On Her Majesty's Secret Service
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Actor: George Lazenby, James Bree, Julie Ege, Mona Chong, Yuri BorienkoDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Mandarin Chinese (Subtitled); Korean (Subtitled); Thai (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Original Language); French (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 142 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-03-24
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of On Her Majesty's Secret Service
DVD Review: The crown jewel of the Bond franchise
Summary: 5 Stars
All I can say is it's about time this movie has been available as a single DVD. Ever since its initial release this remarkable film has had to deal with the regrettable and entirely undeserved stigma of being a lesser and forgettable footnote in the Bond canon. Nothing could be further from the truth.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is a masterpiece, both as a James Bond movie and as an adventure movie in its own right-- and it is far and away the best Bond movie that has ever been made thusfar. The reasons for this are manifold. For one thing it succeeds marvelously on both an artistic as well as an escapist level-- imho it's the only Bond film so far to achieve this. Secondly it features what is easily the greatest score in a Bond movie, and possibly the greatest action theme music ever--the ripping instrumental theme still excites me every time I hear it after 25 years and more listens than I could possibly hope to remember. Thirdly it features one of the best ensemble casts of all the Bond movies-- every part was perfectly cast (yes even Bond) and they all played off each other wonderfully. Last but not least it was directed but arguably the best of all Bond directors, Peter Hunt.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is unique among the Bond movies in so many ways, most notably in that it stars the criminally underrated George Lazenby as Bond. Lazenby was a fight instructor with the Special Forces, a championship skier and swimmer-- all of which contributed to him having a remarkable physical grace, as well as the sort of radiant magnetism, confidence and swagger that simply can't be faked. In short, where most of the Bonds have been actors trying to be action heroes, Lazenby was an action hero trying to be an actor-- and as far as I'm concerned this gave him a distinct advantage over everyone else who has attempted the role. And he was bloody cool. So cool, in fact, that to this day, more than Connery even, watching Lazenby makes the 12 year-old in me want to run out and save the world. Topping everything off the man was a model and absolutely adored by women. In short he was, to my mind, far and away the most naturally qualified of any of the actors who have ever played Bond. Yes, he was a little rough around the edges in the acting department, but by God he had it where it counted and was diamond in the rough. It is one of the great tragedies of action cinema history that we didn't get to see him develop as Bond.
And then there's the film itself. In addition to a fantastic lead it also contains one of the best villains of the series-- Telly Savalas' Blofeld. Egotistical, charming, entirely self-centred, brilliant as well as menacing and physically imposing, he was the perfect counter to Lazenby's Bond. You could literally sense the urgency and drive behind his egocentric madness-- clearly he was a villain to be reckoned with. And there was that cool way he held his cigarettes. Furthermore, On Her Majesty's Secret Service has what is probably the best story of the series. It struck just the right balance between the absurd (the mountaintop fortress and plan to destroy the world's crops) and the serious (the character development and lack of gadgets and over-the-top fantastic elements) as well as touching on some quintessential male fantasy elements: a bevy of beauties atop a mountain hideaway on the one hand, and the delectable Tracy on the other. Let it be said here and now that as ridiculous as the idea of hypnotizing a group of beautiful women to go out and do your bidding really is, it must be noted that the whole concept is fantastically cool on the level of fantasy on which Bond films have always had their true niche. If Ian Fleming were alive to day I would give him a good pat on the back for that one.
Let us now consider the action scenes-- some of the best of the entire series-- not the least of which are the stellar fight scenes: brutal and personal, not to be approached in awesomeness until Casino Royale two years ago. And then there are the ski scenes-- utterly fantastic. The Piz Gloria escape is easily the single most exciting scene in the whole series, and it culminates so beautifully with Bond lost and alone at the ice rink, unsure what to do before lo! his guardian angel appears. I would go so far as to say that from the moment Bond is imprisoned in the cable-car room right through the end of the movie, we have perhaps the best extended action sequence in any Bond movie, perhaps in any action movie ever-- and it's scored brilliantly by the incomparable John Barry.
Above all, however, one gets a definite sense watching On Her Majesty's Secret Service of how much went into it. Starting with Goldfinger and culminating with You Only Live Twice the Bond movie producers went quite over the top and shifted the focus of the films away from character and depth into the realm of big budget spectacle-- to the point that the character of Bond was reduced to a cheap toupe adorning all the nonsense going on around him. By the time On Her Majesty's Secret Service was made they evidently decided to direct the series back to its roots. One thing that stands out to me more every time I watch this film is how much it is apparent that everyone involved with it put their heart and soul into making the "epic" Bond film. It broke all the standard Hollywood success rules-- it blew the then just-established formula to smithereens, it was the first one to really address James Bond as a human being, it was the first to give Bond a chance to fall in love, to have him register genuine fear and emotion, and so on.
Looking back it's almost as if some higher power intervened, realigned the planets and allowed the fireworks and spectacles to be put on hold for one movie so that the filmmakers could make a movie from their heart, so they could tell a story without sacrificing its integrity on the altar of crazy gadgets, whimsical plotlines and futuristic sets-- and I think it is this quality that gives OHMSS its true pulse, that quality which, to me, makes it stand out more and more as the best film of the series with each viewing. Goldfinger and Thunderball may have embedded Bond firmly in the collective popular consciousness, but On Her Majesty's Secret Service captured perfectly the soul of Bond-- and it hasn't been topped since.
To paraphrase a tribute once given to a great historical personage: To a traveler standing near a mountain range many eminences seem to have approximately the same altitude; it is difficult to disengage Everest from its lofty neighbors. But as the range recedes in the distance, the highest peak lifts more and more above its fellows, until it alone fills the horizon. So it has been with On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
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