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TB is one of the films I’ve missed at the cinema. When MI6 hosted a screening in London back in 2005 to celebrate its 40th anniversary I was unable to make it and I’ve regretted that ever since. That’s life.
Live And Let Die
A noticeable lack of style from the cinematography in this one, but the money is still up there on the screen. I believe Harry Saltzman felt they needed plenty of action to help bed the new boy in, so that is what we got.
Moore is so assured here. I do prefer him before he lapsed back in to Simon Templar mode somewhere between TSWLM and MR.
I like George Martin's score and McCartney's song. Yaphet Kotto is terrific, and of course Sheriff Pepper is endlessly quotable.
Does it sit above or below Dr No? These are the decisions which plague me when i think about rankings...
He has this indifference to him that is just great. Moore is very superior, yet very charming. Almost a paradox.
The scene of Moore's Bond arriving at JFK is one of my fav scenes in the series. That look just screams Fleming's Bond.
And @NicNac, Dr. No always comes first. Like Japanese men.
The first thing I noticed this time around is how good the (opening) M and Moneypenny scenes are. They really do stand up to the best of the early ones. Moore, Maxwell and Lee are all excellent. Moore himself never falters throughout.
Its noticeable how everyone is so angry for no apparent reasons. M is always angry with Bond who is angry with Goodnight who is angry with everyone.
Its clear Lewis Hamilton has done one too many Bond films, and is fresh out of ideas, (or only seems to half develop good ideas). He could have developed the Scaramanga/Andrea relationship a little better but chose to leave us with nothing other than some uncomfortably phallic imagery.
Controversial opinion time - Christopher Lee really isn't as good as everyone says. He's good, yes, but not one of the series greatest villainous performances.
The action falls mostly flat, but the car chase shouldn't be dismissed. Its quite inventive and well executed, and vehicles bouncing and dancing around the scenery is so satisfying.
And, never forget Scaramnga's magnificent island. The design and location are superb, and only James Bond has the sheer universal power and popularity to create an iconic tourist attraction which is linked to one of the series obvious low points.
I don't hate any Eon Bond film, but some are clearly better than others. This film has a small cast, and that may be the reason it feels so light. DAF is also one of the poorer films but it has a larger cast and a more involving central plot to give it a meatier feel. TMWTGG has a nice idea of Bond dueling with his equally competent villainous flip side. But FRWL had that same idea, but the end result was hard hitting and totally satisfying. Here it falls a little flat.
Its all OK, but this is Bond. We need to see the money up there on the screen. Cubby recognised that, and he went out of his way to put that right with TSWLM
TMWTGG is currently my lowest ranked film in the series.
Goldfinger
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
You Only Live Twice
From Russia With Love
Live And Let Die
Dr No
Thunderball
Diamonds Are Forever
The Man With The Golden Gun
I am bereft. I've never quite got to grips with TSWLM although I appreciate what Cubby did here. He knew something had to be done to rescue the series and this for me was the biggest and greatest rescue act of the entire series. TMWTGG did relatively poorly, and for once the money didn't seem to be up on the screen. guy Hamilton didn't seem bothered so why should we be?
Lewis Gilbert was ideal to be brought in for a new, large scale Bond film with multiple locations, big set pieces and of course a sound stage of astronomical proportions. Roger Moore was in his stride and looking great. Jaws was a villain to rival Oddjob for sheer big screen villainous star power.
The stunt work was superb of course (the PTS, the car chase), I loved the score (its refreshing to have a break from Barry even though he is the greatest of them all).
So, what went wrong?
I'm not sure anything did, but maybe my main gripe was with Lady Penelope..Agent Triple X. I know Barbara Bach was playing a Russian spy and as such making her as emotionless as possible, but this isn't method acting, this is not bloody acting at all. She's a beautiful girl, but...aach just leave it.
Other issues. The sloppy way they engage Bond with various women. The rapid seduction of Fekkesh's mistress is cringe worthy, and Bond and Naomi's flirting in front of Anya is teeth grindingly awkward.
Overall moving Bond from A to B to C seems designed for no other purpose than to show off the locations without any thought to how daft it makes the plot. Moonraker, if anything did this better and with more conviction.
I like TSWLM, but I don't love it. And I prefer LALD and OP any day of the week.
I feel I'm missing the point, but I remember it coming out and I did see it at the cinema. Even then it didn't resonate as I felt it should.
Careful @NicNac such heretic views aren't welcome. They'll be out with their pitch forks and torches, before you know it.
Wait until I start slagging LTK off, then I'll lose my last few friends on here ;)
Your love for LTK is well know about these parts. But if you try to convince me about your insane man love for Dalton's badger cum vampire hair cut in the casino, then yes, you'll lose a lot of friends.
