I had maintained for years that For Your Eyes Only was the best of the Moore era but recently had been debating whether or not to elevate The Spy Who Loved Me. This rewatch was going to be the deciding factor. How did it turn out? You’ll have to wait (or skip) to the end.

Coming off Moonraker, Bond was brought back down to earth with a Cold War story similar to that of From Russia with Love with as little gadgetry as possible. The mixture of Moore’s more laid back portrayal of Bond and the grittier Bond of the Connery era also reaches its peak here and is probably the best performance of his run. His relationship with Melina is given real time to develop and they don’t even consummate it on screen. Bond shows actual concern over her need for revenge and how it could lead to her own death. This also gives the Bond Girl a separate, independent storyline of her own. She’s involved because she wants to be in order to get justice for her parents. Carole Bouquet emotes a lot without actually speaking (as she was dubbed), her fiery eyes filled with passion and a lust for revenge rather than Bond.

The action scenes are also some of the best of this era. The car chase could be seen as a little silly but having Bond rely on his wits rather than his Lotus to escape the bad guys is more satisfying as it shows his skill rather than just pushing buttons. The ski chase is a great highlight as well and the best sequence of the film. Both are made immeasurably better by the accompanying music fusing an end of the 70s and beginning of the 80s style quite well. Of course, the best moment is Moore kicking the henchmen’s car over the cliff to obtain his own revenge for fallen allies. Moore was apparently put off by these more sadistic scenes but they are the basis of the character going all the way back to Dr. No.

Topol is one of the best allies Bond has had in a while and is a mixture of Kerim Bey and Marc-Ange Draco. A Greek smuggler who wins Bond over with his charm and big personality, Columbo and the villain, Kristatos, have their own adversarial relationship which Bond is pushed into and takes advantage of. Glover is fine as the villain, giving his character enough charisma and menace so he can play both sides. The one glaring mistake is the addition of Bibi Dahl. She adds nothing to the plot and it doesn’t even make sense why she would be there in the finale.

Part of the allure of FYEO is also the tension in seeing how Bond escapes. When he’s cornered on the ski jump without his gun, being keelhauled across coral to become shark bait or dangling precariously off a cliff, this is a Bond who has to work at getting the job done. It’s far from effortless. And while Moore is starting to show his age a bit in these later entries, he’s game to make the scenes as real as possible. He wanted to do some of his own skiing but was refused for insurance purposes. The music helps to further the tension such as the frantic untying of the binds before he and Melina are run down by Kristatos’ boat. It won’t be long before Bond is shooting down dozens of henchmen with little thought so it’s nice to enjoy the actual stakes in films such as this one.

I’ve debated how to rate this for a bit. I’ve settled on 8/10. I was going to give it a 7 because I thought I was being too generous to these films as a whole (and I have been) but I think it deserves an extra point just because I still get that thrill from watching it even after multiple viewings. The story and most of the characters are strong and it was great to see a Bond relying more on his own skills than on gadgets in a smaller stakes story that does not rely on yet another megalomaniac threatening to destroy the world. This is Moore’s best and one of the top films of the franchise.

Current Rankings:
1) On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
2) From Russia with Love
3) Goldfinger
4) For Your Eyes Only
5) The Spy Who Loved Me
6) Thunderball
7) Dr. No
8) Live and Let Die
9) You Only Live Twice
10) The Man with the Golden Gun
11) Moonraker
12) Diamonds are Forever

The Man with the Golden Gun.
This has to be the worse Bond theme tune ever. Just a bunch of embarrassing innuendo lines and it's poorly sung by Lulu. Title credits nothing special, especially off the back of impressive Live and Let Die.
Other than Scaramanga/Christopher Lee this would be quite unmemorable. Its the most boring I've seen so far, very little to discuss hence the short review.
The dressing room fight scene were you can see the film crew repeatedly in mirrors. Piss poor.
Its not Bond at its very worst but its certainly not Bond at its best, bland and unforgettable.
I’m taking another point off because they brought that damned racist Sherriff back. It was unforgivable the first time but its much worse here.
4/10

