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2. Bond sneaking around the Alvarez Clinic, plucking a grape on the way
3. sword fight at Blades - "Steady on!"
4. abandoned station for abandoned agents
5. Bond caught spying through the geodome glass, and then saved by Miranda: "Oh, they left ages ago"
Honourable mentions:
Brosnan looks great in the black sweater. I really enjoy his confrontation with Graves before escaping from the diamond mine. He tries to shoot Miranda point blank. When he runs along the greenhouse boardwalk, there's a real GE vibe about it. I like the music here, and elsewhere throughout the film.
Fire squad
Hong Kong hotel scene
Scenes with Raoul
No Wheelchair?
Los Organos
Blades
"Put Your Back into It"
Car battle
Sword fight Jinx v. Frost
End credits, and this is not a joke. I really like the remix version of the Madonna song.
Yes, I feel the same. And I even think that the song works surprisingly well together with the visuals. I.e. the first 30 seconds create a great atmosphere.
The ones who mentioned the main titles: do you only like what we see or also the whole package combined with the song?
‘Saved by the bell’ I love that line.
Frost pointing her gun at Graves then swivelling calmly round and aiming at Bond. That’s very well done.
‘Hope it doesn’t get wet.” Another great line.
I actually like the satellite. Probably I’m the only one... but few things say “this is a James Bond film” as much as a satellite with a laser beam. C’mon everybody, the villain’s got a satellite with a laser beam! This is James Bond!
The Cuba segment is great. I especially like the very beginning, the part with Bond going to see Raoul. The walk through the streets, hand in pocket IIRC.
And later on when he's talking with Raoul:
-Mister?
-Bond.
-Mister Bond.
I like how 007 skips the customary introduction. He means business now.
Agreed.
Cool stuff.
I haven't been including the title sequences, but yes, Kleinman's work has been consistently amazing. Probably controversial, but I think 6 of his 7 beat or at the very least rival the best of Binder's.
Everything you listed would be in my top 10. I'm particularly fond of everything that goes down on Isla de Los Organos and in Hong Kong. In these two sequences, everything from the sets to the costumes to the Arnold tunes to Brosnan just playing it amazingly cool ranks up there with the best of Bond. The sequence in Hong Kong has one of the funniest exchanges in the series too:
Chang: "Hong Kong is Chinese territory now."
Bond: "Yeah well, don't worry, I'm not here to take it back."
The first half is stronger by far, but the aforementioned sports cars dueling on ice, snooping about with Miranda outside the geodome, and the standoff with Graves followed by a narrow escape through the glass all deliver the goods and then some.
By the way: was someone surprised when Miranda pointed the fun at Bond? Probably not but is nonetheless a good scene (Miranda's reaction, Bonds reaction, the location and the gadget: It is probably my favourite gadget from the movie. No laser beam included (which is a good thing, in my opinion).
I like the moment where Bond knocks out the guy he puts in the wheelchair and how he travels with him to Los Organos. Brosnan has style there.
And Raoul is surprisingly likable despite the short screen time.
I'm not sure if I would rank the car chase on ice as a top moment but there are some great looking shots of the ice lake and the part inside looks cool (no joke intended) and is something we haven't seen before.
Double pointed fun!
We have already the top 5 list of @QBranch. Do you agree?
Favourite Bond moments: Round 6: DAD - Part 2: Ranking
- I quite like the finale, especially the laser satellite plot/use and the already mentioned sword fight
- IKARUS presentation +1, absolutely
- Bond driving a car with Cuban style music
- opening shot of the Iceland part and some nice shots of the Ice Palace
Sorry, I meant if your list would be an inspiration for others. But I'm glad that you agree with yourself ;)
Good picks. I have to consider the Cuba opening for my top5.
There are three scenes with Raoul. Which one is YOUR favourite?
1. on the rooftop: "I'd never ask you to betray your people."
2. in the office 1: "We find your friend is here, on an island. In Los Organos."
3. in the office 2: "Yet they're identical to conflict diamonds. What an amazing coincidence."
I'd pick #2, but I do like how Bond looks at Raoul at the end of #3, cigar in hand.
2 Peaceful Fountains of Desire
3 Bond using his gadget ring
4 The dream machine
5 Death satellite
2. Blades
3. Hong Kong hotel
4. Aston v Jag
5. Title sequence
2. Bond uses his ring to escape from the three villains
3. Bond arrives in Cuba (love the score)
and meets Raoul
4.Title sequence
5. Bond gets a shaken Martini/London Calling (love this track)
Honourable mentions: Bond uses the door next to the Westminster Bridge and meets M underground. Q scene underground (yes, I like Cleese!), Jinx knows how to walk in a bikini. Car chase. Moon's introduction in the PTS.
Without a doubt, this is the highlight of the film for me. For starters, the set itself is just cool, particularly the bit where Bond passes those revolving mirrors with designs resembling DNA strands. The confrontation and ensuing fight with Zao are both great fun. I particularly like those moments where Bond has to use his wits in the heat of the moment, either by activating the MRI magnet during the fight or devising a makeshift cannon to blow a hole through the clinic wall with an air tank. But what really makes the whole thing work is the introduction of Arnold's main action theme in "Jinx, James & Genes"—truly energizing stuff.
