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

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Comments

  • mattjoesmattjoes Julie T. and the M.G.'s
    Posts: 7,021
    You can do it, @Birdleson

    You can do it.
  • Hmmh... I find Octopussy to be the best Moore era Bond film.
  • Posts: 16,169
    OP is my second favorite Roger outing. For years it used to be either FYEO or LALD, but I have a nostalgic soft spot for OP.
  • I would rank them...

    OP
    TSWLM
    FYEO
    LALD
    TMWTGG
    AVTAK
    MR
  • Posts: 16,169
    Birdleson wrote: »
    Not that I'm big into the military or anything by any means, but did the US General have to be portrayed as so completely retarded?

    True he does come across as an idiot: "Ha Ha! Great clown bit!"
  • edited November 2017 Posts: 12,474
    Not watching right now, but random pros and cons list I am going to list for SP that I thought about as I watched last night + how I've felt before:

    Pros:
    -Gun-barrel is at the start, where it fits best.
    -The PTS is one of my favorites in the series; the Day of the Dead festival was an awesome setting, and the chase/brawl with Sciarra was solid.
    -The lighter tone, while not always consistent, did benefit the film at times I thought. I liked "Stay!", the music gag in the car, and a couple of the lines between Bond and Q in particular. Unfortunately, not all the humor works, but when it does it was nice.
    -The SPECTRE meeting. Just a really great, memorable Bond sequence.
    -The scenes in Austria. Bond's final scene with Mr. White, meeting Madeleine, and the action sequence are all some of my favorite parts in the movie and worked very well I think.
    -The train fight. Classic Bond moment. Second-best train fight to FRWL.
    -Bringing back SPECTRE and Blofeld. I was happy to see Craig get to battle against the most famous Bond baddies, since Craig is my favorite Bond alongside Connery.
    -Bringing back Mr. White and giving him a satisfying arc. I waited since QoS for it and was pleased.
    -The way SPECTRE as an organization is portrayed. Very ominous, powerful, and adapted in a modern way pretty well.
    -The cast. They all fit pretty well I think. Some people knock on Craig's and Waltz's performances, but I don't really have a problem with them. I think Waltz's Blofeld, while not great, is definitely overhated.
    -The use of locations. I have no complaints about this area at all; I particularly wanted a new snowy location for Craig's Bond and got one.
    -Ralph Fiennes is perfectly satisfactory as M, and I'd like to see him return.

    Cons:
    -"The dead are alive"; unnecessary, don't like it.
    -The over-involvement of Q, Moneypenny, and Tanner. I like Q and Moneypenny fine (I don't really like Tanner though), but they all need to take a backseat again in the next one.
    -Making Silva a SPECTRE agent. Just unnecessary and diminishes SF's standalone quality. It still can be standalone-ish, but connecting Silva to SPECTRE just doesn't feel right.
    -Making Blofeld Bond's foster brother. Just a failed attempt to make the film have a personal angle and really adds no depth to Blofeld's character. He should have stayed separate from Bond's childhood; I don't think it's the travesty many will say it is, but it's just totally unnecessary and forced into the story.
    -Generally the final third of the film. It's just far too predictable and not very creative. The action itself is fine, but there are too many no-nos: 1) Bond magically destroying Blofeld's entire base right after intense torture 2) Bond and Madeleine's relationship was a little forced; IMO, felt less authentic than Tracy and Vesper. I still think Madeleine's character is fine though 3) The timed bomb climax has just been done to death by now; the suspense was gone etc. I could nitpick other things like the predictability of Bond not shooting Blofeld, but those are the main ones.

    I'm sure I could list plenty more for both sides, but these are the ones that spring to mind. I've called this the most up-and-down Bond film for me. It sits around the middle of my ranking (#15), and I view it as a decent but flawed Bond film. I'm very intrigued to see where they go from here in Bond 25.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    It s top ten for me, but otherwise agree with just about everything.
  • Posts: 19,339
    SP is sitting at #11 with me atm.
  • Posts: 12,474
    Nice. When I first saw it it ranked at #9 for me, but it had gone down a few just because I have come to prefer a few other Bond movies on rewatches. I notice SP is bottom-tier Bond for a lot of members here, but it just isn't the case with me. Too much to enjoy.
  • Posts: 11,189
    SP is one of those films I liked when I first saw it but I don't feel that compelled to rewatch. Not a good sign for me.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited November 2017 Posts: 23,883
    Terribly disappointed from first viewing itself. Reminds me a lot of TWINE. Interesting premise but woeful & dull execution. Worst crime for me isn't what's normally discussed here and also is something it shares with TWINE, namely an absolutely abysmal performance by the lead actor, imho.
  • Posts: 12,474
    I wouldn’t call any Bond film boring overall. The most dull though probably is TWINE. I found more to enjoy about SP for sure; my last viewing of SP was pretty good, while my last of TWINE was the worst I’ve had of if yet.
  • Posts: 12,474
    Birdleson wrote: »
    With all the negative things I've written about SP on these boards, I realize that I never brought something that has bugged me from the start. The scene where, via satellite, Bond and Blofeld watch M's goodbye speech to his staff. It is so bad and so awkward, both on the screen and on the screen in the screen.

