It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
total agreement, sir. It's just plain awesome,
I would love to finish this Bondathon by tomorrow so I can get to my Christmas films: A Christmas Story, Die Hard and Gremlins (starting at 6’ish tomorrow evening), and Rocky IV, Alastair Sim’ A Christmas Carol, and Planes, Trains and Automobiles on Monday. After Dinner on Christmas Day, Lethal Weapon and Batman Returns.
For the rest of the holiday, I will be reading!
No excuse not to have the gun barrel back in its rightful place.
Ronson's been hit, but M doesn't care. Although Bond wants to try and stop the bleeding, he's still obedient and subservient to M; he leaves Ronson to bleed out.
From the shadows and into the light-- Turkey looks hot and dusty. Deakins does a fantastic job.
Who's this cocky lady driving Bond? Whoever she is, he likes her sense of humour.
Love the flow of this PTS-- on foot, car chase, motorcycle chase (on the rooftops, love this stunt and Newman's score is electric), on the train... My wife is a Master Level's Pilates Specialist (rehab and neuro, smart girl; what's she doing with me?), and she's always said Daniel Craig always moves "with purpose". I agree with her.
Bond's been shot by Patrice!
Why does Patrice toss his gun away?
Bond likes to enter trains quite dramatically. Checking his shoulder wound, he's pissed. So he goes to find Patrice to use him as a punching bag.
"Take the bloody shot!"... Uh-oh, agent down....
Credits. Adele. Perfection to my eyes and ears. Haunting and moving. When Bond sees his reflection, he fires at the mirrors in a similar fashion to Connery (elbow tucked in, close to the ribcage).
Obit. Nice short scene: Bond's dead.
Forced retirement: a face-off between two titans, Dench and Fiennes. Beautifully done!
M's like that bulldog, isn't she?
Bond's crushing Heineken and oxi. He's quite rude, doesn't invite his girlfriend out for a drink. All joking aside, this Bond reminds me of the damaged Bond found on the early pages of Fleming's YOLT. He's an almost unlikeable, drifting drunk, with no purpose after Tracy's murder. But once he finds his purpose (killing Blofeld, he shakes off the melancholy and goes into planning and attack mode).
This Bond is also drifting without a purpose. Until his home is attacked. He suddenly has purpose again too.
Bond breaks into M's house (she doesn't have him shot). I suppose when you're "enjoying Death" you look like Death. Bond holds onto grudges (Ronson didn't make it, and it's implied it's M's fault). This scene plays great between these two; there's hostility and anger, but Bond needs M, and she needs him. Great closing line... Dench is wonderful.
It's funny that James Bond has more answers than Tanner ("they wanted her (M) to see it"); Tanner really is hopeless, isn't he?
New digs. Churchill's bunker. I love that the good guys have gone underground.
Bond in training. Not going too well. Love the retro workout gear. Shooting range, Bond blows it so, F it, he goes after his target with anger... Love it... And now the doctor's visit. DC kills this scene.
Bond finally lets go of the betrayal he's feeling once he digs out the remains of Patrice's bullet. Now he can get on with it.
Bond paces and waits to see M. He's a restless, caged animal. He wants out to do what feels natural to him: getting the baddies and protecting Her Majesty's land from further attacks...
Meeting Eve again... Bond is a gentleman, isn't he? Jokes with the woman who killed him...
Ralph Fiennes is recorded as being almost 5'11 (1.8 m equals 5'10.866). He was once a candidate to play James Bond. When he and DC are side by side (don't cock it up), they look to be basically the same height.
"Terminate him, for Ronson"; "With pleasure"... yes, that's the DC I like.
Q: I didn't miss this character in the two previous films, and still find him unnecessary to this day. However, I like Whishaw and the way he and Craig play off each other is quite charming.
Bond takes a swim and shows off a great back.
Bond's at a bar... and no drink in front of him (he must really be trying to get fit again!)!
The Shanghai fight-- beautifully executed.
Room Service arrives and I, for one, love Moneypenny shaving Bond (it's his way of showing a general trust in his instincts again, especially when he hands her the blade...).
I don't think Bond likes bureaucrats very much, does he?
