I have been a Roger Moore and Sean Connery fan ever since I was a child. I enjoyed both artists perform the roles of James Bond. I never get tired of seeing their performances in repeats of their movies. However, when I purchased my first James Bond movie it had to be OHMSS.
What makes this movie stand out? If a picture says a thousand words, a movie can definitely speak forever. It is one of those movies that does not go overboard to the same extent of those marvel comics portraying super heroes. Those that have read most of Ian Flemmings novels, will understand what I mean.
OHMSS has a blend of everything and it also brings out the human side of James Bond, where I believe George Lazenby did this well. Here James Bond relies very little on his accessories and more on his intelligent skills as a secret agent, as opposed to how most of the gadgetry spies are later portrayed in modern cinema. When he is discovered to be James Bond by Blofeld, all he has is his beautiful silver dialed Rolex Chronograph and his trouser pockets to his rescue with no fancy instruments to rescue him. If one wants to see Mr. Gadget with all his fancy gadgetry, then it would do more justice to watch animation.
The scenes in Switzerland with the Christmas song during the ice skating ring is an absolute must in this movie and is a platform to the car chase which leads Bond and Tracy to the barn where they hide and chat about a holiday in Via Veneto Rome. The skiing scenes are also well blended in the movie and adds more reality to it. Notice there are no cellular phones back in 1969 and Bond is on the desperate run to make it to a public phone box to phone London. These scenes are well played even by today's standards.
The blend of cast such as Dianna Rigg and Gabriele Ferzette add icing to the cake. Gabriele Ferzette plays the part of a Mediterranean very well just like he did in the 1950 Italian movie "Lo Zappatore". In OHMSS Dianna Rigg has that lovely Mediterranean appearance with a strong but gentle English accent, giving a misleading innocent look, but at the same time a shrewd impression. She must have been a disturbed child having missed her mother and still has rebellion of a teenager where Bond slowly works on trying to show her empathy and understanding. He has to work hard on winning her trust and achieves it genuinely well in a gentleman fashion, which by today's standards would be impossible (especially when being refused the first time, any later request is then regarded as harassment). Dianna Rigg plays the total opposite to the glamour girls in other Bond films, where they use their looks in manipulating Bond's emotions only to get information from him.
The scene while cracking the safe code in the Lawyer's office is well performed where he takes off his Rolex Submariner to place it on the photocopier while pretending to enjoy the Playboy magazine which he later uses as a distraction while walking towards the lifts.
The part that shows Bond to be again human is when he is holding his dead bride in the car where he quietly tells the policeman that it is alright.
The music of Louis Armstrong is well selected as we have all the time in the world. Every viewer will react differently in his or her own way to this movie, but I always see something different whenever I watch it. It is underrated just as "for your eyes only" and "From Russia with love".
What makes this movie stand out? If a picture says a thousand words, a movie can definitely speak forever. It is one of those movies that does not go overboard to the same extent of those marvel comics portraying super heroes. Those that have read most of Ian Flemmings novels, will understand what I mean.
OHMSS has a blend of everything and it also brings out the human side of James Bond, where I believe George Lazenby did this well. Here James Bond relies very little on his accessories and more on his intelligent skills as a secret agent, as opposed to how most of the gadgetry spies are later portrayed in modern cinema. When he is discovered to be James Bond by Blofeld, all he has is his beautiful silver dialed Rolex Chronograph and his trouser pockets to his rescue with no fancy instruments to rescue him. If one wants to see Mr. Gadget with all his fancy gadgetry, then it would do more justice to watch animation.
The scenes in Switzerland with the Christmas song during the ice skating ring is an absolute must in this movie and is a platform to the car chase which leads Bond and Tracy to the barn where they hide and chat about a holiday in Via Veneto Rome. The skiing scenes are also well blended in the movie and adds more reality to it. Notice there are no cellular phones back in 1969 and Bond is on the desperate run to make it to a public phone box to phone London. These scenes are well played even by today's standards.
The blend of cast such as Dianna Rigg and Gabriele Ferzette add icing to the cake. Gabriele Ferzette plays the part of a Mediterranean very well just like he did in the 1950 Italian movie "Lo Zappatore". In OHMSS Dianna Rigg has that lovely Mediterranean appearance with a strong but gentle English accent, giving a misleading innocent look, but at the same time a shrewd impression. She must have been a disturbed child having missed her mother and still has rebellion of a teenager where Bond slowly works on trying to show her empathy and understanding. He has to work hard on winning her trust and achieves it genuinely well in a gentleman fashion, which by today's standards would be impossible (especially when being refused the first time, any later request is then regarded as harassment). Dianna Rigg plays the total opposite to the glamour girls in other Bond films, where they use their looks in manipulating Bond's emotions only to get information from him.
The scene while cracking the safe code in the Lawyer's office is well performed where he takes off his Rolex Submariner to place it on the photocopier while pretending to enjoy the Playboy magazine which he later uses as a distraction while walking towards the lifts.
The part that shows Bond to be again human is when he is holding his dead bride in the car where he quietly tells the policeman that it is alright.
The music of Louis Armstrong is well selected as we have all the time in the world. Every viewer will react differently in his or her own way to this movie, but I always see something different whenever I watch it. It is underrated just as "for your eyes only" and "From Russia with love".