I'm feeling all topsy turvy after another viewing of MR.
Where it has always been the daft, slightly limp wristed younger brother/sister of SPY, these days MR seems to be gathering more love, and often at the expense of TSWLM. I for one have always had MR rock bottom of my ranking but in recent years it has groped its way above LTK, AVTAK,DAD, and in recent years SP. Can it clamber further up the table?
Why not?
The first hour barely puts a foot wrong. Even our friend the double take pigeon can be forgiven, because after all we forgave OP the tiger, the clown suit, the rubbish bed of nails and the Tarzan yell. We forgave it because the rest of OP was so good.
So why punish MR over an above average intelligent pigeon? I suppose because in the second hour we get a collection of silly action sequences most of which culminate in trying to unpick anything that was left of Jaws's well deserved legendary status. Such a shame.
The damage is done by the time we are in space, but not enough damage to drop MR amongst the bottom 5 of the series. Which is nice.
In MR Bond does alot of spying and snooping around, and the film is beautifully paced. There are scary moments (the death of Corrine, Jaws in the carnival costume, the brilliant centrifuge scene), good action scenes (the fight with Chang, the superb PTS), BUT most of this is in the first half of the film.
Still, I'm chickening out of putting it above SPY because the latter remains consistent and doesn't lose its way. MR does so much well and that is what is so frustrating. Yet, after 40 years its time to stop beating it up, and enjoy it for what it is. Who knows I might grow to love LTK given another 10 years or so.
Goldfinger
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
You Only Live Twice
From Russia With Love
Live And Let Die
Dr No
The Spy Who Loved Me
Moonraker
Thunderball
Diamonds Are Forever
The Man With The Golden Gun
For Your Eyes Only
Someone really should have edited out the mini sub battle. Unnecessary and made little sense. Replace it with a couple more minutes of Bond's first meeting with Colombo in order to maybe drag out the suspense of revealing who the real bad guy is?
But that is the main issue with John Glen's first stab at directing. He has some moments of tension all their for the asking, and he sort of throws them away. The reveal of the real bad guy as mentioned, which should have been played out a little slower to rack the tension up. And the death of Melina's parents. We never got the chance to get to know them and as a result mourn their passing.
Apart from that I've few arguments with FYEO, other than the music of course. It still doesn't excite me half as much as it should, unlike...
Octopussy
I'm all over this one. I do think Glen has upped his game or found his rhythm, or whatever. John Barry is back and capturing the romantic, exotic flavours of India which as we know, from Roger Moore's own reporting, isn't really what India is like in the main. The grinding poverty affected him deeply. But, this is Bond, so we go with it.
Bond, assuming the identities of a knife thrower, a gorilla, Tarzan the apeman and a circus clown manages to uncover the rather convoluted plans of a bunch of baddies intent on overthrowing Western Europe or stealing the Russian Royal family jewels or blowing up an air base, or something or other. And somehow it works a treat.
There is a large cast of villains and semi-villains, a bunch of very well executed action scenes, a Bond girl who for once doesn't look like Roger Moore's grand daughter, and the most hilarious in your face piece of overt sexism where Bond looks through a camera and zooms in and out on the bosom of Qs assistant. This moment alone had the most liberal elite of women's rights choking on their lattes back in 1983. In 2021 I'm sure their heads would explode.
Finally now I have a reason to watch AVTAK. A belated farewell to Tanya Roberts.
My current rankings (I don't think I posted everything in this thread that I'd seen so far):
1. Goldfinger
2. For Your Eyes Only
3. Live and Let Die
4. Licence to Kill
5. Quantum of Solace
6. Never Say Never Again
7. The World Is Not Enough
8. Spectre
I've stalled a bit. Need to get the juices flowing and dig out AVTAK
I fairly recently started a blog where I can write at-length about these movies, so I'll probably eventually link something once I've written. I'll try to keep this short.
The older I get, the more I love the film. I think it is probably John Glen's most impressive directorial work of his 5 films, namely because he balances the comedic/absurd with the (more) grounded Cold War thriller elements seamlessly. It never feels jarring, to me. A lot of this is Moore's steady presence and his ability to make anything feel natural/believable. I want to get this out of the way: one of the *only* silly elements in the entire film that outright doesn't work for me is the Tarzan jump. And that is, what, 5 seconds of screentime? The fact that some (mostly not Bond fans, but critics) cite that as some sort of death knell for the entire film has already irked me.
