23 replies to this topic

[Trevelyan 006]

Over the years, I have learned though Bond that some movies really deserve a second watch through to appropriately judge and appreciate that film. I never had a problem with loving any of the Bond movies despite the change of actors, stories, or eras (no matter how corny somethings may seem today), except for one. I have always considered, For Your Eyes Only, just simply a low-grade Bond film, almost as if it was Roger's 'Never Say Never Again' (much to the dismay of my fellow Bond fans). After slightly dozing during my first time seeing it, I dismissed it as the worst of the series, with a moderately confusing plot, and just too many different villains.

After really exiling it, last July I had a month-long Bondathon, watching the films in order (watching one each night). As I dreaded the arrival of the 1981 title, I finally decided to give FYEO a true and fair chance. After watching it in the series, I realized just what I had been missing.

It Had Occurred To Me That I Was Correct About One Thing, For Your Eyes Only is truly unlike Any Other Bond Film. The 'Back-To-Basics' Approach Was Greatly Timed, Really Giving Roger Another Chance With A Solid Picture, And Script. With Virtually No Elaborate Gadgets, And No Overly Phony Villain Plots (That Plagued The Moore Era Previously) To Muck Up The The Film, I Feel That This Is What Makes This Moore Title Really Stand Alone. The Plot Is Much More Believable, Even Showing That 007 Had Wised Up As Far As Fraternizing With Bibi, Who Was Much Younger Than He. I Got A Real Sense Of What Was To Come With FYEO, And In My Opinion Would Have Made A Great Interlude Into The New Bond Era With Timothy Dalton To Pick Up Right After (No Discredit Toward OP & AVTAK Of Course).

Along with a truly individual, and believable plot, the inclusion of some Fleming elements and scenes, the Lotus Esprit Turbo, the strong character development of Melina and Columbo, and the infamous ' Buy you an ice-cream' line, I'm proud to say I've come to appreciate For Your Eyes Only for what it is. A Bond classic.

Edited by Trevelyan 006, 29 January 2012 - 06:57 PM.

[Eric Stromberg]

Excellent thoughts, 006. I like it as well. It's got great characters (allies and villains) and has the most beautiful Bond girl in Bouquet. Glad you enjoyed it!

[Klaus_Hergesheimer]

Totally agree with your new found love for FYEO. But unlike most I've read on this board, I can't jump on the Bouquet is the most beautiful Bond girl wagon. She's probably one of the lowest on my list of Bond girls. Personal preference.

But awesome Bond film, yes.

[FredJB007]

I've always thought that FYEO was Moore's best Bond performance, but I wish that Barry would have scored the film instead of Bill Conti.
I just don't care for his work. I do agree that Bouquet is an outstanding Bond girl, however my personal favorite is Domino from Thunderball.

[SecretAgentFan]

Interesting. I had the exact opposite reaction. For years I loved FYEO... and when I re-watched the films two years ago I found it overlong and boring despite great sequences. But that´s probably due to the situation one is in when watching a movie. Never underestimate your own mood as a decisive factor in your judgment.

[thecasinoroyale]

It's a decent movie I think, but I do think some elements go on a bit longer than it should - but the characters are really fleshed out, and I love the relationship between Bond, Columbo and Kiristatos, cat and mouse style.

Good action scenes, a good performance from Moore and the BEST gunbarrel music ever in a Bond film.

[Mr_Wint]

FYEO is one of the absolutely best Bondfilms. It has always been in my top 5.

[larrythefatcat]

Totally agree with your new found love for FYEO. But unlike most I've read on this board, I can't jump on the Bouquet is the most beautiful Bond girl wagon. She's probably one of the lowest on my list of Bond girls. Personal preference.

But awesome Bond film, yes.

I don't know how you can't find the absolutely stunning beauty in a creature such as Ms. Bouquet... but I won't fault you for it. I don't know that I'd place her number one, personally, but she's up there! In my current mood I guess I'd be leaning more toward Eva Green... but I'm changeable in that aspect.

