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Great stuff :))
I often replay the opening and Bassey song a couple of times before settling into the Bond adventure spectacle to follow.
Speaking of :x , I think Tiffany Case as portrayed by St. John is probably my ideal woman. Sassy, brassy and smart like street smart. "Keep leaning on that tooter, Charlie, and you're gonna get a shot in the mouth." :)) Love it!
I think I am due for another DAF viewing. It's been about a month. Looks great on blu-ray plus I did see it again, earlier this year, in pristine digital big-screen restoration, at the Tiff Designing-Bond fest. It looked better than ever, with the Lowry 4k treatment - a perfect restoration, and it's still a huge crowd pleaser. It played 4x over the festival run, as there was not surprisingly, higher ticket demand for the old Connery films. The showing I saw was sold-out, other than a few single seats here and there. DAF is among the most entertaining of all the Bond films. I give much of the credit to Guy Hamilton, who really knows how to pace a film. He did a real good job with the Remo Williams film in 1985 too, another camp-violence tour de force. But Hamilton's real strength I think is finding the camp/danger balance. He can take the most escapist scenarios and maintain palpable danger and suspense, something that spoof camp fare such as Helm or Flint wouldn't even attempt.
Regarding Mathis, what irks IMO about that scenario, is that Eon kills off a Fleming character that Fleming himself never killed. I can't recall the films doing that with any other Fleming character, other than possibly Henderson in YOLT, but movie Henderson was unrecognizable from Fleming's hard drinking carousing Aussie "Dikko" Henderson. Fleming only really featured Mathis in CR. He did have a brief part at the end of FRWL as well, and might have been referenced maybe one or two more times by Fleming, so I wouldn't expect Mathis necessarily to have ever returned in the re-boot film series, but still, killing him!?
I don't think Eon should be knocking off Fleming characters, that Fleming himself didn't kill. Fleming kept Mathis parked, and never actually used him again after FRWL, but he continued to exist in the Bondverse. He wasn't six-feet under. Yes this is all stuff that I hope we can anticipate for future movies, the gun barrel, the girl at the end for sure. And yes if they want to re-visit Quantum and make it the new Spectre with a big-bad at the head, please do. A classic villain-lair would be nice too. Afterall, as someone else pointed out, Craig is not averse to a submarine-base type setting ala TSWLM, or something equally outrageous, if they could make it work.
I do think Eon should give Craig a real escapist type fantasy Bond adventure, because like Connery, Craig is a serious actor. Like Connery he could keep the whole thing grounded and dangerous, as opposed to a wink-wink Moore type.
He probably feels like this:
Just sayin' ...
(oh, I'll stop being a troll now, too!)
Good point.
Other than a slight change in the QOS total, not nearly enough to drop the film lower than the position it currently holds, nothing significant to report. One more Skyfall review puts it up on the board, right now it is tied at #5 with 3 reviews to go.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Although Tanaka got pretty involved in the film version of YOLT...
DR. NO
BOND 5/5 Sean Connery is unquestionably the definitive Bond, and in this, the first film in the series, he absolutely nailed the character. I don’t think we can overstate how important Sir Sean’s performance was to establishing the popularity of Bond in the public mind. Regardless of favorites -- and each actor to portray the character has his adherents -- there is no doubt that Connery is the Bond all other Bonds must be measured against.
WOMEN 5/5 Ursula Andress as Honey Rider, emerging from the sea in her bikini, is one of the most iconic images in movie history. Eunice Gayson’s portrayal of Sylvia Trench is also quite memorable. I’m surprised she wasn’t able to use her screen time in the first two Bond films as a springboard into a high profile film career. Miss Taro was also quite beautiful -- as fringe benefits go, it’s perfectly understandable that the young males of this era suddenly started seeing “international master spy” as a viable career choice after the debut of the Bond series!
VILLAINS 5/5 Joseph Wiseman made the best of his limited screen time as the titular villain. Anthony Dawson as Professor Dent was quite sinister and fully deserved his early demise. The 3 Blind Mice were both amusing and frightening. A fine mix!
