For Your Eyes Only (1981)

Plot

Off the Albanian coast, the British surveillance ship St Georges sinks with ATAC, a control unit for the Polaris submarine fleet. Marine archaeologist Sir Timothy Havelock secretly searches for the wreck, but he and his wife are murdered by Hector Gonzales. James Bond is sent to Gonzales's villa near Madrid to identify who hired him. Bond sees an unknown paymaster before Havelock's daughter Melina kills Gonzales with her crossbow. The pair escape in her Citroën 2CV, and Q later identifies the visitor as Emile Locque.

The trail leads Bond to Cortina d'Ampezzo. Greek businessman Aristotle Kristatos tells him that smuggler Milos Columbo is responsible. After attacks on Bond and Melina, Bond travels to Corfu, where Columbo's men capture him. Columbo persuades Bond that the truth is reversed: Kristatos works for the KGB and intends to sell ATAC to General Gogol. A raid on Kristatos's Albanian warehouse reveals both naval mines and an opium operation, confirming Columbo's story; Locque dies while trying to escape.

Bond and Melina recover ATAC from St Georges aboard her small submersible Neptune. Kristatos captures them, but they survive his attempt to kill them at sea. With Columbo's help they scale Kristatos's refuge at the fictional St Cyril's monastery. Columbo kills Kristatos; when Gogol arrives, Bond throws ATAC from the cliff. The device is destroyed without falling into either superpower's hands.

Facts

James Bond: Roger Moore
Director: John Glen
Screenplay: Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson
Producers: Albert R. Broccoli
Music: Bill Conti
Title song: „For Your Eyes Only“Sheena Easton
Based on: Ian Fleming: „For Your Eyes Only“1960
Running time: 127 minutes
Budget: $28 millionEstimate from The Numbers. AFI cites a contemporary figure of $25 million, so the budget should not be treated as definitive.
Box office: $195 millionworldwide theatrical gross according to The Numbers; $54.8 million came from North America
Release: UK: 24 June 1981US: 26 June 1981Germany: 6 August 1981

Travel route and filming locations

Gold numbers trace Bond's journey through the story, light markers show the real filming locations. Each layer can be hidden separately.

Bond's route · 9 stops

Total distance (great-circle)≈ 4,785 km

In the pre-title sequence Bond visits the grave of his wife Tracy before a helicopter collects him.
Stoke Poges near London → London · ≈ 32 km
Above London's industrial district an enemy remotely takes control of the helicopter; Bond severs the link and disposes of him. Later Tanner and Defence Minister Gray brief Bond on the loss of ATAC.
London → Gonzales's villa near Madrid · ≈ 1,263 km
Bond observes Gonzales and an unknown paymaster. Melina kills Gonzales; after the Lotus explodes, the pair escape in the 2CV. The villa and its map point are fictional.
Gonzales's villa near Madrid → MI6 headquarters, London · ≈ 1,263 km
Q reconstructs the paymaster's face with the Identigraph and identifies him as Locque. His trail leads to Cortina.
MI6 headquarters, London → Cortina d'Ampezzo · ≈ 1,049 km
Bond meets Kristatos, Ferrara and Bibi Dahl, saves Melina from an attack and escapes the motorcycle assassins on skis. Locque has Ferrara killed.
Cortina d'Ampezzo → Corfu · ≈ 995 km
At the casino and harbour Bond follows the supposed Columbo lead. After Lisl's death, Columbo captures him and exposes Kristatos as the real enemy.
Corfu → Kristatos's warehouse, Albania · ≈ 28 km
Bond joins Columbo's raid on a fictional coastal warehouse. Opium and mines matching the one at the wreck confirm Kristatos's deception; Locque dies while escaping.
Kristatos's warehouse, Albania → Wreck of St Georges off Albania · ≈ 9 km
Bond and Melina take Neptune down to the fictional wreck and recover ATAC. Kristatos takes the device, but they survive his attempt to drag them across a reef.
Wreck of St Georges off Albania → St Cyril's monastery, Greece · ≈ 144 km
Bond, Melina and Columbo reach Kristatos's fictional cliff-top stronghold. Bond destroys ATAC when General Gogol arrives for the handover; the point is placed at the real Agia Triada monastery that portrays St Cyril's.

