Family, and friends, I’m delighted to let you know that we’ve finally hit the halfway point, as today, we review the twelfth James Bond film in the 007 library. Released in 1981, the movie is 007: For Your Eyes Only.
Plot: After the Royal Navy’s fleet is sunk by the Soviet Army, Bond (Roger Moore) teams up with Grecian beauty Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet), whose parents were killed by a Cuban hitman after they were trying to uncover a special communicator that was part of the sunken ship. It’s up to Bond, Melina, and some newer friends to stop the Soviet Army from carrying out their mission, and starting an all out war once and for all.
Okay, this may yet have been part of a streak of 007 films that have seemed to help keep this film going for quite some time. 007: For Your Eyes Only seems to yet be one of the best of these films in this series. First off, we should appreciate the fact that Bond seemed to be better behaved in terms of exercising more self-control this time around. How well can he keep this up in the folks of this series to come? I guess we shall see. Well, because of this, this 007 seems to teach the audience a valuable lesson in this good quality. 007: For Your Eyes Only also does an excellent job with it’s characters, whether it be Bond, Melina, the supporting cast, and even the villains. That reminds me! The villains seem to be much more interesting this time around. This time, it’s almost like we have one of those twist villain types for this film. Considering that this came out before those types of villains seemed to be much more common in either animated, live-action films, that most likely says a lot. As I said before, there’s also the characters, most notably this friendly smuggler named Milos Colombos, who is played by actor Topol. Who would have guessed that an actor like him could play such extravagant roles in addition to Tevye from the 1971 musical film, Fiddler On The Roof? Sure, people may like his role in that film a little more than the character that he plays in here. Still, Topol knows how to play the bumbling type of character. Considering this was before comedians like Robin Williams, and Adam Sandler would become more popular in the world of Hollywood, how could one not like Topol just as much, if not more so? What’s more is that there aren’t any additional characters crammed into this story that are there just for the sake of being there. Seeing as that seemed to be problematic for this film series, that’s something that should help the viewer appreciate this 007 film even more. Additionally, we should talk about the theme song for this film, which of course is the same as the title for this film. Maybe it’s just me, but it’s almost like these 007 movies seem to have some rather catchy, or more calm and soothing songs. It just begs a question. In addition to a good majority of these films having a good plot, and excellent action, is it possible that maybe the 007 films have also been so iconic even today is because the song that is played around the beginning of most of these films seem to be rather fun, and/or enjoyable enough to listen to more than once? Think about it! Nearly every Bond film in this franchise, thus far, has played a song sometime around the beginning of each film. Not only that, but they’ve also been original songs as well. Considering that the only time that we hear original songs seem to be on either Disney animated films, or live-action films that go under the category of musical, that’s probably saying a lot. Wouldn’t you guys agree? Just a thought! One other thing to mention is the beginning of the film. I won’t give away what happens to those of you who haven’t seen this 007 movie. However, I will say that one can’t help but wonder if maybe the beginning was foreshadowing something to come either in this film, or even a future James Bond film. I guess we’ll see as this series continues.
Well folks, that concludes my review for 007: For Your Eyes Only. Wow, what an excellent film to be a part of this 007 film collection! This film does work well with some elements that some of the other films seemed to have issues with more often than not. The movie seems to have some of the most excellent writing, a fantastic setup, more fleshed out characters this time around, and an overall great story all around. If this you haven’t seen this 007 film yet, let me tell you that you have no idea what you’re missing out on.
Final Grade: A+
Matthew’s Animated & Live-Action Movie Reviews 