Licence to Kill

Licence to Kill

And now we come to the franchise killer, Licence to Kill.

Financially unsuccessful and generally derided, Licence to Kill is almost always ranked at or near the bottom of the canon.

And that is totally unjustified.  Certainly not without its major problems, Licence to Kill just isn't that bad, and it attempts to nudge the franchise in a direction that it wouldn't experiment with again until the Daniel Craig years.

There are a number of reasons why people don't like this movie.  Among the biggest complaints is the plot itself.  Bond neither takes on enemy spies nor is the squeaky wheel that ruins the nefarious plans of megalomaniacs; Licence to Kill has much smaller fish to fry.  There is a nasty drug kingpin named Sanchez (Robert Davi), and Bond is gonna bring him down.  But even if the world is not at stake in this film, there are very personal issues to wrestle with. Sanchez attacked CIA agent and longtime Bond ally Felix Leiter (David Hedison) on his wedding night, killing his bride and lowering him into a shark tank until his legs were eaten off.  Now Bond wants revenge.  M and his other superiors at MI6 tell him back off.  So Bond goes rogue, determined to take down Sanchez on his own.

Nowadays, the idea of Bond quitting MI6 doesn't seem like a big deal.  Pierce Brosnan abandoned MI6 in Die Another Day, and it seems like Daniel Craig has made a nasty habit of it in most of his movies.  But in 1989, this was pretty shocking.  Bond was the Britain's secret weapon, loyal to Queen and country.  He never loses his cool, and to have him desert his post to fight some feisty drug dealer was surprising and controversial to many.  It doesn't bother me, especially since Licence to Kill features Bond doing more genuine undercover spy work than Roger Moore did during his entire tenure. He works his way down to Mexico, infiltrates Sanchez's gang and sets out to destroy it from the inside.

There is actually a lot of interesting stuff going on in this film, and it has a lot of good qualities. Timothy Dalton takes the seriousness and sense of danger up another notch in this film, making his run in The Living Daylights seem almost joyous in comparison. He's cruel and dangerous here, and that is cool to see.  I think the rest of the cast also does good work, particularly Carey Lowell as Bond's new CIA ally Pam Bouvier, and Robert Davi and a VERY young Benicio del Toro as the villains.  Long-time Bond helmer John Glen's direction is assured and reliable (he is even quoted as saying this is his favorite Bond film), and there are some exciting stunts - including some ridiculous tricks with 18-wheeler trucks, which would be laughably bad if it weren't for the fact that they were really doing them!  That makes the absurd become something impressive!

On the other hand, I don't want to defend the film too much.  Licence to Kill is definitely not some sort of misunderstood masterpiece.  It has some serious problems.  This is a long film, and it could have used some serious stream-lining. And entire subplot with Wayne Newton really serves no purpose and is just a time-kill.  The film is utterly devoid of any humor at all, which is definitely a mistake.  I really do feel that a key component of this franchise is that Bond enjoys his job, and we enjoy watching him enjoy his job.  Licence to Kill is just way too grim.  A shark ate off Felix's legs, for crying out loud!

And of course, if I am listing the horrible thing in this movie, I have to reserve a space for Carey Lowell's bad wig in her first scenes.  Thank goodness they let her go with her natural short hair for the rest of the movie. Yeesh.

But the biggest problem is that there are stretches where Licence to Kill just doesn't feel like a Bond film.  Ultimately, I think the quality that had been Bond's greatest strength for two decades backfired this time around - and by that, I mean the ability to adapt with the times.  The late 1980s was the heyday of the rated R action movie, and stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone ruled the box office.  Gore and violence was in.  This was the age of Lethal Weapon, Robocop, Die Hard, Commando, Predator, and Rambo...and James Bond wanted to cash in.  There are some truly grisly deaths in Licence to Kill - shockingly so for a PG-13 movie.

The other way the producers bowed to the issues of the late 1980s was by making Bond monogamous because of the AIDs crisis - he only sleeps with Pam Bouvier in this film.  And while it is noble that they wanted to acknowledge what continues to be a very serious crisis, it is certainly out of character for Bond to ignore all the other women in the film.

