Hacker Cinema
For Your Eyes Only
1981 · Film · 128 min
Part of James Bond Collection
Directed by John Glen
A British spy ship has sunk and on board was a hi-tech encryption device. James Bond is sent to find the device that holds British launching instructions before the enemy Soviets get to it first.
3 positive1 negative6 neutralfrom 10 commenters
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11 comments on Hacker News
Underwater scenes on "For your eyes only" (1981) were all filmed on land because Carole Bouquet couldn't go underwater. When you know it you can see it, but when I saw the film (one of the first time I ever went to the movies) I didn't notice it at all.
>I can't even think of a major movie since 2010 that had a villain who was socialist besides The Interview, Team America, and Red Dawn 2012 but those aren't even fake examples.
>A wealthy capitalist in a suit is pretty much today's standard cliche villain trope.
This was true during the Cold War, too. In the Bond films, Soviet Russia is the enemy in exactly one film, For Your Eyes Only. Red China is the implied power behind the throne in two, Thunderball and You Only Live Twice. In every other entry in the series, the villains are SPECTRE and a variety of madmen, predominantly the billionaire type.
Another example is the frequently made claim that "Muslims are always the villains in Hollywood". It is far, far, far easier to name films in which "Islamophobia" is the greater evil than the opposite, both before and after the September 11 attacks on the US. The Sum of All Fears is one example in which the book's Islamic villains are explicitly replaced (by "neo-Nazis") for the film.
I haven't read James Fleming's book but would like to. I'm glad that the review does not explicitly claim that James Bond fights the Communists, something so often asserted by people who don't know what they're talking about. Ian Fleming created SPECTRE because he thought that the Cold War might end soon, and so wanted a nonpolitical opponent for Bond.
In the films, the USSR is Bond's opponent only in For Your Eyes Only. Red China is the silent backer in Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice, but Auric Goldfinger and SPECTRE are the real enemies, and Thunderball establishes that SPECTRE is willing to work for anyone (including Western powers). Max Zorin in A View to a Kill, General Orlov in Octopussy, and Gustav Graves in Die Another Day are explicitly rogue agents.
The idea that he’s incredibly incompetent is revisionist. These movies aren’t deconstruction, and shouldn’t be. The fun is when he’s able to get out of tough situations in the spur of the moment (my favorites, like Goldfinger and For Your Eyes Only show him in credible danger several times). Interestingly, this is something the Mission Impossible series did perfectly in their last movie, better than almost all Bond movies.
With that said, I really don’t think anybody is actually threatened by Bond being a white man. Like, people have lives to live.
Featured in a James Bond stunt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FDX6_BSas8
(The clip is from "For Your Eyes Only" but has music from some other bond film dubbed over it)
"For Your Eyes Only" will always stand out to me as the highest quality Bond movie he did. They were trying to take the franchise back from being too many gadgets -- I think it worked well. Love the ski chase scene.
That said, I still think "A View to a Kill" is the most enjoyable campy Bond movie.
My dad took me to see most of the Bond movies in the late 70s/early 80s (The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only) and these were some of the fondest memories I have of growing up and spending time with him.
There was just something about Roger Moore as Bond. He managed to hit the perfect blend of suave and exciting, with just the right amount of irreverence and camp.
Very interesting historical example! (I did not know this about the film industry.)
But when I think of the 80's, I think of awesome concepts for films. When I think of the early 2000's I remember...nothing outstanding?
Compare for yourself:
http://www.imdb.com/search/title/?release_date=1980,1989&title_type=feature
(Many of which I had in mind as I wrote the first paragraph.)
And:
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls057556971/
I've seen many of those films: I couldn't remember a single one. Also throwaway films like Bond films are in the list.
There were between 5 and 9 Bond films in the 80s depending on how you count (for example License to Kill, For your eyes only, The living daylights, Octopussy, A view to Kill, Never say never again, The Naked Face, Bonds are Forever) not one of which made it to the first cited list above, edged out by better and more memorable stories and films.
Who is going to remember "Up in the air" in ten years?
The fact is, although there are twice as many (my first link shows 50, my second list 100), there is hardly a concept among them.
So the interesting fact you've stated about the eighties can be seen very, very clearly. The concepts from the 2000s...simply suck. Your additional information about the market history of concepts is most interesting.
--
EDIT: in response to ajmurmann's reply below:
So I consider those worse concepts than the concepts embodied in the first list, movies from the 80s. Really look at the two lists (really) and see the strength of the concept behind them. They're worlds apart (to me.)
I realize this will be a subjective judgment. Look at the overall impression, not just one or two films.
I'm more interested in what those 20 movies are. I found:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=1981
1 Raiders of the Lost Ark 2 On Golden Pond 3 Superman II 4 Arthur 5 Stripes 6 The Cannonball Run 7 Chariots of Fire 8 For Your Eyes Only 9 The Four Seasons 10 Time Bandits
Of which I guess 2, 3, 8 isn't original.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2:w014
1 American Sniper 2 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 3 Guardians of the Galaxy 4 Captain America: The Winter Soldier 5 The LEGO Movie 6 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies 7 Transformers: Age of Extinction 8 Maleficent 9 X-Men: Days of Future Past 10 Big Hero 6
Of which only 10 is original.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Your_Eyes_Only_(film)
Bear in mind that you have to have a "need to know" in addition to your clearance. We can speculate that there are also levels beyond top secret. In particular, eyes-only for the most sensitive stuff [1], and (what I have seen called but can't find a reference for) code-word secrecy for particular projects/operations.
[1] Which is where the Bond film For Your Eyes Only gets its title.