Double O Countdown: For Your Eyes Only

I really liked that this movie brought James Bond back to Earth. The story is more basic, with a MacGuffan that everybody wants. The bad guys are not megalomaniac bizillionaires trying to destroy the whole planet, they are just evil spies, willing to sell out their friends for money. I also like that the film has a revenge theme that it took from the collection of short stories that this title came from. There are a couple of things that hurt it a bit, what the hell is Lynn-Holly Johnson doing in the story, and we could do without the Margaret Thatcher parody at the end. Also, the Chief of Staff Bill Tanner was Bond's friend in the books, here he is an insufferable snob with delusions of replacing M, it may be my least favorite character in all the Bond films. Let's not dwell on the bad however, instead, enjoy the seven best things in the film.

001 Farewell to Blofeld

Bond is interrupted in a moment of reverie at the grave of his lost bride. It is one of the few times that plot point ever comes up in the series.

 A helicopter has been dispatched to bring him back to headquarters, but low and behold, a familiar bald headed, cat stroking figure in a wheelchair seems to have taken remote control over the copter.

Because SPECTRE and Blofeld are part of the ongoing litigation with another producer, the character is never identified, but every Bond fan knows who it is supposed to be. The scene did play a bit with a comic touch but the result is a lot more satisfying than leaving the character hanging in a bathysphere while an oil rig blows up around him. Naturally 007 regains control of the copter and then turns the tables on his old adversary.

This is the sort of nasty exit we want for Earnst Stavro Blofeld. Dropped by Bond down a hole from which there will be no escape. Even hearing him plead comically with Bond doesn't take away from the fact that Tracy's killer has finally met his doom.

002 Castle in the Sky

After storming a space station and an underwater city in his previous adventures. Bond has to follow his enemy to a monastery on a rock that is basically a fortress in the clouds. Before Tom Cruise di all his climbing stunts in the Mission Impossible Series, James Bond was a mountain climber ahead of his time.

003 Another Shark Death Planned for 007

One more time, sharks are supposed to be the end of James Bond. This death is actually planned for Bond and Solitaire in the novel "Live and Let Die" but gets transposed to this adventure in the Aegean rather than the Caribbean.

Captured and tied up with Melina, a great Bond girl who can take care of herself.







They get yanked off of their boat and dragged across a corral reef, to bring blood and sharks

 

Of course they foil the plan and a nameless henchmen gets eaten instead.

004  Back to the Slopes.

For a guy who does not like the snow, I'm a sucker for ski sequences, and this one is pretty good, featuring a ski jumping hill and biathlon and motorcycles.

Bond lucks out as he is forced to ski down a giant slide, where at the bottom, the villainous Eric Krieger, East German Biathlon champion is waiting to shoot him. Another henchman ends up chasing Bond on the slope and Krieger does not know which figure to shoot.

 Bond flees down a cross country style slope, avoiding the killers by twisting and turning in mid air.

More henchmen on motorcycles equipped with spiked tires pursue him through the woods.

A cleverly placed ski pole managed to dismount a pursing cyclist.

And frustrated man mountain Krieger flings his motorcycle ineffectively at the escaping 007.

005 The Traditional double cross switch of allies.

Bond has believed that intelligence informer Kristatos is his ally. He has told Bond that the likely killer of his station head is a smuggler known as "the dove" who is actually a former war partisan and partner of Kristatos called Columbo.

 

In a plot point right from one of the Fleming stories, this whole tale was told at dinner and the center-pieces on the table contain a tape recorder that allows Columbo to here Bond agree to kill him. Imagine our surprise when it turns out that Columbo is the real patriot and Kristatos has been describing his own criminal actions as those of his former friend. 

The delightful Topal, the star of "Fiddler on the Roof" plays Bonds new ally. Together, they take down a heroin storage warehouse in a solid action scene.

006 Sheena Easton

The Scottish chanteuse sings the title song and is the only artist to sing a title song whose image appears in the credit sequence. It's a music video just as MTV was getting started. It also serves as commercial for the film.

 

007 Once more Roger Moore gets a shot at being a Badass. 

The killer Locque, who Bond and Melina have pursued, is at the warehouse when Bond and Columbo make their move. He escapes in a car that travels up a steep set of switchbacks on a hill. Bond id determined to get to him and runs flat out up a series of staircases that are a more direct line to the top of the hill.

At the top, in a tunnel that the car must go through, Bond stops and takes aim.

Locque is shot in the shoulder, loses control of the car and it veers to the edge of a cliff.

Bond confronts the killer and delivers a message, returning the dove pin that Locque left on the body of Bond's colleague.

And then, like he did in "The Spy Who Loved Me" and in "Dr. No", Bond shows that he can be a cold blooded bastard, and the film is better for it. He kicks the car an that is the end of Lpcque.

James Bond will Return in "Octopussy".

Double O Countdown: Moonraker

This is a tough one, there are easily seven things I hate about this movie, I'm not sure there are seven things that I like. Let's see what I can come up with.

The summer that "The Spy Who Loved Me" opened was the same summer as "Star Wars". EON Pictures saw the writing on the wall and they scratched "For Your Eyes Only" and rushed in a title that had "space" all over it. I think in rushing, they skimped on story and basically replicated the same plot as the last film, with space as a substitute for under the sea.