I know the Daniel Craig films are also grim, and it must drive Timothy Dalton up the wall that Craig's tenure is praised for the very reasons that Dalton's tenure is derided.  But the simple fact of the matter is that by trying to pursue what was popular in the late 1980s, Licence to Kill loses track of what makes Bond so special and unique. It devolves into your standard late 1980s revenge flick, just with a better actor in the lead.  And that is a very serious problem, and certainly contributed to its under performance.

Licence to Kill took a beating at the box office for another reason - bad luck.  The film was released in 1989, which was a bonanza year for franchises.  It just got swallowed up by franchise films like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Ghostbusters 2, Batman, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Back to the Future II, Karate Kid 3, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, and Star Trek V.  Wow.  No wonder the film failed to ignite the box office.

But here is where I need to defend the film's legacy.  It was not a disaster.  It did not kill the franchise. Yes, for awhile it did look like there would be no more Bond films, but that had nothing to do with Licence to Kill.  There was a run of bad luck. Ongoing fierce legal battles with a bankrupt MGM (the parent company of Bond's distributor, United Artists) left the franchise mired in lawsuits and tangled in development hell.  With the production seemingly delayed indefinitely, Dalton retired from the role (important to note - he left; he wasn't let go). After five films, director John Glen also decided to throw in the towel.  Then two of Bond's iconic team members passed away - open titles designer Maurice Binder and screenwriter Richard Maibaum, both of whom had been with the franchise since Dr. No.  Worst of all, Cubby Broccoli himself had to step back from the driver's seat, as he was struggling with serious health concerns.

You can't blame Licence to Kill, but for a few years, it really was starting to look like James Bond was dead.  Thank goodness for Goldeneye.


RANKINGS:

This was a tough film to rank.  Licence to Kill has its problems, but its not a badly made film.  I think it is going to rest nicely right below Live and Let Die...squarely in the middle of the pack.

1. Thunderball
2. From Russia with Love
3. Goldfinger
4. The Spy Who Loved Me
5. The Living Daylights
6. Dr. No
7. Octopussy
8. For Your Eyes Only
9. Live and Let Die
10. Licence to Kill
11. Man with the Golden Gun
12. Diamonds are Forever
13. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
14. Moonraker
15. You Only Live Twice
16. A View to a Kill

BEST LINE:

When Bond is arguing with M about seeking vengeance against Frank Sanchez:

M:  This private vendetta of yours could easily compromise Her Majesty's government.  You have an assignment, and I expect you to carry it out objectively and professionally. 

James Bond: Then you have my resignation, sir.

M (furious): We're not a country club, 007!

TRIVIA:

The scene where Bond confronts M and then resigns from MI6 was filmed in Ernest Hemingway's old house in Key West.  Hence the line: "Well, I suppose this is a farewell to arms."  Ah, you gotta love inside jokes...

MVP:

What is the best thing about Licence to Kill?  Despite my earlier criticism of Timothy Dalton's humorless take on the role, he is still clearly the best thing about the movie.  He's a consummate professional and he was willing to take the character to some truly dark and dangerous places, and that needs to be applauded. And I do feel bad that he gets slammed for some of the same reasons Daniel Craig is praised.  It seems hardly fair!

The Living Daylights

The Living Daylights

Despite the fact that A View to a Kill is almost unwatchable in my opinion, the film still managed to be a financial success.  But it was clear to everyone that Roger Moore could no longer appear in the role of James Bond - most of all to Moore himself.  Change was in the air.  And it wasn't only the lead actor who needed to be a refresh.  The genius of producer Albert Broccoli is that he kept adapting the franchise to fit with the times.  While the essence of the Bond character stayed the same, the approach to the films shifted considerably over the decades.  If you didn't already know going in, it would be almost inconceivable that Dr. No and A View to a Kill belonged to the same franchise.  And now, in 1987, it was time to rock the boat again.  No more over-the-top baddies imbued with super strength by the Nazis and no more killer blimps.  It was time to bring Bond back to reality.

With the Cold War heating up again, Bond (Timothy Dalton, The Lion in Winter) is assigned to help Soviet general Koskov (Jeroen Krabbe, The Fugitive) defect from East Germany.  During the post-defection debriefing in a MI-6 safehouse, Kostov reveals that the KGB is launching an initiative called "Smiert Spionom," which translates to "Death to all Spies."  Basically, the KGB is going to target all Western spies to escalate tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union.  Before he can go into more details, the safehouse is attacked by KGB operative Necros (Andreas Wisniewski, Die Hard).  After wreaking havoc, Necros kidnaps Koskov and escapes.  Deciding that "Smiert Spionom" is more important than recovering Koskov, M orders Bond to assassinate the head of the KGB (John Rhys Davies, Raiders of the Lost Ark) before international tensions turn into full scale war.

