On Her Majesty's Secret Service - The LS Cut

Watched with audio track maintaining original title theme and unchanged "We Have All the Time in the World".

Already one of my favourite Bond films despite its flaws, this edit on the whole is just a more polished product than the original theatrical release, the major exception of course being the ending music. No longer is the viewer suddenly jolted by the sudden appearance of the triumphant Bond theme over the shot of the bullet-holed windscreen, the sound now matches the visuals and maintains the mood of the ending.

Video and audio quality great, noticed no ugly cuts or errors. Definitely replaces the theatrical cut for me and would be the version I'd show to newcomers.

I'm coming late to the party on this one, however, better late than never.

I am also one of those that has over the years has increasingly come to really like this Bond. In fact, it is in my top 5 for many reasons.

The removal of what today would be regarded as fan service or purile elements, elevates this outing and makes it the serious romp it should always have been. Those knowing "to camera" moments were excruciating then, and now just awful. GONE. More vitally IMO, the trims to some of the either overlong exchanges and chases, mean that nothing outstays its welcome and agredious elements are for the most part, consined to the fanediting cutting room virtual floor.

This is now a more balanced and refined Bond overall, and although we can never resolve the issue of Geroge Baker looping Lazenby's dialogue while undercover issue, I can't mark this down for that since it is inherent to the material...(are you reading this reviewers who do that....it's not fair or logical).

What LastSurvivor has done is pushed this into the top 3 for me. It is the go to version, and already burnt to BluRay and inserted into that big ol' Book like release for the 50th Anniversay (I hope the cardboard holds up).

Superb work !

I have just recently discovered the world of FanEdits and my mind is exploding trying to decide where to start, but when I saw there existed a FanEdit of OHMSS I just HAD to watch it. OHMSS has always been my favorite Bond, yet almost every detail LastSurvivor noted as having cut/changed were small issues that always bugged me. It's like someone reached into my mind and made my dream a reality.

I especially appreciated cutting the campy references to the former Bond movies, those bits tainted an otherwise perfect movie. And I hadn't given Bond's extra trysts much thought before, but those cuts do make his fling less offensive in the face of his pending marriage. I didn't noticed any edits being conspicuous enough to distract from the film; I experienced it as if that were the way it always way. Marvelous job, thank you Last Survivor!

Watched this for the Christmas season (don't forget that Blofeld's scheme relies on the girls' X-mas presents) after putting it off for some time. I have always said OHMSS is my fav Bond film, so it was hard for me to believe an edit could improve it, but that's exactly what LastSurvivor has done.

I'll leave my thoughts on the film itself for my review here: https://letterboxd.com/nottheacademy/film/on-her-majestys-secret-service/
Instead I'll focus on what LS has changed. While I do miss most everything that was cut, for the purpose of focusing the film more, they are all good, smart cuts. Honestly, LS probably doesn't go far enough. Several of the Bond sequences could be tightened up a little (like the lawyer's office or escaping the gearhouse) and his romancing the Angels could probably be cut even more. If the goal is to keep him focused on his great love, then including more references to him 'not being interested in women' and then cutting the actual Ruby seduction would be better. I also found the very opening with Q and M to serve no real purpose since Bond won't be using any gadgets and the plot has nothing to do with nuclear lint. Better if it could be cut.

But these are minor quibbles. Most every change here is for the better, including the audio substitutions. The one that I would argue against is making Louis Armstrong's track the title credit song. It's a slow, melancholy track, not at all fitting for starting a Bond adventure. It would be much better to run this vocal version over the end credits, especially after LS has played it several times without the vocals as the love theme. Its melancholy will then be fully "given voice" at the culmination of the film. But at the start, something a little more in line with the sultry women voicing Bond's previous themes would be better. If it's absolutely necessary to switch from the best Bond theme of all time, Barry's OHMSS, then how about his unused song for the film with "Nina" on vocals?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxp-zfMWvMw

All in all, however, no change here is a "bad" change, and everything makes the story more focused. Dare I say it? This replaces the original film for me, despite my wish for an even better v2.0 (with a stereo track?)... well done, LS, and thanks!

It’s hard for me to judge these old Bond films. They suffer from the success of the franchise. Imitated and parodied endlessly; from Austin Powers to even Nolan movies, the tropes now seem completely cliche. That said, I do think this movie gets a bit of bad rap and certainly Lazenby does. It works best when it does its own thing. The relationship between Bond and Tracy works, in no short degree thanks to the chemistry between Lazenby and Rigg. And that is refreshing. The more serious side of Bond works. But it frustratingly seems to want it both ways. And the sillier Bondisms mostly fall flat. The screenplay itself is puzzling. Again, it seems to want to carry on with Bond as if there’s nothing different, but then it contradicts that often. The worst error is leaving Tracy out of the film for the bulk of the middle only to way-too-conveniently emerge for the last act. I admit I’m revisiting this one because we’re heading to the Jungfrau region and Lauterbrunnen valley next month. And that scenery was fantastic. Overall, I feel like I ended up liking this movie less than I remembered. But, as I said at the outset, I think that may be due in large part to the impact of the Bond series overall. It’s probably been more than 30 years since I last watched it.

Given that I don’t have much direct memory of the movie, I have a hard time comparing the edit to the theatrical. But I’ll say the editing was never noticeable for me so Last Survivor again did a terrific job both technically and narratively editing the film. And one thing I do remember that LS has thankfully cut is the fourth wall breaking “other guy” quip. That change alone makes this edit worth it.