FILM REVIEW: On Her Majesty's Secret Service

diebitter · #1 10-31-2005, 08:51 AM

When people ask me what my favourite James Bond film is, I typically ponder between this, 'You Only Live Twice', and 'Live and Let Die', but I usually say this one in the end. They then look a bit confused ("which one is that?" is going on in their heads, you can see it in the eyes), and it dawns on them I'm talking about the Lazenby one, and they look at me like I'm mildly brain-damaged (but I get that a lot anyway).

I put this down to the fact most people who've seen it have seen the TV version. The dreadful, FUBAR version where they pan-and-scan fantastic fight and skiing sequences to make em look stupid and incoherent, and to make it appear the cameraman and director were drunk or incapable. (I believe there's a US TV cut where Bond actually narrates over some sections! WTF!). Plus, of course, how could anyone rank Lazenby over Connery, Moore, Brosnan or even Dalton?

However, I believe if Connery had done this one, and put in the acting effort he did for something like 'From Russia with Love', and we'd all seen a widescreen cut and not the TV version, this would be considered the best one....

Why?

This is the film where they pulled back from complete fantasy (done so well in the previous You Only Live Twice) and brought it back to reality, for one last effort. This Bond is tough, but he's vulnerable. He's failed to find Blofeld after 2 years of searching, so he's not the superhuman he sometimes appears. He impusively resigns because he can't pursue his goal (techy, and even perhaps immature!), and this one he falls in love. And of course, he has probably the best Bond girl ever to fall in love with, Diana Rigg! WOW! Hell, he even cries!

The story is pacy, the girls are beautiful, and Telly Savalas brings a nice menacing confidence to Blofeld (who also is much more human than the Dr Evil-esque Blofeld of YOLT).

The action is exciting, tense (the scene where he's crawling the cable-car wires, for example), well-paced and put together, and this is some of the best skiing stuff ever committed to film. The location on top of the mountain is beyond cool, but still realistic, and the girls are beautiful and engaging.

The theme song is awesome (and recently purloined by 'The Incredibles'), and the second song 'We Have All the Tim in the World' by Louis Armstrong fits in nicely with the tone of the 'falling in love' montage. The other music, where we get shots of the mountains and white slopes, is very nice too.

There's never been a more downbeat ending to a Bond film, and for once we can feel sorry for Bond the man, and feel his tragic loss.

Downsides: it's a little drawn out and overlong, and Lanzenby really can't act that well - but does a passable job, does look the part and doesn't jar too much - but these criticisms are realatively small given its strengths.

Can you see now why Connery firing on all cylinders would have made this top of the tree?

PS. I officially claim the theme to this as my personal theme tune.

OVERALL: 3.5/5 (but you must try and see it on a big widescreen TV, preferably with a fab sound system)
REWATCHABILITY: Yearly - but NEVER watch the TV cut again - better to just skip it.

RATINGS (out of 5):
0 - This is a complete waste of time, and you will regret wasting it
1 - don't bother unless no other options at all
2 - okay for a single watch, if you've got time
3 - Definite watch if you get a chance
4 - See it very soon, at least once before you die
5 - See it immediately, no excuses

Opinions/comments/arguments please, especially if you think I missed anything worth of discussion/expansion, or violently agree or disagree.

PM me any films you'd like reviewed

Recent Reviews: The Hidden, Kiss Me Deadly, and related: You Only Live Twice

jakethebake · #2 10-31-2005, 09:11 AM

[ QUOTE ]
it dawns on them I'm talking about the Lazenby one, and they look at me like I'm mildly brain-damaged (but I get that a lot anyway).

[/ QUOTE ]

Clearly the above is true, but how can you only give your favorite Bond film 3.5 stars? [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

diebitter · #3 10-31-2005, 10:03 AM

Cos there's hundreds of films better than it. That doesn't mean it isn't a great movie though!

pryor15 · #4 10-31-2005, 03:00 PM

oddly enough, this is like the 5th straight one i haven't seen. i must not be up on what the kids are watching these days.

diebitter · #5 10-31-2005, 03:29 PM

I doubt this is what the kids are watching - and people missing out is the main decider when I pick my review subjects actually [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

pryor15 · #6 10-31-2005, 03:36 PM

it occurs to me that i really need to do a bond marathon when i get a chance. there's just too many i haven't seen.

kyro · #7 10-31-2005, 03:39 PM

I do not like this one. At all. Do you think Connery would have agreed to play a Bond who cries at the end...much less a Bond that gets married?

Part of the reason this whole "married" thing doesn't work is because in the first 5-6 movies, Bond is a woman chaser, then he takes time out to fall in love, and then reverts back to his old ways. IIRC, OHMSS is one of (if not the first) Fleming Bond novel. At least then it would make sense, as we now have a reason why Bond cannot stay with one woman.

Bleh. This is my second least favorite one. Moonraker's utter silliness takes the cake.

samjjones · #8 10-31-2005, 03:42 PM

Good review. My fellow Bond-ophile is correct in his assessment that this would be widely regarded as the best Bond film had Connery starred. As-is, the only misstep is Lazenby...all of the other ingredients (girls, locale, villain, music) are in top form here.

I seriously hope that whoever is writing the script to Casino Royale watches this film first, in order to get the tone right for the next one. Le Chiffre should be at least as quietly menacing as Telly Savalas' Blofeld was.

samjjones · #9 10-31-2005, 03:46 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I do not like this one. At all. Do you think Connery would have agreed to play a Bond who cries at the end...much less a Bond that gets married?

Part of the reason this whole "married" thing doesn't work is because in the first 5-6 movies, Bond is a woman chaser, then he takes time out to fall in love, and then reverts back to his old ways. IIRC, OHMSS is one of (if not the first) Fleming Bond novel. At least then it would make sense, as we now have a reason why Bond cannot stay with one woman.

Bleh. This is my second least favorite one. Moonraker's utter silliness takes the cake.

[/ QUOTE ]
So the fact that Bond is made "human" ruins the movie for you? IMO, Tracy getting killed at the end provided much needed depth to the Bond character, and should have been explored further. In fact, I'd argue that Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton's best work as Bond were in scenes touching on the fact that the character had been previously married, and that his wife had met a tragic end.

kyro · #10 10-31-2005, 03:49 PM

The fact that they show Bond as human out of nowhere when every other aspect of his character shows him as a male chauvinist ruins it for me. If this had been the first movie ever, I would understand it better.

Also, this isn't what ruins the movie for me. I don't like it as a whole. I think most of it is Lazenby as Bond. I just can't get comfortable with him.

OOOh, I just remembered something else. All of a sudden Bond can't recognize Blofeld and vice-versa? This is so dumb. I wish they had marketed this as Bond BEFORE Dr. No. It would have been a much better movie.