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The GEORGE LAZENBY Appreciation thread - Discuss His Life, His Career, His Bond Films

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  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,999
    BAIN123 wrote:
    Haha, don't you forget about him ;)

    I'll admit though I would still take Laz in OHMSS over Connery in DAF.

    I can think of only one person who wouldn't (other than Connery himself). Hell, i'd take Lazenby in OHMSS over Conery in GF, TB, YOLT & DAF, and I like YOLT.

  • doubleohdaddoubleohdad
    Posts: 1,146
    OHMSS is a fantastic picture and towers over anything that was done after, up to Casino Royale, in my opinion.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,338
    doubleohdad wrote:
    OHMSS is a fantastic picture and towers over anything that was done after, up to Casino Royale, in my opinion.

    You're not wrong there.
  • CrabKeyCrabKey
    Posts: 2,022
    As was the case with many Connery fans, for me GL was hard to embrace when OHMSS came out. And yet the film seemed to have moved the series forward. It was not love/hate, it was more along the lines of love/she's got a great personality.

    Each time I revisit this film, I like it more, something I cannot say of the Moore or Brosnan films. Sometimes a film doesn't find its audience and is deemed a failure, but years later it emerges in a much different light. I think what has happened is we're now so used to so many Bonds since Connery that GL no longer seems an interloper. I no longer compare GL to SC, but to all of the Bonds, and GL more than carries his weight.

    OHMSS seemed to have a maturity that YOLT lacked, and that DAF most certainly couldn't approach. GL has been much maligned, but for this original Bond fan he provides one of the most satisfying Bonds in one of the top five films of the entire series.







  • doubleohdaddoubleohdad
    Posts: 1,146
    Lazenby's Bond was a gentleman/thug. Ole' Rog was a silly, soft nice man who closed his eyes when he fired a weapon.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,338
    CrabKey wrote:
    As was the case with many Connery fans, for me GL was hard to embrace when OHMSS came out. And yet the film seemed to have moved the series forward. It was not love/hate, it was more along the lines of love/she's got a great personality.

    Each time I revisit this film, I like it more, something I cannot say of the Moore or Brosnan films. Sometimes a film doesn't find its audience and is deemed a failure, but years later it emerges in a much different light. I think what has happened is we're now so used to so many Bonds since Connery that GL no longer seems an interloper. I no longer compare GL to SC, but to all of the Bonds, and GL more than carries his weight.

    OHMSS seemed to have a maturity that YOLT lacked, and that DAF most certainly couldn't approach. GL has been much maligned, but for this original Bond fan he provides one of the most satisfying Bonds in one of the top five films of the entire series.







    Well said.
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    edited July 2014 Posts: 5,080
    doubleohdad wrote:
    Lazenby's Bond was a gentleman/thug. Ole' Rog was a silly, soft nice man who closed his eyes when he fired a weapon.

    Moore closes his eyes when he fires a gun? Do you mean he blinks? It's a human reflex!
    Take this example of Connery's Bond killing Dent in Dr No-

  • SirHilaryBrayOBESirHilaryBrayOBE Chez Hilly, Portsmouth
    Posts: 66
    Even Clint Eastwood did it in Where Eagles Dare but then Clint was blazing away a great deal.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    All the Bond actors do it at some point if you look closely. They're actors after all - not experts in guns.
  • doubleohdaddoubleohdad
    Posts: 1,146
    CrabKey wrote: »
    As was the case with many Connery fans, for me GL was hard to embrace when OHMSS came out. And yet the film seemed to have moved the series forward. It was not love/hate, it was more along the lines of love/she's got a great personality.

    Each time I revisit this film, I like it more, something I cannot say of the Moore or Brosnan films. Sometimes a film doesn't find its audience and is deemed a failure, but years later it emerges in a much different light. I think what has happened is we're now so used to so many Bonds since Connery that GL no longer seems an interloper. I no longer compare GL to SC, but to all of the Bonds, and GL more than carries his weight.

    OHMSS seemed to have a maturity that YOLT lacked, and that DAF most certainly couldn't approach. GL has been much maligned, but for this original Bond fan he provides one of the most satisfying Bonds in one of the top five films of the entire series.







    I agree with all of this. Fantastic, mature filmmaking.
  • MooseWithFleasMooseWithFleas Philadelphia
    Posts: 3,370
    For Lazenby fans, George will be at The Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention in Maryland from Sep 18-20:http://midatlanticnostalgiaconvention.com/george-lazenby-james-bond-signing-autographs-in-maryland/
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    edited July 2014 Posts: 41,009
    MooseWithFleas wrote: »
    For Lazenby fans, George will be at The Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention in Maryland from Sep 18-20:http://midatlanticnostalgiaconvention.com/george-lazenby-james-bond-signing-autographs-in-maryland/

    I never check this thread, but I'm glad I did, because Lana Wood will also be there. This convention will be just two hours away from where I'll be attending college at yet again. Time to put on my begging pants and ask my lady to join me. The chance to meet James Bond and a Bond girl would be incredible. I'll have to prep myself on how to handle having a geek heart attack if I do go.

