Amazon.com reviews for
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) More at IMDbPro »

The James Bond Collection, Volume 2 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: The second grab bag of 007 adventures features three Bonds in five films, including the legendary movie that started it all. In 1962 Sean Connery defined the cinematic James Bond as a tough, charming, and thoroughly professional cold war spy with a license to kill in the lean, hard-edged Dr. No. With Ursula Andress (as the original Bond girl Honey Ryder, who makes her entrance in a bikini), Bond battles a renegade supervillain with little more than his wits, his cunning, and his Walther PPK (this was before Q armed him with the coolest toys a superspy ever had). George Lazenby, a handsome Australian model with a self-effacing confidence, made his first and only appearance as James Bond in the underrated On Her Majesty's Secret Service, a witty and action-packed adventure that makes 007 history when Bond marries the girl (the lovely and talented Diana Rigg, fresh from her duties as the butt-kicking spy on the TV series The Avengers). Roger Moore brought a light tone and a suave assurance to the series as the third Bond, and the set features three of his seven appearances. In The Man with the Golden Gun, he battles million-dollar assassin Christopher Lee, one of Bond's most magnetic adversaries. The Spy Who Loved Me, perhaps Moore's finest hour, is a return to the extravagant set pieces and cold war thrills of Connery's pictures and introduces Richard Kiel's steel-dentured Jaws to the series. Jaws returns as a comic figure in Moonraker, a misguided sci-fi entry that takes Bond to space for a physically impressive but dramatically lackluster adventure. More of a mixed bag than the initial seven-film James Bond Gift Set, this set is aimed at the Bond completist rather than the general fan. The DVD editions of the films each feature audio commentary by the director and key members of the crew, "making of" documentaries, and a host of stills, TV spots, and trailers. --Sean Axmaker

Bond: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Australian model George Lazenby took up the mantle of the world's most suave secret agent when Sean Connery retired as James Bond--prematurely, it turned out. Connery returned in Diamonds Are Forever before leaving the role to Roger Moore and Lazenby's subsequent career fizzled, yet this one-hit wonder is responsible for one of the best Bond films of all time.

In On Her Majesty's Secret Service, 007 leaves the Service to privately pursue his SPECTRE nemesis Blofeld (played this time by Telly Savalas), whose latest master plan involves a threat to the world's crops by agricultural sterilization. Bond teams up with suave international crime lord Draco (Gabriele Ferzetti) and falls in love with--and marries--his elegant daughter, Tracy (Diana Rigg). Bond goes monogamous? Not at first; after all he has Blofeld's harem to seduce. Lazenby hasn't the intensity of Connery but he has fun with his quips and even lampoons the Bond image in a playful pre-credits sequence, and Rigg, fresh from playing sexy Emma Peel in The Avengers, matches 007 in every way. Former editor Peter Hunt makes a strong directorial debut, deftly handling the elaborate action sequences--including a car chase turned road rally through the icy snow--with a kinetic finesse and a dash of humor. Though not a hit on its original release, On Her Majesty's Secret Service has become a fan favorite and the closest the series has come to capturing the spirit of Ian Fleming's books. --Sean Axmaker