For Your Eyes Only (1981)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

John Glen

Writers:

Richard Maibaum (screenplay) and
Michael G. Wilson (screenplay)

Release Date:

26 June 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

Bond Has Everything - James Bond Agent 007 Is Back

Plot:

Agent 007 is assigned to hunt for a lost British encryption device and prevent it from falling into enemy hands.

Plot Keywords:

British | James Bond | Ship | Agent | Spy

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Roger Moore	...	James Bond
Carole Bouquet	...	Melina Havelock
Topol	...	Milos Columbo
Lynn-Holly Johnson	...	Bibi Dahl
Julian Glover	...	Aristotle Kristatos
Cassandra Harris	...	Countess Lisl von Schlaf
Jill Bennett	...	Jacoba Brink
Michael Gothard	...	Emile Leopold Locque
John Wyman	...	Erich Kriegler
Jack Hedley	...	Sir Timothy Havelock
Lois Maxwell	...	Miss Moneypenny
Desmond Llewelyn	...	Q
Geoffrey Keen	...	Minister of Defence (Sir Frederick Gray)
Walter Gotell	...	General Anatol Gogol
James Villiers	...	Bill Tanner

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | Greek | Italian

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Australia:M (video rating) | UK:PG (video rating) | South Korea:15 | Brazil:12 | New Zealand:PG | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Ireland:15 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1981) | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG (Certificate #26343) | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Achillion Palace, Gastouri, Corfu, Greece

Company:

Danjaq

Trivia:

Director Trademark: [John Glen] [pigeon]Bond almost loses his footing during his climb to the monastery when a pigeon from a nest unexpectedly flies in his face.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Bond and Melina are to do the deep dive Bond mentions that they must use a mixture of helium and oxygen but when they communicate through the helmet radios there voices sound normal not high pitched like it should be.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Vicar: Mr. Bond, Mr. Bond. I'm so glad I caught you. Your office called. They're sending a helicopter to pick you up. Some sort of emergency.
James Bond: It usually is. Thank you.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008) (VG)

Soundtrack:

For Your Eyes Only

One of Roger's best!

Undeniably one of Roger Moore's best outings as 007, For Your Eyes Only was an attempt by Cubby Broccoli to bring Bond down to earth after the over the top, but brilliant, Moonraker. Surprisingly this works very well, with the action sequences being more realistic (what with a car chase, ski chase and a small scale assault on the villain's residence instead), but brilliant too. For Roger Moore the film offers his best performance as James Bond. The puns are played down more here and while he does still have a little twinkle in his eye at times, his performance reflects more an older 007, a man who has lost his wife and is still fighting to save the world and right wrongs. This is demonstrated in the superb pre-title sequence in which after visiting his wife's grave, he is kidnapped by Blofeld (unofficially Blofeld however) and taken on a wild helicopter ride. The moment were he visits Tracy's grave sees Roger convey so much in one scene, he shows that he is not just the comedic 007, but he can be a serious one too. We see how the character has come to view revenge on Blofeld as he tells the dream like Melina (a beautiful and enchanting performance from Carole Bouquet) that before setting out on revenge as she hopes to do, she must first dig two graves. Some would see this as hypocrisy, whereas it is the words of a Bond who has come to analyse the hardship of a licence to kill.

With Julian Glover portraying a more down to earth villain and the plot centering around the Cold War, For Your Eyes Only is a great 80's Bond film, with scatterings of what would be developed into the Timothy Dalton years, such as the serious Bond and the more down to earth story telling. Following on the heels of two of the biggest Bond films in terms of scope and financial success, For Your Eyes Only was a risk, but it worked. While it did not outgross Moonraker, it's financial intake was close and while it does possess the entertainment factor that both Moonraker and The Spy Who Loved Me did, it is an artistic success, with great performances, an engrossing storyline, wonderful characterization and superb direction from John Glen in his directorial debut for a Bond film. He stages the abundance of chase scenes well and is helped by the fact that he has a good script to go with. On top of that Sheena Easton delivers a great theme tune.

A great film and one deserving of classic status.