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Vesper Pam
Kara Octopussy Domino
Is there something the matter, Sir Hilary?
Damn that is an amazing shot. The juxtaposition of the two expressions. My favourite scene in the film, hell, my favourite scene in the entire series.
Wasn't it originally written that Bond and Pushkin were just sitting in a restaurant talking. They changed it when Dalton was cast! Believe I read that somewhere. Can anyone confirm?
Brilliant scene!
"Workmanlike" is what Glen gets called a lot. While he might not have the style of Young or Hunt, Glen knew how to stage an action sequence. Looking at his work in LTK, it's a shame that he never worked more in the action genre.
Really? I've never heard that before. Maybe I am picturing it wrong in my head, but I can't see the scene being as good as the one in the film.
Glen wasn't awful, but as a director these films were his first 5 movies. He hadn't really nailed down a particular style, so the quality of his directing did vary.
When he got it right, and I include TLD in that, then he was excellent. The story was well paced, the action was great, the humour was there but it never overshadowed the action. And the development of the central love story between Bond and Kara was completely convincing.
When we see a supposedly more gifted and experienced director fail to convince us over 2 hours plus that Bond and the girl have fallen in love, then its hats off to John Glen for managing to do just that in TLD.
The best thing about John Glen was that he didn't walk away with any grudge or any issue with the franchise. He loved being a part of it, he recognised that the series gave him as much as he gave to it (something the likes of Sean Connery didn't manage to do). And he remained a great ambassador for the series.
FYEO was heavy on the stunts. And while it had more of a story than the previous few films being based on Fleming, Maibaum would later say he was disappointed on how the love story was handled. So it was clear where their preference for Glen's focus was.
He also came in when the series was pretty much on automatic pilot, having their formula and the 2-year schedule for a new film and was able to meet that and all the films made money, although with often diminishing returns.
It's a small enough thing, I suppose, but I really enjoy seeing Bond's craft - his equipment, clothing, strategy, and so on. The way the weapon (that stunning WA2000!) is hidden under the duvet, and his suit jacket flips up to conceal his shirt, and so on. I do wish the current era of film would slow down a tiny bit more to allow these moments to breathe and show us the man at work.
100% agree @bondsum and @octofinger
This is a Bond movie really powered by its plot. You are immediately thrown into a story about a KGB defector and the opening focuses on the safe extraction of that agent. Because it’s a Bond film, there is a certain flamboyance to the mise en scène of bringing the defector over. However, there is something tangibly real and tense about the scene. I feel much of that comes from Timothy Dalton, who approaches the sequence with a commitment that feels serious and business-like. His assertive and authoritative energy immediately reminds audiences that Bond is, in fact, a spy.
It’s somewhat disappointing that once the villains’ scheme is unspooled, that it’s fairly convoluted and dull. Also, the hard left the film takes when it goes to Afghanistan is jarring and awkward. Suddenly, this Cold War espionage story has made an odd detour and become a Desert Storm meets Indiana Jones picture. It’s also an oddly political storyline for a film set in 1987. Seemingly the film sides with the Afghan guerrilla warriors against the Russians. The overt political context at play here which feels uncomfortable and thorny at best. It’s made more disconcerting by how many other more interesting angles the story could have taken.
Fair enough; that's not aged well. On the other hand, it's well to remember that that was sort of the flavour at the time - Rambo 3 shows a card dedicating it to the 'brave Mujahideen of Afghanistan.'
Fair comments. It definitely loses some momentum later on but overall still highly enjoyable.
Wish Dalton had done a couple more at least.
The other cool thing about the latter part of TLD is the many hurdles Bond faces, one after the other. He has to stop the plane, fight Necros outside the plane, stop the bomb before it goes off, stop the Russian troops advance and escape the plane before it crashes. Then he still has to deal with Whitaker. That's a lot to deal with.
I have to say this is a very good point. It's the essence of great action-storytelling. You basically have around a 15-20 minute portion of the film with no dialogue and you keep escalating and raising the stakes. Just as soon as you reach a conclusion, you have another segment looking to pull the rug under you.
I can imagine Glen and the stunt-team thinking, "Okay, what happens next?". Then someone says, he drops the bomb! Okay, what next? He blows up the bridge? Okay, what's next? he crashes the plane!
What makes it more genius is how slickly it's all edited. I was watching the film whilst it was on ITV1 yesterday and the way it cuts from miniatures in Morocco and Pinewood, to actual sets and to the actors on soundstages is seamless. The more you pay attention to the editing the more you appreciate all the units coming together to produce the sequence.
In respect to my point above. Absolutely. But his staging of the drama scenes was hokey ad rudimentary at best.
Remember, Glen was hired due to his strength as an action director. Moreover, I think Broccoli was hoping that Glen may make the transition into being a drama director as skilfully as Peter Hunt did. However, it didn't work.
I love the introduction, the titles, the whole film. Maybe it drags a bit in the Afghanistan scenes, but only very little. And yes, I even like Kara ... there are Bondgirls who do annoy me WAY more than her.
I am not a big fan of LTK anymore (in some parts too brutal, in some it just did not age that well to me). But TLD I always enjoy either I watch it actively or catching it somewhere in television.
I would have loved to see at least one more film starring Dalton - maybe it would habe been his „Goldfinger“ entry he was not able to achieve with his only 2 entries. But - this is in my Top 10 for sure.
Hahahahaha! Yes!
Great find @Pierce2Daniel , that is one of my favourite photos of James Bond
I think Daylights has one of my favourite PTS sequences of the franchises (love the story of it and the reveal of Bond is iconic) and the Puskin interrogation scene is immense and thrilling truly one of my favourites in the entire series, Dalton is Bond here, you truly believe he is a cold blooded killer
Also after rewatching this, I do love some of Dalton's deliveries and wit, it's classic Bond
The two I think of are, "Glad I insisted you bring that cello" and
Milovy: You were fantastic. We're free!
Bond: Kara, we're inside a Russian airbase in the middle of Afghanistan
Agreed.
Meh :-&
OHMSS and TLD are the two Bond films with the biggest romance element, and my two favourites.
Thing I like about Tim's movies are how different they are. TLD has a strong romantic element, whereas LTK is just pure shag.
Also, it’s funny, I find myself hearing the ending credits song in my head (the melody) from time to time, as if I recently watched TLD after all these months. It’s just so Bond and it fits the strong romantic element of the film:
I tried to find a quality instrumental version, where you could really hear the beautiful melody of the song. I actually found one, but it sounded like a remade version.