For Your Eyes Only (1981)

I want to say again how old Roger Moore looks in these Bond films. He wasn't much older than 50 when he made For Your Eyes Only, but they've paired him with women much younger than he, and he just can't match them, despite his (apparent) skiing abilities, much on display in this movie. Surprisingly, this film – like Thunderball from 1965, which I recently watched – has numerous underwater sequences. The ones in John Glen's film work much better, and For Your Eyes Only is an overall much tighter film than Thunderball. 

The real winner of this movie, though, is Topol, who, ten years after playing Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, is a fox in this movie.

Oh! There's also an extraordinary mockery of Margaret Thatcher at the film's end that is simultaneously misogynist and delightful. No woman can stay away from Bond, even Mrs Thatcher!

Thunderball

I suppose it's silly to call a James Bond film bloated. The stock-in-trade of a Bond film is its numerous exotic locations and its series of setpieces. But Thunderball feels bloated, and it has a large problem. Much of it takes place underwater, where everything moves more slowly, more quietly, and with less clarity. This is interesting for the first three or four long sequences where this happens – mostly because of the novelty of the underwater activity – but having an underwater battle at the end of the film makes the climax feel a bit off, timing wise. 

Also this is a very violent Bond film. I was actually quite surprised. Many many people die and there is even quite a bit of blood. But harpoon guns just, like, keep going into people's chests and arms. I cannot believe this was rated PG. Connery is great, and is looking great, but Thunderball also has quite a few more little dumb one-liners than it needs, too.

All of the James Bond films are free on Amazon Prime right now, and Connery had just passed, so I decided to watch this one – there are only a couple I haven't seen.