The Spy who loved me
One of the most audacious openings, I’d say the sky jump is probably only trumped by Goldeneye’s damn jump for the opening stunt.
Brilliant song from Carly Simon, the title screens though… It used to be silhouettes now there’s clear nudity everywhere!
The use of classical music for the shark attack and the brilliant scene were the Jurgen's base rises from the ocean are class.
Moore mimic’s Laurence of Arabia. Not a patch on O’Toole for coolness though.
Jaws is a great henchman. Stromberg is a somewhat forgotten villain of the series but Jurgens gives a decent performance.
The bike/car/helicopter chase scene is a bit off due to the way its plotted but it leads to the submarine car, now often things like this have me rolling my eyes but here it actually works, it looks so freaking good.
If there is a criticism, its that some of final scenes feel a bit of a rehash of YOLT.
9/10 (3rd best film for me so far I think)

Ok, I've tried to watch The Man with the Golden Gun three times, and all times the movie went wrong. Just my luck...

I’ve long thought of Octopussy as an overlooked utility player in the Moore era. Sandwiched between arguably his highest and lowest points, the story is not flashy but it’s a strong entry and should have probably been his exit from the series. More in vein with the smaller stakes For Your Eyes Only than the megalomaniac-centered earlier films, Octopussy tries to fuse those styles and does so somewhat successfully. The story is ostensibly another plot entrenched in the Cold War but the focus is instead on a jewel smuggling ring and the part it plays in one rogue general’s quest for power.

And that begs the question of who is the villain in Octopussy? Most would probably say Kamal Khan, played with impeccable sophistication by Louis Jourdan, as he is the one who faces off with Bond for large parts of the film. However a case could also be made for Steven Berkoff’s hammy General Orlov who drives the entire scheme. The problem is we spend almost no time with him and are just shown that he wants an aggressive Soviet Union in a time of détente. Orlov serves merely as a plot device to propel the story and once his part is served, he’s summarily removed from the proceedings. Why was he running after the train anyway? Just because Bond was on it?

I do find this to be an enjoyable entry however. India is a gorgeous location and it looks and feels different from previous locales Bond has been to. There’s also some good sequence ideas here such as the safari hunt when Bond escapes from Khan’s palace. The execution however leaves a lot to be desired and Moore appears to be running around the backlot as animals are thrown at his stunt double. The train sequence is another I quite enjoyed however the glaringly obvious switches from the in location stunts to Moore on a soundstage are somewhat distracting. The stunt work in the Moore era is at the top of its game especially in the previous film but when you have an older Bond it’s harder to fake the inserts.

Not to knock on Moore’s age because I still think he plays it strong enough here. He originally considered leaving after Moonraker but continued to stay on. For FYEO and this film, I think that was the right decision as both are fine additions to his tenure. Bringing back Maud Adams as Octopussy also was a smart move. The two have real chemistry and because of the prior history between them in the franchise, you can buy their pairing here so quickly. Bond’s female partners in the last few films have all been pretty well done but sadly that won’t be the case in the next film.

I’m going to give Octopussy a 6/10. I debated rating it higher but I consider it a strong 6 vs. a weak 7. I throughly enjoyed rewatching this one. It’s one that surprises me each time I come back to it. The parts are greater than the whole here. You have Bond in both a gorilla and clown outfit, but you also have solid action like the assault on Octopussy’s palace and the train sequences and great tension such as Bond defusing the bomb. It’s not quite an all time high for Moore but it’s one of his better outings.

Current Rankings:
1) On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
2) From Russia with Love
3) Goldfinger
4) For Your Eyes Only
5) The Spy Who Loved Me
6) Thunderball
7) Dr. No
8) Octopussy
9) Live and Let Die
10) You Only Live Twice
11) The Man with the Golden Gun
12) Moonraker
13) Diamonds are Forever

Sadly the Bond films were pulled off streaming at the end of December. I own DVD copies but twice now they’ve crapped out on me but luckily I had a back-up both times. I’m hoping they pop up somewhere in February.

Hi guys. I'm back. The Christmas season was hell.

We’re not covering the non-canon Never Say Never Again in this rewatch however if one were so inclined to include it, it falls here between Octopussy and A View to a Kill. I rewatched it last night so just a few thoughts. It’s not as good as I remember. Maybe that had to do with how I watch films now with a more critical eye or just because we’re steeped in this official rewatch but I didn’t enjoy it as much as some others recently.

