The Award Winning : 'Bond...comments while you watch...'

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Comments

  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    Posts: 25,134
    The final act of SP makes me want to cry
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    The final act of SP makes me want to cry

    Could you put that on youtube?
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    Posts: 25,134
    The final act of SP makes me want to cry

    Could you put that on youtube?

    No as I'll get in trouble for breaching copyright
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    Posts: 2,722
    Because we're going to San Francisco soon my fiancée and I are watching A View To A Kill.

    She can not believe the Beach Boys tune playing...she says that's the worst thing she's seen in a Bond film so far...she hasn't watched Die Another Day yet.

  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    Posts: 2,722
    That opening track by Duran Duran is killer though. It did so much to amplifiy this film in the mind of the movie going public. That song, Grace Jones and Golden Gate fight I remember vividly from being a kid in 85.
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    Posts: 2,722
    Walken is so good in this. He has the creepiness and psychotic self-satisfaction nailed. I enjoy how he doesn't even rate 007 much. Bond is more of an inconvenience than a challenge in his eyes.
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    Posts: 2,722
    I don't think Stacey would be thought of as annoying if she just didn't scream - particularly in that elevator scene. Maybe Glen was negligent here - he should have realised how bad that screaming was considering they would have had to ADR all of that. Stacey is bland and not much of a character but there are a number of Bond girls who fit that bill. But it's Roberts' one-note delivery and the screaming in the elevator that send her over the edge into derision territory.
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    edited September 2017 Posts: 2,722
    I like how May Day says 'get Zorin for meeeee!' Great ending for her character.

    My partner finds Grace Jones scary - somehow I don't think she's alone on that!
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    edited September 2017 Posts: 2,722
    I do love the Golden Gate fight. Hitchcockian finale. It is one Bond sequence that should be more iconic than it is.

    Stacey getting crept up on by a blimp is pretty bad though. The music is wonderful and the green screen work isn't too bad at all.
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    edited September 2017 Posts: 2,722
    My partner said 'I feel like watching a bond film'. I'm definitely with the right woman! We last watched AVTAK. So she asked what was next and I excitedly said 'The Living Daylights'! So we are kicking back to watch it.

    That PTS is so good. My favourite. I love the introduction of Dalton, other 00s, the parachuting down. I've always loved that wide shot of the truck way in the distance as it's making its way down from the pinnacle. It's almost shot from the point of view of the curious guard who is at the barrier arm (and will eventually be run over) - his fate literally hurtling toward him.

    I just realised Dalton's first words as Bond are 'I need to use your phone'.
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    Posts: 2,722
    I dig the scene in Bratislava - remind me of From Russia With Love. Especially the wordless sequence when Kara is apprehended on the tram by the KGB. Reminds me of when Bond gets the plans from Tatiana at Hagia Sophia.
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    Posts: 2,722
    John Rhys-Davis is very good in his first scene with Whittaker.
  • edited September 2017 Posts: 11,189
    John Rhys-Davis is very good in his first scene with Whittaker.

    I think Rhys-Davis possibly gives the best all-round performance in the film.

    Dalton's very good, but there are small moments that show up his limitations. Rhys-Davis is great throughout.
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    Posts: 2,722
    Dalton is crazy good in the scene of Saunders death. Of course there's the awesome 'I got the message' line - and particularly the way he is framed. But just before that when Kara asks if he heard anything and his subtle way of realising that shes asking about Koskov - because Bond sees she still cares for Koskov even after their Ferris wheel tryst and the because of what has just happened. He also seems surprised and hurt when she reveals she knows Whittaker. It's here where she disappears from the events until she betrays Bond.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    Dalton is fantastic in those scenes.
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    Posts: 2,722
    I like the controlled performance by Dalton in the Pushkin scene. He's very understated. The lilies line is a perfect example of him underselling a joke. the whole scene is flemingesque.
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    edited September 2017 Posts: 2,722
    Those two women in the drop top don't look conspicuous at all hanging out in a Tangier market street...love the sax music that plays when they enter shot. Classic 80s.
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    Posts: 2,722
    The jailer's voice isn't right... Sounds South African not Russian! I like the gentle amused look that Dalton briefly gives Kara when she's trying to unlock his cuffs.