2. Bond receives the kiss of life, checks into and out of HK hotel
Bond's escape from the naval ship and pajama-clad stroll through the HK hotel lobby is pure comedy gold, particularly as backed by one of Arnold's coolest, swankiest tracks ever. Then there's the transformation from bearded captive to freshly dressed and shaved 007, the alluring appearance of the amazingly named Peaceful Fountains of Desire, and the hilarious reveal of Chang and associates filming the scene FRWL-style from behind the mirrored closet door. Bond's quip about not being in Hong Kong to take it back seals the deal. This whole segment has all the style, all the cool, and all the comedy anyone could ask for from Bond.
3. The PTS - "a bit of a minefield out there"
I wasn't terribly impressed by the PTS the first time around and still don't think it's quite as good as Brosnan's earlier three, but there is a lot of fun to be had here: surfing in to North Korea, impersonating Van Bierk, setting off the diamonds in Zao's face, commandeering the hovercraft and blowing up Moon's car collection. The obvious green screen toward the end of the chase is an unfortunate sign of things to come, but the surprise of Bond being captured and the arresting segue into Kleinman's innovative titles help distinguish the opening as one of the film's better segments.
4. Blades at Blades
The one thing I recall I could remark favorably upon as I exited the theater that fateful Dec. of '02. There's a real thrill in the way the scene escalates, upping from rapiers to sabers to full-on broadswords, and Brosnan and Stephens really sell the intensity of it all. While the film itself is a far cry from Fleming's Moonraker, there is more than a trace of the literary Drax in Colonel Moon and I appreciate how the cinematically thrilling fencing match at least mirrors the book's game of bridge. Not even Madonna can pull this scene down a notch.
5. Ice chase
As with many of the other best parts of DAD, the ice chase between Zao's Jag and Bond's Vanish represents the best of Bond at its most outlandish and most extravagant, without teetering into the ridiculous (other parts of the film would go there). But the dueling sports cars swerving and sliding on ice as they launch grenades and rockets and pull flips is just big-scaled, good old-fashioned fun. The melting of the ice palace via space laser makes perfect use of the last great Bondian lair and Zao's death by chandelier is wonderfully bizarre.
Other highlights: Bond exchanged for Zao, using the Universal Exports cover, "London Calling," M's briefing in the Underground, virtual reality takeover of MI6, Q introducing the Vanish, intro to Iceland with Arnold's screaming brass, snooping around outside the geodome with Frost, and last but not least "death for breakfast" and escape
*Green-screened swan dive not included
A highlight for me is seeing an updated version of the TB breather, which Bond casually throws to the side to sink to the bottom.
Great post indeed. Thanks once again @Some_Kind_Of_Hero for the well-thought comments that always give me the feeling that I should watch the film right now.
The Hong Kong scenes are another moment I like a lot.
@marc ?
Others?
2. Blades sword fight
3. Icarus presentation
4. Sword fight on the airplane
5. Nice shots of the Ice Palace interior
Thank you, both. The shot of Bond cleaning his gun and taking down hostiles with Robinson really are cool moments. Same with swimming under the ice with the rebreather. There's a lot to like in DAD.
The action is where the film really stands out. The hovercraft chase and the Blades scene are great sequences, and even the ice chase between the two spy cars - the height of ridiculousness, I know - but, gosh darn it, it's just so much fun.
The score by David Arnold. Fitting the tone of the movie. In fact for some scenes, it heightened, nay rescues the film.
Lee Tamahori's muscular direction.
The Pikelet
The production values, especially Peter Lamont trying to go Ken Adam.
Bond going rogue in a novel fashion, trying to redeem himself.
Main titles given us a glimpse of Bond's torture. The segue into the main titles.
Raoul is a great little ally, and General Moon brings some gravitas to his one dimensional character.
The scenes with Bond and M crackle with tension.
Graves’ sneering villainy. This is what a deranged North Korean thinks that Bond is, full of Western hypocrisy and swagger.
The Moonraker novel provided inspiration for the screenplay.
The cinematography is full of vim and vigour by David Tattersall. A step up from the rest of the Brosnan era films.
The look and colour of this film, being desaturated in the beginning and becoming more saturated as the movie proceeds. Fits the tone of the film nicely.
I have to disagree with Pierce Brosnan's assessment; he really did nail it on his fourth go. Full of the self confident swagger of Connery, and even his one liners, as bad as they are, lives up to Sir Rog.
“I’m just here for the birds”
"Maybe you've been down here to long..."
But my fav moments are
1) The exchange between Bond and Zao. Great dialogue between Bond and General Moon before it. Nice panning shot by Christian Wagner.
2) Bond attempting to kill Frost after she was exposed.
3) Bit too big to be classed as a moment, but the spy car duel on the frozen lakes.
4) Disarming Peaceful and the exposure of the Chinese agents.
5) Waking up a sleeper agent.
One thing I didn't understand in your post: What do you mean with "Lee Tamahori's muscular direction"?