Resulting from the legal battle over the rights to the plot of the Thunderball novel, Kevin McClory was granted permission to do a remake of that film. It’s why SPECTRE disappears in the Moore era (and a “Blofeld” was summarily dispatched in For Your Eyes Only’s teaser). And while Thunderball has a great plot, it was a great plot in 1965 and variations of it have been done both in the Bond official franchise and without. Maybe that’s why the plot almost seems secondary in this remake. They tend to focus more on the characters with varying degrees of success. To paraphrase an honest trailer, the villains seem almost lifted from another campier film. Both Klaus Maria Brandauer and Barbara Carrera seem to be enjoying themselves immensely. They play Largo and Fatima with sadistic glee and a touch (perhaps sometimes more) of insanity. It’s different for a Bond film at this point in the franchise.

And overall maybe that’s why it didn’t work for me. It just does not feel like a Bond film. It has the same milestones. M, Q, Moneypenny and Leiter are all there. But it seems a pale imitation. I can sit back and enjoy 1967’s Casino Royale because it’s a parody and clearly not meant to be taken seriously. But this film wants you to. And had McClory gotten his way, he would have remade this again in the 1990s . . . with Timothy Dalton.

Never Say Never Again is definitely worth checking out for the Bond completist. If for nothing else, seeing Sean Connery back in the role and actually enjoying himself is worth it. Although he’s actually younger than Moore, the film does try something different by leaning into an aging Bond. Kim Basinger makes a fine Bond girl but the romance feels undeveloped so I wish she had been given a better chance to shine in an official film. In the Battle of the Bonds of 1983, Octopussy comes out on top.

I just saw The Spy Who Loved Me. I'm putting on hold The Man with the Golden Gun until I actually find a copy that works.

In terms of the Bond movies I've seen, this is one of the better ones. Moore has a solid performance as 007, who has to find what happened to an american submarine that has vanished without a trace. Along the way, he meets a russian spy, Anya (played by barbara Bach), who is also looking for a russian submarine that dissapeared. The relation between the two is quite interesting, having Bond killed the russian spy's lover in a previous mission. They do have a genuine chemistry, plus is also nice to see Bond's vulnerable side for once. It's been a while since the death of his wife in OHMSS was mentioned, and his reaction makes it very clear that it still haunts him. The fact that Anya and Bond compete for most of the movie for the mcguffin allows them to show us their spy tricks. Though I have to admit I'd liked to see more of the both of them dealing with the death of Anya's lover. The scene in which they both realized that was Bond who killed is really good, but it kind of becomes abandoned for a long while, and when they try to bring it back at the very end, it doesn't have the strenght it ought to have. The villains are odd. I don't really care about the main villain, a man who wants to create an underwater utopia by using submarines (maybe he played too much Submarine Titans?) is rather bland, and quite ineffective both in acting and in presence. The main henchmen, on the other hand, is quite entertaining. At first I thought it was more show than substance, since everyone that gets killed by him makes the worst decisions, but then you see what this guy can do, and more importantly, what he can take, and you understand why he's so feared. Him surviving at the end is one of the best points, since I can see him becoming a major threat in another movie. The film also has the advantage of a great script, allowing to juggle both drama and comedy quite well, without never really going overboard with either.

Overall, this is one of the best Bond movies so far, a decent 8/10.

A View to a Kill. I'm giving this a 4.

The good? Well, the theme song is brilliant, as is much of the music throughout. Zorin and Mayday are also decent adversaries. I also enjoyed the brief amount of time Moneypenny got here in Lois Maxwell's final appearance.

The bad? Moore looks ancient here. It reminds me of that scene in The Simpsons where Bart says Troy McClure looks like he's made of rubber when he's appearing on The Muppets. His eyes in particular are really odd. I have read that he had surgery around this time - any truth to this? He looks far too old to be pairing off with Stacey, who is sadly relegated to a useless, damsel in distress sort of role after a succession of prior Bond girls who could hold their own. I've never found the action or plot particularly involving or exciting, and this time through it was no different. A weak send off for Moore and one of (if not the) worst Bond film.