Bond: On Her Majesty's Secret Service

In On Her Majesty's Secret Service, 007 leaves the Service to privately pursue his SPECTRE nemesis Blofeld (played this time by Telly Savalas), whose latest master plan involves a threat to the world's crops by agricultural sterilization. Bond teams up with suave international crime lord Draco (Gabriele Ferzetti) and falls in love with--and marries--his elegant daughter, Tracy (Diana Rigg). Bond goes monogamous? Not at first; after all he has Blofeld's harem to seduce. Lazenby hasn't the intensity of Connery but he has fun with his quips and even lampoons the Bond image in a playful pre-credits sequence, and Rigg, fresh from playing sexy Emma Peel in The Avengers, matches 007 in every way. Former editor Peter Hunt makes a strong directorial debut, deftly handling the elaborate action sequences--including a car chase turned road rally through the icy snow--with a kinetic finesse and a dash of humor. Though not a hit on its original release, On Her Majesty's Secret Service has become a fan favorite and the closest the series has come to capturing the spirit of Ian Fleming's books. --Sean Axmaker

This story is a gripping, emotional tale of an agent committing the ultimate sin, getting involved with another individual involved in a mission. All of the normal Bond components are present; gadgetry, high-speed chases, lots of explosions and lots of pretty girls. This one goes one step farther, giving us a truly malevolent villain (played brilliantly by Telly Savalas)and Bond's only true romantic interest (played equally brilliantly by Diana Rigg).

The action is non-stop, the locations are beautiful, the soundtrack one of the best. The climax is one of the most gut-wrenching ever placed on film.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service has often been placed at the very bottom of the long list of James Bond vehicles. It doesn't belong there. This is an outstanding film with a truly outstanding cast. Give it a try. You won't be disappointed.


Lazenby's 15 Minutes .... errrrr ...... Two Hours Of Fame.   June 23, 2000
Michael K. Beusch (San Mateo, California United States)
17 out of 20 found this review helpful

George Lazenby had the bad luck to come right after the best James Bond, Sean Connery. Inevitably, the public jumped on him, comparing him ad nauseum to Connery. However, on review thirty years later, Lazenby actually does a very good job. Although he is a little stiff in the beginning (in the shoulder, of course -- if you've seen the movie, you'll get the joke), overall he does a capable job of acting and is excellent in the fight sequences and other action scenes. Indeed, if you see the Bond films in order, Lazenby's performance in OHMSS is better than Connery's in You Only Live Twice, in which Connery is slow moving, overweight, bored and looks like an actor who is fulfilling the last film in a contract. It's too bad that Lazenby shot himself in the foot and declared that he would not play James Bond again, because he might have grown into the role very nicely.

The film itself is one of the best in the series. In my view, the fourth best after Goldfinger, From Russia With Love and Dr. No. Peter Hunt, who had edited the first five Bonds, does a great job of directing. The action sequences are some of the best ever put on film, with the highlight being an avalanche specially staged for the film. Hunt makes great use of his locations, especially the Alpine scenery in Switzerland and knows how to film exciting and breathtaking action. The ski sequences are some of the best ever put on film and even outshine similar sequences in The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only. It's a shame that Hunt never got another chance to direct a Bond film.

The cast is first rate, headed by Diana Rigg as Contessa Teresa Di Vicenzo or Tracy to her friends(Emma Peel on the Avengers). Rigg is feminine, beautiful and vulnerable, yet she is also tough and can take care of herself, unlike so many of the "helpless female" Bond heroines. She makes it believable that Bond asks her to marry him. Telly Savalas doesn't exactly look or sound like a character with the name Ernst Stavro Blofeld, but he is very menacing and does a good job despite the odd casting. Ilse Steppat is a venemous Irma Bunt and matches the book's description of her to a tee. Gabrielle Ferzetti, as Tracy's father, Marc Ange Draco, is believable as both a caring father and as a ruthless syndicate head (In one scene, Tracy refuses to leave Bond behind during a helicopter raid on Blofeld's moutain hideout. Draco punches her and knocks her out, stating,"Spare the rod and spoil the child, eh?")And, of course, Bernard Lee, Desmond Llewellyn and Lois Maxwell are back as M, Q and Miss Moneypenny, respectively. Maxwell, especially, is given much more to do than usual and is quite touching in her scenes with Lazenby.

