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Comments
TND is in my top five, IMO the last Bond film to have proper rewatch value (meaning I could watch it anytime. I find Craig's films to be much more 'brew some strong coffee, sit down and pay attention' films).
TWINE is my least liked Bond film. The story itself is boring, not in the least bit engaging. Add poor acting, stop start action, bland uninspired cinematography, terrible direction etc.
DAD is terrible but not as bad as TWINE. I actually enjoy the car chase on ice. ICE INC is a stand out Bond chase track, and the stunts are incredible. The first 40 mins of the film build nicely with some great intrigue.
Yes, I mean it emulates that type of film and forgets its Bond in the process. That's the impression I get when I watch it.
But this is certainly the problem with some of the 20th century Bond films. They casted too many models, singers or other celebrities where it would have been better to have more established acteurs. Just keep in mind how much time they spend for chosing the right theme song and how critical they were with some of the orginal versions changing them completely in the last few weeks (e.g. Thunderball, Moonraker). They should have had the same ambition with regard to the overall casting.
One vote for TWINE. Anyone else have any suggestions? As usual I'll come back with my dumbass thoughts on the film.
I've got a list of ones I'm considering. Moore does sound fun. Interested to see how I feel about TWINE
I can respect difference of opinion, but yeah, I don't get the American criticisms at all. Surely the following film I can understand (especially the finale), but GE? Yeah, I don't see it.
@chrisisall Uh-oh, that's two votes...
:-bd
Doesn't look too bad either. The PTS is a bit too long but I do like the whole thing beginning to end. There's nothing that's begging to be cut. It's all pretty inventive and fun.
;)
Also the idea that Bond kinda falls for a girl who not only doesn't love him back (although there's clearly plenty of lust involved) but is using him rather than the other way around is pretty interesting. I like Elektra and Renard as a villain duo.
The completely obligatory action scenes that don't really develop out of the plot at all (ski chase, caviar) are ridiculous, and neither of them is all that remarkable as a standalone sequence either.
All in all this has grown on me slightly but I doubt I'll ever love it again. I have enjoyed it, despite the soap opera nature of it all (Brosnan is over acting like crazy, and the dialogue ranges from cringeworthy to so bad it's good, especially during the more serious scenes). I suppose it functions occasionally as melodrama. Pretty heavy melodrama at that.
edit: Off topic, but Antonia so and so reviewed this film and had something really interesting to say about the Bond films.
"The films were exotic in a time when that word still meant something - before we all went on package holidays to Magaluf. Bond's cruelty was the incarnation of the loneliness of the sophisticated world traveller, and it was secretly terribly sad. Death and despair were the hidden meanings behind the cocktails and first-class air travel. It was all there in one bar of John Barry's theme-tune, all there in Sean Connery's face. Nobody since Connery has been 'right for the part' because Connery was the part. All that bitter muscle under the tux, a man isolated by his own charisma, a determined smoker."
Great bit. Really interesting.
Update: Still one of the worst. The script makes Bond out to be pretty stupid, although there is a kernel of a great movie here (I like the OHMSS turned sour idea on paper, it just isn't executed). One minute it's a self-serious melodrama (with overwrought dialogue, turning it into a soap opera) and the next it is aping the Roger Moore movies without a smidge of the cleverness or class. The writers mistook wit for crassness.
Add in action that is mostly uninspired (I do like the PTS) and grinds the film to a halt, Brosnan's worst performance (mostly the script I'm guessing, maybe the direction too, cause he clearly is engaged), etc etc (the list goes on and on). One of the worst Bond films, easy. I still snicker at Brosnan checking out all of the ladies' lingerie in the casino scene, but it really reduces Bond to a school boy-which paired with how stupid and clueless he is throughout ("blinded by infatuation" I suppose could be a thin excuse) makes for a character I'm not all that enamored with or interested in.
1. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE / GOLDENEYE
3. SKYFALL
4. MOONRAKER / DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
6. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY / SPECTRE
8. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN / DIE ANOTHER DAY
10. QUANTUM OF SOLACE / THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
I agree. It's easily the best of the Bros Bonds. Probably in my top ten-ish Bonds.
I'm a big GE fan but I will admit that, in comparison to the Craig Bonds the film looks very cheap in places. It's certainly a step up from LTK in terms of set design (the facility, the statue park and the control room) but a lot of the establishing shots are blatant models or bleak grey buildings.
Where I think they nailed it (after LTK, the 2nd half of TLD & most of AVTAK) was with a concerted and noticeable attempt to inject style and glamour. That was something that was missing from the earlier mentioned films. They had become almost too run of the mill in concept. GE at least tried to take it up a notch, despite noticeable models and green screen in places.
It also brought back a little of the eccentricity which is important for Bond.
Maybe it's partly to do with the Blu Ray transfer, but FRWL, GF and TB look stunning throughout - and they were made 30 years before GE.
As I said, I love GE but I do think there is a bit of merit to the claim that the film sometimes looks low budget.
Naturally, having got Spectre, I decided to watch Die Another Day.
I wasn't looking forward to it however, as I had a bad hangover. Still, I preserved, and was rewarded with a couple of hours solid entertainment. Perhaps familiarity does breed, not contempt, but a certain complacency, or grudging acceptance. Even Jinx's God awful lines were not as bad as I remembered. Maybe I was still drunk.
Worst Bit – The infamous ice dragster going over the cliff. They had just as well got a carrot attached to a bit of string for that sequence. And why did they do it in bloody slow motion. It looks like a bad stop motion effect.
Best Bit – The Brozz and his effortlessly cool performance.
7/10
Royale's Ranking
Casino Royale
Live and Let Die
Moonraker
Die Another Day
CR
LALD
MR
DAD
DAF
FRWL
DN
GF
AVTAK
FYEO
QoS
GE
LTK
SP
OP
TLD
TSWLM
TND
TB
OHMSS
YOLT
TMWTGG
TWINE
SF
And "psychedelic face mask!" Shudder