Review: On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Mar. 11th, 2007 02:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bofoddityBefore Casino Royale, On Her Majesty's Secret Service was my favorite Bond-movie, so when they finally showed it on TV after a bunch of Connery- and Brosnan-films, I had to see if it was as good as I remembered.
It was. In fact, as much as I love Casino Royale and have great faith in future of James Bond again, On Her Majesty's Secret Service is still the finest Bond ever made.
George Lazenby is officially the most underrated Bond ever. There are still people who dislike Dalton, but even he tends to get credit for being a good actor otherwise, but Lazenby doesn't even get that. I realize that Lazenby's screen presence may not be as strong as Connery's or even Brosnan's, but for somebody with zero acting experience I think he did a great job. Lazenby's Bond is very sympathetic and very human, but also effective and brutal when necessary, and I think that's why most people dislike him: Bond is supposed to be superhuman. He was also the first actor other than Connery to take the role, for which people will never forgive him.
If there's any Bond-girl who is larger than life, it's Diana Rigg's Tracy di Vicenzo. While some Bond-girls are stronger in presence than others (for example Eva Green as Vesper Lynd and Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore), Diana Rigg is just enigmatic, and Tracy as a character is smart, tough and brave, and also vulnerable and loving. Bond/Tracy-romance is still without its deserved match, and not least because of the final scene of the movie. More about that later.
Ernst Blofeld is probably the most iconic Bond-villain, but also the most ridiculed one, and OHMSS is probably the only movie where he truly feels like the worthy foe to Bond. Compared to Donald Pleasance's cartoony Blofeld in You Only Live Twice, Telly Savalas's Blofeld is subtly menacing and dangerous, with eerie charisma which should be a requirement for all supervillains. Also good is Ilse Steppat's steely Irma Bunt, who's definitely one of the more dangerous women that Bond has ever encountered.
As far as rest of the cast goes, Gabriele Ferzetti is very charming and likable as Tracy's protective father, and one of the most interesting Bond-allies seen in the movies. As far as the regulars go, I thought Lazenby's scenes with Bernard Lee's M were especially interesting, and I had no trouble believing that Bond and Moneypenny had been flirting to each other for years.
Before the re-watch, I had divided Bond-actors in my mind to Connery/Dalton/Craig- and Moore/Lazenby/Brosnan-categories, so I was surprised to discover that the movie was actually more harsh than fantastic. The fight scenes were effective and brutal, and most of the gunfights are saved for the two ski chases, so Bond has to use his fists a lot. Although we see Q showing some stuff to M in the beginning movie, Bond is mostly on his own in this movie, and traps which he can basically walk away from are also absent. I had no trouble seeing Lazenby as a man who kills when he has to, and villains didn't pull back their punches, either. I was actually shocked to see an enemy getting shredded to pieces during a ski chase. All we saw was blood spattering on the snow, but I was surprised anyway.
The movie is just overall very competent, and the entire series seems to reach its artistic peak in the final scene: Tracy and Bond drive off as a husband and wife in complete silence, stopping by the road for some snark which is when Blofeld and Bunt drive by, shooting the car, and when Bond gets back into the car for a chase, we get the most stunning shut of dead Tracy through the windscreen.
And Lazenby breaks my heart with the final words of the movie:
It's all right. It's quite all right, really. She's having a rest. We'll be going on soon. There's no hurry, you see. We have all the time in the world.
How is that not perfect?
In fact, the only thing that really bothers me about this movie is that no matter how many people recognize it as a great film nowadays, it's never going to get the respect it deserves just because Lazenby is the ultimate not!Connery, and some people are just never going to get over that. But I don't really care. On Her Majesty's Secret Service still remains as my all-time favorite Bond.
It was. In fact, as much as I love Casino Royale and have great faith in future of James Bond again, On Her Majesty's Secret Service is still the finest Bond ever made.
George Lazenby is officially the most underrated Bond ever. There are still people who dislike Dalton, but even he tends to get credit for being a good actor otherwise, but Lazenby doesn't even get that. I realize that Lazenby's screen presence may not be as strong as Connery's or even Brosnan's, but for somebody with zero acting experience I think he did a great job. Lazenby's Bond is very sympathetic and very human, but also effective and brutal when necessary, and I think that's why most people dislike him: Bond is supposed to be superhuman. He was also the first actor other than Connery to take the role, for which people will never forgive him.
If there's any Bond-girl who is larger than life, it's Diana Rigg's Tracy di Vicenzo. While some Bond-girls are stronger in presence than others (for example Eva Green as Vesper Lynd and Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore), Diana Rigg is just enigmatic, and Tracy as a character is smart, tough and brave, and also vulnerable and loving. Bond/Tracy-romance is still without its deserved match, and not least because of the final scene of the movie. More about that later.
Ernst Blofeld is probably the most iconic Bond-villain, but also the most ridiculed one, and OHMSS is probably the only movie where he truly feels like the worthy foe to Bond. Compared to Donald Pleasance's cartoony Blofeld in You Only Live Twice, Telly Savalas's Blofeld is subtly menacing and dangerous, with eerie charisma which should be a requirement for all supervillains. Also good is Ilse Steppat's steely Irma Bunt, who's definitely one of the more dangerous women that Bond has ever encountered.
As far as rest of the cast goes, Gabriele Ferzetti is very charming and likable as Tracy's protective father, and one of the most interesting Bond-allies seen in the movies. As far as the regulars go, I thought Lazenby's scenes with Bernard Lee's M were especially interesting, and I had no trouble believing that Bond and Moneypenny had been flirting to each other for years.
Before the re-watch, I had divided Bond-actors in my mind to Connery/Dalton/Craig- and Moore/Lazenby/Brosnan-categories, so I was surprised to discover that the movie was actually more harsh than fantastic. The fight scenes were effective and brutal, and most of the gunfights are saved for the two ski chases, so Bond has to use his fists a lot. Although we see Q showing some stuff to M in the beginning movie, Bond is mostly on his own in this movie, and traps which he can basically walk away from are also absent. I had no trouble seeing Lazenby as a man who kills when he has to, and villains didn't pull back their punches, either. I was actually shocked to see an enemy getting shredded to pieces during a ski chase. All we saw was blood spattering on the snow, but I was surprised anyway.
The movie is just overall very competent, and the entire series seems to reach its artistic peak in the final scene: Tracy and Bond drive off as a husband and wife in complete silence, stopping by the road for some snark which is when Blofeld and Bunt drive by, shooting the car, and when Bond gets back into the car for a chase, we get the most stunning shut of dead Tracy through the windscreen.
And Lazenby breaks my heart with the final words of the movie:
It's all right. It's quite all right, really. She's having a rest. We'll be going on soon. There's no hurry, you see. We have all the time in the world.
How is that not perfect?
In fact, the only thing that really bothers me about this movie is that no matter how many people recognize it as a great film nowadays, it's never going to get the respect it deserves just because Lazenby is the ultimate not!Connery, and some people are just never going to get over that. But I don't really care. On Her Majesty's Secret Service still remains as my all-time favorite Bond.
