A British spy trawler is sunk in the Aegean Sea. Oceanographer Jack Hedley ("Havelock") is tasked with trying to find the ship before a vital piece of tracking hardware falls into enemy hands. Things don't go to plan though, and once the wreck has been located a brutal murder ensues and Roger Moore ("007"), aided by the daughter of the murdered scientist (Carole Bouquet), has to try and track down the stolen kit before it falls into the hands of the Soviets. The adventure elements of this are pretty good as are the gadgets, but the casting isn't up to much. Aside from the star, there is little skill on offer as Topol, an oddly cast Julian Glover as baddie "Kristatos" and the thoroughly peevish ice-skating protegé Lynn-Holly Johnson ("Bibi") all struggle to keep this sluggish plot rumbling along until a really rather half-baked ending. It's got some fine cinematography of Greece and the set-piece action scenes work well enough, but I'm afraid this outing for "Mr. Bond" is not one of his better ones in my book.
2023-06-07
