52 replies to this topic

[DR76]

And I do feel very sorry for the americans who had the criminal edit imposed on them by the cretins at ABC. So they were robbed of seeing the film in its original form FIRST. That was so important for this film.

Thank you for the words of sympathy. I needed it. Trust me. I saw "OHMSS" on ABC when I was a kid in the 70s . . . and I didn't know what the hell was going on. I found the whole mess confusing. Then I saw it again a little over 10 years later on video. I fell in love with the movie so hard that I rented it over and over again, until I finally purchased my own copy.

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

I remember the first time that I saw OHMSS.
The first time I saw the actual video was when I was in a Big Lots. However, I was so young that I didn't know what it was.
So, when I got the Ultimate Editions when they came out, I was suprised to see OHMSS. For many years, I had seen every one of the Bond movies except that one. So, I wasn't sure what to expect from the film.
However, even though I'm not a personal fan of Lazenby, I think that there are some good moments in the movie. Diana Rigg is still my favorite Bond girl, and she gives a really good performance in the film. You can really see why James Bond wants to marry her.
I don't like Telly Savalas as Blofeld. I can't explain it, but I just don't think he works in the film.
This movie isn't 100% perfect, however, it's so much better than the film that came after it (DAF), and Die Another Day, for example.
At the end, I didn't know that Tracy was going to die (having not read the book, or seen the movie). It was such an emotional moment for the entire series.
So, overall, not a perfect movie, but it's got a solid story.

[The Shark]

This movie isn't 100% perfect, however, it's so much better than the film that came after it (DAF), and Die Another Day, for example.

Agreed. Still better than 90% of Bond films.

Edited by The Shark, 11 December 2009 - 04:07 PM.

[JimmyBond]

I remember my first time seeing it. But this story goes back before I saw it.

My dad and I were renting the Connery films (he was introducing me to Bond, and what better way to do it than through the first...and best Bond). I knew of OHMSS through a Cracked magazine...what I didnt know was that Connery was not Bond. I grabbed the tape from the shelf and looked at it. When I looked at the back I searched for Connery's name but couldnt find it. My dad looked at the tape and said to me "I don't think Connery's in this one." Well, with that I put the tape back on the shelf.

Flash forward some time (I can't remember how much time, but it was enough time that we had moved from Kansas to Texas). Being the completist I was, I decided to brave it and rent the movie with a Bond I had never heard of. Watching the movie wasnt bad, though I couldnt completely buy him as Bond (a phenomenon I can't quite understand, since I had no trouble accepting the other 4 guys as Bond).

Needless to say it took a few viewings before I started to warm up to the film. Than once I warmed up to the film it took even more viewings to warm up to The Laz, but I am now firmly a fan of his, and do wish he had done more.

Oh what could have been.

[CJB]

I taped it off TV when I was a kid and the video cut off just as Bond and Tracy were leaving the wedding. -_-

I didn't really care for the film that much the first time around.

[batmatt92]

Waaaaaaaay back in 2003 (haha) I was introduced to Bond by a friend of mine. I saw Dr. No and was hooked. So I set out on a mission to see the rest of the films in the order they were released. By the time I got to OHMSS I was a huge fan of Connery, plus my Bond-fan friend had told me Lazenby was the worst Bond ("why else would he only be in one movie?"). So I went in with low expectations and...

didn't really like it all that much. I didn't like Lazenby, and as a low-attention-span 11 year old, found the film to be quite dull. Of course now I love it just as much as the next Bond fan. Although I'm still not too fond of Lazenby, he did pretty well considering he wasn't an actor.

[Qwerty]

Now on the CBn main page...

On Her Majesty's Secret Service celebrates 40 years (Part I)

CommanderBond.net Forum members look back at George Lazenby's one and only James Bond film

[sthgilyadgnivileht]

When I first knew about Bond, there were only three guys who had played him, Connery, Moore and Lazenby. The first actual viewing would have been during the mid eighties. I remember watching bits of the movie after a days shopping getting new school shoes, so it must have been in September. I was sent to bed not having seen the entire film. My parents told me the movie had finished following an ad break that occurred after Lazenby escaped from the wheel house in Piz Gloria.
I bought the film on VHS about '91-'92 time. This was the heavily edited version. I remember being struck by the ski sequences and Barry's OHMSS theme. Saw the complete print at Pinewood Studio's in '94 and was totally blown away.