Of course, being a Bond film, there is more to the story, but why spoil it?  Instead of super villains and secret lairs, we are given a true Cold War thriller, and for the most part, it really is quite good.   The plot is interesting, the action and stunts are great, John Glen's direction is assured, and John Barry's music delivers the goods.  The villains, which also include an American arms dealer Brad Whitaker (Joe Don Baker, Walking Tall), are all entertaining. Wisniewski is particularly effective as the henchman Necros, towering over Timothy Dalton, and participating in two of the franchise best fights since the Sean Connery days.

The movie certainly has its problems. Bond's allies this time are a bit less engaging than the villains. The main Bond girl Kara (Maryam D'Abo, The Browning Version) is Kostov's girlfriend and an accomplished cellist, and really does not belong in the movie after the first 45-minutes.  Her role in the plot complete, she is only there to serve as a distraction to Bond and the audience, and that is a bit annoying.  I also found the attempts at humor to fall a bit flat; a leftover feature from the Roger Moore years that seems at odds with the new tone being established here.  It does seem like everyone is working through the process, looking to see what works and what doesn't with their new approach. That results in a few bumps on the road - but only a few.  For the most part, this really is quite a good film and easily ranks in the top half of the franchise.

And what about Dalton?  The Welsh actor is considered one of the "lesser" Bonds, probably because he only made two films and the latter one appeared at one point to be the franchise killer (until Pierce Brosnan brought the Bonds roaring back).  In general, Dalton is dismissed with a "meh" and his films are considering forgettable.  I find this all very confusing.  First of all, Living Daylights was a well regarded success upon its release and Dalton's second film License to Kill is nowhere near as bad as people say. And as for Dalton himself - people seem to criticize him for doing exactly what Daniel Craig is praised for - bringing some darkness and danger to the character.  This criticism must drive Dalton crazy!  Overall, I think Dalton is really quite good.  He brings a new physicality to the role, throwing himself into fights and stunts that Roger Moore hadn't been able to do for a decade.  He is also utterly believable as a dangerous and cold-hearted spy. In fact, Dalton might get the "spy" piece of the Bond character better than any of the other actors who played the part; he is downright brilliant. Unfortunately, there are a few other important pieces to the Bond character than Dalton is not quite as good at. He is generally not very believable with the ladies; it's almost as if he is being forced to sleep with them.  And he is also mostly humorless, even more so than Craig.  A key part of Bond is that he enjoys being Bond.  Dalton's Bond is focused on his duty and doing what's right, but he is not necessarily enjoying himself in the process, and I don't think that was the right approach to take.  But all in all, I think that can be forgiven. He is a great actor and he is doing really good work in this role. He deserves to be re-evaluated!

Okay, back to the movie.  As I mentioned above, it's far from perfect. But The Living Daylights is a good and sometimes even great entry in this franchise.  Definitely see it!

RANKINGS:
Okay, The Living Daylights shoots right up to the top of the list - not in the upper echelon, but close.  It is certainly better than all of Roger Moore's films, except for The Spy Who Loved Me.  That's one of the classics and would be hard to top, but I think Dalton's first entry to the franchise fits comfortably just below it.

1. Thunderball
2. From Russia with Love
3. Goldfinger
4. The Spy Who Loved Me
5. The Living Daylights
6. Dr. No
7. Octopussy
8. For Your Eyes Only
9. Live and Let Die
10. Man with the Golden Gun
11. Diamonds are Forever
12. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
13. Moonraker
14. You Only Live Twice
15. A View to a Kill

BEST LINE:
Bond: Stuff my orders.  I only kill professionals.  That girl didn't know one end of her rifle from the other. Go ahead. Tell M what you want. If he fires me, I'll thank him for it...Whoever she was, I must have scared the living daylights out of her.

