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Yes, forgot about this, I liked how it showed Red Grant as a threat and how menacing and dangerous he was.
But that fake Bond was something I couldn't stand, it just looked terrible, and really? How did they knew what Bond looked like? Who told SPECTRE what Bond looked like? Unless the Photographer woman, Annabel Chung, is a SPECTRE agent.
I don't liked that opening, as much as I liked Red Grant in it (though he also appeared very briefly in that scene, where we spent minutes of watching this Vampire faced Bond 😅).
Edit: I actually have it in #21 of my rankings!
Though love Walter Gotell walking away casually swinging it!
I had it at 8.
I seem to remember Bond walking through the hedge maze more. It's elaborate in the game.
I read here or on AJB that the chap in the mask looked too much like Connery and/or Bond so they had to add the moustache.
I thought it would do better.
The PTS’s in Bond would continue to evolve. In this regard this one seems like an early but successful attempt. It’s one of my favourites personally.
Connery does a nice job of acting not entirely like himself. One thing that's interesting about it from a sort of historical perspective is that I think it shows that the almost cartoonish iconic image of Bond wearing a dinner suit was there right from the beginning- that's his default look and even the baddies think so.
The tension is very good and it is a great introduction for Grant.
I also like it that there isn't much talking but enough to increase the excitement for what will follow and you get the feeling that this group of villains is a real threat for Bond.
Why so low then? I love more action in the PTS (apart from CR, which is in my top 10 despite having no big action scene in it).
Oh yes, I forgot about Connery’s acting. It is very impressive, especially on repeat viewings, just how unlike his Bond he is during that sequence. He has a sort of nervousness/‘lamb to the slaughter’ quality that is unlike his usual confident Bond demeanour.
It’s incredibly silly in concept, from the idea of a SPECTRE agent being convinced to don a mask and potentially die for a training session, to the fact that Bond wears a tuxedo. But that’s why it’s kinda cool - it has that Bondian absurdity and was the first time such an opening was realised. It’s also incredibly well shot considering a) how simple it is and b) the fact that it’s night (it’s really an improvement on the night scenes in DN).
Atmospheric, suspenseful and like fake Bond, perfectly executed.
And just as a little detail, I like how he keeps his lips together the whole time because it's a mask (yes he forgets when he's being strangled, but that's okay!).
For me, this is one of those 1960s Bond things that is kind of magic the first time, but makes no sense upon rewatches. You don't have to be a nitpicker to wonder if it wouldn't be better to train by stalking a guy whose vision isn't impaired by a mask.
I do agree that Sean did a good job not playing Bond though, and I do like the last shot of everybody walking back to the compound or whatever.
That's one of the things I absolutely love about the PTS, the cold attitude of SPECTRE. They just killed a man during a training session and they don't give a damn. Granted, the man was wearing a mask. But not just any mask. The choice is psychological. The target is Bond, hence the Bond mask. All throughout the film, Grant stalks Bond. In some critical moments, he actually saves Bond's life. Yet we have seen him kill "Bond" in cold blood. The threat he poses lingers in our minds. We know that at any point, he can turn on Bond and kill him. We understand that the threat is real because we remember that he killed "Bond" once before.
If it hadn't been for this PTS, the shadowy presence of Grant in the film wouldn't have been so impactful.
Yeah, I don't really disagree with any of that--in one sense, it's kind of my point. The scene is there for meta reasons, and it only makes sense if one imagines SPECTRE and co are aware of the audience on the other side of the screen and are putting on this show purely to add a bit of suspense for them. Because it makes no sense for them to do this little mask charade otherwise.
Similar to how the camera later conspires with the villains to hide Blofeld's face from the audience even though other characters are looking right at him. Or about half of Goldfinger. Behavior that would be inexplicable for anyone who does not know they are in a piece of entertainment.
NO TIME TO DIE (2021)
featuring << l'homme masqué >>
The latest entry strands just outside the top 10.
The last place that it was given by one member actually sealed its faith, putting it one point behind our 10th place, making it our highest-ranked entry with a bottom finish along the way. Additionally, it also received one penultimate place.
That's no to say, this one doesn't have its fans. On the contrary, one participant gave it the gold medal, another one awarded it the bronze, two people rated it 5th and four more people ranked it in the second half of their top 10.
NTTD collected 106 points in total.
In fact, I like the PTS enough to feel let down by the section immediately following it.
The whole idea of Blofeld tricking Bond into thinking Madeline is a SPECTRE agent is a bit tacked on/doesn’t make much sense even in the context of the film. But I enjoy this PTS a lot.
I'm of a similar opinion, 17th for me. It has some nice bits, but on the whole I find it too long. I always felt the motorcycle stunt didn't get the full scale it probably deserved. I didn't really like the ending either, after this much time, a text message on Madeleines phone, and that's enough for Bond to call it off with her. Send her packing on a train. It just felt a bit too weak for me.
* I kind of liked the opening in Norway, it's a very serious and quiet scene, but again, in terms of context, I don't care about Madeleine's backstory (there are many Bond girls with backstories that's not much elaborated, and more worthy than a simple and short allusion Madeleine told in the train in the previous film, and it's over magnified in here).
