You really don't think any movie after Diamonds Are Forever was less campy than that one?
They's stayed with a solid amount of camp for a long time now. But it has, to me, clearly gone up and down over time. For Your Eyes Only is one of the least campy, and its stuck right between two of the most campy.
Not that campy is bad......
But I'd agree that a bit more grit in the future would be a good thing.
Yeah. Don't bother comparing it to any "real" Bond movie of course! But compared to any other superspy parody out there (including the recent Austin Powers crap), it holds up really well.
Not the best movie by Sellers, Allen, or for that matter any of the other big-shot cast names (Ursula Andress, David Niven , Orson Welles, Deborah Kerr, Jean-Paul Belmondo, ...) by any stretch. But still a very enjoyable movie if you don't have a religious obejection against poking fun at the genre and don't mind some absurd plot twists...
And heck, they *did* include a good chunk of Ian Fleming's original plot. Including some bits you're guaranteed not to see in the latest "serious" interpretation. (Check the trivia section on IMDB for why there's a carpet beater hanging from the side of Orson Welles's chair, for example! )
1. He's too identified as the most recent Shaft character.
2. He's American. You need a British citizen to be employed by Her Majesty's Secret Service.