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Comments
DR. NO
So strange that the gunbarrel leads to the credits that then has three distinctive sounds (the Bond theme -masculine and dangerous- the calypso, joined by the silhouettes of dancing ladies, and, Three blind Mice that leads to the INCITING INCIDENT of Strangways murder.
The man who comes to fetch Bond from the Casino, mysteriously disappears.
Iconic intro. Connery rules the screen and never lets up.
M's Office with Bernard Lee seems to drip off the pages of Ian Fleming's novels.
The reference to a past assignment where 007's gun jammed is a lift from FRWL, the novel.
Never liked Bond's flat in DN. It felt more like something he was renting, than his home.
Jack Lord's Felix had almost as much edge as SC Bond.
Connery Bond trusts no one (just take me for a ride-- this is the type of edgy "humour" I like in my Bond)...
Quarrel is quite menacing at first, and C-Bond is relentless in pushing his buttons.
Once again, the humour I love is depicted in the line "Run along freelance"...
Sadism in this first film is as clear as day. Very edgy and overt.
Connery commands attention when he enters the hotel.
SC is always engaged, yet dismissive.
The first Bond car chase is easily the worst car chase.
Sexual imagery was cutting edge (Miss Taro in a towel and wet skin)...
Pretty sure Taro's spitting on Bond was the first and last time that happened?
SC is showing effortless masculine screen presence. He's cocksure, sarcastic, dangerous.
This film, when it gets to Crab Key, shows exotic beauty that will play a role in the future of this franchise.
"Fetch my shoes"-- ugh, I suppose this is a a sign of the times (no matter how unacceptable and stomach-turning this command is. Cringey and uncomfortable).
The prototype villain played with aplomb by Wiseman, Dr. No was the first sketch of so many memorable villains to come.
Great face-off with Bond and Dr. No... Tension, suspense. However, I am not a fan of the rushed ending, but this climax is foreshadowing the YOLTs of the series.
All in all a great start.
RANKINGS:
Dr. No
I know we can't expect 21st century morality to find its way back to 1962, but even so it doesn't sound good. However, he can be just as dismissive of women and white men who he sees as inferior (Dink in Goldfinger, the assassin in his shower in Thunderball)
However, I’d never want to change one thing about these earlier films. Not one. I’d hate to think of anyone editing this scene, or any scene like it, because it would hurt our sensibilities of today!
It is what it is, and James Bond is a product of his time.
Pretty sure Taro's spitting on Bond was the first and last time that happened?
[/quote]
There was also Dario in LTK.
HOLY. A great spy-thriller's second film morphs into wowness!.
First of all John Barry's music vs Monty Norman's... No competition. Really. None. JB (of course his initials were JB!!), brought the raw sex and excitement.
Connery, more relaxed and suave in this than in DN.
And has anyone else noticed the great SFX in these early films???
Title credits sizzle and are indicative of what's to come.
Slimy villains in Kronsteen and Klebb-- Klebb being one of my favourite henchmen of all time.
The Bond Girl? I probably like Honey just a little bit--
-- OMG Tatiana is a hair above Honey!
According to the media of today, Bond Girls are archaic and ditzy. I disagree. Until some of the bimbos from the early 70s (and Christmas Jones from the 90s), were introduced, the Bond girls (before, and after), were unique and interesting. If anything, Fleming, Eon, and the Bond films and stories, were ground-breakingly progressive.
In Connery's second film he's more relaxed and sexy and more"prowling" than he was in Dr. No. He's evolving with the story and the character. He fills each scene with his ever growing presence.
The re-introduction to the "armourer" from Q-Branch brings us a more impressive Major Boothroyd than the one in Dr. No. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome an icon in Desmond Wilkinson Llewelyn.
The attache case is one of my favorites. Not outlandish; it's very real and believable for a spy...
Everything about FRWL ups the sophistication level from its predecessor. And SC Bond still trusts no one "Uh, can I borrow a match?"...