The DVD edition is spectacular. Like the previous James Bond Special Edition DVD's, this edition features loads of extras, including trailers, "making of" documentaries, cast and crew interviews and a featurette on Q and his gadjets. The film is presented letteboxed in clear, vibrant colors and greatly enhances the spectacular mountain scenery seen throughout the film. This is a great Bond film which is done great justice by this DVD edition. I've only seen George Lazenby in one other film (a cameo in, of all things, The Kentucky Fried Movie), but if you're going to have only one starring role to your credit, it might as well be in a film as good as OHMSS.


The BEST Bond Film, Period...   April 29, 2005
Nebraska Jack (Lincoln, Nebraska, USA)
16 out of 17 found this review helpful

Why, you ask?

1. This is the film which most closely followed Fleming's original novel. Even "Goldfinger" took more liberties. This is an almost page for page rendition of one of the best books.

2. Lazenby > Bored Connery. Though he didn't have the pedigree of Connery (or any of the others, right through Brosnan), Lazenby not only held his own in the part, but after seeing Connery sleep through the later films (and do it again in the retched "Diamonds Are Forever"), he was a breath of fresh air.

3. Low budget, by Bondian standards. No big volcanos filled with henchmen. No ninjas. No Outer Space. No big set pieces at all.

4. Gorgeous cinematography. You really feel like you're in the mountains.

5. "Kojak" strikes just the right cord as Blofeld - somewhere between the earlier "sitting around stroking an evil cat" version and the cross-dressing, fancy lad Charles Gray edition (BTW, can you tell I HATED Diamonds Are Forever?).

6. Diana Rigg is to this day the most beautiful Bond Girl, and the romance is believable and sweet.

7. The Best Bond Theme. The only close second is McCartney's "Live And Let Die." And the best credit sequence - the montage of earlier films is brilliant.

8. The wonderful Louis Armstrong melody, last heard in "The Jacket."

9. Most of all, the downbeat ending. Gut-renching and out of character for the series.

This is the Bond film to end all Bond films.


Lazenby Delivers   April 27, 2000
John D. Pride (Atlanta, GA USA)
15 out of 16 found this review helpful

The biggest misconception surrounding this film is that it is underappreciated. As legions of Bond fanatics will attest, OHMSS is very highly regarded, and has achieved near legendary status since its release over thirty years ago.

Although there was a bit of trepidation among moviegoers at the time regarding Sean Connery's departure from the series, the self-assuredness and virile swagger of George Lazenby put most of us at ease. He's simply terrific in the role; charming, dangerous and athletic, he commands the screen with an undaunted presence. Far better as Bond than either Roger Moore or Timothy Dalton, his abrupt exit from the series was disconcerting (until, of course, it was announced that Connery would return to the role). In fact, the film's lack of success was probably largely due to the fact that Lazenby himself refused to promote it. Add to that the fact that he arrived on the heels of the man that, to the world at that time, WAS James Bond, and that the movie's ending was uncharacteristicly downbeat.

OHMSS remains the Bond film that most closely follows the novel on which it was based. One of the more positive aspects of the movie is that it was the last Bond entry to be released in the ultra-cool sixties. Even Connery's return to the franchise in Diamonds Are Forever didn't keep that film from paling in comparison to OHMSS, despite the fact that it starred the best and most beloved portrayer of OO7 to appear thus far in the series. That film's dowdy brownish hues, cheap looking sets and unfortunate emphasis on overt campiness dulled even Connery's luster. The Bond films of the style-impaired seventies just didn't have "it".

A great story, a terrific setting, taught direction and a worthy successor to Connery's throne all helped to make this the last great James Bond film until Pierce Brosnan brought the magic back in the nineties. Only the weirdly out-of-place crooning of Louis Armstrong on "We Have All The Time In The World" sullies a marvelous score. All in all, a classic.