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I watched this little gem again last night, it had been awhile and it has lost none of it's charm for me. So many memorable moments. 2nd best Bond car ever, one of the best Bond girls ever, brilliant over the top villain. Amazing sets, and Atlantis is just outrageous. The best Henchman of them all. A fight on a train, Egypt, the list goes on and on... I love this movie, it was my favorite when I was a kid and still holds a place high on my list now.
8/10..
Oh dear. I must at this point apologise to Mr T Dalton and everyone involved in this movie.. For years, I had some kind of silly boyhood grudge against it, and indeed against Timmy, due to my love and loyalty as a lad to Mr R Moore. So, now, aged 30, I took the plastic wrap off of my copy of TLD to find, to my horror/surprise, a superb Bond Movie. In fact, just a superb movie period. I loved it, I mean proper loved it. I woke my lovely and very patient wife several times with things like 'wow', 'I don't remember that bit', and 'Dalton is so right'... I am in shock. My Bond Universe as I've known it, rocked to it's very core.... What now? Do I start loving TD as much as Sean, Rog and Craig?? What does it all mean?? Who am I anymore??
8/10
I had the same reaction to TLD. As a kid, TLD was always in the bottom half of Bond films to me. It just lacked that pizazz, and Tim just didn't do it for me. But I was pleasantly surprised to find how good of a film it is after revisiting it years later. There is an intriguing complex story full of espionage, which gave TLD a very 'classic' Bond feel, reminiscent of FRWL; it almost recalls 'Lawrence of Arabia' what with setting in the second half of the film. All in all, TLD has cracked the top 5 for me when before it probably sat around 14th place early on--and this was in the 90's when there were even fewer Bond films to rank than there are now. Bravo Mr. Dalton, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Glen for a fine job on this one.
Oh well, onwards and upwards.. Now where is my list....
I used to line them up (all two of them!), and gaze at their covers, and read the “blurb” on the back. It felt like, not surprisingly, that they were part of a set; it had 1985/1999 and the name of the Bond actor, in gold lettering..... Ah, those were the days... and that was it. I was a Bond “aficionado”... (some of you, my fellow MI6-ers, may be wondering how I got into Bond, with such “sub-par” entries...)
Anyway, I digress...
A View To A Kill
When “California Girls” came on the soundtrack, I almost went out of the experience. It just jars with the serious Barry action cue. Luckily Sir Rog saved the day; “Call me James. It's five days 'till Alaska....”.
I always find A View To A Kill to be a schizophrenic film; youthful, dynamic pairing of Zorin and Mayday vs. the aged forces of MI6; inventive action scenes (steeplechase, City Hall) vs. seventies spectacle (Paris chase, Fire truck escape); forward thinking plot vs. 70’s overt humour; well written characters, unfortunately portrayed by weak actors; Moore’s easy going charm vs. cut- throat 80’s business ethos. It’s like the producers wanted to give Roger Moore a spectacular send off, but the film can’t make up its mind whether go with seventies excess vs. eighties characters/conservative style.
It’s an unfitting way to say goodbye to Sir Rog; I always get a lump in my throat when the end titles come up, it really is the end of an era. Roger Moore provided a steady hand, when the films were at their most inconsistent.
However there is plenty to enjoy in AVTAK; namely Barry's score, the performances from Walken, Fullerton and Macnee, the whole climax and having an intuitive Bond doing a nice bit of espionage, keeping in tone with the previous Glen efforts.
The World Is Not Enough
I just don't why this film has such a bad reputation round these parts. Surely my sentimental feeling towards this film (it was my first time seeing Bond on the big screen), has blinded me to the obvious?
Sophie Marceau is sexy and seductive, Robert Carlyle evokes genuine pity, and The Brozz turns in a supremely elegant and dangerous performance as Bond, plus the overall premise is inspired and all the Bondian attributes abound and in novel fashion.
Now in light of objectivity, I shall point out some of the film's flaws...
The more emotional nature of the script allows for some unintentional melodrama. (Primarily the scene between Bond and M in Scotland and the scene where Bond confronts Elektra.). I always imagined Bond being more still, in the two aforementioned scenes. Brosnan is too animated in those particular scenes. Fleming wrote that Bond is precise in his movements, decisive and economical. He wouldn’t have acted like that. Just my two cents worth.
It sounds like I'm being too hard on The Brozz, but he's my childhood Bond, and he carries a special place in my heart.
