Line #1 YMMV/OnHerMajestysSecretService


1	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Some like to think that Telly Savalas' Blofeld is actually a fake one working for the real Blofeld by doubling for him in order to make the real one harder to locate. He would make heavy use of plastic surgery doubles in the next film, ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'', and it explains why he has an American accent, no scar on his eye and it also provides a reason as to why he doesn't recognise Bond when they first meet in his office.
2	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
3	** Music/JohnBarry's atmospheric score, down to the pioneering use of synthesizers.
4	** The theme song is a rare one without lyrics, allowing it to take on quite a life of its own outside the film (the only other theme that's come close to this kind of success is "Live and Let Die").
5	** The Music/LouisArmstrong song "We Have All the Time in the World" is also great, arguably the most romantic song in the series. It even made a return appearance in ''Film/NoTimeToDie'' more than fifty years later, much to fan delight.
6	* BrokenBase: ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' is easily one of the most divisive films in the franchise.
7	** The half of James Bond fans who love the comedic, absurd/surreal style of post-''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'' Creator/SeanConnery films, and also of Creator/RogerMoore and Creator/PierceBrosnan films tend to feel that this movie, while it has its merits, is brought down by Lazenby's underwhelming performance and the absence of Q's iconic gadgets. On the other hands, the fans of the more dramatic, grounded approach of the films take at times (and with Creator/TimothyDalton and Creator/DanielCraig especially) hail this one as a classic, with some critics even going as far as to call it the best classic Bond film. It should be noted, however, that the latter group contains [[CreatorsFavoriteEpisode most of the Eon producers, most of the actors who've played Bond and many prominent critics]], so it's largely a split among casual viewers. It's also much beloved among James Bond forums for being very faithful to Fleming's novel, having one of the best soundtracks in the series, the ski scene, Savalas' Blofeld and the ending. Over 50 years after its release, ''Film/NoTimeToDie'' would pay significant tribute to ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'', both in its story and several poignant {{Mythology Gag}}s. And then there's the fans who like the gritty Bond films, but still don't like this one.
8	** And then there's Creator/GeorgeLazenby himself. Many fans loves his much more vulnerable take on the character and genuinely appreciate his sole outing in the series. However, many fans also find him mediocre and lacking the humour and dramatic potential needed for the role. The only things both sides agree on is that Lazenby is a perfect asskicker in the action scenes and that he definitely looked the part.
9	** The "This never happened to the other fellow" line just before the title sequence. Is it a good way to break the ice and get people into the new actor or is it a random [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth-wall break]] that was shoehorned in at the last second?
10	* CompleteMonster: [[YMMV/YouOnlyLiveTwice Blofeld again]]. See that page for details.
11	* EvilIsCool: Blofeld has a beautifully furnished laboratory/therapy office with a revolving restaurant and luxurious lodging rooms full of beautiful women on a peak in the Swiss Alps, is able to [[RankScalesWithAsskicking hold his own against Bond in combat]], totally flummoxes UsefulNotes/MI6 until Bond teams up with Draco, and is played by a suave Creator/TellySavalas. What's not to love?
12	* FightSceneFailure: The constant freeze framing, cutaways, accelerations and disconnected grunting sounds during Bond's earlier fist fights are really distracting.
13	* GeniusBonus:
14	** "Arae et Foci", the Bleuchamp family motto, means "hearth and home". Also, Blofeld loosely translates to ''Bleuchamp'' in French.
15	** There's an offhand mention at Sir Hillary Bray's home of the (real-life) Bond family motto, "Orbis non sufficit", which is Latin for [[Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough the title of another Bond movie]].
16	* HarsherInHindsight:
17	** This movie starts with Bond threatening to resign from [=MI6=] and ends with his wife Tracy being murdered after their wedding. In ''Film/LicenceToKill'', Bond really does become a RogueAgent to avenge his friend Felix Leiter and his wife Della when they were attacked after their wedding. Making this worse is that Felix directly references this movie, saying "[James] was married once, but that was a long time ago."
18	** The ending of the movie where Bond loses Tracy would get even worse when in ''Film/NoTimeToDie'', [[spoiler: the roles get switched where Madeleine, the main Bond girl ends up ''losing'' James Bond and he becomes TheLostLenore for her.]]
19	* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Creator/GeorgeLazenby's acting is still criticized here and there, but nobody denies he had plenty of charisma (particularly in the fight scenes) and brought a nice combination of dry wit and a sincerity that made his romance with Tracy completely believable. And many agree that he struck the right chord in the most crucial scene -- that of Tracy's death.
20	* HeartwarmingInHindsight: [[spoiler:Bond and Tracy discuss how many children they'll have. In ''Film/NoTimeToDie'', Bond does have a daughter with Dr. Madeline Swann.]]
21	* HilariousInHindsight:
22	** Creator/DianaRigg at the time was known for the spy series ''Series/{{The Avengers\|1960s}}''. What's more is that Creator/JoannaLumley is also in this film and she would later star in ''Series/TheNewAvengers'', a revival of the show in Rigg's place.
