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Comments
I'm quite happy to admit I couldnt give the slightest toss about Bolivia and it's water supply.
The fate of Bolovians is basically just a Mcguffin to hang the set pieces off in the same way nuclear warheads are in TB or annihilating the human race is in MR.
But the fact that we're talking of a 'flyspeck' of a country (sorry General Medrano but you're not that much more important than Haiti in the grand scheme of things) and the fact that there's no 'bomb' going to go off just that the Bolivian government is going to have to shell out a load of wedge to give its people water before they revolt and it's hardly the high stakes of say OP.
The real plot of the film is Quantum (SPECTRE 'They've rebadged it you fool') and their shadowy influence on governments. But this is never explored or resolved as we just get Greene saying 'I told you about Quantum' to Bond. Yes you did Dominic but no sod told the poor audience at any point. In addition the loss of the Guy Haines scene which would've given more heft to the plot was a big mistake.
I'm afraid I can't quite buy into this revisionist wave that QOS is an absolute classic that seems to be gaining a lot of traction.
It has improved since the initial crushing disappointment at the cinema (CR's fault for raising expectations too high), it looks fantastic in blu ray and even the editing isn't too bad on the small screen. But it needs to lose at least one of its pedestrian action scenes (the car chase and the rope fight are solidly decent - but no more - but I could happily lose the boat chase; wasn't there a whole thread dedicated to the impenetrable physics of it?) and add half an hour of dialogue.
There's a very good film in there somewhere which perhaps the writer's strike killed but it's only ever going to be a mid ranking entry.
There's being controversial and then there's being silly and just trying to get a rise out of people.
No EON film (not even DAD) displays the level of incompetence of CR67 (the score and Barbara Bouchet in a neglige excepted).
And then you wonder why Americans are hated all over the globe? This attitude is what gets your servicemen and women killed in places your companies want to be but your government doesn't, and is exactly what Bond referenced to in his 'i love how you people carved this place up' remark.
CR67 beats DAD just so in my ranking.
I don't see any incompetence in the DoP's work, sets, editing, directing, casting, special effects or clothes.
The film stays even closer to the novel than the 06 version (I was told).
The story doesn't know where it goes, but who cares with all of the above. In the end Allen blows up and that's a better and more original finale than quite a few EoN films have to offer, if you ask me.
The car chase knocks the bloody PTS of Quantum of Whocares out of the park too.
Peter Sellers is fantastic in every single moment, so is Ursula who's Vesper I'd take over Eva's any day.
Orson Welles (sans the silly magic act) is a better LeChiffre than Mads, that's for sure too.
Sellers gives a nerdy but suave James Bond. Niven and Kerr are a hoot! An insane Kerr, who doesn't want to see that! Not to mention all the past and future Bond stars in the film.
...oh...and Jacqueline Bisset! holy hell...
Give it another try, it's so 60s. And I happen to love films like The Party, Pink Panther etc.
CR67 is a much better overall product than most of the cheesy 80s EoN films in my book and especially the one film when you really can talk about "incompetence" Quantum of Sohwat.
As for the score and music, at least you seem to have good taste in that department.
@TheWizardOfIce is going to love this one...
It will be interesting to see where B25 goes with this, as it will be the first post-Brexit Bond film. Given Mendes' thick slathering of in your face heroism and patriotism (understandable given SF's 50th anniversary significance and jubilee year) and his questioning of Bond's place in the world, I wonder whether they will speak to it directly or indirectly in the next outing.
You want less action? Why?
You really do have to take your hat off to someone with the chutzpah to write a sentence like that.
Good to see you are basing your sound conclusions on your own experience rather than anecdotal second hand evidence.
Going to have to disappoint old chap as I really can't be arsed to enter into an argument about why I don't give a toss about Bolivia. About as fruitful a use of ones time as debating the pros and cons of skirting boards.
That said.....I'm at work so I'm on TfL's time so bugger it:
I'm sorry but even if the villain's scheme is to obliterate Bolivia with nuclear bombs, a space laser, triggering the tectonic plates and a lethal virus all at the same time the audience (well except in Bolivia I suppose) is still going to just give a huge collective:
I'm sure Bolivia is a perfectly nice place but some countries are high stakes and some ain't; I didn't write history folks that's just the way it is. I'd give just as little a toss were Quantum's scheme to deprive Slovenia or Chad of their water too.
I'm afraid some countries are just there to pad out World Cup qualifying groups and little else.
For all the Boliviaphiles out there would TSWLM's PTS have got a standing ovation at the Odeon Leicester Sq if Bond had gloriously unfurled a red, yellow and green tricolour?
By all means let Bolivia create their own secret agent who stops local supervillains for local people but if I'm watching a Bond film the climax should not hinge on whether or not Bond can prevent a few alpacas going thirsty.
Good times.
Well I had to give you something to reply to, to keep you happy.
Pot, meet kettle (and yes, he's British, not American).
"You must be joking."
Is this really where we're at on here these days; people claiming CR67 as being closer to the novel than CR06 merely because there's a carpet beater in the corner of a room at one point?
And then other people taking this as gospel?
If stating such an opinion is utter madness constitutes bullying then fine call me Biff Tannen.
If you'd said CR54 then fine as despite the bizarre @CommanderRoss style travesty of swapping an Englishman for an American this does adhere pretty solidly to the novel.
CR'67 is something of a guilty pleasure of mine. So very 60's and a completely mad and bizarre romp, that it's hard not to enjoy it to some degree.
However, trying to make sense of it and trying to reason its merits against any of the EON films is where I'll have to disagree.
There are some nice 'nods' and 'winks' to the novel. But that is where it ends.
