We kick off the James Bond rewatch with 1981’s For Your Eyes Only, the 12th in the series. As I begin this, I’m still not exactly sure what the format will be. I guess we’ll find out together. Should be fun.
Bond: Roger Moore (5th appearance as Bond) M: No one. Bernard Lee, who had played M in the previous 11 movies, died during filming, but before he had filmed any of his scenes. Producer Albert Broccoli decided not to recast the role out of respect to Lee Q: Desmond Llewelyn Moneypenny: Lois Maxwell Director: John Glen (1st of 5 films he directed in the series) Song: “For Your Eyes Only” performed by Sheena Easton This was nominated for a Best Original Song Oscar, but I don’t see it – or should I say…I don’t hear it.
The IMDB plot is about as generic as it gets for Bond:
“Agent 007 is assigned to hunt for a lost British encryption device and prevent it from falling into enemy hands.”
And that’s totally fine by me. I’m not really too concerned with the plots of these movies, especially the earlier ones. This may have changed a little bit in the Craig era, but those that came before, particularly the Connery and Moore films, all seem to have the same, general plot. If you’re a Bond fan, you don’t come for the intricate storylines. You come for the fun. You come for the gadgets, the cars, the exotic locations. And if the movie stars Roger Moore, you come for the campiness.
And rest assured, there is no shortage of camp here. It starts off hot with the cold open, where Bond faces off against Blofeld an unnamed, bald, villain in a wheelchair who definitely is not Blofeld. There was a legal issue surrounding ownership of the rights to that character, so the movie couldn’t use his actual name.
To be fair, there is a lot wrong with this sequence. Blofeld is an iconic character, not just for the Bond universe, but for movies in general. You can’t do him like this. I know there was the rights issue, but come on. If you can’t do it right, don’t do it at all. Plus, it seems maybe slightly problematic (at least) to attack/murder someone in a wheelchair this way. “Not aging well” will likely be a common recurring theme in this series.
The Camp
Roger Moore = Camp. There are guaranteed to be a handful of ridiculous scenes that are just oh so fun. So here are a couple of the best from this movie, for your repeated enjoyment.
The motorcycle throw is one of my favorite things ever.
The Rock Climbing Scene
Whatever your opinion of the movie as a whole, it’s hard to argue with the greatness of this scene. There’s no dialogue, there’s not even background music. All you have is the natural sounds to accompany it. For a movie where the direction is otherwise mostly “eh,” this scene is exceptionally well done.
Game of Thrones?
Well would you look at that. It’s everyone’s (some people’s?) favorite Westerosi patriarch, Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance)! He had the supporting role of Claus the hitman. This is honestly one of my low-key favorite things about watching older movies: seeing actors and actresses in smaller roles before they hit it big. It always adds a little bit to whatever movie I’m watching. I’m sure I’ll be seeing more of these as the rewatch continues.
Bibi
It’s hard to talk about this movie without at least mentioning Bibi. But I’m not going to say too much, mostly because she is so incredibly annoying. However, it is notable that Bond turned down her offer for sex. I’m not sure how often that happens. Though it’s never made explicitly clear how old she’s supposed to be, so age could have something to do with it.
The Rest Of The Stuff
If you were to call this movie “forgettable,” I would have a hard time arguing with that. Yes, there’s the few great/hilarious fight and chase scenes. The rest of the action scenes are fine. The villain isn’t too over-the-top like some Bond bad guys are. The acting is overall about what you would expect and hope it to be. But I think all of that is what makes this particular Bond movie somewhat unique. It’s more grounded than many of the other movies in the series. And with what else we get, that can make it feel like something is a little bit off. But I think that’s what makes it work. You need a few like this to bring you back down to earth. If everything is ridiculous, then nothing is ridiculous, ya know?
Okay, so this turned out to be a somewhat boring first entry; I realize that. But I’m owing that fact to the movie itself. There’s nothing about it that is particularly bad. But there also isn’t much that is especially great about it. It’s just a good movie. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But I’m looking forward to the future movies, as there will be plenty that give me a lot more to talk about.
Score: This is an important ranking. I haven’t watched any Bond movies since I started keeping rankings, so it’s going to set the tone for the rest of the series. But I’m giving it a 76, which, for frame of reference, would be a solid B-.