We have a car tailing scene in this one-- seems Bond learned a few observations from the previous time he was tailed...
Sex is ever present, with Bey's mistress leaving his office (upon his introduction), and Bond/Tatiana's seduction scene (I think my mouth is too big...)
Robert Shaw is also one of the greatest henchmen/assassin of the series... Love him much more than Hinx and Jaws...
Like "fetch my shoes", the slapping of Titania was uncomfortable to watch-- especially since I have two daughters who would not understand this scene at all and would cringe away from it.
Saying that, do I want this edited out of the film? Absolutely not. As I would explain to my girls, and have done with my boy, this behaviour's a product of the time and wholly unacceptable. Quite frankly, if any person thought they could slap one of my daughters, they'd have to answer to their well-trained knee, and then deal with me. And if my son ever thought he could ever touch a woman, he'd have to deal with his sisters well-trained knee, and then deal with me.
But no editing.
It's uncomfortable but we have to learn. No matter how repugnant the behaviour.
Red Grant vs James Bond: priceless. There is no Odd-Job or Jaws or Necros or Hinx without this "event". And to me, it's unmatched (and now prefer stairwell fight scenes and Slate's mano a mano battles since, nothing compares to the FRWL show down).
Not a big fan of the North By Northwest chase. Nor the escape by boat (too easy). However, the final showdown between Bond and Klebb is classic.
Over-all this is an upgrade on DR NO-- a film I regard very highly...:
RANKINGS:
1/FRWL
2/DN
James Bond continues to grow. The first PTS sequence to show the "real" 007 in action-- with Barry's music to match.
This is already bigger in tone than the previous two-- in TONE...
SC gets better with each film, and better looking. And that includes the one-piece he wears in Miami. Bottom line is this: could anyone on this forum wear a one-piece and look as cool as Connery???????
No.
Of course I love the spy film that's FRWL, but this film crosses into the iconic--- imagery, villain and story.
That golf game is 1000000000000000x better than the Blades scene in DAD, just by pure and organic tension alone.
SC is always as cool as ice, whereas Brosnan's Bond in that sequence is "actorly/bravado"-- he ain't dangerous at all, but he will win; SC is deadly with a glance and is challenged-- can he pull off the win through wits and nerves?
Christ, everything about this film is so grandiose but grounded, with more sexy music, costumes and women. I mean, Pussy Galore-- I must be dreaming too, Mr. Fleming.
Looking at the climaxes so far:
... DR. NO: it was neat but had a very 50s vibe to it...
... FRWL: vingnettes of a climax, from Grant's death, to the NBNW show-down, to the boat chase and finally, to the final fight with Klebb...
... GF: this is the biggest climax of all-- Fort Knox. A war on the outside of it, Bond's survival on the inside. A ticking time bomb, literally...
GF is successful in taking our spy from the first two films and expanding his archetype through the villain, scope of story, and the growth of our hero.
RANKINGS:
1/GF
2/FRWL
3/DN
I agree about Bond girls being defined incorrectly. They have been mainly strong independent women right from the start.
Even in the 70s, as ditzy as Goodnight was, she was a career woman working in a foreign land, Tiffany was a drug smuggler, Solitaire ultimately controlled a powerful drugs syndicate, XXX was a top Russian Agent and Goodhead a CIA agent.
Even Christmas, regardless of the performance, was a nuclear scientist.
None of them were supposed to be there as window dressing. Some of them, because they were second rate actors, came across as such.
Love the point about Connery in the one piece. How could he wear that and still look sexy? I mean, if Roger had worn that Gill would have assumed he was going to be her new gay best friend.
Ditto. All excellent, but still easy to rank.
There was also Dario in LTK.[/quote]
Nice-- yes. Good catch!
The agent, and the man who plays him, continues to grow.
I did think GF would hold the number one spot for now, but, damn, I was very wrong.
Thunderball is genius... Starting with assassinating Jaques Bouvar to avenge colleagues of his, Bond is remarkably darker in TB than he was in GF (or every Bond adventure since DN. He's here to deliver punishment).
