On Her Majesty's Secret Service (James Bond 007)

"This never seemed to happen to the other fellow."

Honestly? This is my favorite Bond movie so far. By far. George Lazenby is not as great in the role as Sean Connery, but he's great enough that when the movie delivers an A list Bond Girl, Villain, AND script he's elevated to one of the greats despite only having done this once.

The ending was a refreshing gut-punch to me. See, I was a little annoyed at the film because Bond's liaisons are basically him cheating on the Contessa. But the end says she actually mattered to him like no other woman. And as far as Bond girls go, Diana Rigg is the most radiant so far. Best of all she rescues herself from the villain at the end. I loved that.

Telly Savalas is a great Blofeld, even though he is entirely the opposite of why Donald Pleasance was great. Pleasance was spooky, chilling, and a bit off-putting. Savalas makes Blofeld powerful and charismatic, which really should have been a no-brainer all along. That fact means we get a knock-down drag-out between him and Bond for the first time at the end. That specific thing was long overdue, and I somehow couldn't picture it happening with Pleasance.

We are apparently at the stage of the franchise were boner jokes are now permitted. Not exactly a golden moment as far as watershed moments for James Bond go.

My favorite Blofeld moment was essentially blink-and-you'll-miss-it. When he gets SUPER aggravated, he tosses the white cat off him while it yowls. That was funny.

The climax was exciting, and so was the bit in the destruction derby. The movie was just solid all the way through.

My favorite Bond movie. George Lazenby couldn't have picked a better movie to be the only time he played James Bond. *****.