OHMSS Movie Review
Q-Branch_2012
Posts: 80MI6 Agent
This is by far my least favourite Bond of the series. George Lazenby is by far the worst Bond in my opinion, and there are many reasons for this. Firstly he is Austrailian, and he is trying to play a British secret agent, secondly, I think the OHMSS plot is week, thirdly, Bond gets married, and finally I think after the five films with Blofeld being the head of SPECTRE, this movie should have moved on from him and started with something fresh, rather than going back to the same bad guy and doing a bad job with him.
So im all fairness, I dont even think it is Lazenby's fault, he does ok, I could probably live with an Austrailian Bond, the pre-title sequence for this is actually really good, but it quickly goes down hill. Bond shows up in a white suit after the titles, which is definately not him. and it gets worse and worse. The final straw for me and the final nail in the coffin for OHMSS is how poorly the Bonds wife is killed by Blofeld as he drives past. But the less said about that the better.
I will try and stay positive and say there are some good things about this film. There are a few snow chase scenes which are enjoyable to watch, and the bob-slay circuit is good fun, and surprisingly the fights scenes are really well done.
I think Bond fans may get some enjoyment out of this, but otherwise I would try to avoid, there are much better Bonds out there.
So im all fairness, I dont even think it is Lazenby's fault, he does ok, I could probably live with an Austrailian Bond, the pre-title sequence for this is actually really good, but it quickly goes down hill. Bond shows up in a white suit after the titles, which is definately not him. and it gets worse and worse. The final straw for me and the final nail in the coffin for OHMSS is how poorly the Bonds wife is killed by Blofeld as he drives past. But the less said about that the better.
I will try and stay positive and say there are some good things about this film. There are a few snow chase scenes which are enjoyable to watch, and the bob-slay circuit is good fun, and surprisingly the fights scenes are really well done.
I think Bond fans may get some enjoyment out of this, but otherwise I would try to avoid, there are much better Bonds out there.
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Comments
Although with time it greatly Improves.
Many regard OHMSS as the Best Bond film, It's my favourite. and I love the Book.
So I'd have to disagree on the "weak" story line.
Give it a few years and you might be amazed at how good it becomes.
I feel EXACTLY the same as yourself about this movie....and the book...it's a true Bond Classic -{
Well, On Her Majesty's Secret Service still leaves a bitter taste with this old boy.
George Lazenby is fine in the action scenes but for the most part his acting inexperience is very evident and I cannot get round that. Therefore, the key part of the plot, the relationship/romance with Tracy does not work. The montage is cringeworthy and the Piz Gloria sequence is too long and dull in places.
On the plus side. A superb score from John Barry, beautifully filmed and exciting ski chases, Telly Savalas is the only one of the visible Blofeld's to have any real menace, and Marc Ange Draco is one of Bond's best allies.
That has been my experience as well. As a kid, I didn't really care much for OHMSS, but it has gradually rose in my favourite Bond films list to number 2.
FRWL is still better, though
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
-Casino Royale, Ian Fleming
While i think Tracy's death could have been mentioned in DAF, i do like the subtle references in future films to her death and Bonds reactions prove he is still very scarred emotionally from it.
Awesome, I believe is the word. :007)
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
Spot on, both Rigg and Lazenby were great in that scene.
I can understand your reactions to this film. I may be wrong, but it sounds like you are much younger than I am and if so, it would partly explain your feelings on this. I saw every film in the original releases, so you can figure my age (though I was only seven when I saw Dr. No).
I have found people who came to viewing the older Bonds only through DVDs and only after seeing the newer ones in the theater get a much different perspective when it comes to OHMSS. When I saw it, it had been released just around the Christmas holiday, and this was after the spectacle of YOLT the previous year (which I enjoyed, but even at that age found to be straying away from Bond and teetered toward the plots and look of the puppetoons of Thunderbirds and Thunderball XL5). It didn't help that Connery was starting too look to old and out of shape for the role to me. When they said there would be a new actor, I was actually relieved. When I finally got to see the film, I was hopped up on anticipation, hoping they would stay close to the novel, which was one of my favorites. The fact it came out around Christma, so the weather and the season was the same as the seaon showing in the film - just made it even more relatable. I was put off at first when I saw Lazenby on the beach, but when he beat up the baddies and said "this never happened to the other fellow" (which made me snicker at first but after I went back to see several more showings, disliked it because it took me out of the "reality" of the story) - he grew on me during the course of the story. His different accent (which never seemed true Australian to me - like Paul Hogan's - more like an odd English accent) didn't bother me, and though I could see his acting wasn't up to Connery's, his charming demeanor and confidence made up for that, as well as his physical presence in the scenes. Now, someone used to seeing all the modern Bond films and actors and then seeing this for the first time I could see finding this unsettling and even disliking it. Also, those who disliked the plot of Bond falling in love and getting married must not like reading Fleming that much, because thats what he wrote and thats what Bond's character arc went through in the novels. As far as Blofeld, blame this on the producers. YOLT was supposed to come AFTER OHMSS, where Bond kills off Blofeld. Since he didn't kill him in OHMSS, they didn't do it in the film either (which unfortunately gave them the excuse to bring him back in DAF).
