Why did they not replace Roger Moore in 1980?

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  • Posts: 7,653
    NicNac wrote: »
    The danger for you is that you are only really taking one line on these forums and you will burn yourself out. Best get on to the Connery News and Appreciation thread and give us some Connery love. Just bashing Moore constantly means you will simply tire out within a few weeks. ;-)

    he tires me out in the sense that when I read his name I'll skip his writing and continue to the next person on the thread. Don't feel the need to discuss anything with him concerning 007
  • Posts: 1,146
    RC7 wrote: »
    Watch Kananga's death in LALD and tell me that's cool.
    Ugh.

    I would say it's no more or less cool than DN's rather cartoonish death, GF being sucked out of a jet, Celli's hammy acting for Largo's death to name but a few.


    You are absolutely right about Goldfinger's death. I liked Celli more than you did, thought he was a good villain.

    In all honesty, there's so many issues with Dr No I really don't know where to begin.

    My point is I can be objective about the stuff I like, just like I can state that there's a gag in a Moore film that I like, is it TSWLM, where there's a guy hanging from Bond's tie and he karate chops down and the guy falls to his death? They resorted to a similar gag in QoS.
  • MooseWithFleasMooseWithFleas Philadelphia
    Posts: 3,369
    Not surprising that Cubby wanted to woo Roger back after the back-to-back successes of TSWLM and MR. After FYEO it looked like they would go with a new Bond, but with Connery back on NSNA it would have been extremely risky to put a new Bond up against Connery. By '83 audiences were pretty split as to who was Bond and Moore's wide acceptance at the time was too risky to dismiss at that important juncture in history. Proved to be correct as OP ended up beating NSNA in nearly every aspect.

    The one I didn't understand was AVTAK. It seemed with FYEO and OP there were screentests for new Bonds, but with AVTAK, I never saw any screentest or debating whether Rog would be back. It was almost like the producers said Ok, we beat McClory and now lets give Rog a proper swan song and give him the 7th Bond to beat Connery before starting fresh.

  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    RC7 wrote: »
    Watch Kananga's death in LALD and tell me that's cool.
    Ugh.

    I would say it's no more or less cool than DN's rather cartoonish death, GF being sucked out of a jet, Celli's hammy acting for Largo's death to name but a few.


    You are absolutely right about Goldfinger's death. I liked Celli more than you did, thought he was a good villain.

    In all honesty, there's so many issues with Dr No I really don't know where to begin.

    My point is I can be objective about the stuff I like, just like I can state that there's a gag in a Moore film that I like, is it TSWLM, where there's a guy hanging from Bond's tie and he karate chops down and the guy falls to his death? They resorted to a similar gag in QoS.

    It was indeed TSWLM, 'What a helpful chap.' I like Celli too, just found the death scene a little over-acted, it was in response to your comment on Kananga - who was played brilliantly by Kotto imo. The bit where he loses it, having revealed himself, is brilliant.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,179
    @doubleohdad, please use the EDIT button instead of piling up these double posts. Thank you.
  • Posts: 1,146
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    @doubleohdad, please use the EDIT button instead of piling up these double posts. Thank you.

    Apologies. Will do.
  • edited January 2015 Posts: 1,778
    BAIN123 wrote: »
    Roger Moore is usually the first to report for duty when the Bond World needs him, even today.

    That's very true, I criticise him as Bond from time to time too but I do admit that, of all the Bond's, he seems to be the only actor to publicly embrace the role. The others all want to distance themselves from it.

    He more than just reports for duty. Roger Moore has essentially become the patron saint (no pun intended) of the Bond franchise and has been for decades now. He was the only former Bond to be a consistent presence in the special edition dvd special features (even for films he didn't star in), he still does press for Bond films 30 years after he retired, and he never has anything but a positive attitude and nice things to say about everyone else to have worked in the Bond franchise. I wish Hollywood had more people who handle themselves with the grace, dignity, loyalty, and class of SIr Rog.

    Sean Connery might be considered "The Man" when it comes to Bond but Roger Moore is the series' unsung hero. Without him Bond would've died a slow death in the 70s.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited January 2015 Posts: 23,883
    I think the last post just about sums it up about why he was not replaced. It's because he's just an all round great guy and people liked working with him, including EON. He's a rare commodity in the ego-driven movie business.
  • Brilliant point.
    Have you seen his website?every month he asks people out there to ask him a question, and he replies.
    There are always the Bond questions which he always answers with grace, consideration, and wit.
  • edited January 2015 Posts: 1,778
    @Doubleohdad has mentioned that Lazenby should've stayed on so we would've avoided the Moore Era altogether. I want to say I loved OHMSS and would've preferred Lazenby had returned in DAF but there is simply no way Lazenby would've kept audiences coming back for 7 straight films the way Moore did. In all honesty it was a good thing Lazenby didn't sign that 7 film extension after OHMSS. Had he done so I don't think Bond would've made it past the mid to late 70s. Much less the 80s.

