August`s MI6 Bondathon is `For Your Eyes Only`

To celebrate the spate of upcoming Bond film anniversaries and the pave the way to Bond 23, we thought it was high-time the forum (Keeping The British End Up) pulled together for an official review of the whole series.

A film will be presented each month for viewing, discussion and review; running in conjunction with the main site, overall ratings and a selection of the best reviews will be published at the end of the month on mi6-hq.com.

Celebrating its 20th Annniversary, the second film up in the Bondathon is Roger Moore's fifth bond adventure For Your Eyes Only (1981)...

Introduction

How do you solve a problem like a multi-million dollar space-battle shootout?

This might have been one question Bond producers attempted to answer with "For Your Eyes Only". In the course of its 47 year history the Bond franchise has had to restructure and reformat to fit the times - and this is one of the keys to 007's sustainability. His ability to move with the era, to be outrageous and entertaining within - or sometimes despite of - his political or socioeconomic surroundings. Cubby Broccoli swore to put every cent on the screen, and that was a promise not negated on, but the twelfth James Bond adventure required a back-to-basics approach and perhaps, even a nod to Ian Fleming as source material.

"For Your Eyes Only" offers much that fans of the '70s era of Bond are familiar with but there are a few changes in the filmmakers' ranks. John Glen, having risen from a film editor's background to helm some of Bonds most memorable stunts and action sequences to date, is appointed director. An unknown quantity in Glen is supported by a host of regular Bond crew, notably the experienced screenplay author Richard Maibaum, who is joined for the first time by Cubby's step-son, Michael Wilson. The writers offer up a plot, seemingly serene after the antics of "Moonraker", which borrows elements of Fleming's short stories "For Your Eyes Only" and "Risico". The former provides Gonzalez, the hitman and the young lady Havelock - known as Judy in the Fleming narrative - whilst the latter is responsible for the rivalry that develops between two smugglers, Kristatos and Columbo.

Even though best efforts are made to keep 007 down-to-earth there is certainly room for a run of eyebrow raising gags, extravagant locations and high octane action - a John Glen speciality. Highlighting the action is the memorable keel hauling sequence lifted from Fleming's second novel, "Live and Let Die". Our Bond girl is given the more exotic name of Melina, along with a proud Greek heritage. As such, the film finds Bond in the Mediterranean, with much of the action occurring in the picture-perfect Corfu, as well as Cortina d'Ampezzo - the snowy mountain town in North-East Italy.

Bond sieves his way though a twisted plot of bluffs, deception and smuggling, in a race to recover the ATAC submarine communications encoder. And in a nod to the old days, 007 relies primarily on wits rather than witticism!

- Introduction by Q

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