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From Amazon.co.uk
Australian model George Lazenby took up the mantle of the world's most suave secret agent when Sean Connery retired as James Bond--prematurely, it turned out. Connery returned in Diamonds Are Forever before leaving the role to Roger Moore, and Lazenby's subsequent career fizzled, yet this one-hit wonder is responsible for one of the best Bond films. In On Her Majesty's Secret Service, 007 leaves the Service to privately pursue his SPECTRE nemesis Blofeld (played this time by Telly Savalas), whose latest master plan threatens the world's crops with agricultural sterilisation. Bond teams up with smooth international crime-lord Draco (Gabriele Ferzetti) and falls in love with--and marries--his elegant daughter, Tracy (Diana Rigg). Bond monogamous? Not at first; after all he has Blofeld's harem to seduce. Lazenby hasn't the intensity of Connery but he has fun with his quips and even lampoons the Bond image in a playful pre-credits sequence. Rigg, fresh from playing sexy Emma Peel in The Avengers, matches 007 in every way. Former editor Peter Hunt makes a strong directorial debut, deftly handling the elaborate action sequences with a kinetic finesse and a dash of humour. Though not a hit on its original release, On Her Majesty's Secret Service has become a fan favourite and the closest the series has come to capturing the spirit of Ian Fleming's books. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com -- On the DVD: Affable and intelligent director Peter Hunt explains his ambition to take the series back to the original spirit of Fleming's books with this instalment. Out of all the Bond DVDs, his commentary track--interspliced with comments from other cast and crew members--is one of the most entertaining and informative as he chuckles over some of his more felicitous touches. Although sadly Diana Rigg is absent from the "making of" featurette, an older and wiser George Lazenby reveals how he acquired one of Connery's suits and went to the same barber in order to make himself look credible for the part. Hunt and others are disarmingly frank about how Lazenby's arrogance on set won him few friends. The late lamented Desmond Llewelyn, who played the boffin "Q", presents an amusing guide to the greatest gadgets of the series and explains how he can barely work a can opener in real life. The rest of the technical features are all present and correct and up to this series' usual high standards. --Leslie Felperin
Product Description
James Bond goes undercover in the treacherous Swiss Alps in this action-packed epic filled with artillery laden ski pursuits, incredible stunts and nonstop thrills. George Lazenby leaps into the role of Agent 007 with supreme confidence and undeniable charisma, even finding love with the beautiful and seductive Tracy Di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg). But first Bond must stop evil genius Blofeld (Telly Savalas) from realising a germ warfare plot that could kill millions.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
No Bond film has suffered as much historical and critical revisionism as On Her Majesty's Secret Service. A huge hit on its first release and no better or worse reviewed than any of the preceding Bonds, George Lazenby's decision to leave the series before the film was released led to a tidal wave of attacks from the press and spurned co-producer Albert R. Broccoli (who even removed Lazenby's face from the original US poster!) that cast such a dark shadow over the film that the fact it's one of the highpoints of the series slipped from the public consciousness. Instead it became the Bond that flopped (if taking more than ten times its cost can be called flopping), the Bond that everybody hated (there were plenty of rave reviews to prove otherwise) with the Bond so bad he had to be fired (the producers tried to sign him up for several more pictures but, foolishly he admits, their new star thought the series was on the way out). It didn't help that the film was subsequently heavily cut for reissues and TV, and it's only with the Ultimate Edition DVD that the film is finally available in its absolutely uncut version (even the previous DVD was missing a few shots). Over the years its reputation has gradually grown, although EON clearly still regard it as the black sheep of the series: where the producers proudly boasted in 1970 that it was the fastest Bond to recoup its cost, for the documentary here they maintain it was the slowest. It's tempting to imagine whether 2006's Casino Royale would have met with similar treatment had Daniel Craig decided to call it a day before it opened...
It's all the more mystifying considering how fresh and genuinely exciting much of the film still is today.... Read more ›
It's all the more mystifying considering how fresh and genuinely exciting much of the film still is today.... Read more ›
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful
By Devin Zydel
Format:DVD
*Spoilers*
A grand extraordinaire of a James Bond film. It's difficult at times to find a better Bond film than this one. Known sometimes to me as "The Christmas James Bond film", On Her Majesty's Secret Service never ceases to amaze and entertain.
Geroge Lazenby, while not Connery, gives a solid portrayal of James Bond 007. He's a man of action, and this film very well supports that, giving him much to do in it. I feel, while I like the four other Bond actors better at times, for this single film, Lazenby showed off some very good points and he gives a better performance in it to just be labeled "that other guy that just did one."
Diana Rigg; a true angel of a Bond girl. In my opinion, what can be said about her performance as Tracy is mostly all good points. She's tough and resourceful, but not to a point where she's trying to be better than Bond, and she doesn't always remind the audience that she can do as much as he can, she just plays the role, and she plays it well. Her scenes of lashing against her father's words and her eventual fall for Bond are acted out quite well. As is, which I say is perhaps the classiest moment in the film series, her skating onto the scene to help Bond escape from Irma Bunt and SPECTRE. Her death at the end of the film is a strong one, strong enough that the James Bond theme is played at the very end to remind people that this is a Bond film, no matter what these large differences are that have yet to occur in the series, (such as the Bond girl being killed).
