It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
Surprised to see hardly no votes for GF as some call it the template which all others copied to some degree. The PTS for that film shows Connery at his best. His pleading with Goldfinger while strapped to the table is well acted as well.
He is indeed great in GF, but maybe as you say, because the film around him in TB is weaker it allows him to shine a bit more? I don't know.
I think he is just a little more impressive in TB somehow- he's completely filling the screen.
I think these guys get better as they go along. Like with Harrison Ford: I think he's good as Han in Star Wars, but when you see him again in Empire Strikes Back he's become a proper movie star. Likewise I think he's better in Temple of Doom than he is in Raiders: he's just refined his art that little bit more.
The fact these movies were more character/plot driven also contributed to Connery being more invested in his character.
Of those 3 films, Connery's performance in FRWL is the one I actually like the least (which isn't to say I don't love it as it's absolutely wonderful and it's clearly the superior movie).
It might also have to do with the fact that the supporting cast in FRWL is so uniformly excellent (especially Shaw who owns the movie) that it makes Connery's performance seem more like part of a team effort, rather than a star performance.
But yes, in TB he gives the ultimate Bond performance as far as I'm concerned.
He just appears to be operating on another level throughout the movie, perfectly combining the dry humour and ruthelessness of the first two films with the playfulness and wit of GF.
My choice is between GF and TB, both Connery and Bond at his best, but my love of TB gives it the edge. He blends the tougher edge of DN and FRWL with the lighter touch of GF into one great package. He really runs the gamut of emotions in that film, my favorites being the confrontation with Fiona in the hotel room and the scene where he reveals her brother's murder to Domino on the beach. It goes beyond the tough, suave and charming Bond to touches that bring to mind Fleming's Bond.
I also don't think Connery sleepwalks in YOLT. It's more that the script gives him little in the way of strong dialogue or interactions and focuses more on getting him from one vehicle to another and one action scene to the next. Also like the humorous side he plays up in DAF, which doesn't distract from of the action scenes where he plays his tough side.
Though GF and TB are also high on the list.
I do love the script though. Connery is clearly enjoying himself. But unlike the Bond films of DN - TB, DAF is a Sean Connery film starring James Bond. Before that he was James Bond starring Sean Connery. At least for me.
Yes, and I think he pretty much stated that in his interviews about Bond, didn't he? It turned into him just pushing buttons. DAF at least gave him some comic scenes and some stuff to do. Including possibly the only time he actually attempted an accent onscreen after he became a star! Twice! :)
I re-watch DAF every few years just for Connery and the wonderful dialogue. The only part of DAF I dislike is the climax on the rig, but even that has some cheeky moments.
True! "Who is your floor?"
Yes! :) And don't forget when he's being Klaus Hergersheimer in the lab!
I shall keep voting open for the weekend crowd to chime in! I don't want @Max_The_Parrot to get ruffled feathers if I close the voting too soon. LOL
Just the coolest man alive at that time.
Drama, comic timing and physicality. Just perfection 👍
Are you for Team Trump! LOL!
Nice tribute to the man who defined the role for many! Lets shift to the Klebbie side of things. Lets dive into the worst gadgets/vehicles. Bond has had some epic gadgets and then others land rather flat! Here are the flat ones!
What say you? What is the worst gadget or vehicle that our man Bond has used in the films.
Outside the list, the x-ray specs in TWINE are pretty pointless. They dont help Bond in any way or service the plot, theyre only there for some cheap titilation and see through underwear, for all of about five seconds.
If I'm honest none of those listed actually offend me terribly! Even the naff ones like the seagull hat or the crocodile are kind of supposed to be very silly aren't they? That's the fun! :) Not quite sure what you mean about 'how would someone fit in the crocodile'- Roger is in there.
I like the Iceberg too; it's kind of cool even if it's a completely different colour to all the real icebergs! Apparently it was actually quite dangerous to do too as there was a guy in there driving the thing. I think the interior set is quite cool too! Although I'd hate to think what it'd be like after five days in there. The smell...
I suppose I'll pick the Moonraker camera, but even then I think it's quite funny! And it's kind of child's logic, of course James Bond has a camera with '007' on it! It's like how the Aston Martins always used to have 'JB 007' numberplates when you'd see them in promo photos. I don't think that's a bad thing at all :)
I think the vehicle I'd plump for not on the list would be the DAF Moon Buggy. It looks really cheap and rubbish, it doesn't do anything interesting, there's no reason for it to be there (why is there a moon film set?), and there isn't even a decent gag for it. I don't like that one.
As for bad gadget... maybe the mousetrap Bond has in his pocket at the beginning of DAF? It seems a bit unsporting somehow. Or how about TWINE's exploding gun gadget? A gun is already something you'd try and keep hidden, turning it into a 'but REALLY it's a bomb' gadget seems a bit too much. And also a bit dull.
Likewise Bond having two watches in DAD and TND that have little bombs hidden in them. Just a bit boring- I like a gadget to be something very original or to at least suit the design of the object it's hidden in. Like the pen bomb in GoldenEye: you click the top three times. Lovely.
Yeah it already feels a bit dated and sexist, that bit.
The iceberg sub is also amazing. Who wouldn't want to spend 5 days with Mary Stavin in a mink lined mini-submarine?
Worst goes to the Mini-Camera from MR. Neat spy item but also commercial off the shelf, with the unexplainable 007 inscription.
Gull-cap from GF. Silly, yes, maybe it had some navigation/visual device that needed to be above the surface. Regardless, I love the way Connery Bond rips it off his head and slings it to the side as if commenting on it himself.
Crocodile sub from OP. Ingress/egress is a mystery. Still, a mix of silly and useful.
Iceberg sub from AVTAK. I have no opinion on its phallic shape or the navigation between those two 'bergs. (Piloting that was the beautiful Kimberley Jones, just as good as and a ringer for Mary Stavin.)
Radioactive pill from TB. Priceless interaction with Q on that one however it works.
My least favourite has always been one of the smaller but no less idiotic ones: the hand trap in the PTS of DAF. Utterly stupid, and that's saying something considering some of the things the series has thrown out there. My feelings on the film probably taint that suggestion, though.