It’s unfortunate that the Roger Moore era of the Bond franchise is looked down upon these days. For some reason it’s become chic to knock Moore’s 12 years as 007, as his films were usually considered more escapist, and not as hard-hitting or violent as any of the other Bonds. While this is true to some extent, what Moore’s films did though, was to keep the franchise afloat during a period when Spy films were normally not welcomed by audiences. Public sentiment toward espionage had grown sour after events like the Viet Nam war and Watergate, and audiences did not want to be reminded of such things when they went to the theater, so Moore gave them a 007 that was lighthearted and as fun as possible while he fought madmen at the bottom of the ocean or in outer space.
Also to counter the naysayers, one can also point out Moore’s turn in For Your Eyes
Only, which is as rock solid as Bond performances come. Free of the gadgets and goofiness that would often accompany his films as they strived to entertain audiences, Moore’s fifth time out as 007 is a Cold War adventure on a very human level, with Bond relying on his wits and grit, rather than anything from Q Branch. The film itself also decides to center on amazing stuntwork and action choreography rather than pyrotechnics or special effects, which helps keep the film as grounded as possible. Is it as hard-core as Casino Royale or Quantum of Solace? No, but it showed that Moore had the goods to be able to bring in a Bond adventure that didn’t require comic-book antics, but could still entertain with his good-natured style.
Thankfully, the film’s 1981 setting benefits from a certain distance from the events that had previously made more realistic themes a problem for the Spy films of the 1970s. With the beginning of the 1980s and the Reagan-era, it seemed that audiences finally started to warm to Cold War themes, and this time out 007 was able to take full advantage. With the destruction of a British spy ship, both the KGB and MI6 desperately vie for a device aboard the wreckage called the ATAC, an apparatus that can not only spot British ships, but command them to attack to their own bases. With Bond on the trail of the equipment, he’s thrown into a web of smugglers, deadly hitmen, and loads of Russian Agents.
Now, when Sean Connery initially left the series in 1967, after the outrageous “hollowed out volcano, ninja army goofiness” of You Only Live Twice, the producers decided to bring Bond back down to a more low-key adventure with On Her Majesty’s Secret Service to help re-establish Bond’s roots. Wisely, after Moonraker took the series to perhaps its most over the top moments ever, producer Cubby Broccoli and others decided to use George Lazenby’s 007 entry as its template to try the same thing with Roger Moore. Like a type of reset button, the experiment was a success and kept Moore as Bond for another two entries.
To do so, filmmakers constructed a movie that brought out as hard an edge as the actor ever had as 007, starting with Bond even getting his final battle with nemesis Bloefeld. As with all the Moore films, this Bond entry is packed with stunts, with this movie especially trying to keep the action physical rather than effects-laden. The opening teaser has Bond hanging on to the side a real helicopter that fishtails in the air like a car trying to stop on an icy road. Later in the picture Champion skier Willy Bogner, Jr. returns after incredible stunt and camerawork in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and The Spy Who Loved Me to give us ridiculously heart-pounding snowbound action, and to top it all off, we get an incredible climbing sequence, where “death defying” really doesn’t cover the insanity of the stunt man who falls off a cliff and then has to rely on a single rope to save his life 350 feet up in the air.
The best moment of the film, though, is a simple one, and goes to Moore himself. Always known as the softest of Bonds, Moore’s tenure as the hero was always marked with stylish adventure, but not a lot of brutal violence, unlike nearly every other 007. This is what makes the moment where he cold-bloodedly kicks a helpless villain over a cliff so electrifying, and cements this film as Moore’s hardest spy adventure. Add in quite a bit of hand to hand heroics and what you’re left with is a film with as little bravado as Moore’s 007 career ever really got, and yet is absolutely up there with his most satisfying.
For Your Eyes Only might not be Moore’s finest hour as Ian Fleming’s immortal hero, but it was one his most solid efforts and also ended up as the best Bond film of the 1980s. The most low-key 007 since On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and the last one really until Casino Royale, the movie showed the series still knew how to adapt and bring Bond back down from the stratosphere and give us a very human adventure without giant volcanoes or underwater headquarters. So maybe Moore wasn’t as rough as Connery or Craig, but his bond was his own and kept the series going long after many had called for 007’s death.
Once again, this Bond Blu-ray absolutely shines in the format. The film seems to have hardly degraded at all over its 25+ years. Artifacts are completely gone and the colors for the movie are as bright as I’ve ever seen them. This is a terrific presentation of this movie on both the video and audio front, with John Conti’s very 80’s score absolutely singing on this print as well.
Audio Commentary by Sir Roger Moore – Another terrific track by Moore, who doesn’t necessarily keep the conversation going the whole time, but when he does speak up its pretty interesting. Moore has some great insights into the production, telling terrific stories about several cast members, including one who was even 17th in line for the British Throne at the time of this production.
Audio Commentary by Michael G. Wilson and crew – There are several crew members talking about how difficult it was to make this movie, as these Bonds are always such mammoth productions. This is very similar to the rest of the commentary track from the other discs with crew members giving recollections about their comrades on the film, such as several people talking about Stunt Coordinator Bob Simmons, whom apparently everybody on the crew really loved.
Commentary by director John Glen and members of the cast – Glenn has a deep affection for this film, as it was his directing debut, and he’s very proud of the work he did. Glenn talks fondly about Moore, who apparently is legendary for his practical jokes on set, and Glenn talks about how the star absolutely loved playing the role of Bond and how he tried to make the films as fun as they could be for the crew.
Deleted and Expanded Scenes – You get three scenes here, each with introductions by Director John Glenn. In the final scene, “The Death of Loque”, we get different angles from which the scene was shot.
Bond in Greece – With Commentary from Producer Michael G. Wilson, we get some behind-the-scenes footage of the crew in Corfu, Greece, who actually painted the town in order to make the location look Spanish.
Bond in Cortina – More behind the scenes footage looks at the winter location for the movie, as we get to see the production putting together various action sequences.
Neptune’s Journey – This is a look that the prop submarine used in the movie, which was full size, but didn’t actually work, so stuntmen had full scuba gear inside the sub.
007 Mission Control – A sort of interactive highlight reel for the movie, including a quick way to get to the film’s action and gadget scenes.
Inside For Your Eyes Only – Once again, this Featurette is an HD version of the documentary initially part of the original For Your Eyes Only: Special Edition DVD. This is another absolutely fabulous documentary on this series, which goes into minute detail about this production. There’s some neat test and behind the scenes footage as well as one terrific interview after another.
Animated Storyboards – You get storyboarded sequences looking about the film’s snowmobile and underwater sequences.
“For Your Eyes Only” Sheena Easton Video
Trailers
Image Database
You could say this Blu-ray edition of For Your Eyes Only was “more of the same” when it comes to these Bond releases, but when they’re so good, that’s not a negative in any way. You get a solid 007 movie, looking as good as it ever has, with a ton extras to boot. This is everything a Bond fan should need.
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MGM/20th Century Fox presents For Your Eyes Only. Directed by John Glenn. Starring Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet, Topol, Lynn-Holly Johnson, and Julian Glover. Written by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson. Running time: 127 minutes. Rated PG. Released on DVD: Oct 21, 2008. Available at Amazon.