In fact, TB, all round, is a far darker tale than anything to come before-- Connery is edgier, the set, lighting, music are also edgier than before.
Thunderball is a stark contrast to the other films.
GF and Hamilton seemed to relish in creating the iconic imagery; TB came crashing down to earth, BUT, the scope of the story was so much larger than its predecessor.
TB: from the PTS, and onwards, it shows a darker image in 007-- from SC's performance, to the music, to the imagery (the PTS; SPECTRE murdering an operative during a meeting; Dorval's assassination and his "Double"'s assassination; Count Lippe's attempted assassination on Bond; 007's attempt on Lippe...)
The real life and practical effects of the plane's hijacking-- what would we get today?? A cartoon made up of CGI nonsense. My God-- what they did back then was a work of genius. What was boring for me to watch as a child, in these sequences, has become high art.
My god...... the script, the dialogue, the women, the idiosyncratic performance from Connery- orgasmically perfect.
Largo says he (Bond) is unbeatable at the card table, Connery shrugs with a hand gesture...
Bond seduces Domino with a dance and the way he "holds" her.
And what's so amazing about this pic is this:
Bond know Largo and his crew are the villains.
Largo and his crew knows that Bond knows this.
Yet everyone plays their "knowingness" with a smile (and, in some cases, sex).
This knowingness brings out the best in character, and dialogue:
Fiona (in the bath): Oh!
Bond: Hello...
Fiona: Aren't you in the wrong room,Mr. Bond?
Bond: Not from where I'm standing.
Fiona: Since you're here, would you mind giving me something to put on?
He hands her sandals... Is there anything better? Perhaps the smug look 007 gives her as he sits in the chair and waits???
Fiona, Domino and Paula are deep crushes of mine.
This was an incredible watch, and, with Domino murdering her "caretaker", once again showing that these early Bond girls were not mindless Stepford Gals, and quite ahead of their time...
RANKINGS:
1/TB
2/GF
3/FRWL
4/DN
Yep, same here.
If I were to give an actual grade to my rankings, I think it'd look like a three way tie between TB, GF, FRWL, and DN coming in second place.
However, with this Bond-a-thon I wanted to see which films I'd put where in a ranking system. And it's been damn tough with these first four.
The film that some say SC was asleep, or disengaged, or...
I didn't find that at all. I found SC-Bond still very much engaged and participating. I just found that SC-- the actor-- was starting to physically become a little lazy and flabby.
But his portrayal of James Bond is still a clear continuation of the man from TB. Just a little... softer...
YOLT is a film that pushes the James Bond universe by leaps-- starting with the PTS:
YOLT: a hijacking in outer space
TB: a revenge killing (with a jet pack)
GF: blowing up what seems to be a drug lab
FRWL: a training exercise
DN: there wasn't a proper PTS
So YOLT, off the hop, wants to flex its muscles as being bigger than the others that came before it...
BTW-- is this the first film that Bond calls Moneypenny, 'Penny (which he called her in the novels)?
After the BIG PTS, the film seems to settle down into TB territory-- at least for a little bit. We're introduced to Japan. To Aki. To Bond testing the truthfulness of his report on Henderson-- by taking a cane to his leg ("glad you got it right")... All superb.
I suppose YOLT eventually increased in size because, as Commissioner James Gordon warns Batman in BB-- James Bond escalated the criminal element. This 007's history is that he faced off against:
Dr No, then;
SPECTRE (to avenge DN);
GF
SP (with an even bigger plan);
SP again-- but this time to cause WW3
Escalation.
I'm sure there were some people at the time asking-- well, where the hell can this guy go now?
YOLT is like GF-- on steroids. Love the volcanic set (what would this look like today??)...
Yes, Austin Powers stole much from the visuals and sound (Blofeld blowing up his HQ-- check out that music cue...), but this isn't a poor film, by any mean, and, SC although getting flabby, was still engaged and commanding as James Bond, 007.