    I suspect I'm in the minority here...but I actually like the Afghan scenes. It's exotic and the sunrise shots are spectacular. I also like the raid on the airbase at the end. Gives it the big army vs army bond battle in an organic way.
  • edited September 2017 Posts: 11,189
    Kara's line of "you were fantastic, we're free" does make me wince a bit when I hear it. This was what I meant when I described her as "gooey".

    The fight itself is also rather poorly staged.

    I do like the music in these scenes though.
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    edited September 2017 Posts: 2,722
    Yeah - she is a bit gooey. I can see why it might not be some people's cup of tea. But I also like the relationship between Kara and Bond. It's very unusual for a Bond film and develops as it goes along. Dalton never coasts in how he deals with her. Their relationship ebbs and flows and sometimes he's very gentle and patient. Other times he barks orders and gets cold and distant. The more I watch his performance the more I'm impressed with it. He's not just saying lines to sound cool. He's invested in the character, the present circumstances and the journey throughout each scene and in the wider story.

    I think having 'If there was a man' as the music basis for Kara and Bond's works very well and it's no mistake it's the final song. It really is sung from Kara's point of view.
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    Posts: 2,722
    I love the look on Dalton's face when the engines fail in mid-air.

    Desolated Mr Bond?...
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    if all the engines stopped , ...... he'd be stuck up there all night !
  • MooseWithFleasMooseWithFleas Philadelphia
    Posts: 3,369
    Alright lets boot up LALD, this time with Tom Mankiewicz commentary.

    I wonder which henchmen is responsible for killing Dawes...
  • MooseWithFleasMooseWithFleas Philadelphia
    Posts: 3,369
    I adore Bond's flat. It's my goal to have an espresso machine like that. Bring back this 70s style :D
  • MooseWithFleasMooseWithFleas Philadelphia
    Posts: 3,369
    Birdleson wrote: »
    A Top Tier Bond film!

    Indeed! Mankiewicz seems to get mixed reviews on his writing, but the script is top notch here IMO. Hearing him on the commentary, you can hear how much thought he put into writing Rog and playing to his strengths, as well as the boosting of the villains and psychologically showing the audience that the all-black cast of villains are extremely intelligent always seeming to be a step ahead of Bond, which was a great way to play the controversial source material at the time.
  • MooseWithFleasMooseWithFleas Philadelphia
    Posts: 3,369
    So I hadn't listened to the Mankiewicz commentary in quite a while (It is great stuff, but always prefer Moore's grandfatherly storytelling when putting on a LALD commentary).

    Completely forgot that he mentions here that before the alligator farm was found and scene written to accompany it, the original script had a scene on a coffee plantation where Bond was going to be ground up in a giant coffee grinder. That would have been quite interesting to see, though the gator farm was a much improved replacement!
  • Posts: 11,189
    I suppose the scene in Bond's kitchen with the coffee machine was the setup to that original idea.
  • MooseWithFleasMooseWithFleas Philadelphia
    Posts: 3,369
    BAIN123 wrote: »
    I suppose the scene in Bond's kitchen with the coffee machine was the setup to that original idea.

    Hah! Well played. The coffee beans revenge.
  • edited October 2017 Posts: 11,189
    I like LALD but I struggle to call it a top tier Bond film. It's got some great dialogue and memorable villains but it's very thinly plotted.
  • ForYourEyesOnlyForYourEyesOnly In the untained cradle of the heavens
    edited October 2017 Posts: 1,984
    BAIN123 wrote: »
    I like LALD but I struggle to call it a top tier Bond film. It's got some great dialogue and memorable villains but it's very thinly plotted.

    Definitely. They've made some unique decisions which are still unprecedented in the classic continuity (no Q, no Bond in any form in the PTS, ending with a shot of a villain, etc) — some of it works but some of it takes points off the film for me.

    Bond's plot armour is also at an all-time high here, with his watch magically possessing that buzzsaw function right when he needed it as he was tied up in Kananga's lair. It's literally never explained anywhere in the film. I think MR was similar with Bond's watch having that explosive lace thing he uses to blow up the vent in Drax's base (I don't believe that was explained anywhere either). Definitely weaknesses in the script.
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