Decent Bond, awesome Blu
Added 8/9/2009
For Your Eyes Only is widely considered Roger Moore's best portrayal of James Bond. I've always enjoyed Live and Let Die more, but to each his own; I'm certainly not going to argue that For Your Eyes Only is one of the better Bond flicks.
Until Daniel Craig's Casino Royale debut, For Your Eyes Only was also considered the toughest, grittiest portrayal of the suave spy on the silver screen. Once again, I'm not going to put up much of an argument.
The movie plays out like a Bond Paint by Numbers picture. In a series built around self imposing clichés and ideals, that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it's a good thing. Where other Bond films have tried to do something different and failed (like Die Another Day's attempt to take Bond into the sci-fi realm...) FYEO sticks to the nitty gritty, and it works good enough to present a solid, fun romp through Greece, England, the Bahamas, and Italy.
The plot (like all Bond plots) is nothing really noteworthy: a British spy ship sinks, Bond is sent to retrieve a communications device which was onboard, and obviously the Soviets are on the scene competing with James to retrieve it. Like I said, Paint by Numbers. What makes FYEO stand out among the other Bond films is the way Moore showcases his true acting muscles in it. Until this point, Moore had been playing a character playing Bond; this was the only film in all of Moore's run which felt as if he was playing the character as he imagined it, not as people imagined it should be.
It's a very no-nonsense performance which remained untouched by Bond actors for over 20 years, but I can't help but feel that Daniel Craig's spectacular job in Casino Royale diminished the impact of Roger's gritty Bond for me, and therefore leaves this picture in a strange gray space between two giants. On one side you have Connery who will never, ever be out-suaved in movies; on the other, you have Craig who plays Bond just a little realer than Moore did.
Don't get me wrong, Moore does a fantastic job and it's a must-watch for any fan. I just don't see it as his best movie, and certainly not the best in the series' run. The gadgets seem even more outdated than normal due to the realism, the score is just awful by today's standards, and the rest-like I said, Paint by Numbers. As a Bond film, it does what it needs to do and fans will be satisfied and grinning from ear to ear. Compared to some of the better products, though, it definitely feels more dated.
On the bright side, this is one of the better video transfers in the six Blu-Ray set when it comes to clarity. (Purists may be dismayed to know that digital noise reduction was utilized to a [apparent] larger degree than the other releases.) The result is a film with no grain or noise, which is amazing given the fact it's older than most of our readers. Sadly, the colors didn't hold up as well. It's new enough that I expected a better palette, but it's old enough that I'm not too shocked it didn't deliver in terms of vivid colors. The movie itself is drab compared to other Bond films, so it's not a huge loss. More like an unfortunately side effect-better clarity makes the visual flaws from the source and filming method that much more noticeable.
Much like Dr. No, the audio here hits on all cylinders. I'm amazed at how well the team transferred the source to 5.1 without any obvious tampering, and without the stop-go type channel shifts present in other older releases remastered for Blu-Ray. Effects bump, subtle sounds stay subtle, and you can hear a pin drop. If there's one fault with the audio it's that the effects and music are TOO good, meaning there are times when you can barely hear the talking over the action. An unfortunate outcome, but one that's easily negated by some careful remote management.
Sadly, once again the extras here are mostly nothing we haven't seen before. While there are multiple new additions which are must-see for diehard Bond fans (two deleted scenes introduced by John Glen, as well as alternate angles on a different scene) all the other new Blu-Ray specific features are new menus, or better definition on still image galleries. The extras themselves are worth a watch, but if you've purchased this during any of the previous DVD releases, the supplemental Blu-Ray features just fail to capitalize on such a momentous release.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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ForYour Eyes Only
Added 8/8/2009
I,ve been a james Bond fan for years, I collected all the bond movies in vhs, now I have them in dvd, for your eyes only, was an injoyment to view, far away countries action great stunts, and roger moore, the englishman has a great sence of humor. this movie is one of the best.for anyone wishing to start a james bond collection, you should start one. you will not regrect it.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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For Your Eyes Only Blu-Ray..will not load..
Added 5/4/2009
I have ordered this disc twice from Amazon and both discs I have received will not load past the FBI warning. I guess I will keep ordering a replacement until I get one that will play.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Great Product
Added 4/19/2009
The quality of the video, picture is very very good. Only downside is the audio, it sounded washed out or muted throughout most of the movie. I had to play with my home theater receiver to find a suitable sound. I get better audio from local TV news than this movie. This might keep me from purchasing other other Bond movies.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Non US buyers : Extreme caution
Added 4/7/2009
Dear all non US buyers,
Please note that the James Bond movies BluRay are distributed or co-distributed by FOX (which is not very well known). This means that you cannot play them on an European player. They are coded for region A only. There are two companies that have decided (so far?) to region code their BRD : Fox and Disney
I have been trapped by For your eyes only and Quantum of Solace.