The giant finale pushes TB's finale-- and the visual of Ninjas dropping ropes and swooping into the villain's lair won't replace the '65 film, but, to me, is more interesting than the remake that came in '77.
RANKINGS:
1/TB
2/GF
3/FRWL
4/DN
5/YOLT
The image of Bond running across the rooftops being pursued by Blofeld's men and swatting them away, the swelling music and the magnificent aerial shots. It's an iconic moment which is both exciting and hilarious to watch in equal measure.
Has any popcorn film influenced popular cinema quite as much? Maybe Jaws and one or two others, but YOLT is stuffed with ideas and images - Little Nellie, the piranha fish, the ninjas, the volcano, the giant magnet, the sumo wrestlers. So much has been copied and drawn on.
While purists are desperate to keep hold of Fleming's influence, YOLT was the film that showed cinema Bond to have its own identity.
On the other hand, it is still there to be used.
I would love the whole saga being filmed in order. Somehow, I was hoping for that to happen with the reboot.
Wow.
Just Wow.
If YOLT flexes muscles to show how big it is, OHMSS brings it back to reality. A Fleming-Reality...
The PTS has a melancholy not seen in the series before: after a Bond intro of the new actor, essentially in shadow, chasing a woman on the road; we learn this woman is about to kill herself.
That's heavy sh*t. It is.
And, although this film goes to great lengths to say this is the same 007 that we know and love (via the opening credits and MP's remark that he's James "but more so"), I greatly differ and go against the grain: i have always felt this film depicts a young agent. In my mind, OHMSS pre-dates the Connery adventures (perhaps it's due to GL's fresh face? and the simplicity of his acting?)...
Tracy is my favourite. She and Vesper can't be touched. Diana Rigg is sumptuous, intelligent, dangerous (emotionally), and gorgeous in every scene.
Bernard Lee? The epitome of the old sailor found on Fleming's pages...
Blofeld... a gangster with a high IQ;
Irma Bunt: climbing off the pages of Fleming, she's lizardly wonderful.
The escape from Piz Gloria is better than TSWLM, FYEO and AVTAK's skiing action.
I can go on and on how this feels like the most Fleming Bond set on film-- So, for now, I will just give my rankings:
1/OHMSS
2/TB
3/GF
4/FRWL
5/DN
6/YOLT
It is @FoxRox , and the first to pack a true emotional punch (losing the love of his life; not again to be seen again until CASINO ROYALE)...
+1
Can't wait to watch it over Christmas as I always do! And each time it's like watching it for the first time. Utterly sublime.
Watching it right after OHMSS is not a very good experience.
Looking at the PTS: I read this as having nothing whatsoever to do with getting revenge for Tracy's murder. No reference whatsoever is made to OHMSS, and this felt more like a direct follow up to YOLT and Blofeld's escape from the volcano.
In DAF, I don't miss GL at all. Sean Connery-- whether pudgy or not-- had such magnetism and coolness that does make GL look like the amateur he was. Connery makes his performance look casually easy. He is cool in a way that no one else could ever hope to be.
What I miss is the tone and the wonderful execution of Peter Hunt and his team.
Everything in DAF is tongue in cheek. Even the relationship with M seems more of equals and pals than the father/son relationship that OHMSS presented (especially as M loses patience with his agent in OHMSS and dismisses him from the office, stomping all over Bond's words with a curt "that's all, that's all")...
Wint and Kidd are by far the best characters in the this film. Black humour and genuine malice-- a malice that is missing in the rest of the movie (which means there's hardly a point of sustained tension).
The most enjoyable aspects of DAF are obvious: Sean Connery, Wint and Kidd, sharp dialogue and delivery, and, of course, John Barry elevating the scenes with his seductive sounding music.
However, the story is terribly weak and lacks in tension; the film is quite ugly to look at-- especially after OHMSS. The entire production feels the most no frills of the series, with little effort covering up the budget with dodgy looking sets and worse special effects.
