For Your Eyes Only

Roger Moore's third and fourth adventures as 007 probably rank among some of my favourites from the whole franchise. Both are a highly entertaining mix of action, familiar Bond tropes and just the right amount of comedy but with the fourth film, Moonraker, having sent the MI6 agent to space, there was a need to bring him back to Earth. For Your Eyes Only was to be that brave follow-up releasing in 1981 and isn't a film I remember all too well but over 41 years later, perhaps it's worthy of a little more recognition in the Bond community...

Combining two of Ian Fleming's short stories with For Your Eyes Only and Risico, along with a sequence from Live and Let Die, sees Bond on the hunt for a top secret encryption device that is buried in the Mediterranean Sea and he must prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. Director, John Glen, combines the revenge story of FYEO with the criminal underworld of Risico seamlessly together for a lower stakes action adventure but is no less exciting than its predecessors. 

The film begins with a neat call-back to George Lazenby's Bond before we're offered one of the weaker pre-title sequences that offers plenty of excellent stunt work but it just feels rather flat. Visually this film has many great locations but the colour palette is much more grey in comparison to say something like The Spy Who Loved Me, and, as Bond battles it out with a Blofeld lookalike over an industrial part of London, it's hard for this to not to feel a bit televisual. And yet, once the credit sequences begins, the film takes a strong turn in the right direction as we're introduced to Carole Bouquet's Bond girl before tragedy strikes and then we see why Glen was entrusted with this in his directorial debut. 

I feel I run the risk of repeating myself again but even as an older Bond by this point, Roger Moore is simply great once again with his effortless mix of seriousness and dry humour as he plays off against a colourful cast which includes a wonderfully charismatic Topol, Lynn-Holly Johnson and the excellent Julian Glover. Bouquet is also great, benefitting from an interesting backstory for her character, even if I wouldn't say she has the most romantic chemistry with Moore. 

As for the action, there are many great moments including a car chase through many olive trees, a ski pursuit featuring a young Charles Dance and a perilous climb up a cliff face to name but a few. Some moments are more on the silly side, bringing some of the villain's logic into question, but if you can go along with experience then there is just so much here to enjoy.

The combination of two of Fleming's short stories also keeps this exciting for fans of the books as neither had enough material for their owns films but together they compliment each other nicely. For Your Eyes Only brings Bond back to Earth with style and charm, and it is so easy to recommend even if this might not be the most memorable of all the Bond films. It is still hugely enjoyable once the film jumps clear of its lacklustre opening sequence and then it's great for everyone's eyes together.