[Turn]

I meant to share my OHMSS experience earlier. I recall Mr. Blofeld said in a previous thread where I talked about my first OHMSS experience that I should share it here, but I wanted it to be closer to the anniversary date. I missed that by about four days, but better late than never six months or so later, I am proud to present three memorable viewings of OHMSS.

My first OHMSS viewing came at age 7 at a double feature with DAF in in the summer of 1974. Batman was my big hero at the time and I didn't want to miss that afternoon's episode to see Bond, but it worked out I saw the episode and made it to the double feature.

I'd already seen DAF, which was the first Bond film I saw when it was brand new, so it was familiar fun, and I'd seen all the previous Connery films on rereleases and LALD on first run. I wasn't prepared for OHMSS and didn't even knew it existed. Who was this guy calling himself James Bond? I didn't know him. And I was also wondering what the guy who played Kojak was doing there.

The ending blew me away. I just didn't see it coming, although mind you I was all of 7 years old at the time. This not only wasn't the familiar guys playing Bond, but it was just so different in how it was presented, not so much the invincible Bond I was used to. This guy got personally hurt after all the fun and games. The girl still ended up in his arms, although as a corpse. It was more adult than I was used to in a film at that time.

My uncle had all the novels and I was curious as to if Tracy suffered the same fate. I turned to the last page and there it was right down to the "We have all the time in the world" line. That made me eager to see it again, which wouldn't be for another two years with the infamous ABC edit over two parts.

At the time, I didn't remember OHMSS well enough not to know this was not the same version I saw theatrically. The ending still haunted me. I kind of had goosebumps knowing it was coming up.

Unlike a lot of the other films, OHMSS didn't get regular replays such as a TB or DAF would. Not just on ABC, but on premium channels like HBO.

Seeing Moonraker in 1979 started me on the path to being a Bond fanatic. On March 7, 1980, as a 13-year-old kid obsessed with Bond, I got to see the real OHMSS in all its glory, or what passed for it back then, as ABC showed it in a 3-hour slot on it's Friday Night Movie.

A few days before, my uncle who had the novels also had several Bond soundtracks and I gave OHMSS a spin to refresh myself with its memory and was blown away by the title song. That built the excitement even more.

Although at that age I leaned toward the fantasy and gadgetry of the Bond world, I couldn't help but be mesmerized by OHMSS. Another thing that helped was I was becoming an Avengers fan through Friday night viewings on the CBS Late Movie. A half-hour after OHMSS ended that night I caught an episode. Four hours with Diana Rigg.

That night I became both an OHMSS and Avengers die-hard fan. Sadly, back at that time OHMSS was considered the red-headed stepchild of the series and it was hard to find much enthusiasm or respect for it. I still managed to tape it off another ABC broadcast and would later buy several VHS versions of it.

OHMSS is still in my top 3 Bond films and it has been great seeing its reputation rise since those early days. My brother became a huge fan and reads the novel every Christmas. He was watching the UE special features a couple weeks ago when I visited him.

Now if we can just get it on Blu-ray.

Sorry to ramble on, but when it comes to something like OHMSS, I can do that enthusiastically. Happy Anniversary, OHMSS.

[Qwerty]

And now part II...

On Her Majesty's Secret Service celebrates 40 years (Part II)

CommanderBond.net Forum members look back at George Lazenby's one and only James Bond film

[Qwerty]

And finally, part III...

On Her Majesty's Secret Service celebrates 40 years (Part III)

CommanderBond.net Forum members look back at George Lazenby's one and only James Bond film

[Guy Haines]

OHMSS was the first Bond film I ever watched, at the tender age of eight, on its first showing at our local cinema, The Portland.

