For Your Eyes Only: 007 Cut

Updated
For Your Eyes Only: 007 Cut
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie Title:
Genre:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1981
Original Running Time:
127
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
99
Time Cut:
28
Available in HD?
Brief Synopsis:
Tighten the editing film, remove the silly bits, replace the Bill Conti score with classic John Barry music from other Bond films.
Intention:
The 12th James Bond film is a favorite of mine. After the silly (but fun) Moonraker, the filmmakers decided it was time to return to a more serious tone, with a traditional spy plot. The film mostly succeeds, but there a few missteps that have always bothered me. My goal is to make FYEO a more “classic” Bond film.

Additional Notes:
The editing of scenes was a big process, but the music replacement is by far the biggest undertaking. There a too many changes to list them ALL. the trims and changes number in the thousands. The music editing and placement is extensive. Hardcore fans are sure to recognize some music from other films, but a casual fan might assume the music was scored especially for this film. It just... sounds like James Bond music. :-) Its all timed to work perfectly with dramatic moments within the film. I'm quite proud of the work Ive done.
Other Sources:
Music taken from John Barry’s original scores for
From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Diamonds Are Forever, Moonraker, Octopussy, A View To A Kill, and The Living Daylights

Additional music
“The Name’s Bond… James Bond” by David Arnold
Based on original music by Monty Norman

“For Your Eyes Only – Piano” -Youtube uploader Calikokat Piano
Based on original music by Bill Conti

SILENCE | 4 hours gentle wind in the mountains | sleeping, calming, resting - Youtube uploader Study-Sound-Girl
Special Thanks:
my buddy TF for teaching me Adobe Premiere
Lapis Molari for the feedback, encouragement, and English subtitles
Release Information:
Digital
Special Features
Option A: 17.75GB mpeg4

Video
1080p

Audio
1. New Mix, AAC 5.1 640 kbps
2. Isolated Score, AAC 5.1 640 kbps
3. No Score, AAC 5.1 640kbps

Subtitles
English
Cuts and Additions:
There a too many changes to list them ALL. the trims and changes number in the thousands. here is a broad overview:

- UA/MGM LOGO. replaced with 1981 UA logo
- Original pre-credits opening with graveside scene and helicopter removed. new opening is the sinking of St. Georges,murder of the Havelocs
- opening title/song re-synced and pitch corrected with the original album version Sheena Easton’s song
- toned down MI6 chief of staff’s disdain for 007
- identigraph scene dramatically shortened
- motorcycle attack on Melina removed
- hockey player attack removed
- submarine attack removed
- Bond and Melina’s afternoon shopping removed
- Margaret Thatcher removed

In addition to the above major alterations, there are these changes that alter the timing and feel of the movie:

- nearly every scene in the movie has tightened editing, multiple rear projection shots removed during ski chase, multiple "underwater" effects removed
- some new explosion sound effects, new underwater sound effects
- color timing changed on a scene-by-scene basis to make it feel more “cinematic”
- Conti score replaced with Barry score
- Gun barrel effect added: when transitioning from the gun barrel opening to the first shot of the st. Georges, an optical iris effect has been added
- Bill Conti's on screen credit during the opening credits has been digitally removed and replace with John Barry's.
- Pre-movie and post movie credits added to reflect edit work
Cover art by nostromo777 (DOWNLOAD HERE)
image

User reviews

5 reviews
Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.8(5)
Audio Editing
 
9.2(5)
Visual Editing
 
9.0(5)
Narrative
 
9.4(5)
Enjoyment
 
9.8(5)
(Updated: May 20, 2023)
Overall rating
 
8.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
8.0
Visual Editing
 
8.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
Version viewed: FYEOv4.1c.H265.mkv

This “For Your Eyes Only” edit is called the “007 Cut”, but could have been subtitled the “For Your Ears As Well” cut [although yes, that does sound stupid!].
JOHN BARRY MUSIC. Nothing else needs to be said. But I will anyway…

If you don’t know, the aim of this edit is to present a more serious version of “For Your Eyes Only”. Much silliness is cut, and the ill-fitting Bill Conti score is removed. Starting the pre-titles with the spy ship sequence works well, it feels like a classic Bond opening. However, the whole pre-titles sequence of the St Georges, the minister briefing, the Gogol scene, and the Melina family killing does feel overlong to me, and I suspect that is because Bond does not appear at all. The Melina sequence ends on an eyes CU, so links to the title song, but IMO concluding the pre-titles with Bond at Tracy’s grave could have been a nice intro for him [not necessarily including the whole Blofeld/remote-control continuation of the scene, just the helicopter take-off then into the titles] and helped set up the more serious tone of the movie.

The removal of the helicopter sequence brings me to another aspect of the edit. Extraneous actions scenes are cut [motorbikes at the flower shop, thugs on the ice rink, submarine attack, etc] to bring the movie into a more restrained place. The obvious parallel would be “From Russia With Love”, but unfortunately “For Your Eyes Only” lacks all the elements that let FRWL get away with stretches of no action. There’s no SPECTRE, no Klebb, no mysterious No.1, no M, no Grant, no Kerim Bey, no Tatiana, etc. FYEO with many of the action beats cut out is a fairly dull movie IMO, particularly in the first half. [Rather incongruously, the whole ski-jump sequence in the middle of the bike/ski chase is still in this edit. Snipping that could have tightened up the whole chase considerably, not to mention it is a very silly scene which doesn’t fit the serious tone. Why would Locque and his goons sneakily stalk Bond only to attack him in full view of everyone on a ski-ramp?! An attack which, even if they were lucky, might only leave him with a broken leg.] Removing the silliness is a double-edged sword too, because Roger Moore’s strength in the role was the humour. I wouldn’t argue that toning down Bibi was a mistake, but it means great Rog moments like “Put your clothes on and I’ll buy you an ice cream” are lost. Losing action beats and humour beats does leave the movie with something of an empty, aimless feel at times. Fortunately, the addition of alternate music peps it up a bit and gives it some Bond “soul”.