Oh, and how do you have a profile pic at only 30 posts? I thought it was necessary to have an ungodly amount of posts before one could be granted such an honor.

[Mr. Arlington Beech]

It's a decent movie I think, but I do think some elements go on a bit longer than it should - but the characters are really fleshed out, and I love the relationship between Bond, Columbo and Kiristatos, cat and mouse style.

Good action scenes, a good performance from Moore and the BEST gunbarrel music ever in a Bond film.

FYEO is the first Bond movie that I ever saw (I watched in VHS in 1989), is the film that make me become a Bond fan, and I still find it a very good movie, altough not my number one Bond movie- that honor is deserved for CR-.

And yes.... what a great gunbarrel music!! Certainly the best for me.

Edited by Mr. Arlington Beech, 28 January 2012 - 03:07 PM.

[DR76]

I love "FOR YOUR EYES ONLY". I still do after all these years. It's number four on my ranking of Bond films.

[00 Brosnan]

I've always liked For Your Eyes Only, particularly for it's snowy mountain setting and ski chase sequences. Just something....cozy?..about it.

[Bryce (003)]

FYEO is among my favorites. It was the first Bond film I had seen after finally having read and re-read all the novels that I regognized the bits and pieces scattered throughout that had been gleaned to make up the film itself albeit with a contemporary take. Roger played it as if he was finally accepting his age and took his playing of the part beyond the humor. The locales were in true Bond style. As John Glen has said; "we wanted to bring Bond back to earth after Moonraker." - In a sort of way, beyond the re-boot, CR did the same thing after DAD.

I haven't been on skis in over fifteen years now, but when I parted with my pair of Olins, it was bittersweet.

May have to put that on today.

[Dustin]

I still love FYEO after over thirty years. A great film that you could in large parts relive when reading the short stories of Fleming, something becoming increasingly difficult during the Moore years.

I suspect the secret of keeping up that love lies in not revisiting the film too often. So much has changed with the decades, viewing habits, editing styles, tricks and effects. Putting a classic - and in my personal view FYEO is a classic - constantly against our modern tastes will sooner or later impair on the appeal of the older film.

Oh, and how do you have a profile pic at only 30 posts? I thought it was necessary to have an ungodly amount of posts before one could be granted such an honor.

Facebook or Twitter will do the trick.

[Trevelyan 006]

FYEO is among my favorites. It was the first Bond film I had seen after finally having read and re-read all the novels that I regognized the bits and pieces scattered throughout that had been gleaned to make up the film itself albeit with a contemporary take. Roger played it as if he was finally accepting his age and took his playing of the part beyond the humor. The locales were in true Bond style. As John Glen has said; "we wanted to bring Bond back to earth after Moonraker." - In a sort of way, beyond the re-boot, CR did the same thing after DAD.

Totally Agree With All Of This Here. As Far As Locales, The Addition Of The Fleming Bits, As Well As Roger Seeming To 'Accept His Age' And Even Playing The Role Beyond The Humor. All These Points Really Heightened The Film, In My Opinion.

Or Definitely Helped FYEO's Case That's For Sure.

[FlemingBond]

just watched it last night! it's always been one my favorites. love how it starts with Tracy's grave and Blofeld. Great characters, Columbo even remind's of Draco from OHMSS.

[Miles Miservy]

Excellent thoughts, 006. I like it as well. It's got great characters (allies and villains) and has the most beautiful Bond girl in Bouquet. Glad you enjoyed it!

I thought Topol's Milos Columbo was one of Bond's better allies (akin to Kerim Bey or Rene Mathis)

[Trevelyan 006]

just watched it last night! it's always been one my favorites. love how it starts with Tracy's grave and Blofeld. Great characters, Columbo even remind's of Draco from OHMSS.

You Know, Oddly Enough, I Think I Get The Same Notion.
I Couldn't Quite Put My Finger On It Before, But I Think You've Pinpointed It!