To balance out, then, here are some moments in which Pierce Bronsan is just so smegging cool;
The ways he takes out the goons in the Banker's office
Sorting out the heavy, gaining access to Zukovsky's office
During the buzz-saw helicopter attack, Bond opens a trap-door, pushes a goon away, and fires straight up, through the floor, to a second goon.
NSNA is a bit of a mixed bag. It doesn't feel wholly like a Bond film, for the obvious reasons of very different score, no gunbarrel, PTS etc. It also looks a little cheap in places, despite having a comparatively big budget for its time. It all hangs together fairly well though. I like Brandauer as Largo, and Connery does better here, IMO, than he did in his previous outing. I can't take to Edward Fox as M - he seems a parody of a stern teacher, rather than Bond's hard but fair boss. From memory Thunderball i s far stronger and classier, if a little bloated IMO. Overall, NSNA is better than I remember, but still low down on my [currently imagined] list, chiefly for not feeling part of the family of films that I like so much. How low down the list will be decided in coming months, as I have promised myself I will do a proper ranking - something I haven't really done before, beyond knowing my favourite few and least favourite few. So for now, by default:
1. Never Say Never Again
and immediately picture Dalton in AVTAK. If only.....
DAF suffers from a weak last hour, but is far better than I remember, as I recalled a bloated disinterested Connery in a visually ugly film. I still think Vegas and Bond don't mix, but Connery looks and acts far better than I remembered, Jill St John was great - again, not how I remember it, and although it does get very silly towards the end, it is not as goofy as I thought. So:
1. OHMSS
2. Diamonds Are Forever
3. Never Say Never Again
Anyway, as someone who isn't fan of Moore either, I remembered this as a film for which I had no particular affection. I was pleasantly surprised - something that is becoming a theme of these early, largely unloved (by me) entries. I enjoyed Roger Moore in the role, he still looked young enough for the part, and I adored the villains - particularly Tee Hee. That alone would elevate it above DAF, but the larger than life feel of it just helps all the more. The setting and style of the film wasn't a problem for me this time - I had often found the faux blaxploitation style very jarring, though JW Pepper was still a big problem for me. I expect it will end up in the bottom half of my list, just about, but for now, very enjoyable:
1. OHMSS
2. Live And Let Die
3. Diamonds Are Forever
4. Never Say Never Again
On the other hand, for me it is tonally all over the place, with Moore veering between his usual portrayal and quite brutal - which is out of step with the film as a whole, which is quite goofy. Britt Eklund is wildly unbelievable as any kind of agent - the worst Bond girls of the sequence I have seen so far. The Solex agitator plot is very 'so what' compared to the concept of a rival for Bond; which is where I think the film should have spent its time. It's like it is two wildly different scripts combined and the film feels rushed. The appearance of Pepper in this film makes his performance in LALD look like Steve Martin in The Jerk by comparison - it made my teeth itch. As with DAF, I enjoyed the first hour for the promise it gave, then was disappointed with where it went. If I had to watch one again right away, though, I would choose DAF for a Bond, girls and pacing I prefer slightly: though in reality there isn't much for me to choose between the the two films and, in fact I expected, from memory to prefer TMWTGG. This leaves the current list.
1. OHMSS
2. Live And Let Die
3. Diamonds Are Forever
4. The Man With The Golden Gun
5. Never Say Never Again
Think I will give For Your Eyes Only a run out tonight.
I watch this film over and over again and always enjoy it. 10/10
That said, it was vast improvement over TMWTGG. This film was a bit of a revelation to me this time actually. there have been small surprises with all of these films, but this is the first film that I have had a complete change of mind on. It has a proper story that actually requires Bond to uncover the facts in stages. Although the age gap is too great to Bond, I enjoy Melina. This is another example of tastes changing, I liked the pacing of the film this time, and found Melina more attractive physically, and a better actress than I remember. It will finish below LALD as, the 2CV chase aside, it lacks the iconic moments / characters that were in that film, but it is a really solid film, and a better told story than LALD, well performed by all involved. It is also a beautiful film to look at. So, in some ways its end ranking is likely to end up being one that I will feel to be overly harsh. With a younger Bond, the few goofy parts removed, a better score, and something more iconic to remember it by, I think it could have finished top-five; which I think is unlikely at the moment. For now:
1. OHMSS
2. Live And Let Die
3. For Your Eyes Only
4. Diamonds Are Forever
5. The Man With The Golden Gun
6. Never Say Never Again
I Enjoyed this film. I didn't really mind the shaky cam quick draw editing. Craig is excellent, He brings the emotion from Casino Royale right over to QoS. Love the Opera scene, I must have rewound it 6 times. Not the best Bond film, but it's not as bad as some people claim it to be.
