Computer Age

On Her Majesty's secret service (1969)
Director: Peter Hunt
Cast: George Lazenby, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, Gabriele Ferzetti, Ilse Steppat, Angela Scoular, Lois Maxwell

I admit that I like James Bond movies. The nearly 50 years that the agent 007 carries pululando through the screens have been for a long, mostly throwing a bad and sometimes, just sometimes, reasonably good. But there is no denying that the "Bond films" have almost always a good entertainment, just as no one can deny his enormous influence in film history, particularly during the 60s.

In that decade the undisputable series spent his golden age. The popularity of the character created by Ian Fleming was immense, and the success of his film was so strong that generated an entire industry around it, as well as a legion of imitations. Since Modesty Blaise James Foolish, passing through Flint or television super 86, everyone wanted to take advantage of the phenomenon of fashion. So it is not difficult to imagine the face that they were the producers of the series when Sean Connery was tired of a character who owed him everything, but at that time had become a heavy burden for him. Connery said enough, and those responsible for the "Bond films, which were unwilling to give up so fat business, they came seeking a replacement capable of giving new life to 007.

At this point, I can feel that an enormous respect for George Lazenby, an Australian model without any experience as an actor, who had the courage to confront a challenge that almost everyone would have declined even in exchange for all the gold in the world. Since then he was no fool: he knew that he was playing around in a envite in which the chances of success were virtually nil. But it was a great opportunity, so I managed to convince producers and prepared the best we could to the paper.

The time has come to turn the 007 secret service of Her Majesty in a tape of worship. A "rare" that was brought forward by two decades of the Bond films "humanized" which starred Timothy Dalton, and that with regard to the image of the "Bond girl" is at the height of the latest deliveries where women Far from being a vase that accompanies the hero, is active (and how) in history, which has a notable influence on the action and sheer hard. From this point of view the script and how to shape the characters in it are very rare, especially when compared with what would come later, and only for this film and quite entertaining. But there are more details for which are worth remembering, as the beautiful Aston Martin DBS leads Bond, the eternal credit of the large initial Maurice Binder (acts as a tribute to the earlier films) and the splendid music by John Barry that accompanies it, without forgetting the song "We have all the time in the world," that with the unmistakable voice of a totem like Louis Armstrong is one of the most beautiful ballads of the whole saga. As fatter defect should underline the presence of John Glen in the "staff" technically, a real cancer that figure this time under the command of the second unit and is responsible for editing the footage. His "trickery" are felt in the action scenes, Choreographed penalty (in this part of the blame has himself Lazenby, who was too much note his lack of experience) shot poorly and worse mounted. The profusion in the use of camera tricks such as rapid and overlapping funds (also badly used, in addition to) do that at times the film is equal to the height of a comic movie of the 20s. Disastrous is not enough, but fortunately you can save something from burning: the scene of the avalanche of snow or the redemption of Tracy does fall short of what would be expected.

What is certain is that the beauty of George Lazenby can not be reproached for anything. If we take into account that I had no idea of a bitch act when got the role, his work in the film could be described as less than worthy, and sometimes succeeds in reminding the more socarrón Connery, as when he says that "it would not have Bond moved to another "in the pre-credits sequence. In fact it was not a bad performance which prevented him from repeating the character, if not its cabezonería to negotiate the contract and a divismo uploaded, which caused producers finalize sending to the shit, which led to passage of pique his fledgling career. Of course it was not Connery (and bear in mind, moreover, that at that moment the shadow of the Scots was more stretched than ever). It was not even a great actor, but it is clear that some of the "black legends" circulating about him are completely false. As is also true that the film was a flop at the box office, which was not far from it. I do not see any imported Lazenby in a couple of more Bond films, rather than the questionable Roger Moore. From this it can be said in all fairness it was the worst 007 of the whole story.

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