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Hear, hear. But one can hope they don't cock it up.
Honestly, aside from the video game weirdness and Connery's creepy massage I actually quite like it. Obviously I prefer TB and the supporting cast here isn't very good AT ALL, but Connery seems to have an energy again and I think it's quite fun.
Definitely agree about McClory though. His obsession with it was ridiculous.
@ThighsOfXenia: I agree, NSNA is quite fun and entertaining; I can have a good time with it if I try to look past the more goofy, silly aspects.
@DarthDimi: Excellent point about how disappointing NSNA was in light of McClory's opportunity. For all the legal trouble involved there, he produced quite a letdown; I wish NSNA had been worked on more than it was. One thing I can't ever get out of my mind as I watch NSNA is the fact that EVERYTHING feels so cheap and fake. I'm not sure what the budget or production values were, but from what NSNA looks like, I imagine they weren't that impressive.
EDIT: Ah, I've just found it:
http://www.mi6community.com/index.php?p=/discussion/8354/mgm-producers-finally-settle-with-mcclory-estate/p6
@Morgan was an absolute arse. Even @JamesPage waded in to this one.
FRWL has always found great favor with me, as it does with the majority of Bond fans. I've recently read some posts here of people claiming that it has a dreadfully slow pace and a dull feeling throughout, but I believe otherwise. Yes, the action does take an eternity to finally get moving, with only the gypsy camp battle to tide us over until the last half hour, but I think it works to FRWL's favor, rather than hurting it. The plot doesn't require a great load of action sequences, and therefore, they don't need to clog up the movie unnecessarily. Now, I've always been a fan of action in the Bond movies, and usually, the more the better, but with movies like FRWL, that doesn't apply. That being said, I can understand where people are coming from on the possibly slow pace, but I suppose it just doesn't bother me- FRWL has always been a favorite! The plot, the characters, Connery's performance, and the last half hour of straight up action all work together to produce quite an impressive movie. My only qualm about FRWL is the cinematography- to me, the location work just seems really dull and bland. It's as if there's this overarching gray that just makes the movie feel very black-and-white. Still though, it's not enough to take me out of the movie. FRWL will always be a top notch, top ranking favorite!
Spring 2014 Bondathon Ranking
1. GoldenEye
2. From Russia with Love
3. License to Kill
4. A View to a Kill
5. SkyFall
6. Tomorrow Never Dies
7. Octopussy
8. Diamonds Are Forever
9. The Man with the Golden Gun
10. The World is not Enough
11. The Spy Who Loved Me
12. Dr. No
13. Thunderball
14. You Only Live Twice
15. The Living Daylights
16. Live and Let Die
17. Die Another Day
18. Moonraker
19. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Maybe it's just Istanbul that doesn't do it for me, but then again, I enjoyed the Istanbul location work in SF, so who knows? I don't even think I can quite put a finger on it myself.
Finished it this morning. I'd place it right around dead-center in my rankings. I appreciate what they were trying to do with the more serious approach, but then again the film ends with Margaret Thatcher having a conversation with a parrot.
PRO
Carole Bouquet as Melina. Excellent Bond girl, as the type who's capable and driven but is still a little in over her head. Also the most classically beautiful of them all.
CON
Bouquet's dubbing. It is atrocious and offensive.
PRO
Those Greek island locations..over 23 films have not landed 007 in Greece nearly enough..with all that's going on there now maybe Craig will stop by in Bond 24!
CON
Lynn-Holly Johnson as Bibi. I can say with very little doubt that she is the most universally loathed character in the Bond universe, and proves it every time she speaks.
PRO
Cold War-driven plot, with Bond and the British working against Gogol and the russians. It's great to see look back at the Cold War race for an edge above the enemy through the lens of the Bond films, and FYEO delivers on that note.
CON
The cast of villains. Glover as Kristatos, Kriegler and Locque are just bland.
PRO
Topol as Columbo. One of the best, most likable, coolest Bond allies.
CON
Odd lack of score in many scenes where there should be (like when Bond and Melina are in the wreck of the St. Georges). In some of the action scenes it's completely silent and I find it rather distracting. Not just in FYEO; I have found this problem a lot in the late 70s/early 80s Bonds (Bond's final fight with Jaws in TSWLM comes to mind). Maybe it has something to do with the absence of John Barry.
PRO
Moore as Bond. I've been warming to my least favorite 007 lately (at least his performances from TSWLM-onward). I find his FYEO performance rather mature and cocksure, while he often came across as a douche in his first two films.
OVerall, FYEO is a perfectly fine entry to the series. I'd argue that its existence is more importance to the series than the film itself, as its more realistic tone brought the Bond franchise back down to earth and helped keep OP and AVATAK from getting too over the top. In conclusion FYEO is not necessarily a top 10 film for me, but certainly a top 15 entry.
Definitely. For every Casino Royale there is a Quantum of a Solace.
I was more favorably impressed this time 'round, and accordingly, it has climbed in my rankings. In many ways, this is actually a well-made film. Amid all the third world squalor, QOS contains its fair share of glamor, and in that connection, the Bregenz sequence is archetypal Bondian goodness. It is tony, classy, cool, a bit bizarre and David Arnold outdid himself with the scoring. It is one of the best sequences in any Bond film ever made.
The acting in the film is above reproach and Olga Kurylenko is lovely, even though she never smiles.
My reservations about QOS are trifold.
First is the editing. QOS is actually an action-packed film but the editing creates so much visual chaos that much of the action is wasted.
