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A solid enough start to his Bond career I guess. It’s a movie that has grown on me the more I have watched it. I remember the first time I saw this, I really didn’t enjoy it but, over time, it’s turned in to a solid entry to the franchise.
Roger Moore and his performance are such a change from what we have had with Connery and Lazenby. Which isn’t a bad thing of course and it obviously brings something new to Bond. I think he’s a lot “smoother” than Connery was. Plus he gets some great, and very random, lines. The ones that come to mind are “You should never go in there without a mongoose” to Rosie Carver on seeing the snake in the bathroom and again to Rosie Carver, on introducing Quarrel Jr to her, “Meet the man who shares my hairbrush...”. Really random lines that make me laugh every time I hear them.
Kananga/Mr Big is an ok villain, Yaphet Kotto does the best he can with it. I always enjoy how he laughs at little things, one example being after he has made the cuts in Bonds arm towards the end and he’s telling that the wounds could be found to be quite fatal before telling Whisper to open the gates for the sharks, but just letting out a bit of a menacing laugh as he’s telling him. Just a little thing I enjoy about Kotto’s performance. Shame about his ending though. If he’s been blown up like that etc, where’s all the blood and entrails? Just seems a poor demise for the guy that didn’t look great on film (maybe just the time it was made I guess).
Tee Hee is a great henchman, one of the most memorable in the series? The metal claw for a hand is great. I enjoy how he manages to leave Bond on the little island surrounded by crocs/alligators (which, of course, doesn’t outdo the way Bond escapes them). Very clever. I enjoyed the look of disappointment on his face when he wasn’t given the chance to clip off one of Bond’s fingers after Kananga is testing Solitaires powers.
Ahh, Solitaire. A very popular Bond girl on the board, and quite rightly so. Arguably one of, if not the most beautiful Bond girl of them all? Jane Seymour does a great job of playing the virginial (until Bond gets his dirty hands on her – no morals that guy) tarot card reader bringing such innocence to the character.
Add to that the excellent David Hedison as Felix (he gives the the best portrayal of the character?), Baron Samedi, Whisper, Quarrel Jr and of course the “so non-pc” J W Pepper there are some memorable characters in this movie.
One down side for me is Rosie Carver. The character being killed off couldn’t come soon enough for me. Very annoying, not quite Bond girl material, just didn’t like the character at all but there you go.
I think overall, it’s a solid opener for Moore, not his best but first time out for him.
I’ll write about TMWTGG a little later.
Roger is in the same form as he was in LALD, witty one-liners and smoothness all over, but with a quite vicious streak like we see when he is trying to get info from Miss Anders. The near breaking if the arm and slap across the face. Moore looks like he's enjoying himself though.
Christopher Lee seems to enjoy himself as Scaramanga, hamming if up at times. A little thing that makes me laugh is the way hd nonchalantly shoves Goodnight into the boot of his car and slams it shut. I think it's the look on his face that does it.
Goodnight, while nice to look at ( I'm thinking the bikini, as has been mentioned plenty on here) is a bit unconvincing as a Bond girl for me. May be me but I think the way she is portrayed is a big of a dumb blonde at times, although and does have her good moments. My wife had a laugh at some of her moments when she shows a bit of jealousy about 007. But then I guess because of the seriousness of Miss Anders then it's a bit of light relief.
The henchman, Nick Nack, despite being a little 'un still come across as a vicious little bugger and you get the impression he almost wants Scaramanga to lose a challenge so everything Scaramanga has becomes his. And, despite it's comic value, I enjoyed the little scrap with Bond on the junk at the end.
Don't think we needed J W Pepper again, just more comic relief to a movie full of it.
As a Bond fan I enjoy a thing Bond no matter what, it's just some I enjoy more than others. This one, I enjoy less.
After 3 in 3 nights, it's time for a break for my Bonadthon for s couple of nights but next up, The Spy Who Loved Me.
Tee Hee is a great henchman, one of the most memorable in the series? The metal claw for a hand is great.
Yes indeed! Tee Hee is my favorite henchmen in the series. Good to see some praise for this villainous villain!
