45 replies to this topic

[Licence_007]

Am I alone in thinking it is one of the worst by miles in the series? The ridiculous attempts at humour - "Have a nice fright", the silly noise accompanying Blofeld's drop down the chimney. I couldn't remember it being as bad as it is!

[Safari Suit]

For better or worse, I find it to be probably the most memorable part of the film.

[Zorin Industries]

Whilst not maybe on your own, the opening to EYES ONLY is a refreshingly contemporary London-based pre-title jolly that I think is loaded with early 1980's Bond iconography and a well paced, simple little scene.

[DamnCoffee]

For better or worse, I find it to be probably the most memorable part of the film.

I agree, completely.

[Licence_007]

Interesting. I always find Bond's climb up the mountain the most memorable part of the film.

[ChrissBond007]

Definitely not the worst PTS I think. Far from it.

It's a PTS I expect to see right after OHMSS. Finally some more attention to Tracy's death (something which should've been done in Diamonds Are Forever).

Mayby Blofeld's demise should've been a bit more specteculair. But since EON didn't have to rights of the character, I don't think they could've made it a scene with a lot of dialogue. I like it how it is.

I wouldn't agree that it is the most meborable part of the film. It's a good PTS in my opinion, but I think the film is full of fantastic moments, especially the car chase in the Citroën 2CV and the mountain climb.

Edited by ChrissBond007, 06 July 2009 - 11:58 PM.

[jrcjohnny99]

Easily one of my least favourite PTS';
I love the opening at the church, but everything else is weak;
Conti's music is just horrible....
And, while I understand the strategy behind despatching Blofeld just before a rival movie comes out featuring the villain, it was so poorly done it just comes across as petty.
Glen's an overrated director as far as Bond is concerned and this shows exactly where his faults are...
Compare this PTS to Gilbert's two previous ones...

[DaveBond21]

For better or worse, I find it to be probably the most memorable part of the film.

It's one of the most memorable, but there are many great scenes in this movie:-

- The cold blooded murder of Melina's parents, machine-gunned down by a seaplane

- The car chase in Spain

- The ski chase and fight

- Whacking motorcycle riders with a plank of wood in Cortina

- The romantic sleigh ride with Melina, when Bond persuades her to go back to Greece

- The identigraph scene with Q. "I said a nose, Q, not a banana"

- Farewell sweet Countess. Lisl run over by dune buggies

- Kicking Loque's car off the cliff

- The underwater fights with manned mini-subs and the guy in the big diver suit

- The keel-hauling sequence

- The assault on the Albanian factory

- The cliff climb and the assault on St Cyrils at the end

[Major Tallon]

I'm with ChrissBond007 and DaveBond21. I appreciate the churchyard scene, capped by the curate ominously making the sign of the Cross as Bond is flown away in the helicopter. I can appreciate the humor in the helicopter scenes, but I join Roger in exhaling with relief when he flies the chopper free of the building's shell, and I share the unspoken sentiment, "Now you take it, Blofeld" as he spears his antagonist's wheelchair and lifts him off the roof. As a way of dispatching Blofeld, the drop down the chimney is highly satisfying. Good stuff.

I confess that I'm still not sure about the "delicatessen in stainless steel" line, but it's only a single line of dialog, for goodness sake. Hardly enough to ruin the scene.

[Double-Oh Agent]

For Your Eyes Only is a great movie (#3 on my Bond list actually). The PTS is also good but a little more middle of the road for me (there's a lot of really good PTSes out there). About the only thing I don't like about the PTS is the "I'll buy you a delicatessen in stainless steel" line. It's arguably the worst line in the series. Why they included it I will never know. Just about anything else would have been better. Still, the film, the PTS, and Conti's music all get a from me.

[Safari Suit]

For better or worse, I find it to be probably the most memorable part of the film.

It's one of the most memorable, but there are many great scenes in this movie:-
etc.

Aside from the cliff climbing at the end of the film, I find most of those either fairly unmemorable or scenes which have superior equivalents from earlier in the series.

I don't hate FYEO, but I don't love it. I feel about FYEO the way some people feel about LTK; it's kind of dull, it looks a little cheap and uncinematic and it's neither gritty enough to be credible nor fun enough to be, well, much fun. Halliwell's film guide said that it was an enjoyable film while it was playing but that if offered nothing to remember the morning after. I would kind of agree with that. I enjoy FYEO while I'm watching it (although not to the extent I do many other Bond films), but it's not a film I find myself tempted to watch very often. I would have to rank it as my least favourite of the Moore films; TMWTGG is uneven and hits some real lows, but it's high points are more memorable and it's more fun.

