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Reviews of THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS
We've all made our lists: top 10, top 20 movies, top actors, top PTS sequences, and so forth. But now lets actually <i>review</i> the films.
Every few days this thread will review another installment of the Bond franchise. It will be set up with 3 scales and 3 open comment sections. <b>WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS TO THE MOVIES WE REVIEW.</b> The details are outlined below:
Scales:
1st: Overall movie rating: 1-5/5, 1 being "Whyyyyy" 5 being "Oh Chyea"
2nd: Snooze rating: 1-5/5, 1 being "Zzzzz" 5 being "0.0" (eyes peeled)
3rd: Bond's rating (actor): 1-5/5, 1 being cheap gags and desperate, 5 being original and fundamental
Open Comment:
1st: The Good - What did you like about the film. The good parts.
2nd: The Bad - What didn't you like, and all the spoiling parts.
3rd: Open Comment on .. anything relative to the movie.
And finally, <b>leave a suggestion</b> for the next movie review. Its how we pick our next movie!
The movie choices will follow no strict progression, and any suggestions not previously done will be considered.
Its time for our sixth round of reviews! This time the movie is:
<b>THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS</b>
Post your review below! (My review will be posted later, as a separate post)
Movies reviewed:
GOLENEYE - Average overall rating: 3.4 / 5
LIVE AND LET DIE - Average overall rating: 3.6 / 5
TOMORROW NEVER DIES - Average overall rating: 3.4 / 5
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE - Pending
MOONRAKER - Pending
THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS - Current
Every few days this thread will review another installment of the Bond franchise. It will be set up with 3 scales and 3 open comment sections. <b>WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS TO THE MOVIES WE REVIEW.</b> The details are outlined below:
Scales:
1st: Overall movie rating: 1-5/5, 1 being "Whyyyyy" 5 being "Oh Chyea"
2nd: Snooze rating: 1-5/5, 1 being "Zzzzz" 5 being "0.0" (eyes peeled)
3rd: Bond's rating (actor): 1-5/5, 1 being cheap gags and desperate, 5 being original and fundamental
Open Comment:
1st: The Good - What did you like about the film. The good parts.
2nd: The Bad - What didn't you like, and all the spoiling parts.
3rd: Open Comment on .. anything relative to the movie.
And finally, <b>leave a suggestion</b> for the next movie review. Its how we pick our next movie!
The movie choices will follow no strict progression, and any suggestions not previously done will be considered.
Its time for our sixth round of reviews! This time the movie is:
<b>THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS</b>
Post your review below! (My review will be posted later, as a separate post)
Movies reviewed:
GOLENEYE - Average overall rating: 3.4 / 5
LIVE AND LET DIE - Average overall rating: 3.6 / 5
TOMORROW NEVER DIES - Average overall rating: 3.4 / 5
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE - Pending
MOONRAKER - Pending
THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS - Current
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Comments
overall rating: 5/5, its currently at 6 in my ranking but thats not to say i didnt love the film.
snooze: 4/5, some bits bored me
bonds rating: 4/5, brosnan was at his best in this film but brosnan has never been my
fave bond, although he was good (hes tied in with craig at 3 in my ranking)
the good: classic DB5, awesome PTS, henchwoman with an extremely sexy power to kill men with her thighs, the tank chase, and funny moments (bond beating up guard while he is having a crap)
the bad: 006's "death", i dont understand how he could have survived. they could have made it so he had a "did he really die" death like tee-hee.
overall: definetly my fave brosnan flick, he is really at his best here. one of the best in the series for sure and ranks up there with goldfinger and TSWLM as a true classic.
Please share!
Something fresh in all of our minds (relatively).
Overall rating: 3/5 The most overratted film of the series. For those who like their Bonds unchallenging and riddled with cliches
Snooze: 3/5, The scenes with lots of runnig around with armed guards int he corridors of the satellite dish are tedious.
Bond's rating (Brosnan) 3/5, The best I can say is that Brozzer is energetic but it is the safest and most unadventurous portrayal of Bond as yet. Because he didnt have to try as the heir apparent it is a very unchallenging portrayal of the character.
The Good-To be fair it does take on Bonds sexism with a couple of lines and the demise of the Cold War. The secondary character such as Robbie Coltrane and Xenia Onatopp steal the show (although Boris Grischenko is a very unfunny character) and it does deserve plaudits for featuring Russia for the first time despite it looking like Hertfordshire. The tank chase is fun and very traditional.
The Bad- Breathtakingly formulaic. The first ten minutes are a checklist of Bond cliches ie Aston Martin, casino, dinner jacket, vodka martini, Bond. James..Bond. The villain is a little too cliched and Sean Bean kicked me out of the character by his over announciated RP. I never believed in the character. The music sounds like a 4 year old on a stylophone.
Overall - Perhaps this is what people wanted after a six year break? They wanted their Bond cliches/crutches. But it does seem a step backward after the razor sharp Dalton years. But this one seems too conventional, too formulaic. Pierce is fine, nothing more. I dont get the wow factor I got with Dalton and Craig. I think this one gets a free ride from alot of people.
