The thread of Bond lists - LIST 157 - Evaluate the FRWL Opening Titles. (see criteria)

1171820222370

Comments

  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,254
    LIST 1: The 007 most intelligent Bond girls
    LIST 2: Your 007 favourite OT sequences by Maurice Binder
    LIST 3: Your 007 most annoying moments in a Bond film
    LIST 4: Rank the Aston Martin cars from the Bonds
    LIST 5: 007's 007 coolest moments
    LIST 6: Rank the non-Barry/Arnold scores
    LIST 7: Your 007 most sexy moments in the Bonds
    LIST 8: The 6 best moments of Bond in London
    LIST 9: The 007 best uses of the Bond Theme
    LIST 10: The 5 worst faces made by the Bonds
    LIST 11: Your top 10 PTS
    LIST 12: The 6 best scenes in OHMSS
    LIST 13: David Arnold's 6 finest moments in the Bonds
    LIST 14: The five nicest folks who ever played a part in a Bond film.
    LIST 15: Ranking the Glen directed Bonds.
    LIST 16: Rank the Blofelds (including NSNA and FYEO)
    LIST 17: The 5 worst moments in DN.
    LIST 18: The 5 best moments in DN.
    LIST 19: The 5 worst moments in FRWL.
    LIST 20: The 5 best moments in FRWL.
    LIST 21: The 5 worst moments in GF.
    LIST 22: The 5 best moments in GF.
    LIST 23: The 5 worst moments in TB.
    LIST 24: The 5 best moments in TB.
    LIST 25: The 5 worst moments in CR67.
    LIST 26: The 5 best moments in CR67.
    LIST 27: The 5 worst moments in YOLT.
    LIST 28: The 5 best moments in YOLT.
    LIST 29: The 5 best moments in OHMSS.
    LIST 30: The 5 worst moments in DAF.
    LIST 31: The 5 best moments in DAF.
    LIST 32: The 5 worst moments in LALD.
    LIST 33: The 5 best moments in LALD.
    LIST 34: The 5 worst moments in TMWTGG.
    LIST 35: The 5 best moments in TMWTGG.
    LIST 36: The 5 worst moments in TSWLM.
    LIST 37: The 5 best moments in TSWLM.
    LIST 38: The 5 worst moments in MR.
    LIST 39: The 5 best moments in MR.
    LIST 40: The 5 worst moments in FYEO.
    LIST 41: The 5 best moments in FYEO.[
    LIST 42: The 5 worst moments in OP.
    LIST 43: The 5 best moments in OP.
    LIST 44: The 5 worst moments in NSNA.
    LIST 45: The 5 best moments in NSNA.[size]

    <font color=orange size=5><b>LIST 46</b></font>

    <font color=green size=6> <b>The 5 worst moments in AVTAK.</b></font>
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    edited August 2013 Posts: 24,254
    Like taking candy from a baby, and I can even do it without mentioning Moore's age:

    5 - The French cab driver inventing an entirely new concept of 'acting': Ah! My Caa! My Caa!

    4 - MI6 team building pick-nick at the horse races. Yes, I believe that's how things would happen in real life...

    3 - Oh no! Zorin cheats at horse racing. Good lord, indeed we must put the BRITISH SECRET SERVICE on it. Perhaps when they're done they can focus all the tax payer's Pounds on finding my aunt's missing cat.

    2 - Monsieur Aubergine? Making fun of the French now? Seldom have stereotypes been so cheap and uncomfortably childish in a Bond film. And of course the German doctor with the monocle looks like he ran away from the pages of a 50s comic book.

    1 - Bond wastes valuable time as he remains several seconds near Aubergine's corpse and then produces the fly-in-his-soup line before finally pursuing May Day. By the way, Fleming's skilled gun man fails miserably in shooting his target on the stairs of the Eiffel Tower.

