The James Bond Rewatch: Current Movie - SPECTRE

[Veknoid_Outcast]

I finished For Your Eyes Only last night.

Here are my reviews for Moonraker and FYEO.

Moonraker
If this isn't the worst Bond movie, it's definitely in the bottom five. This is such an unfortunate step backward for the Moore era, coming as it does between his two best films. As others have notes, the plot is a retread of The Spy Who Loved Me, although even more preposterous. While the writing and acting is lazy, the set designs are great and the stunt work phenomenal. The opening sky dive action set piece is an all-time great...how on Earth did they film that?? The humor falls flat, there's no wit or suspense (minus a tense outer space chase in the final minutes), and the movie never takes a deep breath to set a scene or develop a character--at one point Bond literally glides from one action set piece into the enemy's exposition lair.

4/10


For Your Eyes Only
I've always thought The Spy Who Loved Me was Moore's best, but I've changed my mind. It's FYEO. This is a quieter, more intimate Bond movie, minus the apocalyptic storylines and larger-than-life villains. I'd complain about some of the action scenes being too long if they weren't so well-staged and tense. The supporting characters--both good guys and bad--are memorable. Topol is another in a long line of fantastic man crushes for Bond, Glover is a pragmatic enemy, and Bouquet much more than another Bond conquest.

I actually feel that some of the Bond trappings hurt this movie; that it's best when it's Bond out in the field partnering with shady, lovable characters. When M16, Q, and other staples are reinserted the movie actually comes back down to Earth. I also think the ice skating subplot doesn't add much to the proceedings.

This is a hair away from a great movie.

7/10