Filming locations · 11

Churchyard containing the grave of Tracy Bond created for the film
Industrial setting for the pre-title helicopter chase; the site has since been redeveloped
Exterior of the British Ministry of Defence
doubles for Villa near Madrid (Spain)
Gonzales's villa and the beginning of the 2CV chase
doubles for Countryside outside Madrid (Spain)
Hairpins, village and olive groves used for the 2CV chase
Casino where Bond observes Kristatos, Columbo and Lisl
doubles for Kristatos's warehouse in Albania (Albania)
Dockside warehouse, chase and cliff during Columbo's raid on Kristatos
Miramonti hotel, Olympic Ice Stadium, ski jump, ski runs and bobsleigh track
St Georges interiors and dry-for-wet matching shots on the 007 Silent Stage
doubles for Ionian Sea off Albania (Albania)
Underwater photography for Neptune, the wreck and diving attacks; representative point near Nassau
doubles for St Cyril's monastery
Exterior and climbing sequence at the rock supporting Kristatos's refuge

Characters and cast

Bond

James BondRoger MooreMoore's fifth outing as 007

Bond girls

Villains

Aristotle KristatosJulian GloverSoviet double agent who plans to sell the ATAC to General Gogol

Henchmen

Allies

MI6

Others

Vehicles & Gadgets

Vehicles

Replica of the white Turbo Esprit seen in the scenes set near MadridPhoto: Calreyn88 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Lotus Esprit Turbo (Type 82)
Car1981
White in Spain, copper-coloured with a ski rack in Cortina; self-destruct theft protection
Bond first drives a white Turbo Esprit to Gonzales's villa; an attempted break-in triggers its self-destruct system. He later receives a copper-coloured example with a ski rack in Cortina. The freely licensed photograph shows a replica in the film livery, not a documented screen-used car.
Driven by
James Bond
Specs
2.2 L turbocharged 16-valve inline-four, 210 bhp, 150 mph
Sources: For Your Eyes Only – 007.com · 1980s Heritage: Lotus Esprit Turbo – Lotus Cars Japan · 1981 Lotus Esprit Turbo in For Your Eyes Only – IMCDb
A yellow 2CV becomes the getaway car after the Lotus self-destructsPhoto: Guillaume Vachey from Chalon sur Saone, France · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Citroën 2CV 6
Car1980
Yellow economy car; the principal stunt car received a 1.1 L engine from a Citroën GS
After the Lotus explodes, Melina and Bond flee in her yellow 2CV from two Peugeot 504s. The seven-minute chase was filmed over twelve days on Corfu; several cars were used and four are known to survive. The specifications distinguish the production model from the film conversion documented by 007.com.
Driven by
Melina Havelock; later James Bond
Specs
Production car: 602 cc flat-twin, about 33 bhp; principal film car: 1.1 L engine from a Citroën GS
Sources: Citroën 2CV – 007.com · 1980 Citroën 2CV 6 in For Your Eyes Only – IMCDb
Two Peugeot 504s pursue Bond and Melina along Corfu's mountain roadsPhoto: Niels de Wit from Lunteren, The Netherlands · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Peugeot 504
Car1969
Two saloons pursue Bond and Melina's 2CV
Gonzales's men chase the 2CV in two Peugeot 504 saloons along hairpins and through olive groves. 007.com confirms the make and model; IMCDb identifies the cars as 1969 models. Because the screen cars' engines and output are not reliably documented, no technical figures are given.
Driven by
Gonzales's henchmen
Sources: Citroën 2CV – 007.com · For Your Eyes Only vehicles – IMCDb
Yamaha XT500s were modified with outriggers and weapons for the ski chasePhoto: Rainmaker47 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Yamaha XT500
Other1980
Modified with ski outriggers and machine guns for the snow chase
Two assassins pursue Bond in Cortina on modified Yamaha XT500s across the ski run, jump and bobsleigh track. The model identification comes from IMCDb; Yamaha documents the XT500 as a road-legal single-cylinder trail bike. The freely licensed photograph shows a civilian production motorcycle without the film modifications.
Driven by
Kristatos's motorcycle assassins
Specs
air-cooled 499 cc four-stroke single, 30 PS (22 kW), 5-speed transmission
Sources: For Your Eyes Only – 007.com · 1976 XT500 – Yamaha Motor Communication Plaza · For Your Eyes Only vehicles – IMCDb
Eon Productions / Perry Oceanographics Neptune
Other
Fictional two-person research submersible belonging to the Havelocks
Melina pilots Neptune to the wreck of St Georges, where she and Bond recover the ATAC and repel the one-man Mantis submersible. Production designer Peter Lamont commissioned two working props and a partial mock-up; Perry Oceanographics motorised one version for underwater photography. No photograph of the screen vehicle with a clearly reusable licence could be found.
Driven by
Melina Havelock; James Bond as passenger
Sources: For Your Eyes Only – 007.com · Melina's Neptune Submarine – Ian Fleming Foundation
The official 007 site identifies Locque's S-Class as a Mercedes-Benz 280 SEPhoto: Jeremy from Sydney, Australia · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Mercedes-Benz 280 SE (W116), laut offizieller 007-Seite
Car
Model conflict: 007.com names a 280 SE, while some vehicle lists say 450 SEL
Locque flees the raid on Kristatos's Albanian warehouse in a W116 S-Class until the car is left hanging over a cliff and Bond kicks it off. The official 007 site calls the car a 280 SE; IMCDb confirms only the W116 family and records competing model identifications. Therefore no year, engine or performance figures are presented as certain; the photograph shows a standard 280 SE W116.
Driven by
Emile Leopold Locque
Sources: For Your Eyes Only – 007.com · W116 S-Class in For Your Eyes Only – IMCDb · W116 series history – MercedesHeritage