  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited January 2015 Posts: 23,883
    I have "The Films of Roger Moore" a small book by John Williams

    There is a foreword by his good friend, director and producer, the late Bryan Forbes. The quote is "Perhaps the most amazing thing about him is that he has survived his good looks and basic niceness in a profession which hates even as it admires" - Bryan Forbes

    I bought this book when I was 11 years old. That quote always stuck with me.
  • edited January 2015 Posts: 1,778
    bondjames wrote: »
    I have "The Films of Roger Moore" a small book by John Williams

    There is a foreword by his good friend, director and producer, the late Bryan Forbes. The quote is "Perhaps the most amazing thing about him is that he has survived his good looks and basic niceness in a profession which hates even as it admires" - Bryan Forbes

    I bought this book when I was 11 years old. That quote always stuck with me.

    I'll always passionately defend Roger Moore because I've always considered him a role-model. Not just for the above mentioned reasons but for his tireless humanitarian efforts for UNISEF. He's simply a good-hearted man. Moore in Hollywood was an island of class in a sea of selfishness and egotism.
  • Again, spot on.
    OHMSS is a strong film, but I feel it's strengths don't lie with George Lazenby.
    Whenever I watch it, I long for Sean I'm afraid.
    The fact is, times changed, Bond films evolved, and more than survived.
    Moore played a vital part in this.
  • A few factoids:

    --Live And Let Die, not adjusted for inflation, was the first Bond movie whose worldwide box office exceeded Thunderball's. LALD wasn't as big a hit in the U.S. (it wouldn't be until Moonraker that a 007 movie had bigger box office than Thunderball). But LALD was a huge hit for its time.

    --As late as 1972, in the John Brosnan book "James Bond in the Cinema," a frequent question was whether Bond could survive the departure of Sean Connery. The eventual answer was yes.

    -- When Never Say Never Again was in production, Sean Connery had the clout to have his choice of writers (Dick Clement and Ian La Fa Frenais) revamp the script and he had the clout to have Michel LeGrand do the score. Over the years, I've read posts from Bond fans who say (in effect), "Never Say Never Again would have been great had it not been for the script and the score." Yet (and this only anecdotal) people who make such comments don't hold Connery responsible.



  • brinkeguthriebrinkeguthrie Piz Gloria
    Posts: 1,400
    The reviews were not great for live and let die--yeah it made money--but the reviews and box office for the next one were even worse

    It's just too bad that Lazenby was an idiot, or we would have been treated to more of him and Peter Hunt in the 1970's/early '80's, which is easily the worst decade for Bond films in terms of quality. An increasingly older Moore hitting on increasingly younger women, more and more comedy inserted into the films to bring them on par with the Pink Panther films, the lessening of jeopardy to the point where cartoon gags were commonplace, the series basically became a joke, being passed by the Lucas/Spielberg/ Scott/Cameron films as the blockbusters of the decade.

    There's a reason that Sean Connery was Indy's dad, not the soft, pithy and comedic Moore.

    Connery meant adventure. Moore meant a laugh.

    I have almost finished re-watching all the Moore's after having not seen them for years. When I came across the Tarzan yell in Octopussy I remembered why I hadn't watched them. But Kristina Wayborn made up for it.

  • Posts: 15,116
    Not surprising that Cubby wanted to woo Roger back after the back-to-back successes of TSWLM and MR. After FYEO it looked like they would go with a new Bond, but with Connery back on NSNA it would have been extremely risky to put a new Bond up against Connery. By '83 audiences were pretty split as to who was Bond and Moore's wide acceptance at the time was too risky to dismiss at that important juncture in history. Proved to be correct as OP ended up beating NSNA in nearly every aspect.

    The one I didn't understand was AVTAK. It seemed with FYEO and OP there were screentests for new Bonds, but with AVTAK, I never saw any screentest or debating whether Rog would be back. It was almost like the producers said Ok, we beat McClory and now lets give Rog a proper swan song and give him the 7th Bond to beat Connery before starting fresh.

    Of the last three Moore, FYEO would have been the best introduction for a new Bond and the best break from what would then have been the Moore era. I always felt AVTAK was executed on automatic.
  • ThomasCrown76ThomasCrown76 Augusta, ks
    Posts: 757
    No one seemed very happy with a view to a kill. Ok, maybe a few, but yeah, just felt like another one to crank out in two years since the last one. Moore says it's his least favorite
  • Posts: 1,068
    For all it's criticism here I do love AVTAK but there's no denying Roger looks ancient in it and it's awkward seeing him carrying on the same womanising behaviour he became so well known for: it's a bit creepy and embarrassing really. I feel the film rocks along nicely and has a nice vibe to it even with the unwanted carry on slapstick moments stiched in.

