Review of On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) by Wez C — 08 Jul 2009

I find it strange that Lazenby only ever made one Bond movie (he could've set himself up for life!) However, he does a much better than average job at carrying off this mammoth job, after all, he did step into some big shoes after Connery left the role.

Peter Hunt left the editor's chair and wanted the job of directing this movie. He decided to make Bond more human, and followed Fleming's book page by page. He does do a good job and brings a breath of fresh air to the series, something different to 007, which I for one was glad of.

The cast performs their parts with energy and meaning. The chemistry between Bond, Tracy and her father Marc Ange Draco is a credit and is most believable. Locations are new, exiting and varied.

Lazenby does an amicable job at playing Bond, but in my opinion I think the producers could've found someone with a bit more depth...

Production is excellent and as the film is a little too long at over two hours long, with parts of the film slowing right down to a shuddering halt before kicking off again. I think there could have been half an hour at least trimmed off the movie to keep a solid pace.

I like the fact that this film introduces gadgets and weapons from previous Bond films, giving the audience the feeling that Bond is a human and also giving us an insight into the character we've all grown to like. Also seeing 007's office in detail, M's home for the first time are just little things that add depth to the Bond world.

OHMSS isn't without fault however. The main problem I noticed with this film is the rather tacky and lacklustre editing: scenes speed up suddenly and characters are shown blatantly mouthing something, and being dubbed by something else! I also don't understand how come Blofeld doesn't recognise 007 in this movie!? All Bond uses when disguised as Hilary Bray is a pair of spectacles! I thought Blofeld was a genius!?

Overall a breath of fresh air in the Bond series and gives us plenty of new ideas for a sixth Bond film. Fleming's book was fantastic but I don't think the story transposes well onto film: Bond getting married, Blofeld using women to distribute a deadly toxin using a make-up bag etc is a little stupid. Other than that a great film.