[Head of S]

Easily one of my least favourite PTS';
I love the opening at the church, but everything else is weak;
Conti's music is just horrible....
And, while I understand the strategy behind despatching Blofeld just before a rival movie comes out featuring the villain, it was so poorly done it just comes across as petty.
Glen's an overrated director as far as Bond is concerned and this shows exactly where his faults are...
Compare this PTS to Gilbert's two previous ones...

Those would be the two PTS's directed and edited by John Glen.

[s.a.s. Malko]

It´s a PTS in absolutely RM-Style: a bit campy now in 2009 because of the soundeffects and the oneliners. But remember this when it hit the theaters 1981!! A Bond at Tracy´s grave, then he´s outside of a flying helicopter and at last he kills Blofeld! What a start for probably the best film from Roger Moore. (Okay,okay. It was my first Bond-Movie I ever saw, and I guess I was very impressed at the age of 12 )

[Zorin Industries]

I like EYES ONLY. I like its Bond in his Autumn years vibe. I like the simplicity of the story. I like the wisdom to pepper the film with older, wiser characters (LISL, COLUMBO, BRINK). I like the Campari '80 iconography. I like the fact that I buy the relationship between BOND and MELINA. I like that it has a score that is pure disco. I like the Easton track as it does not trip over itself to be a Bond song (as all good Bond songs do). I like that its good v bad device is tied up with Russian politics by stealth rather than on the nose. I like that the film feels resourceful. I also like MAKE IT LAST ALL NIGHT as that track has the dirtiest lyrics of any song I think I have ever heard!

[Licence_007]

Oh don't get me wrong I do love FYEO as well, I probably rank it in my top 10 Bond films and definitely my 2nd favourite Moore Bond. I just couldn't remember cringing as much at the PTS until I watched it last night.

[Dekard77]

I like EYES ONLY. I like its Bond in his Autumn years vibe. I like the simplicity of the story. I like the wisdom to pepper the film with older, wiser characters (LISL, COLUMBO, BRINK). I like the Campari '80 iconography. I like the fact that I buy the relationship between BOND and MELINA. I like that it has a score that is pure disco. I like the Easton track as it does not trip over itself to be a Bond song (as all good Bond songs do). I like that its good v bad device is tied up with Russian politics by stealth rather than on the nose. I like that the film feels resourceful. I also like MAKE IT LAST ALL NIGHT as that track has the dirtiest lyrics of any song I think I have ever heard!

Amen to that Sir! I love the fact that this film gives a refreshing look at Bond. The PTS has it's moments but is beutifully shot aided with disco music. Rog's cool when he takes charge of the helicopter. If that was Cubby's send off to Blofeld then am down with that.

[Judo chop]

It’s a fine PTS. Certainly not the worst. It just needed to avoid the Blofeld angle, which carries with it too many expectations. Some random disgruntled villain would have done well enough.

On the other hand, if one insists that it be Blofeld, then it requires a much more serious, respectful tone.

The ‘delicatessen’ line is terrible, but I think it’s one of those hidden secrets that only fanboys pick up on. I'd seen the film at least four times and never understood the line. It’s so wildly random, one couldn’t even begin to venture a guess at it. I can’t imagine many first time watchers in the theaters had the first clue (or care) what Blofeld was screaming as he went down. The scene is all about the spectacle (which would have been made much more spectacular under a director like Gilbert).

My point is that, as terrible as it looks on paper, in context it’s a really a harmless line. The real shame of the scene is that they pluck that ridiculous creature from YOLT or DAF rather than the classic character from FRWL/TB/OHMSS.

[MarkA]

I like EYES ONLY. I like its Bond in his Autumn years vibe. I like the simplicity of the story. I like the wisdom to pepper the film with older, wiser characters (LISL, COLUMBO, BRINK). I like the Campari '80 iconography. I like the fact that I buy the relationship between BOND and MELINA. I like that it has a score that is pure disco. I like the Easton track as it does not trip over itself to be a Bond song (as all good Bond songs do). I like that its good v bad device is tied up with Russian politics by stealth rather than on the nose. I like that the film feels resourceful. I also like MAKE IT LAST ALL NIGHT as that track has the dirtiest lyrics of any song I think I have ever heard!

Maybe that explains your love of AVATK. You must have a soft spot for those Maibaum/Wilson/Glen Bonds. I still consider this period of Bond the low point of the series. It was tired and flat. I must admit I liked FYEO at the time though. But I think that was more to do with it containing more Fleming than the previous few Bond's had. But now I find it hard to sit through. It does seem cheap, especially after the excesses of MOONRAKER, with a curious deflated ending, running round on sets that are as realistic and well lit as one of Roger Moore's SAINT episodes. And don't get me started on the Margaret Thatcher end. But I love the whole RISICO sequence, especially the attack on the warehouse. And Topol is perfect. But it is too attached to the subsequent horrors of OCTOPUSSY and AVATK to really like.

