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https://gizmodo.com/arecibo-heartbreak-iconic-seti-dish-will-be-demolished-1845714893?utm_campaign=io9&utm_content=&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR2ewRTpfqiBi7QgxYUAP3dRUqUVsSoKrQHabAerFkjhTeZyDelBivAcfaM
https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2020/11/19/21575025/arecibo-observatory-puerto-rico-decommission-structural-collapse-cable-break?utm_campaign=theverge&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&__twitter_impression=true&s=09
The long time waiting for the next film was incredibly exciting. First, they chose Pierce Brosnan, an actor I found hugely entertaining as Remington Steele and whom I could clearly sympthasize with in the role of Bond. I had also enjoyed The Professionals and felt Gordon Jackson was an M-like figure and Lewis Collins would have been a tougher-than-nails Bond. But I got that Brosnan was probably the better fit for the times. Second, there was this new thing, the Internet, and I recollect being able for the first time to endlessly rewatch a teaser, and then a trailer, for a Bond movie, even though it was roughly the size of a stamp on my monitor. Third, and to my big surprise, they chose Tina Turner for the title song, which turned out to be surprisingly catchy.
I watched it on the biggest screen in town and was hooked from start to finish. Now THIS was a Bond film! The fantastic opening scene had two spectacular stunts and a laugh-out-loud scene (the screeching trolley wheels and Ourumov's unbelieving look), a brand new gun barrel, clever and breathtaking opening titles, the stylish return of the DB5 and two amazing and good-looking Bond-women, a tough new female M, and more great British actors who would become even more famous after GE (Sean Bean as another 00-agent, Robbie Coltrane...). The list goes on and it ticked so many boxes that I didn't even know existed (could a tank chase be exciting? Yes it could and on top it had never been done in a Bond film!). Of course there were aspects to it I did not like (the end of Boris comes to mind), yet overall I left the theatre totally exhilarated and full of good hopes for the future of the Bond films.
Has it aged well? Not so much, it is very much a child of its age (particularly with Eric Serra's quirky score), but it embodies much of what a Bond film was meant to be like and executed at the most professional levels (direction, casting, cinematography and locations).
Is anyone actually reading the other posts? :))
"No wonder we couldn't see it. It was upthread."
I became a Bond fan in the early 90s, so it was a long wait to see one on the big screen. GE came out when I was in my first term at university, so it was a period of great excitement and change for me in many ways. I went with newfound student friends and we dressed up; I bought a bow tie for the occasion, which I still have.
MGM cinema in Oxford. The guys abseiling down the building are from the university extreme sports society, which helped out with the dam jump sequence.
Ah, the endless search for the Bond VHS's! These days it is to easy to find what you are looking for. We had to work, pfft, kids these days.
Brosnan's first is still an excellent film. One of the best.
It would have been my first cinema Bond as I was a couple of years too young to see LTK as it was a 15.
In the pre-internet days the trailer was something very exciting and precious- my mate and I used to go to the local cinema every week before our evening art classes to hang out in the lobby and wait for it to come around on the looped trailer tape they had playing on the TV sets! :)
I was in production for a musical and rehearsal lasted from 11 am 1pm. Then I had to be back for more rehearsal at 7pm. There was a 1:30 showing clear across town and a fellow cast member offered to give me a ride. The reason there was no line was everyone was already seated and I managed to get in during the previews.
I loved Brosnan's gunbarrel and the Bond theme accompanying the image. I did feel the blood looked a bit dark, since brightened for home video releases.
I loved every frame and the movie was well worth the 6 year wait.
I probably saw it at least 10 times in the cinema. Wonderful era that was.
My wife rented a small cinema in the nearest town for my 30th birthday and I could watch the movie on the big screen for the first time with my friends.
I can't remember when I watched GE for the first time. It was probably with my brother and my cousin. Her sister owned it on VHS and we watched it several times around '97. (The other VHS we watched a lot was Speed). I liked GE a lot from the beginning but was always a bit nervous when Xenia was killing the admiral. I was 10 at the time and I had never seen such a scene before (and after).
The main attractions were the opening jump (shot in my country), the PTS in general, the tank action and Q.
I had no idea that there wozld be so much more Bond movies, although I had seen a few scenes before from other ones. Luckily, my parents always liked the series and we watched a lot of them together when I was around 12.
I wasn't allowed to watch TND in the cinema. Therefore, TWINE was my first cinematic Bond experience (as a 12 year old.)
He's nearly as good at it as I am!
Never heard of this before ?
Leno: Pierce Brosnan (1995)
That's a good point, haha.
I found a little something that might be interesting to us GE fans:
https://physicsworld.com/a/arecibo-observatory-will-be-decommissioned-says-us-national-science-foundation/
Hmm. I don't think so, not sure Fleming ever took a bus in his life!
In other news though:
Iconic Puerto Rico telescope to be dismantled amid collapse fears
;)
With a name at the ready, Fleming now had to find a code number, too. When he moved to Kent in the mid fifties, he kept visiting London quite often. He commuted there and back by coach, which he took from Dover and then when he moved to Canterbury he took the same bus from the Cathedral town’s bus station. The number of the bus route? 007.
https://art-sheep.com/james-bond-how-did-the-worlds-most-famous-spy-acquire-his-name-and-his-007-code-number/
https://www.nationalexpressgroup.com/newsmedia/news-across-the-group/2015/is-the-world-s-most-famous-spy-named-after-a-humble-bus/
Don't forget the old John Dee thing too. I suspect you can find 007s everywhere if you look hard enough.
Never heard of the John Dee story before.
This is interesting, I see “007” on busses here in Vancouver all the time. And at work. ;)
Ben Macintyre, a columnist for The Times, wrote back in 2008 that 007 derives from a German WW I document, number 0075, whose code was cracked and which caused the US to enter the war. From then on the 007-prefix stood for the highest British Intelligence achievement. In any case, that idea also seems derived, but it would make sense that "00" has some meaning in intelligence circles.
(update)
I just rechecked what Henry Chancellor dug out for his book "James Bond - The Man And His World" - highly recommended, by the way - on page190. Fleming said in an interview that the Navy was responsible, since during the war all the top secret signals had the double-0 prefix. 0070 (not 0075) was the secret code of above mentioned Zimmerman Telegram in WW I and founded the prefix habit. Fleming memorized that for future use and it stuck.
So i guess no really knows for sure ?
Yes i've read some other stories about the origin of the 00-prefix like the one you mention. That might be right ?
I've never bought "James Bond - The Man And His World" but i've seen it around a lot.
What sort of other stuff is in the book ? Does it just cover the fleming books ?