    If that deleted scene with all the gadget exposition in the police HQ had been in the film, it would have taken number 1 spot in my list. 'Pathetic' doesn't begin to describe it.
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    DarthDimi wrote:
    Like taking candy from a baby, and I can even do it without mentioning Moore's age
    Have you heard the rumor going around that Rog might have been a little too old to be Bond this time around? I think that I might have heard a couple of people mention it.

    5) The iceberg sub - Most of you will mention California Girls and that's fine but seriously this thing is ridiculous. Complete with a hot blonde (a logical choice for a dangerous mission) that Rog goes all Robin Thicke on and blurs the lines of a demented Viagra commercial. Sure, why not?

    4) Bond sleeps with May Day - Rog beds more women in this movie than any other of his Bond films. They could have excluded this scene. Was this supposed to be another rip off of GF where Bond's magical [CENSORED] saves the day and turns the villain into a hero at the end?

    3) The shenanigans of the fire truck chase scene - More dumb American cops. Le sigh.

    2) The blimp "sneaking up" on Stacey - Apparently she really is that stupid.

    1) The closing shower scene - It was interesting how Bond showed restraint earlier in the film and had a fatherly approach to this relationship. Well, forget about all that. It's time for another Viagra commercial! What an undignified way for Rog to bow out of the series. They could have made a point about Bond's age just as NSNA did but they didn't want to go that route. That's fine but don't make the man into something that he's not. This could have been a film about Bond being close to retirement and he goes on one last mission despite many people having their doubts about him. Instead they chose to do keep on portraying Moore as Super Bond and it didn't work this time.
  • edited August 2013 Posts: 6,396
    1. The Beach Boys' California Girls on the soundtrack in the PTS. A horrible in-joke that deservedly falls flat on it's arse.

    2. The stereotyping of the French taxi driver and Aubergine. ("I'm glad you approve zince you are paying ze bill")

    3. The fight with the goons in Stacey's mansion. Moore even need a stuntman for what was a fairly basic sequence with nothing more than a few punches and kicks.

    4. Hey Stacey, do you hear that really really loud noise? Yes, it's coming from the f***ing giant airship that's right behind you!!!

    5. Moore's final contribution as 007 - "Ooh". Fantastic(!)

    6. I know I'm cheating but this has to be included. The Fire Engine chase featuring the Keystone Cops. Quite simply awful.

    And I go right along with @DarthDimi. The deleted scene in the French Police Station would have been top of the pile all day long. I'm glad the film makers at least decided to leave it on the cutting room floor.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,359
    5. Rog's Age. No hate for the guy but he was too old and his facelift ruined his looks.

    4. Stacy's screaming and stupidity.

    3. US police officers from the Barney Fife school of acting.

    2. Scarpine and Mortner fighting over Dynamite in the Blimp!

    1.Fire Truck Chase.
  • edited August 2013 Posts: 1,817
    5. Not giving Pola Ivanova enough screen time
    4. The Eiffel Tower lack of dynamism (or Bond acts too clumsy)
    3. Moore looks too old must of the time
    2. Missed opportunity of dealing with an aged Bond
    1. The fire truck chase

    **Honorable mentions**
    - The car double of Gogol (in fact, all the visible stunt doubles!)
    - Bond writing down the "clues" he hears on the tape as he were Nancy Drew or something (perhaps because of his age, he need to write thing down!)
  • edited August 2013 Posts: 6,396
    0013 wrote:

    **Honorable mentions**
    - The car double of Gogal (in fact, all the visible stunt doubles!)

    Yes terrific mention that. Well done. It's something that's irked me for years
  • Posts: 169
    1. Bond driving half a car - yeah, that would work!
    2. "A fly in my soup"
    3. The fire truck chase (W. C. Fields did it better in "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break")
    4. The lake draining like a bathtub, including a "funny" fisherman-in-a-boat bit
    5. Another screechy, dumb blonde character
  • Posts: 2,402
    Sorry, I have to do ten for this. Objectively, this is probably the worst film in the series up to where we currently are (though we'll get to at least one more later on).

