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Watching this film this evening brought back memories of when it was released in '89.
As a 13yr old I was so excited about seeing this film at the cinema (my only ever viewing of a Bond at the flicks was Octopussy in '83) so you can imagine my horror when I'd discovered the BBFC had gone and slapped a 15 rated certificate on it (and that was after insisting numerous cuts be made).
I tried, and failed, on numerous occasions to get into my local cinema to watch it. Annoyingly, my best friend, who was two months younger than me, but looked 19 had no problems getting in and made sure to tell me after just how great the film was. Urge to kill rising...
At around this time, it was my girlfriend's birthday, (Yes I know. Me and a girlfriend(!) I'm still shocked about it now) so as part of her party celebrations we were taken by her parents to see Batman at the cinema. Unfortunately, I had seen it in Edinburgh just a couple of weeks previously so I wasn't too fussed to be watching it for a second time.
Anyway, before the lights went dark my girlfriend's father asked if I was looking forward to watching the film and I whispered to him that I'd already seen it. With that he replied that had he known earlier on he would have taken me to see Licence To Kill instead as that was the film he really wanted to see... ~X(
Suffice to say our relationship deteriorated soon after and I would have to wait six months before LTK was released on video.
Your 13 year old heart must've been crushed beyond belief. :P
I think we can safely pinpoint when I discovered my sexuality! ;-)
It's still excellent although I do think it was hampered by mediocre production values. Shame they exiled themselves to Mexico. And I dislike Kamen's score. Oh John Barry, where for art thou!
TWINE is better than DAD, but that is the only Bond film it beats.
This afternoon.
I haven't changed my mind that much on it (on the bottom average). I found Roger Moore quite boring as 007 ; and I truly wished Tim Dalton was already cast to perform. May Day was a simple character quite well played by Grace Jones. But the best out of it certainly are the OST, the theme and Max Zorin (played the amazing Chris Walken), the nice locations and some of the most beautiful Bond Girls (not saying they're interesting characters) the plot was well build.
So, it won't change in my latest ranking. Enjoyable enough but not that great.
It always baffles me when people say the PTS is great, sometimes even the best of the series. It is not. The boat chase is not even that good to begin with, regardless how overlong the PTS is. I do not think TWINE is that bad, but it is maybe the most arrogant Bond movie ever made and with Michael Apted comments in various interviews, I find it now very difficult to like. There was a time I thought it was maybe Brosnan's best.
"Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one"- Clint Eastwood.
You might not like the TWINE PTS but yes, others might think it is the best one and they'd be right, because it's subjective (I think it's great but my favourite PTS is TLD).
It annoys me when people state opinions as facts like this (although to be fair I've been guilty of this in the past). A simple "I think" or "imo" takes a couple of seconds to type and it makes an opinionated post seem much less arrogant, much less "I'm right you're wrong".
Not one bit.
A film is a creation that takes on a life of its own. Once it's out there, that's it.
Who CARES what Apted said?
:-\"
AMAZING documentary. May be the "movie" with biggest rewatch value in the entire series (altough it's not actually part of the series) I just want to see some Bond right after it. I love it !
Overall I'm enjoying it. Unlike MR it feels more like an actual spy thriller despite a few silly bits, I also prefer Moore here too. He's less smirky but as a result more charming and seems more devoted to his mission rather than using it as an excuse for frivolity.
Bach however is getting on my nerves a bit. She's attractive but each line delivery she does sounds the same:
"Just a moment...I would like to bid for it too"
That was a delicious meal...thank you
With considerable ease...I might add.
As far as the Connery movies are concerned, TB is one of the best of the lot, along with FRWL. It's an incredibly scenic movie to view, with the location work being one of its high points. The action is both reserved and "big", which lends for a very thrilling experience. The soundtrack is a definite highlight as well! Despite some of the comments I've read recently on the villain elimination game, I rather enjoy Emilio Largo as a main villain. He's quite memorable, in my opinion! Overall, this is an epic Bond adventure.
Spring 2014 Bondathon Ranking
1. GoldenEye
2. License to Kill
3. SkyFall
4. Thunderball
5. The Living Daylights
6. Moonraker
Both TND and TWINE were blighted by arguably the most generic action sequences--not helped any by Arnold's generic and ham-fisted techno scoring--and that boat chase is a classic case in point. Its implausibility almost reaches DAD levels (it's the Bondola done with a scowl rather than a wink), and it is very much by the numbers. The conclusion on the balloon is fine, but as for the rest, entirely forgettable.
And a quotation is no evidence, however prestigious the person you quote (in this case, it is an appeal to authority). I do have opinions, which I share and defend here as it is an opinion and debate forum. I do think I defend it with actualy arguments, when I disagree with someone, I also base it on facts and try to bring with the best of my knowledge and skills arguments. I do not try to dismiss someone's opinion on the sole ground that it is an opinion.
As for the subjectivity of taste, this is irrelevant. You can find a lot of people who find Starship Troopers a better movie than The Godfather. That does not make their opinion valuable. Now to come back with the TWINE PTS, it is , overlong, it is nothing original and the boat chase is included in it for the gratuitous reason of making it more exciting than if it only had a fist fight in it... Sorry, yes it is just my opinion, but what's so outstanding about it?
IMO, Starship Troopers is a MUCH better science fiction film than The Godfather.
That is one convoluted way to consider it better. Like saying Starship Troopers has better FX than The Godfather, or that the makeup artist of Bad Taste did a better job than the one of Citizen Kane.
"Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one"- Clint Eastwood.
[/quote]
Just a side note. That quote was fairly common before Clint Eastwood got hold of it.[/quote]
And it is just as worthless an argument, whoever said it first.
