I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

If this weren't a James Bond 007 film, it might rate a notch higher. But no more than that. This is an interesting plot, and the film has some of the usual great scenery and camera work. An unusually higher caliber of cast (Diana Rigg and Telly Savalas) raise it a level. But it has a few things against it. The biggest minus is that it drags in several places. It has short bursts of boredom with little action or interest. The second problem is George Lazenby as James Bond. Again, if he wasn't James Bond but someone else, it would be OK. But, he doesn't have the Bond persona. George is a nice guy, a gentleman, even a little down to earth and humble. But he's not a very good actor. His fight scenes have the slightest pause in them, so they seem contrived or staged. James Bond, on the other hand, is supposed to be tough and macho. He's an overly self-confident, even a little conceited character. That's James Bond, but not George Lazenby. And the third thing wrong with this plot is Bond getting married. I don't think any fans were ready for that at that stage of the Bond character. Again, if the hero was anyone other than Bond, it would be OK for a film. But not here. And Diana Rigg's warming up to him after a while just isn't very convincing. Lazenby didn't go over back then, and the search was on for another actor to play James Bond. We would see Sean Connery return two more times. This was Lazenby's first starring role after just appearing in a TV series. He has stayed in the movies and on TV, but couldn't hold up in leading man roles.

"On Her Majesty's Secret Service" is an odd "Bond" movie to assess, namely because it's the first film without Sean Connery, but also because some other actors were replaced, including Telly Savalas supplanting Donald Pleasance as Blofeld, while other key roles (Q, M, Moneypenny) remained the same. This quasi-reinvention warrants a level of comparison to the previous five "Bond" films, but can also be assessed as its own "one- off" edition.Australian George Lazenby is a handsome, charismatic charmer, and it's clear to see why he won Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman's admiration and reportedly a 7-film deal. If he would've gotten a chance to grow into James Bond, he would have earned a lot more fans and would not generally have been ranked as the least of the six Bonds. He's a definitely a younger, pluckier interpretation of the character as opposed to Connery's mature, gentlemanly wiles. Still, he's easy to root for — the "Bond" films are a formula and he fits nicely into his end of the equation.What's nice about "OHMSS" is how it dials back from the silliness and larger-than-life nature of "You Only Live Twice," which is probably the result of it being a direct interpretation of an Ian Fleming novel. The bulk of the action stays at Blofeld's Switzerland hideaway, where Bond is getting close to his foe to find out the truth behind his "allergy research, so there's more isolation that world-traipsing, while the ski chases give the movie that big "Bond" energy without resulting to spaceships and nuclear war. The stakes are Bond's survival — and his love for Tracy (Diana Rigg).Seeing Bond in love, even though his romance with Tracy bookends the film and there's a little sexual mischief in the middle, definitely adds a bit more depth to James and a lot more emotion to points of the film. "OHMSS" isn't dramatic or deeply touching, but there's a real human element we haven't necessarily seen at play and won't see at play much until the Daniel Craig era.At 142 minutes, "OHMSS" hold the title of the longest of all the early "Bond" entries, and it's 30 minutes too long to be sure. Parts of the film drag — the first act feels especially pointless — and most of the payoff comes in the final 45 minutes. Other than a few sneak attacks on Bond in his hotel room(s) there is not a lot of intermediary action to hold our attention. The entertainment is supposed to come from the suspense of Bond's deception while in Blofeld's clutches.Director Peter Hunt turned out to be a one-off as well and maybe that was for the best. His style calls a lot more attention to itself than Terence Young or Guy Hamilton's with a little more brute action and a tone of rapid-fire editing in the action sequences. It gets a bit dizzying and he turns to camera effects way more than was status quo for these films. So in some ways it's a more visceral, visually interesting take, and in some ways he oversteps. Regardless, he gets things going when they need to get going, keeping "OHMSS" from becoming a total slog. It's just a lot of peaks and valleys."On Her Majesty's Secret Service" has a lot of the elements you want in a "Bond" film, providing a safe playground for Lazenby to fill Bond's shoes. If the film doesn't end up as a one-off blip and the Lazenby Bond storyline is continued, the conversation around "OHMSS" changes. Instead, it's a solid if not overly long "Bond" entry of little consequence.~Steven CThanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more

Sean Connery retires from the 007 role and incomes Australian model- turned-actor George Lazenby to fill in his massive shoes. Does he succeed? OHMSS was the first in the franchise to attempt the depiction of a more-vulnerable James Bond and this movie also breaks one of the franchises biggest clichés at this point...James Bond gets married to the Bond girl! This movie has a lot of good things going for it. The cast is very well-rounded. Diana Rigg plays Tracy, daughter of a mobster and the woman that Bond falls in love with, and she is fantastic. Equally fantastic is Telly Savalas, who replaces Donald Plleasence as Bond's arch nemesis Blofeld. I think Savalas is my personal favorite actor to play Blofeld because he feels more like a person that can exist in real life. The ski-chase action set pieces are also a joy to watch and first-time director Peter R. Hunt does a pretty decent job, at times giving the proceedings a very 60's trippy vibe. Not only that, but John Barry offers some of his best music compositions for this entry. It's just a shame about Lazenby though. Lazenby's lack of acting experience really sticks out like a sore thumb and in a way, perfectly demonstrates the fact that playing 007 is not as easy of a feat as one might expect. Despite having a decent chemistry with Rigg, Lazenby's performance just left me cold due to his lack of one- screen presence and it doesn't help that most of his dialogue was awkwardly dubbed in post-production due to his heavy Australian accent. The only time Lazenby displays any sincere acting chops is in the film's heart-breaking ending. Despite Hunt showcasing decent prowess for a first-time director, his weakness lies in filming hand-to-hand fight sequences because the editing gets so choppy and the bizarre camera angles really brings unintentional comedy to some fights scenes. Also this movie was just way too long for me and could have used a better editor at the helm because I found myself bored a few too many times, especially during the drawn-out second act in which James Bond is undercover in Blofeld's lair. In the end, a part of me deeply admires how much this film attempted to shake things up with the franchise but in the end it's unique elements never end up combining into a satisfying whole.

I was 18 when this film was first released and I suppose due to Sean Connery not in the role as 007 I didn't bother watching it. So to see the film for the first time ever a couple of weeks back really struck a poignant sad feeling at all that time elapsing and the two main stars so much older now but thankfully still alive. The other fascinating things about this film is the perceived chemistry between Bond and Tracey in the film and the real animosity that seems to have developed whilst making the movie between Rigg and Lazenby.Anyhow I'll say only this, if I had to chose a film for the most heartfelt love scenes , then OHMS's would be it. The tender scenes between Dianna and George coupled with John Barry and Hal Davids achingly exquisite' We have all The Time' brings a tear to my eye every time. From when he chases Tracey to her car and the beautiful Dianna Rigg turns around with tears streaming down her face which Bond (George) gently wipes away is just so beautiful as 'the theme song starts to play. Also although George is on the very rare occasion tad 'wooden' or more accurately self-conscious the scene in the barn as the blizzard rages outside where Tracey (Dianna ) seems to accept her lot that she cannot get any closer to James because of his occupation and says why are you still thinking about it and James (George) answers so gently that he is not he was '"thinking about us" and then says he loves her, for me is the tenderest love scene in any movie that I've ever seen.Dianna and George's relationship is the thing that makes this probably the best Bond movie of them all and the pair of them acted it out brilliantly. Its a wonderful film that took 47 years for me to finally see but believe me it was well worth the wait.