For Your Eyes Only
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 Film ♠ Novel ♣ Comic ♦ Soundtrack ♥ Song ♠ DVD ♣ Blu-ray
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| For Your Eyes Only movie poster | |
| For Your Eyes Only | |
| James Bond | Roger Moore |
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| Directed By | John Glen |
| Written By | Ian Fleming (stories) |
| Screenplay | Michael G. Wilson, Richard Maibaum |
| Music By | Bill Conti |
| Distributed By | United Artists |
| Released | 1981 |
| Running Time | 127 min. |
| Preceded By | Moonraker |
| Followed By | Octopussy |
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Main Title Theme | |
| Song | "For Your Eyes Only" |
| Composer | Bill Conti Michael Leeson |
| Performer | Sheena Easton |
For Your Eyes Only is perhaps most notable for its pre-title sequence which sees what is believed to be the final comeuppance of the supervillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Bond's enemy in five previous films. The sequence of the film was initially scripted to aid the introduction and establishment of a new actor to portray James Bond since Roger Moore, who had starred in four previous films as Bond was reluctant to return. The sequence begins with Bond laying flowers at the grave of his wife, Tracy Bond, but ends with Blofeld attempting to get even with Bond for foiling his plans and for the downfall of his criminal organization S.P.E.C.T.R.E.. The industrial chimney in the opening scene was part of the North Thames gasworks in London.
For this film, Blofeld is deliberately not named due to copyright issues with Kevin McClory, who owns the film rights to Thunderball which supposedly includes the character Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the organization S.P.E.C.T.R.E., and a number of other material associated with the development of Thunderball. The demise of Blofeld was added to show that the James Bond series did not need Blofeld and was also done after a number of attempts by Kevin McClory to produce a rival Bond film based on his ownership of the screen rights to the book of Thunderball. This includes a failed attempt in the late 1970s of an original Bond film that resulted in a lawsuit brought about by EON and United Artists. Nevertheless McClory was able to film a remake of Thunderball entitled Never Say Never Again which was released opposite Octopussy in 1983.
Two other controversial incidents also occurred with the release of For Your Eyes Only. The first involving the film's teaser poster artwork, which showcased a model in thong-like shorts holding a crossbow with Bond framed between her long legs. This was deemed in some U.S. states as indecent exposure. A later version of the teaser was released with a superimposed pair of shorts painted over the original artwork. The other controversial incident wasn't revealed until some time after the release, in which it was discovered that one girl, Caroline Cossey (aka Tula), that was used in a pool scene turned out to be a transsexual. (Urban legends about the incident greatly exaggerated Cossey's role, from a non-speaking "girl at pool" to someone who had "heavy love scenes" with Moore.[1])
For Your Eyes Only marked a creative change of direction for the Bond film series. John Glen was promoted from his duties as a film editor to director, a position he would occupy throughout the 1980s. A result of this being a harder-edged directorial style, with less emphasis on gadgetry and large action sequences in huge arenas (as was favoured by Lewis Gilbert). More emphasis on tension, plot, and character was also added in addition to a return to Bond's more serious roots.
A good example of this is a scene in which Bond kicks a car with a villain inside over a cliff, essentially murdering him in cold blood. This was, and still is to this day controversial amongst fans to whether Ian Fleming's James Bond would do such an act. Roger Moore was also strongly opposed to the aforementioned scene in which Bond kills the villain Locque, claiming his Bond wouldn't do such a thing. This, however, contradicts the fact that his Bond kills at least two, possibly three people in cold blood in the earlier film, The Spy Who Loved Me (namely, a thug Bond lets fall off a roof, the villain Karl Stromberg who Bond executes after he's been disarmed, and possibly a woman who Bond may or may not intentionally use as a human shield). Nonetheless, this scene was the strongest display of Bond exercising his licence to kill since the killing of Dr. Dent by Sean Connery's Bond in Dr. No.
