More serious and credible, but a bit less fun.

Roger Moore's Bond is really getting long in the tooth at this point. It's most apparent when Bibi Dahl (Lynn-Holly Johnson) whose about 18 years old tells him that she could just "eat him up". It comes off as gross; I guess she's into older men…like grandpa old. The action sequences and there are plenty of them don't work as well when they require Moore to be physical. Of course Moore's Bond has always been a little lighter in the loafers than Connery Craig or even Brosnan. Fans of a softer more humorous 007 will enjoy this more than others. The action and scenic locations make this a decent Bond adventure.

One of the best bonds: thrilling plot, fast pacing and with a good plot twist!

We’ve taken a short break after the painful Moonraker in order to regroup and continue on our Bond bonanza. Bond enters the 80s with For Your Eyes Only and the producers felt the need to shake things up a bit. Second unit director John Glen is brought in to helm the whole project, his intention being to dial back the wackiness and try to revive some of the more successful aspects of the older films. The pre-title sequence shows that this isn’t going to happen straight away. Bond winds up in a helicopter remote-controlled by a bald person with a white cat. Stuff happens, the whole thing ends with Bond dumping [Blofeld] the man into a chimney. It’s a childish ‘fuck you’ from the producers, angered at the licensing issues banning them from using Blofeld and SPECTRE in their films. Once things get going though the new tone does start to come through. A British spy ship containing nuclear decryption codes sinks, and the man sent to investigate is assassinated. Bond needs to find out what happened and recover the information. Yes, Bond is sort of saving the world but this is definitely more of a Cold War style thriller. It’s a bit more grown up, harking back to films like From Russia With Love where Bond does what you might actually call spying instead of just cocking about. Bernard Lee died before his scenes as ‘M’ could be shot, so this is sadly the first film where he is not present. His performances were consistently good and often provided much needed relief from some otherwise awful productions. Roger Moore comes back for the fifth time and despite looking a little older these days he’s still got the charm and wit we’ve come to enjoy. The stand out role for me is Topol, who plays the pistachio-chewing bad-guy-ally Milos Columbo. He lends a personable air to the role, larger than life but realistic. Julian Glover is also well cast as the smooth smuggler Aristotle Kristatos. There’s a revenge plot running through the film. Leading lady Carole Bouquet is supposed to be out to get her father’s killer, and Bond is trying to stop her from doing so prematurely. This feels like a neglected story line; we get glimpses of Bouquet’s character looking mean, nothing more. She makes the most of the screen time she gets though, providing some depth to the film where others would have failed. Unfortunately, For Your Eyes Only tries too hard to mix the spectacular sequences of yore with a gritty spy-thriller. What results is a convoluted story, a very confusing tone and ultimately a forgettable film. At least they finally did away with the wild shootout at the end… A good entry into the catalogue, but unlikely one that makes many top ten lists. http://benoliver999.com/film/2015/07/04/foryoureyesonly/

After the space extravagance of Moonraker, this installment tried to bring Bond back to a more realistic ground. You can tell we’re in the 80s: the action looks sharper, the effects are more polished, and the pace—though uneven—feels more grounded. John Glen makes his directorial debut in the series, and his intention to recover some of the early seriousness is noticeable. The helicopter sequence provides a strong opening, although its resolution borders on the ridiculous. Even so, scenes like the chase with the Citroën 2CV or the climax in Meteora deliver great tension and landscapes that remain impressive. There’s also an attempt to portray a more restrained Bond, less prone to excesses, perhaps because Roger Moore was already in his fifties and the character had to adapt to his age. Carole Bouquet does her job as the Bond girl, though the chemistry with Moore never really sparks. Julian Glover brings sobriety to the villain, but he doesn’t reach the level of the saga’s more memorable antagonists. Bill Conti’s score, with its disco flavor very much of its time, is probably the element that clashes most in a film that otherwise aimed for sobriety. In the end, For Your Eyes Only is an entertaining film, with solid action sequences and a sincere attempt to return to a more classic Bond. It doesn’t reach the heights of its strongest predecessors, but it’s watchable and represented a necessary course correction for the saga.