All I can say is it’s about time this movie has been available as a single DVD. Ever since its initial release this mighty film has had to deal with the regrettable and entirely undeserved stigma of being a lesser and forgettable footnote in the Bond canon. Nothing could be further from the truth.
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On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is a masterpiece, both as a James Bond movie and as an adventure movie in its beget right– and it is far and away the best Bond movie that has ever been made thusfar. The reasons for this are manifold. For one thing it succeeds marvelously on both an artistic as well as an escapist level– imho it’s the only Bond film so far to accomplish this. Secondly it features what is easily the greatest fetch in a Bond movie, and possibly the greatest action theme music ever–the ripping instrumental theme detached excites me every time I hear it after 25 years and more listens than I could possibly hope to remember. Thirdly it features one of the best ensemble casts of all the Bond movies– every allotment was perfectly cast (yes even Bond) and they all played off each other wonderfully. Last but not least it was directed but arguably the best of all Bond directors, Peter Hunt.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is original among the Bond movies in so many ways, most notably in that it stars the criminally underrated George Lazenby as Bond. Lazenby was a fight instructor with the Special Forces, a championship skier and swimmer– all of which contributed to him having a powerful physical grace, as well as the sort of elegant magnetism, confidence and run that simply can’t be faked. In short, where most of the Bonds have been actors trying to be action heroes, Lazenby was an action hero trying to be an actor– and as far as I’m concerned this gave him a determined advantage over everyone else who has attempted the role. And he was bloody frosty. So frosty, in fact, that to this day, more than Connery even, watching Lazenby makes the 12 year-old in me want to hasten out and effect the world. Topping everything off the man was a model and absolutely adored by women. In short he was, to my mind, far and away the most naturally friendly of any of the actors who have ever played Bond. Yes, he was a microscopic rough around the edges in the acting department, but by God he had it where it counted and was diamond in the rough. It is one of the immense tragedies of action cinema history that we didn’t find to peep him design as Bond.
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And then there’s the film itself. In addition to a improbable lead it also contains one of the best villains of the series– Telly Savalas’ Blofeld. Egotistical, charming, entirely self-centred, sparkling as well as menacing and physically imposing, he was the perfect counter to Lazenby’s Bond. You could literally sense the urgency and drive slow his egocentric madness– clearly he was a villain to be reckoned with. And there was that cold arrangement he held his cigarettes. Furthermore, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service has what is probably the best anecdote of the series. It struck impartial the honest balance between the absurd (the mountaintop fortress and belief to demolish the world’s crops) and the serious (the character development and lack of gadgets and over-the-top incredible elements) as well as touching on some quintessential male fantasy elements: a bevy of beauties atop a mountain hideaway on the one hand, and the enjoyable Tracy on the other. Let it be said here and now that as ridiculous as the opinion of hypnotizing a group of elegant women to go out and do your bidding really is, it must be renowned that the whole understanding is fantastically frosty on the level of fantasy on which Bond films have always had their just niche. If Ian Fleming were alive to day I would give him a top-notch pat on the wait on for that one.
Let us now contemplate the action scenes– some of the best of the entire series– not the least of which are the stellar fight scenes: brutal and personal, not to be approached in awesomeness until Casino Royale two years ago. And then there are the ski scenes– utterly astonishing. The Piz Gloria sprint is easily the single most fascinating scene in the whole series, and it culminates so beautifully with Bond lost and alone at the ice rink, unsure what to do before lo! his guardian angel appears. I would go so far as to say that from the moment Bond is imprisoned in the cable-car room upright through the kill of the movie, we have perhaps the best extended action sequence in any Bond movie, perhaps in any action movie ever– and it’s scored brilliantly by the incomparable John Barry.
Above all, however, one gets a positive sense watching On Her Majesty’s Secret Service of how powerful went into it. Starting with Goldfinger and culminating with You Only Live Twice the Bond movie producers went quite over the top and shifted the focus of the films away from character and depth into the realm of ample budget spectacle– to the point that the character of Bond was reduced to a cheap toupe adorning all the nonsense going on around him. By the time On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was made they evidently decided to whine the series succor to its roots. One thing that stands out to me more every time I peruse this film is how considerable it is apparent that everyone keen with it do their heart and soul into making the “narrative” Bond film. It broke all the standard Hollywood success rules– it blew the then just-established formula to smithereens, it was the first one to really address James Bond as a human being, it was the first to give Bond a chance to topple in care for, to have him register safe horror and emotion, and so on.