Regarding @Andi1996Ruegg's comment that it's more faithful to the book than the Craig one, I assume he just misinterpreted what @Birdleson told him. Nothing to be outraged over, but I do find the actual notion of the '67 one being closer to the book than the '06 one to be laughable at best. By definition, as a comedy, it's not as accurate to the book as the Craig one.
We don't really need to dive into plot points but surely we don't think that in his first book, Fleming wrote about a retired Bond becoming M and calling the entire cast of agents James Bond... LOL.
Speaking strictly as a fan of David Niven, I quite liked his performance too even though he’s not comparable to the EON actors.
Great sets and score too.
"Oh, to hell with that."
The 80s are my favorite decade of Bond. Let's not run into each other in real life, we'll cancel each other out like matter and antimatter! :))
I think I understand where you are coming from with your feelings on CR'67, though. I just don't agree.
As for CR67, as an outspoken fan(atic) of the 60s films, it is pure pleasure for me to watch it.
I made many arguments why I love it so much. Including pointing out why I think it's very Bond. Just strange nobody cared to address those ;)
As for the novel. I haven't read it.
People here read too much in my one comment about it. I only assumed. I think that much is clear too if one cares to interpret my comments and not use them to spice things up around here.
But I have to admit, it was a careless remark. I underestimated the power of CR67 that it obviously has on here ha ha...
http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/james-bond-007/news/a846419/itv-viewers-disappointed-casino-royale-broadcast-bond-film/
haha...thanks for that link!
It's funny, after seeing CR67 I was thinking, that would make for a great New Year's Eve film and here we are.
The Tweeters seemed not to mind a lot to have been dished up CR67. One even calls it better than QoS, good boy ;)
I was hoping someone would pick that up. Just didn't want to give any American any credit there ;-)
And here's me thinking England had taken over that role quite some time ago.. As it stands the English there just to give the Belgian's passing to the next round some colour, right?
I don't think they'd be applauding at the Odeon, no. They'd probably be standing La Paz's central square.
So because you lost an empire you still think you matter, is that it? Funny, because neither the Dutch, French or Spanish think the same way. Well, perhaps the French do.... If history tells us one thing, it's that Britain is a has-been. Quite literally after the Scots and Welsh do their own 'Brexit'.
Now what's bizarre about that? The same arrogance, the same lack of education, the same ancestors. Except of course that the Americans at least have some German blood, so at least they can make half-arsed products, which is better then completely-arsed ones. Poteto potato.
From THAT perspective, I think it succeeds fairly well. There are many elements I like about the film: it does have magnificent sets, beautiful colors, a strong cast, and a great score.
What it lacks is a strong narrative through-line, and the main character who we know and love as James Bond. Niven's Bond is a complete revision as a way to thwart the Eon established Connery Bond.
Comparing it to the Eon films is kind of like comparing Leslie Neilson's Count in
Dracula Dead and Loving it, or Judd Hirsch's Dracula in the children's television special The Halloween That Almost Wasn't to Christopher Lee in Horror of Dracula.
As far as faithfulness to Fleming, honestly I don't think any version completely captures the mood and feel of the book. The book is short, compact and confined. When reading it, I'm envisioning an early '50's film noir world really. In a sense the '54 TV version is closer to that tone....but then again it's a live television production.
Totally agree Major,the whole 'film' is a disgusting waste of space.
Sadly just shows how much you know about football then. My original comment mentioned padding our World Cup qualifying not the tournament. We tend to qualify pretty easily but as someone who was at the Iceland game I know better than most how shit we are once we get there. Still go farther than Bolivia though.
A bit demeaning of your beloved Bolivia isn't it? Just because they all still queue up for water at pipe in the town square (people criticise Mendes for layering on the symbolism but Forster delivers classic film student drought imagery here) doesn't mean they don't have cinemas. I find the notion that they all have to stand in the middle of La Paz and watch films projected onto the wall of the presidential palace a bit insulting frankly.
Methinks the Commander doth protest too much.
I never mentioned England at any point I just said Bolivian water supplies weren't high stakes. But for some reason you decided to go off on a xenophobic rant against the English. But that's OK old chap; for an irrelevant, has been nation it's amazing how much ire we can still inspire. You don't ever see people frothing at the mouth over Estonia or Burkina Faso do you?
In actuality the majority of Bond film plots don't even concern England that much, and certainly the high stakes ones don't:
DN - American missiles at risk.
FRWL - Sticking one to the Russians and improving Britain's status in the intelligence community.
GF - American gold supply at risk.
TB - British bombs nicked yes but it's America (and Miami in particular) that is under threat.
YOLT - The world at risk.
OHMSS - The world at risk.
DAF - The world at risk.
LALD - American under threat of a glut of heroin.
TMWTGG - The world at risk (well barely. As far as I can tell Scaramanga's plan is to sell solar power to the highest bidder. I suppose might have some economic destabilising effect. Hardly thrilling though and hence we get a very limp climax).
TSWLM - The world at risk.
MR - The world at risk.
FYEO - U.K. national security at risk.
OP - Western Europe and possibly the world at risk.
AVTAK - Silicon Valley at risk.
TLD - The Soviets being swindled out of some money or diamonds or something. Not even sure anything is at risk reallly.
LTK - A bog standard drug deal.
GE - U.K. and global economy at risk.
TND - U.K. at risk (if we are insane enough to declare war on China).
TWINE - Western oil supplies at risk.
DAD - The world at risk.
CR - Stopping terrorist financing that was threatening the world.
QOS - Bolivian water supply at risk (although this is incidental to a shadowy group controlling major (i.e. not Bolivia) governments).
SF - U.K. intelligence personnel at risk.
SP - Global intelligence threat.
So Bond is actually closer to being the world's (or at least the west's) policeman rather than Blighty's.
Finally some sanity.