Although enjoyable enough to watch on its own, it's quite a disappointment as a follow up to OHMSS. The star wattage of Mr. Connery, however, will always make this a guilty pleasure (although I will never want to watch OHMSS and DAF back to back ever again, lol).
Rankings:
1/OHMSS
2/TB
3/GF
4/FRWL
5/DN
6/YOLT
7/DAF
Full disclosure: I am a Sean man. Dad brought me up on the tit of Connery. He's everything I love in Bond: masculine, strong and dangerous, athletic, charming with an edge; Roger is none of these things, lets be real. So I must enter this era clearing my head of Connery.
LIVE AND LET DIE actually makes that easier: this film was made for Rog, and Rog was made for it. A JB embroidered into his robe? That's Hugh Hefner and I could slug out anyone who did this. But somehow, it worked for RM's interpretation.
Soundtrack: I'm a snob: if it ain't Barry then forget it. But seriously the score for this film is brilliant and fits the imagery. It's wonderful, alive and respects all that came before it.
Not a fan of the PTS outside of the New Orleans funeral procession, however, after an amazing song by Paul and the Wings (that I used to hate as a kid), the film kicked it up a notch.
Bernard Lee looks better here than in DAF-- make-up??
I like RM's flat better than SC's in DN. DC's flat's still the best.
Introduced to this new Bond, RM lacks Connery's raw masculinity. He's the cute "stiff-ass Brit", and the only thing I wanted was just a little more variety in his performance outside of calling women "Dahhling"...
The Kananga/Mr. Big Gang is the most colorful collection of baddies I can remember to this point. Every single one of them are amazing and menacing.
1970s New York is as uninviting as James Bond's presence! I was sad to leave the city and wanted more to unravel here.
However, unlike DAF, this film moves and moves fast.
However, and more importantly, it also has a sense of foreboding; like Bond is constantly walking into one trap after another. This creates the tension that DAF lacked.
OK, gotta be honest: anytime RM is without a shirt, I get taken out of the film. Gimme SC pudge in DAF any day. RM's built like a grandfather.
Rosie: some have complained about her. I have always loved her and find her to be sexy as hell.
Kicking Quarrel Jr: always has come off as stupid and immature.
"I'm in no hurry, are yoooouuuuuu?" Icky Bond, icky.
Did I mention that Moore without his shirt on takes me out of the film???
Kananga's power over Solitaire is quite sexist and wouldn't fly today, but, my Dog, does this bring-up that temperature of tension.
Outside of the bizarre voodoo stuff, this is like a GF and L2K plot: distribute free heroin. Giving this away for free will knock out the Families (assuming they're referencing the 5 Families); double the addicts. Monopolize the industry. Very cool and I am digging it.
RM vs YK was a very good scene-- not SC v DN or v GF or v Largo-- but top 5 confrontations...
Seymour-- lovely, breathtaking and, OMG sexy.
Boat-chase is too long, but, in the end, this film is bizarre and well paced, with amazing villains, in a film that works soooo well for the debut of this actor:
Rankings:
1/OHMSS
2/TB
3/GF
4/FRWL
5/DN
6/YOLT
7/LALD
8/DAF
I think this is the first time any RM film has eked into and beaten a SC film...
Great gun barrel; with John Barry music to match.
The second PTS in a row not to have James Bond? Was this a fad they were thinking of following further?... That's a question for @ColonelSun.
Nic Nac and Andrea Anders were both incredible. Christopher Lee's Scaramanga is even better.
In the PTS.... is that RM ... as a cowboy?...
Shoot me, I like the theme song.
RM's first "in office" meeting with M is a little flat and stiff, and his smile at the end is cringe-worthy.
The story and action picks up at the Beirut belly dancing club. RM becomes a little more interesting and a little more edgy (ramming an enemy's head against a wall over and over fits nicely).
Bad editing: Bond goes from London to Beirut, to London, to Macau.
