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I saw A View To A Kill today. I haven’t enjoyed this film this much, in quite some time.
It was the first Bond film my Mother got for me on VHS, along with The World Is Not Enough. So, I have some sentimental feelings towards this one.
Also, there’s another reason for loving AVTAK. It was a few months after my stroke. During a viewing of A View To A Kill, we reach the scene where Bond and Stacey are having dinner. “Wine With Stacey” is one of my most cherished John Barry tracks. During that particular scene, I experienced goosebumps down the entire right side of my body - demonstrating the return of physical sensation there, post stroke. For that reason, A View To A Kill is very special to me.
Now, to some flaws of A View To A Kill. Similar to Diamonds Are Forever the film suffers from a disturbing malaise, such as poor dubbing, poor extras and casting choices, obvious stunt doubles etc etc. (For instance when Gogol is picking up Pola, is not the actor Gotell, but a double, then changes to Gotell when he and Pola are in front of a blue screen.)
Apart from this, and a slight pedestrian feel to the picture, there is a lot to enjoy to A View To A Kill, namely Barry's score, the performances from Walken, Jones, Fullerton and Macnee, the whole climax and having an intuitive Bond doing a nice bit of espionage, keeping in tone with the previous Glen efforts. And enjoy it I did, apart from the usual "comedic" elements, of course.
I always find A View To A Kill to be a schizophrenic film; youthful, dynamic pairing of Zorin and Mayday vs. the aged forces of MI6; inventive action scenes (steeplechase, City Hall) vs. seventies spectacle (Paris chase, Fire truck escape); forward thinking plot vs. 70’s overt humour; well written characters, unfortunately portrayed by weak actors; Moore’s easy going charm vs. cut- throat 80’s business ethos. It’s like the producers wanted to give Roger Moore a spectacular send off, but the film can’t make up its mind whether go with seventies excess vs. eighties characters/conservative style.
It’s an unfitting way to say goodbye to Sir Rog; I always get a lump in my throat when the end titles come up, it really is the end of an era. And as a consequence, I can't hate this film.
Granted, Moore should have hung up his shoulder holster with Octopussy, a much more fitting way to end Moore's tenure. Moore looked good for his age, but that age is a mite too old to be playing 007. Moore's age is engaging in one sense, as one fears for him. Not the reaction that the filmmakers were going for, but an interesting observation to make, nonetheless.
Regardless, Moore's performance in A View To A Kill is top notch, being suave and charming as ever, mixed in with a little steely determination. As with John Glen's other efforts, the character of Bond is well defined, giving Moore's Bond something to do other than visiting exotic locations and quipping.
For example, at Zorin's party at his French stables, Moore has a fine time posing as an eccentric Englishman, in almost a pastiche of the roles Moore stereotypically played.
There are instances of espionage and detective work scattered throughout the picture, and Bond shows his resourcefulness, when, underwater, he breathes air from a tyre of a submerged Rolls Royce, which was carrying the unconscious Bond and the dead Tibbett.
Since Glen began directing Moore, his interactions with the main heavy of the piece, has gotten colder. This is especially true of Zorin, with an undercurrent of hostility between the two men.
Two prime examples of this are when Zorin orders Tibbett to be killed, and when Zorin murders a City Hall employee right in front of Bond and Stacey, framing Bond in the process. Bond's “It's not mutual” and “Speechless with admiration”, respectively, are practically spat out with Bond's contempt for Zorin.
Bond is his usual provoking self at Zorin's party, and one sees a more paternal figure as he takes care of Stacey. It is a shame that the filmmakers decided to discard this rather novel approach to Bond and Stacey's relationship, in order to have them be romantic at the end of the movie.
Throughout his seven Bond pictures, Roger Moore provided a steady hand, when the films were at their most inconsistent. Moore was essential in ensuring the Bond series had long term success; and indeed Live and Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me, and Moonraker are amongst the three highest grossing Bond films to date.
The public perception of spies had changed, certain styles had been and gone, but against it all was Roger Moore's Bond - seemingly impervious to cinematic trends, a vital touchstone to this ever changing world in which we live.
Through Moore's sense of self assurance, his lightness of touch, and haughty indifference, he established his own unique take on the character of 007, with his advancing years being offset wonderfully by his laconic humour. As Moore's original screenwriter, Tom Mankiewicz said, “Moore was the old Etonian dropout that Ian Fleming had envisaged”. Nobody does it better.
