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Comments
I don't agree. Only three films feature such a sound effect, that I can think of. Or deliberately humorous musical cues. The slide whistle from TMWTGG, the Tarzan yell in OP, and California Girls in AVTAK.
The ski parachute jump didn't feature any such nonsense, and is probably the most well remembered stunts of the series. The snowboarding scene in AVTAK would've worked just as well, without the gag , and more than likely kept the tension and drama, that the scene had until that time.
Doesn't seeing bits you missed the first time suggest it wasn't very clear? :)
Moonraker and Spy Who Loved Me both do, off the top of my head.
It's not a 'tense and dramatic' scene :D He's supposed to be doing something big and funny and bold and triumphant!
Does no-one have fun watching these films?
Of course we have fun, though a musical gag isn't always fun. If the scene could use humour then okay. However this is just a cheap gag, that serves no purpose.
Imagine if the PTS of CR had a comical sound effect when Bond shoots Dryden. It would ruin the scene. Same with California Girls. AVTAK required no such humour in the PTS.
Thanks mate. I like it because it puts the viewer right in amongst the action. It's a visceral sequence and one of my favourite PTS's
That doesn't really matter, they use humour through music.
Yes, it did. Because it's fun.
Comparing it with CR is silly. Do you really think they're trying to do the same thing? Did Daniel Craig climb into a submarine disguised as an iceberg with a big-boobed lady in it just after killing Dryden? Does that perhaps give you a hint that the tone is slightly different between those two...? :))
:)) +1
Not picking on Benny specifically, but an awful lot of fans seem to think Bond films are generally very serious, and Bond is a deep and dark character, despite the evidence of about 21 of 24 films. It seems clear to me that CR is something of an outlier in a series of very light-hearted films.
Having said that, I don't really have a vote here, because while some are better or worse than others, none of these scenes are ruined at all by these little sound transgressions for me. The slide whistle doesn't alter the tone of TMWTGG even a bit.
In which case, they're all pretty big offenders, but the slide whistle still takes it for me.
Yes I get the same impression, I do wonder if a lot of Bond fans tend to miss the point that these films are mostly spoofs..? They're supposed to be funny in the most part, you're supposed to be enjoying yourself. He's not a real spy, spies don't have underwater cars and exploding tie pins.
Maybe we could have an award to best gag of some kind?
Yeah I’m with you there, and that’s why I don’t think the beach boys tune undermines the ski sequence because that is the gag: Bond is surfing on snow. Without the slide whistle the jump is a better stunt, without the music it’s just Bond on a ski.
I get you, @mtm - admittedly I'm not really a fan of snowboarding so perhaps the sequence, irrespective of the music choice, was not going to impress me anyway!
The Klebbie for worst undermining of a stunt or sequence goes to "slide whistle from TMWTGG" which received 16 votes. The remaining votes look like this:
[
*] Tarzan Yell from OP received 9 votes[*] Breaking the fourth wall from OHMSS received 1 vote
[*] California Girls during AVTAK received 8 votes
[*] 3 ticks become 7 from GF received 0 votes
Lets stick with the Klebbies and look worst character adaption from the novel to the screen. Our man Bond was on the pages of a novel before he took to the screen. He was successfully morphed into the character we have seen for many years. Some of the other regular characters of the franchise have not been as successfully adapted for the big screen. Lets dive in and look at some characters who have not been successfully brought to the big screen:
Time for the esteemed academy to vote. Which Fleming character has been the worst adapted character?
Leiter has had some bad incarnations but also some incredible incarnations (Lord, Hedison, Wright).
Q, same. Boothroyd in the early films, Desmond is of course a classic, and I even thought Cleese was somehow Flemingesque in a way, when he wasn't comic relief (which was, of course, most of the time). Maybe it was just his look. Wishaw brings a fantastic dryness to the role. It could be argued that Q was the biggest departure from Fleming, if that's what we're voting for here, but on the grounds of whether the character was successfully brought to the big screen, Q is a big win.
Mathis, Giannini is fantastic to watch. Maybe the best character adaption from novel to film. Tragic that he died in QoS.
Moneypenny, fantastic all the way through, except the Dalton years where she felt more like a Loelia Ponsonby type character (younger, I guess). I liked what they did with the character in Skyfall, maybe the minority there.