So if you have a region B player, do not buy BRD from Fox and Disney
Best
Bruno
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Decent Bond, awesome Blu
Added 8/9/2009
For Your Eyes Only is widely considered Roger Moore's best portrayal of James Bond. I've always enjoyed Live and Let Die more, but to each his own; I'm certainly not going to argue that For Your Eyes Only is one of the better Bond flicks.
Until Daniel Craig's Casino Royale debut, For Your Eyes Only was also considered the toughest, grittiest portrayal of the suave spy on the silver screen. Once again, I'm not going to put up much of an argument.
The movie plays out like a Bond Paint by Numbers picture. In a series built around self imposing clichés and ideals, that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it's a good thing. Where other Bond films have tried to do something different and failed (like Die Another Day's attempt to take Bond into the sci-fi realm...) FYEO sticks to the nitty gritty, and it works good enough to present a solid, fun romp through Greece, England, the Bahamas, and Italy.
The plot (like all Bond plots) is nothing really noteworthy: a British spy ship sinks, Bond is sent to retrieve a communications device which was onboard, and obviously the Soviets are on the scene competing with James to retrieve it. Like I said, Paint by Numbers. What makes FYEO stand out among the other Bond films is the way Moore showcases his true acting muscles in it. Until this point, Moore had been playing a character playing Bond; this was the only film in all of Moore's run which felt as if he was playing the character as he imagined it, not as people imagined it should be.
It's a very no-nonsense performance which remained untouched by Bond actors for over 20 years, but I can't help but feel that Daniel Craig's spectacular job in Casino Royale diminished the impact of Roger's gritty Bond for me, and therefore leaves this picture in a strange gray space between two giants. On one side you have Connery who will never, ever be out-suaved in movies; on the other, you have Craig who plays Bond just a little realer than Moore did.
Don't get me wrong, Moore does a fantastic job and it's a must-watch for any fan. I just don't see it as his best movie, and certainly not the best in the series' run. The gadgets seem even more outdated than normal due to the realism, the score is just awful by today's standards, and the rest-like I said, Paint by Numbers. As a Bond film, it does what it needs to do and fans will be satisfied and grinning from ear to ear. Compared to some of the better products, though, it definitely feels more dated.
On the bright side, this is one of the better video transfers in the six Blu-Ray set when it comes to clarity. (Purists may be dismayed to know that digital noise reduction was utilized to a [apparent] larger degree than the other releases.) The result is a film with no grain or noise, which is amazing given the fact it's older than most of our readers. Sadly, the colors didn't hold up as well. It's new enough that I expected a better palette, but it's old enough that I'm not too shocked it didn't deliver in terms of vivid colors. The movie itself is drab compared to other Bond films, so it's not a huge loss. More like an unfortunately side effect-better clarity makes the visual flaws from the source and filming method that much more noticeable.
Much like Dr. No, the audio here hits on all cylinders. I'm amazed at how well the team transferred the source to 5.1 without any obvious tampering, and without the stop-go type channel shifts present in other older releases remastered for Blu-Ray. Effects bump, subtle sounds stay subtle, and you can hear a pin drop. If there's one fault with the audio it's that the effects and music are TOO good, meaning there are times when you can barely hear the talking over the action. An unfortunate outcome, but one that's easily negated by some careful remote management.
Sadly, once again the extras here are mostly nothing we haven't seen before. While there are multiple new additions which are must-see for diehard Bond fans (two deleted scenes introduced by John Glen, as well as alternate angles on a different scene) all the other new Blu-Ray specific features are new menus, or better definition on still image galleries. The extras themselves are worth a watch, but if you've purchased this during any of the previous DVD releases, the supplemental Blu-Ray features just fail to capitalize on such a momentous release.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
ForYour Eyes Only
Added 8/8/2009
I,ve been a james Bond fan for years, I collected all the bond movies in vhs, now I have them in dvd, for your eyes only, was an injoyment to view, far away countries action great stunts, and roger moore, the englishman has a great sence of humor. this movie is one of the best.for anyone wishing to start a james bond collection, you should start one. you will not regrect it.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
For Your Eyes Only Blu-Ray..will not load..
Added 5/4/2009
I have ordered this disc twice from Amazon and both discs I have received will not load past the FBI warning. I guess I will keep ordering a replacement until I get one that will play.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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