Movie Review – For Your Eyes Only
Principal Cast : Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet, Chaim Topol, Lynn-Holly Johnson, Julian Glover, Cassandra Harris, Michael Gothard, Jill Bennett, Jack Hedley, Walter Gotell, James Villiers, Desmond Llewelyn, John Moreno, Geoffrey Keen, Lois Maxwell, John Wyman, Charles Dance.
Synopsis: Secret service agent James Bond is assigned to find a missing British vessel equipped with a weapons encryption device and prevent it from falling into enemy hands.
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Roger Moore’s 6th and antepenultimate outing as iconic British spy James Bond is a largely entertaining affair, despite nonsensical contrivances and a conspicuously creepy age gap between the star and his leading ladies – there are three in this film who all look about half Moore’s age – and although clocking in at a far too long two hours and change, For Your Eyes Only is better than some of the actor’s earlier instalments. It’s a rare entry where Bond is aided by a band of associates, led by Fiddler On The Roof star Topol, and crossbow wielding Carole Bouquet, who stuns as the film’s primary love interest for Bond, almost ensuring that the super-spy is an adjunct to his own movie; were it not for the help he receives during the film’s climax one suspects mission failure would be imminent. Directed by first-time helmer John Glen, the film’s globetrotting settings and sprawling action sequences, not to mention crisp work from the likes of Julian Glover and Cassandra Harris, are a knockabout good time. While it might not have aged well with its depiction of technology, its superficially engaging and Moore makes a delightful Bond.
The film centers around Bond’s mission to recover the Automatic Targeting Attack Communicator (ATAC), a device capable of controlling British Polaris submarines, after a British spy ship is sunk off the coast of Albania. Bond’s investigation leads him to Greece, where he meets Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet), seeking revenge for her parents’ murder. Together, they uncover a conspiracy involving Greek businessman and KGB double agent Kristatos (Julian Glover), who harbours a potential future Olympic figure-skater (Lynn-Holly Johnson) and her trainer (Jill Bennett), with help from smuggler Milos Columbo (Chaim Topol).
Due to financial difficulties facing United Artists following the commercial hit they took from Heaven’s Gate, the studio’s decision to severely reduce the budget for the expensive Moonraker’s follow-up left the producers with little option but to promote the franchise’s long-time editor John Glen to direct, resulting in a film that returned to the gritty, realistic tone of the series’ early days instead of the previous two films’ more expensive flights of fancy. Whereas Moonraker jumped the shark and sent Bond into space, For Your Eyes Only is firmly rooted on… well, terra firma, and at times descends below the waves in search of the plot’s central MacGuffin, the mysterious ATAC device. Written by co-producer Michael G Wilson and screenwriter Richard Maibaum, For Your Eyes Only was based on the Ian Fleming novel of the same name, but also threw in bits and pieces from other Bond novels, notably Goldfinger and the Fisico short story, and boasts a largely Greek-set plot that showcases some of the marvellous Mediterranean scenery no doubt enjoyed by the film’s production. Extensive car chases, ski-chases, a protracted underwater submarine sequence that turns laughable quite quickly, and a mountaintop retreat climax serve as plot beats in this otherwise tepid Cold War plot, and the reduction in focus on gadgets in favour of beautiful women, cars and superb stunt work makes the film eminently enjoyable as opposed to overwhelmingly silly.
Moore, sadly, is starting to creak around the edges here; he was in his early 50’s during production and his face is definitely starting to show signs of wear-and-tear. The thirty year age gap between he and co-star Carole Bouquet, who was around 22 when the film was made, is extremely noticeable and at times quite paternally creepy, although having said that there is a real chemistry between the two as they dive beneath the waves of the Greek coast and shoot at all the bad guys. It’s icky, but palatable (only just) if you don’t think about it too much. The film also steps into really egregious territory by having an equally aged Lynn-Holly Johnson seemingly play jailbait underage figure skater Bibi, who throws herself at Bond in a fit of sexual horniness; bless him, Bond basically ducks and weaves his way out of the scenario but if this is the filmmakers trying to sexualise a minor (or somebody playing a potential minor – her age isn’t noted in the film itself) then that’s really heinous. Of note, Bond also beds a countess, Lisl, played by Cassandra Harris, one-time real-life wife of Pierce Brosnan, and as with many a second-string Bond girl she meets a tragic fate that spurs the plot (and Bond’s anger) in doing so.
In terms of the wider supporting cast, Julian Glover pops in and delivers yet another slimy, weaselly bad-guy turn (talk about typecasting, the poor dude only seems to play assholes) while Topol is nearly unrecognisable as former drug smuggler turned Bond ally Milos Columbo. Blink and miss them appearances by Charles Dance (as a Kristatos henchman) and Paul Brooke as a dilapidated casino gambler make for a fun point-at-the-screen-and-yell moments, while Desmond Llewelyn bobs up again as the irascible Q, Lois Maxwell plays Miss Moneypenny, and Jill Bennett plays the skating coach whose backstory and character arc feels like it was left on the cutting room floor. Notably, prior to the film’s shoot actor Bernard Lee, who had played Bond’s MI6 boss M in all of the preceding Bond films, had passed away, and so a hurried rewrite saw the British Minister of Defence (Geoffrey Keen) and MI6 Chief Of Staff (James Villiers) step in to cover M’s “leave of absence”.
The film’s success, however, is less about the cast of ragtag villains and heroes and more about the extensive stunt and action sequences. Bond takes to the winding Greek roads in a car chase that’s as impractical and improbable as any in the franchise’s storied history, and yet the quips and illusion of serendipity save the day more than once here. The fact it occurs in and through an orchard, and is witnessed by a lot of innocent bystanders, is quite the chuckle. Perhaps the standout action sequence in the film is a lengthy mountain ski chase, between Bond and several henchmen, and the filming techniques and editing of this sequence are really quite good. There’s an energy and frisson to the action here, and seeing several handheld shots mixed with the more traditional dolly-zoom footage is surprising and welcome. As mentioned, there’s also a deep-diving submariner sequence that feels comparatively clunky – submersibles don’t make the most stylish or evocative action vehicles and the film becomes quite ponderous by this point, but for a “we spared no expense to do this practically” moment I guess it’s pretty cool. The film’s rather anticlimactic clifftop chateau battle sequence is handsomely mounted but lacks the same energy, largely due to the way the film decides to handle Glover’s villain character and a distinct avoidance of direct involvement. This, too, is the moment Bond is helped by a gang of associates led by Topol’s Columbo, and if anything this decision creatively neuters any achievements Bond himself may or may no have. That said, the action is generally really good for a film of this vintage, the explosions and stunts are solid and the women are all-round gorgeous throughout, so make of that what you will.
For Your Eyes Only is a commendable Bond outing, with some minor quips and humour but a far grittier, pulpier globetrotting tone to proceedings that Moonraker did not enjoy. Moore epitomises the British spy by this point, and knows the character like the back of his hand, and John Glen’s energetic direction is arguably among the Moore-era’s best outcomes. While the deeper plot might seem archaic today, the sense of action, tension and sexuality the Bond franchise enjoys is as strong here as it ever was. Not quite top-tier Bond, For Your Eyes Only is still a very entertaining instalment of the venerable franchise.
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