Is DAF the most flawed and most entertaining Bond film?

24

Comments

  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited January 2015 Posts: 23,883
    bondjames wrote: »
    I love TMWTGG as well. Apart from the kung fu bits, the crappy boat chase & the flying car, I think it's great.

    So you think the embarrassing stuff with Mary Goodnight during the sabotage of Scaramanga's solar weapon is great?! :)

    I happen to be a fan of Goodnight's rear in a bikini. :x
  • Posts: 4,622
    Ekland is top Bond bikini girl I think.
    I'd even nudge her ahead of both Andress and St. John.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    edited January 2015 Posts: 24,157
    DAF is a film you discover, and then have to re-discover.

    Ten year old me loved DAF because, well, it had Bond going bang bang and kiss kiss; it had Connery; it had the Bond theme... In summary, DAF had everything I wanted out of a Bond film when I was incredibly naive.

    Fifteen year old me rejected DAF because, well, it has a moonbuggy going ape; it has a Blofeld with hair; it has a gay henchman going out with a bang between his nuts... In summary, DAF felt like a parody, a total waste of my time.

    Grown-up me loves DAF. Sure, it's silly, cheesy, even sassy. But it's so outrageous, it's an unmistakable pleasure to watch. I'm not in it for the plot or the suspense, but I love the performances, even the bad ones, the dialogues, the settings. And while Barry's tremendous score and Adam's wonderful designs may be the only elements of legitimate quality, almost everything in the film is, intended or not, pure awesomeness.

    Believe me when I say I would have preferred OHMSS: part II starring George Lazenby. Believe me when I say Hamilton gets little Bond love from me despite GF. But almost by accident it seems, DAF walks away with a couple of big smiles from me. Not that I'd ever recommend this film to someone looking for a serious Bond, mind. But I'm entertained. I love spending time in this incredulous world!

    In any case, DAF ranks higher for me than TMWTGG, AVTAK and TWINE. Perhaps it fills the same spot as DAD. But it's not as good a film IMO as MR.
  • Getafix wrote: »
    I agree DAF is a bit under appreciated around here. Watched it recently and actually really enjoyed it.

    Around here is right. I'm a member on another Bond forum where most members give it the appreciation (I feel) it deserves.

  • Posts: 11,189
    timmer wrote: »
    Ekland is top Bond bikini girl I think.
    I'd even nudge her ahead of both Andress and St. John.

    I can't agree. Jill St. John is top bikini girl.

    Britt Eckland doesn't do it for me [-(
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,789
    BAIN123 wrote: »
    I can't agree. Jill St. John is top bikini girl.

    Britt Eckland doesn't do it for me [-(
    Both bottoms are topps IMHO!

  • ThomasCrown76ThomasCrown76 Augusta, ks
    Posts: 757
    Lana wood and Jill St. John.girl on girl. Best moment of bondage ever:)
  • edited January 2015 Posts: 4,622
    BAIN123 wrote: »
    timmer wrote: »
    Ekland is top Bond bikini girl I think.
    I'd even nudge her ahead of both Andress and St. John.

    I can't agree. Jill St. John is top bikini girl.

    Britt Eckland doesn't do it for me [-(

    :) These are important discussions, so I do respect your opinion ;) But as much as Iike St. John's "such nice cheeks" Ekland cavorts around that island like ultimate Swedish sex kitten.
    How did these guys concentrate on their dinner?
    Jan11172.jpg
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,789
    Total agreement.
    I think Britt's bikini was actually painted on...
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    I've been meaning to watch TMWTGG again for some time.

    That photo has made it quite critical that I rewatch it sooner rather than later.
  • Posts: 11,425
    Gun is highly underrated. The classic Bond movie that Skyfall wanted to be!
  • ShardlakeShardlake Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 4,043
    I think it's one of the worst Bond films ever but happens to have on of the best title themes of the series as well as a top class score from the Governor.

