It is so easy to just pass over On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and ignore it as it is a bit of a weird release in the James Bond franchise. Sean Connery said that he was done playing 007 after You Only Live Twice. However, the studio felt that there were still big bucks to be made with the James Bond series and were not about to stop, just because the star wanted to do other things.
How to Download On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was released on 19 December 1969. 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
George Lazenby’s Bond Debut: A Gamble That Paid Off
The search for a new James Bond was massive, with tons of actors being considered, but it was a man who was a relative unknown, George Lazenby, that would get the nod to play James Bond. These were some huge shoes to fill, and while I do not think that Lazenby is as good as Sean Connery, I think he gets unfairly forgotten as he does a good job and this is a damn solid Bond movie. I would actually say that I like this just as much as I do the last Sean Connery one.
Box Office Struggles and Cult Classic Status
Released in 1969, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was a massive come down in box office revenue for the franchise. Perhaps if they had taken a couple more years off, people would have been more accepting of a new James Bond. However, I think that this is a very entertaining movie, and it has many cool elements that I like. I will admit, when I was doing my Bond rewatch, I considered skipping this as it feels like such a random movie with Lazenby only being Bond this one time. I am glad that I did not as I had a lot of fun with this.
Blofeld’s Evil Plot and the Angels of Death
SPECTRE head honcho Blofeld is back, and he is more awesome than ever before. The basics of the plot are that Blofeld wants to destroy the food chain by making livestock infernal and messing with a few other things as well. Now, on the surface, that may not sound like the most exciting plot for a Bond movie, but this truly would devastate the world. However, it is the way that Blofeld puts this plan in motion that I love.
Blofeld has some help to try and bring this plan to fruition. Blofeld has his Angels of Death, who are 12 very attractive women that he is unleashing on the world to bring this plan to life. That is just such an awesome premise, and while none of the Angels of Death get all that much personal screen time to flesh them all out, they do all have a unique look, and of course, Bond manages to hook up with a couple of them.
The Emotional Core: Bond and Tracy
We also have a major crime syndicate at play in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The Union Corse crime syndicate is run by a man called Marc-Ange Draco and Bond falls in love with his daughter Tracy, played by Diana Rigg. Tracy is an awesome Bond girl in that she is not just a hot chick that Bond has a fling with. Bond truly cares about Tracy, which makes the ending of this movie one of the most brutal and shocking of the entire James Bond franchise.
Final Thoughts: A Must-Watch Bond Entry
I had a great time with this movie. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service works because it has many moving parts that all add up to make one very entertaining spy thriller. While Geroge Lazenby would only play Bond on this one occasion, I feel that he did a good job, but he was definitely aided by there being so much cool stuff going on in the movie. Do not skip this one, it is well worth making the time to watch if you are doing a classic James Bond marathon.
