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Released: June 1981
Producer: Albert R. Broccoli
Director: John Glen
Written by: Richard Maibaum & Michael G. Wilson
Plot:
When a British communications ship is destroyed in the Ionian Sea, M16 must race to secure its crucial ATAC missile tracking system before it can fall into the wrong hands (ie, Russian). James Bond crosses paths with the beautiful Melina Havelock, whose parents were gunned down while secretly working to retrieve the ATAC, and becomes entwined in intrigue between two competing Greek smugglers: one of whom has a weirdly sexual teenage “ward”, and the other of which is Topol. Guess which one is the bad guy.
Famous For:
Roger Moore starting to look crepey
A great Citreon chase
The monastery at Meteora
THAT SMOKESTACK DROP
Where do you go after outer space?
After the phenomenal success of Moonraker, Bond producer Albert R Broccoli knew Eon Productions couldn’t top it, and it would be foolhardy to try.
Disco was dead, the 80s had arrived, and Bond was not Star Wars. It could not pull an Empire Strikes Back and build a new universe when its own empire had a 20-year history by that point. Besides, Moonraker couldn’t hide the fact that the Empire Bond protected - Queen and Country - had long lost its power. It was, after all, an American shuttle full of American space fighters who took down Drax and his Nazi supermen on his space base.
Cubby Broccoli knew this, and returned to the pre-Star Wars plan of putting For Your Eyes Only on screen. New director John Glen, promoted up from second unit director, agreed.
A combination of two 1960 Bond short stories - For Your Eyes Only and Risico - the goal was to get back to basics, with a scaled back espionage plot more in touch with Fleming’s roots, impressive action sequences in scenic locations, and constant shots of star Carole Bouquet looking luminous.
For Your Eyes Only made $195 million at the box office, which was only just behind its predecessor. Reviews were mixed at the time, but in recent years it’s been re-evaluated as something of a forgotten gem.
For me... it’s more “forgotten” than “gem”. It’s one of the Bond films I rewatch the least - before viewing it for this retrospective series I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen it. It was quite possibly in the 1990s.
It exists, alongside the remaining Moore instalments, Octopussy and A View To A Kill, in a muddy memory puddle, not so much an unholy trinity like, say, the Star Wars prequels, but a fold in the Bond franchise curtain that encourages me to skip happily over to the Dalton/Brosnan eras.
However, I can see the merits modern fans give it - it’s certainly more “realistic” than the bombastic The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker, Melina Havelock’s revenge quest is more believable than even Anya Amasova’s in Spy, and the bait-and-switch between Kristatos and Colombo is a genuinely interesting piece of plotting that was fresh for the series.
It also has what are possibly the craziest top and tail sequences to feature together in a Bond film, albeit crazy for different reasons. It’s therefore worth seeing if writing about the film can drag it up in my estimation.
There is also one element to this film’s production that I think is arguably the best of any Bond film - or at the very least my favourite. But more on that later.
I want to begin with the outrageous pre-credit sequence, in which Bond lays flowers at the grave of his long-dead wife Tracy, before being helicopter-hijacked by a mysterious villain that is IN NO WAY Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
It’s the filmic equivalent of this GIF:
The double bird in question belongs to producer Albert R Broccoli, and the object was Kevin McClory, the co-creator of the original pre-Eon Productions Thunderball screenplay, who also claimed the rights over the Blofeld character as he got closer to getting his own Bond movie (Never Say Never Again) into production.
By literally dumping a bald-headed, Nehru-jacket wearing, Donald Pleasence-sounding, cat-stroking villain into a smokestack, Broccoli was making the statement that even though he could claim to Blofeld, he didn’t NEED Blofeld, and in fact, he was going to make Blofeld BEG Bond for his life.
Despite Roger Moore showing some genuine feeling on his face while looking at Tracy’s grave, the sequence essentially spits on that history by having Bond dispatch Blofeld like he would a two-bit henchman, patting him on the head and saying “Oh, you want to get off?”, then forking him into the smokestack.
It’s utterly divorced from the rest of the film’s content, and really very silly, but still, the cinematography and helicopter stunt work is fun.