I had seen promotional bits of it on the TV, notably the stock car chase and the Bond-v-Blofeld bob sleigh battle at the end. Even as a callow school kid, I could tell that you couldn't mistake these snippets for ones from the other kinds of films children were supposed to watch. Walt Disney it was not! I was intrigued.

Let's just say that OHMSS made a lasting impression on me - starting decades of being a Bond fan, and discovering the music of John Barry.

It has an undeserved reputation, mostly promoted by the press, as being a poor Bond film. It is not - it has one of the strongest stories in the entire series, an excellent leading lady in Diana Rigg, a very good villain in Telly Savalas, and a first rate supporting cast. It had a script with a good mix of drama, action and subtle humour, and was very well helmed by Peter Hunt -what a pity OHMSS was his one and only Bond film too! (as director that is).

And it has that John Barry music score!

As for George Lazenby, he had a hard act to follow, but he did it well, and I think would have gone from strength to strength in future Bond films. Another casualty of poor advice, I think. He isn't my favourite actor in the role, but he introduced me to Bond.

When I went to see OHMSS at our local fleapit - long since replaced by a supermarket and a car park - I thought I'd be seeing just another version of the sort of action hero adventures I'd watched on the telly. I never thought it would be the start of a decades long interest in the world's least secret agent!

[Mr. Somerset]

ABC airing of OHMSS on, I believe, September 1st, 1985. It was due to air in the summer of 1983 around the time Octopussy was released, and I had been excited for it then, but was cancelled due to a ball game.
I recall liking George immediately, and had read my copy of Benson's James Bond Bedside Companion eagerly awaiting the chance to see this film. I was 10 and my folks had yet to buy a VHS player, so ABC was my only real access to Bond. Those were the days.

[Guy Haines]

I was in 8th grade when it came out in December of 1969. I tagged along with my older brother and his friend when they went into downttown Boston to see the movie. While I knew of Bond and had enjoyed some of his imitators, such as Wild, Wild, West, this was to be my first Bond film. I simply loved it as this was far better the the TV imitations. I loved seeing Diana Rigg as I was already a big fan of The Avengers and I am sure that I had some tears in my eyes at the end of the film. These were the good old days- the screen was huge and, as, they did not clear the theater, we stayed for 2 showings.

Seeing OHMSS was the first of a three-step process that turned into a Bond fan. The second was reading Thunderball after buying it at my church's bazzar that same winter. The third step was seeing a twinbill of Thunderball and You Only Live Twice that spring.

While my initial seeing of OHMSS was, along with that twinbill that I just mentioned, my most memorable viewing of a Bond film, the second time that I saw it was my worst viewing of a Bond film. That was the infamous two part showing on ABC in 1976.

This is very similar to my introduction to Bond at the cinema, even though you were in Boston in the US and I was in Nottinghamshire in the UK. Cinema showing of OHMSS, and followed by catching up with previous Bonds in double bills.

I'm just glad I missed that two part TV showing of OHMSS. From what I have read about it, it was a really botched job.

[Genuine Felix Leiter]

I was very confused when I saw OHMSS for the first time. Up to that point it was Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton that I had seen in the role and I always assumed it was them two that played the role, and then all of a sudden here was this Lazenby guy, I actually didn't like him intially (this may sound blasphemous, but I had the same reaction to Connery when I first saw him as well). It was not until a few years later when I was in my teens when I actually got round to seeing the film properly and I just loved it, and best of all, believe it or not, I didn't know much about the movie, I was shocked when Bond got married to Tracy and she subsequently got killed. I got over my initial snobbery and accepted the film for what it was, which is a genuine masterpiece.

Edited by Genuine Felix Leiter, 30 January 2010 - 07:15 PM.

[ChrissBond007]

Ah, the first time. That was a great experience.

It was somewhere in 2006 during a James Bond movie month on television where they showed more than half of the series. OHMSS was the only Bondmovie of the first 20 Bondmovies which I hadn't seen at that time. I had seen the trailer, read about, but it took years to finally watch the full movie. Because George Lazenby did only play Bond once, my expectations weren't that high.

