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This certainly was when they were cutting budgets down to the bone, but I think the film remarkably improves once Bond infiltrates Sanchez's organization. Davi elevates Dalton's performance, and then they both work magically off each other.
And I love that truck climax...
Yes and yes! That whole finale is really exhilarating stuff, and Davi and Dalton sharing the screen is always a good time.
I think the performances were great in this one, the script was great too, very Flemingesque, and the plot about drugs was very timely (although still a fantastical one due to the lair and cultish nature of it).
Funny how this one followed Live And Let Die which have similarities to each other: both set in fictional islands, both have drug cartels behind the private government, Bond in America, again, drugs as the plot, Bond teamed up with Felix Leiter, the villain's mistresses have both fallen in love with Bond and are saved (Solitaire and Lupe), and both have cults (Professor Joe as the televangelist and Baron Samedi).
That said, it's a good Bond film, the vengeance aspect was explored for the first time by EON, showing the complexities of the characters especially Bond, and how dark it was.
The cinematography is okay, not as bad as For Your Eyes Only, but not great either, theme song by Gladys Knight is good, and the score, while felt very generic 80s action (which I would discuss later), still decent sounding.
Okay, it's not without its faults like the whole atmosphere of the film that felt like what I'm always saying about this film, very generic 80s action film like that of Miami Vice and Die Hard and a trope which touched upon the avenging characters after their partners in crime were put in danger and compromising their jobs, very dated, I'd say.
Some fantastical moments were out of place, especially for a Bond film that's trying to be grounded like the gadgets (especially the toothpaste, the Laser Camera and the broom receiver) those for me are one of the cringiest gadgets ever in the series, I'm serious, just corny and doesn't fit the film and its tone.
Also Sanchez, while his plot and the character was good, been downplayed by the cult angle (it worked in Live And Let Die, but not in this film), this film was supposed to be dark and serious, especially the villain who could've even fit with the Craig Era, yet, he had been saddled by that Aztec Lair with a Televangelist? It's almost great, until those things happened.
The love triangle of Pam and Lupe, I know they wanted Dalton to be Roger Moore by giving his films some callbacks to the Moore Era like this one, reminiscent of The Man With The Golden Gun with Mary Goodnight and Andrea Anders love triangle, but again, it looked corny, we have Pam Bouvier who was supposed to be a matured partner for Bond and as headstrong as Tracy, yet she fell into the ugly trap of having to compete herself against Lupe and that brought her character down to immaturity, almost very childish and silly.
And speaking of Lupe, yes, she's devoid of character, her purposes are two things and both are useless: to act as Mistress to Sanchez and to start a love triangle with Pam, she's a useless character, remove her and the film would've been still the same, and probably for the better.
The winking fish is another issue, comedy touches? Didn't worked and will never work, it's just awkward.
I don't look at the ending with Felix, after all, Bond seemed to have done the same regarding Tracy in For Your Eyes Only of how she's mourning her at the grave to how he 'playfully' dispatched Blofeld as if there's no grudge, so what we should expect at that point?
This film is good, but a bit inconsistent in tone, it's almost great if not for the corny things that were out of place in this film that's supposed to be dark and grounded.
Again, Sanchez is not as realistic as Dominic Greene ;)
Tim is phenomenal in it, he expresses so much without having to say anything (my favourite moments include the Tracy reference and when he sighs to himself after his revenge has been completed); Pam is my favourite Bond girl, Sanchez one of the best villains, the plot is imo the best of the entire franchise and so is the climax, it has Desmond's finest hour as Q, and despite its serious nature it's also rather funny at times.
Regarding the 'cheap' look of it, I don't agree with that at all. I think this film looks absolutely stunning:
Oh, and that Patti LaBelle song is one of my favourite songs of the franchise.
* Fictional islands or country: San Monique (LALD) and Isthmus (LTK)
* Both plots are about drugs
* Both have private cults (Baron Samedi cult and Professor Joe cult)
Dalton's great, and the supporting cast are all wonderful too. Sanchez is one of the better Bond villains, and Pam is a pretty underrated Bond girl. Lupe's a bit more hit and miss for me (I always feel it should be more explicit that she's playing Bond to get out of her situation, but she often comes off as a bit too wet) but she's fine.
I have some minor niggles with the film - the weird slow motion run Leiter and the DEA agents do (supposedly this was originally a gag with the Chariots of Fire theme being played over it, but it doesn't quite work), Dario seemingly seeing Pam as an 'Angel' (again, a gag/idea that doesn't quite work). There's a weird subplot in there about Sanchez acquiring stinger missiles or whatever which gets lost and is rather pointless. Minor stuff really.