Of course, Eon would end up buying back the rights to SPECTRE and Blofeld ahead of the 2015 film Spectre, which excited me no end and rewarded my dedicated love to the SPECTRE conceit perfectly.
It’s after the title song by Sheena Easton - the first and so far only vocalist to be featured in a Bond opening credits, an odd choice by designer Maurice Binder - that the plot of the film kicks in.
A British navy communications ship, cleverly disguised as a fishing vessel, is hit by a mine in the Ionian Sea. All souls are lost, particularly those handcuffed to the ship’s secret MacGuffin device - the Automatic Targeting Attack Communicator (ATAC).
It’s an interesting departure for the franchise in that Bond is not called in immediately; rather the rescue is outsourced to marine archeologist Sir Timothy Havelock to ensure secrecy.
Our old friend General Gogol - he of the running gag of having a new secretary he’s clearly having it off with in each successive appearance - wants to buy the ATAC for the Soviet Union, which in 1981 is clearly just a few key bits of tech off total world domination.
However, before Sir Timothy can complete his mission, he and his wife are gunned down by an assassin named Gonzales, who just happened to have been the pilot who dropped the Havelocks’ daughter Melina back onboard their research vessel moments earlier.
Melina is understandably devastated in the most incandescent way possible.
It’s after this event that Bond is called in to find Gonzales and figure out who paid him. He’s captured sneaking around Gonzales’ Spanish villa, complete with bikini babes and a weird stalker dude, but before he can learn more, Gonzales is shot with an arrow while executing a forward straight dive into the pool. Instead, it’s a bellyflop and a 10 score from the confused Bond.
In the panic, he escapes, and runs into the assassin on the way out of the vineyard. It’s Melina Havelock, looking radiantly resplendent in vengeance khaki.
There’s a lovely visual representation of the film’s back to basics intent, with Bond’s high-tech Lotus being blown up when attacked by one of Gonzales’ goons.
Instead, he and Melina have to get away in her plonky old Citroen, which matches much better with the winding roads and rustic village aesthetic. Not to mention Melina’s cool-in-a-crisis aesthetic.
When Bond realises Melina is the orphaned daughter of the assassinated Havelocks, he expresses his sympathy in a believable way, and his considerate care of Melina’s wellbeing will continue to develop over the film. But at this point, when they part ways, Bond warns Melina of the old Chinese proverb that “to prepare for revenge, you must first dig two graves”. Is it even a Chinese proverb? Probably not, but I don’t mind. It’s a neat way to demonstrate that he sympathises with her need to avenge her murdered parents, but conveys a desire for her not to follow the grim path of violence. He knows that path well, and wants her to be spared its loneliness.
Of course, you could read into it that he’s acting paternalistically to stop the nice young girl from asserting her agency and thereby sacrificing a part of her essential femininity in order to take on the masculine desire to kill - but perhaps that might be a little too deep into an academic reading.
It’s at this point Bond returns to M16 headquarters - and special credit to Eon for not recasting M for this film. Beloved Bernard Lee died of cancer just as shooting began, and out of respect M was declared “on leave” by Chief of Staff Bill Tanner.
Defence Minister Frederick Gray also returned to add some government gravitas. He’d been in the role since The Spy Who Loved Me, during a Labour Party term. Apparently the 1979 election of the Thatcher conservative government didn’t change things, as he continues in the gig all the way up to The Living Daylights.
At HQ, Bond does something here that we’ve never seen him do before - he hands in a written report.
Yes, James Bond, the least desk-jockeyish of all civil servants, actually files a rundown of his mission to Spain to find Gonzales and identify his cronies. One wonders how detailed he gets. “Gonzales dead. by Havelock crossbow. Lotus exploded. Brief Citroen pursuit. (Relatively) Small loss of enemy life. End report.”
Bond is then tasked to join Q and use his ultra-modern computer technology to identify the mysterious man he saw paying Gonzales a suitcase full of cash. It’s a strangely long scene, with Bond outlining every minute detail of a man he barely got within 20 metres of, including his blue-grey eyes and the shape of his glasses.
