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Well it's a Bank Holiday here, so its the law to watch a Bond movie!! Am reading Rogers diary book about his first appearance as 007, so it was an easy choice. It also brought me fond memories of its TV premiere in 1980, (biggest audience for Bond tv debut, if I recall)
Still entertaining, it could do with some trimming here and there, but has so many memorable scenes and set pieces......the main titles and song, the opening with M, a great trio of villains (Kananga, Teehee and Baron Samedi) the seduction of Solitaire, the bus chase, the crocodile farm, the boat chase of course and the henchman reappearing for a final reel showdown (I miss that!). Really good viewing this time. "Gonna be a beauuuuuutiful day!"
My favorite of the Connery films.
Shrublands is a highlight of the film for me. The moodiness of Bond's investigating at night mixed with Barry's score makes for some of my favorite Connery moments.
It might not make any grand jumps in my overall ranking, but I'd say the last few viewings I've had of this one have gotten progressively better and better I had such a blast with it this time. One of the biggest highlights for me, past the score, is the usage of locales: between Venice, Rio, and the Amazon, they're utilized expertly.
Of course, I'd still kill for a proper, loyal adaptation of Fleming's novel for this one, even if it wouldn't play as your typical action-packed Bond film.
As far as pure escapist fun, Moonraker is in fact arguably one of the series best. Its use of locations have always been a highlight for me too.
A faithful adaptation of my favourite Bond novel was truely a missed opportunity by EON in the 60's. Fleming's best ever villain IMO.
It had been years since I last watched GE until I rewatched it this weekend. As always with Pierce's films I have a great time, and it never stop surprising me how much this film in particular has to offer – most of all from the performances in the very strong cast. Izabella Scorupco most of all stood out this time around; she's just perfect as Natalya Simonova – a great character in itself.
GE is first out of the Brosnan films in my 2019 Bondathon, and goes straight into 10th, pushing DN (!) out of the top ten.
1. Thunderball
2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3. From Russia with Love
4. For Your Eyes Only
5. The Spy Who Loved Me
6. Goldfinger
7. Octopussy
8. Live and Let Die/Diamonds Are Forever
10. Goldeneye
11. Dr. No
12. The Man with the Golden Gun
13. Licence to Kill
14. The Living Daylights
15. A View to a Kill
16. You Only Live Twice
17. Moonraker
18. Casino Royale (1967)
Apart from the fact that the Dalton films and Dr No are ranked too low, very reasonable indeed
A few surprises already on this list; don't think I've had DN outside the top ten in years. Might change still though!
Yeah, it's strange having DN so low, but it didn't do much for me this time around. It's a film I watch every summer, so that might still change. The Dalton films are quite low so far – not because I didn't enjoy them as much, but because the films above them offered that little extra. I'm curious about where the rest of the Brosnan films + the Craig films will end up on the list.
With that said, it’s not perfect, no film is.
Starting with the jet pack , the outrageous excess , and decency on gadgets that hampers several Bond films is starting to creep in.
While some criticism is leveled on the lethargic nature of the underwater sequences, I find the process , effects, work and the undercranking used in the finale’ to be much more distracting.
These are minor quibbles, all in all an epic outing.
It's indeed an epic outing. One could argue it's maybe THE epic outing. Of the flaws you mention, only the jet pack bothers me really, as it's only there to transport him from the château to his Aston. One can easily think of more exciting ways to incorporate the jet pack.
Other than that, I have nothing to complain about.
Had no plans yesterday, so I decided to continue my 2019 Bondathon with TND. Like with GE, it had been a while since I last watched this one, and I was curious to see how it would compare to GE.
Where GE has the Cold War elements adding another layer to the film, TND is just a energetic, first-class 90's popcorn film. There's a lot of action in this one, and it sure delivers in that department. I've never cared much for the plot or the villain though. It's a few notches too OTT – best described with the Carver Media Group meeting.
I do like Jonathan Pryce's performance though. He plays that OTT villain to perfection.
OTT complains aside, it's a fun Bond adventure, and Pierce is on top form as Bond here. TND is definitely a Bond film I need to watch more often. As for the 2019 Bondathon ranking, I can't place it that high on the list unfortunately. It's current spot will be behind Moonraker and above CR67.
1. Thunderball
2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3. From Russia with Love
4. For Your Eyes Only
5. The Spy Who Loved Me
6. Goldfinger
7. Octopussy
8. Live and Let Die/Diamonds Are Forever
10. Goldeneye
11. Dr. No
12. The Man with the Golden Gun
13. Licence to Kill
14. The Living Daylights
15. A View to a Kill
16. You Only Live Twice
17. Moonraker
18. Tomorrow Never Dies
19. Casino Royale (1967)
Having been a detractor of SF the last few years and not being the biggest Craig fan, I wasn’t expecting much.
Turned out I was pleasantly surprised this time out. The film looks absolutely gorgeous thanks to Deakins’ cinematography, the acting and dialogue is spectacular and I even liked Newman’s score here.
Daniel Craig might not be my favourite Bond, but he does very well here. I like how Bond prefers things the old-fashioned way and in the end used that to his advantage by “going back in time”. I think Craig suits me better in such a radical departure than we he tries to emulate other actors like in SP.
Expect SF to drastically get up my rankings next month.
And that certainly is another opinion.
Safety first
Fact/Opinion May I suggest a dictionary
All snarkiness aside, the problem I have with the jet pack is not the device itself but the situation in which it’s used.
North Korea:
Really like the PTS
The title sequence is used in a nice way
The Bond and Zao exchange is great
Hong Kong:
Decent dialouge scene between Bond and M
Peaceful Fountains of Desire
Cuba:
Raoul
Jinx entrance
Sex scene
Bond punching the douchebag
London:
London calling!
Graves entrance
Sword fight
Island:
Icarus demonstration
Graves confrontation
Car chase
Miranda Frost
Plane sequence:
"Oh look parachutes for the both of us, whoops not anyyyymore". Graves is very funny at times troughout the film.
Keeping up the Brosnan part of my 2019 Bondathon, I decided to skip TWINE to go straight to DAD, which I hadn’t seen in a LONG time. You can go into detail about the weaknesses of DAD. There’s plenty to mention: cringey dialogue, slow motion, OTT elements (I feel it reaches Star Wars territory at one point with Zao and his hooded cape), invisible Aston, wave surfing, Madonna…
I struggle most with the inclusion of a poorly written American sidekick in Jinx. I mean, if this was a solo show for Bond – alone up against Gustav Graves (which I find perfectly acted by Toby Stephens by the way), then this would have been a better film. It’s a shame Rosamund Pike is wasted on a part like Miranda Frost as well; I think she could have been great as a Craig era Bond girl.
These things aside, it’s a perfectly alright bottom tier Bond film. The PTS, and the following sequences all the way up to the introduction of Jinx in Cuba are quite good, and the sword fight between Bond an Stephens is really thrilling. It’s always great when Bond gets the chance to face the villain early on in a social setting – although this time they took it a step further.
The lesser elements of DAD can’t save it from ranking second last in my 2019 Bondathon so far, but I did enjoy myself watching it tonight – and I'm not ashamed to admit it!
1. Thunderball
2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3. From Russia with Love
4. For Your Eyes Only
5. The Spy Who Loved Me
6. Goldfinger
7. Octopussy
8. Live and Let Die/Diamonds Are Forever
10. Goldeneye
11. Dr. No
12. The Man with the Golden Gun
13. Licence to Kill
14. The Living Daylights
15. A View to a Kill
16. You Only Live Twice
17. Moonraker
18. Tomorrow Never Dies
19. Die Another Day
20. Casino Royale (1967)