From cinematography to star power, there’s a lot deeply lacking in this movie compared to what we’re become accustomed to during the Sean Connery era of James Bond. It contains action but it has a plain & dry feel. George Lazenby has a nonchalant careless demeanour like he’s just strolled into a teenager’s house party, quite different from the smooth but mostly serious approach of Connery.
Lazenby seriously lacks that “main man in the room” vibe. He tries to act the part, but strangely he’d never done any acting prior to this movie and his microgestures were screaming he’s a follower not a leader, at least while filming this movie. By contrast, he turned up to the movie premiere with bushy beard and long hair, against the wishes of the producers – he didn’t mind rejecting their request seeing as he’d already decided not to do another Bond movie. Apparently he was dissatisfied with how few gadgets his character had been given in this movie, and mainstream critics picked up on this too so he wasn’t simply being anti-establishmentary.
Honestly speaking, I’ve tried to watch this movie many times before but gave up every time due to lack of interest, and this time seems no different – it just lacks that spark and that polished feel that prior Bond movies are known for. It just seems a bit dull and random. A big messy drama show, void of oomph. But I’m giving it a slightly extended preview for the benefit of an accurate review on this site. It is watchable if desperately bored and lacking anything else to do or watch, but it’s not what I would describe as entertaining. I rate it Barely Watchable. I managed to watch the first 15 minutes before fast-forwarding to see if I’d missed anything particularly different, and there was nothing unexpected.
The last two thirds of the movie are set in some snowy mountains and filmed in the Swiss Alps. The main Bond girl is played by Diana Rigg (from The Avengers, the old TV series that ran from ’61-’69) – she plays James Bond’s his wife in this movie, although he still fools around with other women. The roles of M, Q & Moneypenny are all reprised by their usual actors. But all this still doesn’t make it a comfortably enjoyable movie in my opinion.