[Safari Suit]

It isn't attached enough to those horrors for my liking.

[Dekard77]

I like EYES ONLY. I like its Bond in his Autumn years vibe. I like the simplicity of the story. I like the wisdom to pepper the film with older, wiser characters (LISL, COLUMBO, BRINK). I like the Campari '80 iconography. I like the fact that I buy the relationship between BOND and MELINA. I like that it has a score that is pure disco. I like the Easton track as it does not trip over itself to be a Bond song (as all good Bond songs do). I like that its good v bad device is tied up with Russian politics by stealth rather than on the nose. I like that the film feels resourceful. I also like MAKE IT LAST ALL NIGHT as that track has the dirtiest lyrics of any song I think I have ever heard!

Maybe that explains your love of AVATK. You must have a soft spot for those Maibaum/Wilson/Glen Bonds. I still consider this period of Bond the low point of the series. It was tired and flat. I must admit I liked FYEO at the time though. But I think that was more to do with it containing more Fleming than the previous few Bond's had. But now I find it hard to sit through. It does seem cheap, especially after the excesses of MOONRAKER, with a curious deflated ending, running round on sets that are as realistic and well lit as one of Roger Moore's SAINT episodes. And don't get me started on the Margaret Thatcher end. But I love the whole RISICO sequence, especially the attack on the warehouse. And Topol is perfect. But it is too attached to the subsequent horrors of OCTOPUSSY and AVATK to really like.

Agreed, I think it has a lot to do with MGW or Glen . The film to it's credit still looks good enough to watch. It's sometimes the silly jokes that get in the way. But the Euro locations really make the film look exotic. Didn't like the execution of monastery sets either oh well that's Peter Lamont to you.

[jrcjohnny99]

Easily one of my least favourite PTS';
I love the opening at the church, but everything else is weak;
Conti's music is just horrible....
And, while I understand the strategy behind despatching Blofeld just before a rival movie comes out featuring the villain, it was so poorly done it just comes across as petty.
Glen's an overrated director as far as Bond is concerned and this shows exactly where his faults are...
Compare this PTS to Gilbert's two previous ones...

Those would be the two PTS's directed and edited by John Glen.

Ultimate responsibility for the tone (and THATS my issue) of anything in a pic lies with teh director.
There's no question Glen is a very strong director of action scenes and a terrific editor, but the tone of his first 3 pictures is weak and misjudged at best.
They simply dont stand up.
For all the humor Gilbert had in his pics, they always felt tonally comfortable; Glen's work sometimes looks like it was directed by someone bi-polar...

[Zorin Industries]

Easily one of my least favourite PTS';
I love the opening at the church, but everything else is weak;
Conti's music is just horrible....
And, while I understand the strategy behind despatching Blofeld just before a rival movie comes out featuring the villain, it was so poorly done it just comes across as petty.
Glen's an overrated director as far as Bond is concerned and this shows exactly where his faults are...
Compare this PTS to Gilbert's two previous ones...

Those would be the two PTS's directed and edited by John Glen.

Ultimate responsibility for the tone (and THATS my issue) of anything in a pic lies with teh director.
There's no question Glen is a very strong director of action scenes and a terrific editor, but the tone of his first 3 pictures is weak and misjudged at best.
They simply dont stand up.

Your opinion. That is all. Your opinion. I think one thing that marks out Glen's films from Brosnan's is that they do indeed have a tone and a throughline of intent. Glen was also an editor first and foremost. And most good editors who turn to directing understand the tone of a film before anythin (they spend their lives finding the tone from other people's footage). Brosnan's subsequent films suffered because there was no shared tonal philosophy between the editors and their relevant directors.

[DAN LIGHTER]

I always liked it and still do. I thought it was a witty opening to the film. It was certainly different.

[DLibrasnow]

I always liked it and still do. I thought it was a witty opening to the film. It was certainly different.

I agree.

I can think of much worse PTS. Diamonds Are Forever would get that dubious honor in my book.

[Zorin Industries]

I like EYES ONLY. I like its Bond in his Autumn years vibe. I like the simplicity of the story. I like the wisdom to pepper the film with older, wiser characters (LISL, COLUMBO, BRINK). I like the Campari '80 iconography. I like the fact that I buy the relationship between BOND and MELINA. I like that it has a score that is pure disco. I like the Easton track as it does not trip over itself to be a Bond song (as all good Bond songs do). I like that its good v bad device is tied up with Russian politics by stealth rather than on the nose. I like that the film feels resourceful. I also like MAKE IT LAST ALL NIGHT as that track has the dirtiest lyrics of any song I think I have ever heard!

