FOR YOUR EYES ONLY is near the bottom for me too. Drab and unspectacular, it’s the first Bond film that just isn’t special.
I can see the dissatisfaction with the villains. In general, Roger’s entries are remembered for their over-the-top, no-holds-barred approach, and that applies to the scenery-chewing, mustache-twirling villains as surely as the outlandish stunts and plots. FYEO not only has a more earth-bound plot, it also has villains who could fit as easily into a TV cop show as a Bond film. And while it’s cool to see Roger deal with “down and dirty” perils like the cliff climb and the keelhauling as opposed to, say, playing Luke Skywalker in a space shuttle, the trade-off is that the stakes in FYEO seem penny-ante for a guy who’s saved the world twice over, and fought baddies who make Hitler look unambitious.
I distinctly remember a friend of mine in high school, a casual Bond fan at best, coming out of FYEO disgusted with the low-key ending. After two films that ended in spectacular army-vs-army battle scenes, this one wrapped up with Bond throwing a typewriter (sic) onto a rock. I have to confess to being underwhelmed myself.
That said, I think FYEO had some of the best stunt work in the series, even it did end up constantly reminding us that Roger Moore was getting too old to believably have done any of it.
No, I’m sorry, I am going to have to step in and defend FYEO. It ticks a lot of boxes for me. I think the ski chase is an absolute cracker, and Conti’s accompanying sound track to it is fantastic.
Roger is also quite cold in this one- kicking Locque off the cliff is one of my all time favourite Bond moments. Columbo is charming as hell and that scene where Countess Lisl is mown down is savage.
Yes, the climax is very understated and non-spectacular but as a film, overall, it’s one of Rog’s best.
The Spy Who Loved Me
From Russia with Love
Casino Royale
The Living Daylights
Live and Let Die
You Only Live Twice
Skyfall
Goldfinger
For Your Eyes Only
Licence to Kill
Octopussy
Goldeneye
OHMSS
Tomorrow Never Dies
Spectre
Moonraker
Dr No
A View to a Kill
The Man with the Golden Gun
Thunderball
The World is not Enough
Quantum of Solace
Die Another Day
Diamonds are Forever
True, but the issue I think is not just the “stakes”, but the presentation. Compare what FOR YOUR EYES ONLY makes of the ATAC device with what FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE makes of the obstensibly similar Lektor decoder. The Lektor decoder is a prize, a challenge. It represents thrill, adventure, danger, sex. The ATAC device is some office equipment. That’s where FOR YOUR EYES ONLY falls down.
Stunts are good though, especially the rock climbing.
I love FYEO for what it is; an awesome change-of-pace for the Roger era. But I don’t know I’d love that era as much if all of them were in the FYEO mold.
Personally, it works better for me if I think of it not so much as a low-key Bond film, but rather as the Mother-of-All “Saint” episodes.
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My first Bond film was TSWLM, and quickly afterwards I saw MR - so I was groomed by two over the top Bond adventures. Therefore, when I saw FYEO, I was flabbergasted by its down-to-earthness.
But still, I was majorly entertained! I simply loved the film because of Sir Roger, the stunts, the colorful locations, the general feeling of realness to the proceedings.
Granted, during my last re-watch sessions two years ago FYEO fell many places in my ranking because I felt it was slow and the underwater scenes dragged. But this is, I believe, due to the fact that my viewing habits have changed. I am accustomed, as we all are, to much faster cutting and pacing, so everything that was special back then when FYEO was first released, now seems a bit lacking.
But the film definitely lingers in my memory for all its great qualities and scenes, and in the end it all comes down to Sir Roger´s splendid performance holding everything together.
In that regard FYEO can never fall down to the last place in my ranking.
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@freemo As you can see from my list, FRWL is one of my favourites so I can see what you’re saying in regard to the mcguffin in each film. I think the rock climbing scene is very tense and extremely well-paced.
@David_M I wouldn’t want a whole era of FYEO-esque films, but it’s a refreshing interlude in the Moore era of films, before the return to ridiculousness (albeit a lot of fun) in Octopussy.
@secretagentfan I don’t think the underwater scenes are too bad, since there is little of them. Nothing compared to, say, Thunderball’s, which ruin the film for me.
I don’t hate FYEO, but it’s also not what I look for in a Roger Moore Bond film.
My sentiments exactly.
I was thinking about this the other day. I read that Dalton turned down the role after Moonraker because hr didn’t like the direction of the series. Can you imagine how different the 80s Bond movies would’ve been with Dalton in them? FYEO would be a much better movie and AVTAK would be remembered more for Walken and Grace Jones that for a much-too-old Moore.
