It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
*Yes, I know some of you love both. Bless your hearts!
For me, TLD is one of the best. It's a return to Fleming's Bond (Dr No, FRWL, OHMSS) after the comedy Moore years. I find it hard to believe it's in someone's bottom half, let alone at the bottom. Genuinely curious why you don't like it?
You understand I can't traipse through 216 pages of reading. If I'm honest TLD is almost always high on purists lists. The fans of Moore slapstick might not like it. They still wish Rog was there to fill in the few scenes without his double.
Here goes.
This showing went reasonably well. My opinion of the film hasn't changed much on account of it however. TLD still remains a frustrating film in many respects for me. It's excellent in some parts, most notably the pretitles and during the earlier bits in Bratislava, at the UK safehouse, and in Vienna. However, I still find the Afghanistan sequences quite boring. The Aston chase doesn't quite fit in either, as the gadget laden car seems more suitable for a Moore film (and was done much better in TSWLM & GF). I also still can't find much to like in Maryam D'abo's whiney Milovy, and the villains are as dull as dishwater.
Dalton is certainly impressive in his debut, and nails some sequences (the Pushkin interrogation, the Saunders scenes, at the safehouse), but is less comfortable with the humour than his predecessor. Barry's score remains a highlight, as is John Rhys-Davies' Pushkin, Thomas Wheatley's Saunders, & Art Malik's Kamran Shah.
The action isn't really all that 'tight' either, which is strange for a Glen film. Some sequences (including the finale at Whittaker's lair) aren't all that tense. I still think LTK is a much better and more coherent Dalton effort.
My detailed review from a pre-Spectre bondathon pretty much still reflects my current thinking on this film:
http://www.mi6community.com/index.php?p=/discussion/comment/491153/#Comment_491153
I think what hurts LTK the most are the Florida scenes. It just had this miami vice/Hawaii 5-0 feel to it and had the film taken place in some other sun-kissed locale it may have fared better. The film is actually very good and criminally underrated but the less time Bond is stateside the better.
LTK has a horrible sub Steven Seagal storyline that has no depth and stays on one level throughout it's frankly not very interesting journey.
What really bugs me with LTK is that Bond is dedicated to his American friends yet seems inexplicably detached from Q and M, his British colleagues.
Then the fact that the villain has a grand total of 1 second to realize why Bond has been hounding him. As a result there is no satisfying emotional payoff. The audience at least deserves something of a satisfying coda after all the violence and death throughout Bonds personal revenge.
Coming after the excellent TLD (Best Bond film since the 60's at the time) LTK was a major let down. I think the makers dropped the ball big time considering the potential was there for a really cracking 007 thriller with an actor who was actually playing Bond the way Fleming wrote him. Instead we had to wait another 15 years for a serious Fleming Bond with CR.
LTK is a dull contrived mess that looks and feels like a TV movie. Like a wart on the backside of the Bond series.
I wouldn't go that far, but I do agree that there is something off about the film. Frankly, a lot of it just feels a bit cheesy. I don't think the revenge plot set-up is done all that well and i'm mixed on Dalton's performance in the film. He has some really good moments like outside Felix's house but, at other times, his acting seems a little mannered ("where's Sanchez!").
Mabey I went a bit far with that quote but the film actively annoys me!
It feels to me like Dalton is pushing his performance in some scenes. I can't help but think that Connery or Craig would play the same moments differently.
Let s make a thread like that for our first cinema watch of Bond 25. We can even ask those around us what they think of , basically, everything.
His performance is horribly forced and it seems as if he's trying too hard at times.
A shame as his performance in TLD is one of my favourite performances by any actor as Bond.
I feel a little unsure about his performance at times too - not just in LTK to be honest (though I do think he's better in TLD). Then again i'm no actor.
I do hope that you are not saying that i am not a purist ,and,i'm a fan of Moore slapstick...let me know eh ?
I am now quite convinced that these 'too similar' moments are instrumental in negatively impacting my impression of Brosnan and Craig in TND & SP respectively. They just don't quite live up to what has come before when in similar situations and saying similar things for me.
http://www.tubechop.com/watch/8296813
I don't know, but ranking TLD so lowly suggests you are not. The Blaydon safehouse, sniper scene, murder of Saunders, pushkin interrogation, cargo net fight are all classic Bond. Whereas schoolgirls beating up a karate school, slapstick henchmen dropping bricks on their feet, tarzan yells are not.
Dalton wanted to go back to Fleming, and that's clear when you watch TLD. I see the main complaint is that Afghanistan section is boring. While the previous part is better, there's still much to enjoy. I will admit though the Whittaker climax is poor, reminiscent (though not as bad) of Nic Nac's fight in TMWTGG.
The first words of my post were 'I don't know'.
Of course...but the rest kind of contradicted that ,dont you find ? ...but thats fine,its good to know that nearly 40 years of Bond knowledge and helping to create this website from the old one ,and being an 'original' ,i can still learn that im not a purist and i am a Moore slaptstick fan,so thanks.
Totally agree....i'm a Bond fan and not a purist..noted,and thanks again.
I'm new to this forum, not to Bond. As Sherlock Holmes once said 'the distinction is clear'.