For Your Eyes Only (1981)

James Bond is assigned to find a missing British vessel, equipped with a weapons encryption device and prevent it from falling into enemy hands.

Director:

John Glen

Writers:

Richard Maibaum (screenplay by), Michael G. Wilson (screenplay by)

Stars:

Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet, Topol

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Roger Moore	...	James Bond
Carole Bouquet	...	Melina
Topol	...	Columbo
Lynn-Holly Johnson	...	Bibi
Julian Glover	...	Kristatos
Cassandra Harris	...	Lisl
Jill Bennett	...	Brink
Michael Gothard	...	Locque
John Wyman	...	Kriegler
Jack Hedley	...	Havelock
Lois Maxwell	...	Moneypenny
Desmond Llewelyn	...	Q
Geoffrey Keen	...	Minister of Defence
Walter Gotell	...	General Gogol
James Villiers	...	Tanner

Storyline

After disposing of a familiar looking face, Bond is sent to recover a communication device, known as an A.T.A.C., which went down with a British spy ship as it sunk. Bond must hurry though, as the Russians are also out for this device. On his travels, he also meets Melina Havelock, whose parents were brutally murdered. Bond also encounters Aristotle Kristatos and Milos Colombo. Each of them are accusing the other of having links with with the Russians. Bond must team up with Melina, solve who the true ally is, and find the A.T.A.C. before it's too late.

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Plot Keywords:

007 | cortina italy | ouzo | vodka martini | miss moneypenny character | 

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Taglines:

My name is Bond - James Bond

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Third consecutive James Bond movie which used excerpts from famous theme music from another movie. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) used the theme from Lawrence of Arabia (1962), while Moonraker (1979) used the theme from The Magnificent Seven (1960), while this movie used the theme from Jaws (1975).

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Goofs

The Blofeld character in the opening, appears bald and has a neck brace, appearing as he did at the end of 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service'. But in 'Diamonds Are Forever', he had hair and no neck brace. The filmmakers did not confirm the character to be Blofeld himself, due to rights issues and felt that the audience should use their 'imagination'.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Vicar: Mr. Bond, Mr. Bond. I'm so glad I caught you. Your office called. They're sending a helicopter to pick you up. Some sort of emergency.
James Bond: It usually is. Thank you.

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Crazy Credits

James Bond will return in OCTOPUSSY

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Alternate Versions

New opening credit titles (the opening background graphics with Sheena Easton were unchanged) were created for the June 29, 2002 airing of For Your Eyes Only on ABC-TV's "Bond Picture Show". The original theatrical opening credits were in an Arial font, while the 2002 TV airing featured the new opening credit titles in Franklin Gothic. Some of the arrangement of the crew titles were altered for the new airing, where as in the theatrical version, was arranged with the crew member's position on the left, and the crew member's name on the right, while the 2002 version featured the crew member's name under their position title. Also, the original opening title which listed "ROGER MOORE as IAN FLEMING'S JAMES BOND-007" with the 007 looking like the standard 007 Gun logo, while the 2002 opening titles replace the 007 logo with just a plain "007".

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Connections

Spoofed in Eddie the Eagle (2015)

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Soundtracks

James Bond Theme
Music by Monty Norman

User Reviews

The Chinese have a saying; "Before setting off on revenge, you first dig two graves"!

For Your Eyes Only is directed by John Glen and adapted to screenplay by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson from source stories by Ian Fleming. It stars Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet, Julian Glover, Topol, Michael Gothard and Jill Bennett. Music is scored by Bill Conti and cinematography by Alan Hume.

Bond 12 and 007 is assigned to locate the whereabouts of the ATAC, a secret device that transmits orders to Polaris carrying submarines. He must do so quickly because the Soviets are also in pursuit, and they appear to be aided by a wealthy shipping magnate.

In spite of the gargantuan box office garnered by Moonraker, Albert Broccoli was hurt by criticism that it had strayed too far from the basic 007 formula. Making good on his word to get Bond back to reality, he mostly succeeded in making For Your Eyes Only a stripped back thriller. Gone is the over reliance on hi-tech wizardry, Moore (in his best performance as Bond) is back to being down to earth, being a Bond using his wits and toughness to get out of tricky situations, and the film goes for short sharp shock action scenes instead of giant battles enveloped by even bigger sets. There's much tension as well, none more so than with the finale, where again the big bang pyrotechnics have been replaced by a mountain peak accent and assault; where Bond uses a boot lace to save his skin! Now that's the Bond we love and admire. We even get the return of a bit of flirting between Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell) and Bond, while Q (Desmond Llewelyn) is on witty form.

Characters are strong, a major plus point in the film. Topol (charismatic and on scene stealing form) and Glover offer up fascinating characters, with Glover excellent as Kristatos, providing the franchise with a cultured and believable villain. Melina Havelock (Bouquet convincing) is tough and driven by revenge for her murdered parents, adept with a crossbow she makes a sturdy accomplice for Bond, and thankfully their union isn't bogged down mid mission by the "between the sheets" angle. Elsewhere, 007 editor John Glenn directs the first of his 5 Bond movies, impressive first outing with the underwater scenes particularly striking. Hume brings Corfu to life via his colour lenses and Conti oversees one of the series' best title theme songs, song with deep emotional beauty by Sheena Easton. His overall score is merely adequate, with decent nationalistic flavours, but the theme song is so strong it lingers to this day in the memory of all Bond fans.

It's not all great in this stripped back Bond world, though. The pre-credits sequence makes the terrible mistake of negating Bond's visit to the grave of his late wife, Tracy, by then having him jostle and jape with a bald villain in a wheelchair (is it meant to be Blofeld?): with unconvincing lines and delivery in the mix as well. Lynn-Holly Johnson's Bibi Dahl character is as pointless as it gets, out of place and superfluous to the plot. While some chase sequences, as fun and pulse raising as they are, are over extended and stretch the running time to longer than required. No mind, though, with Bond back to being a man again instead of a button pusher, and brilliant scenes like the keel-hauling peril, For Your Eyes Only was a major hit that raked in over $195 million at the World box office. James Bond's appeal, and that of the man playing him, was very much in vogue. 8/10

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

Spanish English Greek Italian

Release Date:

26 June 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

For Your Eyes Only

Filming Locations:

Grimsby Docks, Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$28,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,834,967, 28 June 1981

Gross USA:

$54,812,802

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$54,813,222

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eon Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo DTS (3.1 Surround)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1