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Most Bond films are frontloaded to some degree IMO. The finales are big and loud, but the more interesting action tends to happen early on.
Goldeneye was perfect for the time, but I do remember being a bit 'meh' on Brozza, but that was only because I wanted Dalton to have a better run. Now, after seeing what they've done with the Craig era, I'm completely on board with the OP's opinion that yes, the Brosnan era was indeed more FUN!
Absolutely. In fact all of my favorite sequences are from the first 90 minutes of the films.
I'd go so far as to say that only OHMSS and SF have strong last acts (3rd act of 3)
I'd include LtK as well. One of the rare instances where the action climax is the highlight.
Each to their own, Minion. I feel that the highlight is the very Bondian sequence of 007 sneaking aboard and then wreaking havoc on, below and in the sky above the Wavecrest yacht...
That was also, as they say, ace. 👌
Oh dear God!🙄🙄🙄
Ehh, that rear projection stuff in OHMSS is pretty poor. Almost as bad as the “car chase” in DN.
I’d certainly agree that LTK has a killer climax though, I’m hard-pressed to think of another which ends so strongly. Goldfinger, maybe Skyfall.
Actually I guess you’d have to say Moonraker has a strong ending because the whole film is building to Bond going to space.
Come on, Dalton was not half bad. IMO he was great.
To me the biggest subjective difference between Brosnan and Craig is that Craig's Bond, for all the humanity and emotions the plots imbued him with, still seemed cold to the core, a pure, intense killing machine, while Brosnan, for all the shallow plots he was given, came across as more human, or at least better able to occasionally kick back and enjoy himself, and more sophisticated and at ease with the finer things in life. If I were to pick one of their Bonds to go for a drink with, it would be Brosnan's hands down. Not an important factor in being a professional assassin perhaps, but made me root for him.
Much as I love OHMSS, my last rewatch of it led to me to the same conclusion about that Bobsleigh chase. Even the way with which Blofeld’s head smashes through the perfect tree branch at the perfect time...a bit much. Still love how it’s edited however!
Technically it would be Moonraker, I suppose... but it was soooo corny. LTK was great, I agree, though on balance, like @AceHole, I prefer the middle part with Bond sleuthing around. Skyfall was excellent too, but M dying, while well done, made it bittersweet.
Goldfinger somehow lacked punch for me for all its tense action, maybe because it looked like two climaxes stacked together ending with the weaker one (first the bomb, then the fight on the plane).
I think I'd go for FYEO for my favourite final act; it was done on an almost intimate scale compared to, say, YOLT, but its nice build-up and the striking Meteora setting made it memorable. Still, if I were to pick my favourite scenes from any Bond film, all of them would be from the first 2/3rds time-wise. NTTD aside, by the time a Bond film gets to the climax, you know what to expect, whatever the exact mechanics of getting there may be, whereas early scenes carry more intrigue and the action often features more creative stunts.
FYEO has my favorite “Bond/Allies vs Villians/Henchmen” finale of the entire series. It does for me what OHMSS does, tones down back on the big, bombastic battles of their proceeding films, instead favoring a smaller, more covert operation. FYEO also has the rock climbing sequence working in its favor.
Ah I actually had FYEO down as one of the dullest, I just don’t find that mountain stuff all that interesting and the location is just a fairly average monastery once you’re on top of the rock. FYEO always loses me a bit; I find it goes downhill a bit after Cortina.
I think AVTAK actually has a decent climax. Nice and spectacular and doesn’t feel too drawn out.
Funny, FYEO is the only Moore film I like in its entirety; and with Meteora being a realistic and smaller-scale setting (unlike the many Bond climaxes shot on studio sets), the tension felt more immediate somehow, and while the monastery itself is pretty cramped, I liked the surroundings so much as to make a point of going there a few years back. My other Moore favourite, TSWLM, loses me by, you guessed it, the studio climax :P
It has been ages since I watched AVTAK, so I cannot accurately opine. I remember the part taking place in the mine, and MayDay going good and sacrificing herself, but cannot recall any of the Golden Gate scenes that followed.
+1
I was in my teens when I saw it (on home video, unfortunately), so admittedly more impressionable, but both the climb and the cargo crate ride up to the monastery had me on the edge of my seat.
Same here, and for me that includes the '67 Cr and NSNA.
I do feel the Pierce films were a lot of fun. It was a great era for me.
Classic-era Connery fans will laugh me off the forum, but I prefer NSNA to TB.
I love them both, really and NSNA is almost always in my top 10 (tied with it's competition, Octopussy).
:)) :)) =))
(We aims to please...)
:D :D :D
Now Octopussy is one where I can only watch a handful of scenes. Love the PTS, and the silly-but-fun Udaipur palace part, but Bond in clown makeup was, to use the tired cliche, a jump-the-shark moment for me.
:O) :-O
...kinda makes me wish for a fan edit. But I guess de-aging (or aging) Connery to pull it off would be too much hard work.
Lucky or did the creative team just know they had a talented actor that could make the material ring true?
I do as well and would guess to an extent most of the people here do too. Discussing the strong and weak points are part of the fun here, but I think when it's all said and done we all love these. I'll even admit to having a soft spot for CR '67.
When I was younger I thought that bit was too silly, but now the clown makeup scene works for me. Sir Roger maintains suspense throughout. He's quite serious and brutal here. That shot of him kicking the officer straight in the groin always gets me.
To be fair, while Brosnan did incorporate Connery/Moore, and even some Dalton, he also brought some of his own charm and sophistication to the role, and still managed to make it his own, like all the others.
While I think Connery/Moore/Brosnan are better Bond’s than Craig, I think that Craig is probably the best actor (in terms of his skills) to have taken that part. Dalton maybe comes close, and one could possibly make the argument for Dalton being a better actor than Craig, but you can’t deny that Craig’s acting abilities does appear to be far more wide than some of the others. I just think Connery, Moore, and Brosnan were better at playing Bond than Craig was.
I'll never deny he was the right man at the time for the role if Dalton couldn't do it. I also admit not having more Dalton gave me a bit more bias against Brosnan's version of Bond.
But when you take parts of actors who set those standards and don't improve on the originals it just can't help but make that version less unique. Craig's version of Bond showed there were more possibilities than just portraying the character as he's expected and that made watching him fresh and always interesting. While I think he'll be tough to replace, I am looking forward to what Eon comes up with because I'm a James Bond fan and want to see it succeed.
But I can understand where others have their ideas of what works for them in a Bond. I was in a completely different discussion group the other day and there was a guy who said he won't watch any Bond other than Connery. He watched LALD and could only think of Simon Templar and that put him against any others. I still love Connery maybe the most but look what I'd be missing out on.