23	** What's more, Lumley would play Irma Bunt in the 2014 BBC Radio 4 adaptation of the novel.
24	** In the book, Draco lives in a shipping container that's driven around all the time. These days, there's a trend in shipping container homes - though they're ''usually'' firmly planted on the ground.
25	** Many people have noted that Creator/GeorgeLazenby looks like a hybrid of Creator/SeanConnery (the man he replaced) and Creator/RogerMoore (who would go on to replace him).
26	** Lazenby originally did one take of the ending scene crying, only to be told that "James Bond doesn't cry". Clearly that rule doesn't apply to Creator/DanielCraig, who cried in ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'' after [[spoiler:M dies]].
27	* ItWasHisSled: [[spoiler:Tracy dies in the end.]]
28	* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: Having Bond actually fall in love and marry one of the many, ''many'' women he has courted on his missions was indeed a bold move for the franchise... [[spoiler:only to see her suddenly killed off in the final moments of the film]]. Probably a case where it actually worked to the benefit of the series, bringing with it one of the most emotional and human moments from James Bond.
29	* MoralEventHorizon: Perhaps by orchestrating the most notorious KickTheDog moment of the franchise, Blofeld certainly proved to be a big {{Jerkass}} by attempting to kill 007 on his wedding day in retaliation for foiling his plan. [[spoiler:Although 007 managed to survive the hit, his wife wasn't so lucky.]]
30	* {{Narm}}: Creator/GeorgeLazenby's voice being dubbed over by George Baker (who played the actual Sir Hillary Bray) goes on for so long, to the point where many fans assumed that Lazenby was such a bad actor that his lines had to be dubbed in by a different actor. Additionally, there is no need for James to be impersonating Sir Hilary's voice, since the latter and Blofeld had only ever communicated by letter, meaning Blofeld wouldn't have known what he sounded like. Even Baker found such a decision odd, reasoning that Blofeld was more likely to have known what Sir Hilary ''looked'' like prior to inviting him to Piz Gloria.
31	* NarmCharm:
32	** "I have taught you to love chickens!" - so ridiculous on the face of it, [[FridgeHorror so creepy when you consider what he's actually planning]].
33	** The man in the polar bear suit that scares Bond while he's evading Bunt and her henchmen. Sounds like a silly thing for Bond of all people to be scared of, but it makes sense when you notice that Bond was looking behind him at the time, and looked ahead again to see a bright flash of light that could easily be mistaken for a gunshot and a giant, inhuman-looking figure hulking over him. He wasn't scared of a guy in a rough polar bear costume, he was startled by his sudden appearance, so this makes more sense than you might think.
34	* OddballInTheSeries: Besides the obvious in that it’s the only one that stars George Lazenby. It’s the only one that has a significant part of the story devoted to Bond's personal life. It also has some unusually graphic violence for a Bond film. For instance the guy falling off the giant cliff doesn’t get a DisneyVillainDeath, we see him fall all the way to impact with a nice little thud for emphasis. And the guy getting chopped up in the snowblower is arguably the most disgusting scene in the entire series. Tracy is also very capable being an ActionGirl who rivals Bond himself.
35	* OlderThanTheyThink: The title (originally of the book, of course) is a pun based around the phrase "On His/Her Majesty's Service" or OHMS for short, found on letters from HM Government (often associated with wartime call-up papers and letters saying that family members had been killed in action). Nowadays, the Bond title is better known than the original phrase.
36	* PresumedFlop: For years, the film was written off as a flop. While it didn't gross as much as the previous films, it was still one of the top grossing films of the year.
37	* QuestionableCasting:
38	** The main star himself, Creator/GeorgeLazenby, especially considering he had minimal acting experience prior to being cast in the role of James Bond. Fortunately, he has found a respectable following for his role on ''OHMSS'' in the years since.
39	** Richard Maibaum felt that Creator/TellySavalas was miscast as Blofeld, as he felt that he should be "vageuly European" (whatever that meant, since Savalas had Greek ancestry) as he is in the novels. Maibaum was also annoyed that, despite his protests, Peter R. Hunt wouldn't make Savalas try an accent for the role.
40	* ReplacementScrappy: Creator/GeorgeLazenby was considered this for Creator/SeanConnery, although most are far kinder to him nowadays, with most of the blame having to do with the failures of his agent, who convinced him to quit after the one movie.
41	* RetroactiveRecognition: Seven years before ''Series/TheNewAvengers'', Creator/JoannaLumley is one of the Angels of Death who Bond ''doesn't'' get around to sleeping with. Her distinctive voice can be recognized as she's the one who says of Bond as Sir Hillary "Of course, I know what he's allergic to..."
42	* SignatureScene:
43	** This is the Bond film where he finally weds, [[spoiler:even though it won't last long]].
44	** The ski chase scenes and the bobsled chase at the end are also very much attributed to this film.
