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As written, yes. As played, she's on Ambien. And as an agent Anya aquits herself well in most of the film and certainly gets the better of Bond in Egypt. Yes, she has to be rescued in the end, but Holly has to be rescued in the middle.
I don't think it's about being Bond's equal. It's about a good performance delivered by a good actress. What worked for Lois Chiles in The Great Gatsby, lying around on a couch, yawning and being bored, didn't work in MR. Over the history of the series, which actresses emerge as the great Bond women?
I don't even think Yeoh's acting, she felt like a stuntwoman for most of the time. 😅
And despite of that she and Brosnan had no chemistry, and being forced as lovers in the end.
Anya wasn't even an inch of what Wai Lin had showed, Holly yes, she showed some Martial Arts skills.
And at least Holly made Bond impressed when she beats the guys out of their asses in the shuttle, something that Bond never done with Anya, he keeps underestimating her, and it's reasonable since she didn't do anything.
And that train scene is where her passiveness starts, the thing is what she's supposed to be, but she never showed it, what she can do, she's supposed to be this Top KGB Russian something, but where is that? Is slapping Jaws a hanger in the train a skill of a top trained KGB agent? That scene still makes me laugh.
Like why she didn't fought Jaws mano a mano? Why slap him a hanger, then Jaws knocked her unconsciously, then here comes Bond, a same level agent as her, who've saved the day, she's not that all credible.
Even that ending makes a contrarian of what she's supposed to be: If she's a well trained KGB agent, then she should've find a way to escape, beat Jaws, and maybe even Stromberg himself (as the guy was proved to be easily beaten), then succeeds the mission, but no, she doesn't acted that way.
Even Tracy who's not really a fighter (but a countess!) Fought Gunther mano a mano, physically, but Anya who's a Top Skilled KGB agent wasn't?
Yes, sure, she's not dumb, she didn't do any stupid things, but she's not at all credible, I don't know that why they've made her Top Skilled KGB agent who had done a Survival Course in Siberia, when the film didn't showed that at all, Tatiana Romanova is a lot more believable than this.
2. FYEO
3. LALD
4. OP
5. DAF
6. MR
7. AVTAK
8. TMWTGG
9. NSNA
The difference is that with MR the filmmakers aren’t trying to give Lois Chiles to deliver anything dramatic, like confronting Bond over the death of her lover. She’s really only there for a bit of banter and to help give Bond a ride in space (in more ways than one).
That’s part of why I do regard MR as an improved version of TSWLM. There’s no more of that pretension. Lewis is treating the film like one big campy adventure with no reservations. It’s like a British pantomime, throwing everything at the audience.
TMWTGG
TSWLM
OP
MR
DAF
FYEO
NSNA
AVTAK
I'll still take Bach's awkward attempt at a dramatic scene over Chiles's lack of presence and negative charisma. Some Bond girls die in the middle of a film, but she's the only one who starts off dead.
For me Chiles' enervation is symptomatic of the film's. Nobody in it gives much of a performance. Moore is dull and Lonsdale is, with one exception, dryer than week-old paint and about as energetic. The direction is similarly lumbering, and there's something robotic in the attempt to adhere to the TSWLM template while amping up the spectacle. John Glen's pre-credit scene is good, and the centrifuge scene has genuine suspense and danger (Glen's editing helps a lot), as does Corinne's death. But they're atypical of the rest, which is empty spectacle to me. Ken Adams's sets and John Barry's score are the real stars, but they deserved to adorn a better film.
That’s why he works so well in it! MR is such an outlandish and cartoonish film, yet Lonsdale plays Drax so dry and understated compared to his surroundings, I love that contrast.
Though I think Chiles may be better moreso probably than Yeoh herself, because at least there's a human feeling to Goodhead, whereas Yeoh as much as I liked her, I felt was a bit robotic (sorry for that word), but I still liked her because she's tough, the same as Goodhead, I liked her because she's tough and made a great banter with Bond, that I don't mind the performances of the actresses.
The exception here being Halle Berry of course (although I do liked the sword fight of her and Miranda).
Again, for me, the issue with Anya was the credibility, the character wasn't just that credible, It would still be fine had they made her an ordinary Russian just like Tatiana Romanova, but no, they've made her this Top Skilled KGB Agent who had been trained in a Survival Course, yet the film never showed that to us, she's mostly a damsel for the most of film's scenes, especially not in the way she handled some situations (again slapping Jaws with a hanger? Really?)
