Starring: Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet, Topol, Lynn-Holly Johnson, Julian Glover
Directed by: John Glen
Running Time: 128 minutes
Back Cover
James Bond is thrust into one of his most riveting adventures in this jam-packed free-for-all of outrageous stunts, passionate encounters and exciting confrontations. Roger Moore portrays Agent 007 with lethal determination in a plot that finds him infiltrating the Greek underworld to locate a stolen device capable of controlling a fleet of nuclear submarines!
Movie Review
A British spy ship sinks off the coast of Albania, setting off a whirlwind of action as MI6 and the Soviets, working with the Greek underworld, race to recover the secret weapon that’s aboard: the ATAC, which controls the UK’s nuclear submarine fleet. Along the way, Bond hooks up with a gregarious smuggler and Melina, the daughter of a murdered MI6 operative stationed in Greece. By this point, Roger Moore has made Bond his own; a different, but still compelling über-spy with depth and charisma, as opposed to the over-wrought wit and improbable poise that marred Moore’s first turn or two in the role. Carole Bouquet’s Melina is a dream of a Bond Girl: She’s gorgeous, yes, but under that there’s an actual character with a mind of her own… and a crossbow. One of the most memorable characters in the film is Greek smuggler Milos Columbo (played by Israeli screen star Topol). Columbo is a shady character, but one you end up rooting for as he helps Bond catch the real bad guy, underworld kingpin Aristotle Kristatos (Julian Glover).
The action is almost non-stop, aside from some slower underwater footage (which comes off much better than did Thunderball‘s undersea action): There is an ingenious car chase featuring a puttering Citroën, a ski chase down the side of a mountain, and a hockey-stick chase around a skating rink.
The movie is not without it’s issues, though. Glover’s Kristatos is one of many Bond villains who just can’t match the perilous image of a bad guy like Jaws. And there’s an excruciating comic-relief subplot featuring Lynn-Holly Johnson as Kristatos’s protégée an overly-bubbly young skater who falls for Bond, and spends the film just being irritating. It’s frankly awful to watch. Also, the pre-title action sequence culminates in quite possibly the weakest end possible for Bond’s long-time nemesis, Blofeld — though it was definitely funny…
All told, the movie is an exciting joyride and a solid adventure, even with its problems. It shows Moore at his peak, giving us a fully-developed Bond who hasn’t yet started to come off as yesterday’s news, as he would in following movies. For Your Eyes Only is a good bet for a snowy night in.
Crave Factor – 8
Video
Done right, Blu-ray makes older films look fabulous. And this film was definitely done right. Using special machines and about a bajillion computers, the six James Bond films in this series were re-scanned and meticulously adjusted for lifelike hues and amazing detail. And because film had finally come into its own by the late ’70s and early ’80s, there’s none of the theatrical make-up that tends to make earlier Bond Girls look clownish (Hello, Domino!).
Crave Factor – 9
Audio
There’s no way that a filmmaker in 1981 could have known about the lush and layered soundscapes that modern cinemas and home theatres would make possible, so grading this film’s soundtrack against today’s standards would be unfair. That being said, the project team have done an admirable job of taking the existing sound and updating it for 5.1 surround systems. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the score. Cheesy, remixed Bond theme snippets do not a good score make. But godawful score aside, the film sounds as good as it looks. Turn it up, it’s worth it.
Crave Factor – 8
Extras
The extras are a similar mix of cool and crap as on the other films in this edition.
The Included features are:
• Audio commentary with director John Glen, co-screenwriter Michael G. Wilson, Sir Roger Moore and members of the cast and crew
• Deleted scenes and expanded angles
• Bond in Greece featurette
• Bond in Cortina featurette
• Neptune’s Journey featurette
• 007 Mission Control interactive guide
• Inside For Your Eyes Only featurette
• Animated Storyboard sequences
• Image database
• Sheena Easton music video
• Theatrical trailers, TV and radio spots
Crave Factor – 6
Menu & Packaging
The packaging is a slickly re-designed box that makes a nod to the look of previous DVD releases, but with an up-to-date flair. The extra cardboard sleeve is an unforgivable waste of resources, though.
As with the rest of the Blu-ray discs in the series, the menus are tasteful and simple.
Crave Factor: N/A
Conclusions & Final Thoughts
For Your Eyes Only is a retro throwback and a welcome respite from the jetpacks and over-the-top crap that culminated in Moonraker. Here, we’re back to honest-to-goodness adventure, where gadgets enhance the action, rather than overpowering the movie. The film also gets some of the old humour back, though it goes painfully to far in some spots (namely those featuring a certain blond skater). It would have been nice for the compelling Carole Bouquet and Topol to have gotten more quality screen time, as both their characters could have only benefited from it. Roger Moore’s Bond is no longer the two-dimensional, unflappable dandy of Live and Let Die, but is rather a nice, full character. The grotesque score and uneven quality of the extras don’t help, but on the whole, it’s a good disc to own or rent.
