Last Bond Movie You Watched

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  • PrinceKamalKhanPrinceKamalKhan Monsoon Palace, Udaipur
    edited August 2011 Posts: 3,262
    Just finished re-watching Thunderball. I maintain it is my favourite Bond film by some margin. Connery's in his stride, his scenes with M, Moneypenny and Q are brilliant. Largo is a fantastic villain and Vargas is a memorable henchman. Last, but not least, Thunderball has the dubble whammy of Claudine Auger and Luciana Paluzzi. Oh, and I almost forgot the amazing underwater sequences. A Thursday afternoon well spent!
    Just read this. Very happy to read of raves for my favorite Bond film. Positive reviews of my top 2 Bond films(TB and TLD). I'm very pleased with page 8. :)
  • edited August 2011 Posts: 11,189
    The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

    Really enjoyed it. The film has its problems (*cough*Barbara Bach*cough*) but more than makes up for them with Roger Moore, Ken Adam, Kurt Jurgens and Richard Kiel. The score, despite being very 70s is great - especially the romantic melodies. The one thing that really stands out though is the cinematography. Both LALD and MWTGG had quite a rough/cheap feel about them, Spy on the other hand looks and feels exotic with some beautiful shots of Egypt as well as some teriffic underwater photography.

    Most important though, this actually feels like a SPY film rather than a comic - something that MR failed to keep up.

    8/10
  • Posts: 1,497
    What did you find wrong with Barbara Bach BAIN123?
  • Posts: 11,189
    She's hardly a great actress. Whilst @Luds is harsh on Spy as a whole he is right about BB ("how interesting"). However he's wrong about her "alien" looks ;)

    I disagree also that she makes Bond look weak - if anything quite the contrary.
  • PrinceKamalKhanPrinceKamalKhan Monsoon Palace, Udaipur
    Posts: 3,262
    While I definitely prefer TSWLM's 2nd female lead(Caroline Munro/Naomi) to Miss Bach, I still like her Anya more than a lot of girls in the series. She's one of my "middle of the pack" Bond girls.
  • edited August 2011 Posts: 11,189
    I wonder if Caroline Munro would have made a better Anya. I suppose she does have a bit of a "bad girl" quality to her so perhaps not.

    Watching View ATM. Not bad but Spy is def better.
  • edited August 2011 Posts: 303
    The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

    I actually only just rewatched this one today aswell coinsedently ;)

    But yeah, it's an enjoyable movie, though it does drag a little, but it's still enjoyable and has some great sequences along with introducing the (Then) menacing Jaws

    And some scenes also reminded me of QoS (The desert with Bondand the girl walking/ Bond on the rooftop with the villain grabbing his tie for dear life, before Bond knocking him off the building) which was interesting...
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,976
    Currently watching OP, staring at General Orlov's mole.
  • Posts: 11,189
    A View to a Kill (1985)

    Enjoyable but certainly rather sleepy and feels about 10 minutes too long. There's little in the film that hasnt been done (better) before. Moore's v good though as is Christopher Walken. Barry's score is great however I wonder if the Wine With Stacey music (a great theme on it's own) adds to the sleepiness a bit.

    View definitely has a "sunset" feeling to it, which is nice but would Moore and co have gone out with more of a "bang" in OP? Possibly.

    6/10
  • Posts: 4,762
    Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

    Well, once again, DAF proved itself to be extremely enjoyable even with the excess camp humor and larger than life aspects.

    Sean Connery, while being older and heavier, still presented us with a good 007. He retained his usual charm, wit, and deadliness. My only complaint is that he seems slower and more lethargic.

    The villains were in a large variety in this one, what with the diamond smuggling ring and all that. Charles Gray was a decent Blofeld, but wasn't as menacing as Donald Pleasance or as physical as Telly Savalas. It would have been better to have brought back one of them, but then again, Gray wasn't too bad. He was just okay. Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd were awesome henchmen, even though their "unusual characteristic" could have been dropped. Bert Saxby, in my opinion was kind of wasted. He seemed like an important henchman, but was not given much to do. Bambi and Thumper were also a nice addition, but their fight scene with Bond wasn't as great as it could have been due to Connery's age.

