Released in 1981, For Your Eyes Only would be the fifth time that Roger Moore would play James Bond. Not too long ago I reviewed Moonraker and The Spy Who Loved Me. I had a hard time picking between those two movies in regards to which one I liked best. Not only that, I also think that those are my two favorite classic Bond movies. I liked how they went in a more sci-fi kind of direction and even all these years later, they are super fun movies.
How to Download For Your Eyes Only
For Your Eyes Only was relased on 24 June 1981. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice.
The Movie Review
With For Your Eyes Only, the studio decided that they wanted to tone things down a bit and get back to Bond being a spy and not some kind of sci-fi action hero. I get what they were going for, but this is a huge come down after those last two movies. Hey, this is much more grounded in reality with Bond looking to find a missile command center, all the while having to deal with the twists and turns that are thrown his way.
Revenge is a real theme of this movie and the lengths that people are willing to go to in order to get it and the dangers of becoming obsessed with revenge. The main villain of the movie is Aristotle Kristatos who is played by the very talented Julian Glover. I like the idea of a war hero gone bad, but he is just such a massive step down from Hugo Drax, Karl Stromberg, and of course, Jaws!
The Action and Bond Girl
While I said that For Your Eyes Only was toned down from the two previous movies, it still has some pretty exciting action scenes that are very much fitting with what you expect from a Bond movie. Also, Carole Bouquet as Melina Havelock is a very nice-looking Bond girl and a character that I did actually like. Also, I love the movie poster they made for this one as it is just so classic Bond.
The thing is, For Your Eyes Only starts off great with this really cool scene where Bond is trapped in a helicopter and things look pretty bad for 007. This is the best scene in the movie in my opinion and the movie never reaches these heights again for the next two hours.
This is one of those movies that is just dare I say, a bit boring. I have had fun going back and watching all the Bond movies from the start and I would have to say that this one here is one of the more boring Bond movies. It is not terribly by any means. However, I would do a back to back special of The Spy Who Loved Me And Moonraker any day, but there is no way I would be in a rush to watch this after watching Moonraker.
I actually think me watching For Your Eyes Only so close to Moonraker and The Spy Who Loved Me is a huge reason as to why I had a hard time getting through it. You know, this is one of those movies that I do not hate, but I could go the rest of my life without seeing it again and be more than ok with it. Now that movie poster on the other hand, that would look pretty awesome in my game room!
