Just keeping the British end up...

With the spy who loved me you are in for a typical James Bond treat - plenty of action, plenty of one-liners and plenty of girls.

The film does very well to keep itself feeling fresh, and interesting, because a lot of its plot points and even its action set pieces are all something we’ve already seen in the previous Bond films. Even so, the spy who loved me is so fast paced, and filled with so much charm, energy and fun, you don’t really mind it being a rehash.

The plot is pointless, about some baddies wanting to capture nuclear missles by stealing submarines, but who watches Bond for the plot? The action scenes are breath-taking, especially a skiing pre-credits sequence, with some stunning stunts.

Roger Moore is on fine form. He can keep such a straight face during some of the geniunely funny one-liners. They don’t make you groan, rather just make you enjoy the action more. He’s also very believable as the action man Bond should be.

Unfortunately, Stromberg, the villain of the movie, although played well, is not a very evil character, and the film suffers slightly because of that. Still, at least we have the introduction of Jaws, the metal teethed goon who is super strong, and provides the most memorable parts of the film.

The Spy Who Loved Me also contains the most recognisable Bond car after the ASton Martin DB5 - the Lotus which can turn into an underwater submersible. Fantastic!

Extras are the usual Bond fare - excellent documentary, and a wonderful featurette on the production designer. Trailers also included.

My Favourite Moore Bond

It's a little hard for me to be totally unbiased when reviewing this as this was the first Bond film I ever saw and is one of the reasons I became such an avid fan of the entire series.

But you know what, I can't help loving this film.

I know the list of complaints by others is a long one, but I think this is a fantastic film.

Roger Moore is no Sean Connery but he's clealy having the time of his life in the role of Bond. Yaphet Kotto is excellent as Kananga/Mr Big and Baron Samedi is another memorable villain. The opening funeral sequence has stuck with me for life and the Crocodile sequence is another great Bond moment.

I can certainly see the side of the argument that says this is a dated movie that hasn't aged well, but if I hadn't been so drawn to this film when I first saw it, I wouldn't be the Bond fan that I am today.

Bond as he should be

With the first installment of Ian Flemings classic spy drama we are introduced to Sean Connery who made the role of James Bond his own and is prabably recognised as the best man in the role.

Even though the sets and backdrops are pretty spectacular in the first film you can clearly see that caution has played a part.Cubbi Broccoli and Harry Salzman realised the popularity of the Fleming novels but first time out as a film was an unknown quantity,would there be a sequel to Dr No.
Naturally the audience loved the celluloid Bond and Connerys presence as the suave and sophisticated spy who no woman could resist was a formula made in heaven.

The skill of both directors and that memorable score made the movies the biggest money makers in movie history,they proved so popular that prabably up to Connerys last outing in Diamonds are Forever there was not a bad film amongst them.

The first five are the best with From Russia with Love being the most realistic in the series.Goldfinger and Thunderball are prabably the best of the entire series and after From Russia the spending spree on more lavish locations and sets became the norm.
With the introduction of the more tounge in cheek humour of Roger Moore the plots became certainly more lavish but less realistic as spy movies,they knew they were onto a winning formula so the sparkle and professionalism of the Connery years had gone.

These superb editions released by United Artists pack a real punch with simply superb commentaries and carefully chosen extras,which ever is your favorite movie there is a commentary to do it justice.

Astonishing from start to finish

DEFINITELY THE BEST BOND FILM AND ROGER MOORE IS THE BEST BOND!!! Amazing music, good acting, a good script, outstanding gadgets and a funky musical score makes this Moore's absolute all time high.

BUY IT AND YOU WILL NOT REGRET

Diamonds, glitz and action...

I don't find this Bond to be at all memorable. It is a pretty bland film, with just a few outstanding moments.

The location of Las Vegas is not used to its full potential, except for a pretty decent car chase sequence.

The storyline is a bit beleagured, and slightly padded to fit the 2hour running time. A diamonds scam is a bit weak compared to other Bond plot outlines.

However, Blofeld is a fantastic villain for this movie, and it is good to see him have a whole film to himself, rather than just being the man behind the machinations who makes henchmen do the work.

And talking of henchman, the two gay henchman are pretty funny, but don't really add much to the film. Neither does Jill St. John as the Bond girl, remaining pretty dull throughout the film.