* I still don't buy Bond and Madeleine's romance, and what hurts it more was the use of OHMSS, that We Have All The Time In The World motif, it's just insulting for me as a fan of OHMSS to have it used here for just the sake of emotional hook.
* Bond visiting Vesper's grave seemed like a pretty good idea, but why she's buried in there is beyond me, she died in Venice, she's British, there are far better places to bury that character, but they've chose the farthest place possible, in Matera.
* Another thing is they've made Vesper such an impossible character, really? She's just 23 when she died? Such a bad retcon, she's really that young to hold such a high position in the Government.
* Blofeld manipulating Bond into thinking Madeleine betrayed him, very far fetched, first, how Bond, who knows to himself that Blofeld is a villain would easily fall into this trap all of a sudden? In SPECTRE, Bond believed Madeleine, he fell in love with her and trusted her, even without knowing her that much, but then here, he would broke all of that by just a hearsay? It makes Bond looked like a fool, because from the start, he should anticipated it, he fell in love with a girl who's a daughter of a villain, then without knowing her that much, then here suddenly, the writers turned 360 in bringing up Bond's trust issues again, because they've felt like it's forgotten in the previous film, but in result, it made Bond stupid.
Like after falling in love with Madeleine without anticipation, he would just break it up in this film by Blofeld's manipulation?
* Second, I forgot to add, how did Blofeld managed to do all of those? I thought he's in prison, how did he knew that Bond was in Matera (he'd sent Primo in there), how did contact Madeleine's phone (and it's bad that there's that SPECTRE logo in there), how? How Blofeld done those? How come that SPECTRE was still in operation? Despite of Blofeld being in prison, in a highly secured facility in Belmarsh, how funny, the biggest plot hole in that PTS.
(I think there's really an underlying plot there about Madeleine being connected to SPECTRE, but it's seemed that the writers decided to change it instead, because how did the SPECTRE logo appeared on her phone? How did Blofeld contacted her?, So, I think there's really a strong sign that she's a traitor, but because of comparison to Vesper, they've tried to abandon that idea and made subversions, which made things worse because it created some plot holes).
All in all, it doesn't make much sense.
The action scenes are great too, as so was the cinematography.
But again, it's just a bad case of retconning.
So, yeah: a good one.
Its biggest issue is Bond being so easily manipulated by Blofeld.
I placed this one 13th.
I absolutely love this PTS. Yes, it is very long but I adore every moment of it. The obvious main issue - Bond shouldn't believe Blofeld/SPECTRE - is understandable. Maybe, some day, I will rank it lower because of that. But, right now, I'm so thrilled about the whole PTS that I don't care.
Am I still in the early phase, where a new movie seems to be better than it deserves to be? Maybe...but I'm sure that this PTS will at least stay in my top three for a vey long time.
A home-invasion thriller with horror elements? Combined with the suspensful location and that mask? Never expected it in a Bond movie and I totally love it. Why is the ice breaking under the kid but not under the heavier man? I don't care: The moment when Safin moving again outside and Madeline starts running over the ice is intense and the music elevates it even more. Goosebumps!
The length of the PTS works for me because the scenes are linked in a smart way (Mathilde coming out of the water)
The DB5 at this beautiful location and the wonderful score from Zimmer. It sounds and looks like my favourite romantic movie but of course we know that there is more to come. Matera is an absolute highlight. Such a beautiful place, even for Bond standard outstanding.
The love between the two feels real to me this time (I also wasn't convinced in SP)
The "I miss you" moment is very brief but the most beautiful and touching link to CR(my favourite movie) they could do. Craig nails it.
The card from SPECTRE, the surprising explosion and the idea that we don't hear clear like Bond is cool. THe music kicks in and an already wonderful movie becomes a perfect popcorn-action-flick (with way more tension than we get from Bond usually).
Love the bridge stunt, love the moment when he jumps right in Primo on the motorbike. Love the short bike action (yes, the big jump could maybe been filmed in an even more spectacular angle?? It is still great, but very short). Love it when the music kicks in again when they walk to the DB5. Love the gadget of the car, the ringing bells when the car is suddenly stopped. And then the best thing is still coming: Primo shoots and the glass is breaking more and more. Wow, the tension there (and Craig's acting) is pure perfection (of course, only my opinion).
Then follows the best Bond theme variation since the classic Bond theme from Dr. No and we get another great action bit with the spinning around as another highlight for the franchise.
Then the sad ending...maybe not very logic but when you dig it, you get all the emotions a movie can give you. And we get all of this in the first 26 (or so) minutes.
I have to admit, that the emotional journey wouldn't be the same without Zimmer's score which I absolutely love, too.
I think you get it: I LOVE this one :)
But I too prefer my pts to be short and snappy! Oh and I hate them using the ATTITW theme here, it belongs in my favourite Bond movie, and nowhere else!
It was exquisitely shot and edited, and happily, Bond and Madeleine's relationship really rang true for me; the two actors were superb....