    I totally agree with the last comments about the sheer determination to be the champion/standard bearer for everything to do with the series. He is indeed the consummate pro and a man to be respected if only for this among all his other good qualities - a top man.
  • Posts: 1,146
    Atlantis wrote: »
    Again, spot on.
    OHMSS is a strong film, but I feel it's strengths don't lie with George Lazenby.
    Whenever I watch it, I long for Sean I'm afraid.
    The fact is, times changed, Bond films evolved, and more than survived.
    Moore played a vital part in this.

    OHMSS is such a strong picture almost anybody could have played Bond. Some of Hunt's compositions are just amazing.
  • edited January 2015 Posts: 1,778
    Atlantis wrote: »
    Again, spot on.
    OHMSS is a strong film, but I feel it's strengths don't lie with George Lazenby.
    Whenever I watch it, I long for Sean I'm afraid.
    The fact is, times changed, Bond films evolved, and more than survived.
    Moore played a vital part in this.

    OHMSS is such a strong picture almost anybody could have played Bond. Some of Hunt's compositions are just amazing.

    Than, with all due respect, by that logic you should be saying that Peter Hunt should've directed more Bond films rather than Lazenby signing on for more, which I agree with as I loved Hunt's directorial style in OHMSS. OHMSS is a brilliant film but it almost succeeds in spite of Lazenby rather than because of him. While I don't think Lazenby is as bad as some people make him out to be, I'll admit he wasn't a very strong Bond. Personally I rank him 5th out of 6.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,270
    Because he was monumentally successful in the role of Bond.
  • Posts: 15,116
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Because he was monumentally successful in the role of Bond.

    Still, I think he stayed too long, which somewhat hurt Dalton's tenure.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,270
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Because he was monumentally successful in the role of Bond.

    Still, I think he stayed too long, which somewhat hurt Dalton's tenure.

    He deserved to do FYEO and OP at least.
  • Posts: 15,116
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Because he was monumentally successful in the role of Bond.

    Still, I think he stayed too long, which somewhat hurt Dalton's tenure.

    He deserved to do FYEO and OP at least.

    OP may have been his best performance and maybe the best Bond movie tailored for Moore, so yes, but FYEO however good it was I always thought was conceived for a new Bond actor. It would have made for one hell of a first entry.
  • Posts: 1,146
    Atlantis wrote: »
    Again, spot on.
    OHMSS is a strong film, but I feel it's strengths don't lie with George Lazenby.
    Whenever I watch it, I long for Sean I'm afraid.
    The fact is, times changed, Bond films evolved, and more than survived.
    Moore played a vital part in this.

    OHMSS is such a strong picture almost anybody could have played Bond. Some of Hunt's compositions are just amazing.

    Than, with all due respect, by that logic you should be saying that Peter Hunt should've directed more Bond films rather than Lazenby signing on for more, which I agree with as I loved Hunt's directorial style in OHMSS. OHMSS is a brilliant film but it almost succeeds in spite of Lazenby rather than because of him. While I don't think Lazenby is as bad as some people make him out to be, I'll admit he wasn't a very strong Bond. Personally I rank him 5th out of 6.

    I don't think I worded that very well, because I think Laz was awesome in that picture, and yes, I do think that Hunt should have directed more of them, but EON wanted the Hamilton giggle fest.

    Honestly, I should be harder on him than Moore, since he seemed to be at the forefront of all the 70's silliness.
  • ThomasCrown76ThomasCrown76 Augusta, ks
    Posts: 757
    He did stay too damned long
  • Posts: 613
    I don't have a problem with how long he stayed but the fact that he was older than connery was bad if he was younger when he got the part I think his long stay would have made more sense.I don't like bond pushing 60 just doesn't work.
  • edited January 2015 Posts: 1,146
    Sorry, double-post!
  • Posts: 1,146
    SaintMark wrote: »
    NicNac wrote: »
    The danger for you is that you are only really taking one line on these forums and you will burn yourself out. Best get on to the Connery News and Appreciation thread and give us some Connery love. Just bashing Moore constantly means you will simply tire out within a few weeks. ;-)

    he tires me out in the sense that when I read his name I'll skip his writing and continue to the next person on the thread. Don't feel the need to discuss anything with him concerning 007

    At least you did not insult me.
    I appreciate your position, sir :)
  • edited January 2015 Posts: 1,146
    Triple post! Apologies!
    Roger Moore is cool!
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