The finale on the oil rig is pretty spectacular, with lots of helicopters and explosions.

The making of documentary, like all the other on the Bond DVDs is very thorough, revealing and interesting. I've always discovered something new watching these docs, and for the Bond fan they are pretty much essential. However, the doc on Cubby Broccoli is quite dull, long and not very informative.

"Take me round the world one more time".. Mills & Boon line?

This has to be one of Roger Moore's cheesiest Bond ventures, in which he goes to uncover the plot behind a scheme to destroy all human life on earth by releasing globes filled with poisonous orchids. The plot may not sound too bad, but its Moore's terrible one liners that makes you slap your forehead and laugh.
I guess that was typical of the 70's/80's - a new approach was taken to the Bond films, that being a more radical/slapstick humour approach. And this falls straight into the place of being one of the cheesiest Bonds, with a laughable ending, as quoted on my review title.
The film is filled suprisngly with a mix of good and bad effects, though its not worth jugdging them because this was 1979, and its now 2007. The laugh out loud moment see's Jaws 'hopping' from one cable car to another, seemingly with incredible ease, even though the cars are swinging and theirs a 4 metre gap in between them! :D
It may no be the best, but just like Chuck Norris films, you can't beat a dabble of bad one-liners on a rainy day!

A great addition to the wonderful movies of 007..

It has been said by many James Bond fans, movie critics and by Roger Moore himself that"The Spy Who Loved Me" was Roger Moore's best Bond movie. But it is my opinion (as a Bond fan who likes all Bond actors) that"For Your Eyes Only" was Roger's best effort as MI6's license to kill agent.

The producers decided to cut down the gadgets, Roger Moore's one-liner humor and the silly out-of-this-world villain. What we are left with is a simple secret agent-spy movie that stands with the absolute BEST 007 movies ever made.

The movie begins with a BANG, and those hardcore 007 fans will notice the connection to the ending of another Bond movie"On Her Majesty Secret Service" But I can't say more because it would spoil the fun. From then on it's just pure 007 magic: great action, beautiful locations, one hot Lotus car (actually two, one of them explodes) and a sexy Bond Girl.

But what's most impressive about"For Your Eyes Only" is that Roger Moore cuts down a lot of his silly humor and plays James Bond straight. And it comes out surprisingly well.. He does a wonderful job as 007. The skiing scenes in northern Italy are very well done, the action sequence in the Spanish hills (were Bond drives a very unglamorous yellow Renault) is amazing and who could ever forget that opening scene were Bond is hanging from a helicopter flying over London??

"For Your Eyes Only" is Roger Moore's best Bond, and a great addition to the wonderful movies of 007.

Moore's Nadir

If you thought he looked past it in Octopussy, then two years later Moore proves that he really should have left dodge earlier than he did. If this was the most tightly plotted entry in the series with the best supporting characters and the greatest action scenes you'd be hard pressed to find any believability about Moore's Bond here. As this film is none of those things, this is as bad as it gets.

Storyline wise it perhaps is better than it's predeccesor Octopussy, but its just hard to take it seriously. Tanya Roberts' Stacey Sutton is perhaps the most useless Bond Girl in the series to date (and that covers a lot of ground I know) and seems to do nothing but scream very loudly when she messes something else up. And to be honest I would never want to see ANYONE having to bed Grace Jones, least of all Bond.

Yet there are definately plus points. Christopher Walken is a superb Bond villain, and for once a bit of ingenuity is used in the obilgatory chases (Bond in a Horse Race? Bond on the Eiffel Tower? Bond on a Fire Engine?).

It's by no means a complete disaster but it's definately a film too far for Moore.

Three of the Best. Actually, the three best.

I actually laughed when I saw this boxset was being released, as my friend and I used to comment on how the three best JB movies were the 'Gold Trilogy' ones, as we called them. And then they went and released it!! Now the whole world can appreciate them as a whole. You get Goldfinger, the definitive Bond movie, Goldeneye, the BEST Bond movie, and The Man With The Golden Gun, with the best baddie, Christopher Lee. And three discs of bonus features, old and new. A truly essential box for any fan of Bond, cinema in general or Gold things.