    10: There is one French character in the film with a name, and you call him AUBERGINE? Really?
    9: Bond sleeps with May Day. Moore was cringeworthy enough, this just added more to it.
    8: The... sex? rape? growling?... scene between Zorin and May Day
    7: It's time to play Spot the Stunt Double!
    6: Stacy Sutton. Most annoying Bond girl of all time.
    5: The use of California Girls. But what I hate the most about it, and this isn't picked up on by many, is that it's not even the original track by the Beach Boys, it's some shitty remix.
    4: Walken's performance. Probably his worst of all time, and I think he's a splendid actor.
    3: Bond sexes up Stacy... after all that buildup of him acting like a father figure towards her? Really?
    2: Moore's age. He was 58, looked about 75. Horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible!
    1: Of course this is number one. The fire truck chase. The tsunami wave might've been the stupidest action sequence in the series, but this is surely the worst. From Moore hanging off the back and the number of times you'd be able to use point #7, to the idiotic "And I'm Dick Tracy" cop, to the fact that the scene constantly changes from pitch dark night to sunrise and back, to jumping the bridge... right up to the point where Moore arrives in the fire truck to the mine and does his "American" accent.
    Everything about this scene is wrong. Everything about this MOVIE is wrong.
  • Posts: 6,396
    Sorry, I have to do ten for this. Objectively, this is probably the worst film in the series up to where we currently are (though we'll get to at least one more later on).

    10: There is one French character in the film with a name, and you call him AUBERGINE? Really?
    9: Bond sleeps with May Day. Moore was cringeworthy enough, this just added more to it.
    8: The... sex? rape? growling?... scene between Zorin and May Day
    7: It's time to play Spot the Stunt Double!
    6: Stacy Sutton. Most annoying Bond girl of all time.
    5: The use of California Girls. But what I hate the most about it, and this isn't picked up on by many, is that it's not even the original track by the Beach Boys, it's some shitty remix.
    4: Walken's performance. Probably his worst of all time, and I think he's a splendid actor.
    3: Bond sexes up Stacy... after all that buildup of him acting like a father figure towards her? Really?
    2: Moore's age. He was 58, looked about 75. Horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible!
    1: Of course this is number one. The fire truck chase. The tsunami wave might've been the stupidest action sequence in the series, but this is surely the worst. From Moore hanging off the back and the number of times you'd be able to use point #7, to the idiotic "And I'm Dick Tracy" cop, to the fact that the scene constantly changes from pitch dark night to sunrise and back, to jumping the bridge... right up to the point where Moore arrives in the fire truck to the mine and does his "American" accent.
    Everything about this scene is wrong. Everything about this MOVIE is wrong.

    Great list. Not sure about Walken's performance either although I've seen him in far worse that this.

    I'd completely forgotten about Moore's "On yer rear end" accent. I can't wait to see what we all come up with for the Top 5 moments in this film. It's going to be tough :-)
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    5: The use of California Girls. But what I hate the most about it, and this isn't picked up on by many, is that it's not even the original track by the Beach Boys, it's some shitty remix.

    Oh yes, that's right! It's been a while since I've watched the film and I had forgotten about that. However, if it had been the original song would it really have made it any better?
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited August 2013 Posts: 18,343
    pachazo wrote:

    Oh yes, that's right! It's been a while since I've watched the film and I had forgotten about that. However, if it had been the original song would it really have made it any better?

    No, but it'd have made The Beach Boys a lot more in royalties!
  • Posts: 5,634
    Where to start on this ? Where the thump to start..

    Bad points of A View to a Kill ? You could feasibly be here until Thanksgiving on this one debate alone. It'll be difficult to pick just five and and in any one order but finally settled on -

    #1 The whole Golden Gate sequence. A 57 year old Bond hanging from a mooring rope over San Francisco, 'dodging obstacles' etc. Damn embarrassing for all concerned, not to mention the awful rear projection. The background was shaking so much you would of thought they had filmed it when the big one hit SF back in 1906, and not 1985. Add to that - Roger Moore, seemed that old..

