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As much as enjoyed his TD entries, I always felt that Dalton deserved someone with more panache and style, Glen was serviceable and happy to do what he was told and that was what EON was all about back then, directors doing as they are told.
Peter Hunt only made one Bond film and it was better than all of Glen's put together.
Back in 1980 when I was 10 and had just become a massive Bond-fan after my next-door friend, invited me to the local theatre to watch 'Moonraker', I remember that most of the boys I knew at my age, at school and on my street, were more or less fans. And yes... we dug Star Wars, too.
With our spare allowance many of us bought merchandise and went to whatever theatre in the city that showed some of the older Bond-movies (this was right before VHS). When the trailer for FYEO was released, and our local TV-shop had it on repeat on one of their 22" TV-sets facing the street, we watched it over and over again from the sidewalk.
The trailer release was a big event.
Like it is for me, and I assume, most grown-up Bond fans, today.
But today - 34 years later - I work with kids at that exact same age. Many dozen new every year. Of course I can't speak for all children boys in the world aged 10-15, but what I see and hear, when asking about James Bond, goes something like this:
-"Of course I'm going see the upcoming Bond-movie... but fan? Ehh...don't know"
-"The first actor portraying Bond? Don't know"
-"My father wants me to sit through all Bond-movies, but I don't want to"
-"It was okay/good, but I am not gonna watch it ever again" (when asked about CR/QoS/SF)
Today, I have yet to meet someone with the same enthusiasm like before. Where are the 10-15 year old fanboys today? Maybe I need to get out more. Or maybe there are plenty on this board? Or maybe the James Bond fanbase is collectively getting older and older.
Someone enlighten me.
Your kid cannot be that huge, he is only 15 years old. More medium sized I would wager. ;)
I'm 15 and I'm a huge fan/collector. I have one of swedens biggest collection of Bond-stuff actually. I've been into Bond for eight years now, ever since my dad bought DAD the summer of 2006. I've been in love with the films for long time, and I still watch at least two films a week... ;) Right now I'm sort of mentoring a young Bondfan who wants to start his very own collection. I'll just might tell him to join the community.
If DAD can turn you into a die-hard Bond-fan, there's still hope ;-)
So that is 1,75 meters
I don't know about Craig being the poor man's Dalton, but I certainly know which one I prefer! ;)
In your opinion. I'm a big fan of AVTAK. It has tremendous locations, great cinematography, a superb villain, a mesmeric score, a pounding title track and an utterly bizarre feel that makes it distinctly Bond. Even excluding it. you are left with FYEO, OP, TLD, LTK. A great run IMO.
Any way you look at it, Glen gave us some really good movies and many, many classic moments. I agree as well that even when his films were on slightly dodgy territory, they always had a distinct and 100% Bondian quality to them. Which is a lot more than can be said for much that has come since.
I have nothing but respect for him and have always found the digs at him on here pretty unfair.
This. Very well said. I'm a huge fan (one of the few) of AVTAK, and whether you like it or not, Glen had a pretty great track record.
+1 About John Glen
:)>-
Most of you will know my position on A View to a Kill by now!
I have nothing but praise for John Glen as a director.
Excluding that film his others were decent but only OP makes it into my top 10.
Shocking.
Yes, there's a real coherency to the 80s Glen films. Although different in many respects, they feel very much part of a distinct period.
And in particular he showed Bond was more than your average franchise, because even a yes-man could keep on directing it. Usually yes-men do Franchise movie II, III, and then the franchise stops :) I'm not sure if yes-man has a deragotary meaning in English or not, but I don't use it in that meaning.
Also, I'd be very interested to know how many of so-called film lovers here have actually seen Mathieu Amalric in another movie than QOS... If you want deep dramas with lots of character development, etc... there are hundreds of very good movies out there who don't have to deal with the weird fact their hero is a spy and a celebrity at the same time :)
For me most of Glen's film's float around mid-table. Solid, decently made films but not as compelling as those further up my list.
Agreed. The 80s was, IMO, the best decade for Bond. Licence to Kill is my favorite Bond film and The Living Daylights, For Your Eyes Only, and Octopussy all reside in my Top 10, with A View to a Kill also just barely missing out on making it into the Top 10 (#11 or #12 I think).
For the approach that they were taking, Glen was the right man for the job. I think that perhaps they could have taken a similar approach to what they're doing now, i.e. branching out and maybe going in a bit more radical direction, especially when Dalton took over in '87, but Glen nonetheless did a great job and consistently delivered fantastic Bond films that managed to be different enough from each other to not feel like they were just doing the same thing over and over again.
I couldn't disagree with you more. Bond in the 80s was bland, boring and uninspired. No TSWLM, a GE or a CR for a whole decade. Allowing John Glen to direct 5 consecutive Bond films was a huge mistake (probably the biggest Albert R. Broccoli. ever made).
For me, the weakest decade for Bond would be a toss up between the '70s or the '90s.
The 1980s were my favourite Bond decade.
And why is keeping Glen for five films the biggest mistake Albert ever made?
FYEO, OP, AVTAK and TLD were all very successful upon release.
The shortcomings of Licence to Kill at the US box office had nothing to with John Glen. That fault lives with the crappy marketing department.
IMO, Licence to Kill is a far more superior film than those that you have listed.
I still feel that FYEO is his best followed closely by TLD.
OP was entertaining but went a little overboard with the humor.
AVTAK was a pretty lazy effort overall but still far from the worst in the series.
LTK was bad but was an important failure as it ironically did a lot to set up the Craig era.
Glen did a lot for the series and I don't think he gets enough recognition.