TRIVIA:
Bond casting is always an interesting source of trivia.  It really is a huge deal whenever the part is recast; you are replacing an icon and the world knows it.  A number of interesting choices have been considered for the part, everyone from Cary Grant to James Brolin to Mel Gibson.  In fact, Pierce Brosnan was almost cast in The Living Daylights (I'll save that trivia for my Goldeneye review) before the producers decided on Timothy Dalton.  Dalton was also almost cast on multiple occasions before finally getting the role.  When Sean Connery left the series after You Only Live Twice, Dalton was considered for the part.  I don't know if Broccoli and Saltzman decided to look elsewhere or if Dalton turned down the part, but I think this was the right call - Dalton was way too young at that point.  He never would have worked (even if he would have saved me the torture of having to watch George Lazenby).  He was considered again in 1971 after Diamonds are Forever, and again in 1981 in For Your Eyes Only, when it wasn't clear whether or not Roger Moore was returning.  In fact, he was actually offered the role for Octopussy and A View to a Kill, but turned them both down due to scheduling conflicts.  So Broccoli really, really liked Dalton enough to chase him for twenty years!

MVP:
For The Living Daylights, I am not going to say a person.  Yes, I like Dalton.  And I like the direction by John Glen and the music score by John Barry (his last Bond score, by the way).  No, the MVP for The Living Daylights is not a person.  It is a stunt.  Probably one of the coolest stunts I have ever seen!  Spoilers here: Bond's final fight with Necros takes place in the cargo hold of a military plane The loading door of the plane opens and both combatants slide out of the plane, just barely grabbing ahold of a cargo net to keep them from falling to their deaths.  And then they proceed to fight while hanging on this net.  And two stunt men really spent hours filming scenes of punching each other while being dragged around by a cargo plane. The closeups are obviously filmed on a set, but the wide shots were filmed pretty damn high.  That is just insane.  INSANE! And incredibly dangerous.  My hats off to the stunt team.  I have to say this is the best stunt in franchise history! And an easy winner for my MVP award.

Here it is if you want to see it:

A View to a Kill

A View to a Kill

In 1983, Albert Broccoli found himself up against the fierce competition of a rival Bond film called Never Say Never Again, starring the greatest James Bond of them all: Sean Connery.  The news changed the way Broccoli's production company Eon approached their next film in the Bond franchise, evocatively entitled Octopussy.  Originally Broccoli was going to go with a new actor, most likely the American actor James Brolin, but now they couldn't take any chances.  They needed to ward off this new threat.  They needed a sure thing.  They needed the reliable Roger Moore to come back for one more film.  And even though he was a bit old for the part at age 56, Moore agreed to return for a final hoorah.

Though it has its problems, Octopussy proved to be a big hit, and outperformed Never Say Never Again. And overall, for Roger Moore, this was not a bad film to go out on.  After 11 years and 6 films, Moore could now retire from the role on an all time high (coincidentally the main song for the movie).  He was even given one of the great iconic Bond moments during the film's climax, when he slides down a palace bannister with a machine gun, mowing down down the bad guys.  It's a fun moment.  Check it out!

What a great way to start to retirement!

Except...that's not what happened.

Instead A View to a Kill happened.

Oh, dear heavens, the horror. The horror.

What can I say about A View to a Kill?

The movie begins in Siberia, where Bond is searching for the corpse of a fellow agent 003. But more important than 003 is a Soviet microchip he had stolen just before his death. After recovering the chip, Bond is attacked by the Russians. Bond quickly captures a snowmobile and when that is damaged, he takes off the front ski and uses it as a snowboard...he proceeds to surf down the mountain as the music switches to a cover of The Beach Boys' "California Girls." After a number of slapstick stunts to evade his pursuers, Bond makes it to his iceberg submarine where a nubile fellow agent is waiting to sleep with him.

Sound bad?  That's only the first six minutes.

The film just gets worse from there.  Bond's snooping eventually leads him to Max Zorin (Christopher Walken), a billionaire industrialist psychopath/Nazi experiment gone wrong, who is interested in breeding race horses and blowing up Silicon Valley.  On Zorin's side, we have his super strong bodyguard May Day (a towering Grace Jones) and silly cartoon German scientist Dr. Mortner (Willoughby Gray), who helps him with his genetic experiments.  On Bond's side, we have Sir Godfrey (Patrick McNee), a horse breeding expert, and state geologist Stacey Sutton (Tanya Roberts).