I agree. The scene where Don Corleone and Michael save Sonny from being probed by the aliens hired by the Tattaglia family in retaliation for when Vito's boys blew up their cannoli bakery was uninspired at best and dare I say it, a big, stinky stronzo. It was made even worse in the deluxe director's cut years after when Coppola edited the film to make Don Vito and Michael shoot their blasters at those aliens first. He should be ashamed of himself, but at least George Lucas showed the world how sci-fi was done properly five years later in Star Wars.
An astute criticism, @chrisisall. :)
Aside from some of the silly sidetracks, like the ninja school shenanigans and the return of Sheriff J.W. Pepper, I don't completely understand the criticism this Bond adventure receives. Frankly, I really like it! It used to be just "meh" for me, and then I went to loathing it, but now I've realized that it's honestly one of the most enjoyable Bond movies to watch. It moves at a consistent pace that stays relatively on course, except for the ninja school tomfoolery, as previously mentioned. If there were any scenes that could be taken out without ruining the movie, it would be everything between Bond's corny third nipple disguise as Scaramanga and the short river boat race with Chula and the ninjas. All of those sequences are merely an annoying distraction from the main focus on the movie- thankfully though, these scenes fall in the middle of the movie, where it's least threatening to the overall enjoyment, and they don't annoy me enough to the point of disliking the movie as a whole. I would just prefer to take them out, since they do nothing to advance the plot, but instead cause people to label TMWTGG as silly and cheesy. Granted, these scenes make it appear that way, for sure! I still really enjoy this Bond movie- Roger gives one of his best performances, Scaramanga and Nick Nack make for a memorable villainous duo, the Barry soundtrack is pretty nice, and the location work is outstanding. Definitely not deserving of its usual criticism!
Spring 2014 Bondathon Ranking
1. GoldenEye
2. License to Kill
3. SkyFall
4. The Man with the Golden Gun
5. Thunderball
6. The Living Daylights
7. Moonraker
Meanwhile, I have been continuing my viewing of the films in the order that the Fleming originals were published, and I've been having a blast at this unorthodox system of selection. Just the other night I saw Goldfinger, and it still holds up as one of the high-water marks of the series. Next on the agenda: For Your Eyes Only, followed by A View to a Kill and then Quantum of Solace. I think this mixing of the sequence allows each film to be taken on its own merits, rather than seeing each in reference to its place within the series. At least, that's my excuse for now...
You do know that the truth comes out the mouth of kids, drunks and crazy people? ;)
Y'all ready for this? ;)
I still don't see what the big get-up is around here for this one; in all honesty, I see no reason why this should top anyone's rankings as one of the best Bond movies. I mean how? Whether or not that is understandable by me, here are a few thoughts from my viewing of OHMSS today:
First of all, I've never liked the soundtrack to this movie. In my opinion, Barry's tunes are more in the way than they are fitting. At least half of the tracks in the movie get on my last nerve, which end up ruining a lot of otherwise decent scenes, such as that stupid "Do You Know How Christmas Trees are Grown?" song. Ugh, what an annoying song! I also don't like Louis Armstrong's "We Have All the Time in the World" song- it, too, is kind of grating and bothersome more than anything else.
Additionally, and certainly a much bigger factor to the movie, Lazenby is just not the man for the role of 007, at least not in any scene where dialogue is required. Admittedly, he rocks during the action sequences; however, when it comes to the whole Bondian moments outside of machine gun fire and fisticuffs, he can't convince me as our hero. Could that be due in part to the corny Sir Hilary Bray over-dub? Perhaps, but even in the scenes before he takes on that phony voice-over, I'm still rather annoyed with the fact that he's in the role. His only truly great scenes are when he wakes up from his clubbing and discusses Blofeld's plot with him and the ending with the motorcycle cop, of course. Other than that, he's basically pitiful.
Another important factor in any Bond movie is pacing, and frankly, OHMSS does not keep things moving very well. Granted, my perception of this has improved slightly over the years- I used to be forced to cut the movie in half, watching one half on one day and the second on another. Still though, it's a trip to get through; compare it to Casino Royale or SkyFall, which both have essentially the same run time, and you'll find that CR and SF move much faster than OHMSS. The only plus here is that if you can make it to Bond's late night ski escape from Piz Gloria, then things pick up a lot more speed, but even then, you still have to deal with the barn scene with Bond and Tracy, which isn't exactly the most exciting scene in the movie. There are way too many scenes in OHMSS that feel like Bond is just lingering around doing nothing, especially in the first half, such as Draco's birthday party, his visit to M's house, and his romantic courting of Tracy. (:|
I'm not much of a Tracy fan either; as controversial as that sounds, it's not like she's around that much- I mean we see here in the first third of the movie, and then don't see her again until towards the end. In that first third, she's completely anti-Bond girl and, truthfully, just bothersome. At least she redeems herself for her return towards the end of the movie, making her not as awful as she could have been.
The only changes of opinion I had during this viewing was the action sequences, Draco, and Telly Savalas as Blofeld. These are the three shining lights in OHMSS, in my opinion. They're not enough to turn my entire opinion around and throw OHMSS up to the top, or even the middle, but they're enough to at least give it some slight credit. I'd still have to rank it in the bottom set though.
Spring 2014 Bondathon Ranking
1. GoldenEye
2. License to Kill
3. SkyFall
4. The Man with the Golden Gun
5. Thunderball
6. The Living Daylights
7. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
8. Moonraker
"I've seen them advertised I tell you"
That said last time I watched it I genuinely found myself tearing up a little in the barn scene:
"Mr...and Mrs James Bond"
"...of Vacacia (?) Avenue, Tumbridge Wells"
Damn you Ima
Acacia Avenue. Quite upmarket.
Shows how cultured I am :p