He just has a really likable presence and his introduction makes the film even more engaging. Cassandra Harris, wife of Pierce Brosnan, shows up in a small but memorable role as an apparent countess. Desmond Llewelyn is excellent once again as Q with much more involvement this time round.
Action: The action here is more realistic than the other Moore entries. There is an enjoyable car chase in a Citroën in the Greek countryside that is light-hearted without feeling silly. There are a number of shootouts that are filmed well. The scene where Bond and Melina are dragged through the reef is simply a brilliant idea and executed just as well. The climax is truly spectacular, with Bond having to scale Kristatos' mountaintop monastery and the resulting fight for the ATAC being packed with tension and shot brilliantly.
Score: Bill Conti composes a suitably energetic score. It has a funk influence that makes it different and a lot of the compositions are filled with the drive that is needed for such a film, while there are also some really pleasant soft tracks that give the score a good sense of balance.
Production Values: This is the first of John Glen's five films and he shows himself to be a very capable director. He doesn't really do any overly impressive shots, but his grounded style is effective and a welcome call back to Terence Young. The film is paced almost perfectly, it knows exactly when to speed things up or slow them down and at no points does it become boring despite some dialogue heavy parts. I also think this is the best writing of the Moore period. There isn't anything iconic being said, but it all feels very believable and the conversations the characters have here are always engaging. Moore's slightly more ruthless Bond is great, the scene of him kicking Locque's car off a cliff is brilliant and he handles it perfectly. The locations are all great and they look beautiful on screen, with the use of Greek islands giving the film another unique twist.
Conclusion: For Your Eyes Only is an enjoyable return to the more grounded early Bond films. The gadgets and absurd plot lines are dropped in favour of a realistic approach and more believable characters. It doesn't always work, but it must be commended for taking the series back to its roots. Roger Moore showed that he could be serious and the action is exciting without being outlandish. Some of the characters aren't fully realised, but I can forgive that because of what it tries. John Glen made a great start to his run as Bond director and Moore would have ended on a high if he'd have stepped down after this.
Title: Evokes a sense of mystery and is quite an inviting title.
Pre-Titles: Bond leaves the grave of his wife in a helicopter which is then taken control of by a bald man (who appears to be Blofeld). After a struggle in mid-air, Bond regains control and dumps the man in a chimney shaft. This opening is both exciting and poignant, with Tracy's grave and the Blofeld reference both being used to great effect. Bond trying to regain the helicopter contains some excellent stunt work and it is just an entertaining opening.
Theme Song: Sheena Easton's title track is truly fantastic and one of the series best. It has such a beautiful melody which is romantic without feeling out of place and when it reaches the chorus it really soars. Easton delivers the vocals perfectly and even the seductive lyrics are catchy.
Plot: Bond is sent to locate a missing device called an ATAC that sank with a British ship, with the Russians also after it. Along the way he suspects that two notorious smugglers are involved and attempts to help Melina Havelock who believes one of the smugglers killed them. This is a fantastic story and feels like something for the early Connery days. The plot is played out much more seriously than in the previous Moore films and there a sense of realism throughout that is very welcome. I also think that the story flows smoothly with very few scenes feeling out of place or unnecessary, everything feels like it has a purpose compared to the excess we saw in the likes of Moonraker.
James Bond: Moore gives his most serious and probably best portrayal here. Of course he still gets plenty of one liners and is enjoyably suave, but he acts more ruthless and even a bit weary which are interesting additions. Some might think he looks a bit old at this point , but he still pulls it off here.
Bond Girls: Carole Bouquet does a solid job as Melina. It's nice to have a tougher leading lady and she handles the more emotional scenes very well. However she isn't given a great deal to do and she doesn't really have great chemistry with Moore. Lynn-Holly Johnson is dreadful as ice skater Bibi. The character is just incredibly annoying and Johnson's wooden delivery doesn't help matters.
Villains: Julian Glover is perfectly fine as Kristatos given the serious tone, but he just isn't memorable. The issue is that he just isn't given anything that interesting to say or do. But he plays the role with a ruthless nature that fits and he certainly looks the part as his scenes with Moore are always engaging. Michael Gothard does a great job as the assassin Locque. Despite not having a line, his intense expressions and quiet presence definitely leave an impact.
Support: Chaim Topol is great deal of fun as Bond's charismatic ally Columbo. He just has a really likable presence and his introduction makes the film even more engaging. Cassandra Harris, wife of Pierce Brosnan, shows up in a small but memorable role as an apparent countess. Desmond Llewelyn is excellent once again as Q with much more involvement this time round.
Action: The action here is more realistic than the other Moore entries. There is an enjoyable car chase in a Citroën in the Greek countryside that is light-hearted without feeling silly. There are a number of shootouts that are filmed well. The scene where Bond and Melina are dragged through the reef is simply a brilliant idea and executed just as well. The climax is truly spectacular, with Bond having to scale Kristatos' mountaintop monastery and the resulting fight for the ATAC being packed with tension and shot brilliantly.
Score: Bill Conti composes a suitably energetic score. It has a funk influence that makes it different and a lot of the compositions are filled with the drive that is needed for such a film, while there are also some really pleasant soft tracks that give the score a good sense of balance.
Production Values: This is the first of John Glen's five films and he shows himself to be a very capable director. He doesn't really do any overly impressive shots, but his grounded style is effective and a welcome call back to Terence Young. The film is paced almost perfectly, it knows exactly when to speed things up or slow them down and at no points does it become boring despite some dialogue heavy parts. I also think this is the best writing of the Moore period. There isn't anything iconic being said, but it all feels very believable and the conversations the characters have here are always engaging. Moore's slightly more ruthless Bond is great, the scene of him kicking Locque's car off a cliff is brilliant and he handles it perfectly. The locations are all great and they look beautiful on screen, with the use of Greek islands giving the film another unique twist.
Conclusion: For Your Eyes Only is an enjoyable return to the more grounded early Bond films. The gadgets and absurd plot lines are dropped in favour of a realistic approach and more believable characters. It doesn't always work, but it must be commended for taking the series back to its roots. Roger Moore showed that he could be serious and the action is exciting without being outlandish. Some of the characters aren't fully realised, but I can forgive that because of what it tries. John Glen made a great start to his run as Bond director and Moore would have ended on a high if he'd have stepped down after this.