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Would you rather have a car with revolving license plates OR a watch with magnetic powers?

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  • DEKE_RIVERSDEKE_RIVERS
    Posts: 1,368
    Technically, Mason is not James Bond. It's Connery playing Connery in an action movie and that is pretty Bondian ;)

    Sometimes I wish McClory/Connery had made another Bond movie in the 90s, but it wouldn't have been as good as The Rock.
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,217
    Pure fan speculation, but fun. If one wants to believe that John Mason is actually James Bond it gives the theory some validity.

  • Mathis1Mathis1
    Posts: 7,434
    Well there is a similarity at what Mason looks like at the start of 'The Rock', to what Brossas does at the opening of DAD! 🤣
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,217
    The Untouchables is just wonderful. It's an immaculately crafted on almost every single level. Connery is iconic in it. I'd also push back against any criticism of Costner as I find him brilliant in it, too. He managed to take a very flawed, real-life figure and keep the core principles but make him someone you root for.

    But there's just something about Connery in The Rock that is almost out of place in 90s action cinema. He's channeling the likes of Eastwood (and I definitely see more Clint than Bond in there, despite the obvious parallels) in a ballsy, swaggering blockbuster and gives us that "in" that you need for a film like that to have a lasting impression rather than just be another fun, dumb blockbuster. He was exceptionally cool.
  • shimplyshocking007shimplyshocking007
    Posts: 116
    Rewatching The Untouchables, my favourite Connery scene is when he leads the others across the street from the police station to the post office. "This is a raid...here's my warrant!"
  • Scaramanga1974Scaramanga1974
    Posts: 729
    Benny wrote: »
    I do like the Bondian nods in The Rock, but I’ve never thought that the character of Mason IS James Bond.
    It’s just a couple of winks to Connery’s past, but nothing more.
    Connery’s mentor role as Malone in The Untouchables is a far better character, with Sean deservedly winning the Oscar for his work.
    Whilst his death scene is hard for many fans to watch, it’s a bloody good bit of acting.

    Good points. To me Connery in the Rock looked in better shape than he did in both Diamonds and NSNA.
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,433
    That was some great discussion about a couple of entertaining flicks.

    Daniel's Bond didn't really feature the Gunbarrel all that much. CR only had it at the end of the PTS and even that it wasn't a traditional gunbarrel. QOS and SF didn't start with it. NTTD had some foreshadowing with it.

    Would you rather we just do away with the Gunbarrel, or use it at the start like the majority of the films?
  • peterpeter Toronto
    edited May 25 Posts: 9,509
    At the start.

    The experimentations didn't bother me, but, it's time to return the gunbarrel back to the top of the film.

    No more bullets flying towards us, no more tinkering with placement, no more letting the gun be exposed before the actor turns to shoot.

    If anything, deliver a strong, loud, confident James Bond theme, an let the new actor get at it.
  • Mathis1Mathis1
    Posts: 7,434
    peter wrote: »
    At the start.

    The experimentations didn't bother me, but, it's time to return the gunbarrel back to the top of the film.

    No more bullets flying towards us, no more tinkering with placement, no more letting the gun be exposed before the actor turns to shoot.

    If anything, deliver a strong, loud, confident James Bond theme, an let the new actor get at it.

    + 1
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    edited May 25 Posts: 7,136
    For CR and QOS it made sense, SF and NTTD did a terrible job with it.

    I love the gunbarrels and I really hope they bring them back the proper way. The last traditional one was back in 1999... Way too long ago imo.
  • CharmianBondCharmianBond Pett Bottom, Kent
    Posts: 557
    I grew up with the Craig era so I've never really experienced a traditional gun-barrel upon release and I'm dying for it tbh, it's like the fanfare before a Star Wars movie, it's that hit of nostalgia and adrenaline that tells you you're in for a good time. And especially with Bond 26 and with all the unknowns around it having that traditional element would be reassuring.

  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    edited May 25 Posts: 13,807
    Gunbarrel at the start is the ultimate movie theater experience for me, almost as good as home viewing.

    I note CR had the gunbarrel transition to the main titles, after we see both of the two kills that earn double-oh status reverse order. (And GE had the original bullet-down-the-gunbarrel in the transition to the main titles.)

    I understand the choices for QOS and SF to have it other than the beginning. But especially QOS and even SF would have benefited by opening with the gunbarrel.

    I'll always want it at the beginning. And if they play with the concept later in the film, that can be good as well.

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  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 6,304
    How can anyone compare the influential Brian DiPalma to the hack Michael Bay?

