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Usually, that's what I like to call an "indie transition". I used to think that the style came from Forsters low budget sensibilities. But now I think it's just because they couldn't think of a shot to end the scene with (or just forgot to shoot one), so they just threw some inserts together.
Great work once again on the poll, @Gustav
Still hard to believe I'm the only person who has his entire top ten in the poll's top ten. I feel validated.
If you look closely, until voter @Chang (65th voter), OHMSS and CR were really fighting for top spot. But the more voters joined, the more CR ran away with it.
Also now you see clearly: The more 'green', the better the Bond film. Overall the 1960's obviously are very 'green', but so are the 2000's and 2010's....especially since Craig joined the club.
Hence why FRWL is therefore not able to grab the top spot?
He isn't a fan like I am hehe. But don't forget that there are millions of people who merely 'like' Bond films and who aren't die-hard Bond nerds like we are.
But....I will educate him a bit more hehe.
I have a couple of friends who write off the whole series as nothing but shallow repetition with no redeeming qualities. There's only so many times you can try educate some people before you just have to admit defeat and accept they'll never remember the visual pleasures a lot of these films have to offer.
I can understand how the formula could get off-putting to some running through the series, but there's some movies like DN, FRWL, GF, TB, OHMSS and TSWLM that you as a human being need to see. To understand cinema and what makes its history, you must also study Bond as one of the properties that has imprinted it the most.
@0BradyM0Bondfanatic7
I'm sorry, I think I was being somewhat dismissive just because we had differing opinions.
Purely as a Bond nerd, I agree. But still, this is a very subjective remark off course. There simply are people who like newer Bond films more than the old Bond films like DN, FRWL, GF, TB, OHMSS and TSWLM. These were movies made in a different age, when society was very different as well. Society wasn't heavily influenced by social media or online communities, nor were people as heavily critical as compared to today. People were much 'slower' and less 'reactive' and 'tense' as opposed to the 1960's.
Hence why the movies reflect that as well. Even I saw it when I went to @ggl007 's showing of TSWLM in Barcelona. With movies like SP, SF and CR fresh in my mind, a film like TSWLM suddenly aged heavily to me.....and not necessarily in a good way. I can 'time travel' a bit, and think/watch a movie like I'm a guy living in the 1960's or 1970's. But the abundance of 'cheese', and the absence of believable, multi-layered characters and storylines that really reflect today's geopolitical environment kind of....bothered me.
So I can perfectly understand that therefore FRWL is more 'forgotten' by younger generations of Bond fans as compared to CR or even a Brosnan film. Age does matter. And some fans in here should ask themselves if next generations of Bond fans will still place FRWL on top of the list in another 50 years from now. Just think about it: 100 years. 'Gone With The Wind', a true classic, isn't watched anymore or shown on TV that much. Fact. Movies age....and sooner or later will therefore be forgotten. Even the oldest Bond films, regardless of the qualities it has.
As for FRWL, I think it has all the stuff you or anyone would want in a good Bond film. It's one of the few perfect Bond films that is artfully crafted with what could arguably be the best script and one of the best Bond performances that ever will be, in addition to all the other grand things it does. I wouldn't allow it to be forgotten, anyway, and it's helped by the fact that it's always in the top three of the vast majority of rankings anywhere that I see.
Makes me feel a little melancholy...the inevitability of time, don't you think?
Hehehe yes @w2bond :-P. But you do....agree with me a bit? I mean, I still FORCE those young babies to watch that masterpiece of FRWL. But outside this forum it simply doesn't work that way anymore :-). Regardless of FRWL's quality, what we are saying in here to defend the film, should still be regarded as an opinion in personal taste...and is by no means factual or objective.
Gone with the Wind is four hours long - play that with commercials that's over a five hour time slot on terrestrial tv for a film that's nearly eighty years old and despite being beautifully shot is a long, melodrama peppered with unlikeable characters and questionable ethics but held up as a romance for the ages. However...I take your point :-)
I too feel melancholic that vast majority of people won't watch some classics - but then many forgotten films at the time get reappraisals later and the recognition they deserve like touch of evil, peeping tom or magnificent ambersons.
That people won't enjoy watching The life and death of Colonel Blimp because it's old or dated is actually saddening but What I love about bond is that if someone gets into whoever bond is in thirty years time - they'll still find their way to FRWL - or some other early Bond film and fall in love with one of them. Not everyone - but full on Bond fans are completists and they'll watch all of them at least once. And if this site is anything to go by - they love making their complete and competing lists!
For example I will mostly watch newer films, except for some franchises or well-received films.
Can't say I totally agree here. Someone could make a good objective argument, with evidence, why FRWL is a quality film. Using Dr No as an example, you could cite the editing, the groundbreaking bikini scene, the sets, the directorial influence of Young on Connery to bring Bond life on screen. Some statements would have to be backed up by comparing other films of the time.
But a modern audience member may love the Halle Berry entrance and think Honey Ryder's appearance too outdated and rudimentary - so I do agree that personal taste always dominates and that can leave older films behind. Of course it is our job to educate the world on why "nobody does it better" :-)
Yes, I would definitely agree there. But even then, Bond had a cultural impact that was actually larger than the films themselves - especially in the 60's around the time of TB and YOLT where you couldn't go anywhere without being exposed to it. In the larger context there was no buzz even close to that until SF. I read a great book called "The James Bond Phenomenon" by James Chapman and the overall feeling I came out with is that it's Bond's impact as a character rather than the films/plots themselves that resonate with audiences. That general feeling spread out over 50 years will eventually lead to less people being familiar with individual plots and stories - and that makes introducing people to it nowadays even harder in such a saturated market. In that respect, Bond is both the series greatest asset and ironically one of its weaknesses but thankfully the allure of the character as the former outweighs the latter.
That being said, you're right about Bond's imprint on history. The films you listed were mostly huge trendsetters in every aspect - not just in what was made, but how it was made too. I wonder if we'll ever get back to that point.
It will be very difficult, because as you said the market is incredibly saturated with much talent, and on the other hand mediocre products that audience will also lap up. Add to that a century of cinema and then you can understand what a difficult job the producers have.
That's likely why the latest films have been so nostalgic.
And can we actually prevent nostalgia from a 53 year old movie franchise?
Probably not. But we can definitely try and avoid embracing it like an ex-lover who is only back for a quickie.
I heard Gary Barber saying Bond #25 is now in development?
I am thinking of ranking the best predictors in this contest ;-)
Agree. One could rathercall the one who is closest to the overall vote "the least unique voter".
Get eating, @Thunderfinger. @CraigMooreOHMSS had the same top ten as the final tally.
If Gustav allows me to, I will re-order my top ten on the condition that @Thunderfinger posts video proof that a helmet was indeed devoured.