Some thoughts on A View To A Kill -
- The lone chap fishing on San Andreas Lake – is it Martin Grace?
- The subtle use of sardonic humour that underpins AVTAK – such as when Bond and Chuck are informed by O’Rourke that Zorin’s pumping station is heavily armed, and the look exchanged between them; Mortner is Zorin’s “breeding consultant”; the look on Conley face when the KGB diver is fed through the pipeline; Gogol’s admittance about Silicon Valley and the Soviets reliance of them.
- I guess it is fitting that we have a “comedy Sheriff” to bookend Moore’s tenure.
- The way Bond is bested by Zorin and Mayday.
- Even MayDay is shocked over Zorin’s increasing psychotic behaviour, when he feeds that poor KGB agent into the pumping machine.
- Zorin’s giggling massacre of his mine workers is horrific, especially for a Bond film.
- Zorin is immune to Bond's jibes.
- John Barry’s music is driving, foreboding and melancholiac.
- MayDay is not holding the handbrake to evacuate the bomb for the greater good or she has just had an epiphany, she’s sacrificing herself simply for vengeance.
- Bond offers to help Tibbet with the luggage by grabbing an umbrella, in the same vein Stacy helps Bond out by picking up the driver’s helmet, after Bond has laid him out cold.
- We see, as par for the course in the 80’s Bond films, a more human Bond, gently whiling down from a playboy Bond into a more domesticated Bond.
- Moore’s chivalrous nature is a pleasing counterpoint to the amoral leanings of Zorin and MayDay, and is timeless in 80’s cinema culture.
- Moore and Roberts have a nice comradery relationship, and Stacy herself is a good character – fighting to keep her families name intact – slightly ruined by a poor actress. Still, Roberts’ is stunning.
Royale’s Ranking -
1. From Russia With Love
2. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
3. Dr. No
4. Goldfinger
5. Thunderball
6. The Spy Who Loved Me
7. Octopussy
8. For Your Eyes Only
9. You Only Live Twice
10. A View To A Kill
11. Moonraker
12. The Man With The Golden Gun
13. Diamonds Are Forever
14. Live and Let Die
Just want to say that now the Moore era is over it's fair to summarise by saying the series owes a great debt to him. He steadied the boat at a time of great uncertainty and gave us a unique if controversial take on the character.
He was never going to be able to emulate Sean Connery, so he didn't try. Instead we got a mixture of SimonnTemplar and Brett Sinclair. And what is wrong with that?
Thank you Sir Roger, it was a pleasure
I never brought this point up, but it's worth mentioning. The brutality of it seems more akin to the tone of Licence To Kill.
I believe Roger Moore saw this scene as the moment he realised he had to leave. As opposed to his actual age. Bless him.
We must try and keep our intrepid little band together now for a couple more months. [-O<
Throughout the 80's the Bonds had gotten more violent to keep up with the Rambo's of this world. It's quite unsettling to see, what was then a more family orientated spy caper, give into the trends of the day.
Just think, if Zorin's EMP resistant microchip had gone into production, we wouldn't of had GoldenEye....
Better than none! I know I ducked out like an ass for a while, but I just wanted to give a big thanks to those of you sticking through this. It's been a lot of fun, shame none of the others saw it as such.
I should have the rest of my thoughts shared on the film by the end of the day. I've been avoiding Dalton's era to save it for the Bondathon, so I'm really looking forward to TLD, haven't seen it in months.
And @Agent_99 you can add your thoughts after the cinema viewing if you want, it's fine to back track.
I've sort of been going about this entire assessment and discussion backwards, so I've touched on Moore several other times throughout. Overall, though: I've always loved Moore as Bond, and as noted elsewhere, his age in this is a minor nitpick, not bothering me too often. It's only an issue for the stunt work, as it A.) requires them to use more older actors in the fight scenes, and B.) it makes the stunt doubles/drivers even more easier to spot. However, if Moore wasn't in this, we never would've gotten the AVTAK we have today, which, as I always say, is one of the most entertaining installments in the series for me, regardless of its ranking. Much like Maxwell in the role of Moneypenny, it's a bittersweet performance because it's good that they're moving on to let a younger actor step into a more believable rendition of the role now, but also upsetting to see their final take on the character, too.
