Deliberate mistake: Blofeld doesn't recognize James Bond in this film, even though they met face-to-face in the previous movie, "You Only Live Twice." There is a production-related reason for this. Ian Fleming wrote "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" in 1963 (in which Bond and Blofeld met for the first time), and he wrote "You Only Live Twice" in 1964. However, "You Only Live Twice" was adapted for film first (in 1967), and "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" was adapted afterward (in 1969). Because the 1969 film was so faithful to its source material, Blofeld and Bond are basically meeting for the first time... again. The producers were aware of this continuity problem and intended to have James Bond undergo plastic surgery for "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (which would conveniently explain Blofeld not recognizing him, as well as the fact that Sean Connery had been replaced by George Lazenby in the lead role). But the plastic surgery idea was discarded in faithfulness to the novel, resulting in a glaring continuity problem between the 1967 and 1969 films.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
2 reviews
Directed by: Peter R. Hunt
Starring: Desmond Llewelyn, Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, Telly Savalas, George Lazenby, Diana Rigg, Gabriele Ferzetti
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I watched this movie on Amazon Prime.
So... I had seen some of the older Bond movies, including this one, a long long time ago. Like about 20 years ago, renting them from the Library as a kid. Most of them I hardly remembered but I wanted to finally start my journey of going back and watching all the old Bond movies again. Some a long over due re watch, others seeing for the first time.
Often seen as the black sheep of the Bond franchise, Majesty tends to get an unjust bad rap. It was the first in the franchise, (not counting the 1954 episode of Climax) to have Bond not played by Connery. But rather newcomer to acting, George Lazenby.
Lazenby does his best here, trying to act like Connery and mimic his portray of Bond, and even having his hair and mannerisms emulating Connery. He doesn't' do a terrible job, but it's also not great.
As far as the film goes, this, I feel, is definitely a step up from the previous two movies of Thunderball and Live Twice. And I even enjoy this one more than Goldfinger. It has good action, a pretty good plot, likable lead Bond girl, and a good performance of the new Blofeld actor.
Even if I don't really like Blofeld as a character and villain in the first place, he's not too bad in this film. Nevermind the continuity breaking way he and Bond seem to meet for the first time here after already meeting in the previous movie. There's a whole slue of theories and ideas about resolving that but I won't get into that here.
There's a lot to like about this film, and including some of the most important lore building moments of the franchise going forward, while also having it's down spots. It can be fairly hit or miss with people, but I fall into the camp of really enjoying this movie and thinking Lazenby did an OK job.
I used to think he was easily the worst Bond actor. Well now having actually seen the film. I'm thinking of changing my mind on that.
I don't like Dalton as Bond at all... but once I get to his two movies I'll decide for sure on his ranking next to Lazenby.
Anyways, I think this movie is a solid 4 of 5 stars. It's a shame we didn't get to see Lazenby continue in this role going forward to see the potential of what he could have blossomed into as he made the character his own.
Mistake Status: Originally I was only planning on doing the Brosnan films for mistakes. But my recent watch of Live and Let die has me considering doing the whole Bond franchise at some point. So I may revisit this one for Mistakes. I had watched this film prior to my return to this site, so I didn't get any for it yet.
10/10. I found this to be one of the best Bond movies ever made.George Lazenby was my favorite of the Bonds.He oozed charm and charisma with ease just as much as Connery.If they'd had faith in him he could've done more.Still it's a fun romp with him, Diana Riggs, and Telly Salvalas.I found Salvalas almost as good as Donald Pleasence in the role of Ernest Stavro Blofeld. The plot of germ warfare is actually good and considering bio weapons of now, this now becomes more relevant.Diana playing the only woman who ever won Bond's heart is great as was she.She was one of the best Bond women, showing a mix of independence, charm, wit, and toughness. The movie never sags at any point, it's tight and crisp not wishing we the audience to be bored.This is how Hollywood should still be, caring about their audience regarding the product instead of rushing things.If a list of the 10 best James Bond movies were made I'd put it in this order: 1. Dr No, 2. Goldfinger, 3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service 4.License To Kill 5. From Russia With Love 6. Man With The Golden Gun 7. Live And Let Die 8. Goldeneye 9. You Only Live Twice 10. SkyFall.
Sir Hilary Bray: Our methods are very exacting. We never like to speak until we're absolutely certain that there can be no possibility of error on our side or... forgery on anyone else's.
James Bond: I hope I can live up to your high standards.
Trivia: All of the guards at the clinic on the mountain have the Olympic rings on their orange tracksuit tops.
Question: When Bond saves Tracey in the beginning and she drives off he comments "This never happened to the other fellow". I know this is a joking reference to Sean Connery, but what is Bond supposed to mean within the context of the film? Connery references aside, why would he be saying this?
Answer: It's an entirely intentional aside to the audience, the one occasion in the entire Bond series where the so-called 'fourth wall' (i.e. the cinema screen itself) is broken. As such, within the context of the film itself, it doesn't really have much of a meaning.
Tailkinker ★