I love the entrance into the casino. Bond scopes out the place, verbally slaps Moneypenny (stop touching your ear-- nice call-back), and is almost immediately snared by the henchmen. But not before a drink with the lovely and mysterious Severine. I love her backstory and, once again, DC plays it cool and in control. Bernice Marlohe is quite literally breath-taking. Sexy like a sly cat, but damaged and broken-- she's a prisoner... She kills her role.
Cheers to the bad guys, James Bond enjoys his first drink since coming back from the dead.
The fight in the Iguana pit: never liked it. DC's fights shouldn't be "funny" or "cute". That's better left to RM or PB. DC's fights should hurt to watch, as they have up until this point. As an aside, I don't think Cary Fukunaga has any interest in making a "cute" Bond picture, so, as @ColonelSun recently said, we're heading back to a more gritty approach a la CR.
People had issues with Bond seducing Severine. She's an adult. Bond's her key to escape. It was a lovely, sensual scene and I had no issues with it whatsoever. Pure Fleming Bond.
Is Silva's entrance anything but great? And the way these two men up the stakes, challenging each other, trying to get one up on the other ("what makes you think this is my first time"), and, finally, a warning to Silva that Bond's been resurrected.
I love DC's flash of anger when he's finally released from the chair.
Severine is the sacrificial lamb. This is a very disturbing scene-- I love it.
Silva's capture; now he can finally confront M. And M shows how icy cold she is. Wonderful work.
I have no problem with Silva's escape-- he's planned this for years; attacked HQ knowing that MI6 would move to their underground hideaway (I assume this is a known place to some people in government that if a terror attack should take place, this is where they should come (just like the president has a secret bunker if there was ever an attack on American soil)).
Bond gives chase ("Why don't you come down here and put your back into it?" this is the DC humour I like. He doesn't "do" cute).
Call me what you like, the Tennyson sequence puts shivers down my spine (Bond running through the chaotic streets (strong in will), is a heroic image).
Silva attacks the hearing. He's a possessed man. Possessed with vengeance.
Mallory takes a bullet!
Bond hears shots-- sprints harder. Entering the fray, I love the cheeky wink he gives Mallory (once again, another showing of the right DC humour). DC commands this scene.
Before Silva gets the hell out of there, I love how he shoots one last guy. He's like a kid that's thrown a tantrum.
Bond kidnaps M. And of course this M accepts that she's bait. This is a hard woman.
The Aston Martin DB5. I love it. Love this car. Love the music. I don't think, like some, I will ever tire of seeing it in a Bond film. When I was a kid, Sean Connery and the DB5 made their mark. I will never be able to erase them from my hardwiring (to the point that I don't much care for the other cars in the series! I was never a fan of the Lotus, and I certainly hated that James Bond drove BMWs).
Back in Time... Scotland is beautifully haunting. What an incredibly shot film (why the hell did Deakins not win an Oscar??? Oh, right, it's James Bond...)
Orphans make the best recruits. Bond accepts this is the case. A real melancholy hangs off of DC. Yes, a storm's coming in more ways than one...
Anyone who calls this finale, Home Alone, should really watch Sam Peckinpah's 1971 Straw Dogs. Perhaps then you will see where Logan and Mendes took inspiration. To shrink the scale of the film in the final act was a stroke of genius. The isolation of Skyfall Lodge brings out the dread to come. There's no escape when you're in the middle of nowhere.
I love the escalation of the battle that is broken into two parts (He's not here. He's not here"; then, "Always gotta make an entrance")...
Mother and abandoned son finally re-unite, and Javier (who's been brilliant throughout), really flexes his acting prowess. In a matter of seconds he goes from sadness, to anger, to murderous revenge and suicide. Damn, that's a fine piece of acting!!
Last Rat Standing. And a great reaction of Silva in defeat. The favourite son takes him out!
"007, what took you?"; "Well, I got into some deep water".... Never have I liked these two lines. Ever. I despise them. That's Brosnan era quippery.
I love Dench. But I wasn't ever moved by her death. And I have never liked James Bond's reaction, either. Yes, I wanted him to feel pain and loss, but not by shedding a tear.
However, the film ends on a high: M's office and the promise of a new assignment.
The GB: don't like DC's turn and fire in this one.
Ranking:
1/CR
2/OHMSS
3/TB
4/GF
5/FRWL
6/SF
7/DN
8/QoS
9/TLD
10/YOLT
11/TSWLM
12/LALD
13/TND
14/OP
15/FYEO
16/TMWTGG
17/GE
18/LTK
19/ DAF
20/AVTAK
21/DAD
22/TWINE
23/MR
The final film of this Bondathon. And it was quite a lacklustre viewing. At least they put the gun barrel where it should be.
