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Going to write about the last three I've seen on the proper thread, QOS, DAF, DAD.
DAD is spectacularly entertaining. Totally loving Gustav Graves, so over the top, so much fun.
The cars are just crazy cool. Literally ha ha....
Not a good film overall, but its got some good moments early on.
The first time, I failed at the hospital scene, with Bond and M (overwrought melodrama).
I stopped the film and put in SF.
After SF, I tried to continue on with DAD.
I failed at the hospital scene (seconds later) and the line "I'm checking out" right after he stopped his heart. I just... I tried, and (words trail and fall off a cliff)...
Other than the PTS and Bond's capture, the rest of the film kinda, physically, hurts me to watch.
I'm sorry I don't find it fresh, and with all honesty, I'm glad you did @bondjames, and all other members of this site that have an affection for the film.
I want to at least find something worthy in all Bond films.
With DAD, I am seriously stuck. If I found TWINE to be a slog, then DAD is the knock-out blow to this era-
I don't feel nostalgic in any way-- it doesn't give me any sense of what came before, nor does it bring any affection I have for those films (namely: DN, FRWL, GF, TB, OHMSS, LALD, TSWLM)...
Woe is me-- First World problems.
I'm going to put this film in my back pocket for a while and give it another go sooner or later...!
And Zoa, from what I remember, and what I watched today, is a pretty menacing guy.
For others, though, they pursue a different vibe in the Bond character and the film, hence their dislike of certain films.
One wants a hard-boiled detective type of a Bond, and the other wants know-it-all superman without superpowers cavalier Bond. I fall in the latter department.
My only gripe with the Brosnan era (save for GoldenEye) is the fight choreography which is godawful.
In all honesty, I am a SC/DC guy first, BUT, I LOVE me some DAF, LALD, TSWLM, OP and, I'm a big fan of AVTAK (apart from some obvious strangeness with Sir Rog's face, I loved him against Walken and Grace Jones)...
I just can't, for whatever reasons, and it's been for well over a decade, swallow DAD in any way, shape or form...
I consider myself a Bond fan, so i intend on finding qualities that drive me back to this film-- but that's the problem right now: I don't even consider it a film-- rather it's more a buncha scenes that feel slapped together to kinda/try to look like a Bond film.
The one film I feel is just a bunch of scenes slapped to one another is SP. A film without a story other than a few scenes trying to hold on to one another to narrate the picture. I like SP, though. Its the predecessor of the latest that I can't get through.
We will hafta disagree on SF, my friend. I find it a blast-- it's much more of a nostalgic throw-back to me than DAD.
But, "here we are", Mr @ClarkDevlin, I respect your passion for what you love in Bond!
Regarding DAD, I can't objectively defend a lot in the film. It's notably cartoonish and silly in many places and doesn't have half the style or class of MR (another outlandish film). However, I also find it highly entertaining in a fun way, and have always done so, including after leaving the theatre in 2002. I've always preferred DAD to predecessor TWINE, which I find quite dull. The earlier film has some interesting ideas in it, but from my perspective they forgot to pull it together in an engaging way. Even the dialogue is boring in TWINE. The same can be said to a degree about FYEO, but at least that film has some really superb redeeming action sequences in it, and a pretty decent performance from Roger Moore. TWINE couldn't even manage that imho.
DAD has a sort of cartoonish exuberance about it which I find appealing. Everything is exaggerated and played up to a childish extent, including the sexual innuendo, action sequences, one liners and CGI. If one views it in the right frame of mind, it's an amusing couple of hours. As I've mentioned before, I've always thought of DAD as Bond by way of Austin Powers. It's not meant to be deep. Rather, it's a pseudo parody. It also has one of the better performances from Brosnan, who finally appears to be in control of the character in his fourth outing, exhibiting a bit of dismissive arrogance and suave cool in equal measures.