She's just not believable, and there's even that ridiculous Russian Accent that she's trying to speak, but it comes off as laughable, at least Goodhead doesn't need to do some accents, because she's a straight American, I also kinda wished that Barbara Bach was also dubbed in there instead to make the Russian accents at least more convincing.
If someone felt that Chiles' delivery is a bit deadpan, then Bach was more of a mannequin, a barbie doll who just seemed to looked good and be always at Bond's side (she's very dependent to Bond).
When it comes to the revenge for the dead lover angle, I don't know, the film underplayed it really, there's no emphasis on Anya's boyfriend when Bond killed him, I'm not even aware it's him!
Not even Bond could recognize that man, I know what they're trying to do, but it's just poorly executed, I wished they've just given even a hint about that, the guy that Bond killed in the PTS looked like just some any sort of ordinary henchman, I didn't even know who's Anya's boyfriend in those skiers who were chasing Bond.
And it resulted in me not connected that much in her grief, it's hard to get connected, because the film just recklessly put that idea without any emphasis.
Sorry, but it's not utilized that well, it's handled poorly.
It just hurts, it had a lot of great ideas, but all didn't come to play.
What's so bad about FYEO @007HallY
Each to their own of course, but I've always found it to be a fairly solid entry.
I wouldn’t go that as to say that far myself, especially when some of them were dubbed.
Now, best leading actresses from the Cubby era?
My picks are: Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg, Jill St. John, Maryam d’Abo, and Carey Lowell.
So narrowing it down to 71-85, Jill St John is the only one that gives a performance that excels beyond just being a beauty at Bond’s side. I’d even go as far to say she has better chemistry with Connery than most of his leading ladies of his run. I do think the Mankiewicz script helps, at least prior to the oil rig sequence. She’s very good at playing that dialogue with Connery.
Come to think of it, you may now come to the conclusion that I dislike Jill St. John because she is too "American" (shallow, loud, artificial, superficial - apologies to all Americans on this board), while the others are not (including Carey Lowell).
You have a point about St. John being one of the better actresses of the 71-85 period. My judgment tends to be clouded by her turning bimbo on the oil rig, but she can't be blamed for that. She does have good chemistry with Connery--probably better chemistry than any other Bond-Bond Girl pairing between '71-85. And unlike Ms. Chiles, St. John's performance has vitality and spunk. I'm rather fond of Carole Bouquet in FYEO, for her beauty and ethereal quality, but she and Moore didn't quite click. I can give St. John the compliment that she would have been equipped to play Fleming's more complex and vulnerable version of Tiffany as well.
Yeah, right?
Mixed feelings about Jill St. John. I think it's probably the loud, brassy attitude. She's not an interesting character.
1. The Man with the Golden Gun (27 letters and spaces)
2. Diamonds Are Forever (20) and The Spy Who Loved Me (20)
3. For Your Eyes Only (18)
4. Live and Let Die (16) and A View to a Kill (16)
5. Moonraker (9) and Octopussy (9)
Then, to break ties, I compare the films based on how many of those classic Roger Moore "OWWW" yells are present (link for reference).
That means I prefer Octopussy (1 yell) to Moonraker (0 yells), and A View to a Kill (4 yells) to Live and Let Die (0 yells).
Finally, the Diamonds Are Forever / The Spy Who Loved Me tie is broken by analyzing the attractiveness of the women in the film. Diamonds Are Forever has got the delectable Marie, with that French accent of hers, plus Tiffany, Plenty, Bambi and Thumper. The Spy Who Loved Me offers Naomi, Felicca, the cabin log girl and the hotel employee...
Damn, to me, it boils down to Marie vs. Naomi and I can't choose. What other criteria can I use? Okay, how many windows there are in each film. Oh, shoot, I like windows... but I don't remember the exact numbers.
Okay, now I've got it. Film scores. Diamonds Are Forever, a great score, beats The Spy Who Loved Me, a fine score but not as good as Diamonds. (Sorry, Naomi.)