    @Birdleson if you are forced to pick which one thing do you hate most about SP?
  • Posts: 12,474
    Darn it.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Birdleson wrote: »
    If I'm watching the films in Fleming order, I usually pair LTK with LALD, for obvious reasons, but this time I watched it with YOLT, which is also appropriate.

    What about THR?
  • Posts: 1,031
    I would pay good money to hear @barryt007's version of "Calendar Girl," even sans lyrics.

    Me too.
  • Posts: 19,339
    Dennison wrote: »
    I would pay good money to hear @barryt007's version of "Calendar Girl," even sans lyrics.

    Me too.

    Oooooh I wouldn't recommend that lads .
  • Posts: 16,169
    Got a little bit of time.......not enough for a 144 minute Bond film though..........so here goes:

    Climax: CASINO ROYALE 1954

    The gunbarrel!!!!
    Actually it's not really, but kind of reminds me of the iconic GB.
    Still, I'll take this over the cold opens from QOS and SF.

    William Lundigan intro............he's been in some films..........


  • Posts: 16,169
    Bond getting shot at" Still in one piece but I wouldn't know HOW!"

    I dig Bond's dinner jacket. According to Suits of James Bond it might be buff in color. A deep yellowish/cream hue.
  • Posts: 16,169
    Clarence Leiter!

    "It's like any game you win or you lose"- Bond's delivery is very Wally Cleaver. In fact Bond and Leiter kind of look like adult versions of Wally and The Beaver.
  • Posts: 16,169
    Peter Lorre!!! Sad to see him so aged since his classic era, but he really does suit a Fleming world Bond villain.
  • Posts: 16,169
    Barry Nelson was great in The Man With My Face, a film noir from 1951. He has an evil look alike taking over his life. Similar to Roger's The Man Who Haunted Himself.
  • Posts: 16,169
    Live TV...........Nelson does look a tad nervous as if not to screw up a line.
  • Posts: 16,169
    Michael Pate played a vampire in a horror/western: Curse of The Undead (1959).
    He probably would have made a great Count Dracula in a regular Dracula film.
  • Posts: 16,169
    Linda Christian as Valarie Mathis. I dig her as a Bond girl, though she's certainly not Vesper from the novel.
    Bond and Valerie making out............it's okay and makes Barry look reasonably smooth...........until she starts calling him Jimmy.
  • Posts: 11,189
    Nelson keeps awkwardly putting his hands in his pockets as he's talking.
  • Posts: 16,169
    I got a haircut today. Had it been cut a bit shorter on top I could almost go for the Nelson look.
    Very 2017, barbers using old school clippers and cutting close. Everyone in my town seems to have variation of the Daniel/Skyfall cut.
    Interesting how 20 years ago Brosnan era, a haircut like Barry Nelson's or Jack Webb's would be considered way too short, but today, crew-cuts/buzz-cuts are immensely popular.

    Leiter being threatened with a gun.........

    phone rings......

    "It might be for you"........
    Leiter is pretty cool here actually.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    ToTheRight wrote: »
    Live TV...........Nelson does look a tad nervous as if not to screw up a line.

    If only he knew how iconic the part would become.
  • Posts: 16,169
    BAIN123 wrote: »
    Nelson keeps awkwardly putting his hands in his pockets as he's talking.

    Yes. He was pretty nervous. I read in an interview he had said people thought he was trying to imitate Bogart, but it was pure fear.
  • Posts: 16,169
    ToTheRight wrote: »
    Live TV...........Nelson does look a tad nervous as if not to screw up a line.

    If only he knew how iconic the part would become.

    Indeed. What a cool link, though to Bond. A golden age actor playing 007 as the first filmed incarnation. Barry Nelson is pretty cool. He's great in A Guy Named Joe with Spencer Tracy, and of course, The Shining.
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