45	** The scene of a mook falling into a snowblower and having his guts spewed all over the place is very well known due to being one of the most grisly moments in the early Bond films. Even those who aren't familiar with this movie might know about this particular scene very well.
46	* SpecialEffectFailure:
47	** During the stockcar chase, when a driver is flipped onto his roof and it cuts to a closeup of the upside-down car and driver, the spectators in the background are also the wrong way up, meaning the shot was filmed normally and then inverted in editing.
48	** The errors during the ski chase scenes can be noticeable at times.
49	*** The first ski scene uses the "Day for night" filming technique, which is where a filter is placed over daylight footage to make it appear night. While the effect isn't distracting in the slightest for this film, what ''is'' distracting is how said filter seems to completely vanish at times, resulting in a few shots that are very obviously in broad daylight.
50	*** After losing a ski, Bond enters a two-legged "Schuss" position numerous times, as if he still has his other ski on.
51	*** The bluescreening results in the live-action characters being much more high-res compared to the characters being projected behind them. They also move to stay centered with the swaying camera and occasionally face an angle contrary to what the passing scenery implies.
52	** The bobsled hut/run that Blofeld tried to escape down at the end is quite clearly in a different place than the Piz Gloria mountain. We get plenty of wide shots of the latter throughout the film and it's quite bare, with it mostly going downhill and having little to no trees. However, once Bond and Blofeld flee the condemned institute, they roll down a hill for a few seconds and end up surrounded by trees, in an area with a chasm, no less.
53	** During the scene where Blofeld attempts to remove a live grenade from the bottom of his bobsleigh, the bluescreen goes from showing the bobsled run to a landscape flailing wildly in circles, as if the bobsleigh had crashed. The next scene abruptly straightens it out as if nothing happened.
54	*** Also, as Blofeld goes under a bridge right after dropping the grenade, a black shape is briefly seen at the top of the screen and retreats soon after, possibly a hand readjusting the camera that was recording rear-projection footage.
55	*** During one of the quick shots of Bond's sled speeding towards the camera, you can see the little hut they started the chase from, despite them being about forty seconds into the chase.
56	*** Bond and Blofeld repeatedly teleport up and down the track during their bobsleigh chase in order to extend the scene to the necessary length. It's the most obvious when Bond is blown out of his sled by a grenade, as the camera cuts between him moving away from and towards the camera, yet the mountain range in the distance stays on the left in both instances, when the latter shot should have the camera facing the snow bank on the other side of the track.
57	** When Blofeld is snared in the neck by a tree branch, the rear-projected background footage does not stop moving even after he makes contact with it, making it seem like the branch itself is moving.
58	** The horrific compositing when the cable car explodes in the climax, made all the worse for being surrounded by tons of amazing practical effects.
59	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Marc-Ange Draco and the Union Corse are never seen or mentioned again in the books or the movies and the consequences of Blofeld murdering the daughter of a mafia boss (who played with the extinction of all life on earth to simply rescue her from captivity, meaning he wouldn't take her murder lying down) are never explored.
60	* ToughActToFollow:
61	** Newcomer Creator/GeorgeLazenby had his work cut out for him when he had to fill the shoes that Creator/SeanConnery had filled in five straight Bond movies that came out prior to ''OHMSS''. To this day fans and critics remain divided on whether or not he succeeded, even though it is now generally viewed as a solid James Bond film in its own right, if not one of the best.
62	** To a lesser extent, Creator/TellySavalas as Blofeld, taking over the role right after Creator/DonaldPleasence's iconic version in ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice''. Savalas's version is generally well-respected in its own right, but can't match the character-defining appeal of Pleasence's take, particularly after ''Film/AustinPowers'' famously modeled Dr. Evil on that version.
63	* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Just its title alone--"On ''Her'' Majesty's Secret Service" makes it this following the death of [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily Queen Elizabeth II]].
64	* VindicatedByHistory: While it was fairly positively received at the time of the release, the complaints over Creator/GeorgeLazenby replacing Creator/SeanConnery overshadowed the movie for many years. Since then many fans of the series have come to regard it as one of the best Bond films. Also, Creator/EonProductions has demonstrated their own love of the film on numerous occasions, such as in ''Film/NoTimeToDie'', which increased the positive reevaluation in light of following a similar path of giving Bond a genuine romantic partner, and also bringing the song "We Have All The Time In The World" back, much to many a fan's delight.
65	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: For the scene where Shaun Campbell is murdered and hung upside down from a rock, the actor had to hang from a studio ceiling, while the alps in the background were in fact a matte painting. While you can see this if you look very closely, the effect is very convincing if you're not actively looking for it, and the picture itself looks stunning, which makes the pairing of it and a dead body all the more disturbingly contrasting.
66	* TheWoobie:
67	** Poor, poor Tracy.
68	** James Bond himself counts at the end: He [[HopeSpot thinks he's found the girl of his dreams, and hopes to spend the rest of his life with her]] [[spoiler:only to have it cruelly ripped away from him in the worst way possible]].

Context YMMV / OnHerMajestysSecretService