The less said about the plot, the better.  Just know that we are treated to a long and mind numbingly dull sequence where Bond and Sir Godfrey infiltrate Zorin's race horse breeding event. Then it's time for a slapstick car chase on a firetruck and a building fire where Stacey Sutton's shrill screams will make your ears bleed.  Oh, and let's not forget the thrilling action scene at Sutton's house. After 23 years of fights in locations as intriguing or exotic as the Orient Express, an ancient Greek monastery, an Indian palace, Fort Knox, and a secret volcano base, we are now treated to an extended fight scene in a big, empty room. Really?!  Come on, guys, you're better than this.

Almost no one comes through this mess unscathed, not even Roger Moore.  His performance is as assured as always, but he is just too old, plain and simple. He looks out of shape, it appears as if he's had some strange plastic surgery, and his eyebrows look long enough to hang Christmas ornaments from.  He just isn't believable any more in the action scenes and even less so in the love scenes. It's incredible what a difference only 2 years can make, since he was fine in Octopussy.  Even Roger Moore knew he was too old for the part and said so in his autobiography.  He was shocked when he found out he was old enough to be Tanya Robert's grandfather.  That was when he knew he had to really retire.  But it's not just Moore who suffers in the film.  Tanya Roberts, while easy on the eyes, is bland and monotone.  Christopher Walken overacts and is just trying too hard.  He's Christopher Walken, for crying out loud.  He's already awesome and weird as it is.  He doesn't have to try so hard!  John Glen's normally assured direction is slow moving, and even the always reliable John Barry sounds to be on auto pilot.  What a disappointment!

So is A View to a Kill all bad?  No, it has moments.  Grace Jones and Patrick McNee are fine; the former isn't required to do much but stare angrily at people and she does so convincingly.  And Patrick McNee is just as charming as he was in The Avengers TV show.  He also has a fun chemistry with Roger Moore which gives us the only truly amusing parts of the movie.  There is also a sequence in a flooded mine near the end of the film that is generally horrific.  And lastly, while John Barry misses the ball with his score, he did co-write one of the better Bond songs. The title song by Duran Duran is pretty awesome!

But that's it.  This movie stinks.  I'm done.

RANKINGS:
I remember in my earlier Bond reviews, I was explaining why I disliked On Her Majesty's Secret Service and You Only Live Twice for very different reasons.  And in terms of ranking the films, I had to decide whether boring or ridiculous was the worse sin.

Well, A View to a Kill is both.  And it's going straight to the bottom of the list.  No further debate needed.

1. Thunderball
2. From Russia with Love
3. Goldfinger
4. The Spy Who Loved Me
5. Dr. No
6. Octopussy
7. For Your Eyes Only
8. Live and Let Die
9. Man with the Golden Gun
10. Diamonds are Forever
11. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
12. Moonraker
13. You Only Live Twice
14. A View to a Kill


BEST LINE:
Here is a line that is so bad, it's good.  It's Christopher Walken at his most Walken-y.
Max Zorin: More!  More power!

TRIVIA:
Here's a cool little fact.  A View to a Kill was Dolph Lundgren's first movie.  He was only in the film by accident.  He was dating Grace Jones at the time, and he was visiting the set.  Director John Glen needed a KGB bodyguard at the last minute and Lundgren happened to be in the right place at the right time.  He has all of maybe 5 seconds of screen time and no dialogue.  Can you imagine that in just a few months this guy would be killing Apollo Creed in the ring and taking on Rocky in a showdown for the ages?!?!?!?

MVP:
Though I am tempted to give the MVP to Dolph Lundgren, that would be petty.  Especially since there is a clear quality MVP winner here.  After four films featuring love songs and ballads, Bond is finally able to rock out again. The title song by Duran Duran is a great addition to the canon and is easily in the Top Five Bond Songs.  The song is more dynamic and exciting than anything in the film. This is an easy MVP pick.  And I think most of the world would agree!

Octopussy

Octopussy

For Your Eyes Only was a divisive film in my group of friends - they found it tedious and frustrating, whereas I appreciated the return of a semi-realistic tone to the franchise and truly believe that just a few missteps derail it from being a great film (though they are pretty big missteps, to be fair).  Roger Moore's next film Octopussy ended up being even more divisive - only this time, it is my friends and me against pretty much the rest of the world!

