On O List of Movie Reviews
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On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
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On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the sixth James Bond picture, but this time, it stars George Lazenby.
Wait, wait...who? No wonder why when I see the movie poster, his face is all covered up. I mean, look at that. Is
this evidence enough? Without question, this is the worst James Bond movie ever made. George Lazenby doesn't wow me; he's more
suitable for daytime TV soap opera shows. Instead of him, John Saxon is a better substitute.
The editing is so awful that it has left me disinterested, bored out of my mind, and dead. It also runs for 140
minutes which is too long, forcing me to take a lot of breaks. The ridiculous plot has me disbelieving much of it: an army
of hypnotized girls stage a bacterial outbreak that'll end the world if the ransom isn't paid in time. The same concept was
done so much better in 12 Monkeys.
Thinking of the whole James Bond thing, one commenter hit the nail on the head: "I should admit my prejudice right
away—I really don't like James Bond, as a character or a franchise. I think his movies are generally too long, not
violent enough, not sexy enough, and curiously lacking in tension. And, most of the time, he hardly seems like a spy at all;
he just waltzes into casinos, picks up chicks, and gets captured by villains who explain their diabolical schemes to him. It's
all rather silly."
All in all, I don't consider On Her Majesty's Secret Service to be a true James Bond picture but a strange detour for the
franchise.