HUMOR 2/5 Just as it should be. Humor was used quite sparingly in this first offering. After all, James Bond isn’t a clown -- he’s a British secret agent! In this film, one gets the feeling that Bond is using a sense of humor as a release valve for his own nervous tension after surviving another enemy attack, and that technique works perfectly well for me. Some future films clearly attempted using humor as a cheap source of amusement for the audience, and this practice only increased my own personal emotional distancing from the story, to the disservice of the film --and the series!--as a whole.
ACTION 3/5 Considering that this is their first dip in the pool, the film-makers did a fine job…but this early film is simply unable to live up to the glories of future offerings in the spectacle department. Perhaps the tensest moment in the movie is the tarantula attack, and Bond’s off-screen reaction is quite chilling. The car chase is fairly weak, with its obvious rear-projection sapping much of the potential vitality from this scene. Quarrel’s death by “dragon” is sadly obscured by the darkness of night. And Bond’s climactic fight with Dr. No in the reactor control room, followed by the destruction of Crab Key, was far too abbreviated. I got the feeling that the film-makers had run through the majority of their Million-Dollar Budget after Bond’s escape through the air-vent. At that point, everything goes into hurry-up mode. Plainly put, the film’s finale is simply too rushed. Nonetheless, judged against other films of its time, Dr. No was an action-film triumph!
SADISM 3/5 Freelance’s flashbulb to Quarrel’s cheek is really rather startling. (I’m surprised Quarrel didn’t have a bandage on his cheek for the remainder of the movie!) And Quarrel’s death by “dragon,” even though obscured by darkness, is quite horrifying. I always wondered about Honey’s “torture by slow drowning,” though. What was the point of that? It wasn’t until years later that I learned the crabs intended for use in that scene hadn’t been able to play it in a "cold reading." Still, from a modern perspective it appears that the moviemakers were playing the potentially controversial topic of Sadism fairly lightly for their initial foray into the world of Bond.
MUSIC 2/5 Not a whole lot going on here, really. We have numerous iterations of the James Bond theme…a couple of tension-inducing interludes on the strings and horns, underscoring the tarantula in Bond's bed or the boat searching the shoreline of Crab Key…and a full band performing “Jump-Up” in the nightclub scene. Also a couple of versions of “Underneath the Mango Tree,” including an a capella rendition by Bond and Honey. Fortunately for Monty Norman, I LIKE “Jump-Up”…and whoever’s doing the dubbing for Ursula Andress does a decent job of it.
LOCATIONS 3/5 England and Jamaica…but they really shoot Jamaica well! The scenes of Bond, Honey and Quarrel running from Dr. No’s men on Crab Key are quite beautiful. Still, when judged against the budgets future Bond movies would have to work with, these locations are nothing to write home about...especially when Ian Fleming already HAD a home in Jamaica!
GADGETS 1/5 All Bond got is a Walther PPK and a Geiger Counter. Fortunately, Dr. No had a dragon, a radiation control room, and a decontaminating shower.
SUPPORTING CAST 4/5 Bernard Lee as M, Lois Maxwell as Monneypenny, Jack Lord as Felix Leiter -- all very good. John Kitzwiller, outstanding as Quarrel. The only thing that keeps me from awarding a full 5/5 is the lack of Desmond Llewellen in the role of Q. Sorry, Boothroyd!
OVERALL SCORE AND RECOLLECTIONS 33 out of 50. A perfectly respectable score, especially considering the budgetary constraints Saltzman and Broccoli were operating under. At the time I first saw the movie, I thought they might have gone for a more glamorous-looking casino in the scene where we first meet Bond and Trench. Now I’m amazed they were able to get so much of the world of Bond onscreen for a mere Million Dollars! One aspect of the movie that I think doesn’t get enough examination is the racial profiling of Dr. No’s hirelings. In the book, I recall being informed that most of his hirelings were Asiatic because of his own half-Chinese heritage. In the film, it seems that all of the women in his employ are Asian…as are all of his technicians…and many of his guards seem to be wearing Chinese army uniforms! But a handful of his guards, particularly the ones chasing Bond, Honey, and Quarrel around the island -- are black. We are not specifically told anything about Dr. No’s hiring practices in the movie. I suppose it’s just something they didn’t have time to show…but it’s a significant omission. Dr. No, more than any other villain in the Bond canon, is an embodiment of the Yellow Peril theme once prevalent in English fiction. Were the producers of the Bond series being Politically Correct all the way back in 1962?
