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On Her Majesty's Secret Service

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: One of the best in the series...
Review: I will be honest, any reviewer who gave this movie 2 stars or less has never seen it. I know because I was the same way (I listed it as the worst Bond film, but I had never sat down to watch it). It does not fit the stereotypical Bond formula, and that is what makes it superior to many of the other entries in the series. Telly Savalas is the best Blofeld, and Diana Rigg is the right fit for Bond. The sole reason I did not give this movie 5 stars and the sole reason that this movie is not the best in the series is George Lazenby. His acting is rather dull, but not to the extent that it makes this a terrible movie. In an interview with Cubby Broccoli, he said that the original idea was to cut off the ending to this movie and put it as the beginning of Diamonds are Forever. Both movies would have been much better if they had. Broccoli also said that he was planning to offer Lazenby at least 5 more Bond roles, but Lazenby turned them down, saying that Bond would not survive much longer. Good thinking George!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: OHMSS
Review: This movie was very good. I thought the plot was OK, but overused. The idea of ending and then recreating the human race to be perfect was used and used and used some more in Bond movies, oh well. George Lazenby was a great replacement for Sean Connery. But that is not a very popular opinion, I guess, because Connery was truly the only original.
This movie is cheaper elsewhere, even before S/H costs, so I would recommend that you check your local video store before buying from [site], especially if you have an FYE in your area. Overall, it was Very Good.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "Come on, give Lazenby a break!!!
Review: This film is definitely one, if not, my favorite Bond film! I thought George Lazenby did a great job as Bond, despite the critics! And what many people may not know is that he was offered a 7 picture contract to play Bond but turned it down because he thought that the tuxedo-clad hero had seen his last days. He did not think the franchise would survive the hippie era that this movie was made in. But here we are 40 years and 20 Bond Films later.
I really liked the exploration of Bond's emotional side in this movie. And having him FINALLY fall in love is a realistic plot.The Chemistry between Diana Rigg (Tracy)and Lazenby is great and it makes watching them fall in love that much better!
The other wonderful aspects of this movie are the cinematography and locations like Switzerland! Also, the amazing theme song (the best Bond theme EVER!!) and all the other music in the movie.
I know that some critics think it was a mistake to have Bond finally marry but again, it adds realism to the Bond franchise-the man had to feel real love at some point in his life and he finally did in this film as Lazenby and Rigg's characters marry. A REALLY sad ending. But still great!
I must comment that I don't think Sean Connery could have played this part with as much emotion. We seem to love him best with all the "machissmo" and male bravado of what he brings to the Bond Character BUT Lazenby was believable as a "Bond in Love".
See this movie, it's one of the best! Connery or no Connery!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Perhaps the Best Bond Story
Review: Of all the actors to play James Bond, George Lazenby probably comes closest to resembling physically and tempermentally the character that Ian Fleming created on the page. The irony, of course, is that so many people are turned off to him as Bond. He certainly is handsome enough to play Bond in the film and undeniably fit enough for the part, too, yet his acting style--admittedly rough in parts--is no match for Connery, obviously still the reigning 007 after all these years. What's left then is a stellar production, based on, perhaps, the best Bond story, if not the most fun ("Goldfinger"), believable ("From Russia with Love") or outrageous ("You Only Live Twice"). Closely following one of Fleming's last novels (when the writer was already in poor health), "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" is a return to character-driven story for adults, where a cynical James Bond ultimately resigns as a spy to exact a personal justice on his archenemy, SPECTRE's Ernst Stavro Blofeld (a pre-Kojak Telly Savalas, solid in the role). Along the way, he rescues a suicidal countess (the magnificent and luscious Diana Rigg--by any chance, Dame Rigg, are you interested in marrying me?) who turns out to be his match in every way. As in Fleming's novel, the film effectively combines melodrama with the sturdier themes of time, love, and fate, as Bond races the inevitable, a half step ahead of the enemy. Though some of director Peter Hunt's quick, zooming cuts during fight sequences may dizzy you, he commands an ahead-of-its-time sensibility in many scenes, which are crisply photographed and capably staged (the only real exceptions being some of the rear-projection work). Add John Barry's terrific score--including a bold instrumental opening theme--topnotch production values, great moments that speak to Bond as a person rather than an icon, and Bernard Lee's wonderfully irascible "M" and Lois Maxwell's warm "Moneypenny," and the result is a flawed but still terrific 007 outting, well worth adding to a film collection.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Cuddling with Emma Peale on a cold snowy night!
Review: 4 star. Rank 10 of 23. This was arguably the best script of all the bond movies. I liked Lazenby, but I could hardly shed a tear when Roger Moore (Bo Maverick and The Saint replaced him). The story was about Bonds only marriage.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not My Favorite Rendition of 007: Here's Why
Review: I understand why so many Ian Flemming fans provide rave reviews of this film and I respect what they have to offer in why they feel OHMSS is such a great movie. However, what has made the Bond legacy so enduring to the action film genre is that it's precisely the overblown plots, gadgets, beautiful women, and tongue in cheek quips that most of the actors have brought to the part that make 007 such a big hit. I bought this DVD and had to watch it twice because I slept through most of it the first time. Viewers expect to get the "James Bond" action hero that most of us have grown up watching. We're talking about those "cheeky" Brits who can combine the action with comic relief. These days we can all do with a laugh now and again, and it's nice to know that with Bond, the "good guy" is going to win. I don't know if the series would have continued to be such a success had not Roger Moore stepped up and filled Bond's shoes. I have nothing against George L., and his acting was fine, but after OHMSS you can't blame the producers for going back to a formula that worked. Don't shoot me, Ian Flemming fans, but I've never read any of the books. I'm quite happy with my "Bond" being a Hollywood makeover.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: All The Time In The World¿(Is Not Enough)
Review: Australian model (not actor) George Lazenby takes over the role of Bond-James Bond, in this singular yet noteworthy entry into the 007 series. After having made YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, actor Sean Connery - the original and definitive Bond - had decided to call it quits on her majesty's secret service (a decision which proved to be premature, as he was again the suave spy in the following Bond film, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, as well as later, unofficially, in NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN). Ah...yesss, well -