Its not that I dont like it - there is not much I dislike. But I am underwhelmed by it. I think there are much more adult and interesting films in the seires.
Snooze 3/5. Not sure how to rate this. The sequences in Alaska (I think??) dragged on and on. In fact Natalia's early scenes before meeting Bond lack sparkle.
Bond (Brosnan). 2/5 There are glimmers of ability, a few half baked ideas for a performance. On the whole Brosnan doesn't nail it, he almost looks like a cat who has got the cream. 'Hey, I'm James Bond! I can't belieeeeve it any more than you can'. He veers from being pretty good to being rather bad. His smugness (eg when he confronts Xenia in the casino) is embarrassing, as is his tough guy act with Jack Wade. In more sensitive scenes with Natalia he looks and sounds more assured and in the action scenes he copes quite well. A real mixed bag.
The Good - Robbie Coltraine, Famke Jansson, Gottfried John, Jo Don Baker, Judi Dench, tank chase, PTS, some of the location work, some chunks of dialogue are as quotable as the best from the series.
The Bad - The film just doesn't crackle or sparkle or pull rabbits out of the preverbial hat, or take my breath away. I dunno, it lacks....UMPH.
And the tick box is there. A Q scene (terrible acting, terrible scene), A Penny scene (terrible acting from PB, terrible scene), An M scene (good acting, good scene), tuxedoes, casinos, aston martins, martinis, guns and girls. Play safe why don't you.
My sum up? - read @actonsteve. It's how I feel more or less (the less being the Dalton assessment ;-) )
In any event,
Goldeneye 1995
Overall rating 3 out of 5
Snooze rating 3 out of 5
Actor's Rating 4 out of 5
Good parts
Exciting opening, the tank chase, Bean was not too bad a villain, exotic locations, A New bond, a fresh approach etc
Bad parts
The Onatopp character, poor ending, absurd 'saving plane in free fall', Turner song, new bond gets introduced in a toilet block, other bones of contention most likely but there's room for everyone
Overall review
Was quite impressed when we went to see this on initial release after hearing some rave reviews but years later my interest seems to have waned. Not a favorite Bond film by any means, and actually, I can easily get bored watching it now. I still maintain Brosnan's best effort was The World Is Not Enough but here at times he did look the part and impressed in more than one scene as the classic British agent
Snooze rating: 4/5 - No real down time or boring moments
Bond's rating (actor): 1/5 - Poor performance by an actor who simply didn't have the tools to portray Bond.
The Good - Phenomenal cast, Bean is outstanding, John is strong as well as Ourumov, Coltrane was also rather amusing. Janssen was a great femme fatale, Scorupco was also decent. No flaw at all in any main character or supporting cast.
The Bad - Brosnan. Completely lost, unsure of himself and how to portray Bond, he would never have the chance to play in another decent movie as they would only go down after his first installment. GE was a movie about revenge, written specifically for Dalton and the movie greatly suffers by his absence. Brosnan wasn't convincing, I wonder to this day if Martin Campbell could have done anything else to get a better performance.
Open Comment GE was a fortunately a box office success, too quickly erroneously attributed to Brosnan. The public's craving for Bond after such a long drought would have generated a success with just about anyone portraying the role. It is also relatively amusing to consider how great Sean Bean was a 006/Trevelyan, he could in my opinion have portrayed an outstanding Bond. Perhaps one of the biggest missed opportunities in the Franchise's history.
Overall Definitely the best Brosnan movie, and still a rather decent movie, GE is like beautiful desert which ends up tasting like a 2$ grocery bought cake. It could have been so much more, even classic.
Don't forget to re-watch LALD if need be by Saturday! (Everybody)
Overall rating 1 out of 5
Snooze rating 2 out of 5
Actor's Rating 1 out of 5
Just silly. The inception was silly, the product was silly, and the censors were silly.
My Review (Going to be very simple)
Overall - 2/5 Moore's era isn't my thing
Snooze - 2/5 Hard to watch after a full work day
Bond - 4/5 Moore is actually a lot better than I remembered
The Good - The bad guys, the bad guys, the bad guys. That laugh sends chills every time (the half white faced guy). The title sequence song, can not go wrong with Paul McCartney. I also thought the face exploding into a skull was a VERY cool effect. As for the rest of the movie, the cinematography is nice. The movie transferred well onto Blu-ray. Would be better without some unnecessary cuts. Overall the move was pretty good, but I'm still not into the time period.
The Bad - Some lines are just way too cheesy. The movie has aged through time and doesn't really fit well in a serious light. The first half hour is pretty decent, but the rest gets lost. The worst is the baddie death scene. The balloon thing is just silly, and looks so terrible.
Sorry my review took so long, had to re-watch on a busy schedule. :)
I'll all for keeping the forum clean and readable etc but maybe each Bond release would of looked better in it's own space and each participant got a turn to review their/A film of choice rather than keep it bunched up in one whole lot.
What happened to the individual reviews and why the change in direction?