Edited by Trevelyan 006, 01 February 2012 - 12:09 AM.

[RedsBaron]

I also liked FYEO even though at times the plot didn't totally make sense. For example, why was MI6 so concerned about who killed the Havelocks? At that time it was more critical to find the St. Georges and to recover the ATAC transmitter. It was still one of Moore's better efforts, I too liked that he didn't hide his age and took things more seriously, and it had a great cast, headed by Topol. It also had one of the best opening credits sequence, featuring Sheena Easton, still the only vocalist to appear in the credits of a Bond film.

[ChristopherZ22]

I love the relationship between Bond, Columbo and Kristatos, cat and mouse style.

Which was ripped off in The Living Daylights between Bond, Pushkin, and Koskov. In Daylights, as in For Your Eyes Only, we got villains (Whitaker and Koskov) using the British Secret Service (Bond) to kill their enemy or competition (Pushkin), who they know will try and stop them from selling arms and making a profit from drugs. In For Your Eyes Only, we get a villain (Kristatos) trying to use the British Secret Service (Bond) to kill his enemy (Columbo) because he knows Columbo will try and stop him from selling the Atac to the Russians.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

I love the relationship between Bond, Columbo and Kristatos, cat and mouse style.

Which was ripped off in The Living Daylights between Bond, Pushkin, and Koskov. In Daylights, as in For Your Eyes Only, we got villains (Whitaker and Koskov) using the British Secret Service (Bond) to kill their enemy or competition (Pushkin), who they know will try and stop them from selling arms and making a profit from drugs. In For Your Eyes Only, we get a villain (Kristatos) trying to use the British Secret Service (Bond) to kill his enemy (Columbo) because he knows Columbo will try and stop him from selling the Atac to the Russians.

Ripped off? I prefer to use the term recycled. I freely concede that The Living Daylights recycled that plot point from For Your Eyes Only. Just as For Your Eyes Only recycled from:

From Russia With Love-The ATAC is a recycling of the Lektor, Kriegler is a recycling of Grant, the Columbo/Kristatos feud recycles the Kerim Bey/Krilencu feud, both films have Bond initially mistaken about the primary villain(USSR instead of SPECTRE in FRWL/Columbo instead of Kristatos in FYEO), Bond returns to his hotel room to find a blond girl(who has ties to the villain) in his bed(Tatiana/Bibi).

Thunderball: Both Domino and Melina want vengeance on the death of their family members and both of them are portrayed by brunette French actresses. Both heroines kill a villain by shooting them in the back(Domino with a speargun/Melina with a crossbow). Underwater sequences and Bond's investigating the wreckage of the St. Georges in FYEO recalls his underwater investigation of the Vulcan in TB. Bond/Melina's key-hauling recalls the airplane/skyhook rescue of Bond/Domino at the end of Thunderball.

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service: Bond's ill-fated romance with a countess who ends up dead(Tracy/Lisl). Bond battling thugs on the beach and being kidnapped by a gangster(Draco/Columbo) with ties to the countess. This gangster becomes his ally against the primary villain in the film. The final battle occurs atop the villain's mountain HQ(Piz Gloria/St. Cyril's atop the Meteora). Of course, the skiing sequences and obviously the pre-title sequence clearly recall On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

[thecasinoroyale]

Just because....it's like all the main elements from the film thrown into one celebratory minute with the best Bond music ever!

[Binyamin]

'Tis an underrated classic.

Somebody should edit all of the DVD intros in correct order as one amazing video clip....

[thecasinoroyale]

Now there's a challenge!

[PrinceKamalKhan]

'Tis an underrated classic.

I really don't see how. Most critics and fans' opinions I've read tend to rank it as the best of the Roger Moore Bond films while commercially, it was the highest grossing Bond film of its decade and the 2nd highest grossing Moore Bond film overall. It's actually quite highly rated.