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Great one! I'm a big fan of your Dr. No reviews, one of my absolute favs! =D>
Anyone else organizing a Bond-Marathon with friends in the run-up to "SPECTRE"?
No need for apologies, I had forgotten just how fun a proper Bondathon was.
I never attempted one before. I thought I would be burnt out halfway through but I'm almost done now. :)
What a cracker of a film this is! FRWL is one of the best spy films ever made, the script is a total winner. I really like how in contrast to DN, where you piece the bits of the puzzle with Bond, here the whole villain scheme is exposed in the opening 15 minutes. Which leaves the rest of the film to witness Sir Sean expertly beat the villains at their own game! Bond is at his most intelligent in this outing, beaten only by LTK, in my opinion.
I also noticed something new for me: I now believe the finest bits of acting by Connery as Bond are all the scenes where Kerim Bay appears. I don't know what kind of magic happens, but Pedro Armendariz and Connery really 'click' together, and they bring out their A-game and seem to totally love acting with each-other. Dare I say the chemistry between Bond and Kerim Bay is bar none the best between 2 characters in the entire franchise. It is an absolute joy to watch them together. And I must say the 15 minutes of film that starts with the gypsy camp and end with the killing of Krilenku is IMO one of the highlights of not only the Connery era, but the entire franchise.
From the opening bars of music when Grant activates his killer watch in the PTS, you know John Barry is THE man, and he will keep impressing you for his whole work on the franchise.
To conclude: FRWL is a film that will always be in my top 5.
Classic, classic Bond. It's hard to say anything that hasn't been covered here, but you really don't get much better than this in terms of one stellar spy movie. We have Connery - excellent as always in the role - alongside one of the most beautiful Bond girls as he battles arguably the greatest Bond villain in the series. The faceoff in the train between Bond and Grant is terribly intense and never manages to disappoint. BUT, for some reason, at the end of the day, I prefer DN. I don't know what it is, I can't figure it out, but DN has always stood out as my favorite of the two. I know I'm in the minority in saying that, and I don't want it to undermine the perfection that is FRWL, but it's the truth.
2015 Bondathon Rating:
1.) DN
2.) FRWL
Perhaps that's it. DN is so fun to me, while FRWL takes itself much more seriously, I suppose? That could be it, I'm not sure, it's really tough for me to try and describe it.
What I've discovered is, that Dr. NO is a very Bond centric movie. All the action is always on Bond where FRWL is heavily focused on the villains. While that's not a problem, it's something I discovered in my last viewing. It's very interesting.
I watch them chronologically and I have finished the Brosnan movies and only the Craig movies are left.
Everytime I re-watch all of them my opinion on some of the Bond movies change a bit resulting in a different ranking in my Top Bond list.
Goldfinger
This one keeps improving, after years of being bored by this film. I kept having this image of Connery being useless for half the film, that he was bored while captured and it just dragged on and on. Well, in my recent viewings, I discovered I was greatly mistaken. Sure Bond is captured for a while, but the movie keeps going at a fast pace, and there is still a lot going on in the 2nd half. It can't be boring when in this section of the film features the world record for having the biggest amount of actors over acting in the same room (the gangster sequence).
Again, GF flips the template of the previous film on the head. This time, we are introduced to the main villain immediatly, but are offered zero info on what the scheme is about. The movie also greatly differs from DN and FRWL in the sense that there are 'two' plots going on - the gold smuggling and then the 'Grand Slam' operation at the end. A template I will compare in the other films which copies this formula (OP, AVTAK, TLD, and there's bound to be some I will remember during this Bondathon).
I'll gladly echo the sentiment. It's been my favourite Bond film for years. In fact, it's my favourite film, period.
They don't have to be Bond friends, necessarily. Casual fans of the franchise can make the marathon fun too. Heck, inviting people over to watch some of the films they haven't seen is almost as exciting.
LOL.
Ranking:
01. OHMSS
02. FRWL
03. DN
04. FYEO
05. TMWTGG
06. TSWLM
07. GF
08. MR
09. OP
10. DAF
11. TB
12. LALD
13. CR '54
14. NSNA
15. YOLT
16. CR '67
My wife will sometimes watch a Bond film with me, but it usually has to be a Moore one to keep her interest.
Let me start by saying that Sean Connery is THE man in this film. His performance alone makes me understand why so many picked this film as the one they'd like to experience. Escaping the villains by flying with a jetpack? Seducing what is hands down the sexiest collection of women in cinematic history? Spending your time swimming in the bahamas? Tell me where to sign in! Barry really hits the mark here, even if his work on FRWL and GF were very good, this is where he starts reaching the rarified atmosphere of musical achivement.
However, what bothered me wasn't the end underwater battle, but the whole SPECTRE plan at the start. It lasts 20 minutes or so, and while it's very interesting to see the plan set in motion, I keep waiting to see Connery getting his assignment from M and wiping out the entire enemy single-handidly.
In conclusion: While this film was and still is a small boy's dream for me, I believe GF is now higher than TB in my ranking. But not by much, mind you.
As soon as we see Connery emerge from the water with a seagull hat on his head, it's an indication that the tone of this film is very different from the two that came before. And this isn't complaint. Goldfinger manages to tell an OTT story with a straight face, and I buy it (machine gun toting nanny notwithstanding). It doesn't need to be said, but this film is just so damn iconic.
Goldfinger suffered somewhat in regards to my opinion of the film when I last watched it, but it's safe to say that I enjoyed much more this time around- not quite getting to the heights of second position, however. It could enter my top ten once again. We'll see if there will be any casualties later on in my Bondathon.
Love the score, love Auric and Oddjob, love Pussy (Galore, that is), love the plot, love Adam's sets, and I love Connery's performance. I found the pacing much better this time around, too.
In terms of its ranking position, I prefer FRWL- I just find it a much more thrilling experience.
I can once again join the pro-Goldfinger camp.
Mayday's Bondathon Summer 2015- The Run-up to SPECTRE
-FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963)
-GOLDFINGER (1964)
-DR. NO (1962)
Sadly, my opinion on this hasn't changed during this Bondathon, as I find it to be relatively weak and containing odd pacing as usual. Sure, it contains some really iconic lines and scenes, but for me, that's all it has going for it. The finale is okay, but it doesn't save the rest of the movie for me, and I struggled to get through it once again. Better luck next time!
2015 Bondathon Ranking:
1.) DN
2.) FRWL
3.) GF
Something I noticed today- I really love how Connery delivers the "I know" line when replying to the room service woman when she exclaims "that's Mr Goldfinger's room!". That smirk.