Fellman's Movie Reviews

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is a different kind of Bond film. It’s not bad. I’m not going to say that because I don’t think any of the Bond films are bad. But it’s not at the top of the list like the couple of previous movies are. George Lazenby is probably the worst Bond. Probably because he wasn’t an actor. He was a male model. He got the part because he accidentally punched a stuntman on set and the director liked his aggression. And, even then, they wanted him for more movies, but it was Lazenby’s agent that convinced him not to play James Bond anymore.  

There’s something about Lazenby throughout the entire movie, though. He doesn’t have the swagger that Sean Connery does. That confident strut that Sean Connery walks into the room with. With an upturned eyebrow and a sideways smile. A look that James Bond would give to a woman that he’s about to go and talk to. George Lazenby didn’t have that. He always looked kind of scared. Like he didn’t quite know what was going on. Like he was a secret agent that was out of his league and didn’t have enough training to get him back to base.  

But apart from Lazenby himself, the rest of the cast does a good job in this movie. I think Telly Savalas is a good choice to replace Donald Pleasence as Blofeld. Telly Savalas has a nice supervillain characteristic about him. And Diana Rigg as Bond’s love interest, Tracy di Vicenzo is a good pick as well. Diana Rigg was actually the chick who played Emma Peel in the original Avengers television show. How’s that for a piece of cinematic history, huh? 

Another thing I find hilarious is that this came out in 1969, when technology was still in its infancy, and green screens were just getting big. So you could tell when chase scenes were going on, and they would cut from edited in clips of a chase, and then cut to Bond or a couple of villains in front of what is clearly a green screen, with what is clearly an image projected up on it. It’s just that, technology has advanced so far in the years since, that it’s funny to see these things now, and think “that’s how it used to be.” 

But, anyways, go and see On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. It’s not the best Bond film. George Lazenby isn’t the best Bond. But it’s still pretty good. Even a bad Bond movie is an alright Bond movie. And as always, keep on watching, with a smile on your face…