007JamesBond said:
The henchman, Nick Nack, despite being a little 'un still come across as a vicious little bugger and you get the impression he almost wants Scaramanga to lose a challenge so everything Scaramanga has becomes his. And, despite it's comic value, I enjoyed the little scrap with Bond on the junk at the end.
I like that ending fight as well. Sure it's played more for laughs, but hey, it's still awesome! I love it when Nick Nack starts chucking wine bottles at Bond, and he smashes them with the table leg. Great stuff! :-D
Arguably Rogers Moore’s best outing as 007 and has plenty to make it very memorable.
First of all there is the opening sequence, Bond being chased on ski’s etc. Great chase and then the thing to make it probably the most memorable pts of the series (?), the Union Jack parachute. Cheesy but bloody brilliant in my opinion. Sets us up nicely for the rest of the movie. The battle towards the end is also great and a welcome first big scale battle for RM’s 007.
Moore is on top form all the way through, great one liners delivered very well and looks better in the fight scenes (even showing us a bodyslam of sorts on one of Anya’s men at the pyramids), although a few times there is obviously a body double type person. The fight with Sandor I particularly enjoyed. It was a short-ish little fight but the ending of that, where Sandor is holding on to Bond’s tie for dear life and, when Bond gets the info he wants, just lets him go, is great and shows a very sinister side to RM’s Bond. Was also nice to see a bit of an, albeit short, emotional side to RM’s Bond, when Anya is rhyming off about Bond this and that and mentions his wife, and we have Bond just cut her off. Slight sign of emotion but very effective. Moore is excellent in this movie.
Ok, on to Barbara Bach and her character Anya. There seems to a bit of stick given to her on this forum and some of that because of her looks (I’ve read the word Alien to describe her before). Myself, I think she is very attractive and has a good look as a Bond girl. I think where there may be a problem is that the character is very bland, which isn’t helped by the acting of Bach. We never see much of a change to her facial expressions (Maybe that’s how they are in the KGB, who knows?), which makes her seem very boring.
Sandor, as a henchman, could have been great but we didn’t see enough of him but we did get the most well-known henchman of the entire series in Jaws. All metal teeth and what looks like about 10 foot tall, he is a very menacing character. My favourite scene of his is at the pyramids and he goes after Fekkesh. The scene of him walking towards Fekkesh, and the music that is being played makes him absolutely terrifying. (Moonraker next – maybe I’ll skip some of his scenes in that).
Stromberg is good enough as the villain of the piece. You know not to cross him as shown in his treatment of his assistant as he has found out that she has betrayed him. Send her to the sharks a la Largo. Not the most menacing of characters but with a guy like Jaws on his side, does he need to be? Love his lair, Atlantis. Seeing it rise out of the water like it does it a very good effect for it’s time I thought and still looks pretty good now. And what an end for the guy, surely he must have been shot right in the family jewels?
Good movie, much better than the previous outing, TMWTGG, and so far, for me, this is easily Moore’s best.
He will return in.......................... Moonraker
After the rather excellent TSWLM I have to say that the standard drops a fair bit with this outing yet, as its 007, it still has it’s enjoyabale parts.
Rog is in “winking at the camera” mode but I always find him highly enjoyable in his movies. Watching the Moore movies, I have grown to enjoy him a lot more.
You all know the plot and yet again we are left wondering how on earth Drax could have gotten away with constructing his stuff in space etc. But that’s the joy of the Bond movies I guess. It’s just like wherever Bond goes there is a bad guy always ready to attack.
Anyway, the villain of the piece is Drax and, well, I find him very boring. His voice, his facial expressions, they never really change and I find him quite tiresome really. Very dull. And I have always wondered why did he see the need to tell his henchman at the time, Chang, to see harm comes to Bond when they first meet him. He’s gone to help figure out what happened etc, why the need to hurt him? Anyway, for me Drax (Michael Lonsdale) is probably my least favourite villain of the first 11 movies.
Chang as his assistant is ok, nice fight with Bond before falling to his death, although I do think that it could be seen as very far fetched as Sir Rog isn’t the greatest with some of his fight scenes. My favourite scene from Chang, is the centrifuge scene. Love the look on his face as he’s cranking up the “g’s” and the look of disappointment when it slows down.