BOND GIRLS:
Stacey Sutton: Aside from the constant screaming during action sequences, I've actually warmed to her over the years, as well. I used to think she was simply annoying when I was younger and would've loved someone else in the role, but I do enjoy that she manages to help Bond out a good deal while subsequently not having to be "Bond's equal in female form."
Pola Ivanova: She's always been one I could do without; gorgeous, but all we manage is an awkward bathtub scene as she attempts to one-up Bond, and fails. Perhaps under different circumstances and a completely different scene, she would have been able to make a bigger impact for me, but with this, she's not much more than just another random girl that Bond beds.
May Day: (See VILLAIN/HENCHMEN category.)
BOND ALLIES:
Sir Godfrey Tibbett: The man, the legend. Patrick Macnee has, obviously, excellent chemistry with Moore as Bond here, managing to be a very funny ally at times (the bit with him carrying Bond's luggage is a treat) and helpful in a lot of other situations (minus getting his ass handed to him in the shipping area fight). Unfortunately, that same helpful attitude inevitably gets him ambushed and killed by May Day; how he never noticed her hiding in the backseat, though, when he got back into his car, is beyond me.
Achille Aubergine: Another one that isn't given much time to develop, so he's reduced to nothing more than a couple of one-liners and tiny bits of information to assist in Bond's journey, before meeting his untimely demise at the hands of May Day's poison butterfly.
Chuck Lee: I can't tell you what it is, but I can't stand him, for some reason. I definitely could've done without him, perhaps instead allowing Bond to arrive in San Francisco and meet up with Felix Leiter to get the information. That way, they wouldn't have to overdo the whole "May Day was hiding in the backseat and is going to strangle a Bond ally" angle, and we'd get another appearance by Felix.
M/MP/Q:
M: Robert Brown's character isn't terribly present throughout, but when he is, he's typically frustrated to some degree. My favorite scene of his is the one during the finale, with Gogol. Unfortunately, not too much to say when not many scenes are featured with him.
MP: The terrific Lois Maxwell is featured, in a bittersweet final role. I say bittersweet because, as sad as it is to have her finally depart after such a long time, it's also good because she was obviously getting too old at this point.
Q: Desmond Llewelyn once again returns as Q, and unfortunately, he assists Bond with the microchip business toward the beginning of the film, even accompanying him to the horse race (which I actually do enjoy; "She must take a lot of vitamins!"), then largely disappears until the very end, when he locates Bond at Stacey's estate. Still, even though he doesn't get a workshop scene or any more screentime than that, it's always nice getting to see Llewelyn in the films.
VILLAIN/HENCHMEN:
Max Zorin: Christopher Walken is fantastic to me in the role of Max Zorin - threatening, on edge, obviously insane and mad - and definitely not helped by Mortner's work on him. He gets some good dialogue to work with, his acting shines throughout, and he manages to have several sequences that really cement him as one of the more brutal and deadly villains throughout the series.
May Day: I've always liked her, as well, particularly the redemption she receives by helping Bond stop Zorin's plan at the end, sacrificing herself with one last look at Zorin, who is in disbelief. I don't mind her killing Aubergine or Chuck Lee, as I could live without both characters, but the one time I hate her character is when she kills Tibbett. Poor, poor Tibbett.
Dr. Carl Mortner/Hans Glaub: Sinister but sweet, his appearance is noted throughout, but he never becomes a threat in my eyes until the very end of the film, when he finally decides to take action. However, he bungles that and meets a fiery death.
Scarpine: He seems to be utilized more in the estate scenes, making a lot of introductions to Bond and spying on him, before disappearing here and there throughout, popping up to kill Jeff at City Hall, then again in a pivotal moment as he helps Zorin gun down all of the workers and men in the mines. He's pretty useless in the finale, getting obliterated by a mixture of Mortner's odd babbling and the dynamite detonation.
We also get minimal moments with Jenny Flex and Pan Ho, who never necessarily make an impact for me. They're simply just there most of the time.
STORY/ACTION:
With a villain's scheme that's rather similar to GF and TWINE, we have Bond going up against an insane magnate who plans to destroy Silicon Valley (with a horse racing scam on the side) in order to obtain a monopoly over microchips. We get a distinct change in scenery throughout, as Bond finds himself traveling throughout locales such as Siberia, France, and the United States, which is always nice, especially if a particular location is given enough time to breathe. We do spend a lot of screentime in the latter two countries, thankfully.