I agree about the white suit (and white shoes!). Don't even mention the frilly tux shirt! Unfortunately, when they released that film it was the height of the hippy 60's era, and they were trying to make Bond look trendy (notice he also has longer sideburns). You can also see this in the clothing of the Piz Gloria girls and Rigg's wedding outfit. I hated that white suit and still do. Not only does it date the film but makes Bond look foppish (I still hate that rust colored golf zip jacket he's wearing when he's kidnapped as well).
When you said you don't like how "poorly" Rigg is killed, did you mean how it was filmed, or the actual concept of the drive by shooting? It is how Fleming wrote it in the novel, so if it's the scene itself, then it sounds like you would not like the novel either. If it's how the scene is filmed, the you need to be more specific.
You feel the plot is weak. Strangely enough, book critics and myself always found this to be one of Flemings best novels. Is it because you dislike seeing a more human Bond and prefer the more superhuman character that the producers created? This would be sort of like a Superman character without the human Clark Kent.
If you are comparing this to the more modern Bonds and perhaps have not read all Flemings novels (or have and perhaps even disliked many of them), then I can see how this film would not agree with you. For younger viewers, it's not easy to warm up to - especially when it was the only film that Lazenby did, so there are no other Bonds that he would have been in to compare it to as we can with the other actors.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
I have to say, my opinion is pretty much seperated from the general Bond fans who praise this movie to be the very best one. (Or atleast their favorite.) (Which I have all the respect for by the way.) My opinion is actually quite similiar to yours Q-Branch_2012...
If you guys care to hear me talk about this movie for half an hour, then feel free to watch my look on it, over here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCrdeVwgd4M
(I will also post a link in the thread where I posted all of the other episodes, for those who care
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When I stated Tracey is poorly killed, I mean she is build up through the whole of the movie, and then she is randomly shot in a drive by, with no build up or prior warning, to me it seemed rushed to fit it into the movie, and to me it was a poor pay off for a big investment in a character throughout the movie. (I am looking at this from the momvie point of view not the novel).
I thought the plot was weak, for a Bond movie I want to see action, and for the first half of the movie, their wasn't really any action at all, I know it was all build up to a Bond and Tracey wedding, but then to kill her off so poorly, as I said above I thought it was a poor payoff. All in all, for me, the first half of this movie was pretty boring. It was good once the action started.
I understand what people are saying about the book, but I am solely concentrating on the movie.
Maybe if Lazenby had done more Bonds then he may have grown on me as an actor, but from this outing I don't think he was a good fit to Bond, mainly due to his poor acting skills.
I pretty much agree with most things Dutchfinger said in his video, by the way good videos!!!
Your reaction to Rigg's dying is understandable, since you did not read the novel. As to the lack of action in the first act of the film, it's like that because, again, the producers tried to stay true to the novel - as they did with Tracey's death. The producers have struggled with how to put Bond on screen since Dr. No. While Fleming was alive (Dr. No. thru Goldfinger), they stayed as close to the novels as possible. After Fleming's death, they realized that with Thunderball, they could go as big as they want with the gadgets and action and plot and turn a human Bond into a superhuman Bond. The fact they became parodies many times didn't slow them down, because they kept raking in the box office. When they tried to return to Fleming's work with OHMSS as they did with the first three films, as well as bring in a new Bond, the box office fell off enough to cower them into going back to the parodies and the superman Bond with just action oriented plots. It sounds like you are among those fans who prefers this cinema version of Bond, which is why you would dislike OHMSS. Members like me are in the other camp, who read Fleming and became attached to his literary creation as opposed to the EON's superhuman character. That is why we put the original four films and entries like FYEO, TLD, GEYE, CR and, of course, OHMSS, at the top of our favorites list. They either stayed close to Flemings novels or borrowed many scenes from them, and/or kept Bond's human side more or less intact.