No worries, @peter. I enjoy and love our discussions in any manner no matter the disagreements. The more centric Bond fans - as opposed to casual viewers of the films - find the literary character beyond fascinating whereas he doesn't do anything for me. I like SC's smugly daring "only man who can" Bond more interesting and relatable as it strikes to me more interesting than the hard-boiled hero of the books trying to get by. Craig emulates Fleming's hero in the modern times quite well, especially in his first two.
The "it's not for everyone" phrase becomes applicant in any case. SF's for you, DAD's for me, as it appears. ;)
And, I know I'm in the minority of some, but, I didn't like Lea in M:I either. I just find her weak in her english films (although very sensual).
However, in SP, Maddy's a forced love interest. Not so terribly conceived (the daughter of an assassin-- I like the concept behind that), but terribly executed (other than visual-- she's edible).
Blofeld was best in FRWL and TB... and then, to me, Telly, the international gangster as read about in TB the novel.
Waltz was a wet napkin.
Yes, @ClarkDevlin , we may see some things in a different light, but I can certainly respect where you're coming from.
Saying that, MR is a film I find marginally better than DAD (probably because of Moore), and I can view from beginning to end (with stops and starts), with a grimace on my face... But, in my old age, I have to maybe resign myself that the more cartoony the Bond, the more I begin to shut down.
But that's not saying that I can't love cartoony aspects (hello: YOLT). Perhaps, for now, these two films, one slightly bette than the other, will be my "two red-haired children"...
Even though I defended DAD in my prior post, I don't think it's in the same league as MR, which truth be told is a subjective favourite of mine, but for very different reasons to why I like TMWTGG/LALD. There is a truly epic, majestic and sophisticated air about MR which I don't find in DAD, or many other Bond films for that matter. It's not just a question of money on the screen but just the blend of style, flair, action, score, locations, suspense, colourful performances and dialogue which I really enjoy.
As I've said before, if they had just not relied so much on silly gadgets to get Bond out of binds in that film I'd actually rank it much higher. I don't mind the pigeon or space or Dolly. I just don't like the 'gadget save' which happens time and time again in that film. MR to me is the last of an era. It was the logical progression of the formula they started in earnest in 1963 with GF dialed to the max. They took it as far as they could and they had to come down to earth, literally as well as figuratively. So it will probably always remain a pinnacle of sorts in terms of overall scale of ambition. I can appreciate it for what it is, which is top drawer OTT entertainment. To me, MR was EON taking Hollywood on at their game, and winning (it is the #1 global film of 1979 at the box office, which is something they have never repeated since).
I haven't rewatched the Brosnan era in a while so I can't say how well TND or TWINE will fare, but I'm more certain that DAD and I just don't mesh and exactly for the reasons you list. From my view, the script was attempting to create some kind of dramatic weight for the Bond character, but didn't have an actor that could really go there so what results is melodrama, or undersold moments and all the rest. Pierce was more suited to being that Bond with a capital B, spouting one-liners and being very much a caricature of what Sean's Bond was. But him trying to lift bad material made him look bad in DAD and that's a shame. I think being in Bond films made Pierce more forced to sell what he was doing, and that could often get the better of him. The hospital scene of DAD is a perfect example, because you see how a dramatic moment can be rendered into dust with forced drama and then you hop over to SF and Dan and Judi show you how those moments are really done. Not to take a hit at Pierce, but the difference is amazing and that's because Dan was more suited to that material, being an actor's actor with subtlety in his belt. Pierce tried subtlety from time to time, but it always comes off as overexaggerated and forced, what well done subtlety never should be.
Fast forward to a movie like The November Man where Pierce is able to play a more jaded or earnest spy without the pressure of being Bond on his back, and I see an actor far more capable of reaching those dramatic moments in an earned way. There's a scene in that movie in particular that made me look at Pierce's character in an entirely different way because of how off guard I was by what he was doing. When it comes to his Bond work, however, I think the baggage of Bond and its history and the idea of playing a character whose best days were behind him may've gotten to Pierce and weighed him down, with that nervousness or reluctance dampening his portrayal. On top of that, I just don't think he was given great material once Campbell was out of the picture so you wonder what more he could've done anyway, the way things were.