From the opening shots to the finale, we're given a lot to enjoy in the action department, although as I've mentioned before, it can be a bit marred at times by the rather obvious stunt doubles/drivers, due to Moore's age at the time. It seems to ruin the film for some, but for me, it's a minor nitpick - I do wish he could've magically been younger in this, but the film is way too entertaining for me to be too heavily bothered by it. The PTS is incredible, probably in my Top 10, and I also enjoy the foot chase/car destruction pursuit throughout Paris, as Bond hopes to stop May Day. Again, the aforementioned nitpick rears its head here, with an incredibly obvious stunt driver in a lot of the shots. Bond's tumble through the roof and onto the wedding cake is a bit goofy looking, too, and can manage to kill a bit of the previous excitement from the car chase.
Bond and Tibbett investigating Zorin's estate is very fun, as Tibbett is one of my favorite allies in the series; however, it ends up being dampened by the terribly dull and laid back fight scene in the shipping area. It's then made up for by Bond's timely escape back into the building by climbing the closing bridge, followed by some quick-thinking by climbing into May Day's bed.
I'm not sure how everyone else feels about the horse track race between Bond, Zorin, and Zorin's goons, but I love it, especially because Bond manages to beat all of Zorin's traps, further frustrating him before Bond escapes momentarily. Very thrilling.
There's the business at the oil rig, and over the last few years, I've found Bond attempting to escape the tunnel and failing due to the pressure to be incredibly intense.
We get the shootout and brawl at Stacey's, which could've been so much better if Moore was in his prime - not only would it not have to rely on so much stunt work, but it likely would've given us younger goons for Bond to fight, as the guys he seems to tussle with her are as aged as him. Still, we get a couple of cool moments throughout, like Bond stopping the guy on the ledge before he can shoot, or the roll he does before shooting the guy on the steps.
Next, we have the City Hall/firetruck chase. I love all of the City Hall scenes - Bond and Stacey breaking back in to investigate, then getting caught and trapped by the flames. Side note: Zorin gets one of my favorite lines in the film here - "Alive and well, I see, and still bungling in the dark."
The entire escape is very daring and tense, only slightly ruined at times by Stacey's incessant screaming, which gets old. Then, we get to the firetruck chase throughout San Francisco. Is it unique? Yes, but over the years, it has seemed a little dated to me, relying way too much on gags and the comedy to move it along, instead of focusing on it being thrilling and fun.
Finally, there's all the action in the finale, which I touched on the other day - I love it.
MI6Community Bondathon: (May change at any time.)
1.) DN
2.) OHMSS
3.) LALD
4.) TSWLM
5.) GF
6.) YOLT
7.) FYEO
8.) FRWL
9.) OP
10.) TB
11.) AVTAK
12.) DAF
13.) TMWTGG
14.) MR
As for now, my opinion constantly changes about TLD, a couple of viewings ago I admit to being bored watching it, the it moved to Top 10. All depends on mood I guess but today I have enjoyed it very much, although there are a good few things that I'm not so keen on.
It's not perfect and there are things I haven't enjoyed so much, such as the rooftop chase (as mentioned above - and thank goodness we didn't get the magic carpet ride) and parts of the airstrip sequence. There are also some super scenes, the pts in particular, along with the post credit scene, superb.
Obviously, I will post about other stuff as the week goes on, however, for now, here is how it fits in my ranking.
New Ranking
1. OHMSS
2. TSWLM
3. GF
4. FRWL
5. OP
6. DN
7. TLD
8. LALD
9. AVTAK
10. FYEO
11. MR
12. TB
13. YOLT
14. TMWTGG
15. DAF
Previous Ranking
1. The Spy Who Loved Me
2. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
3. Casino Royale
4. From Russia With Love
5. Skyfall
6. Goldfinger
7. Octopussy
8. Spectre
9. Dr No
10. The Living Daylights
11. Goldeneye
12. Live And Let Die
13. Licence To Kill
14. A View To A Kill
15. For Your Eyes Only
16. Moonraker
17. Thunderball
18. Quantum Of Solace
19. Diamonds Are Forever
20. Tomorrow Never Dies
21. You Only Live Twice
22. The Man With The Golden Gun
23. Die Another Day
24. The World Is Not Enough
I'll have to rewatch it another time or two to post my more in-depth thoughts throughout the week, but overall, TLD is one that I used to be able to live without - was nothing monumental or special to me, so I never raced to put it in my blu-ray player - but lately, it has grown on me...until the last few viewings.