Ernst Stavro Blofeld and Irma Bunt are very solid Bond villains. They both deliver well, with Bunt's casual barking of orders at dinner to be quite the way she defines her respect. I have come to like Telly Savalas performance more and more over time.... Read more ›
A grand extraordinaire of a James Bond film. It's difficult at times to find a better Bond film than this one. Known sometimes to me as "The Christmas James Bond film", On Her Majesty's Secret Service never ceases to amaze and entertain.
Geroge Lazenby, while not Connery, gives a solid portrayal of James Bond 007. He's a man of action, and this film very well supports that, giving him much to do in it. I feel, while I like the four other Bond actors better at times, for this single film, Lazenby showed off some very good points and he gives a better performance in it to just be labeled "that other guy that just did one."
Diana Rigg; a true angel of a Bond girl. In my opinion, what can be said about her performance as Tracy is mostly all good points. She's tough and resourceful, but not to a point where she's trying to be better than Bond, and she doesn't always remind the audience that she can do as much as he can, she just plays the role, and she plays it well. Her scenes of lashing against her father's words and her eventual fall for Bond are acted out quite well. As is, which I say is perhaps the classiest moment in the film series, her skating onto the scene to help Bond escape from Irma Bunt and SPECTRE. Her death at the end of the film is a strong one, strong enough that the James Bond theme is played at the very end to remind people that this is a Bond film, no matter what these large differences are that have yet to occur in the series, (such as the Bond girl being killed).
Ernst Stavro Blofeld and Irma Bunt are very solid Bond villains. They both deliver well, with Bunt's casual barking of orders at dinner to be quite the way she defines her respect. I have come to like Telly Savalas performance more and more over time.... Read more ›
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By The TV Man
Format:DVD
For me there are seven James Bond films I love for different reasons - Goldfinger (where they nail the Bond format for the first time), Live and Let Die (great early '70s feel and not about someone trying to take over the world but to do with the heroin trade), Man with the Golden Gun (falls into the so bad its good, Bond hunted by Lee's hitman, a great concept), Spy Who Loved Me (where everything seems perfect from directing to casting), Casino Royale (a great reinvention of the genre) and then my favourite two - License to Kill (all about revenge and lets fact it Bond with all that killing in his past must be a haunted vengeful man if the right buttons are pushed) and then this film - On Her Majesty's Secret Service...
From the opening scene where the cinematography is superb and Lazenby's quip to camera you know that something has changed from the Connery era, that this was them attempting a darker, more human Bond and my word they pull it off. Lazenby is often criticized for his acting performance, and granted it's not great but because of this it actually makes you see Bond as more fallible, feel emotion, fall in love, and let his guard down long enough for tragedy to strike - im not saying Lazenby's acting skills pull this off, but because he himself seems to be struggling at times within the role it makes the Bond of the film also be struggling against himself and that's what it sets it apart for me - this Bond is fallible, debates wanting out.... Read more ›
From the opening scene where the cinematography is superb and Lazenby's quip to camera you know that something has changed from the Connery era, that this was them attempting a darker, more human Bond and my word they pull it off. Lazenby is often criticized for his acting performance, and granted it's not great but because of this it actually makes you see Bond as more fallible, feel emotion, fall in love, and let his guard down long enough for tragedy to strike - im not saying Lazenby's acting skills pull this off, but because he himself seems to be struggling at times within the role it makes the Bond of the film also be struggling against himself and that's what it sets it apart for me - this Bond is fallible, debates wanting out.... Read more ›
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4.3 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
OHMSS
George Lazenby as Bond, the first relaunch of the Bond character with Bond falling in love and not lust, fan and games in the Alps.
Published 16 days ago by T. G. King
4.0 out of 5 stars
George Lazenby's only Bond
I got this as my sister kept saying George Lazenby was her favourite Bond (I preferred Timothy Dalton until Daniel Craig came along). Read more
Published 24 days ago by KG
4.0 out of 5 stars
For the Bond Fans.
Probably the most under rated Bond film of all time. Very good plot, superb Diana Rigg. It is a pity George Lazenby followed Shaun Connery. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Margaret
5.0 out of 5 stars
ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE
I RECEIVED MY COPY OF ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE BLU RAY DISC AND CASE PERFECT CONDITION FAST DELIVERY AND VERY PLEASED WITH MY PURCHASE. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Andrew H. Baird
5.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT DVD.
THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY FAVORITE BOND FILM AND I WAS HAPPY TO GET IT AT SUCH A GREAT PRICE.
PROMPT SERVICE AND A VERY GOOD DVD, NO SCRATCHES.
PROMPT SERVICE AND A VERY GOOD DVD, NO SCRATCHES.
Published 2 months ago by M.S.J. GRANT,
1.0 out of 5 stars
Disaster - certainly not a Bond film
I am a great fan of all Bond films - some better than others, this one was like an expensive "B" movie and definitely the worst one ever made, with terrible acting (by everyone,... Read more
Published 2 months ago by M. B. Richardson
5.0 out of 5 stars
james bond
great films to add to collection great quality film from you love to just sit and be engrossed in bond
Published 2 months ago by doreen junghans
5.0 out of 5 stars
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
I am a fan of the 60s Bond films - the era of Connery and Lazenby. I rate this film, when Lazenby played his only Bond role, as on a par with the Connery Bond films. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mr. A. J. Dandy
5.0 out of 5 stars
location location
a present for someone who used to ski in Saas Fe, so a good buy for the locations, although not a great film
Published 2 months ago by Mrs. T. Vert
5.0 out of 5 stars
james bond
Though not one of my favorite films It arived in a few days and wes well paked alwawys pleased thankyou
Published 3 months ago by Ms. C. Greenslade
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