Actor: Roger Moore
US Release Date: 26 June 1981
US gross, $ [adjusted]:52,340,842 [92,802,911]
Worldwide gross, $ [adjusted]: 195,300,000 [346,276,596]
World Premier - 24th June 1981, Odeon Leicester Square, London
Locations: London, Ionian Sea, Madrid, Corfu, Cortina dAmpezzo,
Italy, Albania, Meteora, Greece.
Source for above info: The " mother " of all James Bond books - James Bond: The Legacy.
Happenstance
In the teaser, we see Bond visiting the grave of his dear
departed wife. Later he is whisked off in a helicopter. But
the helicopter is controlled remotely by a bald guy stroking
his (oops…the) pussy. Seems familiar? Kevin McClory is
supposedly the copyright owner of SPECTRE and Blofeld, thus
EON has never used it since the early 70's. Hence Blofeld
made a cameo appearance in the teaser sequence of this film
although he was never really identified as being THE Blofeld.
After being tagged along for a while, Bond takes over controls
of the whirlybird, scooping up the wheelchair bound baldie
and tags him along from a bird's eye view of the land.
Blofeld: Mr. Bond. We can do a deal. I'll buy you a
delicatessen in stainless steel.
Bond: All right, keep your hair on.
Blofeld: Put me down. Put me down.
Bond: Oh, you want to get off?
And Bond drops Blofeld into a very large chimney. Disposing of
him early in the film was the way EON was saying Bond could
go on without SPECTRE. The titles are not worthwhile, except
for the appearance of Sheena Easton, the only singer of a Bond
theme ever to appear in the titles.
Coincidence
After a ship is sunk off the coast of Albania, the Cold War
enemies begin a feverish search for its lost cargo: the powerful
ATAC system, which will give the bearer control over Polaris
nuclear submarines. As Bond joins the search, he suspects
Kristatos (Julian Glover) of seizing the device. But not before
meeting Melina Havelock (Chanel model Carole Bouquet), a Greek
marine biologist whose parents are killed in Kristatos' search
for the powerful ATAC system. This movie boasts the collection of
arguably the best stunt sequences in a Bond film. Bond gets to
meet Melina after the car chase from the estate where she killed
Gonzales. Bond tries to convince her to leave her vendetta.
Bond: The Chinese have a saying: "before you set out on revenge,
you first dig two graves".
Melina: I don't expect you to understand, you're English, but I'm
half Greek. And Greek women, like Elektra, always avenge their
loved ones.
Later Bond is introduced to Kristatos who suggests that Columbo,
another Greek tycoon is the Russian agent. Kristatos introduces
Bond to the supposedly innocent Bibi (Lynn-Holly Johnson) who is
his ice skating protoge. With her tutor, Jacoba Brink, she is
training under Kristatos' sponsorship for the winter Olympics.
However, she tries to seduce 007 and for once Bond declines.
Bibi: Don't you like me?
Bond: Why, I think you're wonderful, but I don't think your uncle
would approve.
Bibi: Him? He thinks I'm still a virgin.
Bond: Yes, well, you get your clothes on and I'll buy you an ice
cream.
After a spectacularly choreographed ski and motorcycle sequence
in which Bond manages to dispose of the goons, Bond meets
Countess Lisl (Cassandra Harris) who is supposed to be getting
information out of Bond. Instead, Bond finds out a good deal
about Kristatos before Lisl is bumped off by one of his hitmen.
Incidentally, Cassandra Harris was the latest Bond, Pierce
Brosnan's late wife. Harris passed away in 1991 and Brosnan
supports an ovarian cancer foundation in her memory.
Enemy Action
Keeping up with the tradition of the Bond in the Fleming novels,
Moore shows the ruthless side of Bond when he mercilessly kicks
ace assassin Emile Locque's auto over a cliff. Next Bond teams up
with Columbo and along with Melina searches for the lost craft
underwater. On surfacing they are captured by Kristatos who
dangles them off his boat for a tour over razor-sharp coral
reefs. Bond succeeds in surviving from this ordeal and then leads
a final assault on to Kristatos's mountaintop fortress. After a
perilous climb, Bond succeeds in knocking off the goons and
Melina has her revenge when she saves Bond's life by killing
Kristatos. And finally the ATAC console falls down the cliff to
be shattered beyond repair. The world is safe again.
This taut Cold War thriller reinforced Roger Moore as James Bond
007 and he returned in
Octopussy
. But this time he was facing the biggest challenge of the
series, when the best Bond there is, was and will be, Sean
Connery decided to become Agent 007 in a non-EON production of
Kevin McClory's
Never say never again
.
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