    I am not going to dissect it and go on about forever like other forum members have about a certain other entry but I'll just say I think Connery is terrible in it and no I don't think Wint & Kidd are at all clever, I don't like the script it's embarrassing.

    It's cringe worthy to watch for me and as much as those who don't get my love of SF, I don't understand why you'd think this is a good film, to say it is one of the best is just plain ridiculous in my eyes, it was Austin Powers years before those films were ever made.

    Come to think of it Powers takes allot of flak, Connery, Guy Hamilton & Charles Gray were doing a fine job of ridiculing the series themselves back in 1971. I hope to never see it's like again, give me serious and pretentious any day of the week if this is the alternative.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,789
    Nothing you say here is off target except this:
    Shardlake wrote: »
    give me serious and pretentious any day of the week if this is the alternative.
    Bond is an adult comic book- to treat the subject matter in an overly-serious, faux-meaningful or pretentious manner is the worst thing you can do. If a film can't target (give or take a bit) that delicate balance somewhere in between silly and grim, then PLEASE just go silly. DAF is silly fun. At least.
  • Posts: 11,425
    Shardlake wrote: »
    I think it's one of the worst Bond films ever but happens to have on of the best title themes of the series as well as a top class score from the Governor.

    I am not going to dissect it and go on about forever like other forum members have about a certain other entry but I'll just say I think Connery is terrible in it and no I don't think Wint & Kidd are at all clever, I don't like the script it's embarrassing.

    It's cringe worthy to watch for me and as much as those who don't get my love of SF, I don't understand why you'd think this is a good film, to say it is one of the best is just plain ridiculous in my eyes, it was Austin Powers years before those films were ever made.

    Come to think of it Powers takes allot of flak, Connery, Guy Hamilton & Charles Gray were doing a fine job of ridiculing the series themselves back in 1971. I hope to never see it's like again, give me serious and pretentious any day of the week if this is the alternative.

    Very well put about Austin Powers. This is one of the reasons I never saw the point of Powers - Bond had been doing self parody for years.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,789
    Getafix wrote: »
    Very well put about Austin Powers. This is one of the reasons I never saw the point of Powers - Bond had been doing self parody for years.
    I must agree. To make a movie making fun of a 30 year old film when Bondolas & Dolly-love visited that already was merely opportunism.
  • Posts: 2,491
    Finally someone who agrees with me.

    I really enjoy DAF. The cheesiness of DAF >>> The cheesiness of Moore for me.

    DAF is really entertaining movie, even tho it is not the best by any means.

    I do think this movie is really under appreciated.
  • edited January 2015 Posts: 1,009
    Another one here that values DAF as one of the most entertaining films of the whole series precisely because of its campy and geeky overtones.

    In fact, the two movies that made me a Bond fan are two of the most widely hated: DAF and TMWTTG. I think this makes me kind of a bastard son to the general fanbase :D

    [And you guessed right, TB is a much better film, but as a spectator, I would choose NSNA and its oh-so-80s campiness over the dated epicness of the 1965 film]
  • edited January 2015 Posts: 4,622
    In fact, the two movies that made me a Bond fan are two of the most widely hated: DAF and TMWTTG. I think this makes me kind of a bastard son to the general fanbase :D
    You're good. Both films are classic dark-campy, '70s Guy Hamilton Bond, and both with awesome bikini babe leads :x

  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,423
    @Pierce2Daniel - good points made old boy. Your view mirrors my own.
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    DAF is a film you discover, and then have to re-discover.

    Ten year old me loved DAF because, well, it had Bond going bang bang and kiss kiss; it had Connery; it had the Bond theme... In summary, DAF had everything I wanted out of a Bond film when I was incredibly naive.

    Fifteen year old me rejected DAF because, well, it has a moonbuggy going ape; it has a Blofeld with hair; it has a gay henchman going out with a bang between his nuts... In summary, DAF felt like a parody, a total waste of my time.

