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Craig is NOT Bond!
Oh yes, I remember him, but forgot his name.
If Roger could see this he’d make some quip about Trump being welcome to her or “rather him than me”
I'll never be able to unsee that...
As my profile name suggests, I'm a huge fan of Max Zorin, my absolute favourite villain in the series. This is not just because of Walken, but I find the chemistry between him and Moore to be quite great. As Moore has said himself, he feels Zorin was a bit too much on the violent side for his Bond. I feel that this shines through in a nice way. AVTAK-Bond really hates Zorin, and their exchanges in the movie are very hostile, maybe the most hostile Bond/villain-relationship throughout the series. For me this makes a very interesting dynamic and great entertainment as well.
The way a rather serious Moore plays these scenes, knowing that the actor himself found Zorin obnoxious is definetely one of the key reasons for me to greatly enjoy a film that obviously has a lot of faults. It's also another example of Moore blending more serious Bond moments into his highly adventurous Bond tenure
There's something missing about Moore's portrayal of Bond in AVTAK that was at its peak in OP. The charm was there but it seemed overshadowed. It didn't help having scenes like baking quiche and falling asleep in a rocking chair. I can't imagine any of the other Bonds doing that scene. But that's another strength of OP is having a leading lady closer to Moore's age and the humor balances better with the more serious scenes.
To me the biggest problem in AVTAK is some rather lacklustre action scenes. The fights in Zorins stables and in Stacies villa are well below par.
I agree with you totally that Moores performance in OP is great. I find the PTS to be one of the best, and the backgammon scene is one of my favourite early confrontations between Bond and villain. He oozez charm in those scenes, and you can tell he's having a absolute thrill being Bond.
Completely agree, their interactions are the highlight of the film. I love the excited little laugh Zorin does when he finds out who Bond really is. And when Bond busts out the whole 00 whoever will replace me routine and Zorin says "I'd imagine they'd rather try to cover up your embarassing incompetence" (don't know if that's the exact quote). One of the best villains and works really well with Moore.
Moore was always great at interacting with the bad guys though. Great at winding them up in the social/undercover gentlemanly situations, but equally great at being disgusted by them when things got serious and the stakes had been raised. The scene where he confronts Orlov on the train in OP is one of the best of the series because of this. He's really pissed off at the thought of the bomb going off and when Moore is pissed off, or scared, or really anything but his usual unfappable self, you know things are serious. He was a much better actor than even himself gave him credit for.
Back to AVTAK, when the UE DVDs came out, I once forwarded to just the scenes Walken was in, mystifying my father in law and I had to explain he was the highlight of the film.
Completely agree, their interactions are the highlight of the film. I love the excited little laugh Zorin does when he finds out who Bond really is. And when Bond busts out the whole 00 whoever will replace me routine and Zorin says "I'd imagine they'd rather try to cover up your embarassing incompetence" (don't know if that's the exact quote). One of the best villains and works really well with Moore.
Moore was always great at interacting with the bad guys though. Great at winding them up in the social/undercover gentlemanly situations, but equally great at being disgusted by them when things got serious and the stakes had been raised. The scene where he confronts Orlov on the train in OP is one of the best of the series because of this. He's really pissed off at the thought of the bomb going off and when Moore is pissed off, or scared, or really anything but his usual unfappable self, you know things are serious. He was a much better actor than even himself gave him credit for.[/quote]
Agree 100 %. Need to mention the "Happiest in the saddle"-comment ;D always quote that when playing Risk, after I lose my cannons ;D and Rog answers with the fly casting comment :D pure class :) Though i don't remember Rog and Orlov's interactions as much, I do love Steven Berkoffs overplaying of his character. It's so in tune with the Bond era he's in, I can't help but love him to death. Wouldn't have worked in films like FRWL or CR at all, but for his time he was amazing together with the great Roger Moore :)
Looks great. Dinklage is one of the best actors around. I don t have HBO, so who knows if I will get a chance to see it.
HBO Nordic (the streaming service) might get it.
I don t have that, either.
They have a free trial, don't they? If so, keep an eye on when/if the series gets a release on HBO Nordic, and watch it during the trial period. :-)
TV signals are out of my reach. Mostly glad about it. It s like quitting smoking.
Don't need TV to watch HBO Nordic; you can watch it on your computer/tablet, etc. just like Netflix!
Gold is one of Roger's best non-Bond films and features several Bond alumni: Peter Hunt provides the excellent and gritty direction, John Glen does the editing, and Maurice Binder handles the title sequence. If that's not enough the score is by Elmer Bernstein and the cast includes Ray Milland and John Gielgud. The film is long and occasionally meandering, but it has a wrenching nail-biter of a climax, several shocking moments of violence, a very fine performance from Moore, and even a subtly rendered gay love story (perhaps smuggled in by Hunt, who was also gay).
The Blu-Ray is short on extras but comes with a commentary track. Kino Lorber is also offering another of Roger's films, The Naked Face, on sale for $7.99. I'll pass on that one, but I will definitely purchase Gold, which belongs in every Moore fan's collection, along with Shout at the Devil (also directed by Peter Hunt).
I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment that this is one of Roger's best non-Bond films. It's got a great belting title track sung by Jimmy Helms (with lyrics by Don Black) and a memorable Elmer Bernstein score in addition to the positive attributes you mentioned above. You can't go wrong with greats like Milland and Gielgud, and York is always watchable.
The climax is indeed really quite superb. I've always believed that it partially inspired the mine sequence in AVTAK.
There's also a blink and you'll miss it moment featuring a young Patsy Kensit.
I'm due a rewatch.
More information here.
I had forgotten about those. I read one or two when they came out.
I've recently been watching The Saint a lot on TV. As an American I can't remember seeing it before while growing up, as I imagine you in Great Britain might've. Lots of great episodes, Roger's in fine form, good suspense, lovely women, great fight scenes. And fun to see other Bond alumni star in the episodes too--just yesterday it was Geoffrey Keen, and I've also seen Julian Glover, Edward de Souza (Sheikh Hosein), and James Villiers (Tanner in FYEO).
I also read an article yesterday about his life with his wives, and how he had some trouble from them, but it seems he nevertheless kept an "even keel" in his life. Just about time for me to watch TSWLM or FYEO.