[5]

After the unbridled silliness of Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only makes an effort to dial down the franchise’s more comic-book qualities. After an unceremonious pre-title demise of long-time supervillain Blofeld, For Your Eyes Only achieves that goal, but it struggles to forge a unique identity in the series. With yet another villain seeking nuclear power and a rehash of skiing and underwater stunts from previous films, For Your Eyes Only is just warmed-up leftovers. Julian Glover makes for a mediocre baddie, while Carole Bouquet plays another beautiful but dull Bond girl. Lynn-Holly Johnson is more interesting as a precocious young figure skater whose sexual appetite surprises even James Bond. Bill Conti temporarily takes over the scoring duties from John Barry, and Sheena Easton sings the title song. It’s a dated little ditty, but I still dig it. With Roger Moore as Bond.

Oscar Nomination: Best Song (“For Your Eyes Only”)