- While it would never be mistaken for a great movie -- even by James Bond standards -- For Your Eyes Only is perfectly acceptable when viewed as an apology for Moonraker. Even the Bond series was not immune to the late 70's allure of Star Wars, but this film tries to make a fresh start of the 80's by tossing out the cheesy visual effects and creating compelling action sequences across a wide array of stunning real-world locations. It also doesn't hurt that For Your Eyes Only features better acting, writing, and direction than Moonraker. Sure, the set designs aren't quite as good, but who's complaining?
- The global threat this time around is a missing submarine communications device that could be used to launch missiles at friendly targets. Bond (Roger Moore) initiates his investigation in Spain by visiting an assassin named Gonzales (Stefan Kalipha) but quickly finds himself rescued by a crossbow-wielding woman named Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet). Havelock's parents were killed by Gonzales, whom she and Bond independently connect to a silent mob enforcer named Locque (Michael Gothard). Bond then tracks Locque to Cortina and dines with a contact named Aristotle Kristatos (Julian Glover), who in turn puts him on the trail of a known smuggler named Columbo (Topol). If you're having trouble keeping all of these characters straight, don't worry -- even Bond doesn't quite know who to trust.
- In trying to name characters, I've skipped over the best parts of the film, which involve some truly impressive skiing, diving, and mountain climbing sequences. We've seen plenty of the first two activities in other Bond films, but the mountain climbing in For Your Eyes Only is really something to behold when some poor stuntman dangles like a yo-yo off a striking Greek plateau called Meteora. The rest of the film is the usual mixed bag of superfluous women, some annoying (Lynn-Holly Johnson) and some not (Cassandra Harris), a seemingly endless supply of goons (John Wyman, Jack Klaff, Charles Dance), a scheming KGB man (Walter Gotell), a truly stupid Blofeld cameo, and the occasional dry quip. In other words, a return to form for the Moore-era Bond, which is something that anybody who has seen Moonraker should appreciate.
- Although Lois Maxwell and Desmond Llewelyn reprise their usual roles, Bernard Lee died before this film was made.
- Apparently they could not name Blofeld because of rights issues, which is presumably why he ended up in the smokestack.
