Secret service agent James Bond is assigned to find a missing British vessel equipped with a weapons encryption device and prevent it from falling into enemy hands.Secret service agent James Bond is assigned to find a missing British vessel equipped with a weapons encryption device and prevent it from falling into enemy hands.Secret service agent James Bond is assigned to find a missing British vessel equipped with a weapons encryption device and prevent it from falling into enemy hands.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 2 wins & 9 nominations total
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn this movie's conclusion, Bond uses his shoelaces to create a Prusik knot, attaching himself to his climbing rope so he can ascend a mountain. This technique, which is indeed possible to do with shoelaces, was invented by Austrian mountaineer Karl Prusik, and is common amongst climbers. The Prusik knot celebrated its 50th anniversary the year this movie was released, having first appeared in an Austrian mountaineering manual for rope ascending in 1931.
- GoofsIn Bond's assault on St Cyril, it makes not the least bit of sense for the sentry not to choose any of the risk-free, sure-win options at his disposal, viz. sound the alarm, cut Bond's rope instead of ripping out one anchor after the other, and/or simply wait for Bond to complete his climb, then calmly empty his magazine into Bond's face when he comes over the edge.
- Quotes
James Bond: [entering Greek Confessional Booth] Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.
Q: [removing priest disguise, to Bond's surprise] That's putting it mildly, 007! Your signal nearly sent Whitehall into shock. Do you know, so far we have managed to locate 439 St. Cyril's in Greece. Heaven only knows to which one Kristatos took the ATAC.
James Bond: I know a well-informed person to contact about that, Q.
- Crazy creditsJames Bond will return in OCTOPUSSY
- Alternate versionsNew opening credit titles (the opening background graphics with Sheena Easton were unchanged) were created for the June 29, 2002 airing of For Your Eyes Only on ABC-TV's "Bond Picture Show". The original theatrical opening credits were in an Arial font, while the 2002 TV airing featured the new opening credit titles in Franklin Gothic. Some of the arrangement of the crew titles were altered for the new airing, where as in the theatrical version, was arranged with the crew member's position on the left, and the crew member's name on the right, while the 2002 version featured the crew member's name under their position title. Also, the original opening title which listed "ROGER MOORE as IAN FLEMING'S JAMES BOND-007" with the 007 looking like the standard 007 Gun logo, while the 2002 opening titles replace the 007 logo with just a plain "007".
Bond 12 and 007 is assigned to locate the whereabouts of the ATAC, a secret device that transmits orders to Polaris carrying submarines. He must do so quickly because the Soviets are also in pursuit, and they appear to be aided by a wealthy shipping magnate.
In spite of the gargantuan box office garnered by Moonraker, Albert Broccoli was hurt by criticism that it had strayed too far from the basic 007 formula. Making good on his word to get Bond back to reality, he mostly succeeded in making For Your Eyes Only a stripped back thriller. Gone is the over reliance on hi-tech wizardry, Moore (in his best performance as Bond) is back to being down to earth, being a Bond using his wits and toughness to get out of tricky situations, and the film goes for short sharp shock action scenes instead of giant battles enveloped by even bigger sets. There's much tension as well, none more so than with the finale, where again the big bang pyrotechnics have been replaced by a mountain peak accent and assault; where Bond uses a boot lace to save his skin! Now that's the Bond we love and admire. We even get the return of a bit of flirting between Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell) and Bond, while Q (Desmond Llewelyn) is on witty form.
Characters are strong, a major plus point in the film. Topol (charismatic and on scene stealing form) and Glover offer up fascinating characters, with Glover excellent as Kristatos, providing the franchise with a cultured and believable villain. Melina Havelock (Bouquet convincing) is tough and driven by revenge for her murdered parents, adept with a crossbow she makes a sturdy accomplice for Bond, and thankfully their union isn't bogged down mid mission by the "between the sheets" angle. Elsewhere, 007 editor John Glenn directs the first of his 5 Bond movies, impressive first outing with the underwater scenes particularly striking. Hume brings Corfu to life via his colour lenses and Conti oversees one of the series' best title theme songs, song with deep emotional beauty by Sheena Easton. His overall score is merely adequate, with decent nationalistic flavours, but the theme song is so strong it lingers to this day in the memory of all Bond fans.
It's not all great in this stripped back Bond world, though. The pre-credits sequence makes the terrible mistake of negating Bond's visit to the grave of his late wife, Tracy, by then having him jostle and jape with a bald villain in a wheelchair (is it meant to be Blofeld?): with unconvincing lines and delivery in the mix as well. Lynn-Holly Johnson's Bibi Dahl character is as pointless as it gets, out of place and superfluous to the plot. While some chase sequences, as fun and pulse raising as they are, are over extended and stretch the running time to longer than required. No mind, though, with Bond back to being a man again instead of a button pusher, and brilliant scenes like the keel-hauling peril, For Your Eyes Only was a major hit that raked in over $195 million at the World box office. James Bond's appeal, and that of the man playing him, was very much in vogue. 8/10
- hitchcockthelegend
- Jun 13, 2012
- Permalink
Everything New on Prime Video in October
Everything New on Prime Video in October
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- In tödlicher Mission
- Filming locations
- Agia Triada Monastery, Meteora, Greece(Kristatos' St. Cyrils hideout, Monastery of the Holy Trinity)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $28,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $54,812,802
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $6,834,967
- Jun 28, 1981
- Gross worldwide
- $54,837,696
- Runtime2 hours 7 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1