Not bad... but not great

An ok performance by Sean Connery in this 4th installment to the Bond series. The story line involves crime syndicate SPECTRE stealing two nuclear missiles from a british fighter jet and holding the world to ransome for millions of pounds. A reasonable story line- and granted there are some intriguing gadgets like the ingestible homing device etc. But the underwater scenes are so utterly boring- that I find myself literally falling asleep! The pre-title scene is nothing spectacular either- especially in comparison with the partly successful Goldfinger. Good in parts, but rubbish in others.
Tom Jones' title song however and John Barry's musical score do as usual add atmosphere and excitement to the otherwise mediocre parts of the film.

The best bond film yet

Timothy Dalton, the most underated and best bond is back in the best and most underated bond film of all. While the plot is a bit more thin than others, Licence to kill is a very well made action thriller, with some of the best action sequences is bond, no film history, and brilliant performances from all the actors involved. The film is incredibly dark and very violent, especially when compared with the series' lighter entries, but the film is much closer to Ian Flemings view of the character. When people diss this movie it makes me mad, because they are missing out on this brilliant film. This film showed signs of the series going in the right direction, but unfortunately they messed it up by hiring Peirce Brosnan and making it ridiculous all over again. Thank god Daniel Craig finally set things straight with Casino Royale.

I would recomend this film to any action/thriller fan, fans of the books, or fans of the series other dark entries such as On her majesty's secret service or Casino Royale. However Connery groupies who refuse to enjoy any Bond film without Sean in it I would advise to stay the hell away.

Timothy Dalton should have played Bond again. This film proves it, and however many people down it for being"un-Bond" it will never change the fact that this is a fantastic film, and my favourite of all the Bond films.

More or less Roger's finest hour

For Your Eyes Only is showing its age a bit now. At the time a hugely welcome return to basics after the leaden FX spectacle of Moonraker (the second remake of You Only Live Twice in a row for the series), it still holds up as one of the best of Roger Moore's Bonds, but its faults are much more apparent than they once were. Among them is the tendency to undercut everything with unfunny little jokes (a scoreboard keeping count of thugs Bond knocks out, Bond giving a bemused royal wave to pursuing thugs, and a horrendous cameo from a Maggie Thatcher lookalike in the end), some flat studio work (no disguising the fact that the mountaintop Greek monastery is just a Pinewood set), a dated Bill Conti score and a comic relief nympho nymphet Lynn Holly Johnson constantly throwing herself at a disinterested Bond. Luckily, the pluses more than compensate - a stronger plot than usual for the Moore efforts, at least one cold-blooded murder, and a very welcome absence of gadgets until the postscript that ensures that Bond has to extricate himself with his own wits in some pretty good setpieces. Best among them is a mountaineering sequence where he uses his bootlaces - not steel bootlaces, just common bootlaces - to save himself in an old mountaineers trick.

Incidentally, with Blofeld still sporting the neck brace he wore at the end of OHMSS, and with the film beginning at Tracey Bond's graveside it's tempting to think of the pre-title sequence as a way of making amends for the jokey way Bond's nemesis was disposed of in Diamonds Are Forever were the following sequence not the proud possessor of the most surreal line in the entire Bond series, the infamous"I'll buy you a delicatessen - in stainless steel!" So, while this may be one of the Moore serious of Roge's outings, it's not exactly Bergman territory.

It's worth picking up the two-disc Ultimate Edition set despite it not having a great many more extras than the original release. However, if you just want the film this remastered single disc is a good bet, and includes a new commentary from Moore (also on the two-disc set).

The perfect James Bond film?

From the cat and mouse chase opening, to the infamous gypsy girl fight to the tense and ultimately brutal train journey, From Russia With Love is arguably the consummate James Bond Film.

For starters, it sets up many of the Bond traditions - opening pre-credits sequence, a title theme song, and the introduction of one white cat stroking baddie...Blofeld!

Also, Sean Connery is far more relaxed in his second outing as 007, and is full of charm and classy humour. This is a serious spy thriller. There is no slapstick as seen in later Bond films, and the one-liners fit the mood, rather than force a groan out of how cheesy it is.

The DVD continues the fantastic Bond Special Edition DVDs with an in-depth documentary, and many other featurettes and trailers. Even Bond die-hards will learn something new about this film.