Well, as Chang’s tenure is short lived Drax hires the most memorable henchman of any Bond movie, Jaws. Now, his appearance in TSWLM was quite excellent and he came across as a quite chilling character at times. However, due to his return here he was turned into a comedy clown.................literally. And the Dolly thing just made him so much less of a threat than before.
Holly Goodhead – great name but not one of the best Bond girls of the series I’m afraid.she does nothing for me. I find her quite bland at times and I kinda lost interest in her during the film.
The movie does have it’s moments though and I have to say that Moonraker has one of my favourite scenes of any Bond movie – the death of Corrine. This has always been, to me, one of the most chilling scenes in Bond movie history. And the music that accompanies it makes it all the more effective. Great stuff.
Anyway, unfortunately it kinda fall flat and it’s gonna be quite low in the list I compile when I’ve finished my Bondathon. Half way there now, number 12 up next, For Your Eyes Only.
This is a very good Bond movie to me. Not quite Moore’s best because, in my opinion, that spot is held by TSWLM.
Sir Rog is on good form in this. One of his best performances as Bond. I love the way he kicks Locque’s car off the cliff, reminds me of what he did to Sandor in TSWLM. Ruthless.
Good story as well, so much better than MR. And really, it comes across as a proper Bond movie.
The opening is great, Bond at the grave of Tracy, almost gives the movie the feel of a follow on from OHMSS. Great stuff and the helicopter/Blofeld scene is good although it seems a bit of a poor end to Blofeld. I’d rather have seen him in a full Bond adventure, eventually meeting his demise at the end and giving his era closure. The death of the Havelocks is very brutal and a great scene that sets up Melina’s revenge mission very well.
Melina (Carole Bouquet) is very good as a Bond girl. Very attractive although (and this is serious nitpicking) she did have a slight shadow on her top lip. Sorry. Anyway, the part is played very well and you can feel how much she wants revenge for the death of her parents.
Julian Glover as Kristatos is ok but, I don’t know, he just doesn’t seem like a big threat to anyone. Rather tame compared to villains such as Stromberg during the Moore era.
Locque is a great henchman and, as my kids tend to say when they are letting things out they shouldn’t (I won’t explain but the next few words should give it away), silent but deadly. His death scene, as mentioned before, is great.
Topol as Columbo would have made the better villain in my opinion but, he became a great ally to Bond and is one of the more memorable characters in the movie along with the insatiable Bibi Dahl. Bond offering to buy her an ice cream one of my favourite scenes with her.
This movie also had another great (?) death scene (doesn’t sound right that does it?), that of Lisl. Kind of reminds me of the death of Corrine in MR. Being mown down on the beach. Another death scene that was very effective.
All in all a very good return to form after Moonraker.
Sir Rog will be back in Octopussy.
Not quite up to the standard of TSWLM or FYEO but still an enjoyable enough outing for Moore as 007.
Strange pts for me as there was nothing in it that had anything to do with the movie itself. Still looked pretty good on screen and enjoyed the "Fill me up!" at the end of it.
Rog is very good again as 007 and is obviously enjoying himself doing it. I enjoy some of his one liners but the one that makes me laugh is "Here, you may need this to play with your asp". Funny line and delivered great by Roger, very natural.
Kamal Khan is a good enough villain of the piece and has a pretty famous line from any Bond movie - "You seem to have this nasty habit of surviving.". Classic line and Lois Jordan plays the character very well.
The Bond girls - well we have Magda and Octopussy. Maud Adams is once again a Bond girl and therefore is experienced. And in my opinion, looks better than she did in TMWTGG. Maybe she's like a fine wine and matures with age. Then there is Magda, arguably the hotter and sexier of the 2. And she probably is. However, with the both of them in the movie, it's all good.
Gobinda is a big towering henchman, as all good henchmen shoud be and is obviously a great threat to 007. Not the most memorable but still excellent.
Not much more to say, all the usual are there, the usual Q scene, Moneypenny along with her new assistant Smallbone (nice touch and excellent name) and M, although now played by Robert Brown. Unfortunately, while being a very capable actor, just doesn't have the presence that Bernard Lee had.
