On Her Majesty's Secret Service - The LS Cut

This is a great edit. You have taken a great Bond film and subtly improved it. You took out most of the parts that always made me cringe a little. I think you very much accomplished the goal of focusing on Tracy throughout more, which was a great idea in my opinion. I thought the cuts were smart and I personally wouldn't want them any deeper. Great job!

Wow, this was a nice edit, thanks LastSurvivor! I always liked the movie in the original, and felt it was a bit underrated, but found the references to the other Bond disturbing, I'm glad you took out all of those. Mind you, it's years ago, that I watched the original, so my memory is not perfect regarding every scene...

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I loved that you brought Tracy into the focus of the movie, by reducing Bond's excessive promiscuity and by removing some of the plot regarding Blofeld (in that regard his character and role took a bit the backseat, but I didn't mind, as I just wanted to see how it went with Tracy, as she is such a magnetic Bondgirl).

So, in a sense, this is a very different Bond movie, it's not about saving the world or defeating the villain, that is only the sidestory, instead it's about saving Bond's love-life, he starts to get doubts and searching for something else besides his secret mission work, beside killing and having a jetlife. All that because he met a woman that is finally his match, his soulmate. And she, who has contempt for life and does everything to end it, finally finds something to live for after gotten to know Bond, she develops a hope for a future.

Very romantic and beautiful, and Louis Armstrong's song "We have all the time in the world" (this reminds me to buy a collection of his work, Armstrong has such a haunting voice) perfectly accompanies this throughout the movie to the sad and heartbreaking end (thanks for exchanging the credits-music with Armstrong's song, fits much better (though strangely it's in both audio-tracks for the credits, I thought one of them was the original one)).

I love how Lazenby plays Bond in that heartbreaking end-scene and what he says, it's not possible to do it better, an ending worth to be part of cinematic history, and now improved by you, thanks to the removal of the original music in the credits, and the use of Armstrong's song.



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Very well edited, love it. The only things I wished were better:
1. The dining-scene with the girls should have been longer, as it wasn't established that Bond played that he were gay.
2. The credits in the beginning show scenes from older Bond-movies, which detracts a little bit, but that is only a very minor problem.
3. I wished the line "He branched off" was removed, it just didn't fit to the intensity of the finale.

Another Bond from LS always feels like X-Mas to me :-). I'm esp. thrilled that this one doesn't seek to "rescue" an obnoxious entry, but to improve upon an already good one. LS keeps showing his dedication to the Fleming spirit of the series in his stellar commentary and defines the "gold standard" together with HAL9000.

It's a pity some technical problems hamper further improvements, I for one wouldn't mind to see the cartoon-style action scenes slowed down. And I agree that "when in doubt, cut one-line jokes" is the way to go. Concerning the (on a PC screen nearly invisible) compression artifacts in the deep shadows: Afaik crazy bitrates aren't the only or best solution for this, but proper encoder tuning. I suggest you seek help on the doom9 video forum with a sample clip, esp. if you're doing the final encode with x264 this should be solvable.

But these are minor nitpicks, because LS convinced me that OMSS is a “golden age” movie and Lazenby is an authentic Bond after all. It’s amazing to see good fan-editors identify and solve key problems and how much a movie can benefit from dedicated work. After you’ve been told what the problems are, it’s all clear, but figuring it out is another matter altogether...

... and LS got it right: The basic problem I always had enjoying this one is that the Tracy love story seemed so disconnected from the dragging Bond vs. villain part. And all the references to the "real" Connery made Lazenby look like a single O who cannot decide between traditional promiscuity and being a soft Bond with a skirt. LS' edit solves these problems, and I can hardly wait what Bond movie he'll tackle next!

My favourite fan editor is BACK! And he does not disappoint!!!

The original OHMSS seems to divide many Bond fans, some praise it, others seem to loathe it. As a casual Bond watcher, it has always fallen somewhere in the middle for me. It has a fantastic cast in Rigg and Salvalas and some truly spectacular stunt work. Lazenby definitely has the physicality for Bond and exudes the needed confidence, though his inexperience at times shines through. His performance in the original was also hampered by the producers constantly injecting references to previous Bond movies in the film, thus keeping the ghost of Connery present throughout the film and causing Lazenby to never truly own the role.

Luckily, this frustrating weakness has been smartly removed by Last Survivor. The suggestion of past exploits remain, but the blatant over the top/in your face references through past movie soundtracks, one liners and trophies are gone. This small but significant change goes a long way to make Lazenby immediately more acceptable as the new OO7.

The other weakness of the original film for me has always been the second act. As soon as Tracy disappears from the screen and Bond begins his investigation/infiltration of Blofled's headquarters, the movie moves like molasses. But again, it is here LS makes the most of his cuts. His edit choices are smart and very well executed; they keep the story moving forward as fast as possible without losing any vital plot.

Last Survivor's overall edit work has improved the story significantly, and clearly enhances Lazenby's performance and proves to me he had the potential to be one of the great Bonds.

But LS's work does not end in mere story editing. As always, he has done some truly incredible audio replacement work. I watched the Alternate Audio version and was blown away! I think his music switching and changes are sheer genius and far superior to the original! Great work mate!

If I were to nit-pick....There is also a couple of instances of clever audio/dialogue dubbing that works though slightly noticeable. Also, the jump cut during the conversation between Bond and Draco is a bit off putting, I completely understand why it was done. Some of the more cringe worthy one liners remain. And there is some minor video artifacts/compression in the blacks. But none of these detract from the enjoyment I experienced with watching.

But for me, the absolute best part of this edit is Last Survivor's commentary. I have said it before, but LS delivers some of the best, most engaging, informative commentaries I have ever had the pleasure to listen to... he puts many professional dvd commentaries to shame. What I enjoy so much about his commentaries is the sheer love for the material he has and how infectious it is. When I listen to LS's love for Bond, I begin to love Bond. I see the character and the franchise in a new way. It makes me want to go out experience more Bond -- watch more Bond movies, research more about Bond, read the books, etc. Anyone and everyone who watches this or any of LS's previous edits, MUST take the time to listen to Last Survivor's insights and comments. To do otherwise, is to do your self a great disservice.

So to recap, a brilliant edit both technically and narratively. Definitely superior to the original in my opinion and well worth watching for both Bond fan and non-fan alike.

BOTH THUMBS WAY, WAY, WAY UP!!! :)

OHMSS will never not feel like an outlier in the 007 canon for reasons beyond it being Lazenby's sole outing. The most classically tragic of the classic Bond films, the cliched recurring fan phrase about OHMSS has always been "it would be the perfect Bond movie if only Connery had been in it." While that may or may not be true (it's hard to picture Connery's blithe sociopath ever contemplating settling down), this edit is the next best thing, fixing many problematic moments/lines and tightening up the pace of the movie considerably, giving Diana Rigg's monumental turn as the ultimate Bond gal the showcase it deserves. LS' edit doesn't feel like a whole new movie, but it's a considerably better paced one, and a fitting addition to one's collection of Bond fan edits.