Tanner. Which lends itself to ask why didn't Sir James Moloney and Loelia Ponsonby appear on screen to date.
Q never existed in the novels, unless you regard the Armourer as the head of Q Branch, but there is no evidence for that in the books. In Maibaum's first draft of TMWTGG he named the armorer "Boothroyd" but this was changed to "Colthorpe" after Desmond Llewellyn objected.
Moneypenny didn't become prominent in the books until Thunderball, since Bond had usually flirted with the Double-O section's secretary. The films simplified matters by having just one flirty secretary. I wasn't crazy about how Mathis was handled in the last stretch of CR, but he did play a worthy role in QOS--worthy enough to make one regret he won't return in future films.
Sir James Moloney could have easily been introduced in Skyfall. A missed opportunity.
Savalas, though... I don't know. Would have been tough. And I liked Waltz a ton as well.
I was tempted to put Blofeld in the mix, but once I had mostly allies I decided to keep going with it. Maybe a future category for the villain side. Although I think there are fewer missteps with the bad guys and the adaption of the character to the screen.
Agreed about fewer villainous missteps; I like the noms you chose!
You appear to be descending into the condescending comments again @mtm
One of the many wonderful elements of being a Bond fan is we all have differing opinions of the same character and film. You constantly push yours forward as if it's the only the films should be viewed. Being passionate and coming across as arrogant are two different things my friend.
Now, on to the next Klebbie. I really like Mathis. In QOS especially he's such a warm and wise presence. I felt sorry to see him die. In CR he's good too, but I don't like how they make you think this esteemed Fleming character might be a traitor. Still though, Giancarlo Giannini is a fantastic actor and always a joy to watch.
Q and Moneypenny's extended roles have become such likeable familiar additions, especially in the previous timeline, I can't see them receiving any bad comments here really. Certainly not from me anyway. Love them both.
It's true Leiter could have been treated better, though some of them were quite effective and at the very least we've got to see Bond's loyalty towards his best friend in Tim's determined performance in LTK. I suppose that's something.
Tanner, unfortunately, has had even worse treatments. Only Michael Kitchen does a good job and he's only in GE and TWINE. Since then we've had the dreaded bore that is Rory Kinnear. Already in three episodes and he doesn't look like leaving. Oh and there is also that buffoonish James Villiers performance in FYEO. Yes, this Klebbie must go to poor old Bill.
Kitchen’s quip about the ‘evil queen of numbers’ is one of the highlights of the whole of GE for me, just a little human moment about the fear we all have of making a derogatory comment about the boss while the boss is standing right behind us. A nice down-to-earth moment that I really like,
But other than that, Tanner’s wasted. Rory Kinnear might well be a fine Shakespearian actor for all I know but In Craig’s films he’s a spam-faced lump of wood.
I would say that if you look back at your post I’m responding to you stated your opinions as fact (“ this is just a cheap gag, that serves no purpose“, ” AVTAK required no such humour in the PTS”), I just followed your lead in this one instance. If you want to convince me that CR is as light-hearted as AVTAK then try and talk about it.
Tanner seems fine to me. He’s not Bond’s mate Bill from the books, but is that really all that fascinating an idea? Bond having a bacon roll in the canteen and gossiping with Bill? Otherwise I can’t really remember much about his character in the books that makes him seem hugely hard done by. The biggest misstep was making him an officious arse in FYEO I guess.
Am I right in thinking there have been four Tanners onscreen?
The other characters have all actually been expanded and improved from Fleming I think.
I go for Tanner, then.
Yeah agreed on both counts there. I didn't think Lord was amazing but was decent enough to bring back: was he too busy with Hawaii Five O or something?
I thought Casey was better than most in suggesting a bit of Felix's 'easy charm' and I'd have liked to have seen him again. Hedison was probably the one I'd call the best as he's just got a bit of natural likeable charisma about him, even though he had a pretty thankless role (he spends half the film on the phone! :) Then he comes back for LTK and ends the film chatting to James... on the phone!).
Good points all round. I read that Lord asked for more money to come back and wanted to be on par with Connery. Not sure where I got that from now, though.
I like all of them a lot, but I'm really into Wright's portrayal at the moment. He's pretty much the only thing I'm looking forward to about NTTD.
Going with Felix Leiter, here.