Side Note: the last three Bond films (DAF, LALD and TMWTGG), seemed to forget the escalation and universe-building that the early Connery (Lazenby) films did... the growth of evil and danger. The 70s film to date were rather pedestrian and the scope of danger was more limited to Bond himself (huh.... reminiscent of another era?)...
The Lazar scene: one of RM's best.
Unlike LALD, by the time RM goes into Maud Adams hotel room, I am missing SC!! In this film they wanted too much SC out of RM, right down to the colour of his suit (but with a wider tie and bell bottoms).
Roger being physical with Maud was more gratuitous than anything Connery did in his films, and was uncomfortably executed. Fail... (in more ways than one)/
I like Bond in the shadows, spying on the Bottom's Up Club....
Scaramanga uses his gun as a sexual object to "caress" Andrea... gross but totally a Fleming choice...
This film does feel, however, more of a sequel to DAF than LALD.
Ive never bought the women throwing themselves at Bond in these two films. Why? Coz he's a dick. Not an asshole. Connery was an asshole, tall and dark and had genuine seductive powers; Moore's early Bond was a prissy in bellbottoms, and he oozed cheese (including the helmet-head designed by hair-spray). RM comes across as more Hugh Hefner than 007 in the seduction scenes-- this is bad IMO.
RM and CL have awesome chemistry in their meetings. This elevates the cheese of the romance and the cheapness of the budget (although I hate RM's blazer on Scaramanga's island)....
The "Last Supper" between these two men is impressive (although I can give a damn about the Solex).
"We are the same. We are the best"... even back in '74 they were trying to up the stakes by making things personal.
Some complain about the showdown. I love it.
And finally, while speaking to M, re: Goonight: She's coming, sir... (Behave yourself Mr. Bond!):
Rankings:
1/OHMSS
2/TB
3/GF
4/FRWL
5/DN
6/YOLT
7/LALD
8/TMWTGG
9/ DAF
^:)^
A fantastic viewing.
New gun barrel. New music. New suit- tux.
Not a fan of the sped up Bond theme. Nor a fan of bell-bottoms (unless on Jack Ritter).
Like YOLT, TSWLM flexes its muscles in the PTS; this is a bigger film than RM's first two.
But, unlike YOLT, it takes a cue from Jaws and doesn't yet show the monster...
Smart.
In the PTS we have... Sir Hilary Bray???
XXX is not a man-- probably a nice twist for the audiences in '77...
RM has lighter and feathered hair in the PTS. Slightly longer, too...
Interesting that XXX's BF was on an assignment to kill Bond (did Gogol know about this, officially???)
I'm not a fan of disco, but the music works well in the PTS.
A timeless stunt-- jumping off the cliff...
Amazing titles. Great song (damn, time's softening me).
Albert Broccoli on his own for the first time. He hits it out of the ball park...
Interesting that after the titles, we open on Gogol's office, not M's...
XXX wants revenge-- nice planting of info; that builds tension...
Bond in a naval suit-- shit, very close to SC... And RM's hair has become darker and shorter from the PTS.
Wait Robert Brown??? And Sir Hilly??? Damn, Hilly is quite tall (make him Bond, dammit...)
TSWLM moves like silk. The PTS. The Song. The Mission. The Players. The Bad Guy-- all inside of 16 minutes!!!
The sets are wonderful. Amazing miniature work...
For a guy sitting down, Stromberg's menacing...
This film switches from "real" to cartoon throughout...
Hold on-- Stromberg was using Sony equipment???
I loved this viewing and there were two questions:
-- better than LALD?
-- better than YOLT?
The first is easy: LALD was an amazing debut on a tight budget, but... TSWLMM is superior;
YOLT:... I flip flop... this was difficult... bit I think YOLT broke the mold and stays on top-- just barely!!!!!
Rankings:
1/OHMSS
2/TB
3/GF
4/FRWL
5/DN
6/YOLT
7/TSWLM
8/LALD
9/TMWTGG
10/ DAF