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M:I has raised the bar for action (and I don't mean dumb CGI fests like the last few F&F films) since the Ghost Protocol. This is an area where Bond has been sorely lacking for too long. The last memorable action sequence was the free running from CR.
For the MI films, really only the bathroom fight in Fallout springs to mind as something I look forward to seeing again. They have a lot of great stunts, but I can’t say they stick in my mind much. I think I’m geared more towards fight choreography than spectacular stunts involving vehicles and the like.
Bond is the granddaddy of spy films and competes each and every time to outdo not only itself, but the entire action marketplace it helped create in the '60s.
Not to mention, Barbara and Michael do not have the array of Fleming novels (including very popular ones) that Cubby and Harry had to draw from...
It's apples to oranges.
Yeah, may I say that, as great as the film is, coming up with the storyline for FRWL was perhaps something which didn't take too long for Saltz'n'Brox! Also, Dr No was obviously a hit, but expectations were perhaps not as wildly high as they are today, after 60 years' worth of successful movies.
I can’t say I found much of RN or FALLOUT all that memorable. RN at least had a better opera sequence than QOS. I don’t remember anything from FALLOUT, except for a questionable choice in taking live footage of Cruise doing a HALO jump and slathering it with CGI, which inadvertently made the real stunt feel like a bluescreen production.
It remains the only M:I film I’ve had no desire to ever revisit after seeing it in theaters. But it was still marginally better than MI3, aka MARRIAGE: IMPOSSIBLE.
The MI films have fully embraced the worst aspects of some lesser Bond films--forgettable stories, memorable chiefly for the stunts.
But Roger Moore did it better and more effortlessly than Cruise.
Be Bond!
I don't think it's a good idea to try and outdo MI. No point in trying to get your lead actor to try the insane stunts that Tom Cruise does. Even if he did, then Bond would only be compared to the MI movies. Bond shouldn't be compared to anyone. (Within reason)
Take Bond back to being a thriller. An spy thriller, with a compelling and interesting story. You don't have to do insane stunts to make a great film. Though well thought out and relevant action is always going to be exciting. And when you do have an action set piece, add in the iconic James Bond theme. It's been sadly lacking from the recent films, and we often only hear it at the end of the film. It's the James Bond theme. Use it!
I tend to think the bathroom fight has more in common with True Lies than Bond- the layout of the room even looks pretty similar!
And when it comes to opera sequences, the one in Rogue Nation knocks the one in QoS into a cocked hat. That is a stunningly well-made, planned and directed set piece, it's brilliant.
Aw, I love 'em both. They do different things and have different strengths.
Trying to steer this thread away from other franchises, and where Bond might head going forward. Thanks old chap.
Hear, hear. Great post, @Benny! I wholeheartedly agree with every word.
In Dr. No or the first memorable stunt?
Probably the jetpack in TB.
The only issue I has with that scene, was Walker removing Ethan's air supply before jumping out. Then when they both land on the roof, Ethan doesn't question it. Surely alarm bells must at been going off like an air raid siren in his air. It's not he is Luther or Benji, he was forced onto the IMF team.
The highlight of Fallout, at least for me, was the Helicopter chase, from Ethan climbing up the rope, through to the mid air collision.
Is it not the train fight in FRWL?
I think the first stunt that got the ball rolling, starting the trend of one epic stunt per film was the boat jump over the road in LALD. It set a record for longest jump, and although the AMC Hornet jump in the following film is perhaps known as the first to use a computer algorithm to calculate the speed, angle etc., I read recently that the LALD boat jump had used a computer as well.
I feel like the jetpack is the first stunt-for-stunt's-sake in the series. It's cool but doesn't really make a ton of sense. A stunt by definition is something that is done to generate its own publicity.
The train fight and the Ft. Knox fight both rise organically from their respective stories, IMHO.
Very much agree. A stunt takes on a life of its own as if another character. No question the train scene in FRWL is spectacular, but it's not a stunt. It's an incredibly well-staged action sequence absolutely necessary to the story. The jet pack seemed silly and unnecessary to me when I first saw TB in the 60s. It wasn't organic. Imagining the fictional conversation about using it, how it got where it was, and how its use anticipated everything Bond would do is quite laughable.
For example: Later in the series.
Q-007, you'll need to pack a parachute along with your ski gear. It might be necessary to ski off a mountain.
Bond-Right. Something colorful, perhaps? Maybe even patriotic?
Then that would include the Bond v Grant fight.
Only insofar as trained stunt doubles did some of the fighting. Not a media event like
Cruise jumping a motorcycle off a mountain.
M:I
Doesn’t feel like where the Bond series is going next, but yes: I agree- it makes little sense. He could have just used a ladder to do the same thing. If the chateau had had a moat, that would have been cool. I don’t mind a good stunt but the Bond series didn’t kick off with a great one there.
Hopefully they can think of a killer for the next one. I actually think that unused one of Bond jumping from a plane into a skyscraper-top pool in one of the unused B17 scripts was a great one.
It would include every fist fight in the series. So by that measure, Bond's fight with Mr. Jones in DN is the first stunt of the series.