    #2 Getting an actor the caliber of Christopher Walken involved in that mess

    #3 Tanya Roberts often irritating character

    #4 The 'California girls' snowboarding sequence during the pre-credits sequence

    #5 Grace Jones as a super strength adversary, first against Bond, then assisting Bond. Bottom line is, what was she doing there. A most bizarre and unnecessary character of the James Bond series if ever there was one
  • Posts: 2,402
    pachazo wrote:

    Oh yes, that's right! It's been a while since I've watched the film and I had forgotten about that. However, if it had been the original song would it really have made it any better?

    Honestly, I'd have found it still quite annoying, but by ever such a slight margin, not as much.

    As for Walken, yes, he's made worse movies, but this is honestly a contender for his worst performance. I find him painful to watch here.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,359

    Honestly, I'd have found it still quite annoying, but by ever such a slight margin, not as much.

    As for Walken, yes, he's made worse movies, but this is honestly a contender for his worst performance. I find him painful to watch here.

    Yeah I too think Walken's performance was...Hammy. Like before he was all YEP I'M BAD! he was cool and mysterious. Shame really.
  • M_BaljeM_Balje Amsterdam, Netherlands
    edited August 2013 Posts: 4,537
    Octopussy, AVTAK, TLD and LTK have to dark mainititles. AVTAK is the moost worse.
  • Posts: 1,052
    1. Showing the stunt man with a terrible Rog wig in the paris car chase sequence.
    2. The fight in the warehouse, looks like a half of it was cut and then not edited.
    3. Not incorporating the age thing into the story.
    4. Making Rog wear that leather jacket and the Zorin jacket for so long.
    5. The shower scene at the end, poor way to end a tenure.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,254
    LIST 1: The 007 most intelligent Bond girls
    LIST 2: Your 007 favourite OT sequences by Maurice Binder
    LIST 3: Your 007 most annoying moments in a Bond film
    LIST 4: Rank the Aston Martin cars from the Bonds
    LIST 5: 007's 007 coolest moments
    LIST 6: Rank the non-Barry/Arnold scores
    LIST 7: Your 007 most sexy moments in the Bonds
    LIST 8: The 6 best moments of Bond in London
    LIST 9: The 007 best uses of the Bond Theme
    LIST 10: The 5 worst faces made by the Bonds
    LIST 11: Your top 10 PTS
    LIST 12: The 6 best scenes in OHMSS
    LIST 13: David Arnold's 6 finest moments in the Bonds
    LIST 14: The five nicest folks who ever played a part in a Bond film.
    LIST 15: Ranking the Glen directed Bonds.
    LIST 16: Rank the Blofelds (including NSNA and FYEO)
    LIST 17: The 5 worst moments in DN.
    LIST 18: The 5 best moments in DN.
    LIST 19: The 5 worst moments in FRWL.
    LIST 20: The 5 best moments in FRWL.
    LIST 21: The 5 worst moments in GF.
    LIST 22: The 5 best moments in GF.
    LIST 23: The 5 worst moments in TB.
    LIST 24: The 5 best moments in TB.
    LIST 25: The 5 worst moments in CR67.
    LIST 26: The 5 best moments in CR67.
    LIST 27: The 5 worst moments in YOLT.
    LIST 28: The 5 best moments in YOLT.
    LIST 29: The 5 best moments in OHMSS.
    LIST 30: The 5 worst moments in DAF.
    LIST 31: The 5 best moments in DAF.
    LIST 32: The 5 worst moments in LALD.
    LIST 33: The 5 best moments in LALD.
    LIST 34: The 5 worst moments in TMWTGG.
    LIST 35: The 5 best moments in TMWTGG.
    LIST 36: The 5 worst moments in TSWLM.
    LIST 37: The 5 best moments in TSWLM.
    LIST 38: The 5 worst moments in MR.
    LIST 39: The 5 best moments in MR.
    LIST 40: The 5 worst moments in FYEO.
    LIST 41: The 5 best moments in FYEO.[
    LIST 42: The 5 worst moments in OP.
    LIST 43: The 5 best moments in OP.
    LIST 44: The 5 worst moments in NSNA.
    LIST 45: The 5 best moments in NSNA.
    LIST 46: The 5 worst moments in AVTAK.[size]