Other than that, I've got to take the knife out on this film. Bottom line: they should have delayed filming. They should have pulled the plug and gone back to the drawing board. This script is half-baked and needed much, much, much more work. But, since they went with this script, it created a domino effect of poor choices. Mendes and Hoyte van Hoytema do their best to try and take our attention away from what's wrong with this effort. It doesn't work.
Spectre is beautifully shot. But it's shot in such a sleepy way, from beginning to end, that it's almost dream-like. Not something you want in an action/thriller. And Mendes has everyone whispering to each other, especially the three leads-- which further brings down any excitement.
Scenes are shot with such self-importance with little pay-off. And they tend to go on and on.
Great story-telling in films is about showing, not telling. Half this film is exposition... And it's quite silly-- everything from the South African terror attack (which should be important because 9 Eyes/Spectre orchestrated this attack to get the final vote for the 9 Eyes program. It would have been nice to have a cut away of the attack so it'd tie in more strongly to the narrative. Instead, we get a throw away news clip), to Q all of a sudden knowing about the L'American (huh???)... And the ring proves what Bond is saying is true??? Wow! That's some magical ring.
The L'American sequence has been commended. I find it's an example of the problem with this film. Long scenes that eat up valuable film. And for the purpose it serves we should have been in an out of here. Instead, it, the characters, and we, linger and linger and linger...
The actors/characters were a mixed bag. Mr. White "grows a conscience"? That is not consistent with the character we saw in CR and QoS, no matter how they tried to spin his "change". Mr. White thrives in chaos and greed. I've never actually liked his scene with Bond, and now I know why from this viewing: it disrespects the great character they built over two films. But, more importantly, the change rings so hollow that it's truly unbelievable. It's a lie. A cheat. And a cheap way of planting "emotion" and importance in the Bond Maddy "story-line"...
And what about Moneypenny and Tanner, especially in the finale? Why were they there at all? I get Q had to be there (to hack into C's program), but why these two? To escort Q? Why? M and Bond had a backseat, why didn't he go with them?
Moneypenny was in this final act to scream at Tanner and say one line about hazarding a guess. Tanner was there to utter one line, "he's dead". Like the film, these characters and their "involvement" is the layered fat that should have been chopped away. They serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever.
This is Daniel Craig's weakest. Like the film itself, there wasn't a focus on his journey. They wanted to show him in command (getting Q and MP on board), but, really, Bond is not going through his own personal journey. The script just kind of has him wondering from one scene into another. It didn't give him anything to do or explore outside of the superficial. This all goes back to the script that was cobbled together. Indeed, Mr. White was correct about one thing: Bond is a kite dancing in a hurricane.
There are things I enjoy: the PTS, seeing James Bond's flat (the best of all of them, and actually says more about his character than the rest of the film attempts), Bond threatening Q "for the sake of the cats", Sciarra's funeral, Bond assassinates the assassins, he and Bellucci's pre and post love scenes (there's something hot and dirty about it); the sets are remarkable. Take White's hide away. Captures the grime, right down to the dust. Very real and believable, and these talented, behind the scenes artists, should be given full credit for breathing life into a film that really was struggling.
Ranking:
1/CR
2/OHMSS
3/TB
4/GF
5/FRWL
6/SF
7/DN
8/QoS
9/TLD
10/YOLT
11/TSWLM
12/LALD
13/TND
14/OP
15/FYEO
16/TMWTGG
17/GE
18/LTK
19/SP
20/ DAF
21/AVTAK
22/DAD
23/TWINE
24/MR
Can't argue with any of this.
But going through this Bondathon, I wanted to listen to my gut and I'm happy where everything has fallen in place in this go around. It certainly reveals, as @FoxRox mentions, my personal feelings of what works for me as a Bond film (especially my top 9), and what doesn't appeal to my tastes (19-24).
Started with From Russia With Love, of course. Nothing has changed much. I still smirk when Klebb shouts 'do you not know to whom you are spekking?' and sounds a bit like Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau. But that's a great scene, way ahead of its time with the inference of lesbianism.
A step up from Dr No.
Next up will be The Man With The Golden Gun.
This year I'm thinking of conducting my viewing in this order...