A British secret service agent is murdered, dressed as a clown and carrying a fake faberge egg (basically a very fancy, jeweled egg).  It's all very peculiar, so James Bond is sent in to investigate. Of course, his sleuthing introduces him to a whole gaggle of villains, including exiled Afghan prince Kamal Khan (Louis Jourdan) and his right hand man Gobinda (Kabir Bedi), as well as a circus run by a mysterious and dangerous woman named Octopussy (Maud Adams).  Leaping from London to India to Germany, Bond has to discover why these villains need something as rare as a faberge egg and how that all connects to a renegade Russian general named Orlov (Steven Berkoff), who wants to ignite the Cold War into a hot one.

A lot of people point to Octopussy as an example of all that is wrong with the Roger Moore years. And they point to very specific things - silly gadgets (alligator submarine, anyone?), unbelievable action (that silly fight in the Indian market), and ridiculous jokes (there is a Tarzan yell that is frankly unforgivable).  Plus, Roger Moore is looking too old to be wooing such young women and throwing punches.  He looks more likely to throw his back out.

I can't defend against any of these points.  These specific moments are indeed bad, and Roger Moore is starting to look a bit long in the tooth.  But if are trying to find an example of over-the-top Bond shenanigans that go too far, then look no further than Moonraker.  After that space epic, the Bond films actually came back down to Earth and became more realistic.  Octopussy has these absurd and ridiculous moments, but they are only moments.  For the most part, this is more of a Cold War thriller that tonally is feels like it has more in common with Goldfinger and Thunderball than Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker.

There is a lot to like here.  The pre-credits scene is terrific. The villains - especially Jourdan and Berkoff, are chewing scenery like they were told they'd never get a chance to act again, and they are both very entertaining.  Roger Moore is looking a bit old, but I think he is still able to hold his own. As for the Bond girl, the producers were wise to cast Maud Adams (in her second Bond film after Man with the Golden Gun). Though 13-years younger than Moore, she exhibits a maturity and authority that makes her the perfect romantic partner for an aging super spy.  I actually think she is the best Bond girl of the entire Roger Moore run.

Also, John Barry makes a stunning return to the franchise and delivers another brilliant score.  The stunts are exciting, much of the humor actually is funny, and some of the gadgets are actually pretty cool (buzzsaw yoyo? Hell yes!).  Octopussy also presents what is easily one of the most tense moments of the Roger Moore run, when Bond has to get to diffuse a nuclear bomb in the circus. It's just a terrific scene.

I don't love Octopussy, but I think it is woefully underrated.  It's a worthy entry to the franchise and is way better than its reputation. I was pleased that my group of friends agreed.  We just don't get it. Why all the hate?

I think it must be that damn Tarzan yell.


RANKINGS:

This one is tough. There is a lot I don't like in Octopussy, but large portions of it work really quite well.  And it is hard for me to ignore the nostalgia factor, as much as I want to.  Octopussy was probably the first Bond film I saw, and it was on a constant rotation in my house growing up. Despite the fact that most people put it near the bottom, I'm putting it firmly in the middle.  The big question is which side of For Your Eyes Only should it be on?  When both films are good, I think Octopussy might be better. When both films are bad, well, they are equally bad.  So I think that gives Octopussy the slight edge - and yes, I know I just made a big deal about For Your Eyes Only having the potential to be Moore's best Bond film.  But the reality is I think Octopussy is just a little bit better.

1. Thunderball
2. From Russia With Love
3. Goldfinger
4. The Spy Who Loved Me
5. Dr. No
6. Octopussy
7. For Your Eyes Only
8. Live and Let Die
9. Man with the Golden Gun
10. Diamonds are Forever
11. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
12. Moonraker
13. You Only Live Twice


BEST LINE:
This is an easy one, even if it is just a one word line of dialogue. It's all in Louis Jourdan's seedy and scenery chewing delivery: "Octopussy."