It has its strengths, particularly the PTS, sniper/pipeline scenes, everything at the Blayden House, and the Pushkin assassination scene/Bond's escape. It's the other bits and bobs that feel rather weak to me - acquiring Kara and escaping across the lake, and pretty much everything in Afghanistan drags for me now, particularly once they arrive, up until Bond finally takes off and has the net fight with Necros.
I've never particularly cared for Kara, and a lot of the supporting characters throughout don't make much of an impact, but I really like Pushkin, and I'm a fan of Kamran Shah, Saunders, Necros, and the criminally underrated Green Four. Caroline Bliss just might be my least favorite Moneypenny (she comes across as incredibly ditzy and goofy in this), while Robert Brown and Desmond Llewelyn return to play M and Q, respectively. While it might not be one of my favorites, I am happy to get a return of the Q workshop scene with Bond, which was absent in AVTAK.
Overall, a middle-of-the-road installment that may teeter closer to the latter half of my rankings. Thankfully, LTK is a huge improvement for me in the Dalton era, and this is one of the only times where a Bond actor's first film isn't my favorite of theirs (the other being Craig, with QoS ever-so-slightly edging out CR).
MI6Community Bondathon: (Subject To Change)
1.) DN
2.) OHMSS
3.) LALD
4.) TSWLM
5.) GF
6.) YOLT
7.) FYEO
8.) FRWL
9.) OP
10.) TB
11.) AVTAK
12.) DAF
13.) TLD
14.) TMWTGG
15.) MR
Time to make sense of my notes.
However, that’s not how it went so on to Timothy Dalton, in his first outing as 007. It’s quite clear from the off that we are in for something completely different with Dalton’s 007, a mile away from what we saw with Sir Rog. He’s more serious, less of the fun, smirking, eyebrow raising, quip-laden Bond we had before. I do like Dalton and his performance is very good, particularly in the more serious scenes of the movie, the pts and post title scene, the death of Saunders and the faceoff with Pushkin. He’s also a more emotional Bond from what we saw with Moore and Connery, but not with Lazenby. His Bond is almost a return to what we got to see in OHMSS, not just the emotion, but scenes of happiness and joy (like we see on the rollercoaster – such a smile of joy we haven’t seen since Lazenby, even if we saw it to that extent then). Dalton is a real thespian, a classically trained actor and this can play to his disadvantage at times, causing a little overacting in certain scenes, maybe over emphasising at times. There are a few things that also don’t seem to sit right with him and this may be down to his experience; the one-liners don’t have the effect that Moore’s had on me (He met his Waterloo, in particular, poor) and his scene with Moneypenny when he pats her bottom just doesn’t seem to sit right with his 007. This could well be because we had Connery for 6 (official) movies and Moore for 7 so we know what to expect and a different take on it takes some getting used to. Overall though, as a performance, Dalton is very good, as Bond (because of what I am used to and enjoy myself), he is just good. Not sure if any of that makes sense but hope it’s clear enough.
So, on to the Bond girl of the movie, Maryam d’Abo as Kara Milvoy. Not sure where to start here, I know a lot of people are not a fan the character, which is completely fair enough, but I guess the actress can only go on what she is given. As a character, Kara, is certainly a little annoying. I love the fact that she is a wonderful cellist (is that the correct word?) first off but she almost feels like a Bond girl from the Moore era, not from a more serious Bond movie that we are getting now. The constant cooing over Georgi gets tiresome quickly – especially when she sticks her lips on Bonds on the ferris wheel – then asking if there was a message from Georgi soon after (after the death of Saunders but she knew nothing of that). There’s also the silly grinning she does at times when in danger or when it’s all going off; one that sticks with me is the scene where Bond has taken the plane at the airstrip, Kara is driving the jeep to catch him up but, once she catches his eye, she starts smiling all gooey as if everything is ok. A bit of an annoyance really and it reminds me of something you’d see in an Airplane movie, I was waiting for her to start know things over with the jeep. However, I guess d’Abo can only go with what she is given and, to be fair, if that’s how she’s written, then she does it well and she does have her good points in the movie.
