Review of On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) by Mike K — 15 May 2009

This has become one of my favourite 007 films because of the score and the setting. The score was excellent, really distinctive. The cast was not great but Lazenby deserved more credit. Savalas was the worst Blofeld ever and just wasn't menacing enough.

Everyone says it was weird having the characters 007 and Blofeld not reconising each other as they met in the previous film but I class this as a stand alone film in most ways. Definately under-rated over the passage of time and had some very surreal moments.

(Lazenby being dubbed in the guise of Sir Hilary Bray, rapid editing by John Glen in the pre-titled fight sequence at the beach, a flashback being optically intercut in the windows of M's Office with 007 looking outside, gifts from past characters in 007's suitcase with soundtacks intercutting madly, a villian being shredded in a snow plough with blood and snow being gushed out over the hill, being just some of them.

) I did miss the gadgets but I just loved the look of the film, had a Christmas feel. I wasn't happy with 007's constant womanising with the girls in Piz Gloria and then asks Tracy to marry him soon after escaping there! I saw this on the big screen and hope to see it in another re-release very soon as it was a brilliant experience.

I think George Lazenby was very good, especially at action, but the whole different approach from director Peter Hunt made it look like a carbon copy of a Sean Connery one previously. Bad marketing let the film down.

(Posters not saying Lazenby's name and the titles with inserted clips from Connery's films minus Blofeld of course!) John Barry has created one of my favourite soundtracks ever in this film. Fantastic.