From Russia With Love showed that Dr. No was no fluke, and set in motion a series that is still going strong today. A rip-roaring, action packed thriller. Bond Is Back!

CLASSIC BOND

I really liked Timothy Dalton as Bond. I really thought the guy did a great job. The Living Daylights was an excellent Bond thriller, more in line with Dr No and From Russia With Love in tone and style, but with Licence To Kill you can tell that Broccoli decided to compete with the big boys with this action packed spectacular that aims high and scores. What we have here is Bond with spectacular action scenes and a more nastier steak with regards to the violence that is more in line with Hollywood action blockbusters than with quintessential British spies. This is why the film works. Licence To Kill is much more darker than any of the Bond films that has come before, and after the silliness of the Moore era, that was what this franchise needed. Why have world domination craving villains when you can just p*ss Bond off, big time. Having Felix Lieter maimed and his wife killed on their wedding day is inspired and immediately puts the film on a darker streak. The script here is very strong as we watch a darker more violent Bond infiltrate the bad guy's lifestyle and then proceed to work from there.

Don't make any mistakes this is not a Bond film that would be broadcast during a Bank Holiday afternoon. What we have here is a film that is graphically violent. Check out the head explosion scene or the nasty incidents involving sharks. Having Bond on the revenge path makes for a more interesting tale than just another villain trying to take over the world. The more personal element fits in with this more darker Bond. Dalton really rises to the occasion here and ensures that he will be remembered as a fine actor who played the part of James Bond. The ice cool look of anger as he dumps a bad guy into a shark tank with a case fool of money is fantastic as is his reaction to finding Lieter's dead wife. It may not be said, buy OHMSS is being referenced. Helping Dalton along the way is a great support cast. Robert Davi is superb as Franz Sanchez, without doubt the nastiest Bond villain there has ever been. We have two Bond girls too. Talisa Soto is beautifully sultry, but Carey Lowell just pips her to the post as Pam Bouvier who really gives Bond a run for his money. Another great casting point is an increased role for Q. Desmond Lewellyn appears here more than he ever has done before, helping out in the mission that makes one wonder the Bond writers never thought of it before, or why they never did it after.

Licence To Kill is classic Bond. Purists may give of with the more American touch to the narrative (you just know that any theatrical trailer is crying out for voice over man to go"this time it's personal"), but the more darker narrative suits the film and it shows that Dalton was a good Bond no matter what his critics say. With some of the most spectacular action sequences at the time, this is a genuine Bond classic.

Shaken and stirred most definitely.

BOND IN JAPAN

While not the `perfect' James Bond film (that honor belongs without question to `Goldfinger'), `You Only Live Twice' is perhaps the most clever Bond film ever made. Crackling with razor-sharp dialogue, thrilling action, and some unpredictable twists, `You Only Live Twice' should be required viewing for the current producers of the Bond franchise - it proves that it is possible to meet all the typical requirements of a 007 film and still be original. Only the abrupt, off-key ending of `You Only Live Twice' keeps the film from being an all-time classic . . . still, it's undeniably a great movie, and one of the best Bond films of all time.

The film is about how James Bond saves the world . . . oh, you knew that already? Fine. `You Only Live Twice' begins as an American spaceship is snatched out of outer space by a mysterious craft. The American government blames the Soviet Union for the disappearance. The Soviets, of course, deny their involvement. As the two nuclear superpowers begin an escalation towards nuclear war, the British Secret Service investigates the possibility that a third party may deliberately be trying to provoke a confrontation between the U.S. and the USSR, a third party located somewhere in Japan. The British Secret Service puts their best man on the mission - Bond. James Bond (Sean Connery).

