For Your Eyes Only

Roger Moore -

James Bond

Carole Bouquet -

Melina Havelock

Topol -

Milos Colombo

Lynn-Holly Johnson -

Bibi

Julian Glover -

Kristatos

Michael Gothard -

Emil Locque

Jack Hedley -

Havelock

Lois Maxwell -

Moneypenny

Desmond Llewelyn -

Walter Gotell -

General Gogol

John Moreno -

Ferrara

After James Bond's mission in space, he came crashing back on earth for his next assignment. In fact, I think he crash landed instead. For Your Eyes Only is one of the weaker entries in the series, and even though it has its share of good action and locations, it doesn't stand out in any particular way. Aside from the title sequence, during which we get to see the singer (Sheena Easton) performing, there is no sense of uniqueness.

The beginning promises something special. Bond (Roger Moore) visits the grave of his dead wife Tracy. ( The tombstone says "Teresa Bond," but she went by both names in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.) After that, he hops onboard a helicopter. After takeoff, the helicopter is taken over by Blofeld. We know it's him, because of the bald head and the cat, although we never see his face directly. Bond dispatches him and goes on to headquarters to receive his next assignment. A ship equipped with the ATAC system sank in the Ionian Sea. The ATAC system is what allows the British to send orders to its ships. Whoever possesses the system can send false orders, instructing ships to fire on cities or anything else for that matter. Bond heads to Greece to find out who killed Dr. Havelock (Jack Hedley), who was working with the British to locate the wreckage of the sunken ship.

Havelock's daughter, Melina (Carole Bouquet), is after the man who killer her father, so it's only a matter of time before she runs into Bond. Bouquet is adequate for the role, although she isn't as strong a partner as Agent XXX in The Spy Who Loved Me or Holly Goodhead in Moonraker. In fact, because of the loss of her parents, she's too preoccupied with finding out the truth, so she never becomes close to Bond until the end of the movie. Bond understands her pain, and doesn't take advantage of her. He even sends her away several times to keep her out of harm's way. It's admiral that Bond would show extra consideration for a woman's feelings, but because of his kindness, there are no fireworks between the two characters. That's a vital element to any James Bond film.

Bond tracks the assassin down, and he discovers that the assassin, named Hector Gonzales (Stefan Kalipha), is being paid by Emil Locque (Michael Gothard), an international criminal. The search extends to Northern Italy, where Bond, along with his contact Ferrara (John Moreno), discovers that Locque works for Milos Colombo (Topol), who may or may not be the true villain. Ferrara points to Kristatos (Julian Glover), who knows Colombo and offers help. Kristatos is sponsoring a figure skater named Bibi (Lynn-Holly Johnson), the second Bond girl of the film. When she meets Bond, Bibi falls for him right away, but he turns her down because of her seemingly naive attitude. While in Italy, Bond engages in an exciting chase scene on skis, as he is pursued by other skiers and riders on motorcycles. Bond skis on a roof, a table, a ski jump and even a bobsled track (that may not be the right order). This is the only truly exciting sequence in the movie.

Dr. Havelock was searching for the wreckage because the location of the sinking was unknown. After Bond and Melina locate the ship and obtain the ATAC system, they emerge from the sea in plain view of land, where we can easily see homes. Since a huge blast sunk the ship, I'm sure the inhabitants would have reported the incident, and the ship's location wouldn't be unknown. Even my favorite Bond film (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) goofed in the editing department, but this kind of mistake in For Your Eyes Only is mind-boggling.

When Bond and his friends reach the villain's hideout (I won't say who), the best plan of attack would be for Bond to scale the side of the mountain. A henchman sees him, and instead of calling for help, who goes down the mountain to loosen Bond's ropes. The usual gunshots and sneaking around ensues, and Bond finally recovers the ATAC system. For Your Eyes Only isn't a fully satisfying film. Roger Moore does a good job with the material he's given to work with, and Carole Bouquet is a fine actress, but they never get together until the end. This is John Glen's first time directing a Bond film (he's edited and assisted with directing on previous installments), and he does an admirable job, but the biggest fault lies with the screenplay. The story itself is interesting, but because of the goofs I described earlier, the film never measures up to the better Bonds.

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