    The action in the movie was "half-and-half." Some scenes were great, and others were pretty lame. The great were the Peter Franks elevator fight, the Las Vegas car chase, and the oil rig battle. The lame were the pre-title sequence, the moon buggy chase, and the little fight with Wint and Kidd at the ending. The latter two weren't necessarily a bad idea, but they just didn't have enough punch to them.

    The music was absolutely magnificent! John Barry really outdid himself this time around. The highlight tracks were "007 and Counting", Wint and Kidd's theme, and the music played during the elevator fight and the Bambi and Thumper tussel. All of those were right on the money!

    The allies didn't even hit the okay mark. Norman Burton's Felix was pathetic, Tiffany Case was just a bother in some scenes, and Plenty O'Toole was a wasted character who added nothing to the movie but foolishness. This was really the only downer for DAF in my opinion.

    All in all, still one of my favorites! I'd rank it as Top Five material.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,976
    @00Beast, the Franks elevator fight has to be one of my favorite hand-to-hand fights in the series. Only given that much room and they still manage to land blow after blow on one another. Very hectic.
  • do_me_nicelydo_me_nicely Banned
    edited August 2011 Posts: 106
    Casino royale (19967) starring David Niven As Bond
    Why the bubles ?
  • Posts: 4,762
    @Creasy47: Yes indeed! I love the part where Bond disarms Franks' as he pulls his pistol out. Great addition to the fight.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,976
    I think I would have enjoyed the fight more, @00Beast, if Bond didn't use the fire extinguisher. Other than that, it's a very good scene. Excellent fight.
  • Posts: 4,762
    @Creasy47: Well, the fire extinguisher never bothered me that much, but I see what you mean. For such a brutal fight, we could have expected Bond to kill Franks in a more violent way.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,976
    @00Beast, I think that's the main reason why. If he threw him down the elevator shaft somehow or flip him over the railing and he landed a few floors down, that would have been perfect. Even a tad bit annoyance as the fire extinguisher is, it doesn't take away from the beauty of the fight. I love the gritty Connery era fist fights like that, or he and Grant on the train.
  • Posts: 4,762
    @Creasy47: Agreed. Connery's fist fights were a lot better than the later ones. As much as I love Roger Moore as 007, his fights weren't as impressive, except for the ones with Tee Hee, Chula, and the three thugs in the dressing room. Dalton's fights weren't great either, which I've never understood. Brosnan's fights were better, namely the ones against 006, Stamper, and Mr. Kil. I think that Daniel Craig's fights are returning to Connery's, which is a great thing!
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    edited August 2011 Posts: 40,976
    @00Beast, it's a very great thing. All of Craig's fight scenes are memorable, even if a tiny bit of fist-fighting goes on: CR - Bond and Mollaka, Bond and Obanno. QoS - Bond and Slate, Bond and the agents in the elevator, Bond and Greene (when Bond grabs the railing in the QoS finale and pulls himself up, only to kick Greene in the chest, mid-swing, and then gets blown back by the explosion? Beautiful.)

    Oh, and just finished OP: very entertaining film, shame Moore didn't go out with that film. Would have been perfect. The bomb defusal scene in the tent gives me chills every time. He's fighting so hard to be let go and defuse it, and the time is ticking down further and further. Whew.
  • Posts: 4,762
    Same here, @Creasy47. The bomb defusal is extremely tense. I love the part where Octopussy grabs the pistol from the guard and blows the lock so Bond can get to it. Such a great scene!
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,976
    She doesn't screw around in that scene. Come to think of it, the OP finale has to be around 40 minutes long, from him getting to the circus and going train to train, battling, falling off, driving back, evading the cops, finally defusing it, and even then - though not continuing immediately after the defusal - they still break in to the castle, and he gives chase on horseback, fights on top of a plane, escapes with Octopussy, and saves her life. MAN!
  • do_me_nicelydo_me_nicely Banned
    Posts: 106
    Can I nomenate Octopussy twin fighetrs for best ever 10/10 ?
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,976
    I love Bond's reply after killing the final twin, showing he got revenge for 009.
  • do_me_nicelydo_me_nicely Banned
    edited August 2011 Posts: 106
    "And thats' for 009"
    Moore , moore , more !! =D>
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,976
    Grand. You can see the look of satisfied revenge in his eyes.
  • Posts: 4,762
    @Creasy47: Yes, that revenge scene with Grishka is pretty epic! And I agree with you about OP's 40 minute long finale. Now that's how you go out with a bang!
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    edited August 2011 Posts: 40,976
    @00Beast: Indeed! I wanted to see how long the finale was as I watched it tonight, figured it was going to clock in around 20 or 25 minutes left, and I honestly want to say that it was around 40-50 minutes long: very entertaining time.