I'm not attempting to change any direction. I just wanted to be able to look at my pier's thoughts about films under one link. Quite frankly, but with respect, I don't see why such a call out is necessary. We're free to post our thoughts, and organize how our discussions work, I chose this way.
I'm going to keep this discussion going unless a mod disagrees, at which I'll respectfully end. Seeing as its not causing a big nuisance to anyone so far, I encourage you to continue posting your thoughts in the manner you see fit, but I want you to understand why I set this up. And if I don't get any reviews but my own I'll end it.
:) JWESTBROOK
Just reminding the community to review their favorite blaxploitation Bond movie!
Still no reviews? Anybody?
snooze: 3/5. again some bits bored me
bonds rating: 3/5. one of moores best outings and i enjoy his portrayal of bond, but if you compare it to other bonds its not brilliant.
the good: sexy women, cool main villian with 2 identities (something that hasnt been done before or since) and the 2 best henchmen of the series (samedi/tee-hee are better than oddjob and jaws imo, at least thier roles required acting rather than just showing teeth or throwing a hat)
the bad: crocodile stepping stones. perhaps bond should have a spin off TV show called the crocodile whisperer
overall: my second favourite moore flick. and tee-hee is the greatest henchman ever, samedi follows in close second. then oddjob. then jaws. then red grant. then rip off red grant from TND. then anybody i missed out. then zao.
Overall rating, 4.5/5 Could well be my favorite Bond film, it has exotic locations, colorful characters, Jane Seymour, maybe the best theme intro by Wings, a new Bond, I don't get easily bored watching this, more of a bond for grown ups or mature teens rather than kids at the time of release but by todays standards seems tame or mellowed than what we saw in theaters in '73
You got the 'snooze rating' back to front by the way, should be 1 for most lively and vibrant and 5 for the most mundane or banal, Live And Let Die gets a 2 in this instance.
Bond rating 3/5. - Moore's first go at the role, and at times it seems like he isin't taking everything seriously enough, a flippant attitude when there's danger or peril close by, this would continue to a large extent in future Moore efforts. On the other hand, he did look the part on occasion, maybe in no small part to being at his (bond) youngest at time of filming.
Good parts, excellent music for the credits, lots to get invloved in, I enjoyed the opening bit when M arrives in the early hours and Moore demonstrates his special watch. I actually enjoyed the JW pepper character and there was some genuine laugh out loud moments when he was on screen. Got to mention Seymour again, I liked the voodoo angle, even if it did scare me to a benign degree when first watched, also liked the croc' farm where Bond gets stranded on the island, other bits worth mentioning but I'll keep it short.
The Bad- You watch this and it's generally seen sometimes as some Blaxploitation variation of the time, I wouldn't say this film is racist, by god no, but there were moments when some derogatory remarks over skin color were evidently clear, what others think is up to them but that's how it appeared, the film hasn't aged well, attire and cultures are firmly stuck in the 1970s for the most part, but that's when the film was released after all, just seems terribly oudated from a 21st century perspective. Have to include a poor climax where Bond gets to do some silly fighting with Yaphet Kotto who blows up like a balloon and hits the ceiling, pretty lousy fare. I also didn't approve of the guy (Samedi) who appears on the train at the end laughing away.
Overall- Enough to keep any Bond enthusiast or neutral busy for the most part, and there is enough to get involved in, Best theme tune and best Bond girl in the same picture deserves a few stars, Moore did OK for the most part but hardly his best picture, a nice mixture of laughs and frights, still think a PG was the wrong classification at time of release, if there had been '12's in 1973 that would of been more suitable.
Any suggestions for the next movie?
2. Snooze Rating: 3/5
3. Bond's Rating: 5/5
The Good:
-Roger Moore's debut as 007; he played it cool, suave, deadly, lethal, and brought the right amount of humor without going overboard and ruining the part
-The villains; one of the best villain lots of a Bond movie, with such memorable characters like Dr. Kananga, Tee Hee, and Baron Samedi
-The balance of light/dark; Roger Moore brought a lighter side of Bond to a relatively darker toned Bond movie, so it balances out nicely
The Bad:
-Action; the movie lacks in consistent, engaging action; what we get is very dull and choppy, and doesn't last too long
-Rosie Carver; ugh...
Overall:
A very entertaining Bond movie that takes you to exotic locations on a whirlwind ride with an engaging plot, menacing villains, creepy voodoo, and classic Moore humor. A Top Ten Bond movie in my rankings!
As for the next review, I'd say Tomorrow Never Dies
We'll start reviewing TOMORROW NEVER DIES around Wednesday or Thursday. I still have to post my review for LALD!
Just kidding, however the scores work out is fine by me!
And thanks for agreeing to TND. I'm actually in the process of watching it; I starting re-watching TND again on Wednesday, and I plan to continue sometime this evening where I left off.
[-X Non of the Bond films should be remade! This is my second favorite Moore Bond film. This one didn't have anywhere near as much comedy as Moore's later films did. Moore has said he purposely made his Bond more comical to be a different Bond than Connery's. I think he did it very well and I enjoy his Bond.