TRIVIA:
1983 was the year that Kevin McClory was supposed to get his payback.  After decades of litigation, he finally got the rights to the James Bond story "Thunderball" which he had co-written with Ian Fleming in the 1950s.  He also won the rights to SPECTRE and Bond's arch nemesis Ernst Blofeld. And now he was finally going to get to work on producing his own Bond film - even if it was going to be technically a remake of 1965's Thunderball.  McClory even managed a huge coup when he convinced Sean Connery to return to the iconic role that had made him a star.  The new Bond film, called Never Say Never Again as a joke about Connery's refusal to play Bond ever again, was going to come out the same summer as Eon's Octopussy.  It was going to be a battle of the Bonds.  For Roger Moore and Sean Connery, who were good friends, it was a friendly competition.  But there was bad blood between Team McClory-Connery and Team Broccoli.  And I wouldn't be surprised if both sides were out for blood.

And sure enough, the allure of Sean Connery returning to the role made waves at the box office.  The film grossed $55 million in 1983, which is pretty impressive.  Of course, Octopussy grossed $67 million.  Sure, everyone knows that Connery is the best Bond, but let's never forget that when the two actors went head-to-head, Roger Moore won the fight!

MVP:
This one is tricky. Roger Moore is good as usual, though he is definitely starting to show his age. Maud Adams is terrific as the title character, and John Barry gave us his last truly great Bond score. But ultimately, I think the winner has to be the Acrostar - one of the coolest vehicles of the franchise, probably just behind the Aston Martin in Goldfinger and the Lotus in The Spy Who Loved Me.  The Acrostar is the tiny jet that Bond uses in the beginning of the film to take on the Cuban military. Super sleek and insanely fast, this mini jet is just amazingly cool.  I wanted one when I was 8...and I kinda still want one today.  It's just pretty damn awesome.

For Your Eyes Only

For Your Eyes Only

Albert Broccoli was a smart man.  As I've already mentioned, part of what enabled the Bond franchise to last as long as it did was its ability to adapt with the times.  So science fiction is the new fad?  No problem, let's send James Bond to a space station!!  But Broccoli was also smart enough to know when he had gone too far. Despite the fact that Moonraker had been one of the biggest blockbusters in franchise history, Broccoli knew that he couldn't go any bigger. You can't get much crazier than space.  So instead, he took a 180 turn and brought Bond back to Earth, literally and figuratively.  For Your Eyes Only is a smaller affair, more in tune with the tone of earlier films and Fleming's source novels.  Oh, there were still plenty of quips and silliness floating around the film (this was all happening under Roger Moore's watch, after all), but this is a remarkably simple film, with no gadgets, no huge special effects, and some really, really solid stunt work.  And after the insanity of Moonraker, it really is a breath of fresh air.

A British spy ship is sunk in the Mediterranean Sea, and it contains a secret encryption device called the ATAC.  When the British ask salvager Timothy Havelock is retrieve the ATAC, he is betrayed and brutally murdered.  James Bond is sent in to investigate Havelock's death and locate the ATAC before the enemy does - but who is the enemy?  Certainly there are some vicious henchmen on Bond's trail, including the quietly efficient Locque (Michael Gothard), blonde super man Kriegler (John Wyman) and blink-and-you'll-miss-him Claus (played by Game of Thrones badass Charles Dance).  But who is the real enemy?  Is it the KBG, once again led by General Gogol (Walter Gotell) or is it businessman and ice skating patron Kristatos (another Game of Thrones alum Julian Glover) or smuggler Milos Columbo (Topol)?

Out of all the Bond films, I have to admit this is the one most of my friends and I disagree on. They generally think it is just okay...probably better than the worst of the franchise, but certainly nothing to write home about.  And they have some good points.  First of all, the opening sequence of the film, featuring a deadly encounter with long-time enemy Blofeld, is possibly the worst beginning in the entire series, full of terrible puns, bad acting, non-sensical action, awful music, and just some truly bizarre head scratching moments (why does Blofeld offer to buy Bond a delicatessen?!).  We also have a subplot with a ditzy, underage ice skater Bibi (Lynn Holly-Johnson) who becomes obsessed with Bond and continually tries to sleep with him.  Thankfully, Bond is never even tempted or else this movie would have gotten really awkward really fast.  And while this relationship does give the film its best line, the whole subplot is uncomfortable and inappropriate.