    <font color=orange size=5><b>LIST 47</b></font>

    <font color=green size=6> <b>The 5 best moments in AVTAK.</b></font>
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,254
    5 - The first shot of Stacey. She's stunningly beautiful.

    4 - Oh come along, Tibbet!

    3 - The OT, because of the music.

    2 - The horse race that Bond partakes in.

    1 - Barry's score playing as Bond, hanging underneath the Zorin Zeppelin, is taken to the Golden Gate.
  • Posts: 6,396
    Oh God. I was dreading this one but here goes

    1. Duran Duran
    2. Barry's soundtrack
    3. The climax atop the Golden Gate Bridge. It's actually very well shot and is a makes very good use of an iconic landmark.
    4. Um, struggling now, "But they were trapped in the elevator and perished in the flames" Love how Walken says this line.
    5. "Do you know what I'm sitting on?". "I'm trying not to think about it". One of the very few genuinely funny quips in this film.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,359
    5. Bond's banter with Tibbet.

    4. The stuff at Zorin's Chateau.

    3. Bond pulling the annoying cabbie out of his cab.

    2. The Golden Gate Fight.

    1. John Barry's score. Barry is the gem of this rough.
  • Posts: 169
    1. Zorin killing his own employees - diabolical!
    2. Duran Duran's Theme Song
    3. Parachute stunt off the Eiffel Tower
    4. Sir Godfrey's car wash order
    5. Stacey's primitive computer (it's just fun to see an antique like that from when it was cutting-edge)
  • Posts: 2,402
    5: Duran Duran's theme song. Aside from YOLT, it's my favourite lyrical theme song in the entire series.
    4: Sir Godfrey Tibbitt. The movie takes a sharp decline into piece-of-shit territory following his death.
    3: Stacey's looks. Everything else about her is completely horrendous but Tanya Roberts was STUNNING.
    2: Barry's score, as per usual. Especially with this film, where it's far and away the best thing about the movie.
    1: The moment the credits started rolling. I've said this for other films in the series but there isn't a single one it applies to more than here. I jumped out of my seat, started doing a victory dance, while chanting "NO MOORE MOORE! NO MOORE MOORE!" for the reason that A: I was finished the overall worst run of Bond films ever (Moore's, though you could also put DAF there), and B: I was onto the overall best run of Bond films ever (Dalton's).
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    5) "Get her away from him" - I love the way that Walken delivers that line!

    4) " Sir Godfrey, on a mission I am expected to sacrifice myself" - Great line and all the banter between Bond and Tibbet is priceless.

    3) Bond finds Tibbet dead and escapes drowning - Great job by Moore here. Although I'm not sure if it's healthy to breathe in the air from tires. Never tried it myself.

    2) The Golden Gate fight - Very exciting and I love the face that Zorin makes right before he falls!

    1) The City Hall sequence - I love the confrontation between Bond and Zorin and Zorin's shooting of Mr. Howe. Escaping the burning elevator was really well done and (obviously) would be better if Stacey could have kept her screaming to a minimum.
  • Posts: 5,634
    Five best moments in A View to a Kill ? By god, this is going to be a tall order..