With apologies to the wonderful work that Pierce Brosnan has done in the most recent Bond films, Sean Connery IS James Bond. Period. No one else since Connery has mastered his air of cold, suave arrogance. `You Only Live Twice' is a perfect example of the way-cool attributes Connery brought to the Bond character. In `You Only Live Twice', Bond seems acutely aware of the fact that he is the best spy in the world, but he never brings attention to that fact - he just assumes other people know it. Connery also plays Bond as a spy first and foremost, but he's also sure to make Bond a ladies' man and a man of culture. There's a neat little scene in the film where after fighting and vanquishing a villain's muscle-bound goon, Bond celebrates his small victory by helping himself to a drink from the villain's bar . . . and then promptly insults the villain's taste in vodka. The script also makes subtle mention of Bond's well-to-do upbringing and his education - small things like this have been sorely missed in recent Bond films, and it'd be nice to see such moments resurface, if only in a small way. The bottom line is, Connery plays Bond in such a way that he manages to be ruthless, arrogant . . . and incredibly charming. It's difficult to pull such a combination off, but Connery does it so effortlessly, it's simply amazing.

The script for `You Only Live Twice' was written by Roald Dahl of `Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' fame, and he infuses the film with a wit that's rarely been seen since in a Bond movie. The dialogue between 007 and Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell) absolutely sizzles with tension and wicked sexual innuendo; the acid remarks by Q (Desmond Llewelyn) to Bond about his latest and greatest gadgets are at their all-time best; and the interplay between Bond and the various villains and femme fatales - the evil Mr. Osato (Teru Shimada), the sexy and seductive Helga Brandt (Karin Dor), and especially SPECTRE leader Ernst Blofeld (Donald Pleasance) -are all wonderful. (`Oh, the things I do for England,' Bond mutters under his breath as he seduces Helga Brandt.) The plot, for the most part is pretty good, too - most of it actually makes sense, and it's infused with enough unexpected twists to keep things pretty lively through most of the film. The only weakness of the story, in fact, is its ending - it's not bad, but it simply screeches unexpectedly to a grinding halt, as if either the producers suddenly ran out of money, or as if Mr. Dahl simply ran out of ideas and wanted to wrap things up fast. The ending isn't awful, but considering how sharp and energetic everything else had been in `You Only Live Twice' up to its grand climax, it's slightly disappointing.

The action sequences in `You Only Live Twice' are so-so - they probably looked great when the film was first released, but they don't hold up well to the test of time. The car chases and fights all look painfully staged - granted, they are staged, but most modern films manage to make the audience forget that little nugget of truth. For example, there's a scene where a helicopter drops a huge industrial sized-magnet onto a car, and lifts it high into the air. However, the film keeps cutting to a stock shot of Bond as this unfolds, so you never actually see the car get lifted - one minute, it's rolling on the ground; the next minute, it's in the air (and nowhere near the road it was just lifted from). Nit-picking, to be sure, but it's a clumsy sort of camera cut you usually only see in direct-to-video releases today. If you take the action sequences for what they are - the best late 1960s film-making had to offer - they're fine, but they simply look mediocre at best decades later.

Finally, a side note to any fans of the `Austin Powers' series of films - this is THE Bond film from which Mike Myers took most of his Bond influences. Dr. Evil's underground bases are scarily close to the underground SPECTRE base in `You Only Live Twice', and as for Dr. Evil . . . well, Dr. Evil is the Donald Pleasance version of Ernest Blofeld. Mike Myers manages to capture every single one of Pleasance's quirks as Dr. Evil, from the costume and the facial scar right on down to Pleasance's weird shuffling walk and the odd way he pronounces `magma'. Dr. Evil is literally Pleasance channeled through Mike Myers' body, pure and simple, which is absolutely hysterical to watch - as well as a tad bit disturbing. Watch `You Only Live Twice', and then go watch the `Austin Powers' films . . . you'll definitely know what Mike Myers' favorite James Bond film must be.

`You Only Live Twice' comes very close to rivaling `Goldfinger' as the best 007 movie ever made. As it is, it's still one of the better Bond movies, it's possibly the most cleverly written Bond movie, and it's still extremely enjoyable.

Thank you for reading my review.

This never happened to the other fella...

And so you come to this, George Lazenby’s one and only James Bond film - the oddity in the series, but still no less spectacular.

Just because Lazenby only did the one Bond film does not make this a bad movie, a common misconception.Sure, he’s not very comfortable in the lead role, but that would have been something that came over time, if he had been given the chance. Instead he’s merely passable as the hero.

His coming and going is covered in much length in the bonus 40 minute documentary, that provides unbiased insight into the making of the film and the controversial hiring and firing of the actor.