The result? A generic white man.
“My God, it’s uncanny.”
Thankfully, Interpol only has one generic white man on file, one Emile Leopold Locque. So it’s off to Cortina for Bond.
The Italian ski resort is where we the intrigue starts creaking into gear. Bond is introduced to Aristotle Kristatos, a well-connected Greek businessman with an adolescent ice-skating protege. Totally normal, nothing to see here.
Kristatos is played by Julian Glover, which if you’re a Game of Thrones fan, might be better known as Grand Maester Pycelle. Apparently he was in a Star Wars too.
“Seven hells Hoth no fury….” High five anybody? Anybody? Don’t leave me hanging…
Kristatos tells Bond that Locque is employed by his one-time war-time friend turned bitter rival Colombo. The mission all seems to progressing a little too smoothly, especially when Kristatos agrees to Bibi Dahl’s request for Bond to accompany her to a biathlon competition.
Bibi, a sexually precocious American teenager with a thing for older men, is one of the strangest Bond girls (and boy do I mean girl) to ever feature in the franchise.
Watching in the post #MeToo world, it’s particularly gratifying that Bond is completely disinterested in Bibi, seeing her quite rightly as a child. His line at the end of this scene “Put on your clothes and I’ll buy you an ice cream” is a classic.
But I think even at the time, the audience would not have countenanced a 53-year-old Roger Moore hooking up with a chirpy high-schooler.
So why put her there? Bond’s not going to f*** her (thank goodness), and despite her sexual experience she’s still too innocent to kill off. There’s an undertone that Kristatos is the Greek bearing gifts one should beware, but that is not central to the plot.
I think Bibi is supposed to be the comic relief, which is sad, because her role really isn’t that funny. Still, this was the decade that would bring us Revenge of the Nerds and the Porky’s franchise which feature far more cringeworthy (and possibly criminal) treatment of female characters, so by that standard this film is delightfully chivalrous.
Bibi is the one who gets Bond at the biathlon event, where he is subsequently ambushed by a bunch of goons, led by Eric Kriegler is a blond-haired, hard-bodied East German athlete-cum-assassin (Assasthlete? Athsassin?) with a personality stiffer than the his skis.
Far more interesting a henchman is the second Game of Thrones alumni to feature in this film - a young Charles Dance, who turns up here.
“A Lannister always wears yellow turtlenecks.”
After showing his camera and skiing skills in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and The Spy Who Loved Me, Wally Bogner was promoted to second unit director for For Your Eyes Only, and does a tremendous job with this version of the Bond ski chase.
It’s the best technical stunt sequence in the film, incorporating downhill skiing, a ski jump battle, being chased by motorbikes through a restaurant (featuring our old friend Confused Wine Drinking Guy from Spy and Moonraker) and a bob sled pursuit.
However, I have to be honest and say it does leave me a little cold (pun kinda intended?), because the gap between Roger Moore’s physical ability and his obvious stuntman’s skill is more obvious than ever before.
Moore had in fact considered retiring as 007 after Moonraker, and other actors were tested, but he ended up re-signing for another picture. I can’t blame him - even famous Bond hater Daniel Craig signed up for a fifth movie after declaring he didn’t want to (although I’m sure that had something to do with increasing the size of the cash-filled truck backing up to Casa del Craig post-Spectre).
But the inclusion of the Bibi Dahl character only emphasises his age, to intended or unintended humourous effect.
It’s less of an issue with Carole Bouquet, who turns up in Cortina trying to seek more vengeance, but is quickly packed off by Bond during a carriage ride because he doesn’t want her getting hurt. Despite being only 23, Bouquet was French, so clearly had the level of maturity and sensuousness required for a Moore pairing.
Action then shifts to Corfu, where Kristatos helps Bond get closer to the “bad guy” Colombo. Played by Israel’s most famous actor until Gal Godot Topol, Colombo sends his paramour Countess Lisl Von Schlaf to, ah, pump Bond for information.