Throughout the entire James Bond series of films, this is the only movie where M is absent. Bernard Lee had died while preparing for the film, and instead of recasting, the role was left vacant out of respect. Miss Moneypenny, M's personal secretary claims that he is on leave, and his chair is filled by his 'Chief of Staff', Bill Tanner, with M's lines being shared between Tanner and the Minister of Defence. The role was recast for Octopussy.
Today For Your Eyes Only is often cited as one of the strongest films of the series and is usually considered a contender alongside The Spy Who Loved Me as Moore's best Bond film. Overall, For Your Eyes Only accumulated a box office gross of $195,300,000, which at the time was the second highest grossing Bond film after its previous entry Moonraker.
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Plot summary
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The film focuses on the recovery of the vital Automatic Targeting and Attack Communicator (ATAC), which is lost in the Ionian Sea after the British spy ship St. Georges is sunk by an old mine hauled up in its fishing nets. The ATAC system is used by the Ministry of Defence to communicate and co-ordinate the Royal Navy's fleet of Polaris submarines. Sir Timothy Havelock, a marine archaeologist and MI6 agent, and his wife are murdered by a Cuban hitman, Hector Gonzales, while he is searching for the wreck of the St Georges. Bond is sent after Gonzales to find out who hired him, but is beaten to it by Havelock's daughter, Melina, who kills him before Bond can find out. After identifying a man in Gonzales' estate who appeared to be paying him, Bond is led to a well connected Greek businessman and intelligence informant, Aristotle Kristatos, who tells Bond that the man he saw is employed by Milos Columbo, a Greek smuggler. However, when Bond confronts Columbo, it emerges that Kristatos is actually in the employ of the KGB to recover the ATAC, and had set up Columbo as the villain as he knew too much about Kristatos' KGB leanings. Bond is aided in his pursuit of Kristatos and the ATAC by Melina and Columbo. In the film's climax, Bond throws the ATAC system over a cliff rather than hand it to the KGB chief General Gogol, with the quip "That's détente, comrade. I don't have it, you don't have it."
Action sequencesEdit
As mentioned earlier, this movie turned from deux ex machina gadgets and wide-open action sequences to smaller and more "personal" scenes. The resulting sequences are arguably some of the best of the series, and are generally extremely well filmed.
One example of the change in thinking is the simple scene in which Bond confronts the killer Locque. Locque is attempting to escape in a car, but is forced to drive up a steep hill along a road containing a number of sharp switchback curves. Bond follows on foot, running up a set of stairways bisecting the road. When the race first starts, Locque is far ahead of Bond, but as Bond reaches the next section of the road after climbing one section it is clear he is gaining on him. The scene ends with Bond climbing the last remaining flight, quite out of breath, with the camera positioned to show him reaching the road slightly ahead of Locque. The entire scene is perhaps 30 seconds, and is extremely suspenseful.
A more famous scene occurs late in the movie when Bond's team attempts to break into a mountaintop monastery being used by Kristatos to meet Gogol and turn over the ATAC. In order to gain access to the mountaintop one would normally use a cablecar, but this is being guarded. Instead Bond climbs up the sheer face of the mountain, out of sight of the guards. As he climbs he has to knock pitons into the rock face, and eventually one of the guards hears him and investigates. He sees Bond, who hides, and instead climbs down a rope of his own to start knocking out the pitons. The scene continues with Bond attempting to climb back onto the rock face, but falling further as each piton is knocked out. He eventually reaches a safe position just as the guard is in the process of knocking out the last piton, potentially sending Bond falling to the rock far below. Bond then whistles to attract the guard's attention, and uses a piton as a throwing knife to kill him, using the guard's rope to climb the rest of the way.