Looking benefit it’s almost as if some higher power intervened, realigned the planets and allowed the fireworks and spectacles to be keep on beget for one movie so that the filmmakers could form a movie from their heart, so they could disclose a myth without sacrificing its integrity on the altar of crazy gadgets, whimsical plotlines and futuristic sets– and I mediate it is this quality that gives OHMSS its honest pulse, that quality which, to me, makes it stand out more and more as the best film of the series with each viewing. Goldfinger and Thunderball may have embedded Bond firmly in the collective accepted consciousness, but On Her Majesty’s Secret Service captured perfectly the soul of Bond– and it hasn’t been topped since.
To paraphrase a tribute once given to a huge historical personage: To a traveler standing come a mountain range many eminences seem to have approximately the same altitude; it is difficult to disengage Everest from its lofty neighbors. But as the range recedes in the distance, the highest peak lifts more and more above its fellows, until it alone fills the horizon. So it has been with On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
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This is the sixth “official” (meaning EON productions) movie in the James Bond series.
It is based on the 1963 original of the same name by the slow Ian Flaming. This movie follows the residence of this fresh quite closely.
This is the only Bond movie to star George Lazenby as fictional MI6 agent James Bond, code number 007. (Sean Connery had end after starring in five Bond movies.)
After “Dr. No” (1962), this is the only Bond movie with solely instrumental opening credits theme music. (This music is quiet quite thrilling to hear after all these years.)
Yes, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, head of SPECTRE (SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion) is Bond’s nemesis in this movie. In fact, this is the second in what is considered to be the “Blofeld Trilogy.” (This means that the Bond movie before this one had Blofeld and the Bond movie after this one had Blofeld. In all three cases, Blofeld was played by a different actor. In this movie, the legendary Telly Savalas plays a salubrious Blofeld.)
What is especially new about this movie is that Bond meets, falls in adore with, and eventually marries Contessa Teresa “Tracy” di Vicenzo (well-acted by Diana Rigg) . Effect that Rigg is the main Bond girl but there are twelve more. These dozen Bond girls are Blofeld’s unwitting “Angels of Death.”
During the Bond and Tracy courtship, there is the song “We have all the time in the world” sung by the incomparable Louis Armstrong. This song is special since this is his last recorded song.
I liked the puny things the writers achieve into this movie. I’ll mention objective a few of them:
(1) The gun-barrel sequence was slightly different from the ones Bond fans were broken-down to seeing at that time. (2) At the demolish of the opening sequence, Bond actually talks to the audience. (I don’t consider this has occurred in any other Bond movie.) (3) During the opening credits sequence, there are outtakes from previous Bond movies. (4) In one scene in this movie, Bond visits his office and takes out from his desk drawer gadgets from the previous Bond movies “Dr. No,” “From Russia with Appreciate,” and “Thunderball.” (Interestingly, this movie has minimal gadgets.) (5) In another scene, a janitor can be heard whistling the theme from “Goldfinger.”
There is grand debate about George Lazenby’s James Bond. Personally, I liked him as Bond since he looks and moves like Bond. Due to the nature of the double set, he had to be both sensitive and ruthless. He pulls it off. Unfortunately, Sean Connery was so closely identified with the role at the time such that people had a hard time seeing Lazenby in the role. (Lazenby, despite being offered a seven-movie contract deal, finish the role on advice from his agent.)
The only plight I had with this movie is that it takes a long time to area up and viewers may procure bored because of this. But the wait is worth it! The last hour of the movie is essentially one long, thrilling action sequence. After watching this accompanied by the specially-composed instrumental music (described above), you might feel like going out and saving the world from imperfect!!
Beware that this movie ends on a dusky brand but the ending is realistic considering the nature of Bond’s job.
This movie was filmed on plot in Switzerland, Portugal, and London, England.
It grossed eighty-seven million dollars worldwide (that’s a trustworthy five-hundred and thirteen million in today’s dollars) . It was one of the highest grossing movies worldwide at that time.
The DVD (released in 2009) is flawless in portray and sound quality. This movie has been digitally restored and I’m obvious the report is impartial as first-rate (if not better!!) than when it was released forty years ago. There is one extra, an audio commentary.
Finally, here is some information to believe. This DVD is actually the first disc of the two disc “Ultimate Edition.” Bond fanatics may want to pick this two-disc Ultimate Edition since the second disc has “the best collection of special features ever assembled for Bond.” (Unfortunately, the Ultimate Edition is no longer available but can be purchased second-hand.)
In conclusion, this is a current and absorbing James Bond movie that has been overlooked!!
(1969; 2 hr, 20 min; wide screen; 32 scenes)
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