Her tall sharp frame and impossibly high cheekbones made her a more appropriate match for Moore, even though actor Cassandra Harris was only 32 at the time of filming. Ahh, Hollywood.
During their fireside romance, the Countess lets something slip.
Her accent, you perverts. It turns out she’s from Liverpool and isn’t a real Countess.
It’s not really explained why, and whether Colombo knows about it, but either way she certainly doesn’t seem to fake it with Bond, and the pair is quite chummy walking along the beach the next morning. Sadly because Lisl IS older, and DID f*** Bond, she DOES have to get killed - run down in a surprise attack by Locque, Charles Dance and some other goons.
(Historical side note: Harris was Australian and married to none other than Pierce Brosnan at the time of filming. The pair lunched with Cubby Broccoli during filming, and Harris was a big proponent of Brosnan as a future Bond. Sadly, she died of ovarian cancer at just 43 in 1991, three years before Brosnan was awarded the role. )
Bond is saved by Colombo’s men, and is taken aboard his yacht. Colombo reveals that Kristatos is in fact the “bad guy”, working for the USSR to secure the ATAC. Bond’s trust is gained when he joins Colombo’s men for a raid on one of Colombo’s warehouses, which reveals copious amounts of raw opium.
Colombo is a smuggler too, but he draws the line at heroin. His thief-with-a-heart-of-gold ethic only allows him to dream about having that kind of wealth.
Come on, you gotta let me have one Fiddler on the Roof reference.
Realising he needs to recover the ATAC first, Bond reteams with Melina to do a deep dive into how they can deep dive to the wreck of the St Georges, the British comms ship.
There’s a frankly hilarious scene that sees him surprise her underwater while in full head to toe wetsuit, while Melina is in a neoprene vest and bikini bottoms. Also, the ancient Greek ruins they’re uncovering underwater look suspiciously white for having been submerged 5000 years under the waves, but clearly I’m not a marine archeologist. Please also note the way Melina leaves her scuba tank underwater FOR NO REASON.
I will admit that the sequence in which the pair descend to the ship to grab the ATAC, only to be attacked by a Kristatos goon in a dive suit Bond had seen during the opium factory raid is genuinely tense. You would not know that much of the action was filmed in a dry-for-wet set, as Carole Bouquet had a medical condition that prevented her from doing any underwater work. It’s claustrophobic with a great jump scare reveal of the Lost In Space/Staypuft Marshmellow Man diver.
I also really like the twist that when they surface, Kristatos is waiting for them onboard Melina’s yacht. He’s let them do the hard work, and simply takes the ATAC from them. There’s definitely an argument to be made that Kristatos is one of the most efficient and responsive Bond villains.
The keel-hauling scene that follows is the moment most embedded in my mind from seeing this film in childhood. It’s shot beautifully, with barely a join between the real water boat sequences and the tank work. The reason for Chekov’s scuba tank is revealed, allowing Bond and Melina to survive underwater and let Kristatos assume sharks have eaten them (again with the sharks in a Bond film. They cannot get enough!)
The final sequence is an assault on Kristatos’ hideout - the location of which is helpfully revealed by Melina’s cheeky parrot.
I had entirely forgotten that the denouement of For Your Eyes Only takes place in a monastery at Meteora in central Greece, and I’m ashamed of myself, because I visited the place many years ago and feel like I should have made that connection while there. It’s one of the most breathtaking locations you can imagine, and one of the monasteries that dot the rock formations makes a perfect Bond villain lair.
Everyone’s in mission-appropriate black for the mission, Topol’s even in a leather jacket, but sure, put Bond in a grey woolly jumper with a blue vest, just do that.
Sigh.
Bond’s climb up the sheer face of the rock is long and tense. It’s where director John Glen further develops what is now referred to as his “pigeon motif”. All of his Bond films have a moment when a character is spooked by a surprise pigeon (sometimes another creature). Here, a pigeon flutters out of its nest while Bond is halfway up, almost causing him to lose his grip.
