Questionable One Liners

2

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  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    Watching Moneypenny and M make crude innuendos in TND is so bizarre. I much prefer how this kind of talk was handled in FRWL.

    Bond: "Suppose she sees me in the flesh, and I don't come up to her expectations?"
    M: "Just see that you do."

    35 years later:

    Bond: "I doubt she will remember me."
    M: "Remind her, then pump her for information."
    Moneypenny: "You'll just have to decide how much pumping is needed, James."




    tumblr_prk81sTCQY1rn314mo1_400.gifv
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited October 2019 Posts: 18,272
    matt_u wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    matt_u wrote: »
    Bond: "I always enjoyed learning a new tongue."
    Moneypenny: "You always were a cunning linguist, James."

    Jeez...

    Now that one is pretty near the knuckle! I have to say that that one went totally over my head though when I saw the film in the cinema as a thirteen year old in January 1998! It was my first Bond film in the cinema. ;))

    Makes sense! :D

    I don't know the general perspective about this one inhere, but I always HATED the “This never happened to the other fella” line. I can understand why they did it at the time, but watching it now, I don't think breaking the fourth wall was a good idea.

    Some commentators have said that that line was actually just a reference to Prince Charming holding the glass slipper belonging to Cinderella. Just like in the story, Lazenby Bond does end up holding Tracy's shoes as she speeds away in the car. I'm not at all sure if that's intended to be taken seriously but it seems to me that the scriptwriters' intent was obviously a reference to Sean Connery's Bond from the new Lazenby Bond, however veiled it might have been.

  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    My understanding has always been that Lazenby ad libbed it because it was a phrase he kept making throughout production and the filmmakers thought it would be fun to include it. After all, he looks directly at the camera after saying the line. It's definitely fourth wall breaking moment.
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,426
    There are many questionable one liners in the films. Some that might have been questionable are saved by the actor playing Bond.

    Tiffany and Bond meeting cute in her apartment to me in lesser hands then Connery and St. John might have been cringeworthy.

    I cringe in Spy when Bond is searching for Kalba and the woman says he is out. Bond then says "Well I had lunch but I seem to have missed dessert." then they start to make out. Creepy I would thin even by 1970's standards. Then I could never figure out why this woman who just met Bond is willing to die for him. Poorly written and executed if you ask me. Why have the woman there at all...okay I am letting this go! LOL!
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    I can buy women trying to set up Bond for a kill by making out with him as distraction, but yeah, that moment where she suddenly has a change of heart and decides to shield herself in front of Bond is one of the oddest moments of the series.

    I think Roger Moore had the most "let's shag" moments with women he had only just met within seconds (like that agent he starts disrobing in MR). I was watching YOLT with a friend who's been watching the films for the first time, and the instance where Aki is suddenly down to shag with Bond really caught her off guard, and I told her that it only got more pronounced in later films.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    I can buy women trying to set up Bond for a kill by making out with him as distraction, but yeah, that moment where she suddenly has a change of heart and decides to shield herself in front of Bond is one of the oddest moments of the series.

    I think Roger Moore had the most "let's shag" moments with women he had only just met within seconds (like that agent he starts disrobing in MR). I was watching YOLT with a friend who's been watching the films for the first time, and the instance where Aki is suddenly down to shag with Bond really caught her off guard, and I told her that it only got more pronounced in later films.

    Definitely parody territory, like something out of a porn.
  • Posts: 19,339
    BondStu wrote: »
    Roadphill wrote: »
    "I thought Christmas only came once a year"

    *shudder*

    I HATE that one!
    matt_u wrote: »
    Bond: "I always enjoyed learning a new tongue."
    Moneypenny: "You always were a cunning linguist, James."

    Jeez...

    Those 2 are seriously crap one-liners.
  • MinionMinion Don't Hassle the Bond
    Posts: 1,165
    "Well, he certainly left with his tail between his legs."

    I mean... what???
  • edited October 2019 Posts: 19,339
    Minion wrote: »
    "Well, he certainly left with his tail between his legs."

    I mean... what???

    Bond means the coat tails on the waiters uniform Mr Kidd was wearing.
    Bond actually says 'tails' between his legs.

    "I'm sure we will be able to lick you into shape"

    That's bad - not even Sir Rog could save that line.
  • MinionMinion Don't Hassle the Bond
    Posts: 1,165
    Ok, that helps clarify some things. I won't back down on how forced it feels, but I guess it at least makes sense. ;)
  • BondStuBondStu Moonraker 6
    Posts: 373
    BondStu wrote: »
    Roadphill wrote: »
    "I thought Christmas only came once a year"

    *shudder*

    I HATE that one!

