"The names Lazenby...George Lazenby" (James Bond - On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Ultimate Edition, 2 DVDs))

Member Name: martyfarty69

Product:	James Bond - On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Ultimate Edition, 2 DVDs)
Date:	29/07/09 (29 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Solidifies the Bond character, some important moments

Disadvantages: A little long and drawn out, Lazenby is unfortunately no Connery / Moore / Brosnan

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the 1969 sixth installment of the James Bond movie franchise, this is quite the pivotal movie in the James Bond franchise for many reasons, ( more i'll get to later ) one being the installation of George Lazenby as James Bond in his first and only movie in the role after the departure of Sean Connery.
This is the second movie in what has become known as the "Blofeld Trilogy" slotting inbetween "You Only Live Twice" and "Diamonds are Forever" , its a notable trilogy of movies not only for the fact that Blofeld is portrayed by three different actors, but also for two different Bond actors ( Lazenby once, and Connery twice )

The Plot.

The pre-title sequence shows Moneypenny ( Lois Maxwell ) and Q ( Desmond Llewellyn ) discussing the whereabouts of James Bond, ( George Lazenby ) Bond is at the time in portugal driving along a coastal road when he is overtaken by a woman in a convertible, Bond follows the woman later found to be Contessa Teresa DiVicenzo ( Diana Rigg ) to a beach where she attempts suicide, bond races down to the shore in his Aston Martin and wades in to rescue her, after laying her on the beach and introducing himself, two thugs attempt to attack and kill bond, after overcoming them the woman escapes in her vehicle, and bond coyly comments that " this never happened to the other fellow" ( Possibly referencing Prince Charming, but also a subtle nod to Sean Connery )

Bond later encounters the same woman in a casino where she places a bet she is unable to cover, after covering her bet Teresa invites bond to her room to pay him back for covering her bet, once in her room Bond is attacked by another thug and once again overpowers the thug.

The next morning Teresa leaves the hotel and as Bond is doing the same, several men kidnap him and take him to meet Marc - Ange Draco, the head of a large european crime syndicate, Draco informs Bond that Teresa is his daughter, he asks Bond to marry her to help her with her troubled life and offers bond a dowry of 1 million dollars, Bond refuses but agrees to continue a relationship with Teresa if Draco helps him discover the whereabouts of Ernst Stavro Blofeld ( Telly Savalas ) and so Bond and Teresa begin a budding romance and Bond begins his quest for revenge against Blofeld.

As I mentioned "Her Majesty's Secret Service" is quite the anomoly amongst Bond Movies, besides Lazenby as the title character this movie has no Bond theme song sung by a popular artist for its intro, instead an instrumental piece of music is chosen that actually becomes a iconic piece of Bond music that is used for many years following this in many Bond movies
Also we see a different portrayal of Blofeld by Telly Savalas than was delivered in the previous movie by Donald Pleasance, not a portrayal im a huge fan of if im honest as I think he plays Blofeld almost too macho, as Blofeld is more of a cowardly leader who uses other people to do his work for him.
And of course the portrayal of Bond by Lazenby is a big source of controversy, Actually I don't think his portrayal is all that bad, it was never going to be as iconic as the portrayal by Connery but he held his own, but I do agree that you never truly feel he fits in the role well, maybe if he had been given the chance to do another movie or more then he could have established himself in the role, however as it stands he is a mere footnote in the Bond Legend.
Finally this is the movie that I believe establishes the Bond Character and his personality, we see Bond actually fall in love in this movie and get married, and there is even a hint that Bond may quit his job as an agent of Mi6, but ( spoiler alert ) at the end of the movie Bond's wife is murdered by an agent of Blofeld and I believe his future character and sometimes disregard for his women is shaped by this event.

Overall this is not the worst Bond movie by any means, but its certainly not the best, it is important in the series for many reasons, but it comes across as too long and drawn out and could have been trimmed down in places to make a more thrilling movie.

But its essential viewing for all Bond fans and provided you have the time set aside its essential viewing. !!

Summary: Essential viewing for serious Bond fans, maybe there are better Bond movies for the casual fan !