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Anyway it's a very good film and still holds up really well. The biggest flaw is the plot (Silva's plan is stupid, I don't mind stupid Bond villain plans if they're ambitious but the culmination of his evil scheme was just shooting up a courthouse to kill an old woman who was probably going to get fired anyway, and also proving her right and undoing all the work he did discrediting her in the process), which is a poor mans TWINE that makes even less sense with Spectre's reveal, but the cinematography is great, the dialogue is great, Craig is on top form, Silva and Severine are fantastic, and there are a lot of cool ideas and fun moments. Probably still top ten for me.
What also stuck out for me this time was the action. For some reason I had it in my head that SF was pretty poor from an action point of view and that Spectre was a massive improvement but it is actually really well done. The main culprit was the fight scenes, which I found to be a step down from CR, but what they lack in brutality they make up for with excellent coreography and visuals. The skyscraper fight in particular was a highlight this time round. Short but sweet, it looked amazing and felt pretty evenly matched. I really liked Bond's fighting style in this one, he seemed less of a brawler and slightly more martial artsy.
In my head canon, SF is at least 4 years after QoS, if not the 6 you express. In that time he'd have done tons of missions, and built up a great career in the service. Which would all support why he can't stand it when he is treated like he can't do his job anymore.
I think part of why some don't like Craig's films is because we technically only see the big missions. And I mean the big ones. Those missions are usually ones where Bond changes utterly as a man, or something big is revealed about him or others. All the other missions in between are simply implied to go on, but we never get a sense of them. I don't mind this, as Craig's acting makes me drawn into anything I see, but the era does have the drive not to show the kind of standalone kinds of missions you'd expect in a standard Bond film in order to focus on ones that really change things for Bond as a man.
It just didn't work.
It bares pointing out that in SF, Bond isn't tired of his job (I constantly see people writing this and it's just plain wrong). His only drive at the start of the film, and his struggle getting back into MI6 can be summed up in one sentence he no doubt wanted to yell at M:
"Just let me do my bloody job and trust me to do it correctly!"
The only people that think Bond doesn't like what he's doing or that SF is a story about Bond being past it and over the whole thing are those that listen to the other characters (like Mallory and Moneypenny) telling him he's an old dog while blocking out the subtext of what is really going on with Bond. It's an element of scriptwriting called subjective characterization where other characters outside of the lead protagonist can have an opinion of him that does not objectively define them. Just because some people have the wrong impression of Bond in the movie doesn't mean he is what they say he is. Much like he wasn't the traitor or loose cannon so many told M he was in QoS, for example.
If we want to get technical, SF is actually the peak of Bond's enjoyment in his work. In CR he's driven to get out by the promise of Vesper, and spends the whole next film dealing with that pain, and in SP he's taking the last offer he may have to get out. In SF, he's just doing his job, and the job is the only thing on his mind, such that he gets pissy when people tell him he can't do it right. He's not M's golden boy for nothing, for crying out loud. He has a proven record, and gets the results.
Craig Bond is just a different Bond from the one we know. He's already had a long history in another part of service, the Royal Navy, and most of his skill sets and disciplines were forged in that fire as opposed to MI6. He enters the 00 section late, likely after being pushed out of the Navy as he aged up a bit, and was sent looking for other work (or he left to get new experiences). So, for being in his late 30s in CR and going for 6 or 7 years or so until SP's timeline (making him around his mid-40s, he's had a lot of time in the agency. The modern 00 section isn't what it was, in that the agents aren't given much time in the job before they croak out. It's a job only the best of the best could do, those with probably more than a bit of an adrenaline junkie danger side. So 6 years basically makes Bond immortal, and he's already considered to be in the old dog veteran stages at the point we find him in SP. 6 years in a job like the one he has would realistically feel that way too, especially with the kinds of threats he faces each mission.
So I don't see the discrepancies some do, as so much of it is given a grounded edge, and you can actually chart this man's career and history of service like no other Bonds before. I like to make a head canon of his naval history and the like, just for fun.
Have been enjoying this more and more. Connery excellent and so many great scenes. Blofeld is miscast but I do like his temper tantrum when Bond takes control of his Bathosub!
I think I now prefer this to LALD and TMWTGG...sorry Rog.....!