    I'm watching AVTAK right now. The scene at Stacy Sutton's place, after Bond drops the shotgun filled with rock salt, did anyone else feel like you were watching a bunch of geriatrics hug one another?
  • Posts: 4,762
    License to Kill (1989)

    Still completely satisfied with the second Dalton movie! I was wondering whether or not I would still find it "Top 5 material," but I am reassured now.

    To begin with, Timothy Dalton does an excellent job in LTK. In fact, I find his performance in this one better than his in TLD. You really feel his hatred for Sanchez, his remorse for Della's death, and his need to avenge Felix's wounds, physical and emotional. I really enjoyed the way he played the "brilliant Bond" by fooling Sanchez into thinking that his own men were against him, well except for Heller, who really was against him.

    The villains in LTK are some of the largest in the series, next to LALD and TB. There's the main villain Franz Sanchez, the cruel and fiery drug dealer played wonderfully by Robert Davi. His performance is so great because he can easily move from "nice Sanchez" to "evil Sanchez." Dario is a decent henchman, only marred by the fact that he has small screen time. If they played him up a little bit, and put him in a few more scenes, he could have been an equal with Oddjob, Jaws, Tee Hee, or Xenia Onatopp. Milton Krest is a great henchman as well, and I love how confident he is when he's in charge of the WaveKrest, but how frightened and small he is in front of Sanchez. Truman-Lodge, while being a whiny financial whiz, still holds a good spot with me. I thoroughly enjoy the scene where he tries to run away with the Orientals' drug money, and Sanchez orders him into the car. And even before that, the scene where he insists that they save the million dollar set-up, you can see how greedy he is for money, and how Sanchez is growing tired of him. The one major villain I didn't like was Colonel Heller. It may be that he's a semi-traitor that throws me off, but I just didn't like him.

    The action in the movie was a little better than the average. The pre-title sequence wasn't anything spectacular, and I really have never enjoyed it. The real action comes when Bond and Sharkey break into Krest's marine research building. I really like that entire scene! Then after that, when Bond infiltrates the WaveKrest, I love that scene where Bond hijacks the plane in mid-air. Awesome action! Then soon after comes the bar fight, one of my favorite fights in the whole series. Everything just works for that fight. After that, things kind of slow down until Sanchez and Heller raid the house where Kwang and Loti have captured Bond. That's one of the highlights for me. Then after that, not much happens for action until the finale at the drug factory and the tanker truck chase. One of the best finales of all the Bond movies!

    The music is lackluster in my opinion. Some of it is good, but at other times it's very annoying. The best piece of music in the movie for me is the James Bond Theme played when Bond's truck wheels through the fire. I really like that track! One of the best renditions of the classic theme.

    The allies in the movie are pretty great! Sharkey, Felix, and Pam are all awesome assets to Bond's mission. And of course, Q has his biggest role in LTK, which definately gives LTK a boost! The only regrettable ally was Lupe Lamora. I didn't like her too much. She was somewhat dull and wooden, and didn't add much to the movie.

    All in all, LTK is Top 5 material for me!
  • Posts: 11,189
    Watched Dr No earlier and the first 40 minutes or so of TLD.

    Despite the cheaper production and lack of majestic, establishing shots No is the better film out of the two by quite some way.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,976
    @BAIN, did you feel that Dalton's "Bond, James Bond." entrance on the yacht was a bit forced in TLD?
  • Posts: 11,189
    To put it bluntly it was c**p. I'd just seen Connery give his line in DN and it didn't come close. No disrespect to Dalton but it felt like they put the line in just because they felt they had to. Dalton's delivery was ok but not great. By the time he's started saying it it's over. It's very throwaway and not that memorable IMO.
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