I've always felt that For Your Eyes Only was a bit underrated as far as Moore's Bond films went. It's a bit more serious and grounded than some of his other films and allows him to stretch a bit in his portrayal of the character. After the over the top extravagance of Moonraker, a back to basics approach was probably best.
After a British Spy boat is sunk in the Ionian Sea off the coast of Greece, James Bond (played by Roger Moore) is tasked with retrieving the Automatic Targeting Attack Communicator (ATAC), which is used to coordinate and communicate with the Royal Navy's submarine fleet, before the Soviets get their hands on it. Meanwhile, Marine Archaeologist Sir Timothy Havelock (played by John Hedley) has been secretly working on the recovery operation when he and his wife are murdered by Cuban hitman Hector Gonzales (played by Stefan Kalipha). While spying on Gonzales' villa, Bond is captured but before Gonzales can kill Bond, he is shot with an arrow. Bond manages to escape and runs right into the assassin, Havelock's daughter Melina (played by Caroline Bouquet), looking for revenge for the death of her parents. After escaping the clutches of Gonzales men, Bond warns her that seeking revenge may not be the best course of action for her and may only result in her death as well.
The two then part ways as Bond heads to Cortina, located in the Italian Alps after identifying one of the assassins at Gonzales' villa, Emile Lacoque (played by Michael Gothard) and discovering his base is there. Upon arrival, Bond is informed by local businessman and intelligence informant Aris Kristatos (played by Julian Glover) that Lacoque is employed by Milos Columbo (played by Topol). However, after encountering Columbo, he learns the truth that it is in fact Kristatos that Lacoque works for and that Kristatos intends to retrieve the ATAC himself to sell to the Soviets. Columbo and Bond, along with Melina, then team up to recover the ATAC first and stop Kristatos and his goons.
While this entry in the series isn't exactly groundbreaking, it does have a lot to like about it and I did appreciate the more grounded and grittier story after the supremely silly Moonraker. Moore manages to find some new depths in his portrayal as Bond with some memorable moments such as the fantastically cold moment he kicks a car holding an assassin that killed his friend off the side of the cliff it was teetering on. The film also has it's share of memorable action sequences including a ski chase that segues to a ski jump before winding up on a bobsled track as well an intense scene where Bond has to climb a cliff side to reach the mountaintop rendezvous between Kristatos and his Soviet contacts. I also appreciated the unique partnership between Milos Columbo and James Bond.
There are a couple elements that keep it from being great though. The character of Bibi Dahl (played by Lynn Holly Johnson), a figure skating prodigy receiving financial support from Kristatos is perpetually annoying with constant, headache inducing whining. She could have been cut from the film and I doubt anyone would have noticed. Thankfully she has a small part. Odder still is at the end of the film, Bond receives a call of thanks from none other than Margaret Thatcher herself (played by Janet Brown). It's such a ridiculous and out of nowhere moment, made all the more so when Bond leaves the phone for a parrot to talk to her.
I suppose I should also address the opening sequence as well. It's the first film in the series to directly address the death of Bond's wife, Tracy, and Blofeld's role in it (although it is briefly referenced in The Spy Who Loved Me as well, but Bond quickly changes the subject). Here we see Bond visit her grave and then gets picked up in a helicopter. It turns out to be a trap set by Blofeld, who is controlling the helicopter by remote, to take out Bond once and for all. Bond is able to regain control of the helicopter, scoops up Blofeld, wheelchair and all, and drops him down a factory chimney. While on a certain level it is nice to see Blofeld get some sort of comeuppance finally for being responsible for the death of Tracy at the end of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, he deserved a far more memorable end then getting dumped down a chimney. The whole scene is much more about series producer Albert R Broccoli giving one time fellow producer Kevin McClory, who claimed he held sole rights to the Blofeld character, the proverbial middle finger. The man in the wheelchair is never identified in the film as Blofeld, but it's really obvious that is who it is meant to be. The rights issue prevented Broccoli from using the Blofeld character again, at least until it was determined that this was not the case. Even then, Broccoli and company decided to let Blofeld and the rest of SPECTRE remain retired.
Overall, For Your Eyes Only, is a decent and for the most part strong Bond film. It wouldn't be in my top five, but it's somewhere in the top 10 for sure. It's a nice return to form for the series that had been growing more and more outlandish and is all the better for it.
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