The music replacement is the standout feature of this edit. The tracks are mostly appropriate and well integrated. I know the Bond soundtracks very well as I listen to them often, so was prepared to be mentally recognising sources during viewing, but even so it is a very enjoyable viewing experience. Perhaps using tracks where the title song melody of another movie is prominent was a little too distracting (i.e. Diamonds Are Forever), I imagine even a casual viewer might feel a discontinuity at that moment. In addition to Barry scores, David Arnold’s “Bond, James Bond” is used, probably due to being a long presentation of the Bond theme. It sounds a touch more modern than the rest of the score but the edit just about gets away with it.

A few technical points…

Sound.
The sound mix is good, a few moments are a little odd, very minor though and probably my familiarity with the original scores is a factor. However, there is one scene where the sound very obviously has an error. The section where Melina and Bond discuss the fake telegram has the dialogue turned down way too low. This is not a case of “hmm, does that sounds a little softer?”; the voices are much, much quieter than the scenes which precede and follow, and you might wonder if you just accidentally leaned on your remote. IIRC, there isn’t even any music at this point.

Video.
A few times across the whole movie I noticed a single frame from a different shot flash up on a cut. After viewing, I remembered exactly where one seemed to be, so checked for it. When Q says he has set up a satellite link and the minister says “Good”, the next shot starts with a single frame of a different shot.

Grading.
The movie looks really good. Colour grading to me may as well be magic so I can’t critique it in any detail, and I’ll just emphasise the point; the movie looks really good.


TL;DR
Bond fans, watch - and listen - to this edit, you won’t regret it.



User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
This is a much leaner version of For Your Eyes Only. All of the fat is cut. The darker more serious tone it always aspired to is helped by the removal of awkwardly placed comedic moments.

The biggest issue I always had with this Bond movie was the Conti score which feelt cheesy and dated. It really made the film seem cheap and inconsiquential. This version with the Barry music added turns it into a true classic. I loved most of the music choices and they were all a big improvement on the original.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
There is a little scene envolving a secondary character that seemed a bit out of place, and a couple of frames that sliped the cut.
These are all small things, and don't detract from the enjoyment and the quality of the fanedit.

It's a tighter and straight to the point movie. Closer to the tone of the books. Without all the cheesyness and absurd gadgetry (they were fun back then, but aged poorly). All the small cuts that made averything more fluid, lean with great pace.
Also the change in the soundtrack makes a difference. Watching a Bond movie and listen to John barry instead of somebody else's music.

Congratulations are in order!

p.s. Another fanedit that replaces the original ;)

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Nostromo777 makes a good Bond film better!

The narrative is improved with a tighter plot. The music is remarkably improved by replacing Conti's (badly dated) score for a selection of Barry's 007 scores. Some of the musical cues will be recognizable to Bond fans, which could distract you momentarily. But it's worth it when you compare this edit to the original!

The sound replacement work is such an accomplishment that that alone already merits checking out this edit!
L
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(Updated: July 19, 2020)
Overall rating
 
9.2
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
8.0
Visual Editing
 
8.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
It seems like most people regard The Spy Who Loved Me as Roger Moore's best outing as 007. I disagree. For Your Eyes Only is his best in my opinion, and this edit of it only makes it better. But let me start with the negatives: the cutting seems quite jumpy at times, especially in the very first scenes onboard the ship which sinks. I understand the idea was to tighten almost every single scene in the movie, but it takes some getting used to. Between cuts there would sometimes be a split second of an odd frame. The audio during some dialogue is very low compared to the music in other scenes. And I think the traditional Bond theme may pop up once too often---it is hard to know if these were actually variations of the Bond theme that were just too close to identical for me to tell.
OK, that was all the "bad" stuff. Forget all that, because it barely detracts at all from this great edit of a 007 spy thriller. I would scarcely call many 007 movies spy thrillers, especially the Moore era ones, but this one is. Removing bits of the annoying ice skater girl helped a lot. The music throughout was very cool---using some of the Thunderball music during underwater scenes was perfect. And, indeed, the classic James Bond theme was very welcome during some scenes. I was worried that all the humor would be removed, but what remained was ideal. The Craig era could really learn a lot from the music in this edit. Actually, the Brosnon era could have as well. This cut achieved what the best of the Connery era achieved--when it ended, the music was echoing in your head and you felt like putting on a nice suit and driving really fast and dangerously. It reminded me of that feeling of wanting to be James Bond because he was the coolest guy on earth with his own personal theme song! (Indiana Jones may be the only other character in history with as great a theme song). The narrative and enjoyment level here is perfect. It isn't my "go to" version because the file size is prohibitively humongous so I had to delete immediately after watching, but if not for that, this is the version I prefer. It is the best cut of Roger Moore's best Bond outing. It is easily the most realistic Bond since Goldfinger and until The Living Daylights (and finally again with Casino Royale). This is THE essential Moore era Bond and the ideal (if very slightly flawed) edit of For Your Eyes Only. Highly recommend! (Especially if you have the 18Gb to spare on your hard drive!)

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
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