That's interesting, I've never realized just how comparable the two are. Bless your heart!
When I referred to LTK being described as cheap, I was referring to others and I should have followed up by saying I don't agree! Yes, it has some stunning shots, Sanchez home is particularly eye catching, as is the spectacular shot of the meditation Institute exploding!
The one thing I don't like about the film is all the Q stuff. This hard-boiled actioner centred around a Bond out on revenge doesn't need explosive tooth paste or Q disguising himself. Now look, I'm glad old Desmond got something to do, but the tone is off. That said, it's one of the most underrated Bonds if you ask me. Audiences weren't ready yet for such a cynical Bond. Too bad, because the successful Craigs will eventually do the same.
Gave it another watch a couple of months ago and now it's gone down 2 slots, while TLD has climbed the rankings and is now in my top 10.
I do like LTK a lot: Dalton and Davi are both terrific, Del Toro is deliciously despicable and the action for the most part is quite excellent.
But it does feel at times like a tv movie and that PTS slow-mo is downright painful to watch.
But 11th place is still quite respectable.
It does really look cheap to me, sure there are some cool shots, but it is very inconsistent. When I watch the casino scene or the underwater photography I cannot help but think how much better that stuff looked in Thunderball, 24 years earlier. Compare the costume designs to those in Live and Let Die, and it is clear where they have cut corners this time. An artistic choice? Maybe, but as I said, I am not really fund of how the film is completely drained of glamour. It really does feel like a typical 80s cop TV-movie, with a solid plot. Even some of the acting performances feel like TV quality, I don't like Everett McGill and Anthony Zerbe and especially not David Hedison as Felix Leiter. Doesn't help with Robert Brown as M and Caroline Bliss as Moneypenny either, which were never my favorites in those roles. The Bond girls do a solid job, but their characters aren't all that memorable.
Quantum of Solace does a much better job at making this type of story fell Bondian, and honestly, so does FYEO.
Yes I'd not really thought about it before, but you're right - one thing QoS does better than this for my money is that there is an important dynamic between Bond and M played out, whereas M in LTK is barely a bit part player, even though this is the one situation where the relationship between Bond and him should have been foregrounded.
Also they should really have had the courage to just kill Felix; killing off Della and never mentioning her again feels off.
The story is straight from Yojimbo (that's a plus - all the other Yojimbos are pretty good as well!), but in spite of some decent cinematography it does have this made-for-TV feel. I like Carey Lowell's Pam a whole lot, but Talisa Soto actually gives GF's Tania Mallet a run for the award of Worst Actress of the Franchise. I appreciate the attempt to incorporate a lot of Fleming bits and pieces they had left out before (notably from TB), but they ruin it by portraying Felix as a happy-go-lucky or at least unampethatic guy who may have lost his wife AND his leg to the scoundrels, but hey!, who cares? Life goes on, and what was my wife's name again? The truck chase scenes are next to perfect, but that wheelie? Come on, that wouldn't even pass in DAD. And so on.
The film isn't BADLY bad (or it wouldn't still be in the second third of my list), but it could have been better and, dare I say, closer to perfection except for some stupid decisions.
Oh I wasn't referring to your post, I know you love this one too :) I was referring to the general concensus that this one looks cheap or like a tv movie, which I don't think it does. I actually find DAF, LALD, AVTAK and even TND to be cheaper looking than this one...
I don't look very much into the Felix situation in the end, really, it's not that different from how Bond did the same in FYEO with him mourning Tracy about the first 5 minutes, then the man who killed his wife showed up, yet, he'd playfully dispatched him like he's not holding any grudge against the guy, when that scene could've been a little bit grittier, but alas, I think EON was not really focusing on emotional aspects of Bond, until Craig came along, another example was in TND, Bond found Paris Carver dead, his old flame, but in what about 10 minutes later, he's happy again playing that car chase through his phone like a kid.
What should we expect at that point?
I do get the truck wheelie, forgot to add that in my cons list regarding LTK, yes, it's an impossible stunt and almost a bit OTT especially in a film that's trying to be gritty.
