Review of On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) by Vegard Ø — 21 Dec 2012

Merry Christmas with James Bond! I watch this film multiple times every year, but I always make a point to get around to it during the holidays.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is an excellent Bond novel, and when I initially watched the film adaptation, I didn't love it as much as the novel. Granted, I thought it was good, but not among the best. However, the more I watched this film, the more and more I grew to love it. It has climbed up my ranks of best Bond films progressively over the many years (and Christmases) since I was a kid and eventually it earned the crown as king of the Bond films, as well as one of my all time favorite movies period.

It's criminal how many people dislike this film, for reasons that I can't begin to understand. The most common complaint is George Lazenby. I personally don't think that he is all that bad in the role and have no problem with him. He does a fine job with the action scenes and can be quite funny ("just a slight stiffness coming on"). No, he is not as good as Connery, but neither is Roger Moore, and not nearly as many people complain about Moore's portrayal. Other complaints include the length, which again I have no problem with. I know no film of equal length out there that goes by as fast as this. There's plenty of well-executed action sequences to keep interests and plenty of excellent scenes featuring the genius of John Barry's soundtrack to excite. I don't know how people complain of boredom when two of the greatest action sequences of the series (Bond's escape from Piz Gloria and the following attack) are included in it.

OHMSS is a perfect adaptation of a great novel. Maybe the producers should stick to the original books' storylines more often. The action is first rate, the humor is top-notch, the story is amazing, the Bond girl is beautiful, and the music is nothing short of the best. Had Connery been Bond in this one, it would easily be considered the best of the lot. Even then, it is still my favorite of the series and should definitely not be overlooked.