Second is the intrusion of politics. Contrary to some opinion, QOS is not exactly a Leftist screed--the right gets in a few licks, too--but it was the most heavily politicized Bond film up to that point. I suspect politicizing Bond is a bad idea. Cubby and Harry certainly thought so.
And third is the film's almost unrelieved grimness. QOS is so deadly serious and earnest and becomes more so as it proceeds. By the time the final frame goes dark, the viewer feels horsewhipped. That's all well and good if your watching an Ingmar Bergman film, but Bond? Again, I'm not sure this is a good idea.
But at any rate, QOS is certainly an interesting experiment.
This movie has slipped in my rankings. It used to be #1, but now it must share that spot with LTK, which I also recently watched.
Bond-A-Thon Ranking summer 2014:
.1. Dr. No
Sorry to report that IMO this was incredibly inferior to The Living Daylights earlier today. Lots of fun, yes, but so Sixties, so nearly Batman-quality nonsense. I can see now why Connery considers FRWL his best Bond.
Dr. No
If you haven't upgraded to blu-ray yet then I recommend that you do so immediately just so you can watch this film. It looks absolutely amazing. I would have to say that, out of all the Bond films, DN benefited the most from the transfer to blu-ray. Okay, so enough with all of that. How does the actual film hold up? Incredibly well. It's no secret that Connery absolutely nailed it from the get-go. He carries this film and it's incredibly fascinating to watch his every movement. So much guile behind the smile.
Things are quite simple this time around with this being the first Bond film. I must say that I found it quite refreshing to not be bombarded by an avalanche of CGI like most modern day blockbusters shit out at us. A quiet yet powerful moment shows us Bond putting his feet up and having a drink of vodka in his hotel room. I enjoyed these very personal and intimate moments. Likewise, the sequence where Bond waits for Dent to arrive to 239 Magenta Drive is thrilling in it's simplicity.
The whole cast is excellent. Lee's M and Maxwell's Moneypenny are a joy to watch and one gets the feeling that something extraordinary is being formed right before our very eyes. Jack Lord was the best Felix and it's a shame we never saw him again. Quarrel is a very underrated ally and Professor Dent is an excellent weasel of a villain. Ursula Andress didn't deliver an Oscar winning performance and it's rather obvious that she's there because of her body but I appreciate that she is just a simple girl looking for seashells. They would later make the mistake of thinking that models made convincing geologists and physicists.
Keeping Dr. No in the shadows for most of the film was both a stroke of genius and disappointing. When we do finally see him and get that big SPECTRE reveal it's magnificent. However, he's so wonderful that it makes you wish that we could have seen more of him. Indeed, the climax seems a little rushed. Just when we were getting to know you, Julius. It's hard not to feel a little sorry for him even though he's a monster. Here was a man who was tragically misunderstood. He made some terrible choices that we don't agree with but we can see where he's coming from and feel his sense of loss and rejection.
The Bond theme is incredible but the rest of the score is lacking. I suppose that it is part of the charm and goes along with the whole "simple" theme. Ken Adams created a world that words just cannot describe with his amazing sets. I've always wanted to spend a day in Dr. No's lair. Preferably not as a prisoner though. I had a great time watching this. Imagine if this had failed and no other Bond films had followed it. Thank goodness for Dr. No, to Cubby and Harry for getting it right and of course to Terence and Sean for creating the definitive version of cinema's greatest hero.
I'll post my thoughts on LALD tomorrow.
Dr No at the top? :)
Bond-A-Thon Ranking summer 2014:
.1.From Russia With Love
.2.Dr. No
Those first 4 Bond films are outstanding on Blu-ray. They're all excellent but those first 4 are eye-popping.
I fully agree! Though I have to say that CR is pretty amazing in Blu-Ray as well...
I still love this one. Moore comfortably steps into the role and makes it his own from the very beginning. Who knew that he would end up being the longest serving Bond? What a great cast this was. A truly memorable assortment of characters. Yaphet Kotto is wonderful (except when he's not but I'll get to that later) and is underrated as a main villain in my opinion. Tee Hee, Whisper and Baron Samedi are also fantastic and this just might be the best cast of baddies in the whole series.
Jane Seymour is (obviously) gorgeous and gives a good if not great performance. She has great chemistry with Rog and I think that they would make my top ten favorite Bond couples. Hedison's Leiter is a perfect match for Moore's Bond. It's too bad that we didn't get to see more of them together in the future. Even Sheriff Pepper put a smile on my face a time or two. Personally, the humor was mostly a hit for me and rarely missed during this viewing.
I really enjoyed the 70's vibe but I can see how some would be put off by it. The voodoo thing was a little strange but I enjoyed it for the most part. It was refreshingly unique. The action and settings were pretty good. Bond needs to get back to New York again. The boat chase might have dragged a little. Quarrel Jr. seemed pretty pointless but I suppose it was a nice touch. The less said about Rosie the better.
Honestly, the only thing that really bothered me was the whole Mr Big/Kananga dual identity thing. Who thought this was a good idea? I'm sorry but that makeup job isn't fooling anyone. It gets really silly when it's supposed to be such a dramatic reveal later on. So that sucks but the good really outweighs the bad for me here. Hamilton takes a lot of flak but I think he did a good job with this one.
Oh and I forgot to mention the score. Easily the best non Barry score for me and it elevates the film in a lot of places. Great job all around. An under appreciated film around these parts.