Despite the deprivation of Connery's sardonic expressiveness, this film does stand, and with firm footing, as one of the best in the series. It has, after all, the essential elements of a great Bond film: scenic locations, riveting action, interesting villains, beautiful women, and sly off-hand wit.

The pre-credits sequence is right off quite piquing - amply enough to draw one further in: firstly, you spy our favorite Spy - he's driving his Aston Martin on a road along the shores of the sea; he spies then a beautiful young woman in a red convertible speeding past him; he follows her as she pulls over; then, taking out his spy glasses, watches her run towards the encroaching tide, momentarily pausing to remove her shoes and to stare with a face lined in despair at the wide-open sea; she proceeds then to saunter forth gracefully into the crashing waves, presumably that she may disappear therein forever. Well, Bond - because he's James Bond - naturally runs out to rescue her from herself. Romantic, eh? Well, as Lazenby remarks over the normally unencroachable dints of the fourth wall, "This never happened to the other fella..." Indeed. But assuredly, it does pick up from here -

Diana Rigg is Contessa Teresa di Vincenzo ("Teresa was a saint - people call me Tracy,") daughter of Corsican mob boss Draco (Gabrielle Ferzetti). Initially she is the tragic mess that Bond spies on the shore, but she materializes over the following 140 minutes into someone quite substantial. Rigg, as it turns out, is an excellent actress - she plays here the most romantic, most enigmatically complex and self-destructive of all the Bond girls. She truly ends up capturing our rugged hero's heart, and Bond resolves to marry her. Truly Lazenby did have his work cut out for him: following Connery and playing opposite such a strong female lead. His acting definitely falls a little short - he doesn't exude anything like Connery's confident, smooth and deadly charm - still he does manage somehow to pull off an acceptable enough job here. His Bond conjures a love story, going places Connery's Bond would never have ventured. His best moments in this movie, in fact, are those he shares with Miss Rigg. Admittedly though, there may be a slight sense that Rigg somewhat carries him through those scenes.

Yet, before Bond can get his girl, he must first pursue his old enemy Ernst Blofeld (Telly Savalas), the cat-fondling megalomaniacal head of SPECTRE, whose latest attempt to take over the world involves the spreading of "that disagreeable outbreak of foot-and-mouth in Britain last year" in order to gain control of the agricultural supply of the world and then blackmail its leaders. Bond infiltrates Blofeld's headquarters - an allergy clinic, Alpine Piz Gloria, set in the beautiful Swiss Alps - undercover as Sir Hilary Bray, a Scotsman in a kilt there to investigate Blofeld's claim to a noble ancestry. As the clinic's "clientele" offer to Bond a whole harem of Bond babes, as well as a formidable nuisance of a foe in the overbearing den-mother hag Irma Bunt (Ilse Steppat) - I couldn't help my wistful thinking that wearing that kilt, and with his Scottish burr (Lazenby had to use "stunt" voice-over George Baker for his Sir Hilary Bray scenes) and in the company of all those women, Sean Connery would have been no less than stellar...Ahh, but that's just me....

In those Alpine scenes are some of the best action sequences in the early history of Bond: peril on the ski lifts, dodging avalanches, and excellent ski stunt work, including Bond skiing on one ski. "M" (Bernard Lee), "Q" (Desmond Llewelyn), and Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell) are present in this film as ever. And John Barry's musical score, which includes "We Have All The Time In The World" being sung by Louis Armstrong, is utterly magnificent.

