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On Her Majesty's Secret Service

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best Bond Film
Review: To start with, OHMSS is a very beautiful film, even after all these years. Stylish, with gorgeous shots of surrounding scenery, and more elegant overall. A departure from the sleazy sets of Dr. No and Goldfinger. Nonetheless, I never expected myself, a die-hard Connery fan, to say that George Lazenby blows everyone away in the contest for the best Bond. He and Diana Rigg make the most stylish pair of all. She: coolly intelligent yet girlish and spoiled. He: brutish strength yet disarming boyishness. The Combination: Sexy and suspensful -- for REAL. When she teases and manipulates him, we can't tell which side she's on. When he kicks huge guys' a**es and outruns expert hitmen, we totally believe it. Not to mention, when he makes the girls squeal, we know he loves it! He delivers the lines with force AND humor, well suited to the context. Unlike Moore who just delivered it all with a smirk, or Connery who was so conflicted and serious. Lazenby also looks the best of them all in a kilt. Now, I KNOW Connery IS Scottish and I KNOW Diana and George hated each other during the filming, but that's just how it is. Wish he'd made another. Wish all of the films were this gorgeous to watch.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: "This Will Do Me Nicely"
Review: ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE is so close to being a truly great film that the fact that it fails makes it seem worse than it is.

The finest "Bond" screenplay is replete with three dimensional, living, breathing characters that a viewer honestly comes to like. By far the most "mature" of the Bond films, OHMSS has none of the gadgetry run amok of the later Connery films, none of the cartoonish excesses of other Bond movies (particularly Roger Moore's), and none of the amphetamine overkill of the Dalton and Brosnan films. This ranks with the best of Connery, and is closer in execution to DR. NO and FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE than the later offerings. OMHSS also has a whimsical mid-60s "Carnaby Street" feel to it, never evident in any other Bond film of the era.

Yet, it misses, and fans have long laid the blame on George Lazenby, the Australian model and untrained actor who took up the role after Connery left Eon Productions during a contract dispute. And it's true that Lazenby is no Connery. He lacks the dominating screen presence which empowered Connery's Bond. Lazenby's acting is very strong, but he is so obviously and self-consciously trying to fill Sean Connery's shoes that Lazenby's time on camera is a constant irking reminder of Connery's conspicuous absence. It was no help that the insecure Lazenby succeeded in alienating the cast, crew and producers to such an extent that he was never invited to return as Bond, so he never left his imprint on the character.

This picture leaves the viewer with the greatest of all "What Ifs": What if Connery had played Bond? Certainly, Connery's Bond was neither nostalgic nor romantic, and these are both qualities that form the foundation for Lazenby's Bond, and the backbone of the story.

Diana Rigg (as Tracy, Bond's one true love) and Telly Savalas (as Blofeld) both turn in high quality performances. The location shooting is superb. This excellent film is ruined not by Lazenby (or by the lack of Connery), but by the devastating ending, which closes the movie on a depressing note.

Were it not for the ending, this film might possibly be the greatest Bond movie ever made. As every Bond fan knows, Tracy and Bond are targeted by Blofeld on their wedding day, leaving Bond sobbing helplessly.

Truth to tell, any real man would react the same way, and there's the rub: Bond, after all is not real, he is a celluloid action hero, and properly, after drying his tears, should have sworn vengeance and immediately gone after Blofeld, providing a lead-in to the next film. Why the producers left us with the vision of a tear-stained and immobilized Bond at the end is a greater "What if" than considering Connery in the role.

Truth to tell, were this not a Bond film, but "merely" a spy movie, it would have been fantastic. But given the superhero qualities which which the producers imbued Bond before and after OHMSS, this film is oddly disturbing in it's maturity.

OHMSS leaves you both wanting more and less.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: review of the DVD transfer
Review: Disappointing. This is my favorite Bond film, but the music accompanying the special features menu shows up the flatness of the mono soundtrack. It's now advertised as out-of-print; I hope
this deficiency is corrected in the re-release. Diana Rigg is noticably absent from the Making Of documentary.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Simply The Best!!!
Review: This is the over looked Bond movie, every one I talked to about James Bond does not know OHMSS. Thay know "Goldfinger", "Tunderball", "The Spy Who Loved Me" & a few other in the series. But the is one of THE BEST stores you will find with in the BOND movies.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: George Lazenby's one film as 007
Review: George Lazenby's game attempt to be 007 is not wholly unsuccessful. Unfortunately, the impact of Mrs. James Bond's death is vastly diluted without Sean Connery in the role: a sequence that could have been the most powerful in any Bond movie has, instead, little resonance as it's hard to connect Mr. Lazenby with the character established via the previous five films. Sean Connery's departure could not have been more poorly timed from the series' standpoint (had this movie and "You Only Live Twice" been filmed in the order in which they were written, this problem would have been avoided; 007's second encounter with Ernst Stavro Blofeld would also have been rife with tension). Nonetheless, there's much to like about this one, including Diana Rigg and a smorgasbord of captive beauties high in the Swiss Alps. 8/10

