For Your Eyes Only

Ian Flemings's 8th James Bond novel published in 1960. This book actually contained 5 short stories.
Two of the titles have been recycled as unrelated Bond films. The plot for the movie version of For Your Eyes Only was actually based on the story Risico.

1. From a View to a Kill (Set in Paris)
2. For Your Eyes Only (Set in Vermont)
3. Quantum of Solace (Set in Bermuda)
4. Risico (Set in Rome)
5. The Hildebrand Rarity (Set in The Seychelles)

The title story of For Your Eyes Only is an interesting side-trip in the career of Bond.

It opens with the murder of a pair of English colonial landowners in Jamaica by a trio of Cubans who want to buy their land and won't take no for an answer.

Bond is called into M.s's office to learn that the murders of the Havelocks were to benefit one of Batista's lieutenants, an ex-Nazi named von Hammerstein, who is buying property in Jamaica in order to get his money safely out of Cuba. (Castro is in the hills, and the wise know what is about to happen.) Anyway, turns out that M. knew the murdered couple, was best man at their wedding. He gived Bond the dossier (stamped For Your Eyes Only, a grade higher than Top Secret) and sends him to Hammerstein's US retreat, via Canada, with one mission -- execute him. It's essentially off the books, a job of personal vengance for M. with Bond as his gun, justifiable only because it sends a "Do not trifle with Britain" message.

Once in Canada, Bond gears up and hikes a few miles across the border. While creeping up on the estate house with his rifle, he is intercepted by the inevitable girl -- Judy Havelock, armed with a hunter's bow, come to perform the same mission.

She kills Hammerstein, Bond kills the bodyguards, and they get away clean.

The heart of the story is Bond's musings about his role as the stiletto of Her Majesty, and of M.

For Your Eyes Only - The James Bond film. This is easily one of the best Bond films, and it has aged considerably better than most of the other films, e.g. Moonraker. It is also sparse on the gadgets and special effects compared to later releases, and instead provides an impressing display of stunts and bad guys. Also, Roger Moore was never better than this.

Synopsis: A British under cover spy trawler hits a mine and sinks to the bottom of the Adriatic Sea. On board is some kind of encryption device ("ATAC") for control of British submarine nuclear weapons. James Bond is sent to retrieve the device before it falls into the wrong hands, but the Soviet's are more than eager to lay their hands on it. Bond goes to Greece and tracks down the local Soviet contact "Gonzales", who promptly captures Bond. Luckily for him, the sultry Melina shows up, killing Gonzales who in turned had had her parents killed. A wild car chase follows, and equipped with her old Citroën, Bond manages to outrun three or four Mercedes, before commenting 

Love to drive in the country-side, don't you ?

Trying to track down one of Gonzales' associates, Bond goes to upscale ski-resort Cortina, where he supposedly is. The highlights from Cortina include Bond on skis being chased down a ski jump tower, after which a fantastic motocross cycles vs. skis chase ensues. This takes Bond down in a bobsleigh run, among other things. From here the story goes via Greek smugglers, ice skating teens and hockey villains to the destruction of the ATAC at a far off monastery .

Oh, must not forget the opening sequence, which starts with Bond visiting his wife's grave, but soon turns into action where Bond gets hijacked in a helicopter. Being Bond, he regains control of the helo, picks up the villain - who turns out to be Bonds nemesis Blofeld - in his wheel chair and drops him of into a high factory chimney. "Mr Boooooooooooooooond....!"

Trivia: 

• One of the Bond women (Caroline Cossey) was actually a transsexual woman.
• One of the stuntmen (Paolo Rigon) died in an accident while filming the bobsleigh run scene. 
• Sheena Easton performed the title track.
  

Facts, Crew and Cast: 
Opened in England on the 24th of June, 1981, and two days later in the United States. 
Running time: 2h 07m

Producer: Albert R Broccoli
Director: John Glen
Script: Richard Maibaum and Michael G Wilson

James Bond: Roger Moore
Melina Havelock: Carole Bouquet
Milos Colombo: Topol
Bibi: Lynn-Holly Johnson
Aristotle Kristatos: Julian Glover
Q: Desmond Llewelyn
Moneypenny: Lois Maxwell
General Gogol: Walter Gotell

Previous Bond: Moonraker, James Bond will return in: Octopussy

reference: various www fan sites