That is a very good, thorough review, @BeatlesSansEarmuffs. I really enjoyed it. Please continue at your leisure. :)
Looking forward to reading the rest of you reviews.
I must say that while I agree with much of what you wrote, I'd be remiss in not saying that it makes me sad to see the movie rated below later editions, because of how dated and low budgeted it is. It deserves better but that of course can be anyone's or no one's opinion as we don't take personal ratings into account. For me the film is deserving of top 10 status and better than any of the Brosnan era films, as well as QOS, certain Moore films, and DAF to this day.
Before reviews, I definitely advocate a watch of the film in question and then a check with my original review for each film as I put cast details and other factoids as an added refresher. Also, you can use half points to bolster any category if you feel a category is better than a solid number. But when you add the scores, make sure the score doesn't have a half point. As an example-
CORRECT- 4.5, 3.5, 2.5, 1.5- adds up to 12
INCORRECT- 4.5, 3.5, 2.5- adds up to 10.5, meaning another half point needs to be added or deleted somewhere to make the number even.
Lancaster has already identified the errors (which you can go back and fix), but I think there's one other I noticed. Sean's singing voice was definitely him and not a dub. Andress most certainly was dubbed, can't remember her full name without some research but I think her first name may have been Diana. Just not one of those more important factoids I tend to remember or see posed even as a trivia question.
As far as PC, the phrase usually makes me cringe. I'm such an individual and have always marched to my own drum so the whole concept makes me think certain people are trying some kind of Blofeld-like mass thought control. And as far as "one million dollars", sometimes I think the "Dr.Evil" joke had something to do with DN's budget as it's something that's been oft mentioned for many years :))
As for Andress's dub the woman was Diana Coupland who was probably most famous for a British sit-com 'Bless This House' in the 70s. She played the wife of Sid James (most famous for his Carry On films).
I can't believe I got Coupland's last name right :-SS :)
Looking forward to your reviews of FRWL and OHMSS - and some of the less well liked (by the originals, anyway) films.
And we all make mistakes, I've made more than my fair share, but, hey we're only human!
I enjoy this thread the most; thanks to everybody's comments and thoughtful discussion, not only the Originals on here. :-bd
Unlike some, I don't find that Quarrel's portrayal is particularly racially insensitive during most of the film. He is shown as brave, loyal, and intelligent; a worthy ally and a man whose life Bond values highly. I don't think Bond's directives to Quarrel are any more demeaning than something he'd say to Leiter, except in one particular instance: when he instructs Quarrel to "Get my shoes!" as they commence their flight to the interior of the island. Quarrel's fear of the dragon, far from being an ignorant superstition, is a concern that is shared by another white person (that is, Honey) -- and it is also shown to be quite a reasonable emotion, as the "dragon" does indeed cause Quarrel's death.
Nonetheless, I must hasten to add that I will at various times in my reviews be discussing a wide variety of -isms as they appear in the Bond canon. From Sexism to Nationalism, from Alcoholism to Mysticism, each of these will get their turn under the roar of the mighty Earmuff. The Cone of Silence ain't got nothin' on me!
Well, I for one can't wait! I love these reviews. One thing though: why would it be racist for Bond to instruct Quarrel to get his shoes? Quarrel is his assistant, right? He's beeing payd to come along. I never understood why any such comment would be racist.
I agree with you, fetch was the offensive word here. If he'd told Quarrel "get" or "grab" my shoes it would have been a little different. I'm sure Bond meant nothing derogatory by it as he obviously and genuinely liked Quarrel, but I'm sure that some black people, still very sensitive when it comes to the past, would see it differently.