    #1 Steeplechase with Bond, Zorin and 'exercise boys'

    #2 The Eiffel Tower sequence, MayDay leap from the structure

    #3 Zorin falls from the Golden Gate Bridge

    #4 Bond, M, Q, Moneypenny etc at the horse race with Pegasus victorious

    #5 The Oil pumping station sequence. Ivanova accomplice caught in the act by MayDay. Zorin - "This is yours I believe" etc

    I believe my one true favorite moment was when the end titles came into focus but we'll let it lie
  • Posts: 1,817
    5. The "is not mutual" line
    4. Bond and Tibbet
    3. Stacy in the white skirt
    2. The Golden Gate fight
    1. The music: from Duran Duran's song to the themes by John Barry, this is a superb soundtrack. The theme of Wine with Stacy is particularly lovely and "He's Dangerous/Snow Job" is one of the most exciting themes of the whole series, as good as the James Bond theme and OHMSS main title.

    P.S. Someone complain earlier about Bond hanging from the zeppelin. Though I admit that avoiding the obstacles is very lame, that scene reminds me of You Only Live Twice the novel so I really appreciate it (even if it could have been better).
  • Posts: 5,634
    0013 wrote:
    5. The "is not mutual" line
    4. Bond and Tibbet
    3. Stacy in the white skirt
    2. The Golden Gate fight
    1. The music: from Duran Duran's song to the themes by John Barry, this is a superb soundtrack. The theme of Wine with Stacy is particularly lovely and "He's Dangerous/Snow Job" is one of the most exciting themes of the whole series, as good as the James Bond theme and OHMSS main title.

    P.S. Someone complain earlier about Bond hanging from the zeppelin. Though I admit that avoiding the obstacles is very lame, that scene reminds me of You Only Live Twice the novel so I really appreciate it (even if it could have been better).

    Guess that was me, but seriously it's just a ridiculous sequence. Moore was never short of humor, but that was almost on a level of the Saint Marks Square sequence out of Moonraker. I have yet to read the YOLT novel incidentally, but that doesn't make it so. I think sometimes, that could of been the silliest yet, even for Roger Moore
  • Posts: 1,817
    @Baltimore_007. It's funny how it doesn't bothers me that much. The fire truck sequence is worse in my account... And yes, in your case, I don't think even Fleming could redeen that scene for you!
  • Posts: 1,052
    1. Bond rides inferno.
    2. Bond and Tibbet
    3. The City Hall fire
    4. Pola Ivanova
    5. The finale on Golden Gate
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    edited August 2013 Posts: 14,678
    Worst moments in AVTAK

    1. Playing the Beach Boys (great American music, BTW). Would've fit better in the DAD tsunami-surfing scene.
    2. Fire truck sequence. Completely unBondian, generic action film scene.
    3. Donut mess with the San Fran Police.
    4. Slow-moving blimp gets the better of Miss Sutton.
    5. The Renault cleanly cut in half, and the obvious stuntman who pops up after the windscreen disappears. Apart from that, the chase was fine.

    Best moments in AVTAK

    1. Bond and Tibbet working together.
    2. Duran Duran do the theme, and we get a fresh title sequence with glowing effects.
    3. Bond snooping around the Château. Straight up investigative skills, here.
    4. The PTS, minus the Beach Boys.
    5. Zorin's business meeting- the collapsing table with the model of Silicon Valley, and the stairs which transform into a slippery slide, obviously salvaged from Scaramanga's fun house. Yes, the end of the scene is reminiscent of that with Goldfinger's disagreeing client Mr. Solo, but still awesome nonetheless. We don't know the meeting is up in the air until the guy 'drops out'. I'll take the elevator.

    Best moments honourable mentions:

    We finally see the psychopathic side of Zorin when he lets loose on the miners.
    It's sad to see Tibbet die so soon, but his death was filmed in perfect thriller style.
    Golden Gate fight scene.
    May Day's Eiffel Tower jump.
    Tanya Roberts and those eyes. How could I miss that she was Midge in That '70s Show?
Sign In or Register to comment.