Next up, the henchman of the movie, Necros, played by Andreas Wisniewski. Always a threat during his time on screen, the scene at Blayden House, his fight with Green Four and the plane scrap with Bond are all superb and he remains a constant threat throughout the movie. Not too keen on his “Pleeeaasseee!” as Bond his cutting his boot laces as it shows him slightly softer (although I guess it’s acceptable to now want him to do it) but he is a good addition to the list of henchmen in the Bond series.
The villains – I’ll start with Georgi Koskov first, played by Jeroen Krabbe. You’ll probably love him or hate him I think. Two sides to his character, as we see him firstly playing the threatened man trying to escape to Austria with the help of Bond etc., his “kidnapping” from Blayden House, before the little twist and we find that he’s not all he is seen to be. I like how Krabbe plays him, especially in the first instance and you feel that his life is under threat. Once we find out that he is, in fact a wrong ‘un, then I don’t find him as good a character. I don’t see him as much of a threat to Bond or anyone else who he goes up against. He is a crafty so and so though, right until the end when Pushkin gets hold of him.
Joe Don Baker is an actor I do like, big, brash and loud. Here, he’s Brad Whitaker, a man who, quite obviously, loves a battle (nice hobby), as well as loving generals etc. from the past. The wax model of himself dressed as these “pantheon of great commanders” do a good job of showing what this man is all about. Baker is good here, he feels more of a threat than Koskov does (even though he never moves from his hideout) and matches up to Bond in their head to head towards the end of the movie.
The supporting cast, with one major change here after 14 movies. First though, Robert Brown as M is good again here. He has certainly grown on me over the last 2 movies and I think he is at his best here during the scene at Blayden House. His reaction to the change of champers that Bond buys for Koskov is excellent, but I really enjoy how he takes a look at the list he is given re: Smiert Spionem, and quickly puts it in his pocket without saying a word to Bond. The glance he gives, gives it away but I do like the show of respect he gives to say nothing. He does reveal it later but in that moment, he shows how much of a caring side he has to his 00’s.
Desmond Llewellyn is still going strong as Q and it’s nice that we see him back in his lab, twice in this movie, the ghetto blaster scene and the keyring. It’s a nice hark back to the days where Bond was an irritant to him, even without 007 really saying too much to him. Can’t beat Llewellyn.
I really like the character of Saunders, from finding Bond going against the rules and ensuring that his report shows as much, to the turn around and giving Bond the help he requires, despite the fact it could cost him. Which it did, but not in the way he thought; his death scene is very powerful and gives a great reaction from Dalton. Thomas Wheatly is very good in this role.
There’s Art Malik as Kamran Shah, again another great actor in this movie. Initially, you have no idea that his character is a leader in the Mujahadeen, he seems to be just another prisoner that the Russian (sounds more like he’s come straight from The Beatles really) jailer has placed in a cell. I like how he plays it so we don’t know who he really is and the turnaround to show us who he really is, is very good. A good character and I love how he and a few of his men turn up at the end of Kara’s concert, barging in to the after party etc. Very good.
John Rhys-Davies chews up every scene he is in. I think he is wonderful as General and he appears in 2 of the better scenes in the movie, his interrogation by Bond and his “assassination”, that I think is played so well. I particularly enjoy how, after the event, he opens his eyes and gives a rather half-hearted apology to his missus. Always makes me laugh. Great chemistry between himself and Dalton and a very welcome addition to the movie. Would have been nice to see him in a future instalment.
Quickly through some others, Virginia Hey looks good as Rubavitch and gives a little peek, but is ok for what she does, John Bowe seems to ham it up as Col. Feyador, Julie Wallace is just in there for comedy value as Rosika Miklos and Belle Avery is quite the temptress as Linda.
We see Felix Leiter return, played by John Terry. Of all the incarnations of the character, I do feel that he is the worst of the lot. Poorly acted, very wooden and not a fan.
Finally, the big change of this movie. After 14 adventures, we have a new Moneypenny. Now, to be fair to Caroline Bliss, she had some pretty big shoes to fill in following the wonderful Lois Maxwell. Caroline Bliss tries her hardest to make the character her own but doesn’t do the job justice I’m afraid. I don’t hate her as Moneypenny but she is far from anything that Maxwell gave us. I almost feel like the producers/director wanted to give us a Moneypenny with a sexy secretary look, I don’t know. To be fair, she kind of gives that off a little but, still, that’s not Moneypenny for me.