I agree totally with that statement and I just watched cr and qos with my friend who has never seen a James bond movie fully before and I think they were a good way to introduce him to the series.
Join the QoS love club. @JWESTBROOK and I are always recruiting for new members. We just got in our special algerian love knots, sultry black haired stunner not included. :)
My Contribution to the love of QoS, It isn't for everyone, but I always enjoy this piece. ;)
Been too busy lately to see any Bond movie, or any film in general just recently, but next opportunity I get, will go for Tomorrow Never Dies. It'll be a bit of a task to stay with it right until the end but I'll give it another shot
I was always going to start and finish with OHMSS. It makes sense to watch DAF after. The order thereafter was intended to be all of the Moore films except TSWLM and MR, as my wife is away and so I am getting those done. After that it is a bit of a mix at 2-3 a month. I will be doing the two Dalton's followed by Goldeneye. Then I do the first three of the series, then TND, then the two Moore I missed, then TWINE and DAD, then the Craig era, then TB, YOLT and finishing with OHMSS again.
The reason for such an odd order is that we have other things to get through too, so with it only being 2-3 a month I want keep things fresh and varied. I last watched the majority of the films about 3 years ago and that was in order. The problem was I exhausted so many of my favourites right at the start, so I decided to vary it this time.
The flaw in the plan is that my wife is away until a, week on Friday and I was supposed to get as far as AVTAK. I am likely to get to that tonight. I am enjoying them very much and that is a good sign considering I am on historically my least favourite Bond, and in my enthusiasm I am watching then too fast. So it seems I will be watching at least a few of them more than once!
I buyed the whole record of Tosca because of QOS!
Well I've been a long time fan of Puccini, but each time I hear "Tre sbirri, una carrozza" I think at the QOS scene, repeat the dialogue and forget about Mario, Tosca and Scarpia.
Some people complain that Brosnan is fat and bloated in this movie. I don't know. We must have very different ideas of what fat is. I think Brosnan looks good.
DAD's theme song is officially the worst Bond theme song ever.
As for the film, I think it gets a bad rap. It has a great story. For the first time we see Bond burned. Plus, I loved the twist of Graves being the General's son and the revelation of Frost being the mole in MI6. I just wish we had a motivation from her.
I agree that the invisible car was silly but it didn't ruin the film for me at all. I was much more annoyed at the fact that the car can flip itself over. I did find it implausible that Bond just jumps in freezing water with no protective clothing. However, Bond has done implausible things before-often. In addition, I have no clue where that parasail came from that Bond used to float off the cliff when his vehicle was about to fall. I guess it could have been in the vehicle but I didn't think that was Bond's vehicle. I thought he just comandeered it. The parasail and the car flipped bugged me a whole lot more than the actual car.
I also don't see why everyone is so down on Halle Berry. Other than the fact that her character seems to get captured a lot, I think she's a great Bond girl.
So, all in all, I really enjoyed the movie and don't understand all the hate towards it.
Bond saw the ice dragster deploy it's parachute when Grave's drove it, when Bond arrived it Iceland.
And to your question about Bond jumping in freezing water - he did have a woolly jumper on... ;-). Plus he emerged, in the biodome, in hot water... I always have reasons for Bond doing things that seem implausible
:D
The car flipped itself over because Bond fired the ejector seat. It's a bit stupid, but at least the car didn't have a gadget that could flip it if it ever happened to land on it's roof.
Halle Berry is hot and she can be a good actress but the dialouge given to her character was just really bad, which is why lots of people don't like her.
These showings were the first two of this run not to surprise me: I went in disliking them, and came out feeling exactly the same - and I struggled to get through them both. Moore is now comically old, any tension in the action sequences is ruined by a mixture of unfunny humour and obvious stunt work. Octopussy gets a better rating for better locations, and good Bond girls IMO. May Day in AVTAK was even worse than I remember - the blankness of Grace Jones' expression when she is waiting to speak whilst standing by Bond and Stacey Sutton as they first meet has to be seen to be believed. I know there is some affection for Octopussy, but I would put them both below NSNA as I just had a bad time with them, and it pains me to say that, as there have been some pleasant surprises in the Moore run; but, if they were going to make comedy films, they could at least have been funny.
Before I update my ratings, I must say that before he got too old, Moore better in the role than I remember. He is still my least favourite for now, but that is now relative, rather than absolute.
