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On Her Majesty's Secret Service

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

December. 18,1969
|
6.7
|
PG
| Adventure Action Thriller

James Bond tracks his archnemesis, Ernst Blofeld, to a mountaintop retreat in the Swiss alps where he is training an army of beautiful, lethal women. Along the way, Bond falls for Italian contessa Tracy Draco, and marries her in order to get closer to Blofeld.

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Micitype
1969/12/18

Pretty Good

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Listonixio
1969/12/19

Fresh and Exciting

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Philippa
1969/12/20

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

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Scarlet
1969/12/21

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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RNDorrell
1969/12/22

This was the sixth Bond film, and the only one starring George Lazenby as Bond. He was surprisingly good, despite a pair of outwardly jutting bat ears and a slight edge of goofiness. Lazenby had been an unknown male model before winning this role, then he ridiculously declined to ever act as Bond again, a decision he later publicly regretted.So, its stand-alone nature makes it unique in the Bond catalog, but on its own merits, it's one of the very best films of the entire series, with a sinister Telly Savalas bringing actual physically threatening demeanor to the role of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and Diana Rigg as a captivating heroine, a Bond girl with evident brains, guts and ample self-determination. It features a taut, no-nonsense script, with a tongue-in-cheek opening teaser sequence. ("This never happened to the other fellow," the other fellow being Sean Connery, who had walked away from the franchise after "You Only Live Twice," then returned in one later last official performance, "Diamonds Are Forever.")Savalas was menacing and smoothly evil, this time Blofeld is threatening global destruction of major foodstuffs crops as the means of an enormous extortion scheme, biological warfare to be delivered by a cadre of brainwashed beauties, Blofeld's Angels of Death. The flick boasts rich location settings in Portugal and Switzerland, plus some of the best alpine action scenes ever filmed in the entire Bond series, capped by that wicked fight during the long, long bobsled run. The score by John Barry was excellent, as was Peter Hunt's direction.Critics at the time found Lazenby merely passable, but I found him to be droll, emotive and athletic in the proper proportions, big ears or not. Savalas and Rigg brought their late 60s star power to bear, and the result both shakes and stirs, especially with the shocking ending. This film is among those few in the Bond series that is worthy of repeated viewing, it's right up there with "Goldfinger, From Russia With Love, Diamonds Are Forever, The Spy Who Loved Me, Tomorrow Never Dies, and Skyfall." (Note that I refuse to designate one of the two droning, spiritless Timothy Dalton Bond entries as among the best.)

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SimonJack
1969/12/23

If this weren't a James Bond 007 film, it might rate a notch higher. But no more than that. This is an interesting plot, and the film has some of the usual great scenery and camera work. An unusually higher caliber of cast (Diana Rigg and Telly Savalas) raise it a level. But it has a few things against it. The biggest minus is that it drags in several places. It has short bursts of boredom with little action or interest. The second problem is George Lazenby as James Bond. Again, if he wasn't James Bond but someone else, it would be OK. But, he doesn't have the Bond persona. George is a nice guy, a gentleman, even a little down to earth and humble. But he's not a very good actor. His fight scenes have the slightest pause in them, so they seem contrived or staged. James Bond, on the other hand, is supposed to be tough and macho. He's an overly self-confident, even a little conceited character. That's James Bond, but not George Lazenby. And the third thing wrong with this plot is Bond getting married. I don't think any fans were ready for that at that stage of the Bond character. Again, if the hero was anyone other than Bond, it would be OK for a film. But not here. And Diana Rigg's warming up to him after a while just isn't very convincing. Lazenby didn't go over back then, and the search was on for another actor to play James Bond. We would see Sean Connery return two more times. This was Lazenby's first starring role after just appearing in a TV series. He has stayed in the movies and on TV, but couldn't hold up in leading man roles.

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LeonLouisRicci
1969/12/24

Contains more Controversy and Division among James Bond Fans than any other in the Series.To fill Sean Connery's Role, the Producers chose an Australian with No Acting Experience. A Part-Time Model named George Lazenby. He was given the Thankless Task of making the Transition Seamless in a Movie Franchise Second to None.Up to this point, Connery did Five Films, all being Well Received, except one, actually He did Return for one more (about as disappointing as this one), "You Only Live Twice" (1967) which was Below Average, a Disappointment, with Silly Stuff Galore.Lazenby does a Good Job, considering and was asked to Return after this, but Refused the Long Term Contract offered. The Movie, believe it or not, has some Die Hard James Bond Fans saying it's the Best Ever. It was, without doubt, the closest Rendition on Film of the Ian Fleming Novels.On its Own, the Film has more "Heart" than the Previous Pictures, with Bond Falling in Love, and almost No Gadgets. The Action Sequences are Top-Notch and Edge of Your Seat, and there are Plenty to Please Fans.Telly Savalas as Blofeld and Diana Rigg as the most Personally Resonant Bond Girl to Date and Fights along side the Secret Agent with Grace and Aptitude. Rigg adds a Great Deal to the Films Appeal among Bond Fans that consider this a Winner. Now a Cult Film, because it is Divisive and Different.A Fine Film outside the Controversies, and is Entertaining, Exciting, and Emotional.Underrated.

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Giallo Fanatic
1969/12/25

In my opinion this is the best Bond movie that has been made. It doesn't star Sean Connery but I think this is a good thing since George Lazenby made his Bond look more human, as opposed to cool on the outside and cool on the inside Bond of Sir Connery. Sean Connery is a brilliant actor and he brought merit to the character of Bond, but I often feel his Bond was a little bit one-sided. With Lazenby's Bond, we explored a different Bond, a man with vulnerabilities. He was of course still a cold bastard with charm and ruthless drive for success, as shown when Bond slapped Tracy. I've read the first four novels of Ian Fleming's 007, so I am familiar with the character of Bond as he was intended as opposed to what we see on the big screen today. James Bond is first of all a politically incorrect character: he is a womanizer, he smokes a lot, he drinks a lot of alcohol and he appears to have some sort of hatred towards women. But at the same time he is a human being, a tortured character hiding behind the facade of being a ruthless assassin. In my opinion George Lazenby caught that essence pretty well. He even had the skills to be Bond: He was a martial artist, race car driver, skier and an athlete.The story and plot of 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' intrigues me, it was a departure from what we usually get in a 007 movie. It starts kind of slow (but with an impressive fight scene with Lazenby) but as the characters are explored and the plot progresses it gets better and better. The relationship between Bond and Tracy gets romantic and tender and James Bond falls in love. Marc-Ange Draco was also an interesting character, a crime lord whose daughter needs a man to dominate her. I never tire of seeing Lazenby and Gabriele Ferzetti having scenes together, I also like the scenes with Lazenby and Diana Rigg. Because I feel we were exploring Bond as opposed to just watching him chasing women and kill bad guys. So I like the character and plot driven story, in my opinion that is how a spy movie should be. Like how Ian Fleming created James Bond and the universe in it. But the movie has impressive and realistic fight scenes as well as gun fights. Not as elegant as other 007 movies but still good. By the way, Telly Savalas was quite good as Blofeld, his Blofeld felt human yet distant and cold. Reminiscent of Haghi from 'Spione' but without the edge. By the way, 'Spione' has possibly influenced Ian Fleming and how he created 007.Anyway, a great Bond movie with a shocking ending. Actually my favorite Bond movie. 9/10

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