    I think Pierce does a great job of delivering one liners, but even he sounds like he’s disgusted with himself when he delivers that line!

    @Max_The_Parrot - I'm not a prude, it's just that line is just like "Whoa, steady on old chap!"

    You know? "Tone it down a bit gents!" :))
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    It goes to show the fine line a lot of Sir Rog's one-liners were walking on, and he was able to deliver them in a way that made you laugh at the absurdity because he was essentially laughing WITH us. It was his real gift. The lines Brosnan would get were more crude that even Sir Rog would have had difficulty making work, and Brosnan just didn't have that unique gift. I think part of it is Pierce never having the right type of voice. Compared to his predecessors and even Craig, Brosnan didn't have a particularly deep voice that worked wonderfully with wry humor.

    The humor that worked best for Brosnan was when he was more or less being ironic, like during the interrogation with Mishkin. "What, no small talk? No chit chat?" It's not something I could see other Bonds pull off, but it works for Pierce because he had a more schoolboy quality than other Bonds due to his higher pitched voice.
  • RoadphillRoadphill United Kingdom
    Posts: 984
    Roadphill wrote: »

    Whilst on the subject of Sir Roger "That ought to keep him in Curry" was a pretty ropey one. For different reasons to the above, mind you.

    Was it racist?

    @Thunderfinger a touch, I think. Probably not at the time, but it hasn't aged well
  • matt_umatt_u better known as Mr. Roark
    Posts: 4,343
    Roadphill wrote: »
    Roadphill wrote: »

    Whilst on the subject of Sir Roger "That ought to keep him in Curry" was a pretty ropey one. For different reasons to the above, mind you.

    Was it racist?

    Probably not at the time, but it hasn't aged well

    Neither the portrayal of Japanese women in YOLT...
  • edited October 2019 Posts: 623
    I hated the "Crush on me" line in MR because it was such a clumsy set up, with Drax asking "why did you call off your appointment with my pet anaconda" (or whatever he says). It's dead clunky.
    The other one I hate is Jinx's second big cock reference and groin-gaze in DAD. We get "that's a mouthful" early on, when they meet, and "you're a big boy" at the Ice Palace later. Why oh why didn't someone working on the film say, at the time, "hang on guys, she's already done a big cock reference with a Carry On style nod at his todger earlier on in the film". But no, we get two, just in case we fancy a further snigger.
  • BondStuBondStu Moonraker 6
    Posts: 373
    I know it's not strictly a one liner as such, but I hate the bit in Octopussy where she says she needs refilling and Bond gives her that weird look.

    Ugh.
  • Posts: 19,339
    BondStu wrote: »
    I know it's not strictly a one liner as such, but I hate the bit in Octopussy where she says she needs refilling and Bond gives her that weird look.

    Ugh.

    Hahaha typical MooreBond...
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,272
    barryt007 wrote: »
    BondStu wrote: »
    I know it's not strictly a one liner as such, but I hate the bit in Octopussy where she says she needs refilling and Bond gives her that weird look.

    Ugh.

    Hahaha typical MooreBond...

    Yes, that sort of thing was par for the course in the Moore Bond films.
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,426
    Magda and Bond in bed to me is a bit off. So I would agree with the refilling line.

    I am surprised no one has mentioned Sheriff JW Pepper as he had some politically incorrect lines. I think Clifton played him so OTT that you just chuckle at them but they do play into the racist stereotypes of southern police.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    J.W. Pepper was certainly part of Mankiewicz’s way of trying to reverse the racist African American caricatures Fleming depicted in the LALD novel by introducing a caricature of Southern authority, and in that context he works as a buffoon.

    By TMWTGG he just felt utterly out of place tagging along with Bond, and his racist remarks over Asians just felt gross.
  • I think the real travesty is that Moore's eyebrows never got their own billing in the credits. Those things did a hell of a lot of heavy lifting in his films and they deserve a hero's wage for it.
  • Max_The_ParrotMax_The_Parrot ATAC to St Cyril’s
    Posts: 2,426
    octofinger wrote: »
    I think the real travesty is that Moore's eyebrows never got their own billing in the credits. Those things did a hell of a lot of heavy lifting in his films and they deserve a hero's wage for it.

    So true, his expressions delight and fascinate me, and I’ve spent many hours in front of the mirror as a kid trying to emulate them.

    I think that’s why Rog is my favourite Bond - you’re getting two actors for the price of one.
  • Posts: 19,339
    octofinger wrote: »
    I think the real travesty is that Moore's eyebrows never got their own billing in the credits. Those things did a hell of a lot of heavy lifting in his films and they deserve a hero's wage for it.