So my ranking is:
1. The Man with the Golden Gun (27 letters and spaces)
2. Diamonds Are Forever (20 letters and spaces, Marie, great film score)
3. The Spy Who Loved Me (20 letters and spaces, Naomi, fine film score)
4. For Your Eyes Only (18 letters and spaces)
5. A View to a Kill (16 letters and spaces, 4 OWWW yells)
6. Live and Let Die (16 letters and spaces, 0 OWWW yells)
7. Octopussy (9 letters and spaces, 1 OWWW yell)
8. Moonraker (9 letters and spaces, 0 OWWW yells)
Well to be fair Jill Masterson covered in Gold is one of cinema’s most iconic images. None of the RM era Bond women were going for that.
When I wrote my comment, Jill covered in gold never entered my mind. (Age, I suppose.)
I like her meeting with Bond and the interplay between them prior to that iconic scene. (The SPECTRE callback was so embarrassingly lame.) For no longer than SE is on screen, she is more memorable to me than most of the Bond women in RM era. But I do like Solitaire.
LOL, you are awesome, man. But you left out NSNA!
Yeah. I had yet to watch the film when I wrote that post. Wouldn't have been fair or responsible to include it on my list. Now that I've seen it, I can add it to the ranking.
1. The Man with the Golden Gun (27 letters and spaces)
2. Never Say Never Again (21 letters and spaces)
3. Diamonds Are Forever (20 letters and spaces, Marie, great film score)
4. The Spy Who Loved Me (20 letters and spaces, Naomi, fine film score)
5. For Your Eyes Only (18 letters and spaces)
6. A View to a Kill (16 letters and spaces, 4 OWWW yells)
7. Live and Let Die (16 letters and spaces, 0 OWWW yells)
8. Octopussy (9 letters and spaces, 1 OWWW yell)
9. Moonraker (9 letters and spaces, 0 OWWW yells)
A few reasons. It’s a film that I’ve always found all over the place in the sense that it’s very muddled. Bond kills ‘Blofeld’ at the start of the film - reference to Tracy and all- and even kicks Loque’s car off the cliff under the suggestion it’s due to Luigi’s killing. Despite this he constantly wags his finger at Melina and tells her not to seek revenge. It’d be one thing (and even very interesting) if it were framed from the perspective of Bond being jaded/not wanting to get Melina involved in his line of work but it’s not. It’s just empty drama without reason.
Despite it being labelled as one of Moore’s more ‘serious’ Bond films the PTS and the end with ‘Thatcher’ are the sort of thing that wouldn’t be out of place in a spoof. Personally I think they’re embarrassing. I also find the scenes with Bibi throwing herself at Bond strange, unfunny and a bit weird.
I personally hate the score.
Some of the most forgettable villains of the series.
There are many more reasons why I don’t like it (again completely on preference) but overall it’s not a film I enjoy at all despite its popularity amongst fans. It’s similar to TB in that sense - well regarded, but a film I just don’t find enjoyable.
Agree with you, I think that aspect that I've highlighted is in the book, and yes, for me, the book is better in that part, in the book, Bond didn't want to have Judy got involved in his line of work, he wants Judy to avoid killing because he himself found that distressing and tiring, he didn't want her to get involved in those killings, because Bond already experienced that by himself and it's not good, so he didn't want Melina to feel the same way as him.
Yes, that aspect of Bond warning Melina about revenge didn't makes any sense in the film.
I also think it's one of the things that Quantum of Solace did right, they've corrected that mistake and have Bond let Camille do her own thing, but warning her into her involvement because of the danger, the risk that Camille's getting in, and Bond didn't liked that, Bond wants her to get safe as much as possible and didn't want to suffer the same thing as him when it comes to killing.
Yeah sure she had great chemistry with Connery, but disregarding the scene with her covered in gold, I don’t see how she’s any more memorable as a character herself than say Solitare, Melina, or Anya. I’m not trying to put down Shirley Eaton, but I think a lot of her memorability stems from her being one of Cinema’s most iconic images.
When doing a ranking of those Bond Girls, Jill Masterson usually comes off in the Top Half, higher than those Bond Girls you've mentioned, she's also memorable in that she's the first Bond Girl that got tragically killed, the previous films had no Bond Girls getting killed, and she's the first to suffer it.
She started the sacrificial lamb trope in the Bond Films, especially to those of the minor Bond Girls who had sex with Bond then gets killed, yes, she started that trope.
Of course all is subjective. We like what we like.