VariousOn Her Majesty's Secret Service (BD) [Blu-ray]

Short version: Bond movies are fun, so this is alright. But it's one of the lesser films in the series. Not as bad a couple of the Brosnan flicks, but not great. And somehow it manages to both break important conventions and not be that interesting.Longer version, including some spoilers:First things first: when Sean Connery wanted too much money and Broccoli and Co. needed a new Bond, they hadn't yet figured out that they could get away with each actor being distinctly different, so they went with George Lazenby, a hilarious cookie cutter Connery knockoff. Then they compounded the problem by giving him lines specifically referencing the issue, like "this never happened to the other fellow" at the end of the pre-credits teaser. The effect is eye rolling. And by today's lights with 4 more Bonds under our belts, it's just jarring when he walks into the casino and you think "wow, they really did just go on a lookalike search, huh?" The fact that they rehired Connery afterward makes it even worse. Poor guy...it's not Lazenby's fault of course.Anyway, apart from the casting the movie has plenty of other issues. First, the driver of the plot is that Bond just goes looking for Blofeld. Come on. The way this is supposed to work is Bond goes looking into some random thing, like gold smuggling or spaceships getting eaten by bigger spaceships, and then finds out, shockingly, that it's that dastardly Blofeld again! Going out searching for the bad guy is cheating.Likewise, it's cheating to go incognito. One of the fun parts of Bondism is the ridiculousness of his very public "secret agent" schtick: "Bond. James Bond. I work for Her Majesty's Secret Service; just between you and me I've never understood why they call it that." Granted, Connery pulled the same thing with that "Peter Franks" nonsense in Diamonds are Forever, but only briefly, and that movie had a lot of redeeming qualities to get you past that. This one, less so.Not living up to his public agent persona isn't the only way he's out of character either. Why is this man wearing a kilt? Why is he pretending to be gay!?!? No, seriously, that's totally unnecessary to the subterfuge he wasn't supposed to be engaged in, and antithetical to the openly womanizing and dare we say borderline misogynistic 1960s alpha male we're looking for. And don't think this is a positive, like he's woke and better behaved...nope, he uses his fake LGBTQ card to go womanizing! And to make matters worse, he does it lazy! Every bond seduction in every other movie is cleverly tailored to the woman in question, and now we have to watch knockoff Connery use the same generic junk lines with two women one after another? Weak sauce, Lazenby; go back to your fiancee......which brings me to the worst part. He gets married. And not to a Japanese ninja secret agent as part of the job (this is a good job!), but to some mafioso's daughter who he had already run into, saved from totally unexplained bad guys, loaned 20 grand, and bedded, back in the teaser which again was simply utterly unexplained. Not only do we have to endure a stock love montage in the middle of a Bond movie, but we also get a mafioso at a wedding talkin' glory days with M about that time some of M's guys killed some of mafioso's guys. Ugh. We also get Bond saying he's quitting MI6, which is not the King and Country man we know.And finally, as if Broccoli realized his egregious mistake after they were done filming and decided to try to put things right with one more scene, they just straight knock her off. And not in some interesting Felix Leiter shark attack or something...in a drive-by shooting from knockoff Rosa Klebb, who didn't even stick around to make sure she got Bond even though she had a machine gun and he was driving home from a wedding. This is seriously Tasha Yar levels of bad. And this is how we end the movie. Not on a life raft getting laid and then rescued by airplane. Not in a spaceship getting laid in zero G. Nope, dead wife, sad Bond, cut to credits. Disaster.There are a couple of good action scenes that are worthwhile in the midst of this otherwise poor showing. The car chase that ends up in a rally race has a certain Blues Brothers quality which, while not exactly proper Bond, is still good fun. The ski chase is legitimately good, although having Blofeld personally involved is a little weird. That's probably made up for (and in fact explained by) his sinister avalanche move...killing your henchmen in front of your henchmen is pretty on-brand here. I don't want to give the impression that there's nothing worthwhile at all. But a lot of it, including a lot of the fights, the dastardly plan, and even the choice of easily-escaped imprisonment (seriously, the machine room for a gondola? You didn't realize he'd get on the gondola!?) are just phoned in.So there you have it. A Bond movie with a backwards plot and out-of-character Bond with knockoff casting, that goes off the reservation but not in interesting or fun ways. A sad showing for a vaunted series.

It’s been a while since I wrote a review. So here goes. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is in my opinion the very Best James Bond Movie of them all and believe me I’ve seen them all. OHMSS is in a class by itself. Directed by Peter Hunt who was usually a Film Editor. The Screenplay follows the Novel by Ian Fleming very closely. George Lazenby was not a perfect Bond by any standard but he managed to pull off some pretty Exciting action scenes. The Cinematography was excellent as was the Music Score. The locations featuring Blofled’s lab Atop the Swiss Alps is just so beautiful and mind blowing to me. The producers actually built a real landing place for Helicopters and left it there among other things. It’s been over 50 years since I first saw it. I love all of the Bond Films and Sean Connery is my all time favorite Bond actor. Of his Bond films I would pick From Russia with Love and Goldfinger. I still think that On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is the Best. I hope I have not wasted your time. Thank you for reading this.