Spectre -Dr.No - Skyfall - From Russia With Love - Quantum Of Solace - Goldfinger - Casino Royale - Thunderball - Die Another Day - You Only Live Twice - The World Is Not Enough - On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Tomorrow Never Dies - Diamonds Are Forever - GoldenEye - Live And Let Die - Licence To Kill - The Man With The Golden Gun - The Living Daylights - The Spy Who Loved Me - A View To A Kill - Moonraker - Never Say Never Again - For Your Eyes Only and finishing with Octopussy.
We'll see how it goes. I'm one down with Spectre, Dr.No next then.
Having watched all the debuts plus FRWL its hard to argue that this is anything but the weakest Bond film to date.
But it has so many positives. Roger Moore is excellent, Christopher Lee’s as dependable as ever. There is plenty of crackling dialogue, good locations and one of the best car chases of the 60s/70s.
So why is TMWTGG considered to be such a weak entry? Maybe the plot lacks depth, and the film loses its way around the time Sherrif Pepper turns up. I don’t know for sure.
The plot certainly isn’t that well thought out and lacks Fleming’s drive. There seems a definite need to replace drama with humour, and when the action dips the film simply ambles along.
So after 8 films in this Bondathon it sits in eight place. However I also know for sure it won’t finish bottom.
Running through each actor's second movie, this has always languished at the bottom.
I still can't get to grips with the PTS. After the crackling, pacey opener to TLD this one seems lacklustre.
And then the film really hits its problems. The pornographic violence against the female victims is uncomfortable, the lack of good dialogue which lifted TMWTGG is almost totally absent. Dalton is so consumed by his earnest performance that he looks like he's about to start chewing the scenery.
But when the film picks up we get an underwater sequence as good as any in a Bond film, followed by a good bar room brawl and several other entertaining scenes (Dalton's reaction to Pam's make over is genuinely amusing).
The villains - Robert Davi, Benicio del Toro, Anthony Zerbe - are excellent and it's hard to criticise any of those.
The climatic chase is top drawer stuff.
The only chance it stands of coming off the bottom of my pile is if AVTAK or DAD send me into a coma.
How can almost every Bond actor start on such a high and end in the doldrums?
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
From Russia With Love
Live And Let Die
Dr No
The Living Daylights
Casino Royale
GoldenEye
The Man With The Golden Gun
Licence To Kill
Everything came together perfectly in this one. The various talents involved meshed with the excellent source material in a most enchanting way. GF is my favourite Fleming novel, and the film is a serious contender for the top spot as well.
One of the best Barry scores. The Oddjob theme is the most memorable and ominous of all villain themes. Speaking of which, all the Hamilton films have memorable and iconic villains and henchmen, GOLDFINGER most of all.
They really had style back then,there is some timeless beauty to both cars and clothing. Connery is peaking here, Bond has never been cooler. When I saw this at the age of 15, I understood why he was seen as the quintessential Bond.
One thing that struck me: Moneypenny thinks you wear your ring on the third finger of your left hand. Really, on the longfinger? Also never noticed there is a Swedish flag on the wall in Bonita s apartment. This pts is maybe the best in the series, by the way.
Here is Happenstance:
Dr. No
From Russia With Love
Goldfinger
Thunderball
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
The Man With The Golden Gun
The Spy Who Loved Me
For Your Eyes Only
The Living Daylights
Licence To Kill
Goldeneye
Tomorrow Never Dies
Casino Royale
TMWTGG and TND get some heat every now and then. However I really like Bond having a personal duel with Scaramanga and I really enjoy the dialogues between Christopher Lee and Roger Moore. As for TND, forcing a war to start over ratings seems an increasingly realistic plot in this day and age. Also to me the character of Stamper seems like a neo-nazi resembling the nazis and “those that got away” after WWII in Fleming’s novels.
Having watched eleven films so far, there are few surprises other than one major (and controversial) one: I'm likely to feature DAF in my top ten for the very first time.
I was thinking the same,but then there are four fingers on each hand?
I never heard the expression "As long as the child is healthy, with eight fingers and ten toes."
She does. And I still find it confusing. I count five fingers on each hand, including the thumb. Why is the thumb left out in that particular expression?
I blame Martha Reeves.
Not only the thumb, but the thunder finger as well.
More like Thunderfingerer.
Kinky...