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Shocked by the unforgettable scene.
Review: I was totally shocked and watched the scene (about 007 minutes) again and again. It (the scene) started with Miss Moneypenny's tears (the greatest Miss Moneypenny scene!) and finally ended up with mine everytime. I cannot say simply this is a masterpiece but I'd like to emphasize that there is a scene which is like 'a perfect short movie' in movie. Not only because it has different style, but it has everything-emotion surely, great timing (!), great performances. George Lazenby did a fantastic job as a James Bond with a real heart which can be hurt. As many othes think, he wasn't so impressive as the other guys but I began to feel the OHMSS as just single shot but totally separate movie which stands alone very well and should be considered in that way. Well, with this one movie, George took my number 2 Bond seat next to Roger Moore. The more the other James Bond movies you see, the better you can appreciate this one, OHMSS. Try this and PLS try not to think this is another James Bond movie! Among 20 series, this is the only one will remain as the unforgettable James Bond movie.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: One of the Better Bonds
Review: The first James Bond movie without Sean Connery in the role, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" cast unknown Australian model George Lazenby in his first and only appearance as Agent OO7. Lazenby looks the part and is very capable in the action sequences, but he is short on charisma and acting ability. While no match for Connery, or even Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan, Lazenby's more human Bond is preferable to the smug Roger Moore. Thankfully, Lazenby is aided by great writing and direction, as Bond infiltrates archenemy Blofeld's (Telly Salvalas) Swiss allergy clinic to uncover a SPECTRE plot to contaminate the world's food supply with an infertility virus. "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" is also one of the few Bond films that's actually a love story, as OO7 romances the troubled daughter (Diana Rigg) of a wealthy crime lord (Gabriele Ferzetti) with links to Blofeld. Rigg is the most classy and meaningful "Bond Girl" and Salvalas is a menacing Blofeld. The action scenes are terrific and the plot is full of suspense, with none of the silly gadgets or campy excess that would later plague the series. All in all, in league with "From Russia With Love" and "Goldfinger" as one of the best Bond films.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: My absolute favorite bond film
Review: Many consider OHMSS one of the worst bond films, partly because of Lazenby's sub-par bond and also because of overlength. But the thing that most people missed is that the film makers were trying to make an epic bond picture, one that not only surpasses its predecessors with outstanding action and locales, but also with more character development and a more vulnerable side of Bond. Also, OHMSS is the most unique Bond film. First, Bond actually gets married, second, we see Bond's office as well as M's home, and third, we see Bond with absolutely no gadgets.

The acting is top notch, as is the story and locales. The action is unbeatable (especially the ending) and Diana Rigg is beautiful. OHMSS also has a strong supporting cast with Telly Savalas as Blofeld and Gabriel Ferzetti and Draco (one of the best allies ever in a bond film) What more could you want in a bond film? The last act of the film especially shines, with the wedding being one of the best scenes in a bond film, ever.

Sure, Lazenby's not the best Bond. Sure, it's long. (142 minutes) But in whole, it's the most dramatic, character driven, and epic bond film in the whole series.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: finally a REAL spy story!
Review: this bond film deviates from the other 18. its not about gadets and going into space. its about a spy stopping a mad man from releasing a virus all over the world. this movie is one of the most down to earth of all the bond films. it features the 2nd actor to play bond, Goerge Lazenby. over all i think he does a great job. this movie is the first to feature ski chase scenes which many latter bond films copy. it has lots of beautiful women and one special one bond actually marries! for all of you new generation bond fans who want to see gadget filled cars and trips to the ocean floor, start around the Roger Moore films, but if you want to see a real spy movie, look no further!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "This never happened to the other fellow."
Review: The introduction to Sean Connery's replacement is brilliantly staged and what follows is the best bond adventure ever. Lazenby is handsome, athletic, and romantic is this realistic almost gadgetless Bond adventure. With Diana Rigg and Telly Savales adding to the production as well as first rate location photography and action, this Bond outing moves quickly through it's over two hour length. The skiing and bobsled scenes are thrilling in the only film where Bond actually falls in love.


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