Q's presence in LTK is the character's finest hour for me. He doesn't only get a lot more to do than usual, but it proves his loyalty to Bond as a friend. I find their relationship comes full circle here. He's been annoyed by Bond all these years, but when Bond needs him, he's there. Just like at the end of OHMSS when he fatherly tells Bond that he can always count on him, and I see the same kind of warmth coming back here in LTK. As a bonus, it gives a us some familiarity in an otherwise unusual Bond film. I like it.
Yes, I have no problem with Q in the field really, after all, the character worked the same in SPECTRE, for me, it's not one of the problems regarding the tonal inconsistencies of the film, it's more on the gadgets (especially the toothpaste bomb, the camera laser and the broom receiver), the winking fish at the end, and the whole Televangelist/Aztec cult that were really out of place in this film and just doesn't fit.
I love me some humor in this Bond film and for me all of that came from Q himself to add more lightness in order to balance the film's atmosphere when it's full of dark moments, I liked Q's presence in this film.
But those examples that I've mentioned above to which again, were out of place in this Bond film, felt and looked like they could've fit in a Roger Moore Era Bond film, the gadgets could've been used in any Moore Bond film (especially the toothpaste one), the winking fish is not that different to the talking parrot at the end of For Your Eyes Only, and Professor Joe Butcher along with that Aztec designs and his cult could've been involved in Drax's Amazon Temple in Moonraker.
Welcome to the (virtual) NTTD Fan Club...as long as we don't have to turn it into an NTTD + LTK Fan Club... :)
Yeh, agreed. I would add GE too (though I know you're a fan 😉) as everything is hidden in the dark by Phil Meheux!
I always took the broom radio as a welcome piece of comic relief, not a superfluous gadget since it is only shortly used by Q, not by Bond. The X-ray camera is indeed a bit of a misfire.
It's just there to add a little humour to the Q scene. As to the broom, it's one of the minor highlights of the film for me. It got a massive laugh when I saw LTK in the cinema.
Here's Q out in the field posing as an old gardener, uses the gadget to signal Pam and then casually tosses it away. How many times has he chastised Bond for not treating his gadgets with care and respect. It's a wonderful scene.
It does raise the question of how Q managed to make the broom radio so quickly and get to Sanchez house in disguise?
And how did Lupe know how to find Pam? Still a lovely scene showing Q in the field and acting like an agent with one of his gadgets.
Well, I know the Bond villains have their shares of stupidity, but Sanchez, given that he's a drug lord who knows everything around his business, he did two things that were out of his character:
1. Trusting Bond inside his circle, to think of how fast he had trusted Bond to be in his inner circle, without even checking his credentials? Without any doubts or suspicions?, Real life drug lords and Mafias would never trust a stranger they doesn't know very quickly, either they will appoint some man to check on their backgrounds before trusting them, but with Sanchez, he'd just kinda let Bond go and to think that troubles happened when Sanchez entrusted Bond, was he not suspecting? Yep, he's no a brainy guy.
2. From the start, we've seen how fast Sanchez was to detect Lupe cheating with another man, so of course, as a lesson, Sanchez would've take this as a something for him to learn to watch his girlfriend's moves and never trusted her to be with anyone, but it's been subverted, because he had let Lupe to take care of Bond, he let Lupe to be free around Bond and not realizing that the two could've even have an affair, Sanchez never learned his lesson, I guess, he knew it from the start that Lupe is a potential cheater, she had cheated on him before and he had seen it with both of his eyes, and then later in the film, he was comfortable of her being around Bond? As if no, again, no suspicions?
Yep, Sanchez is a dumb guy, for a drug lord, easily manipulated and gullible and dare I say it, carefree and reckless, to let a stranger inside his circle and ruin everything (Bond).
I think you're missing the point with Sanchez. Earlier in the movie he has a conversation with Krest about Loyalty and how it's more important than anything. When he checks out Bond, he finds out he's been dismissed as a British agent which happens to be true!Also there's a lovely moment where he wakes Bond to reward him for exposing Krest, Bond tries to plant more doubt about others and Sanchez just laughs! Not that dumb!
Regarding Lupe, I think Sanchez knew she was terrified of him, and knows what's in store for her if She betrays him. That doesn't stop Lupe of course, as I will admit she is pretty dumb!!
We forgive you GG! 😅
I don't think this is any fault of the film: Sanchez is shown to be someone who trusts his gut and is a passionate and firey guy. His gut tells him Bond is good, so he goes with it. Bond makes him trust him, and then he exploits it: it's more about Bond's cleverness than Sanchez's stupidity.
He also thinks that Lupe has learned her lesson, maybe he's even testing her slightly by putting Bond in her care.