    So true, his expressions delight and fascinate me, and I’ve spent many hours in front of the mirror as a kid trying to emulate them.

    I think that’s why Rog is my favourite Bond - you’re getting two actors for the price of one.

    His facial expressions makes you think he is taking along for the ride in his latest 007 mission,to me.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,033
    thedove wrote: »
    Magda and Bond in bed to me is a bit off. So I would agree with the refilling line.

    I am surprised no one has mentioned Sheriff JW Pepper as he had some politically incorrect lines. I think Clifton played him so OTT that you just chuckle at them but they do play into the racist stereotypes of southern police.

    Yes, but that very fact serves to show that they are ridiculous racist stereotypes. Nobody who understood the mechanics here will take them at face value. Same goes for Pepper's remarks about the little Thai pointy-heads in their pajamas. There is no way that anyone should take that seriously.

    Satire is always at the next level: It never makes fun of the targets of racist, sexist, whatever-ist remarks, but always of the attackers, even if that is by showing their unfiltered "opinions". It sometimes hurts until you realise the intention behind it. If that were different, it wouldn't be satire anymore. And I don't think anyone involved in the making of Bond movies is intentionally racist...no matter how the views may have changed in the meantime. Quarrel, fetch my shoes!
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    Bond in TND: “Next time I’ll take the elevator.”

    It sort of adds to how Brosnan’s latter three films feel somewhat Americanized compared to those that came before and after. Of course I think Craig was guilty of referring to a mobile phone as a cell phone at one point.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,033
    Bond in TND: “Next time I’ll take the elevator.”

    It sort of adds to how Brosnan’s latter three films feel somewhat Americanized compared to those that came before and after. Of course I think Craig was guilty of referring to a mobile phone as a cell phone at one point.

    The most obvious moment in this regard is in TND for me. When Dr. Kaufmann says, "Wait! I am just a professional doing a job!", Bond answers, "Me, too!" before killing him. From the beginning on, I think Bond should have said, "So am I!"
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    Bond in TND: “Next time I’ll take the elevator.”

    It sort of adds to how Brosnan’s latter three films feel somewhat Americanized compared to those that came before and after. Of course I think Craig was guilty of referring to a mobile phone as a cell phone at one point.

    The most obvious moment in this regard is in TND for me. When Dr. Kaufmann says, "Wait! I am just a professional doing a job!", Bond answers, "Me, too!" before killing him. From the beginning on, I think Bond should have said, "So am I!"

    You and me both!
  • Posts: 631
    J.W. Pepper was certainly part of Mankiewicz’s way of trying to reverse the racist African American caricatures Fleming depicted in the LALD novel by introducing a caricature of Southern authority, and in that context he works as a buffoon.

    By TMWTGG he just felt utterly out of place tagging along with Bond, and his racist remarks over Asians just felt gross.

    Pepper also works as a character in LALD because all the other police officers are presented as being (more or less) competent, likeable and normal. He is the only caricature there.

    In my view Pepper was a very clever creation by the film makers, in some ways a necessary character, and it shows the amount of thought that went into LALD.

    In Golden Gun he is out of place.
  • Posts: 1,917
    J.W. Pepper was certainly part of Mankiewicz’s way of trying to reverse the racist African American caricatures Fleming depicted in the LALD novel by introducing a caricature of Southern authority, and in that context he works as a buffoon.

    By TMWTGG he just felt utterly out of place tagging along with Bond, and his racist remarks over Asians just felt gross.

    Pepper also works as a character in LALD because all the other police officers are presented as being (more or less) competent, likeable and normal. He is the only caricature there.

    In my view Pepper was a very clever creation by the film makers, in some ways a necessary character, and it shows the amount of thought that went into LALD.

    In Golden Gun he is out of place.
    You're serious and not being sarcastic or having a go at us here? If so, it's an interesting take and one I don't think I've heard expressed before as most have no tolerance for Pepper in either film.

    The Pepper character in LALD just illustrates how far the series fell from the characters created by Fleming to the emphasis on jokes and cheap laughs. The frustrated Vegas cop in DAF works better because the time isn't taken to develop him into a broader caricature, just a guy who makes Bond look more clever and cool in comparison.

    The bottom line is that boat chase would've worked just fine without Pepper. We didn't need him to remind us that Bond is operating in the deep South of the U.S. They could throw in the wedding crashing and maybe one of the carboat crashes if they needed to maintain the jokes and it would've worked still but Pepper is too much.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    @IGotABrudder makes a valid point.
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