Friday, March 25, 2022

For Your Eyes Only... just what I needed

An involuntary swim with sharks,
mollified by embrace of hot babe.
Last night I decided a mental break was in order and so I watched 1981’s For Your Eyes Only. It was just what I needed. I gave it my full attention, and it held it. I had forgotten how much action is packed into this film, scene after scene of hijacked helicopters, car chases through the Greek countryside, ski chases down mountainsides, death-defying climbs up sheer rock faces, underwater brushes with sharks and divers in murderous deep-water suits, on and on. Incredible fun, never a dull moment.

I watched this film many times as a kid, as it seemed to be on HBO every time I turned on the TV. But it had been ... 35 years since I saw it last in full? More? I think part of the reason I was so enamored with what I was watching was nostalgia. There is something about the 80s, the early 80s … it just made me extremely comfortable, the low-tech and no cell phones and Bond's turbo Lotus and Walther PPKs and flings with beautiful women. Set against the backdrop of the cold war. All exotic (for the time), but now intensely familiar, reminders of a time that has slipped into history. 

Yes, like all Bond films this one has its share of ridiculousness. I had forgotten one sequence where three dudes in full hockey gear attempt to kill Bond on an ice rink. They gear up in full uniforms, skates, sticks, masks... none bothered to bring a gun, and Bond disposes of them, one by Zamboni, and tosses them into a net, which tallies the 3-0 score on a scoreboard. WTF... but still awesome. 

Bond films are great for so many reasons, but one is the familiar flourishes and sequences. Every film seems to have Bond walking through a laboratory to view Q's latest contraptions and spy gear. This one had a spring-loaded arm cast capable of smashing a head, and an umbrella that, when exposed to water, snaps down with murderous steel hooks around the user's neck. I always love the opening action/title sequences, the dalliances with Moneypenny, the physical specimen goons, and of course Bond's roguishness and effortless charm, even in the most dire of circumstances.

The on-location film work was beautiful, the pre-CGI stunt work including high speed motorbike and ski chases through the snow of the Italian mountains, and mountain climbing, impressive. The theme song is one of the best in the series, earning a nomination for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards in 1982. It sets the tone... it's got sex in it, but also mystery, just what a Bond film needs of course.

I started the new job on Monday and it was just what I needed after a firehose of a week. I need to do this again. One film, and the world, is not enough.

Are there any Bond aficionados out there that would recommend another? There are many I have not seen, and I'm itching to work backwards to keep the nostalgia train running... but also I have yet to see a single Daniel Craig entry in the series. I know, but I just don't watch much TV, at all. I'm torn between Goldfinger, The Spy Who Loved Me, and the 2006 version of Casino Royale, the latter of which I've heard so many good things about. I have seen Goldfinger, but so long ago that most of the details (save Oddjob, the laser sequence, and a gal dipped in gold) have escaped me. 

Probably hard to go wrong with any of them.

Bad ass car that we didn't get to see enough of ... thugs
should have heeded the warning.


5 comments:

Paul R. McNamee said...

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY is my favorite of the Roger Moore films. They made a smart move after MOONRAKER to .. well ... bring the series back to Earth. The stakes are actually quite small which brings more gravity and humanity to the proceedings.

My favorite Bond film is THUNDERBALL.

I found the Craig films up and down. I liked the odd numbered ones :D CASINO ROYALE, SKYFALL, NO TIME TO DIE.

I liked Dalton as Bond a lot though he didn't get the best stories.


Andy said...

All three of those are good. Casino Royale is reasonably faithful to the novel and it's the best one with Craig.

Spy Who Loved Me is basically the kind of movie everyone thinks about when they think about James Bond movies. Snobbish villain living in a remote fortress, big goon henchman, potentially world-shaking scheme, Bond invading the hideout with a small army at the end, etc. It's just really good all around.

My personal favorites are the first six movies with Connery plus On Her Majesty's Secret Service, but I think people who just want a JAMES BOND~! movie can get frustrated with them because they hadn't settled on a formula yet. My nephew saw Dr. No for the first time a short while ago and was agog that Bond and Dr. No didn't even have a fistfight at the end.

I also love For Your Eyes Only. I also really like Octopussy, although I might be in the minority because everyone seems to flip out over Bond wearing a clown suit for a couple of minutes. It probably works better if you think of it as an exotic and humorous adventure movie (written by George McDonald Fraser) instead of a pure Bond flick. License to Kill is my favorite of Dalton's pair. Goldeneye is the best for Pierce Brosnan.

Dana said...

This one is still probably my favorite, thanks to those repeated early cable days viewings. A nose, Q, not a banana. Good times. So many people rave about Craig, but I just can't get into the 'gritty' Bond, not after growing up on Moore and feasting on Connery later. But if you want to try one, I agree with Casino Royale. Problem is they could be any modern action flick, not very Bond-y if you ask me.

I think you'd enjoy From Russian With Love, Murph. Robert Shaw! That said, Goldfinger and The Spy Who Loved Me are also among my favorites (Goldfinger is my favorite Connery Bond).

Brian Murphy said...

Paul: I liked the (relative) low stakes of For Your Eyes Only, too. It did have a gritty feel, without losing Moore's suave/distinguished/semi detached air. If your favorite is Thunderball maybe that will be next. I have no real memories of that.

Andy: I have seen License to Kill and Goldeneye, and enjoyed them. And you might have moved Spy who Loved Me to the top of the queue.

Dana: I think that's why I've avoided the Craig movies; they SEEM (again, I have not watched) too much like ultra-intense action films, indistiguishable from Mission Impossible, Jack Reacher, Jason Bourne, etc. Don't get me wrong, I love a good action flick, but I also want the Bond coolness. Also, Robert Shaw is the man.

Baron Greystone said...

Thread-necromancy, but last year I read through the Ian Fleming Bond books and reviewed them on Goodreads. At the same time I watched the film adaptations and reviewed them on my blog. I'm a Connery man myself, but if you're at all interested you can find my blog at this address, which also has a link to my Goodreads page. https://themichlinguide.wordpress.com/