It's hard to believe that all of us Bond fans thought FOR YOUR EYES ONLY was a "major reboot" of the series back to more serious ground after the ridiculous OO7 in space antics of that Moonraker stinker.
But in 1981, this was a much more serious stance for Roger Moore as he battles smugglers and mother Russia over control of a submarine tracking device (hey didnt that get stolen in Spy Who Loved Me too? running out of ideas folks?).
So let's talk about the film's strengths:
* Topol is a charming villain/ally and makes the most of his role as Columbo.
* The ski chase is terrific and when a bobsled, Bond on skis and a pursuing motorcycle all end up in the bobsled run, its a lot of fun
* The mountain climb in the closing sequence is suspenseful and really well done.
* Moore is in pretty fine form and does bring a harder edge to Bond, of course in hindsight, he looks like Jerry Lewis next to Daniel Craig
*Bill Conti's music score is pretty good, very 80's, but pretty damn good.
And now for the bad and really bad;
*The opening sequence with Blofeld and his cat and Bond in the helicopter. Played for laughs, its a horrible waste of a classic screen bad guy. At one point he is trying to tell Bond what he'll do if 007 just lets him go and he yells to Bond: "Let me go Mr Bond! I'll buy you a delicatessen, in stainless steel!" One of the worst lines ever in a Bond movie. What the hell does that even mean? Horrible.
* The other bad guy, Kristatos played very middle of the road by Julian Glover. Bland, boring and never dangerous.
* Lynn Holly-Johnson, three words that should never be mentioned alongside the word actress. Makes Lois Chiles in Moonraker look like Meryl Streep.
* Another submarine sequence, really?
* Sheena Easton's title song.....zzzzzzzzzz
* Unfunny, silly closing sequence with Margaret Thatcher lookalike that wipes out all the right moves toward a more serious movie before it.
Back in 1981, I loved this movie.
Now, meh.
It's still a hell of a poster though!
A middle of the road B- entry in the Bond legacy.