Still, at least he made an impact on the series. The action scenes here are full of amazing stunts, particularly the ski chase and the bob sled section. The movie starts off well, with a beuatifully filmed pre-credits action scene.

And although that sets up a action packed film, the plot line, trying to track down uber-villain Blofeld, is over long, padded and skimpy. It’s even more annoying in the fact that the film doesn’t actually finish, as Blofeld is still on baddie duties in future Bond films, which really makes this plot a waste of time.

Still, the Bond formula is in place, plenty of girls, magnificent set pieces and a delightful leading lady in Diana Rigg. It all leads up to the most shocking scene in any Bond film, and if you havn’t seen this already, then it comes as a real surprise, a gut punch of an ending.

A lot better than most give it credit for

From the opening, Bond-less, sequence where Scaramanga dispatches what we presume is the latest in a long line of attempted assassinators, The Man With The Golden Gun is a rip-roaring ride.

Moore is at his wise-cracking best (admittedly this won't be to everyone's taste) and Christopher Lee is in his element as the mysterious Scaramanga (and is all the more effective considering he seems to be the one actor in the entire film NOT playing his part with tongue firmly in cheek).

The locations are stunning, there is a fantastic car chase and the general light-hearted feel actually works well.

Granted the girls are pretty useless (are we really supposed to believe Britt Ekland's Mary Goodnight would be allowed anywhere near a mission like Bond's?) and the whole thing is seemingly permanently on the verge of slipping over the edge marked self-parody, but you cannot deny that it is a funny, exciting and enjoyable film.

It may be far removed from Fleming's vision of Bond (which is enought to damn it forever in the eyes of some critics) but as a fun piece of escapism it more than does it's job. It may not be a great"Bond" film, but it is a good one nonetheless.

The"formula" is perfected

You could almost say that this film so perfectly nails what the Bond series was to become about that many of the films that follow can certainly be said to take their themeic inspiration from this one.

In fact it's so good that we can ignore the fact that Gert Frobe's performance as Auric Goldfinger had to be dubbed due to his lack of English...ignore the fact that Pussy Galore's character is watered down almost to the point of pointlessness...ignore the fact that Bond spends most of the film under Goldfinger's house arrest (with no real reason for Goldfinger not killing him much sooner)...

But what we do have is excitment and a plot that improves on the book's. In the book Goldfinger was to detonate an atomic bomb to break open the gates of Fort Knox. Here his intention is to set the bomb off, thus rendering the gold in there untouchable and therefore increase the value of his own gold.

There are so many moments in the film that are in the most fondly remembered by aficianado's and casual fans alike. Oddjob killing people with his bowler hat, the round of golf between Bond & Goldfinger (which incidentally is 10 times more exciting than Casino Royale's Poker game), Bond tied to a bench as a laser moves closer and closer to his family jewels, Shirley Eaton smothered in gold paint.

It might not be the absolute best in the series, but it is one of the most remembered and memorable. And to this day it remains a triumph.

this bad one is dreadful

After the brilliant re-start which was Goldeneye, Brosnan and the team at EON, managed something of a first for the genre with TND. Fans would never again be able to defend the low points of the series with the truism that 'even the bad ones are good', because this film (which wouldn't be lonely for long)was not just a bad James Bond film, it was was a hands down, bona fide turkey.The only thing it now has going for it is the fact that, following the release of Die Another Day, it is redeemed as only the 2nd worst James Bond film of all time...a lucky break which neither it, nor the paying public deserved...and don't even get me started on Sheryl Crow's theme tune.

Almost perfect,,,

Everyone buying this boxset will almost certainly know most, if not all of the films included, so I'll be brief - they are fantastic. What I want to comment on is the packaging, as I could not figure why this particular set is cheaper than the other Sean Connery boxset, which looks almost identical.

What you get is a cardboard sleeve over an attractive metal tin, inside which is the normal Connery boxset (also available on amazon, £10 more at time of writing). Inside this box are the 6 films, two discs per film, inside slimline DVD cases. This truly is an excellent set.

I have only 2 problems with this item:

1 - The films do not come with the booklets which are included in the single film Ultimate Edition releases.

2 - The DVD's all have a ridiculously long intro, which is identical each time and cannot be skipped.

In brief, this is a 'must have' box for any Bond fan, and deserves to be on every film fans shelf.