Good enough romp, I enjoyed it very much, but not the best of Moore's tenure.
Usually start from DN and watch through till AVTAK, go back to NSNA, because no man should come between a man and his Moore. Not even Connery. Anyway. Then I watch rest of them in order. I don't include Casino Royale -67 in the Bond-a-thon.
For now, I've only watched the Brosnan and Craig films more often than the rest. But that's just because I haven't had the feeling for watching all the 22 films in order. So I've watched then newer ones (also Dalton's) more often than the rest during this year.
The first three were amazing, but I was a little let down by TB - I found it a bit slow and the action wasn't great when they were underwater (however, it plays far better now on my hi-def 42" flatscreen). YOLT was a further letdown, but then OHMSS was incredible. As much as I loved the action when I was 13 as a young adult I appreciated what a truly fine film it was. But then I watched DAF and felt embarrassed. After that I just couldn't bring myself to watch any more (or any Moore).
Now I've decided to rewatch the Brosnan films. I've seen the first seven (GF through DAF) over and over again since I was 12 but I've only seen the Brosnan films once or twice - once opening weekend and then maybe once again a few months later when they were released on DVD. I started with TND and liked it better now then when it first came out. That was a couple of weeks ago; I'll watch TWINE within the next few days and then DAD a couple of weeks after that. I'm saving GE for last as I remember it being by far Brosnan's best and it had (unlike his other films) that certain air of timeless class that the best Bond films (including CR) have.
Interesting that I clearly remember what excitement there was to see the new Brosnan films in the theatres and now they're "retro" in some ways! I really had a feeling of nostaligia watching TND, both for the film and for the 90's in general (hey, I had that same shirt! I remember that style of cell phone!).
Anyway, my latest installment in my Bondathon was Roger Moore's last outing as 007, a View To A Kill.
One of the weakest of his 7. Moore is probably too old at this point but I have gained extra respect after watching all his outings one after the other I can ignore it. Due to that he's in ok form. His interactions with Sir Godfrey were particularly enjoyable.
Christopher Walken's Zorin makes for a great villain though. Walken adds a different knid of threat to any before him.
Grace Jones, what can I say? How she ever got any acting jobs is beyond me. One of the worst actors/actresses to ever appear in a 007 movie.
Is it the weakest of the Moore outings? Not sure but I'll give it some thought when I update my "simple" list later.
Next up, the first on Timothy Dalton's "all to short" stint as 007, The Living Daylights.
Rather than starting with Dr No, I choose to start with GoldenEye; I’m breaking my girlfriend in gently, I don’t want her thinking all Bond films are too old and “slow”. Furthermore, I decided to pair Bond with other films they have some similarities, I’m going to pair this one with CR; helmed by Campbell, both reinvigorated the series, etc…
GoldenEye
A greatest hits Bond film that launched our venerable hero into the nineties. There really is a lot to enjoy with this one, namely a superb primary cast and a very strong script.
Indeed this script helps anchor GoldenEye’s more fantastical elements, allowing for some rare moments of introspection. The script also cleverly asks Bond to validate himself in the post cold war era, something he achieves with aplomb.
There are a few quibbles; some of the action scenes need trimming, while Boris gets far too much screentime, especially for such an annoying and superfluous character.
8
And my gf, she said Bronsan was fantastic, and overall she said the movie was very good, enjoyed every part of it.
Casino Royale
Is it me, or does Craig seem not comfortable with his sex symbol status here? I’m talking about the scenes with Solange. Hmm. Anywho… the pre titles/main titles is exhilarating, I was humming YKMN for ages afterwards, certainly up there with Spy, every time I view either of these I feel THIS is the best Bond movie ever. Although, they’re not.
9
Doctor No
I’ve been trying to do this for ages; seeing Bond’s evolution Craig’s Bond into Connery’s “rough diamond” in DN.
Anyway, the movie itself was simply classic, iconic Bond. Young used to say, about DN success, that it was all “Connery, Connery, and Connery”. I think he’s being too modest; Young, and indeed, Hunt and Adam all contributed massively to the earlier Bond movies.
