Every James Bond Finale Ranked
9. For Your Eyes Only - Kristiatos' Lair
The ending of For Your Eyes Only, which is one of the finest films in the series, is a brilliantly judged affair.
This finale, which takes the form of an assault of the main antagonist's mountain lair, has some absolutely heart-pumping thrills but it always feels grounded and suspenseful, meaning this never spills over into outright absurdity like several of the other Moore films did. It's a flawless tonal balance and it's a damn shame the rest of the Roger Moore era couldn't have been like this.
Furthermore, the frankly terrifying mountain climb - during which you'll forget to breathe more than once - is one of the best James Bond scenes to date, so all in all this one hugely satisfying Bond climax.
The one thing that drags this down is the disappointing conclusion to the subplot of main Bond Girl Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet) wanting revenge for the death of her parents, while Bond tries to talk her out of this. Bond's ally Columbo (Topol) kills main villain Aristotle Kristiatos (Julian Glover) instead and she doesn't even look bothered.
Other than that though, this is an awesome ending to an awesome film.