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Sorry, @Creasy47, I've only just read your post.
Here's the thing. Do I think GE is the best Bond film of the Brosnan era and is it also my favourite of the Brosnan era? Why yes, of course.
Do I think GE is the best Bond film in the entire series? No, obviously not. FRWL, OHMSS and CR are far better Bond films. But is it my favourite? I guess it is.
Why?
Well, when GE was launched in theatres, it was the first Bond film I'd ever get to experience theatrically. I was 13 at the time and quite looking forward to the next Bond. At that age, 6 years looks like a lifetime, so GE felt like Bond crawling out of ancient times so to speak, and entering my "present day" for the first time, something I hadn't, the years before, contemplated as a possibility. Building my excitement were the various stages of the production I was following "live" as well as I could in those pre-Internet days. I learned about the casting of Brosnan, whom I didn't know, and his two leading ladies. I learned about Tina and Bono/The Edge doing the theme song and that was pretty exciting too. I studied the posters, the clips I had videotaped. It became an obsession.
When I finally got to see GE, it felt so different, so much more "serious" and "naturalistic" than most of the Bonds I'd seen before. It felt realistic, hard, brutal. The cinematography, the production design, the acting, ... all of it felt like the pubescent child had suddenly grown into a man. At least to me, at the impressionable age of 13, GE felt like the "perfect" Bond film for the modern age.
Thus was ingrained in my Bond fan love an appreciation for GE, possibly a bit too strong but nevertheless something that I would carry with me for many more years. (Had I been 13 in 2006, CR would have been that film.) In fact, TND and TWINE suffered a great deal in my ranking simply because I always felt that their heights never even reached the lows of GE. An irrational assessment? Of course. But GE became my standard for future Bonds. Not until 2006 would I finally exclaim "best Bond since GE" when leaving the theatre.
2. SF good inspite of many flaws
3. SP underwhelming bloated and lacking substance
4. QoS a mess visually and narratively.
Perhaps motivated by some of the discussion that is currently taking place on this forum, I decided to give this one a viewing. This is a film which has continued to drop in my rankings over the years, and I'm afraid last night's experience hasn't helped matters. I understand the love for this outing amongst the faithful, I really do. However, for me this is standard Glen fare, just with some of the tropes adjusted to accommodate Dalton. It starts off really well imho, and some of the earlier scenes in Bratislava are top notch spy fare. Dalton in particular looks great in a dinner jacket, and is deadly credible as her Majesty's finest. The Pushkin scene is one of his best as Bond. As the film progresses I lose interest though, and particularly during the romantic stuff with Kara, which doesn't float my boat. Right around the time of the awful 'horse's arse' scene is where it becomes unsalvageable for me. The entire airbase section just goes on and on like an extended sequence from an Indy film, but sadly without Spielberg's expertise at the controls to keep it tense and interesting.
Dalton isn't bad in the film. I can see how his 'relative' youth and more earnest, serious approach would have appealed in 1987 after 12 years of Rog's lighter take. However, he seems a bit uncomfortable with some of the lines to my eyes. I continue to think that LTK is far better suited to his edgier demeanour and take. Kara does nothing for me (sorry folks, I realize she has her fans, but this is no Tania as far as I'm concerned, despite comparisons to such effect. Too whiny for my palette, despite her miraculous conversion to determined action girl towards the end).
This remains a distinctly middle of the pack entry for me. I personally rank it below LTK, OP & FYEO from Glen. As far as I'm concerned, there is a reason it remains the least financially successful debut (by far) for a Bond actor, despite being released on the 25th anniversary.
Enjoy! :)
And then the finale being a like a contained thriller as the hunters seemingly have their prey trapped...
Yes, this is certainly top 5 (OHMSS, FRWL, CR, GF, SF is how I presently stack things up... subject to change, I'm sure)....
I can relate to a lot of these feelings about TLD. It's one of the popular entries on our site here that I just can't enjoy on that high of a level. I think it has some really good stuff - an EXCELLENT PTS, a decent story, good Bond girl (Kara is not my #1 or anything but I do think she's pretty decent), and great music.
What holds this film back? Lack of great villains (Necros is my favorite, and even he isn't quite top tier Bond villain material), an up-and-down performance from Dalton (Sorry, I thought he was noticeably better and more comfortable with LTK. He is mostly good in TLD, but in a few scenes he seemed a little off to me), and a disappointing third act. Once they reach Afghanistan, it goes downhill fast sadly. This film is at the #15 spot on my list, and for now I don't imagine it going much higher or lower. It is a GOOD Bond film, but for me, not quite a great one. LTK I think better fit Dalton's style; the only big thing I prefer about TLD over LTK is the soundtrack.
Dalton's two-film run makes for some great discussion here on the boards. While I can't quite get on the TLD hype train, I do love LTK, and outside the core Bond fanbase Dalton's contributions sadly remain underrated and overlooked. To me, he got one good Bond film and one very good/possibly great one. That's not so bad.
Just finished TMWTGG. Couldn't watch it in just one sitting, as is often my habit, but this one lagged over a week to two weeks, confirming that it's only about halfway up my Bond list. I like many things about it, including the idea of the duel; Moore was younger, looked trim, and I liked Bond's wardrobe in several scenes. I also like Maud Adams. But there are also several weak points for me. Why would James climb on the support scaffolding under Scaramanga's funhouse (unless it was a convenient plot device to get him to lose his gun)...his carelessness with said gun...then how he got back up and into the mannequin suit so quickly...how he and Goodnight cleaned up all the broken glass in Scaramanga's junk so quickly...and Goodnight's lapses of intelligence, especially at Scaramanga's. Other than those tiny things, I LOVED it! (ha ha) Actually that wasn't all, but I'll leave it there. Have to be honest, at the end when it said "James Bond will return in The Spy Who Loved Me", I felt my adrenaline kick in, since I rank that one much higher than this one.