Gadgets

Seiko H357
Bond's analogue-digital watch receives scrolling LED text messages and doubles as a radio communicator.
Sources: For Your Eyes Only – 007.com
ATAC
The Automatic Targeting Attack Communicator coordinates Britain's Polaris submarine fleet. The sunken unit is sought by Bond, Kristatos and the Soviet side.
Sources: For Your Eyes Only – 007.com · For Your Eyes Only – AFI Catalog
3-D visual identigraph
Q turns Bond's recollection into a three-dimensional computer likeness and uses it to identify Locque.
Sources: For Your Eyes Only – 007.com
Binocular camera
Bond observes Gonzales's villa through binoculars that also take photographs.
Sources: For Your Eyes Only – 007.com
Melina's crossbow
Melina pursues her parents' killers with a crossbow and shoots Gonzales with a bolt.
Sources: For Your Eyes Only – 007.com
Remote control for Bond's helicopter
In the pre-title sequence the enemy remotely takes control of Bond's helicopter; Bond severs the link and turns the tables.
Sources: For Your Eyes Only – 007.com
A JIM suit at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum; in the film Kristatos's diver uses one to attack Bond and MelinaPhoto: Geni · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
JIM diving suit
Kristatos's diver uses the pressure-resistant atmospheric suit to attack Bond and Melina at the wreck of St Georges.
Sources: For Your Eyes Only – 007.com
Electrified headset
Kristatos has Bond's contact Ferrara killed with a tampered, electrified headset.
Sources: For Your Eyes Only – 007.com
Walther PPK 7.65 mm
Bond once again carries his compact Walther PPK service pistol in 7.65 mm calibre.
Sources: For Your Eyes Only – 007.com

Production and trivia

The screenplay primarily combines Ian Fleming's short stories 'For Your Eyes Only' and 'Risico'; the title, Melina's revenge motive and the Kristatos-Columbo rivalry derive from those sources.
John Glen made his directing debut. It was the first of five Bond films he directed, more than any other director in the series.
Peter Lamont took charge of production design on a Bond film for the first time and deliberately moved the sets in a more realistic direction after the space spectacle of Moonraker.
According to AFI, principal photography began on Corfu on 15 September 1980 and was expected to finish in late February 1981.
Corfu doubled not only for itself but also for the villa near Madrid and for several scenes set in Albania.
The 2CV chase was filmed over twelve days on Corfu. It marked the Bond debut of stunt driver and coordinator Rémy Julienne, who remained with the series through GoldenEye.
Cortina experienced an unusually warm winter during filming. Snow had to be brought in from neighbouring areas to make the ski sequences look wintry.
Carole Bouquet could not dive because of an inner-ear condition. Her close-ups were staged dry with wind machines, slow motion and artificial bubbles to simulate underwater photography.
For Neptune, Lamont's team designed two working props and a partial mock-up; Perry Oceanographics fitted one version with propulsion.
Sheena Easton was the first Bond theme performer to appear on screen during the main title sequence.
'For Your Eyes Only' by Bill Conti and Mick Leeson was nominated for Best Original Song at the 1982 Academy Awards.
Michael G. Wilson was executive producer and co-writer; he also appears briefly as a Greek priest.
The world premiere took place at London's Odeon Leicester Square on 24 June 1981 as a charity event; Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer were guests of honour.
The German version was produced by cine-adaption in Munich-Gauting. Michael Brennicke wrote the dialogue script and John Pauls-Harding directed the dubbing.
Italian stunt performer Paolo Rigon was killed in a bobsleigh accident during filming on 17 February 1981.