And that night, man I was amazed. From the first to the last second of the movie, I just enjoyed it all. There was no way I could see George Lazenby wasn't a experienced actor in this movie. George did a extremely good job in the role, probably one of the best peforances in the series. Then the great action scenes, wonderful music, locations, characters, but especially the emotional story. I had tears in my eyes at the end, seeing a broken James Bond losing his wife. Truly wonderful scene.

After that night I had no doubt about it, perfect in every sense of the word. The best Bondmovie ever for me and also one of my overall favourite movies of all time.

[col_007]

The first time I saw OHMSS was in 1999 during ITV's 00 heaven season I already knew of it though as my dad told me in no uncertain terms he nearly walked out of the cinema in 1969 he wasn't a fan lol

Edited by col_007, 30 January 2010 - 02:51 AM.

[Genuine Felix Leiter]

The first time I saw OHMSS was in 1999 during ITV's 00 heaven season I already knew of it though as my dad told me in no uncertain terms he nearly walked out of the cinema in 1969 he wasn't a fan lol

I remember that season so well. Every Wednesday and Saturday night, that was the first time I got to see every movie. Can't believe your dad thought of walking out during the screening.

[DAN LIGHTER]

I cant remember the first time. It's been on the TV so many times since I was a boy I cant recall the first time. I just can remember thinking that how can he be James Bond when he didnt look like that in the other films? Ah when life was simple.

If it wasnt for ITV in the UK eh!

[jamie00007]

First time I saw it I was incredibly impressed.

It was one of the last Bond movies I saw (at the time, when the SE DVDs came out). Id never seen it because it was never on TV and video stores usually only stocked the later Bond films and a few of the more popular older ones.

It was with some trepidation when I first watched it, watching it really only because I had to see all the Bond films and with the knowledge of it being the "odd" Bond movie with the one time actor and the one he gets married in. I certainly wasnt prepared for such a brilliantly made epic. And I thought Lazenby was great.

Personally, forgetting that it is a Bond movie at all, I think it is one of the best stand-alone movies of the 1960's. I cant think of many films from that time with a production on the scale of that film, with such amazing action scenes and stunts, beautiful cinematography and an incredible score.

[Attempting Re-entry]

I was a young kid when I saw first saw it on TV and still remember the crushing disappointmentr when I realized who James Bond was! I've tried to watch it several times over the years and just cannot get into it. I know that's not a popular thing to say around here but what can I tell you? Give me DAF or YOLT any day over OHMSS.

This is my thoughts exactly. As a kid growing up in the 80's, my peers and I just couldn't ever get into this movie; it wasn't Roger Moore, and it wasn't Sean Connery....we didn't understand it. The bobsleigh bit's cool, and the Piz Gloria location is beautiful of course, but overall I just can't get into it because of Lazenby's portrayal. Even his voice...ugh.

I can't even imagine Connery in the movie, such is the overall tone of the piece. I know this will make me look like a lunatic in most commentators' eyes, but give me Diamonds are Forever or You Only Live Twice over this one any day.

Last night, however, was only my second ever complete run-through of OHMSS - maybe one day I'll see the light. But for me, Bond's got to be cool...and Lazenby just ain't it. He lacks a certain indefinable quality that the others have possessed in abundance.

[blueman]

Original two-part ABC airing - utterly gripping - followed closely by a big screen viewing as part of a Bond film fest at a local cinema. The romance, the sophistication, the exotic locales, the action all unfolded so well and around a main character who actually had an arc. Still the best.

[tb75]

I first saw it in 2002 when i was nine. It was a week long Marathon on TNN, which was devoted to Bond's greatest Bond girls. It was the first time i saw it, and the first time it was on TNN. I liked it, but i was too young to figure it out.

Skip ahead to when i was 14, i watched it again and loved it. OHMSS was the first movie i watched after i had my knee surgery. And now i consider it the best Bond film, and one of my all time favorite films.