Still, I know I'll watch TMWTGG again...it may just be a while. One of my favorite lines is during the fight in Saida's dressing room when she moans, "Ohhh my perfumes!--Noooooo!" (well, she's French of course). But of course Bond has a great line too shortly after that.
Where is it now in your rankings ?
Good for you! Brilliant Bond movie. Loved it from the first time I saw and still do! Dalton IS Bond!!
Watched LALD last night as it was on ITV4.
Good viewing despite the channels many ad breaks (shoved in at annoying moments as usual!!)
I never liked the pts. Always thought they should of had those killings of the agents after the titles. And Moore should of had an intro as Bond as an opener!
Do love his scene with M though in his apartment! Lee is particularly good, though Bond is a bit sloppy with his coffee!
Thoughts:
- Connery is great here. I believe this is where people usually say he improved greatly after DAF, but I happen to think he was great in DAF as well. He just acts the part in a different way.
- Brandauer is fantastic. Seemingly friendly and often wearing a jovial smile, but hinting at the psychopathy underneath. Best example: when he tells Domino, supposedly in jest, that he will cut her throat if she leaves him.
- Carrera is great, as well. Lively, fun performance. "You... affect me, James."
- Bernie Casey's Leiter is up there with the best. Because he is not Bond, he is always going to be second banana, but at least doesn't feel so much like a prop, like, say, Rik Van Nutter. Instead, he feels more like he is in his own film and just happened to run into Bond. Great chemistry with Sean Connery as well.
- Alec McCowen makes a good Q. I dislike the dreary-looking Q-lab but do enjoy the dialogue about budget cuts and red tape.
- I find the color palette of the film to be rather bland. I also dislike the use of soft focus.
- I appreciated the opening with the 007s more this time. It's not the gunbarrel, but it's good.
- The score sucks. It's too breezy for the film and doesn't enhance the emotion in any way. Connery pushed for Michel Legrand and turned down James Horner. Enormous mistake. Nothing hurts the film more than the score. You don't even need the Bond theme to have a Bondian score. Hell, even a regular orchestral, dramatic score would've been enough for this film, but they didn't manage even that.
- This film is rather graphic about lovemaking. Usually, we only see the before and after. Here, we see the middle. Well, it was the eighties and this is a non-Eon Bond film.
- The massage scene is pretty great. Nice combination of advancing the story and providing eye-candy and seduction. Having said that, it does go on a bit too long. Domino asking Bond to "go lower," while fun, could've been cut short.
- Connery wears a couple of light-colored suits in this film. I don't think they were as light in the other films, white dinner jackets aside. He looks good in them but I don't care for the light blue shirt and dark pants combination he wears in Largo's boat. As banal as it gets.
- The action scenes are really rather good, though the climactic fight with Largo is a disappointment.
- Admiral Chuck Farrel a decade before dying between Xenia's thighs.
- There's something I don't understand. In one scene, Bond is seen researching Largo, and then M calls him to brief him on the SPECTRE situation. Then Bond heads to the Bahamas to find Largo's boat (which in fact he doesn't and has to go to France afterwards!). While he knows about Jack Petachi from M, he doesn't seem to know Domino is with Largo. Instead, he appears to pursue the Largo lead for some other unexplained reason-- presumably that Largo had the resources to pull such an operation. It's within the realm of plausibilty, I guess, but it still seems like a stretch to me, unless I missed some key bit of exposition. Thunderball handled this better by clarifying Bond was going to the Bahamas to find Domino, and didn't even know who Largo was.
This is a good film that may beat Thunderball in the acting/character department. It also creates more tension in the third act, which is certainly appreciated. Having said that, I give Thunderball the overall edge. It's an "authentic" Bond product and feels lusher, more sensuous. The plot is better constructed, too.
And John Barry destroys Michel Legrand.
Afraid we're back disagreeing. Whereas I believe NSNA needs re-apprraising and it looks great in its blu-ray form, it's nowhere near as good as OP. I remember the much touted Battle of the Bonds that year. NSNA was delayed until Christmas. When I saw it on St Stephens Day I was very disappointed having really enjoyed OP during the Summer!
OP is still better than it but NSNA is an easier watch these days!
Each to his own. I think the stunts with the mercedes and on the train are well directed and edited and the bomb diffusing scene is better than the ones in GF and TSWLM!
TB is one of the best Bond films..the other one ..............................................is not,and its not even a Bond film in my eyes,just a character with the same name.
A very common name,as Fleming once said.
Agreed...NSNA cant even wipe OP's arse.....
Ow !
More than anything, the Craig era has been instrumental in helping me to reappraise the film positively. The recent reboot iteration has taken concepts & ideas from Connery's last outing. Additionally, by experimenting and stripping the Craig era of a lot of the tropes & formula (including a decent score), EON has helped to make former 'rogue' NSNA seem more 'canon'.
The trick for me was to shut TB out of my mind when viewing it. I always used to automatically make comparisons in the past during a viewing and then of course it paled (score, babes, Connery, dialogue, atmosphere and cinematography were all better in the earlier film).
TMWTGG: these Moore films are really climbing in my rankings the older I’m getting and I had a great time with this one. It’s small scale and such but its a lot of fun and has a great villain. It jumped from 21st place to like 15th
But I think OP has more great moments for me, but NSNA has improved over the years..but only Just! It's action scenes are poor compared to OP, for starters but it does have good cast!
Same here.
The opening is great but the fight with Lippe was too all over the place and was played too much for laughs! Motorcycle chase was good in parts but it wasnt as exciting as Bonds race to stop the bomb! Agreed on Bond shooting the soldiers though!