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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Bond That's Out Of Step With The Others, July 30, 2000
When other Bond fans first talk to me the the question they always ask is "What do you think of O.H.M.S.S. ?". The answer to that is not a simple one.I first saw the film in the cinima in 1973 and was surprised, given all the negative reports I'd heard about it, how good it was. Although very long by Bond standards the film moves along at a fair clip and has the capacity to engage the viewer. Although several of the earlier films in the series follow the main plot lines from the novels, from which they take their names, this is the only atempt by EON to film an Ian Fleming book as written. Watching the film on DVD all these years later was a joy. The transfer is surperb the, sound crisp and short of watching a pristine print in a film theatre this is the best vision of this film your ever going to see. The additional features particularly the director's commentry make this a must for any of the many fans that this film has. O.H.M.S.S has a tremendous "look" and the deep purple colour that is in the opening sequence, continues in the titles and is seen through out the rest of the film in various guises. There was a kind of chic fashion just at the end of the sixties after the hippies and before the seventies gave style a bad name; this is one of the few films that captures that time. Just look at the cut of James Bond's suits or the dresses worn by the girls in Piz Gloria; it's nostalgia perhaps but I love it! George Lazenby is element of the film that most people seem to dislike and the fact that he started out as a model is usually sited as proof of his lack of acting ability; well actually Sean Connery started out as an art college life model. At least George kept his clothes on in the "Big Fry" ads. ! But seriously, for the most part he looks great in the action sequences and when he has to play the normal affable, laughing in the face of danger, side of Bond he's at least acceptable; but when he has to step out side of that, for instance when he confronts Tracy in his hotel room early on in the film that he becomes less convincing. Compare that with Sean's Bond when he confronts Tatiana in the train in "From Russia With Love" and you'll see what I'm getting at. But actually his attempt is better than Roger Moore's confrontation with Rosie in "Live And Let Die". The only difficulty is that each line Lazenby speaks seems to be made up of several different takes, all recorded at different sound levels, which makes him sound as if he has a perminant attack of hiccups; still you do get used to it. If Lazenby lacks experience his deficiency is compenceted by the standard of acting from the rest of the cast and the superior dialogue in this film; for example, Moneypenny's devastating put down when Bond attempts to resign the Service "What did you expect, a knighthood?" is unforgetable and one of the few times Lois Maxwell's character gets the upper hand in the whole series. The structure of this film is very different from the others in the series; Bond spends the first half of the film meeting and falling in love with Tracy. He then locates Blofeld, discovers his plan and only then does the film shift up into the frenetic pace that we more normally associate with the Bond films. The ski and car chase sequences that follow are terrifically exciting and compare favourably with the best in the series. Then we have the final confrontation with Blofeld and inevitable distruction of Piz Gloria. Incidentally Lazenby's encounter with the St. Bernard dog after the bob sleigh chase was apparently ad-libbed and for an untrained actor he does it better than many RADA graduates I can think of. Peter Hunt, more than anyone else, was the man brought this film together as a first time director it is a brilliant debut. For instance his choice of Simon Ravan to add dialoge to the scenes between Blofeld and Tracy lifts the whole film. Almost every shot seems to reflect his feel for the book. It is only fitting that the opening shot of the film, absent form the VHS version, which containes his reflection in the brass name plate of "Universal Exports" has been restored to this print. Many action film fans dislike this picture well they'd better stick to "Things Keep Exploding III" which at least is better than "Things Keep Exploding II" although not as good as "Things Keep Exploding" although it lacks the characterization of the other two. The rest of us can enjoy the most literate of the James Bond films. It's not better or worse than any of the others just different.
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