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Ol Yeller isn t an appropriate name for a rat. Ol Squeaky perhaps.
Again, this is your chance to say whatever you would have done differently with the film, so things like; plot changes, character additions or subtractions. Anything you like. People will be given the chance to give their responses within 7 DAYS from today (this may change so let me know if you want me to extend the time for longer) until the discussion moves on to the next James Bond film. This will run until we reach SKYFALL as a discussion for SPECTRE already exists.
Looking forward to hearing what you guys think.
It's the most depressing Bond film to me,if that makes sense.
FYEO, as introduction to the 80s, is where I shall become a little more active. I must say I really enjoy the film and as I've noted elsewhere, it is my most viewed on blu ray. Having said that, there are some improvements I would make:
1. Rog's swept back hair thing doesn't work. He should have continued with the side part
2. dump Sheena (both the song and her face on the title credits). Most depressing tripe in a Bond film apart from that whiny rubbish we got last time
3. recast Bibi (right idea, wrong actress. Unless she was meant to want you to shoot yourself in the head)
4. I'm ok with a great portion of Conti's score, but would lose the disco action section during the Citreon chase and during the ski sequence.
5. dump the underwater St. Georges bit. Boooooring and very poorly directed. Thankfully it is redeemed by the killer keelhauling sequence thereafter, which is one of the series best imho
6. recast Kristatos. He is, imho, the most boring villain in the series apart from that loser Renard
7. dump the silly and inconsequential hockey fight
8. make the encounter atop St. Cyrils more engaging. Once they get up there it's rather a nonevent.
9. dump Maggie.
10. ensure we see Bond getting it on with Melina. None of this moonlight swim nonsense.
That's about it.
MooreBond was still too old for Melina imo,fine for the Countess .
Maud Adams was the only Bond girl in her 2 films that suited him,maybe Holly to a certain extent.
The underwater recovery of the ATAC is especially boring and slow-moving as I see that criticism leveled at TB way too often, this is a much more glaring case. I still remember seeing this with an audience and when Bond says "Speak only when necessary" and then spouts one-liners and narrates what's going on the entire time a woman commented "He said not to speak and he won't shut up." So leave that line out or add to the suspense by not talking like TB.
Then the tacked-on scene with the mad scientist guy trying to stop the Triana from surfacing was also pointless.
Kristatos is more like an associate henchman than a main villain. The big reveal when Colombo reveals him as the real villain is one of the least surprising scenes in the series. I guess Ferrara saying how reliable Kristatos was must've been convincing for Bond.
The other thing I thought was odd is when Bond and Gogol come face to face they don't act like they know each other when they had an alliance in TSWLM. "That's détente, comrade." Why not refer to him as General? It's just strange.
Lastly, this is one of if not the least sexy Bond films. Not sure what they could've done in this case. Lisl seems a little more age appropriate for Moore, but the scene just seems thrown in to get Bond to Colombo. The relationship with Melina is along the lines of Bond-Camille in QoS and that's okay.
I have to agree with this..it was the first PTS ever to be based in London itself,so its a special PTS for that reason alone.
AND dont forget peeps,the gunbarrel of FYEO recently won the 'Gunbarrel Elimination Game' .
.Get rid of the hockey fight and the submarine attack on Bond and Melina. Totally unnecessary.
.Why does Melina get all concerned about the guard she shoots during the climax?
Can't add much more on FYEO than @bondjames has done already. I still dislike the PTS and feel that a new Bond should have taken over, but hey-ho, can't change the past.
You might be right there. It would being very rewatch able, for sure.
There's no point in bringing back Blofeld for only one scene--get rid of him and put in a generic villain, or find a way to tie the PTS into the main story, perhaps by having Bond disrupt one of Kristatos's side operations.
And while Julian Glover is an excellent actor, perhaps some with more fire should have played Kristatos (if only Topol had a brother!).
As for the end, there is no justification for Margaret Thatcher appearing in any Bond film. Snip her!
I wouldn't change the score--I know this is a controversial sentiment, but I think Conti brought a lot of pep back into the series, since Barry's post-DAF scores were either rushed or sedate.
Perhaps I would change more of FYEO if I had access to Maibaum's original script. In a interview from 1983 he was less than fully satisfied with the film:
"I was very disappointed with the way the love story was handled. The whole idea was that the great lover James Bond can't get to first base with this woman because she's so obsessed with avenging her parents' death. Nothing was ever done with it. It was as if the director didn't feel there was a love story there at all."
There's also an interesting post on the AJB message board by someone who said they had corresponded with Maibaum:
"The sinking of the trawler followed by the assault on the private yacht were originally intended to be the pre-title sequence by writer Richard Maibaum. As Melina stands over the dead bodies of her parents on the deck the camera pushes into extreme close-up on her eyes; we'd hear the first bars of the title song "For Your Eyes Only" segue into the titles. Then we come out of the titles with Bond visiting Tracy's grave. The helicopter picks him up, and as it rises the priest crosses himself. At this moment James Bond is supposed to become spooked, feeling his mortality and fearing he may not survive this mission. The theme of being spooked by the possibility of one's own death was supposed to start in the pre-title sequence and be sustained throughout the film."
2. Remove Sheena Easton from the titles. (Not the song; just her appearance)
3. Replace Bill Conti. Was Barry not available? Conti’s score single-handedly ruins the ski chase.
4. No hockey player sequence.
5. Get rid of Bibi Dahl.
Ha. I've pretty much been waiting for this moment as well. Pretty thorough coverage you offered.
Sounds much better that what we got.
002) Replace Bill Conti with John Barry
003) Build more suspense with the plot device mentioned early(the ATAC computer could be used to program Royal Navy submarines to attack UK cities) by having Kristatos attempting to use it to attack London or Glasgow and Bond having to stop him.
004) In conjunction with change no. 003 make the final battle(which always feels a bit underwhelming to me) more exciting.
005) In conjunction with change no. 001, build more romantic chemistry between Dalton Bond and Carole Bouquet's Melina throughout the film. As the film exists in reality, their love scene at the end after an essentially platonic, father/daughter style relationship always seemed tacked on because all 007 films have to end the same way(at least according to 1981 thinking).
006) In conjunction with change no. 001, eliminate Bibi Dahl from the film. She's definitely a character who only belongs in a Moore Bond film.
007) In conjunction with change no. 001, make Dalton Bond's elimination of Blofeld after visiting Tracy Bond's grave more serious.
Which Greta was he supposed to be? Garbo? or Susteren?
... thank you, I'll fine my own way out...
Exactly, it is his finest performance in his finest film.
- The Blondie track is better than the Sheena Easton one. Straight swap between those two wouldn't be wrong.
- Parts of the score is too disco for my liking. If they'd dropped the disco focus, the score would be better.
- The hockey scene is completely unnecessary. Why was it even in the film?
- The film would also be better off without Bibi Dahl. They could have found a better option there, especially as Bibi more or less only works as a comic relief in a darker Moore Bond film.
Other than that, I'm quite happy with the film!
I agree, but still too annoying to improve the
enjoyment had from FYEO overall.