One of Kristatos’ goons realises what’s going on and kicks out all of Bond’s pitons, sending him plummeting towards the ground. Luckily his rope holds, and he’s able to pull the goon to his death, then sends the basket down for Colombo, his heavies, and the lambent would-be liquidator, Melina.
There follows a clash - Bibi Dahl and her stern figure skating coach Jacoba Brink (whose name surely must be some kind of pun on “rink” but I can’t work it out) are there, and Brink helps them find Kristatos and the ATAC.
Bond manages to kill Ziegler, the boring biathlete, while Colombo tries to tackle Kristatos. Bond grabs the ATAC, but Melina is intent on killing Kristatos, who paid to have her parents murdered. Once again, Bond tries to remind her that it’s not the answer, but the choice is ultimately taken away from her when Colombo throws a knife at Kristatos’ back just as he’s grabbing his own flick knife.
With General Gogol now onsite, Bond decides to throw the ATAC over the edge of the monastery, letting it smash far below. The real detente, he tells Gogol, who seems to get a real giggle out of it.
Again, there’s nothing showy or particular spectacular about the final confrontation, but it’s in-keeping with the overall tone of the movie.
The same CANNOT be said for what follows - a hilarious “skit” in which Bond’s phone is patched over to Margaret Thatcher herself, in the middle of cooking Denis’ supper, so she can congratulate him personally.
Of course, Bond and Melina have gone off skinny-dipping, leaving Melina’s parrot to do the talking.
It is a properly bonkers inclusion - even though I get how cute they would have thought it would be - lads, imagine the first female PM thinking Bond’s cracking onto her despite the fact that IT’S CLEARLY A PARROT! - it absolutely undermines the whole back to basics idea. Maybe at the time the tone suited better, but with the hindsight knowledge of Thatcher’s devastating zombie economics, plus the weird comedy skit feel, it’s all very cringey.
Of course Melina winds up showing everything to Bond "For your eyes only, darling”, in her most glowing light yet. Reviews of her as a Bond girl are as mixed as those for the film itself. For me, she’s somewhere in the middle, giving the character an air of competent mystery, what with her technical knowledge and her methodical vengeance quest. What will Carole Bouquet being a fashion model, there is no doubt of her beauty and style.
But she lacks a certain oomph for me. I’m never quite convinced that the waters roil beneath that serene surface.
At least she doesn’t get poor Bibi Dahl’s ending - tending to a wounded Colombo, who shoots Bond the seediest “ohhhh, yeahhh” look when he suggests Bibi’s found her new sponsor.
Where I believe For Your Eyes Only does the best service to women comes from unlikely quarters - the film’s poster. I would argue is the most memorable Bond poster in the franchise’s history.
Yes, the most prominent element of the design is a woman’s legs and under-buttocks. The effect was achieved by having the model wear a bikini bottom backwards, to allow more glute to show through. Yes, they literally cheeked it.
Even though there’s Booty Ahoy (side note: Booty Ahoy is the name of my new pirate-themed burlesque pop group), the pose is incredibly powerful, with the woman’s legs strong and toned. She’s wearing high heels, but they’re laced up to her calves, a symbol of dominance. She is also holding a loaded crossbow by her side, a reference to Melina’s weapon in the film, but very much a symbol of power in its own right.
Bond’s positioning is also slightly cheeky, framed right between her legs. He’s in the classic tuxedo, brandishing his Walther PPK. Physically the positioning puts him right on eye level with the woman’s crotch, but look closely, and you’ll see that 007 has his eyes lifted. He’s meeting her gaze, as an equal.
Compare that to typical Bond posters, in which he is draped in women like a king might be draped in an ermine robe:
The woman in the For Your Eyes Only poster is not arm candy. She is a power poser. And that’s definitely worth a big bottoms up.
Thank you for reading this instalment of the James Bond Retrospective! If you enjoyed it, you can sign up to support the series and my other writing/podcasting efforts via my Patreon page. Thanks to all of you who are already members; your support is truly invaluable.
You can listen to the companion Raven Bond For Your Eyes Only podcast here:
Stu and I have are also ranking the Bond films as we watch and podcast about them. Here’s how we stand:
See you next time for Octopussy!