    Grown-up me loves DAF. Sure, it's silly, cheesy, even sassy. But it's so outrageous, it's an unmistakable pleasure to watch. I'm not in it for the plot or the suspense, but I love the performances, even the bad ones, the dialogues, the settings. And while Barry's tremendous score and Adam's wonderful designs may be the only elements of legitimate quality, almost everything in the film is, intended or not, pure awesomeness.

    Believe me when I say I would have preferred OHMSS: part II starring George Lazenby. Believe me when I say Hamilton gets little Bond love from me despite GF. But almost by accident it seems, DAF walks away with a couple of big smiles from me. Not that I'd ever recommend this film to someone looking for a serious Bond, mind. But I'm entertained. I love spending time in this incredulous world!

    In any case, DAF ranks higher for me than TMWTGG, AVTAK and TWINE. Perhaps it fills the same spot as DAD. But it's not as good a film IMO as MR.

    Yes! I liked DAF when I was a nipper, go off it a bit in my serious teenage years, and then I'd rediscover DAF now.

  • edited January 2015 Posts: 11,189
    timmer wrote: »
    BAIN123 wrote: »
    timmer wrote: »
    Ekland is top Bond bikini girl I think.
    I'd even nudge her ahead of both Andress and St. John.

    I can't agree. Jill St. John is top bikini girl.

    Britt Eckland doesn't do it for me [-(

    :) These are important discussions, so I do respect your opinion ;) But as much as Iike St. John's "such nice cheeks" Ekland cavorts around that island like ultimate Swedish sex kitten.
    How did these guys concentrate on their dinner?
    Jan11172.jpg

    She looks like she's been going through a strict fitness regime.
    Getafix wrote: »
    Gun is highly underrated. The classic Bond movie that Skyfall wanted to be!

    Did you decide that before or after JW and his hilarious wife turned up? ;)
  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,423
    Magnificent abdomen

  • Posts: 4,603
    No and no
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    Posts: 4,582
    On the surface, DAF is simply awful. Let's face it. Diamond smuggling and homosexual hit men were the only plot elements from the novel that wound up in the film. For the rest, Tom Mankiewicz and Richard Maibum spent weeks smoking who knows what, because the story is by far the most bizarre of any Bond film. I mean, Bond in a pink tie? Bambi and Thumper as bodyguards? An escaped ape running through a casino? A moon buggy chase?

    But all the weirdness makes for (as others have stated) pure entertainment. It belongs in its own category of Bond film.

    One thing of note: Barry's score for DAF might be his best.

  • edited January 2015 Posts: 11,189
    Regarding DAF, the first half hour or so is reasonably entertaining (the PTS which I'm not sure whether was intentionally funny or not), some of Connery's dialogue, Jill St. John and Wint and Kidd. But the film really stalls once it gets out into the desert and (IMO) just becomes really boring and difficult to sit through.
  • Posts: 1,009
    TripAces wrote: »
    One thing of note: Barry's score for DAF might be his best.

    DAT

    Q's Trick is my favorite Barry track.
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    TripAces wrote: »
    One thing of note: Barry's score for DAF might be his best.

    I tend to agree with you. I'm torn between OHMSS and DAF, but usually settle on the latter.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,789
    timmer wrote: »
    In fact, the two movies that made me a Bond fan are two of the most widely hated: DAF and TMWTTG. I think this makes me kind of a bastard son to the general fanbase :D
    You're good. Both films are classic dark-campy, '70s Guy Hamilton Bond, and both with awesome bikini babe leads :x
    Hear hear!
    =D>
  • I love DAF. Especially Wint and Kidd. Sure, a lot of stuff annoys me, none more so than Tiffany going from competent diamond smuggler to complete bimbo in under an hour. But I can watch this more times than YOLT.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    edited January 2015 Posts: 15,713
    I think the one moment in the entire franchise that never fails to make me laugh out loud is the gun recoil that makes Tiffany fall off the oil rig. :))
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,789
    I think the one moment in the entire franchise that never fails to make me laugh out loud is the gun recoil that makes Tiffany fall off the oil rig. :))
    And Bond's look after it.
    :))
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