User reviews

George Lazenby has become a polished story teller about all his Bond experiences. They are very interesting and he has become, over the years, very good at telling these stories and presenting them in both a fascinating and very humorous manner.

We were in stitches.

The wonderful thing about seeing a film in a festival setting is that there is not an empty seat to be found, and that every chair has in it a responsive audience member that is hanging on every word and laughing out loud en mass.

George, who has retired to somewhere California told one of his stories to the right ear. Someone who knew a couple of young, up and coming, very talented film makers. Who after several 3 and a half hour lunches listening to George decided they wanted to make a movie with him.

This was a wonderful screening at this years Hot Docs film festival with a wonderful Q&A where I was able to both speak with the film makers themselves as well as George who picked up when the director called him from the stage. He shared some additional insights through the auditoriums sound system but we all would have loved to see him.

Very good show.

Well worth a look, perhaps best described as a slapstick documentary of GL's life. I am around the same age as George and remember the Bond films and On Her Majesty's Secret Service was the only one I ever liked enough to watch again. I was always curious as to whether the stories of the making of that film were true as there was a lot of talk about it at the time. The "Australian" settings bear no resemblance at all to the Australia of the time, and it was a bit bizarre to see it dressed it as some sort of Antipodean California. I liked the intentionally corny acting as it fitted well with the overall tone of the film, and the cinematography was excellent. Jason Maybaum playing the young Lazenby was perfect.

Very enjoyable and a lot of fun to watch a charming man continuing the tradition of the Great Australian Yarn.

You know the story: Australian male model living in England is selected to play James Bond after Connery quits. After making one movie, Australian himself walks away from Bond, leaving the door open for Connery's return.

What you probably don't know is who this George Lazenby was (and is) and why he turned his back on what could have been a career of a lifetime. Watch this movie and George himself will tell you. Accompanying and illustrating his tale are mostly-comedic reenactments that all in all make the story work.

It's the next best thing to sitting down with the man himself.

The interviewer asks Lazenby early on in the film, if what he is saying is actually true. I was asking myself the same question, and when Lazenby answered yes, it sealed the deal on this Documentary. As it stands, it is the best comedy bio documentary life story I have ever seen. And quite frankly for all I know, it may be the only one. Really quite historical in a way, since I would think no one could have ever known why he quit after only one Bond film, until this Bio Documentary. What he said at the end really sealed it, which I wont spoil. What an amazing life trip for this man, which seems better than most, regardless of his turning down more Bond films. Its very funny and worth the watch.

I saw "Becoming Bond" as someone who isn't even a Bond fan, and hasn't seen half the films. The unlikely story of George Lazenby is told so entertainingly and engagingly, however, that Lazenby's solitary Bond flick "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" is now on top of my Netflix queue. The filmmakers brilliantly turned Lazenby's own magnetic (and at times hard-to-believe) retelling of his life into a hilarious drunk-history-style re-creation that also manages to inspire. Great film.

Rather charming, if unevenly paced, story of George Lazenby. Depicts him as an almost Forrest Gump character who just stumbles into meeting the Prime Minister of Australia, moving to London, becoming a top model, hanging out with the Beatles and Rolling Stones, then finally becoming Bond. George is obviously an unreliable narrator but so is the filmmaker. Who knows what was left on the cutting room floor, but George could have been asked more probing questions or other aspects of his life could have been added.

This bio does make it sound like George just totally retired from Hollywood after one movie, raised a family, and raced motorcycles. But we know that's not true. And we know there much be much more to the story of why he quit. Is George a dumb guy who just fell into fame due to good looks, confidence, and luck, or is he actually incredibly wise, zen, and uncomplicated? You're not sure after watching this. He definitely was a product of his time.

The first half is fun but slow. I don't blame George's story, just the way it's presented. Way too much time was spent on George's first love, who obviously still means a great deal to him but he treated her poorly. The guy who plays George is hilarious though he tends to disappear in the second half when we finally get to making Bond. Then many clips of the real young George are used instead of reenactments. Jane Seymour completely steals the show with just a few looks. The ending, post-Bond, is very abrupt and felt unfinished. Like the real Drunk History, this ends up being a fun, superficial story of a real event that perhaps makes you want to do more of your own research to get the true story.

I am 52 years old so I remember the old bond movies as a kid. I personally never liked Sean Connery's version and frankly my first clear memories is of Roger Moore as James Bond. George's version is one I barely remember but now after watching this hilarious documentary I want to watch Of Her Majesty's Secret Service with an open mind again.

