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Post by ant-mac on Nov 8, 2018 17:58:26 GMT
ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE (1969) 4/5.
It’s a British spy film and the sixth in the JAMES BOND film series produced by Eon Productions. It’s also the first and only JAMES BOND film to star George Lazenby in the lead role, after Sean Connery retired from the film series at the end of YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE. The screenplay is by Richard Maibaum and Simon Raven and based upon ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE, the tenth novel, but the eleventh book in Ian Fleming’s JAMES BOND book series. The music is by John Barry, it’s produced by Albert R Broccoli and Harry Saltzman and it’s directed by Peter R Hunt.
ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE stars George Lazenby as James Bond, Diana Rigg as Countess Tracy di Vicenzo, Gabriele Ferzetti as Marc-Ange Draco, Ilse Steppat as Irma Bunt, Bernard Lee as M, Desmond Llewelyn as Q, Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny and Telly Savalas as Ernst Stavro Blofeld. The film also features George Baker, James Bree, Bernard Horsfall, Irvin Allen, Virginia North, Angela Scoular, Catherina von Schell, Jenny Hanley, Anouska Hempel, Dani Sheridan, Ingrit Back and Joanna Lumley.
James Bond faces Ernst Stavro Blofeld , who is planning to hold the world ransom by the threat of sterilising the world's food supply through a group of brainwashed "Angels of Death". Along the way, 007 meets, falls in love with and eventually marries Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo. Thankfully, it was decided to produce a more realistic film that would follow the original novel more closely. This - along with the excellent work put in by Gabriele Ferzetti, Diana Rigg and Ilse Steppat - may help to explain why the film's reputation has improved greatly over time, despite the miscasting of both George Lazenby and Telly Savalas in their respective roles and the very mixed critical reviews upon the film’s initial cinematic release.
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Post by politicidal on Nov 8, 2018 18:41:53 GMT
6/10. I'd have given it a 7 if not for George Lazenby. He's pretty wooden. But I'd credit him for the final scene. It's a tragic and painfully human moment I don't see either Connery or Moore's versions pulling off convincingly.
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Post by ant-mac on Nov 8, 2018 19:02:37 GMT
6/10. I'd have given it a 7 if not for George Lazenby. He's pretty wooden. But I'd credit him for the final scene. It's a tragic and painfully human moment I don't see either Connery or Moore's versions pulling off convincingly. I could just about see Connery pulling it off, but not Moore.
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Post by Archelaus on Nov 8, 2018 19:45:30 GMT
It's one of my favorite Bond films ever. I have to disagree on your opinion of Telly Savalas because I thought he was perfect as Blofeld. Calm, calculating, and muscular is what I always wanted Blofeld to be. George Lazenby is wooden and lacked the charisma of Sean Connery, but he sold the final scene. The cinematography and the action sequences add more greatness to the film.
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Post by ant-mac on Nov 8, 2018 20:22:56 GMT
It's one of my favorite Bond films ever. I have to disagree on your opinion of Telly Savalas because I thought he was perfect as Blofeld. Calm, calculating, and muscular is what I always wanted Blofeld to be. George Lazenby is wooden and lacked the charisma of Sean Connery, but he sold the final scene. The cinematography and the action sequences add more greatness to the film. Telly Savalas was a bad choice for Ernst Stavro Blofeld, plain and simple. In the novel ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE, he has long, flowing white hair, thin, aquiline features and no ear lobes.
Blofeld is highly intelligent, extremely ruthless and a Human chameleon when it comes to his appearance. However, one of the few things he can't change is his height, which is six foot four inches. He towers over Bond, who is six foot tall.
In the novel THUNDERBALL, his previous appearance, his physical description makes him sound rather like Gru, from DESPICABLE ME. That perhaps explains why they chose that appearance for Gru.
He more or less maintains his later appearance up until his death in the next novel, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE.
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Post by Archelaus on Nov 9, 2018 5:59:42 GMT
It's one of my favorite Bond films ever. I have to disagree on your opinion of Telly Savalas because I thought he was perfect as Blofeld. Calm, calculating, and muscular is what I always wanted Blofeld to be. George Lazenby is wooden and lacked the charisma of Sean Connery, but he sold the final scene. The cinematography and the action sequences add more greatness to the film. Telly Savalas was a bad choice for Ernst Stavro Blofeld, plain and simple. In the novel ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE, he has long, flowing white hair, thin, aquiline features and no ear lobes.
Blofeld is highly intelligent, extremely ruthless and a Human chameleon when it comes to his appearance. However, one of the few things he can't change is his height, which is six foot four inches. He towers over Bond, who is six foot tall.
In the novel THUNDERBALL, his previous appearance, his physical description makes him sound rather like Gru, from DESPICABLE ME. That perhaps explains why they chose that appearance for Gru.
He more or less maintains his later appearance up until his death in the next novel, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE. I love OHMSS as a novel, but the films and the novels have to stand their own. While the physical appearances of Blofeld in the film series never matched the literary versions as told by Ian Fleming, this is a poor argument in my opinion. If you are judging the discrepancies in appearances, I would assume you find fault in Donald Pleasance's portrayal which didn't match the novel counterpart. How do you judge Savalas's performance and screen presence? Did he come off menacing and as a viable threat to James Bond and Tracy?
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Post by ant-mac on Nov 9, 2018 7:05:30 GMT
Telly Savalas was a bad choice for Ernst Stavro Blofeld, plain and simple. In the novel ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE, he has long, flowing white hair, thin, aquiline features and no ear lobes.
Blofeld is highly intelligent, extremely ruthless and a Human chameleon when it comes to his appearance. However, one of the few things he can't change is his height, which is six foot four inches. He towers over Bond, who is six foot tall.