I also have to point out the score by Bill Conti, which just confuses me.  Why Broccoli didn't turn back to John Barry just befuddles me, especially after his stunning work on Moonraker.  Perhaps he wanted something more hip and modern and cool.  But the poppy, synth work by Bill Conti (an Oscar winner for The Right Stuff) just dates the film and worse, hangs over its shoulders like a musical albatross. Whether fairly or not, For Your Eyes Only is doomed to never feel timeless, unlike other Bond films, even some inferior ones. It will always feel like an early 1980s film, and that is the fault of Bill Conti.  Let me cut to the chase.  The score for For Your Eyes Only is just awful, plain and simple.  It is easily the worst score of the entire franchise, possibly one of the worst scores of Conti's otherwise solid career, and just makes me want to jab a pencil into my ear.  Because that would be less painful than having to listen to this again.

It sounds like I have a lot to complain about.  And rightfully so.  But...but...damn it, despite all of this, For Your Eyes Only is actually pretty darn good.  This is an enjoyable and creative movie.  First of all, coming to this from Moonraker is like night and day. The plot is interesting. I like the villains. Carol Bouquet is a great Bond girl with an actual real storyline (she is trying to avenge the death of her father, the aforementioned Timothy Havelock). Roger Moore is at the peak of his abilities before he started to look too old. John Glen, the editor and second unit director of three earlier Bond films ascends to the director's chair this time around and brings fresh energy and much needed new blood to the proceedings - especially to the stunt work.  For Your Eyes Only has some of the most creative stunt work of the franchise.  Among some other crazy stunts, we have characters being dragged behind boats, a crazy ski chase down a bobsled course, and a harrowing climb up the Greek mountain, Meteora. It's all hugely impressive.  I mean, look at the picture.  Some poor stunt man had to climb that - and even fall off at one point!

In the end, what it all comes down to is this - what is not good about For Your Eyes Only are some details, while what is good about the film is its potential, what it could have been, and that is kind of exciting to see.  So let's take a second to rewrite the film.  Let's take out the ridiculous opening sequence and replace it what was originally supposed to be the opening sequence - the Havelock's murder.  Let's get rid of Bibi the ice skater, which cuts about 15 minutes of unnecessary padding from the film.  And for the love of all that is good in this world, replace Bill Conti's monstrosity with a new score by John Barry. And you know, with these small changes, you know what you get?  Possibly Roger Moore's best Bond film.  And that simple fact is why I disagree with my friends, and find For Your Eyes Only to be so fascinating.

Or it is possible that I was just so desperate for something halfway decent after Moonraker that I have inflated this film with artificial importance.  Who knows?  I'm not a psychiatrist!

RANKINGS:
So where does that put For Your Eyes Only in the rankings?  I would certainly put it in the top half, though it doesn't deserve to be with the real champs.  I'd probably put it right under Dr. No, and right above Live and Let Die.

1. Thunderball
2. From Russia With Love
3. Goldfinger
4. Spy Who Loved Me
5. Dr. No
6. For Your Eyes Only
7. Live and Let Die
8. Man with the Golden Gun
9. Diamonds are Forever
10. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
11. Moonraker
12. You Only Live Twice

BEST LINE:
James Bond to the underage Bibi: Yes, well, you get your clothes on and I'll buy you an ice cream.

TRIVIA:
So what was the point of the ridiculous beginning of this film?  It had been years since Blofeld had last menaced James Bond (in the over-the-top Diamonds are Forever).  Since then the character and SPECTRE had been caught up in a fierce legal battle with Kevin McClory who claimed he helped create the characters.  McClory had won the case and was now prepping his own James Bond film. Broccoli wanted to show McClory that James Bond didn't need SPECTRE to be awesome.  So he had put together this opening scene, which has nothing to do with the rest of movie and which exists solely as a way to ingloriously kill off the Blofeld character (while being careful to never mention him by name) in the stupidest manner possible.  The entire scene is only in the film as a big "F YOU!" to McClory. Which is a shame, because it all comes across as a bit petty.  It doesn't help that the scene is ridiculous.  Hands down, it's the worst scene in the movie.


MVP:
For Your Eyes Only might feature Roger Moore's best performance as Bond.  While he still quips his way through most of the film, he holds back from indulging too far in the silliness, and devoid of gadgets, he is left to his own devices and reminds us why Bond can be dangerous (I particularly like his takedown of Locque).  Moore was a good Bond, and an underrated one.  And he is the clear MVP of this film.