I did not know about Mr. Lazenby's background (as a model and non-actor), so I'm even more surprised at the great job he did performing as James Bond. He had a smooth delivery and looked right at ease in the role. I never understood why he didn't star in another James Bond movie until this film. It was great listening to his life story, and I'm glad he did well after the Bond role. It's too bad he was black-listed after the Bond movie 'cause he had a great screen presence. Wonderful person and full of life - thoroughly enjoyed "Becoming Bond."

A surprisingly fascinating and engrossing film. It's literally one interview with some lovely re-enactment footage intercut. So simple and yet so affecting. Very entertaining. Highly recommended for all Bond fans.

George Lazenby is the one and done James Bond. He's an Australian car salesman and male model who lied his way into the famous role despite having never acted before. He's offered the next six Bond movies with a $1 million in a suitcase but turned it all down. George recounts his story which is recreated comedically by actors. The opening lays out a couple of facts which I had no idea about. Quite frankly, I don't know much about him. I've seen the movie. He's a stiff actor. He's more a stuntman than a leading man. Josh Lawson who plays George is probably too good as an actor. He's like a SNL version of Lazenby. In the end, the man is a prankster playboy who is his own man for better and for worst. The biggest moment in the movie is him leaving behind Belinda at the airport. His story is not the tragedy I expected, or the mistake that is popularly believed. The movie tries to give him some triumphs but that's not the whole story either. For example, I don't see his movie as one of the best Bonds ever. He's not a great Bond but he is who he is. It is his life and he lived it his way.

Watched this late at night expecting fully to fall asleep halfway through. Well that didn't happen. Ended up watching the whole thing! The re-enactments of his story was very well done and had the perfect touch of comedy to it that made it hilarious. It wasn't over the top hilarious, but just enough to keep you interested in the story. His life was also rather interesting to hear about. There were so many things that I never knew about him. This exceeded my expectations and so therefore, I'm giving it a 10. One of the most entertaining Biography's I have seen. This is a must see for any James Bond fan.

What could have been an interesting documentary ends up being a boring piece of ****.

It's all about George talking about himself, and it features pointless reenactments of his life- why in God's name would you bother to do reenactments when he's already telling you what happened?

Also, the filmmakers didn't even bother to interview anyone else, so you never know whether what George was saying is even true or not. There's no different viewpoints and no insight except of what comes out of Lazenby's mouth.

What's even worse is that it completely glosses over what happened to George after he quit Bond.

Don't waste your time with this trash.

I was looking forward to watching this documentary as OHMSS is one of my favourite Bond films and I've read so many conflicting tales about why George quit the series on a high, etc.

George comes across very well and proves he's not afraid to show emotion on screen with a rather personal moment he shares with us regarding an early love of his. I've always considered him to be an excellent screen presence in OHMSS and, even almost 50 years on, he's still a very engaging screen presence. After listening and watching all his anecdotes spread through the reenactment scenes, I found myself wishing he'd continued the series and taken better advice. No spoilers, however.

I wasn't so satisfied with the reenactment and mostly found myself wishing that we could have just had George talking to the camera for the movies duration and left our imagination to picture the scenes. However, a plus point for Jane Seymour's brief part in these scenes. It's wonderful to see her on screen again in this. Memories of Solitaire in Live and Let die all came back when I twigged it was her. Additionally, I thought Clementi - apologies if I've spelt that wrong - was perfect for her part, as she's a stunning girl and came across extremely well in all her scenes. If George's real girlfriend of the time looked like her then it's obvious why he was so smitten.

As for the actor playing younger George, I'm not so convinced. He comes across as a competent enough actor but he looks nothing like the George of 1968 when he was filming OHMSS. That did put me off when they inter-spaced interview clips of the real George from the time and the actor reenacting them. Very distracting.

I do heartily recommend this documentary for anyone wanting to know the story but, no offense to George, I don't think he was telling us everything when you recall all the stories over the years.

Other insights make me question the details when, at the beginning of the film he states that illness in early childhood only left him with half a kidney, yet the trivia section on George states early on that at one point in his life he donated a kidney to a family member. Work that one out.

In conclusion: I enjoyed it a lot but most of that is just listening to George himself rather than the actors reenactment.

With the myriad of stories floating around about Lazenby's decision to quit Bond, this appears to be the truthful version - reinforced because of Lazenby's truthful and genuine telling of his story. His reflection on the Bond days in both rare interview footage from the time, coupled with the reflection of his love for Belinda, rings true.

The only downside? Aside from Jane Seymour's casting, the rest of the ensemble during the re- enactments are woeful. Lawson proves he isn't cut out for biopics (again, mind) and Clementi extends her soap opera acting here, disallowing the audience to buy into their relationship. The actor playing Saltzman created a cartoonish depiction of the producer; the portrayal of Hunt was less intrusive, but not necessarily good.