    Umm, obviously I choose The Untouchables.
  • M_BaljeM_Balje Amsterdam, Netherlands
    edited May 25 Posts: 4,520
    One last time playing a bit with it, but like NTTD and Spectre it mean at start.

    After the moon and ice in NTTD with Bond 26 i like to see the sun... The Universal logo changed in white and then yellow dots and in the sun/sunlrays.

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    Bond with sun glasses on and take them off or first various people with sun glasses. Besides after gunbarrel it also be something for after the main titles.
  • SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷ Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 2,051
    There's simply no way the Gunbarrel sequence would be scrapped, because the look of it is so unique that other franchises must be wishing they thought about it first.
  • Jordo007Jordo007 Merseyside
    Posts: 2,641
    At the start.
    There's nothing like the gunbarrel to get the heart racing in anticipation at the start of the film
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    edited May 26 Posts: 14,585
    It's gotta be at the start, but for just one film only, I wanna see the title sequence transition into the gun barrel sequence and the iris open on the film proper.
  • BennyBenny Shaken not stirredAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 15,138
    Gun barrel at the start of the film.
    Keep it simple and what we expect. No need to mess with it so often.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,041
    Gun barrel at the start. As long as it's basically the same, I don't care how they experiment with it. I couldn't tell any of the differences so far from memory, and I'm far from getting worked-up about the variations (as a matter of fact, I find the original gunbarrels - "Bond" with a hat - date the movies a lot more than all the rest of them together). As I said before, comparing gun barrel sequences seems akin to checking all the Mercedes in a parking lot to see which one has the best-looking three-pointed star. Futile, as long as the marque is determinable.
  • mattjoesmattjoes Julie T. and the M.G.'s
    Posts: 7,021
    Out with the gunbarrel. What a complete waste of time. Let's get on with the pre-title sequence already.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited May 26 Posts: 16,420
    DEKE_RIVERS wrote: »
    Technically, Mason is not James Bond. It's Connery playing Connery in an action movie and that is pretty Bondian ;)

    Sometimes I wish McClory/Connery had made another Bond movie in the 90s, but it wouldn't have been as good as The Rock.

    I remember thinking that the opening of The Rock could have made for a decent McClory Thunderball update in the 90s: with a long-haired, bearded Connery's Bond having been imprisoned in HMP Shrublands for the last 30 years, and MI6 needing info on his fellow inmate Count Lippe...

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    peter wrote: »
    At the start.

    The experimentations didn't bother me, but, it's time to return the gunbarrel back to the top of the film.

    No more bullets flying towards us, no more tinkering with placement, no more letting the gun be exposed before the actor turns to shoot.

    If anything, deliver a strong, loud, confident James Bond theme, an let the new actor get at it.

    Agreed, although I thought the simplified version at the top of NTTD was great. I'd have no problem if they stuck to that, especially the way we travelled down it (rather than it opening up) to get to the film.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 6,304
    Agreed. The classic gunbarrel, with the correct section of the Bond theme.

    I find it very odd that they keep bringing back the tired DB5 but keep messing with the gunbarrel and its music.

  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,125
    Gunbarrel at the start AND I'd love it to be part of the PTS plot, at least to introduce the new Bond. Bond walks, shoots the sniper, then we see the dead sniper and the usual action sequence.
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,433
    Good stuff as always folks! Love how we have some strong thoughts on both sides of things.

    Lets do a Pierce Brosnan question!

    Would you rather watch Pierce Brosnan in Mrs. Doubtfire OR Mars Attacks?

    In both films Pierce isn't the star but yet both films feature him and give him some great scenes to play in.

    You can consider the whole film or just Pierce's role or his acting within the film.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,217
    He's simply brilliant in Mars Attacks. That has my vote.
  • ThunderballThunderball playing Chemin de Fer in a casino, downing Vespers
    Posts: 814
    Mars Attacks, underrated, completely insane film and it's all the more entertaining for it.

    I have never liked Mrs. Doubtfire. Meh at best.
  • FoxRoxFoxRox
    Posts: 12,474
    Count me in the opposite camp. Mars Attacks was Burton’s first misfire for me, while Mrs. Doubtfire is still one of my favorite comedy films.
  • Last_Rat_StandingLast_Rat_Standing Long Neck Ice Cold Beer Never Broke My Heart
    Posts: 4,589
    His reaction to the "run by fruiting" is enough for me.

    Mrs. Doubtfire
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,420
    Doubtfire is creepy and Williams’ character is an awful dad which the film ignores for some reason. Pierce is funny in Mars Attacks, so that one.
  • MalloryMallory
    Posts: 2,165
    Mars Attacks! is more my cup of tea than Mrs Doubtfire, a film I can never understand why it's so popular.
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