In the novel THUNDERBALL, his previous appearance, his physical description makes him sound rather like Gru, from DESPICABLE ME. That perhaps explains why they chose that appearance for Gru.
He more or less maintains his later appearance up until his death in the next novel, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE. I love OHMSS as a novel, but the films and the novels have to stand their own. While the physical appearances of Blofeld in the film series never matched the literary versions as told by Ian Fleming, this is a poor argument in my opinion. If you are judging the discrepancies in appearances, I would assume you find fault in Donald Pleasance's portrayal which didn't match the novel counterpart. How do you judge Savalas's performance and screen presence? Did he come off menacing and as a viable threat to James Bond and Tracy? Remaining faithful to the source material is the only argument that matters in my opinion. If the original source is deemed worthy to transfer to the small or large screen, it should be done as accurately as possible within existing censorship and technical limitations. If you're not willing to recreate the source material accurately, they you have to ask yourself what was the point of the exercise in the first place?
You are correct, I felt Donald Pleasance wasn't suitable for his role as Ernst Stavro Blofeld. For that matter, I also thought Sean Connery is unsuitable for the role of James Bond.
And no, Telly Savalas's performance did not come across as menacing to me. I generally like his onscreen performance, but I didn't find him menacing in OHMSS. As a matter of interest, I found both Donald Pleasance and Charles Gray to be more menacing in the role. However, I thought the way in which he was portrayed in the film THUNDERBALL was most menacing of all.
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Post by Midi-Chlorian_Count on Nov 9, 2018 23:33:45 GMT
6/10. I'd have given it a 7 if not for George Lazenby. He's pretty wooden. But I'd credit him for the final scene. It's a tragic and painfully human moment I don't see either Connery or Moore's versions pulling off convincingly. I could just about see Connery pulling it off, but not Moore. Connery Bond would have slapped her across the face so often that she wouldn't have married him in the first place! Moore's discussion with Anya re the life of an operative in The Spy Who Loved Me is more tender than anything Connery portrayed.
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Post by ant-mac on Nov 9, 2018 23:38:31 GMT
I could just about see Connery pulling it off, but not Moore. Connery Bond would have slapped her across the face so often that she wouldn't have married him in the first place! Moore's discussion with Anya re the life of an operative in The Spy Who Loved Me is more tender than anything Connery portrayed. I could still see Connery's Bond grieving more convincingly than Moore's Bond.
Moore was capable of such depths, but not in the role of James Bond.
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on Nov 10, 2018 0:16:52 GMT
Not a Bond fan but I think this might be my favorite. Lazenby is ok-and I agree about the last scene.
I think both Connery and Moore could have pulled it off (after seeing the Hill/the ffense and the Man Who Haunted Himself).
But it would have been out of character for their portrayals.
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Post by Nalkarj on Nov 12, 2018 1:29:58 GMT
Savalas is my favorite Blofeld–oh well. And Diana Rigg’s Diana Rigg, which means she’s great. I don’t even mind Lazenby, who I think has gotten an unfair reputation as the worst Bond.
What I do find is that the picture is so dull for long stretches. Everything’s done in aggravating detail: courting, code-breaking, mountain-climbing, sneaking around the complex, talking to the girls. It drags along, and it feels every one of its 140 minutes (compared to the first two Connerys, which fly by). Ugh. I almost always want to fall asleep every time I watch the thing. And then Diana pops up again and instantly zaps it with energy, thank God.
The beginning, up until Bond meets Draco, and the end are, as everyone has mentioned, excellent, but I wish the whole thing weren’t so–well, so boring!
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Post by Nalkarj on Nov 12, 2018 1:34:44 GMT
Oh, yeah, and–as Primemovermithrax Pejorative has pointed out–I can see Moore doing this, just not as Bond. (I like Moore a lot, but I think his Bond is dreadful. Probably the scripts’ fault more than anything. He’s just great as the Bond-like Simon Templar in one of my favorite TV shows, The Saint.) I can see a Connery Bond doing it–not the Connery of Goldfinger, perhaps (let alone You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever), but the Bond who was in love with and angry enough at Tatiana Romanova to threaten her like that.
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Post by ant-mac on Nov 12, 2018 1:37:28 GMT
Savalas is my favorite Blofeld–oh well. And Diana Rigg’s Diana Rigg, which means she’s great. I don’t even mind Lazenby, who I think has gotten an unfair reputation as the worst Bond. What I do find is that I find the picture so dull for long stretches. Everything’s done in aggravating detail: courting, code-breaking, mountain-climbing, sneaking around the complex, talking to the girls. It drags along, and it feels every one of its 140 minutes (compared to the first two Connerys, which fly by). Ugh. I almost always want to fall asleep every time I watch the thing. And then Diana pops up again and instantly zaps it with energy, thank God. The beginning, up until Bond meets Drago, and the end are, as everyone has mentioned, excellent, but I wish the whole thing weren’t so–well, so boring! I enjoy the pacing. However, I've always preferred a film that begins with an overture, includes an interlude and ends with exit music.
This film also includes 3 of my top 10 Bond girls - including the top 2.
And I put Lazenby equal with Moore and Craig as the most inappropriate and unsuitable James Bonds. However, I consider Moore and Craig to be infinitely better actors.
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Nov 12, 2018 6:15:44 GMT
10/10 One of the finest Bond films. Lazenby of course is not as good as Connery but I still think he has charm to him.
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Post by ant-mac on Nov 12, 2018 13:23:20 GMT
10/10 One of the finest Bond films. Lazenby of course is not as good as Connery but I still think he has charm to him. The book is certainly one of the finest efforts in the JAMES BOND canon, up there with FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, but I think the film suffers due to some very bad missteps in casting.
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