Review of On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) by Harry W — 07 Oct 2014

Topping 007 Magazine's poll for best James Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service was to be my first 007 film not to feature Sean Connery in the titular role.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is not as exciting as some of the better James Bond films. The premise is more complicated this time around due to the political context of the story, but the pace of the film is extremely slow. I like my 007 films to have more energy, and On Her Majesty's Secret Service simply comes up short on it. Despite its interesting setting and a lot of potential, the story in On Her Majesty's Secret Service moves along too slowly while coming up short in terms of a good quantity of action scenes. This is a shame because it has some really good action moments, such as the iconic ski chase scenes which are one of the most popular elements of On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Those scenes are fast moving and energetic, and if more of the film followed that kind of feeling then I probably would have been more favourable of On Her Majesty's Secret Service. But as the rest of the film is composed of a lot of talking but little action, I found myself bored. The plot might have been interesting if the story did not crawl at such a slow pace over the course of its extensively long 144 minute running time, but all in all the movement of the story, the length of the film and the short quantity of action scenes meant that I was not engaged enough in the film to embrace its plot or feel many of the intended thrills. This is a shame because I felt like On Her Majesty's Secret Service had an interesting story and its context was refreshing as well as the fact that it paved way for creative new stunts. So for me, On Her Majesty's Secret Service wasn't exactly the biggest let down as a 007 film, but it certainly lacked the exhilaration of the better ones such as From Russia with Love. And I know that considering On Her Majesty's Secret Service is from 1969 and is therefore 45 years old the age of the film must be taken into account, but I believe that there could have been more action paced out over the course of the entire film instead of crammed pretty much all into the final act of the film. I'll admit the climax of the film is exciting and refreshing, but the first half of the film is so slow and boring that it ends up damaging the entire feature as an experience.

Yet I will admit that the action in On Her Majesty's Secret Service is great. Against the backdrop of an exciting setting which is rich with beautiful scenery, the action in On Her Majesty's Secret Service is all staged well with strong cinematography and well-timed editing, as well as the addition of a musical score which adds atmosphere to the experience and makes well timed use out of the signature 007 theme song. The action scenes in On Her Majesty's Secret Service are truly the highlight of the film, and a lot of the stunts involving heroes and villains on skis are images which are likely to stick to the memories of viewers for many years to come throughout all the James Bond films purely because of how creative and original they are. They really do highlight a good use of the budget in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Although, during a lot of the action scenes, you can see that the camerawork has sped up the close contact fight scenes. This is beneficial in some areas because it makes some moments a little more energetic, but in others it is detracting. It speeds the slow things up somewhat well, but the fight moves which are already quick moving just look a bit too silly when they are speeded up even more. The fight choreography is good and the cast make a firm effort, but some of the editing makes things a bit too speedy. The use of speeding up footage and the overall quantity of action are the only two real central flaws with those scenes though.

But one of the most important and controversial aspects of On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the casting of George Lazenby as the hero himself. I don't think that George Lazenby is particularly bad in the role of James Bond, but he certainly does not live up to the high standard set by Sean Connery. The thing is that he brings slightly above the bare necessities to the part. He looks handsome enough, but he isn't as charming or engaging as Sean Connery. He does do a decent job though because he is more likable and less forceful in his interactions with women, but more importantly he is a solid action hero. Every actor bring their own personal element to the role of James Bond, and George Lazenby's would be his physical confrontation skills. He throws a lot of punches and kicks very well in a series of well-choreographed fight scenes which really capitalise on some of his finest talents, and the romantic passion in his chemistry with Diana Rigg really proves to benefit the film. As a whole, I felt like George Lazenby makes a worthy James Bond, although he does not live up to the quality of Sean Connery by far as he put likable energy and passion into the role which gave him a touch of depth.

Diana Rigg also does a good job with the role of Countess Tracy di Vicenzo, sharing a nice passion with George Lazenby.

So although George Lazenby fails to stand up to the quality of Sean Connery in the role of James Bond, he still remains a decent casting decision for the role. Unfortunately, he is stuck in a film which is too long, too slow and too short on action to be as truly entertaining as it could have been.