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Funny, the first time I watched OHMSS, it didn't even pass my mind that George was dubbed. It was only after reading trivia bits and the such that I learned of the dubbing. And it's bloody good dubbing at that!
Personally, I don't think that Lazenby looked thirty (in a good way).
Now that's just nitpicking.
"Blofeld angling for a pardon made more sense in the novel when he had only the failed Thunderball operation behind him, in the films he's been on the case since Dr No - a pardon would be as likely to have been offered to Bin Laden. Not plausible him wanting to be made a count, but it's all Fleming so it gets a free pass"
Difference being, Blofeld's schemes failed everytime, unlike Bin Laden
As for the Count business, it think it's entirely plausible. It just shows what an absolute nutter Blofeld is, for being as petty as demanding to be recognised as a Count.
I could go on all day about OHMSS's problems.
Please do.
One of the most insightful posts I've read on here for a very long time. If I didnt know better I'd have said it was written by @thewizardofice himself!
This is why Laz despite not being the best actor the world has ever seen is right up there - because he plays the man Fleming wrote about. Not a superman, not a swaggering playboy, just a normal guy who did a difficult, dirty job to the best of his abilities and living under the shadow of death tried to enjoy the finer things in life while he had the chance.
There are only very few performances in his career when Connery is not Connery (personally I would say probably DN, FRWL, The Hill and The Offence) and his charisma and star power which gives great screen presence is not something Fleming's Bond was imbued with.
The scene where he is sitting on the bench by the ice rink visibly terrified and exhausted and just waiting for the net to close around him is one of the greatest scenes of the series (especially when you consider it in conjunction with the staggeringly good 10 minutes that precedes it). This is not (post FRWL) Sean or Rog or Broz with a gadget or a quip up their sleeve to dig them out of any scrape. This is a bloke who is knackered by the exhaustion of his daring escape and is out of options so all he has left is to keep his head down and hope no one spots him. But someone does!! And then she saves him by driving as well as he would have done himself. Thats what finally pushes him over the edge to decide this girl is a keeper.
And great movie star though Sean is, I dont really think that his towering presence could sell a picture of a man so desolate as that moment. Despite all the people around him enjoying the New Year party Bond has never been more solitary and Laz and Hunt deliver in spades the sense of a normal guy who is in real trouble (the scene where Bond chokes the SPECTRE goon on the edge of the cliff while trying not to be overheard is another sublime moment illustrating Bond's vulnerability that I cant really picture Sean doing as well as Laz).
I think youre going to have to because the argument that 'someone couldve put on his glasses and blown his cover' doesnt strike me as a flim thats fatally flawed to a DAD extent. Please keep them coming - I'm hoping for your sake that you've got something better than that in your arsenal.
I agree about Connery. Though he gave us a sense of anger over Kerim's death in FRWL, his Bond's countenance would have regretted Tracy's loss like an empty glass of Scotch: there's more where it came from so lighten up. Lazenby's vulnerability dominates that moment and thus also sells it. This scene has always been instrumental in my appreciation for the Laz.
Sorry, but no. After his half-arsed performance in YOLT, that would have been detrimental to OHMSS' quality.
My opinion has always been: A good Connery should have been in OHMSS.
Anyways, I too respect everyone's Bond opinions. I find OHMSS to be very overrated and one of the weaker movies in the series. And I'm rather tired of apologizing for it as well.
I get a little sick of his god like status in the series, granted when he was good he was unbeatable but when he was at his worst he was lazy and not one bit bothered portraying Ian Fleming's James Bond. He sounds like some Glaswegian brickie at the end of YOLT and his appearance in DAF is a disgrace. He bear hardly any resemblance to the Bond we saw in TB. Connery brilliance has more to do with Terence Young than people would like to admit.
I'd rather have George Lazenby's inexperienced but spirited performance in the film than Connery who would have never conveyed the feeling that film required.
Yes OHMSS is my favourite entry and while I know it's not perfect to me it's the best the series has to offer.
I couldn't agree more. Connery would have ruined OHMSS. If there's one emotion Connery never projected as Bond, it's vulnerability. (I have a hard time seeing him in CR as well.)
OHMSS is my favorite entry as well. There's something poetic and almost unbearably tragic about Tracy's arc.
Thirded. Connery had every single thing down other than the vulnerability. And it doesn't necessarily bother me that he's not very vulnerable, but I just appreciate it when it's a trait in other Bond actors. Lazenby did tremendously with this, and I also think he did a better job than Connery would have in OHMSS.
I just can't stand Lazenby doing his Sir Hilly bit, it makes my skin crawl. The fact that the gals will sleep with such a silly ass also feels wrong, it is unfettered promiscuity unlike copping off with Bond when he acts like Bond, a cool macho guy. It suggests they're just after a hunk of meat and have no discernment.
As for Connery not doing vulnerability, well, he wasn't called upon to do that much in his other films. He might have played it differently in OHMSS, just as his performance in GF is different to that of the preceding film, you tailor it to the movie.
That said, in Christopher Bay's excellent book on Connery he does point out that the actor might not have looked good in a ski suit, being more overweight, and an OHMSS with a Bond who doesn't look good in a ski suit may as well go home.
If any of you guys know of a 29 year old who has been knighted, please spill.
Connery did the alpha male thing as Bond, that's how he played him. In the 70s he did, as one critic pointed out, Men Who Think They Know rather than Men They Know. So Robin and Marion, A Bridge Too Far, The Lion in Winter, The Anderson Tapes, even The Time Bandits. Here he plays guys who know the world, go in with a plan, and the whole thing slips away from them, they are not such the big guy. Whether Connery would have brought that to OHMSS I do not know in fairness.
But Connery reverted to type after his success in the late 1980s, after playing vulnerable types in Indy and Untouchables, he started playing these know all types in The Rock and Rising Sun.
A Baronet's title passes down to his son so Hilary could be 3 years old and be called Sir Hilary as long as his old man has carked it.
Do your research.
You've had quite the turnaround, on Craig, haven't you?
My opinion stands, as I'm not a huge fan of the film. Just because he didn't show vulnerability in previous films doesn't mean he wasn't capable when OHMSS called for it.
However the point is moot because the Connery we would have gotten in OHMSS would have been Connery from YOLT. So, for all of my babbling, I suppose I agree - OHMSS would not have been better with Connery. I just really don't like George Lazenby.
Obviously I'm in the minority, just some thoughts.
I can understand why you'd have hated QoS (I still find it incredibly incompetent to be honest) but I'm glad you had a turnaround on CR.
My opinion is really no different than when I put this discussion into effect. There was a time when I once would try as hard as I possibly could to find good in OHMSS, strictly for the sake of being more objective, but it's to no avail. I realize now, after taking a step back from Bond for a brief time, that i just don't like OHMSS. Nothing in the movie motivates me to watch it, save for some of the Piz Gloria action-related scenes, and it feels like such a drag- I'm not one of those movie viewers that feels the need to have constant gunfire and explosions, but wow, OHMSS would be the perfect Bond movie to fall asleep too, hahaha. It's strange how you have to take a step back from the series for a moment in order to solidify your likes and dislikes about it. I suppose I'll never find this supposed "magic" that OHMSS is said to have!