The similarly cited "clown sequence" is one of the most poignant bits of irony in Moore's tenure. I've written this before, but it's a wonderful "hiss off" of sorts to the detractors who narrow-mindedly labeled his Bond "a clown." Nevermind the countless moments of gravitas or suspense or seriousness in his films, people generally just look at the urbane aloofness, which Moore also pulls off with aplomb. But no, the stretch in OP where Bond is racing against the clock to get to the bomb in time is -- without exaggeration -- some of the most urgent, exciting, suspenseful, and generally stakes-filled stuff in Bond history. Last night, having seen the film and knowing the outcome, I was genuinely on the edge of my seat. You can feel his desperation. Glen's direction is absolutely pitch-perfect. Moore's performance ditto. Yes, it isn't realistic that he'd have time to get his make-up on perfect, but the ENTIRE compound, both the West German soldiers and American, are looking for him, and so disguising himself is a genuinely plausible thing to do.
I think Moore is in top form. Maud Adams as Octopussy remains arguably the only Bond girl in his tenure (and certainly in his final 3 films) who feels like she has genuine romantic/sexual chemistry with Bond rather than something bordering on mentor/paternal. She is wonderful. I also love how the two main female characters, Magda and Octopussy, do not fit any of the archetypes that the series had in place for its women (before and since this movie!). Magda isn't really a femme fatale. She isn't a sacrificial lamb. She isn't really a good guy, nor is she a bad guy. This is true for Octopussy as well, although her character is of course fleshed out more. I love both of these characters, and how they break some of the molds (unlike, say, Jinx and these other "equal" Bond girls -- these women are actually interesting with their backstories and their careers and lives). Also Magda's constant amusement with everything going on just fills me with joy.
The villains are wonderful. Orlov is just out of his mind in the best way. Khan is sublimely slimy. Gobinda is a suitable Oddjob 2.0, I think, and the frequent extreme-close-ups on his eyes are a nice touch. Bonus points for him breaking the Oddjob fearlessness at the end when Khan asks him to go out on the plane. Speaking of which, the stuntwork in this film is nothing short of incredible. Hands down some of the best action sequences in a Bond film. Moore's fist fight scene at Octopussy's palace is even great, and he isn't well known for hsi fisticuffs.
The locations are captured marvelously. Each has a distinct tone and feel. It's just an all-around amazing Bond film with equal notes of Fleming (East Germany stuff, some of Khan's stuff) and the adventurous (India, generally).
1. Goldfinger
1. Octopussy
3. For Your Eyes Only
4. Live and Let Die
5. Licence to Kill
6. Quantum of Solace
7. Never Say Never Again
8. The World Is Not Enough
9. Spectre
Edit: It's getting harder and harder to rank the entire series across eras and so forth the older I get. So that's why I've got OP tied with GF right now. I'll still do my best, but I find it somewhat easier to rank just by actor (and even then it's sometimes borderline impossible).
And for the Alfa, wow that's a beautiful machine.
I've honestly liked every single one *more* this time around except SP. Even TWINE, which I've ragged on endlessly on these boards, I realized has some flashes and kernels of a really great Bond film in it (shame that it's mostly squandered, but nonetheless I enjoyed myself much more this time around). Ditto NSNA. All of 'em.
The ones I've always loved (GF, LALD) held up just dandy too
I've loved OP since I saw it at the cinema in 1983. I'm glad you see the clown sequence as I do, I too believe it's a natural disguise for a spy to use when being hunted by American airforce staff and West German police. If he were in a shopping centre and dressed as a clown it would be a bit off. But as he's at a circus, the clown disguise works well. Not only that, but the whole scene is so full of tension, that it loses any of the stupidity it could've had. A standout scene for me in the entire series.
Glen isn't exactly a stylistically inclined director. He's definitely firmly in the workmanlike category. But he's skilled with balancing tone in this movie, probably better than he was in FYEO. I always thought he was quite good at directing actors as well, even if he wasn't the most talented w/r/t compositions and aesthetics.
Everyone's favourite punching bag among the Roger Moore films, AVTAK has the tough job of following the grounded fan fav FYEO and the glamorous OP. How can it possibly cope with an aging Moore and a geriatric 1980s support team?
I have always been disappointed by the film's almost docile pace and lazy use of stunt doubles especially for Roger Moore, but this time I approached it with nothing more in mind than the recent loss of Tanya Roberts. Literally nobody's favourite Bond girl, yet her early death really did touch a nerve. And it struck me that no-one in the history of the movies has ever looked quite so gorgeous in a hard hat and overalls. And no one has flapped around in quite so many holes and done it so prettily.
She was a beautiful girl, and nobody can ever say otherwise.
So, AVTAK will never match up to FYEO's pace and joie de vivre or OP's glamour and wonderful sense of urgency, but what it can do is stand shoulder to shoulder with those films in the stunt stakes.
The PTS, overshadowed by the sudden jarring addition of the Beach Boys' California Girls actually has some incredible Willy Bogner stunt work.
