Review of On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) by Kai82 — 12 Dec 2020

The sixth James Bond movie and the debut staring George Lazenby. It was disliked at release but over time it was regarded as a pretty good entry in the franchise. For me it is also a good James Bond movie and I liked that they tried something different.

It was a difficult situation as every new James Bond actor would be compared to Sean Connery who is for many the definitive James Bond. While there was no bad James Bond actor there will always be discussions what is acceptable as James Bond or how to do the role.

For me I think George Lazenby delivers a good performance and would have won the fans over if this was not his only movie in this role. Remember even Sean Connery did improve a lot since his first James Bond movie.

The story starts when James Bond drives along a country road when he is passed by another car. When he follows it he finds it empty and saves the female driver from suicide. He is shortly after attacked and the women vanishes.

Because of this his interest is awakened and he follow this lead. He is drawn into a new adventure as a new menace for the world unfolds as there is far more behind the scenes as it seems. It mind sound boring and inferior first but it is clever as the antagonist have learned from their past mistakes and keep it smaller and quieter but not less dangerous.

It is the kind of menace many will ignore as there are no indicators like missing nuclear weapons, spacecrafts or rumors about superweapons / dangerous technologies. For itself it is a great plan because it is as small, easily to hide and most devastating.

Then there are the actors. I already praised George Lazenby and he deserves it. He did what he could making all stunts he was capable of by himself (He even broke his arm if I remember correctly) and even cried for a special and emotional scene in a manner that improved the impact by far.

It was not used by the director as James Bond does not cry. I think it was a mistake here. It is a misconception that real man done cry. The there is Diana Rigg who is one of my favorite actresses. She won me over as Emma Peel in the TV series “The Avengers” (Not to be confused with the Marvel brand or the abysmal movie remake which has strangely Sean Connery in a role).

If you ever look for a poster girl for strong independent woman even before that was a thing you need look no further. Telly Savalas is my favorite Ernst Starvo Blofeld even when he is forever memorized as Kojak.

Bonus points for Gabriele Ferzetti and Ilse Steppat. There were of cause some problems that are always mentioned with the movie. During production there was a rumored conflict between George Lazenby and Diana Rigg that both denied ever happened.

There were problems with the director Peter Hunt and George Lazenby as they disagreed a lot on top of other smaller issues. This lead to the return of Sean Connery and it could have been from 4 to 7 additional movies with George Lazenby according to different sources.

The movie was filmed in Swiss and one certain place is actually a restaurant that still exists and has also a James Bond exhibition. All in all it gave a good look and realistic setting. I must also remark they did something no other James Bond movie did and a shocking end that will left you shattered.

I think this is the hardest hit James Bong has ever endured. Overall this is a really good entry in the franchise and I will give it a high rating. It would have been an interesting ride if George Lazenby had the chance of additional movies.