9
Live and Let Die
Very understated entrance for Roger Moore. Very good cast, especially the heavies, (side burned chap! “You’re entering Harlem, baby!”), ingenious plot, cunning in it’s simplicity and some delicious lines. I would off give it a 9, but….. Sheriff bloody Pepper.
8
You Only Live Twice
Truly epic. Fleming said “go beyond with is probable, but never the impossible”, I always try to judge the Bond’s film plot by this mantra. However… it was the space race, it was the 60’s, a time when people were not so cynical… and I let myself be swept up in the sheer genius of Adam and Barry.
8
My gf has been watching the Bond’s with me, and she ranked thus;
GE
LALD
YOLT
DN
CR
She said Brosnan was prefect, Moore was calm and comfortable and Craig was too “firm”.
Is it me, or does Craig seem not comfortable with his sex symbol status here? I’m talking about the scenes with Solange. Hmm. Anywho… the pre titles/main titles is exhilarating, I was humming YKMN for ages afterwards, certainly up there with Spy, every time I view either of these I feel THIS is the best Bond movie ever. Although, they’re not.
9
Doctor No
I’ve been trying to do this for ages; seeing Bond’s evolution Craig’s Bond into Connery’s “rough diamond” in DN.
Anyway, the movie itself was simply classic, iconic Bond. Young used to say, about DN success, that it was all “Connery, Connery, and Connery”. I think he’s being too modest; Young, and indeed, Hunt and Adam all contributed massively to the earlier Bond movies.
9
Live and Let Die
Very understated entrance for Roger Moore. Very good cast, especially the heavies, (side burned chap! “You’re entering Harlem, baby!”), ingenious plot, cunning in it’s simplicity and some delicious lines. I would off give it a 9, but….. Sheriff bloody Pepper.
8
You Only Live Twice
Truly epic. Fleming said “go beyond with is probable, but never the impossible”, I always try to judge the Bond’s film plot by this mantra. However… it was the space race, it was the 60’s, a time when people were not so cynical… and I let myself be swept up in the sheer genius of Adam and Barry.
8
My gf has been watching the Bond’s with me, and she ranked thus;
GE
LALD
YOLT
DN
CR
She said Brosnan was prefect, Moore was calm and comfortable and Craig was too “firm”.
I always watch in release order, and I sometimes throw in the games with original stories, too.
First Round The Brosnan Years (i.e. let's get this over with)
1. GE - at least we start on a high note
2. TND-DAD in sequential order
Second Round: The Connery Years: DN-DAF (but omitting OHMSS for continuity: YOLT-->DAF is the perfect pairing)
Third Round: The 70's Moore Years: LALD-->MR (picking up on the campy note where we left off on Diamonds)
Fourth Round: OHMSS...which leads smoothly into
Fifth Round: The 80's Moore Years starting with FYEO of course (possibly working in NSNA either pre or post OP)
Sixth Round: Timothy Dalton Years
Seventh Round: DC: CR and QOS...which leads into
Skyfall: November 2012
First Round The Brosnan Years
GE-DAD, release order
?
Usually I just watch a handful of films at random throughout the year. Then about a month before the new film hits cinemas, I watch every one in order. That's nearly one per day. My plan is to watch CR and QoS back to back, and as soon as they're finished, I'll step out the door and catch Skyfall at the cinemas. It has become something of a ritual since TND.
Like I said, it depends on the mood. Sometimes I just want a more escapist, fantastical Bond experience. LALD and TMWTGG both had the humorous camp feel that DAF started, which makes sense since not only did Guy Hamilton direct all three of those films, but Tom Mankiewicz had writing contributions to all three. Die and Golden Gun are smaller scale Bond films, and the entertainment lies in the individual scenes, the tongue and cheek dialogue, the wackiness of it all. TSWLM and MR, both directed by Lewis Gilbert and writing contributions from Christopher Wood, go for bigger, over the top, world domination plots. The scale is big, but there is still a sense of tongue in cheek good humor.
I think 80's more has deeper and more complexed plots, but lack the colorfulness of the 70's entries. That's why I think it's better to lead with DAF into 70's Moore, and save OHMSS with FYEO and so on, because the tone is more consistent that way.
http://007bond.weebly.com/bondathon.html
1 movie every Friday.