The Paris scenes have some amazing car stunts courtesy of Remy Julienne.
The whole thing made me realise that the 80s can actually be defined the way the 60s and 70s are. The 60s are chic spy thrillers for the pop art generation, and the 70s are colourfully OTT adventures. The 80s are driven firmly by some of the greatest stunt work in the series. Yes, TSWLM and MR had great stunt work, but usually based around one or two outstanding moments. The 80s was about stunt after stunt after stunt, all defying the odds. And AVTAK is no exception. Bravo that film.
And the greatest moment of Bond meeting Sid James? "Let me walk you to the chopper".
Whether Maibaum or Wilson came up with that, they must've had a good chuckle to themselves.
So, AVTAK will never make it in the top ten list of many Bond fans, but by golly it needs some re-appraisal, because some of Bond's greatest collaborators - be it script duties, music, stunts, the fine cast- are in place and at the top of their games.
Enjoyed the film more this time than ever before.
The Living Daylights
Another Myth Buster.
Hot on the heels of the ridiculous myth that Sean Connery looked bored in YOLT, time to shite all over another favourite myth, which goes something like this...
Nobody was ready for a more grounded, gritty Bond after the Roger Moore era.
This has always been one of the excuses for why Dalton never quite caught the imagination of the general public. And its bunkum.
I know Barbara Broccoli herself has said it, but that's her way of doing the exact same thing. Explaining why the arrival of a brand new Bond never quite got the series back on track.
There could be any number of reasons why Tim never took off, but this is not one of them. In 1987 we were very ready, more than ready for a harder, tougher, grimmer Bond. Its what all fans were desperate for. And, safe to say, we fans loved The Living Daylights. I wasn't totally won over by Dalton himself, he had none of the elegance of previous Bonds, he wasn't too well groomed. But that was his take on the roll, which is fine on reflection.
But Bond fans, unfortunately, are a very small percentage of the cinema going public. And for whatever reason Tim didn't work out as hoped and planned. But it wasn't for the reason quoted above, believe me.
So, watching this film again for the umpteenth time, it is still so fresh and entertaining, with bags of energy. The plot is really good, and Bond's uncovering of it is well paced and absorbing.
There are certainly some dodgy choices for support roles in this film but Maryam d'Abo isn't one of them and she's actually a breath of fresh air. For once we have a girl who isn't Bond's equal, and doesn't try to be. This is a character who is out of her depth, clinging to the hope that Jorge actually loves her, and putting her faith totally in this handsome stranger. Even when she goes all kick ass at the end you appreciate that Kara doesn't really have a clue what she's doing, she just instinctively goes for it. And in the end thanks to Maryam's sweet and believable performance we buy into the love story 100%. Maybe Sam Mendes could have taken a look at this film prior to Spectre in order to see how a real and believable love story can develop over 2 hours?
There are times this film doesn't feel like a Bond film. There is little let up, no moments where Bond can relax and be the cultured know-it-all we all love. Maybe the scenes in Vienna suggest otherwise, but they are too few and far between. But, when the film cracks along as well as TLD, all is forgiven.
Like I say I'm not Dalton's biggest fan but he offers two absolute laugh out loud moments. The great 'You're the first' line where Dalton and Krabbe combine to perfect comic effect. The other one I've forgotten. But it was good. :)
So, no real complaints. A good start for Dalton.
I just get flummoxed when I try to rank them. :)
TLD before OP?
LALD before DN?
My brain explodes.
EDIT
Just looking back at my one and only ranking from 2018, and it's amazing how little has really changed. Of the films watched so far in my Bondathon..
Goldfinger
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
You Only Live Twice
From Russia With Love
Octopussy
The Living Daylights
Live And Let Die
Dr No
The Spy Who Loved Me
Moonraker
For Your Eyes Only
Thunderball
A View To A Kill
Diamonds Are Forever
The Man With The Golden Gun
The top 8 are quite interchangeable though. and by the time I've added Skyfall, Casino and guilty pleasure TND well, there will be very little between any of them.
Then when it gets to about late July/August I'll rewatch all the films with the Mrs (she's only seen the Craig's and Goldfinger), probably in order and we'll probably save the Daniel's till the week before NTTD is released
I can't wait to rediscover Bond again, with NTTD being pushed back, I've tried to forget about Bond films for a bit, so hopefully October will get here faster
I can guess the other laugh 9ut loud was for "Kara, we're inside a Russian airbase in the middle of Afghanistan." That's his best. I also like M's outrage at Bond's Harrods purchase and then Bond answers, "Sir, the, er, brand on the list was questionable..."
Tim's great at humor. It's just that few performers can spin mostly corny one-liners into gold the way Sean, Pierce, and especially Roger could.