Negativity aside, it was excellent to see clips of the Bond films and interviews interwoven, as well an excellent score underpinning the visual content (with a welcome appearance of the Bond theme).

Informative and honest, funny and warm. But a little disappointed by some of the acting.

(2017) Becoming Bond DOCUMENTARY/ BIOGRAPHY

Written and directed by Josh Greenbaum by interviewing a somewhat of an autobiography of George Lazenby who became synonymous playing "a" Bond movie "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", and why he did not do more Bond movies in accordance to him, or be seen in anymore films with reenactments played by Dana Carvey, Jane Seymour and Jeff Garland to name a few, and Jason Maybaum playing much of the man himself, as the much younger Lazenby character.

There are two sides for every story and this is purely on George Lazenby's interpretation that is obvious not going to match anyone else's other than Lazenby himself.

Even the re-enactments work in this thoroughly well-done documentary. A must for any Bond fan.

Assuming you already know what this documentary is about, I'll just get to what I thought of the 1 and a half hour documentary where George Lazenby tells his "life story" and how he got the role of 007. However the documentary seems to be more about George Lanzenby's sex life at the start. For some reason their is a segment about how he lost his virginity too his hot 23 year old neighbor when he was fifteen, but whats the point of that segment? I guess to segway into Lazenby's sex addiction (if he had a sex addiction). But through out the documentary I didn't get the sense that he had a sex addiction because he is portrayed as dumb, witty, charismatic Australian who is just doing what he wants.

The part where it starts to get interesting is when his agent tells Lazenby that he should become Bond. But George Lazenby was only a male model at the time so he had to lie to get the job. So you see how he used his quick witted tricks to get the role of James Bond.

George later meets the love of his life Belinda and they become hally together but her father doesn't approve of him because of his lower class. So Belinda is sent away with her father in London, but George can't stand not hearing from her after she has stopped sending him letters. So he travels all the way from Australia to London to not find Belinda. He later meets Belinda in a pub with her new boyfriend, but a couple of weeks later she confesses that she still loves him and move in together. However Lazenby's model career kicks off and he has an affair with another woman and Belinda leaves him. A couple of years later George has the role of James Bond and he is told by the studio to go on vacation to escape the press. George invites Belinda to where he is staying in South France and surprisingly she agrees to go with excitement. When Belinda arrives George tells her that the studio has called him to go to London for a press conference and tells her that he will be back in a couple days, but he doesn't know that it would be years before he would return. George wouldn't see Belinda again until 20 years later but by that time she had already been married and had kids. The real George Lazenby telling the story while this all happens on screen begins to tear up and you feel with him. We had followed his adventure and relationship with Belinda so it was sad to see her and George have to leave each other not lnowing that it would be the last time they would see eachother for 20 years.

Later on in George Lazenby's career his agent tells Lazenby that he should become Bond. But Lazenby was only a male model with no acting experience at the time so he had to lie to the casting director, the head of the studio, and tbe director of the movie get the job. You see how he used his quick witted tricks to get the role of James Bond when the casting director asks him his life story and George just keeps naming countries that they couldn't trace him too so that they wouldn't know if it was true. The director outs him as a phony but says that lying his way through an organization is such a James Bond thing to do, so the director makes him 007.

The best part to me was the last few segments were Lazenby turns down a contract to be Bond for 6 more films and a 1 million dollar signing bonus while everyone is trashing him for it, saying it was notoriously one of the worst decisions in the world. But for Lazenby, he just wanted to live the life he wanted too. He just didn't want to be Bond off screen.

I really felt for Lazenby because he struggled in school, he found the love of his life only to lose her 3 times, 2 of which not being his fault. After all that personal stuff he turned down the next 6 Bond films for his own sake only to be ridiculed by everyone. The documentary has some glaring problems with its tone and it feels like the story can get side tracked but I think that was just George Lazenby telling his story and getting distracted by his sexual experiences and Hulu didn't have a whole lot to work with. I have no idea if most of the stuff Lazenby was saying was true, so I began to wonder how this story could be adapted perfectly and I thought of a George Lazenby Martin Scorsese movie, the documentary follows alot of themes Scorsese has dabbled with, such as sex and drugs.

Was not expecting this. Although not my favorite bond or movie, I still compelled to watch this and find out why he only did the one Bond movie. Its an often funny story, badly acted sketches but ends with a sadness thinking why did he do it? What made him take these incredible final decisions? Made me a new George Lazenby fan and itching to watch again On her majesties secret service.

Well done. Entertaining and informative. Well worth the watch.