001 Shark Tank, Piranha Tank, Shark Tank, Snake Tank 

Creative juices start to dry up and the Shark Tank that was featured in "Thunderball" and "Live and Let Die" and "The Spy Who Loved Me", plus the Piranha Tank in "You Only Live Twice", are simply updated with an Anaconda tank to fit the South American Setting. He is smart enough not to cross the pond on the bridge, but surprise!! the path tips over and drops him in anyway.

 All the beautiful women must have distracted him

Fortunately James has snake vaccine.








Unfortunately, Jaws is waiting for him, despite being dropped off a waterfall.

002 It's no ejector seat but it will do in a pinch.

A boat chase through the Amazon and James manages to blow up some pursuers with relative ease.

 There are more boats however and after taking out a couple more, he runs out of river and into a waterfall. There is not much else to do but abandon ship in a hang glider conveniently provided in the top of his boat by Q branch.

 It's a great way to see the jungle and accidentally discover the secret rocket base hidden in the forest.

003  Dr. Goodhead takes Bond for a ride.

All space centers have a centrifuge right? How could James turn down the opportunity to test it out, he'd look like a wimp in front of the CIA.

Fortunately, as Roger Moore is getting on in years, this device provides him with a little facelift.

004  Rio From Above

A chance to see "Christ the Redeemer" gives Bond and Dr. Goodhead a chance to ride a cable car above the city.

Of course they are not the only tourists sightseeing that afternoon.

Realizing he does not have a return ticket, Jaws decides to join James and Holly on the ride down.

Next time don't settle for the economy tour.

005 Set Design to the Rescue

There are some clunky effects shots in the space battle, but the location is aces, with an imaginative design and practicality to much of what is shown.

Sections of the Space Station are connected with interior tubes that allow movement without having to rely on gravity boots on the floor of the station.

Fascist crazy billionaires get a chance to speak to the troops in an elegant landing that floats above them.

Plenty of parking is available for residents and visitors.

006 Hijacking the Moonraker

We had actually seen the space shuttle being transported on the back of a 747 at this point, so the opening shot fits in with contemporary visuals.

What happens next is not exactly the way it is planned by NASA.

Wait, can it do that? It doesn't matter, it's a cool idea to steal a space ship when you are one short.

007  Parachutes, I don't need no stinking parachute.

The best stunt in the movie is the opening escape by Bond from being thrown out of a plane without a parachute. Several years before "Point Break" James Bond had already figured out the answer.

When Jaws tosses Bond overboard, you wonder what will happen, and then you remember the guy who went out before James did.

James maneuvers himself into position and then,

Steals himself a parachute from the other guy.

So a great stunt right? Hell, it gets better when Jaws comes after him, but when they turn the music on for Jaws landing on earth, the circus starts. They blew their wad in the opening and then stepped on the action with a comic musical joke.  And they do it for two more hours. Fortunately, James Bond returns to Earth in the next adventure.








James Bond will Return in "For Your Eyes Only"

Double O Countdown: The Spy Who Loved Me

"The Spy Who Loved Me" is Roger Moore's best work as James Bond. The series had some humor still but did not go off the deep end until the next picture. It reworks the concept of "You Only Live Twice" pitting the Soviets and Americans against each other, this time to destroy the world so that the undersea empire of Stromberg will survive. Three nuclear submarines end up in a supertanker that was the largest sound-stage of any movie studio ever.

001 Submarines Fight World War Three inside a tanker.

002 The Pyramids Night Time Lighting Ceremony

I have no idea if this is a real thing or not, but it ought to be. Bond follows XXX to meet the mysterious seller of the tracking technology they are both after. They are not alone however, as the killer Jaws is also after the seller for a different purpose. All this takes place while the narrator of a cool light show at the pyramids keeps talking. This is the only time I ever thought about visiting Egypt.

003 Jaws

A hired killer who stands over seven feet and has steel teeth that he uses to bite the carotid artery in his victims neck. Richard Kiel played the part in two Bond films, and despite the obvious rip-off of the name from a familiar film from a couple of summers earlier, he became iconic in his own right.

Taking a bite from his namesake

His hand is as big as Bonds head. That's pretty intimidating.

004  Speaking of Submarines

After the ejection seat of "Goldfinger" you might wonder what the Q branch would come up with for 007 to drive on assignment. Well, they out do themselves here, a high speed Lostus that doubles as a submersible,

A cool car and helicopter chase, ends with a plunge into the Corsican sea.

 Caroline Munro, B movie Queen of the era, captains the helicopter.

005 Carly Simon sings the theme song. 

This tune was all over the radio in the late seventies. Some people  (Fogs) even think it is the best Bond theme. It has a polish that makes the movie feel sophisticated even when it is occasionally silly.

006 My Favorite Moment From Roger Moore as 007

Most people think of Roger Moore's James Bond as an avuncular,  dandy who never got his nails dirty. Here is a sequence in which Moore explodes that myth. After a fight in the rooftop of an Egyptian apartment, Jaws partner, Sandor, teeters on the brink of death, grasping Bond's tie to keep from toppling over.

 Bond questions him about the location of the arms merchant who has the submarine tracking tool for sale. As soon as he gets his answer, Bond flicks his tie.

 Down goes the bad guy, another casualty of the spy game.

Than 007 casually straightens out his tie to look good for the rest of the afternoon. Cold, James, really cold.

007 The Pre-Title Sequence

Almost everyone will agree, this was a spectacular stunt. The unfurling of the Union Jack got a standing ovation at the Royal Premier of the film attended by Prince Charles. I'll stand up for our allies here as well. For Queen and Country James.






James Bond Will Return in: "Moonraker"