I wasn't aware that many have an era or actor that they absolutely don't like or even dislike strongly.
I can watch DN, OHMSS, DAF, TMWTGG, MR, TLD, GE, DAD, CR, SF and what I see and experience is a wonderful variation of James Bond. Maybe I'm not too critical of what I see, but then what I see I find so exciting and entertaining how can I not just love it. All of it.
...except QoS ha ha ha....
I'm puzzled that DAF or TMWTGG are not absolute hardcore fan favorites, ...assuming we are hardcore fans mostly on this forum.
I guess general consensus is seldom found in a forum like this. That would be quite boring anyway.
I look at Bond more as a cinematic character for the majority of his public life - one who is interpreted somewhat malleably depending on the tone of the film, the vision of the director, and the sensibilities of the era. Of course there are certain key attributes which remain and which every actor tries to capture.
The only thing I'd like is a return to standalone missions and a tighter turnaround of the films (3 years maximum going forward).
Regarding general consensus: I think you can find overall commonality on quite a few discussion points and opinions, but there are always notable exceptions. Even on a diverse forum like this there are certain things that most folks do agree on, believe it or not.
Well that's a film that leaves me hot and cold....the last 20-25 minutes are truly gripping and fantastically done. Dalton really is the physical Bond without being the muscle man showing off.
But a lot of LTK is just bloody meh. The violence is unnecessarily gruesome.
Lupe is even more annoying than Kara.
But then there's Q. His relationship to Dalton Bond is such delight to watch and he has so much screen time in this one.
The theme song gives me goose bumps. The score really works well with the action.
Overall...more miss than hit, just so. But it knocks QOS out of the park on all levels I must say, so QOS will stay at the bottom of my ranking.
I'm sure you'll be like me and hold both LTK and QOS in high regard some day. lol
Bit of a shock to go from Lazenby’s lithe physicality to Sir Rog’s doddering around. But that is part of the charm. Sir Rog was an every man, an ordinary man forced into all the spy malarkey, all be it one with supreme elegance and wit. One felt concern for his Bond. Indubitably Sean Connery is the best Bond, but Sir Rog is my favourite.
Royale’s Ranking, Bondathon October 2017
1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2. Casino Royale
3. Dr. No
4. Skyfall
5. Thunderball
6. Goldfinger
7. For Your Eyes Only
8. Tomorrow Never Dies
9. The World Is Not Enough
10. GoldenEye
11. Diamonds Are Forever
12. Live and Let Die
13. Die Another Day
14. The Man With The Golden Gun
Next up, Licence to Kill. Closing out the 80’s with the same behind the scenes team, plus plenty of water.
This film started life at third fav for me, in recent years fell back to around 9 or 10 and this time I watched it I had a really good time with this film. I have even come to terms with Lazenby and his performance and everything else about this film is just great the score, the cinematography, the Bond girls, the villain, Telly is my favorite Blofeld as he is the best utilized, he isn’t a clown like the guy from DAF. And that final battle is maybe the best in all of Bond when it’s just pure action with the helicopters and the explosions man that is awesome. I even didn’t mind the shitty back projection as much this time. I liked it all the more because I realized how it’s the first film to kind of deviate from that 60’s connery feel and find its on footing with an original story and premise with bond getting married. And watching is this time I was heart broken to see Tracey die at the end because I really felt for Bond this time for some reason.
Excellent.
This film has moved back up to #3 or 4 I had a great time.
I’m still confused on his plan though, he is brainwashing the girls, why? And for what? He is going to use biological warfare in some capacity but how
I've always been like uhh yeah we can do that without exterminating half of the world's population and food.