For Your Eyes Only

Among Moore's Bond movies, this is one of the more enjoyable to me, a little behind The Spy Who Loved Me. The girls are a little sketchy, with one seeming a little old and the other not quite the natural beauty you usually see in the role, but I ended up liking her when she turned out to be one of his more competent allies. This is also the only film in the series without the M character after Bernard Lee died, and the first time I noticed Moore looking a little too old for the part. He's older than Sean Connery, so casting him 11 years later in the same role was something of an odd decision. Bond shouldn't be a young buck, but he shouldn't look like he's visibly in his 50s at times either. Still though, the events was reasonable, there's actually something to the plot besides an elaborate scheme to take over/destroy the world, and the action wasn't bad.

Oh! Blofeld finally dies in this one. It's just the opening sequence and he's not identified by name or face but it's totally him and he doesn't actually die on screen but he probably did since he never reappeared in this continuity. Pretty ignominious end, but it was much a statement by the filmmakers as anything, as they were showing the guy who won the rights to the character after a legal battle that they didn't need his ass. Anyway, Bond does some skiing and SCUBA diving and mountain climbing, including some pretty tense scenes throughout before the final assault on the villain's hideout in a mountaintop monastery. It's one of the best end sequences yet, not because of big action or explosions but because it's an interesting setup in an interesting location. The movie is not without its flaws, but at the least it seemed like they were trying.

James Bond stats
Theme song: "For Your Eyes Only" by Sheena Easton
Foreign locations: Greece, Italy
Bond, James Bond: 28:25, 36:40
Martini shaken, not stirred: Not ordered
Ladies seduced: 2
Chases: 2
Kills: 11
Non-lethal takedowns: 10