When Sean Connery tired of playing James Bond, only to reprise his role twice (in Diamonds are Forever and later, Never Say Never), George Lazenby was criticized as an odd choice, mostly due to his "down under" lack of acting experience, much like Connery before Dr. No. The Australian Lazenby wanted to bring Bond into the late 1960s and make him a "nice person", trying to promote the film in the US with a beard, long hair and bell bottoms. The movie deviates from formula a bit because Bond is a bit aimless at the start and criticized by M for not finding SPECTRE's mastermind, Blofeld, over two years. (The same Blofeld who kept surviving Connery's Bond films.) Diana Rigg of the 1960s British TV spy show The Avengers plays the elusive daughter of an Italian gangster, whose eventual death foreshadows the end of Godfather III. There is endemic sexism with Bond scheduling sex by the hour with free females at Blofeld's mountain redoubt, partly filmed atop the Matterhorn complete with an ice tunnel, while engaged to Theresa, who rescues Bond only for them both to be buried in an avalanche. Bond returns to rescue her in turn for a time before engaging in a hair raising luge (bobsled) struggle with Blofeld, played by Telly Savalas with silky menace. At Bond and Theresa's wedding, she assures her father she will obey her husband as much as she obeyed him, Bond tosses his hat to Miss Moneypenny, and he tells Q that he now has all his own gadgets for his honeymoon and knows how to use them! Theresa undergoes death by hood ornament, killed by a deflected bullet fired by Blofeld's German dominatrix. Cue sad music about "We have All The Time In The World", with Louis Armstrong. Overall, a great movie for its time, though not what everyone wanted. Just what they needed to shake the formula up a bit.

Obviously it's a matter of personal preference who is your favourite Bond and I have to admit that George Lazenby is rather low on the list for me. But that doesn't mean this isn't a very solid entry in the franchise.The story is decent, Telly Savalas is quite magnificent as Bond's arch enemy Blofeld and Diana Rigg is possibly the best Bond girl and certainly the only one he marries (at least to date). Also fun the villain's mountain top lair and his "harem" of alluring ladies including the young Joanna Lumley. There's an exciting ski chase down the mountain and, like him or not, Lazenby is a very athletic actor and he is great in the action scenes.Add to this the usual array of exotic locations, high production values and a nice 60s flair and you have a very entertaining film indeed. One of the better Bond films as far as I'm concerned. Certainly worth checking out for anybody who hasn't yet seen it and worth owning for any Bond fan who doesn't yet have it.The 2 DVD Ultimate Edition has a huge amount of bonus material. If you like your DVD extras, this is certainly the one to go for.

Great Bond film, after Sean C. quit. Tough act to follow. But followed up well. Clever intro gave us a new Bond slowly and effectively to pull us into acceptance. Rest came off well, with added interest boost by having Diana Rigg, (another legend of a character as Mrs. Peel on Avengers cult series) as his romance. All plays out very well.

I used to, when younger avoid this Bond film feeling it didn't have that something that other bond films had, and not liking Lazenby as Bond. However Upon recently re-watching the film my opinion has somewhat changed. Firstly with George Lazenby who could have been a great Bond if he had continnued with a few more 007 films. I would say he could even have been one of the best actors to play bond. but this was to be the only film he did so that is immaterial. The film does still to me feel somewhat different to all other bond films. Almost like a stand alone film. perhaps because it was a First for both Lazenby & Director Peter Hunt who both didn't return after this film. It is still a great film very exiting with good action. Not sure of Telly Savalas' Blofeld nothing like the creepy Donald Pleasence of You Only Live Twice & not really overly threatening. It is also a mistake to say Blofeld kills Tracy Bond as that is actually Bloefelds henchwoman Irma Bunt. An Enjoyable film and one not to avoid as I did in my younger days. Great music score too from John Barry & featuring Louis Armstrong:We have all the time in the world.

I have had this D.V.D. for a long time, having the video in that era, as well as the vinyl soundtrack. I have always liked the film and George Lazenby, plus the film, got bad press at the time of its release. But I feel its still one of the best, on a par with Sean Connery, Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig.The only thing that goes against it and dates it is the dress sense of the day, frilly shirts in the casino, mini skirts, and the colours of the day.

You know when you see Maurice Binder's title sequence together with John Barry's exciting theme, you're in for something special. To follow Sean Connery in the rôle was thought to be impossible, but George Lazenby acquits himself admirably. The commentary with director Peter Hunt & others is a fount of information which I found hugely interesting & answered many questions.The score is my personal favourite of all John Barry's Bond music. (I strongly recommend the cd soundtrack)The digital transfer is excellent & the film looks great.This is a collectors 'must have' & I'm glad I've now got it!HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.Very quick delivery!