The list as of today…
- ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE
- FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
- CASINO ROYALE
- LICENCE TO KILL
- THUNDERBALL
- SKYFALL
- THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
- DR. NO
- LIVE AND LET DIE
- QUANTUM OF SOLACE
- THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS
- FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
- GOLDFINGER
- YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
- GOLDENEYE
- SPECTRE
- MOONRAKER
- OCTOPUSSY
- THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN
- DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
- THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
- TOMORROW NEVER DIES
- A VIEW TO A KILL
- DIE ANOTHER DAY
Another Brosnan fan here, but it’s a Dalton film that gets my top spot
- Licence To Kill
- Octopussy
- For Your Eyes Only
- GoldenEye
- The Living Daylights
- Tomorrow Never Dies
- Casino Royale
- The Spy Who Loved Me
- Goldfinger
- SPECTRE
- Diamonds Are Forever
- Live And Let Die
- Thunderball
- Die Another Day
- From Russia With Love
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
- Skyfall
- The World Is Not Enough
- You Only Live Twice
- Moonraker
- Quantum Of Solace
- A View To A Kill
- Never Say Never Again
- The Man With The Golden Gun
- Dr. No
Lower than every other Bond film!
This took me a shockingly long time to think as only number 1 was firm - and that’s because of its many links with my non-Bond interests.
- Casino Royale
- Licence to Kill
- Skyfall
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
- Goldfinger
- Goldeneye
- From Russia With Love
- Spectre
- Live and Let Die
- Quantum of Solace
- Dr No
- A View To A Kill
- The Spy Who Loved Me
- Thunderball
- The Man With The Golden Gun
- The World is Not Enough
- Diamonds Are Forever
- For Your Eyes Only
- The Living Daylights
- Tomorrow Never Dies
- Octopussy
- Die Another Day
- You Only Live Twice
I tried to do this list based purely on the strengths of each film rather than being negative with it so it’s weird that a Connery came last and I actually really enjoy YOLT, but I’m always put off by Connery’s Bond, Blofeld and Lewis Gilbert as director have much stronger examples in the series, but it’s a shame as YOLT has some fantastic pieces - one of Connerys best Bond girls in Aki and John Barry’s magnificent score leap to mind.
First off, I like and enjoy all the Bond films. And if we’re talking quality of the film, I will readily grant that Dr. No is better than a number of others–especially the three I have slated just above them. As a result, I did struggle with possibly slotting it two to three slots higher.
But ultimately I left it at number 25 (and I admit I feel a little guilty about that). However, I find that I tend to really like the originality and amazingness of the stunts in the Bond movies and my bottom four films fall short of the others in that regard. Dr. No has virtually no stunts–certainly no major stunts. It’s also a little less exotic than others. And while I can appreciate the film’s importance in Bond history, and am glad we have it, I just struggle to keep it from the bottom.
Okay, so you’re a stunt fan. That explains it. I couldn’t figure out how someone could have LTK in 1st place and OP right behind it, when they couldn’t be much different, tonally.
Another fan of Pierce Brosnan here, by the way.
I’ve tried to make that list, but it’s harder than one might think. It’s easier to rate a movie than compare it to other. So I checked ratings on my web page and it goes more or less like this (on a scale of one to five, alphabetic order):
Rated 5
Casino Royale (it’s my number one, alphabetically or not)
Dr. No
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
The Living Daylights
The World is Not Enough (that’s right!)
Rated 4,5
For Your Eyes Only
Rated 4
From Russia With Love
GoldenEye
Goldfinger
Licence to Kill
Live and Let Die
Octopussy
Quantum of Solace
SPECTRE
The Man With the Golden Gun (I admit the rating is probably a bit too high on this one)
The Spy Who Loved Me
Rated 3,5
A View To a Kill
Thunderball
Tomorrow Never Dies
Rated 2,5
Die Another Day
Rated 2
Diamonds are Forever
Moonraker
Skyfall (yes, I know something’s probably wrong with me, but it irks me terribly)
Rated 1,5
You Only Live Twice
Now let me explain myself. On my website each scale rating is explained. Five basicly means “movie of the decade”. There can be only one such movie. Unfortunately, no Roger Moore film and no film from the 70s was rated 5.
I like plots too but I find the amazing stuntwork in Bond films add a little extra to the proceedings. Licence To Kill and Octopussy may be tonally different, but I like the plots of both and they both feature my favorite villains in the series in Franz Sanchez (#1) and Kamal Khan (#2). They also have two of my top eight-ranked henchmen in Gobinda and Dario and LTK also has my favorite Bond girl in Pam Bouvier. One film is a solid, revenge thriller and the other is a fun, entertaining spectacle and I love them both. 
The 80s were the peak era for stunts. Your list ranks the quality and quantity of action set pieces pretty well.