Cast & charactersEdit
- James Bond - Roger Moore
- Miss Moneypenny - Lois Maxwell
- Q - Desmond Llewelyn
- Chief of Staff Bill Tanner - James Villiers
- Melina Havelock - Carole Bouquet
- Milos Columbo - Topol
- Bibi Dahl - Lynn-Holly Johnson
- Aris Kristatos - Julian Glover
- Countess Lisl von Schlaf - Cassandra Harris
- Jacoba Brink - Jill Bennett
- Emile Leopold Locque - Michael Gothard
- Erich Kriegler - John Wyman
- Sir Fredrick Gray (Minister of Defence) — Geoffrey Keen
- General Gogol — Walter Gotell
- Rubelvitch (Gogol's Assistant) - Eva Rueber-Staier
CrewEdit
- Directed by: John Glen
- Produced by: Albert R. Broccoli
- Written by: Ian Fleming
- Screenplay by: Richard Maibaum, Michael G. Wilson
- Composed by: Bill Conti
- Cinematography by: Alan Hume
- Production design: Peter Lamont
SoundtrackEdit
See: For Your Eyes Only (soundtrack)
LocationsEdit
Film locationsEdit
Shooting locationsEdit
Many of the "underwater" scenes, especially involving closeups of Bond and Melina, were actually faked on a dry soundstage. A combination of lighting effects, slow-motion photography, wind, and "bubbles" added in post-production, gave the illusion of the actors being underwater. Apparently actress Carole Bouquet had a preexisting health condition that prevented her from actually attempting any underwater stuntwork.
Vehicles & gadgetsEdit
After the eve
Added by EdnasharonTriviaEdit
- Stuntman Paolo Rigon was killed during filming of the bobsled track portion of the ski chase. During the sequence Rigon's sleigh overturned with Rigon trapped beneath. He later died due to the injuries he sustained.
- The scene in which Melina and Bond are dragged through the water for the sharks to eat was a sequence in the novel Live and Let Die.
- The "Burglar Protected" stickers on Bond's Lotus came from a car alarm company called Autosafe.
- In the end credits of The Spy Who Loved Me it says "James Bond will return in For Your Eyes Only, however after the tremendous box office success of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in 1977 the producers decided they wanted to cash in on the subsequent science fiction craze and make Moonraker instead, thus For Your Eyes Only was held back to become the next Bond film after Moonraker.
- Cassandra Harris was married to future Bond actor Pierce Brosnan.
Comic book adaptationEdit
Prior to the film being released Marvel Comics was given permission to publish a two-issue comic book adaptation of the movie, For Your Eyes Only. The first issue was released in October 1981 and was soon followed by the second issue in November of the same year. It was also reprinted the same year in magazine and paperback book form.
Two major differences in the comic book include the addition of M, who was technically in the initial drafts of the screenplay until Bernard Lee's death in early 1981 and the villain's given name, which for unknown reasons was "Ari Kristatos" instead of the film version's "Aris Kristatos." The comic also includes additional suggestive dialogue by Bibi Dahl (aimed at Bond) that was never used (or was perhaps edited from) the film.
Credits for both issues of the comic book adaptation include:
- Written by Larry Hama
- Penciller: Howard Chaykin
- Inker: Vince Colletta
- Letterer: Jean Simek
- Colorist: Christie Scheele
- Editor: Dennis O'Neil
ReferencesEdit
- ^ Chancellor, Henry "James Bond: The Man and His World", 2005, John Murray, ISBN 0719568153
External linksEdit
| The James Bond films |
|---|
| Connery Dr. No | From Russia with Love | Goldfinger | Thunderball | You Only Live Twice | ... | Diamonds Are Forever |
| Lazenby On Her Majesty's Secret Service |
| Moore Live and Let Die | The Man with the Golden Gun | The Spy Who Loved Me | Moonraker | For Your Eyes Only | Octopussy | A View to a Kill |
| Dalton The Living Daylights | Licence to Kill |
| Brosnan GoldenEye | Tomorrow Never Dies | The World Is Not Enough | Die Another Day |
| Craig Casino Royale | Quantum of Solace | Skyfall |
| Unofficial films Casino Royale (1954 TV) | Casino Royale (1967 spoof) | Never Say Never Again |
