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Comments
The title sequence and music score for the 1967 CR were both excellent, IMO.
I love the titles for CR as well as the wonderful theme music.
Although the film seems somewhat disjointed to me at times, there's much about the unofficial '67 entry I adore. Ursula is wonderful as Vesper, Terence Cooper might have actually made a decent official Bond at some point, David Niven is as suave as ever and Orson Welles made a solid LeChiffre.
That said, I still prefer the '54 version.
Nobody did the blonde bimbo look better than Barbara Bouchet :x :P That is not a controversial opinion, that's a fact! ;)
Agree with you ToTheRight, love that main theme, and always admired animator Richard Williams, who did the titles! 'The Look of Love' is a beautiful song, Dusty Springfield would have been a brilliant choice to do a main theme for the official series!
She certainly would. I think I might even have preferred her to do, say, Moonraker. She would made that wonderfully smoky.
CR '54 is a harder watch for me.
Yes I always think that anyone who just says 'it's a terrible film' kind of has no joy in their soul. Yes it's absolutely appalling, but it's also a wonderful, insane crazy mess, and if you're tired of this bit then there will be a completely different and equally insane bit along in a minute, probably in a totally new setting with a completely different cast! :) It looks and sounds terrific and it's nice to sit back and kind of revel in the what-were-they-thinking-ness of it all :D
CR '54 I have seen once but there's no reason to watch it again: it's just a very ordinary and quite dull thing and if it didn't happen to have the character of James Bond in it it would have been forgotten long ago. Peter Lorre is good, but there are loads of much better things you can watch Peter Lorre being good in :D
I've always been a fan of both Niven and Bouchet in many other parts as well.
Plus Ursula's own voice was used in CR '67, not in DN.
One review I read called it "A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Royale".
Controversial opinion: I enjoy CR '67 more than QOS.
I would also like to see Kincade get adapted to other Bond media, in particular back story. I don’t know if it’s Albert Finney’s charming performance or the writing, but I really enjoyed him. Write him in books and put him in games, please!
I could deal with that! If there's ever a character close to Bond who feels like he could be the subject of a prequel/spin-off it's probably him :)
Just watched Casino Royale (2006) again and I feel that Vesper is really unlikeable for most of the film. I get that she is strong and capable and I enjoy that side of the portrayal. But the main vibe I get from Eva Green's performance is just that Vesper is frosty, unlikeable and someone I would give a wide berth to.
My controversial view on her is that Green is miscast. As you say, she's very frosty where another actor could have given her a bit more of an enigmatic or attractive edge, she can't do the accent at all, and she can't really even engage in the sexy badinage in the train carriage scene- there's no glint in her eye, her performance is pretty flat and lacks charm all the way through.
I watch that scene and imagine someone like Diana Rigg reading those lines, and then I feel like we really missed out.
Picture Rebecca Ferguson playing her: she wouldn't have been croaking her way through the film like Green did.
I find TMWTGG really frustrating at times and it is such a gigantic misses opportunity, but it dies have a b movie charm.
It's probably the only one I'd like to see remade. Just because it has more potential than we see in the film.
I really like the idea of a henchman as the main antagonist. It's in the novel, it's arguably in FRWL (both novel and film) with Grant, but it's not really in the TMWTGG movie: Scaramanga becomes chairman of the board and is no longer a mere henchman.
I don't feel this way at all. Green is by far one of the best actresses of the franchise (imo) and one of the main reasons why I love this movie as much as I do. The train scene is a highlight of the franchise.
I certainly disagree with both of you! I don't think Vesper is frosty at all, this a misinterpretation in my book. What I see is a fasade of perceived strength with vulnerabilty and tenderness under the surface. It is pretty clear that is the intention, Bond even eludes to it in their conversation:
- "Well, your beauty is a problem. You're worried you will not be taken seriously by your male superiors who mistake your insecurities for arrogance."
And I think Green conveys this perfectly. I see a girl that is very bright and strong, yet afraid of not being respected in what is a man's business. Yet you can definitely see a personality and vulneraiblity underneath. And I think she has plenty of charm (at least from where I'm standing ;) ). I doesn't come in the traditional girly, coquettish way, but she demonstrates intelligence and independence with an underlying sense mysteri. Bond can't easily have his way with her and she can challenge him intellectually, which is a big reason why he falls in love with her.
My issue with Vesper is simply that she isn't a very nice person. I don't buy why Bond would fall in love with her and then pine over her for the next 4 films (I'm presuming with regards to NTTD of course)
If that was me in Bond's place I'd have given her no attention once she walked out of the train carriage.
I think Sir Roger looked great in AVTAK. Dashing and suave as ever.
Let's add one thing to this: she's forced to become a traitor due to blackmail. If Bond succeeds, she loses the man she loves. If Bond loses, then she's a success traitor and she might not want to live with herself. She'd become worse than her most fierce detractors think of her. She would also fail her own moral and ethical standards. When Bond first meets her, she's therefore extremely conflicted and must deal with a legion of inner demons. I'd be distant too.
That’s cool. I just think she kills those lines stone dead: there’s no playfulness to her delivery at all, or even much sophistication. Give me someone like Rigg where you can sense the intelligence and wit behind the eyes any day, which I think the role required.
You at least agree she can’t do the accent? :)
I agree with that! I see stuff he did in the late 80s or 90s and think ‘he could still have been Bond’! :)
I just found out tonight that Arnie was only a year younger when he did Terminator 3!
At what stage in the film does she decide to betray Bond? I think it's after the scene in the ship's hull. If so I'd argue she has a few scenes before that were she is, as I said earlier, not very likeable.
And the later reveal makes sense of her off-putting manner. She's out of her element on many levels, not least that she's involved make sure what she taunts Bond with happens: I suppose you've given some thought to the notion that if you lose, our government will have directly financed terrorism. It's not her nature to cause harm and violence to others, she's in an impossible situation.
Astute. Vesper is written as a sphinx, and I personally feel that Green acts the hell out of that role, playing multiple levels in every scene. You're meant to question what she's thinking. A lesser actress couldn't convey that.
I could picture a scenario if both Dalton and Brosnan hadn't worked out, Cubby going back to Roger for TLD. I'd see Kara being played by someone closer to Fiona Fullerton rather than Maryam. When I was a kid I never thought of Roger being particularly old in his later Bonds. He just looked like Roger.