Seconded. Savalas was the best Blofeld in my opinion. At least of the ones who's faces we see, nothing tops the original Dawson/Phoulman Portrayel.
I agree, and seeing any of those in DAF would have just taken away something good.
I agree. Despite how goofy he may have been in hindsight, Gray was one helluva villain for the film he's in.
Blofeld is a character who seems to be better off left in the shadows. Like Keyser Soze, the mere thought of him is more chilling than seeing him.
Or Muhammad.
Regarding Blofeld's penchant for plastic surgery: that's why I can completely live with Waltz not returning. That gives them the 'out' (he changed his looks) to recast with someone else after Blofeld breaks out of prison in either the next film or the one after that.
I find DAF to be so much better partly because it delivered on the Bond and Blofeld confrontation that YOLT failed to have. It's a great idea to have Bond scale an entire tower, thinking he's going to be meeting with Whyte at the top, only to find out that not only is that man gone, he's been replaced with the man who killed his wife the entire time. It's a moment packed with a lot of subtext, if you know the past films. It's just a confrontation that throws all Bond's work back in his face, showing him that all his revenge fueled actions to get Blofeld meant nothing. He didn't get his man, and he became so confident in the idea that he did that he never suspected Blofeld to have a back-up plan going at the time of his mission to axe him. The reveal of the doubles, showing Bond how he'd been fooled, only adds to the dread and you see it on his face. He can't believe it. I love how Bond uses the cat's scared reaction to reveal to him the "true" Blofeld, only for another fake-out to occur as he finds out Blofeld also works with double "pussies." Once again, the moment he thinks he's killed Blofeld is ruined by the realization that he's been fooled for a second time, except this time he knows he's been beaten the second after.
I also love the dialogue that happens as he and Blofeld part ways, where the villain gives him the courtesy of saying 007 would be the first man he'd tell his naughty plans to. It shows the respect he has for Bond, despite all the trouble he causes. Like Dr. No at the very start of the series, he's impressed with Bond's tenacity and ability. A great moment finishes off the scene as Bond heads into the elevator, cautiously acting paranoid in case the bottom of it falls out and kills him. He's so prepared to die at Blofeld's hand, he never lets his guard down, even when Blofeld has stated he's got no designs to kill him at that point. It shows how much Bond has learned, and how prepared he is to trust nothing he's told.
For a scene that's only about three or four minutes long, it's packed with a lot of depth, subtext and history for those two characters. A great pay-off, in my mind.
"Right idea Mr. Bond." "But wrong pussy."
What would have made it all the more sweeter is if this encounter was in a more serious film (rather than one which leans toward camp). One which referenced Tracy more meaningfully. It would have made the confrontation all the more poignant. Nevertheless, I'm glad we have it as it remains, for me at least, the best of the Bond/Blofeld one-on-ones.
I agree, there was plenty of room to mention Tracy, but it was clear they only wanted to imply things. It still works for me in that regard, as I can read between those lines. It would've been stellar to have Bond bark at Blofeld and get really personal, however, showing the cracks him in that started to form after Tracy's death. But it was a different time and the films didn't want to go there. Maybe it was the right move, considering the lesser response of OHMSS and the taste the ending left behind. Going even darker for another revenge film at the beginning of the 70s could've burned them.
Finished out the Brosnan era of Bond films the other day. I know this is the most hated Bond movie among most Bond fans but I actually enjoy this one. The first half is actually a great Bond movie but right about when he gets his spy car is when the movie takes a turn into sci-fi crazy town. Still though, I enjoy it, flaws and all. It was also my very first Bond film to see in theaters. So for that it has a special place in my heart. BUT, it is hands down Brosnan's worst 007 film. Up next in my Bondathon, the Craig era!
GoldenEye
Tomorrow Never Dies
The World Is Not Enough
Die Another Day
Right there with you! It was my first in cinemas, as well, so it'll always be a special one for me. I manage to enjoy myself every time I watch it, and tend to ignore the bits and bobs that are the worst in the series. It's got a lot to enjoy past the bad CG, dialogue, etc.
I try to always keep positive about it. It's been 15 years, so by this point, we all know what's universally terrible about the movie. It's time to focus on the highlights.
Roger Moore will be turning 90 this year! Incredible!