Smugglers sink a ship to steal a top secret gadget.

2.5/4 (Okay).

Easily the best Bond movie since the 60's. After the nonsense of Moonraker, this is hardly recognizable as the same franchise. ( )

The cheesiness of 80's action scenes was awesome! Some of the stunt work really was impressive for this film. ( )

Rating: 3.25* of five

Wow! What a film. 1981 was quite a year at the movie-house: Arthur, Das Boot, Gallipoli, Chariots of Fire...and this. The movie doesn't follow the book's plot particularly closely, adding stuff from another short story, inventing stuff...but what the hey, why should this one be different?

It's a standard revenge-action-espionage flick. Nothing in space, some stuff underwater that makes some kinda sense, and the best Bondmobile ever: A Citroën 2CV!

from Wikimedia on a Commons license

So yeah, being a little sarcastic there, but this film brings out the snark in me. Simon Templar does his smirking best as Bond. The man's just about as sexy as beans on toast.

But the reason I watched it again, after not liking it in the theater in 1981 (a horrible year in my life, which probably had a lot to do with my response), is the fact that this is Bond as a SPY! An actual espionage agent. It's refreshing to see, after the previous decade's endless progression of villain-fighting. That got tedious. Carole Thingummy, as Melina, was ~meh~ but the story was more involving and less superhero-suspend-all-disbelief-ye-who-enter-here and so a big relief to see.

Sheena Easton sang For Your Eyes Only, another ubiquitous Bond theme. It was wearing after a while, but it was memorable. I suppose modern audiences, desensitized by the horrors of hoop-pup and elektronika and suchlike nonmusic, will feel that way about Adele's blah, forgettable Skyfall.

Bah. She's better than that.

Oh yeah, For Your Eyes Only. Decent, if only just, and worth a rental. ( )