Maybe that explains your love of AVATK. You must have a soft spot for those Maibaum/Wilson/Glen Bonds. I still consider this period of Bond the low point of the series. It was tired and flat. I must admit I liked FYEO at the time though. But I think that was more to do with it containing more Fleming than the previous few Bond's had. But now I find it hard to sit through. It does seem cheap, especially after the excesses of MOONRAKER, with a curious deflated ending, running round on sets that are as realistic and well lit as one of Roger Moore's SAINT episodes. And don't get me started on the Margaret Thatcher end. But I love the whole RISICO sequence, especially the attack on the warehouse. And Topol is perfect. But it is too attached to the subsequent horrors of OCTOPUSSY and AVATK to really like.

Mark,

Can I suggest that there is a generational difference to Bond audiences here? Yours may (I say 'may'...!) be one from a generation who were there in 1962 and ever since. Yours is perhaps the exulted position many a Bond fan would like to come at the series from, but not everyone was there then. Your penance for being to perhaps look at the series as a wider whole so far is to realise that some people came in a bit later and still saw their era as their start. Not that you do this, but far too many fans just cannot see that when damning such and such a Bond film. I despise THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH and GOLDENEYE, but I instantly pause when I hear people say that they like it because it was what introduced them to Bond.

I think structurally and tonally, EYES ONLY is one of Moore's best. Its DNA is there in SOLACE and LICENCE TO KILL. It was the first Bond film to take a step back from the series and not fall on its behind in doing so.

Of course I am biased by those heady Glen days!! Who wouldn't be?!!

Best wishes anyway.

[jrcjohnny99]

Easily one of my least favourite PTS';
I love the opening at the church, but everything else is weak;
Conti's music is just horrible....
And, while I understand the strategy behind despatching Blofeld just before a rival movie comes out featuring the villain, it was so poorly done it just comes across as petty.
Glen's an overrated director as far as Bond is concerned and this shows exactly where his faults are...
Compare this PTS to Gilbert's two previous ones...

Those would be the two PTS's directed and edited by John Glen.

Ultimate responsibility for the tone (and THATS my issue) of anything in a pic lies with teh director.
There's no question Glen is a very strong director of action scenes and a terrific editor, but the tone of his first 3 pictures is weak and misjudged at best.
They simply dont stand up.

Your opinion. That is all. Your opinion. I think one thing that marks out Glen's films from Brosnan's is that they do indeed have a tone and a throughline of intent. Glen was also an editor first and foremost. And most good editors who turn to directing understand the tone of a film before anythin (they spend their lives finding the tone from other people's footage). Brosnan's subsequent films suffered because there was no shared tonal philosophy between the editors and their relevant directors.

Of course this is simply my opinion, nothing more.
I agree completely about the tonal issues with Brosnan's pics.
Interestingly, I think as a director Glen improved dramatically over his 5 pic arc,
I suspect that when he was promoted on FYEO there were other people throwing their weight in and he possibly didnt have full control over those first couple of pics, For me, the first Glen pics are Roger's weakest, part of that issue surely lies with Rog's age but I believe Glen's innexperience at handling such a major project is also key.
Again, just my opinion.

[Dekard77]

Maybe am stretching a bit, but if you look at the PTS where the Blofeld or whoever with sense of sarcasm when he is referring to 007 maybe it will seem different. I just watched the movie recently and am happy to say it did set the tone and wished it continued.

[MarkA]

Brosnan's subsequent films suffered because there was no shared tonal philosophy between the editors and their relevant directors.

I agree whole heartily with the above. But I think it is more just different tastes and seeing things in those films that the other cannot see. I'm with you on TWINE, but I think GOLDENEYE hit the spot and at the right time, and I saw it again recently and I still think it works and is a far better made film all round than any of Glen's Bond's. Yes it's a greatest hits package, but it was the first Bond for years that seemed to me modern and contemporary in it's approach. As I said I liked FYEO at the time. I just don't think it stands up. In many ways I think the 80's Bond's are the ones that have really dated. And I know people go on about the comparisons between LTK and QOS, but believe even though Solace isn't perfect in my eyes it is a far, far better film, structurally the LTK. In fact for someone who though maybe was not quite old enough for the beginning, but saw them all at the cinema before they were released to TV, I think with Craig, fingers crossed we are at another golden age. And in the 80's I never thought that would happen.

[Jim]

It's all a bit gummy.

[Royal Dalton]

Am I alone in thinking it is one of the worst by miles in the series? The ridiculous attempts at humour - "Have a nice fright", the silly noise accompanying Blofeld's drop down the chimney. I couldn't remember it being as bad as it is!

Alright. Keep your hair on.