1. OHMSS
2. Live And Let Die
3. For Your Eyes Only
4. Diamonds Are Forever
5. The Man With The Golden Gun
6. Never Say Never Again
7. Octopussy
8. A View To A Kill
I enjoyed it far, far more than before, and do see it as a Bond film for adults rather than the child I was when I first saw it. Dalton is a breath of fresh air after the increasingly randy uncle vibes given off by Roger as he got too old for the role and the series descended into pure (unfunny) comedy. Dalton plays a complete and complex character and for the first time since FYEO we are back to a compelling film where story comes first. I wasn't bored this time, and I much prefer Dalton to Moore.
Now for the reason I call it my biggest disappointment so far. This is the first time I have seen a Dalton film since I read the first 7 of the Fleming novels, and I was looking forward to seeing the literary James Bond on the screen. Now, there is a certain similarity: Dalton has exactly the colour eyes described by Fleming, and is the right height, build and colouring. I get why people call him the closest to Fleming - and the 'stuff my orders...' line is right out of the books, but his going on the waltzers and laughing away and his giving in to Kara to go back and get her cello is no more the literary Bond (from the 50% of them that I have read - so not claiming to be an expert at all) than any of the others: though he is clearly conflicted about elements of the life he has chosen - but we see that from other Bond actors occasionally. Whilst a terrific actor, he also has a little less intensity and screen presence for me than Daniel Craig - his most obvious equivalent in his portrayal of the role, though he is obviously a closer physical match for the role than DC. I also feel this is quite a drab era for the Bond films: John Glen had been at the helm for too long, and Maurice Binder's work is starting to look uninspired to say the least. On a side note it is also very obvious that Barry did not connect with A-Ha, as it is the Pretenders song that is far more present in the score. Anyway, I also found Maryam D'Abo really wooden this time, and the villains unengaging. It really did feel like a Cold War film though - for obvious reasons, the last time this would be the case, and that vibe is always welcome.
In terms of overall scoring, it is around FYEO level for me, but with a better Bond and less goofy camp humour, so I place it just above that film for now. I must stress I like the film, and I really like Dalton. So,
1. OHMSS
2. Live And Let Die
3. The Living Daylights
4. For Your Eyes Only
5. Diamonds Are Forever
6. The Man With The Golden Gun
7. Never Say Never Again
8. Octopussy
9. A View To A Kill
I finally got my Special Edition DVD delivered to my house today so I decided to watch one of my favorite Bond films. I enjoyed every minute of it and I gotta say, the special effects are fantastic. Derek Meddings really earned his paycheck for it. Incredible stuff. it was very realistic for the times no matter how over the top it was. It really is art at work.
8 out of 10. :-bd
So – Goldeneye. This film blew me away when I first saw it. Strangely, as much as I like Brosnan, just behind Connery and Craig, he didn’t make much of an impression on me the first time. I even struggled to remember what he looked like after the film. Obviously I have no such problems this time, as I have had years to live with him as Bond. Now I do have some problems with this film – but none of them are deal breakers. Alec Trevelyan seems to be about 35-40, yet is a child of the Second World War – in 1995! That doesn’t make sense, he’d be in his 50s or 60s – was this a hangover from an earlier version of the script where he was more of an aged mentor figure? The score is horrible (though the title song isn’t). The film has also been somewhat hacked in editing I feel. I have always felt there must be more of Zukovsky on the cutting room floor, and we are introduced to gadgets on the BMW (urrgh!) that we never see again. I also feel Boris is a bit of a misstep – and he is exhibit A in my argument that Dalton would not have done Goldeneye in this form – as I cannot see him starring in a film with Boris and a character called Xenia Onatopp – he didn’t really do larger than life in that way.
The film feels like a classic Bond though: I would argue for the first time since The Spy Who Loved Me (from memory, haven’t watched it yet this time). It has a Bond that is slight in both build and performance this time, but is not smarmy like later Moore, and has more charisma than Dalton. I also love the way Brosnan moves – his gunbarrel sequence is my favourite by some distance, and he has real agility and grace. Goldeneye has a great theme song, my favourite title sequence and balances humour, action and plot really well. I always groaned at the humour in the Moore films, but I enjoyed Brosnan’s sequence with Q, and his exchanges with Wade (who also would not be played this way in a Dalton film, IMO, even if the actor was in a Dalton film). I feel Martin Campbell was born to make Bond films, in the same way that Terence Young was. This film is absolutely out of the top drawer, and goes immediately into second place for me.
1. OHMSS
2. Goldeneye
3. Live And Let Die
4. The Living Daylights
5. For Your Eyes Only
6. Diamonds Are Forever
7. The Man With The Golden Gun
8. Never Say Never Again
9. Octopussy
10. A View To A Kill