    Looking into more celebrities, and it looks like I'll have to bring Bond memorabilia for Lazenby and Wood and then my 'Alien Anthology' because Lambert from 'Alien' will be there, as well (Veronica Cartwright)!
  • Pierce2DanielPierce2Daniel
    Posts: 4,410
    I think the George Lazenby story is ripe for film adaption. I think Lazenby's life would make a great movie in the same vein as Tim Burton's 'Ed Wood' which is a very polished film about a terrible director. Or even perhaps P.T Anderson's 'Boogie Nights', you can start the film chronicling Lazenby's rise to fame before showing his inevitable fall from grace. The story is ripe with dramatic potential, for instance he left the most successful film franchise of all time and as a result become an industry joke and in the process essentially pressed the self-destruct button on his whole career.

    I'd get Joel Edgerton to play Lazenby

    0b514904b3208ac206222d691133c702.jpg

    The sad truth of the Lazenby saga is that had he been more co-opertative and not so much of a diva he could have played Bond for years to come and become a real big player in Hollywood. Lazenby stayed youthful looking and handsome for years after he left the series.
  • GetafixGetafix
    Posts: 11,425
    Yes, the whole Lazenby becoming Bond story is quite fascinating. It is definitely worthy of being made into a film.
  • SirHilaryBrayOBESirHilaryBrayOBE Chez Hilly, Portsmouth
    Posts: 66
    A Lazenby Biopic..."This Never Happened to the Other Fella"
  • doubleohdaddoubleohdad
    Posts: 1,146
    A Lazenby biopic- "I treated the cast and crew like sh#t and threw away a brilliant role so Roger Moore could come in and ruin the franchise with a softer, drunker and less athletic interpretation."
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    Posts: 5,080
    doubleohdad wrote: »
    A Lazenby biopic- "I treated the cast and crew like sh#t and threw away a brilliant role so Roger Moore could come in and ruin the franchise with a softer, drunker and less athletic interpretation."

    In your opinion.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    @doubleohdad. That's rich. According to his own admission Laz was drunk every night while filming OHMSS :p
  • doubleohdaddoubleohdad
    Posts: 1,146
    eliminate the drunk and keep the softer and less athletic
  • OHMSS69OHMSS69
    Posts: 2,341
    MayDayDiVicenzo wrote: »
    doubleohdad wrote: »
    A Lazenby biopic- "I treated the cast and crew like sh#t and threw away a brilliant role so Roger Moore could come in and ruin the franchise with a softer, drunker and less athletic interpretation."

    In your opinion.

    That is a film that I think most of us would gladly sit down and watch.
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    edited August 2014 Posts: 5,080
    OHMSS69 wrote: »
    MayDayDiVicenzo wrote: »
    doubleohdad wrote: »
    A Lazenby biopic- "I treated the cast and crew like sh#t and threw away a brilliant role so Roger Moore could come in and ruin the franchise with a softer, drunker and less athletic interpretation."

    In your opinion.

    That is a film that I think most of us would gladly sit down and watch.

    Me too, but I'm referring to his constant vilifying of Roger Moore's Bond.
  • NicNacNicNac Administrator, Moderator
    Posts: 7,584
    I think most fans have met GL at some point, he does get around. This may be a good collection point for selfies with George, or just your standard, good old fashioned photograph.

    I met him but didn't take a photo, so you have to take my word for it. :-)
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    edited December 2014 Posts: 11,189
    Funny interview with Aussie actor who worked with George. He sounds so modest :p

    *strong language*

  • AceHoleAceHole Belgium, via Britain
    edited December 2014 Posts: 1,731
    I'd take Lazenby (and OHMSS) over any of the following:

    Connery in DAF
    Moore in LALD & TMWTGG & AVTAK
    Brosnan in... anything

  • BAIN123BAIN123
    edited December 2014 Posts: 11,189
    I'd take Laz over Connery in DAF and Moore in Moonraker and AVTAK. Possibly Brosnan in DAD aswell but not sure.
  • doubleohdaddoubleohdad
    Posts: 1,146
    Laz was an awesome Bond, take him easy over Brosnan, Dalton and ugh, the Moore.
  • NicNacNicNac Administrator, Moderator
    Posts: 7,584
    He has certainly earned a few bucks trading on his involvement with the Bond franchise. I'm like many here - I wish he had done more, (yet not at the expense of Connery or Moore). So, there isn't an answer, just a certain feeling that had he continued he would have nailed it.

    Now, he seems a bit sad and tired from answering the same questions over and over. As a result he can't lay this ghost to rest, he has to live with his monumental error of judgement ie quitting the Bond role.

  • GetafixGetafix
    Posts: 11,425
    A good revenge follow up to OHMSS with Laz would have been great. He does seem a bit of an egotistical maniac though.
  • doubleohdaddoubleohdad
    Posts: 1,146
    He's an awesome Bond, yet some of his quotes in EON are a little embarrassing.
  • GetafixGetafix
    Posts: 11,425
    doubleohdad wrote: »
    He's an awesome Bond, yet some of his quotes in EON are a little embarrassing.

    Well, he was a hick from the middle of nowhere in Australia. A fish out of water, with a lot of ego, balls and good looks. I actually think despite that though, a lot of the outward stuff was bravado - I think he felt inadequate, hence a lot of the matcho posturing. He was happier with the lowly crew members down the bar, than hanging with the cast, director etc. Connery was moulded by Terrence Young from a working class tough guy, into a smooth international star. Hunt didn't help Lazenby make that transition - he just ignored him.
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