I had just gotten off the phone with Kristen before I watched this movie. I had complained that I was frustrated with the James Bond series because although they all had strong elements, none of them had been as good as they should have been. But For Your Eyes Only is not only the best film in the series, it's also one of the best spy movies ever. All of the problems with previous entries have been fixed: the pacing doesn't lag in the second act, a lot of the sexism is gone, and aside from an inappropriate joke at the end involving Margret Thatcher, the grating campy humor is non-exsistant. The movie is just serious enough to be beleivable while not being too serious to be fun. There is also geniune suspense and excitment.
The film follows Bond (Roger Moore) as he sent to retrieve the ATAC, a device from a sunken British submarine that allows anyone who posseses to control the entire British feet, including nuclear weapons. He is led to Greece on a lead and meets Melina (Caroline Bouquet), whose parents were killed by Kristatos (Julian Glover), a Greek mafiaso who is also looking for the ATAC. Bond and Melina team up, though they have different goals- Bond just wants to get the ATAC back, Melina wants vengence. Their mission leads them to Swedan and Spain, as well as under the Mediterrian Sea, all the time while Kristatos' men try to assissinate them.
For Your Eyes Only is the first Bond film to be directed by John Glen, a second unit director and film editor on many of the previous entries, and he outdoes himself. The action sequences are really breathtaking and suspenseful, and visually the movie has a real scope to it. We also get involved in the characters in a way we didn't in the previous installments- everyone, Bond, Melina, the villian and the supporting cast is an interesting and compelling characters. I particarly liked Topol as an assassin who aides Bond and Lynn-Holly Johnson as a naive figure skater.
If you have never seen a Bond film and want a good introduction, I can't reccomend this film strongly enough. It's not just a good Bond movie, it's a fine movie period-well made, well acted and a lot fun. See it.
For Your Eyes Only (1981)