Trust me sincerely when I say this is a film worth watching. Author Ian Fleming wrote a rather dark, atmospheric novel by the same name. And even though the aggressive qualities of stunt work and special effects were fairly far well limited in the year 1969, they were still exciting to behold. - I need not even mention the fact that Lazenby's performance left much to be desired, but the essence of that novel still manages to survive, and it persists to course its aura over the stretched horizons of the series.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Surprisingly, the best James Bond film
Review: This movie is by far the best 007 movie out there. When I first watched it I did not have very high expectations, but it immediately became my favorite. The plot is interesting and follows the previous films, the music is excellent, the location is my personal favorite (the Swiss Alps), and we have the best Blofeld (Telly Savalas), who is menacing in his role and even confronts Bond in hand-to-hand combat at one point. Also the ski chase scenes are electrifying, in good part because of the score, and the references to past Bond movies are funny and unique. It is longer than the average Bond, but it was necessary to make the falling-in-love subject credible.
The only reason it is not very popular is because Sean Connery did not star in it. If he had, this movie would be even more popular than "Goldfinger". But I have to accept that Connery would have not been very believable falling in love and getting married. In that respect, George Lazenby is good as 007.
The end of this film is emotionally charged, making it a one-of-a-kind Bond film.
If you haven't watched it, I strongly recommend you do. You will not be disappointed.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A rather different Bond
Review: This sixth installment of the Bond franchise starts off by breaking the fourth wall and goes on to break with Bond film tradition in a number of ways. More than anything else, this is a romantic Bond movie. Diana Rigg's enigmatic Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo is not just a "Bond girl", she is Bond's "one true love". Like the first two movies there's almost no gadgetry and the script generally follows the dramatic plot of the novel. This is also the first Bond played by someone other than Sean Connery (who returns for the next in the series; DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER). These unusual features are both the strengths of this episode, and the complaints that some fans have with it.

Lazenby in particular has drawn some very heavy criticism for his portrayal. While it is true that his range is somewhat limited, hampering his ability to show Bond in a radically different romance, it also ensures that he does not drift too far from the cavalier stance that Connery developed for the character. In spite of physically looking very little like a superhero, Peter Hunt's direction manages to bring out some genuine talent in Lazenby, and he does deliver one of the best Bond lines ever flawlessly. Fans will appreciate the nods to the earlier films, where we are shown "Look, look, this really is a Bond movie!", and the touching tributes to M, Q, and Moneypenny in the finale. Telly Savalas turns in the defining Ernst Blofeld, brilliantly capturing the chilling criminal mastermind placed in rather ridiculous circumstances (a Swiss allergy clinic).

Unfortunately, we have returned to some minor dubbing problems. Much worse is the terrible fight choreography of this film. Bond's super-athleticism is downplayed in this film, at least as compared to the recent intense action movies, so it is especially difficult to suspend disbelief when he unleashes punches that send his opponents flying through the air. Due, perhaps, to this absurd choreography, the editing detiorates badly for each fistfight, leaving the camera cutting crazily and the viewer wishing for FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE.

The DVD menu is the most visually appealing of these releases, a vast improvement over the jarring navigation of the earlier DVDs. The audio track production is much better than the preceding YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE. This is a DVD-format release one cannot complain about.

Action movie fans and those who want a Bond movie to be a Bond movie are likely to be disappointed with this rendition, finding it either dull in spite of some very fast-paced ski and gun scenes, or finding Lazenby's new direction with the character uncompelling. Fans who are particularly interested in Bond the character, however, are likely to thoroughly enjoy the developments of both the regulars' roles and the S.P.E.C.T.R.E. storyline.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: What ever happened to Irma Bunt?
Review: The most argued about, and frequently ignored, film in the entire MGM/UA James Bond series is "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", (1969). The following film "Diamonds are Forever", (1971), starts in Japan, where the preceding film, "You Only Live Twice", (1967), ended. OHMSS did make a profit, but, not as much as the other films. The movie has strong music, plot, photography, stunts, acting, casting, and the story is somewhat believable. Although NONE of the James Bond movies are as credible as "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold", (1965), this one is more believable than most. George Lazenby is no Sean Connery, (it is the first film for the former male model), but, he is okay. The movie also has the biggest triva question in the history of the series--namely whatever happened to Irma Bunt after the film ended? It was supposed to be Blofeld in the precredit sequence of "For Your Eyes Only", but, legal problems that resulted in "Never Say Never Again, (the weak remake of "Thunderball" from another studio), being released, prevented saying his name. The Austin-Martin used in "OHMSS" is a standard issue auto, not one equipped with any special features. The short story "Blast From the Past", publised in Playboy 1997, features Irma Bunt. It is more a follow up to the book "YOLT", which followed the book "OHMSS"; than a follow up to the movie "OHMSS", which was released after the movie "YOLT". I do recommend the film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", even though had it starred Sean Connery, (who said "Never Again" after "YOLT"); it probably would have been one of the best the series instead of the "might have been" that it is.


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