Hope that’s all ok regarding the characters/cast. Cheers.
George Lazenby will always be remembered for being the 'failed' Bond. The once only Bond who never quite lived up to his more illustrious predecessor or indeed those that followed. The Zeppo Marx of the Bond world if you like.
For Timothy Dalton it is proving to be an altogether different proposition. Never to be dismissed as Lazenby was and reduced to being a favourite quiz show question nor to be recalled as easily as the other actors due to the number of films he made, Dalton simply runs the risk of becoming the 'forgotten' Bond. A side note in film history. If we were talking about the 1960 movie The Magnificent 7, Dalton would be Brad Dexter.
You know..important in the greater scheme of things, but the one no one really remembers.
But, is that fair?
The Living Daylights - Actor Notes
Like several other Bond actors Dalton's film career had been about support roles in big films, or starring roles in more modest productions (Brosnan and Craig had similar CVs). In fact at 42 having starred alongside Richard Harris, Katherine Hepburn, Venessa Redgrave, Dustin Hoffman and, erm, Charlie's Angels, this was if anything Dalton's big break.
A starring role in a multi million dollar movie. He was on the verge of becoming a bone fide film star.
His first shot is a good one, spinning silently at the sound of 004's screams. Back in 1987 believe me we were not absolutely sure what he looked like. At first I thought 004 was Bond (later at the opera the first shot of Saunders made me wonder if that was him). Dalton simply was not famous enough or familiar enough to be instantly recognisable. So that first shot was a heart pounder.
It was such a good start. In fact the whole PTS is a small joy, in the way the Goldfinger PTS was. Brief, exciting, well constructed.
The pay off with the woman on the boat was a nice touch even though Dalton botched his one liner.
The defection of Koskov is pacey and entertaining. Dalton does well here and he has two good lines, the funny 'You're the first' as he stuffs Koskov in the pipeline, and the darkly reflective 'Whoever she is, it must've scared the living daylights out of her' as he recalls Kara's attempt to 'assassinate' Koskov.
When Dalton lightens the mood he seems self conscious and a little awkward. His banter with Moneypenny didn't work, and would have benefited from a better actress (Brosnan got the infinitely more gifted Samantha Bond, and of course Lois Maxwell was excellent).
His Q scene was poorly put together and felt rushed. Dalton should have played it like Connery, barely patient as he listens to Qs ramblings, but fully aware that the quickest way to get to the end is to put up and shut up. Dalton instead adopts the Moore persona of an amused prankster who can't help but wind the old fellow up. It suited Moore, it doesn't suit Dalton.
Dalton seems happier in the moody moments where he plays a Bond who clearly doesn't value his job - welcoming the idea of being dismissed by M - but knows that there isn't anyone who can do it better. He probably doesn't sleep well at night, but it doesn't hamper his ability to aim straight and pull a trigger.
He is tetchy, untrusting and always edgy. Just as you imagine a killer must be.
But his Bond is still a clever clogs, who changed M's food hamper order to include a better quality champagne, can get by in Afghan and knows a very good restaurant in Karachi.
So he gives us a brand new take on Bond. No one had played 007 quite like this before. The question still stood though, did he do it well.
Dalton is tall and slender, and maybe it sat badly in the 1980s world of beefcake heroes like Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. America may not have been really up to welcoming the new Bond who didn't look good with his shirt off, and wore his hair a tad too long. In the UK this was our one cinematic hero, so a Bond film would always be welcomed with open arms.
Maryam d'Abo played Kara the cello playing girlfriend of Koskov. At the risk of reprimand from @barry007, I have always seen Kara as a very independent girl. She lives alone in Communist Russia, savvy enough to become a fine cellist and find her place in a top orchestra. Yes, she needed Koskov's money and guidance, and she clearly relies heavily on his patronage, but she still has plenty of balls and determination. The terrorist Kamran Shah can't hold her back when the chips are down.
And in one of the films funniest moments the girl who has to live by her wits but never has to physically fight finds the need to do so when a soldier jumps on her jeep and is pressed up against the windscreen. Kara fights him off by switching the wipers on!
Connery had his voluptuous Miss Worlds who had little going on up top, Moore had his slender, boyish career girls like Goodnight and Anya. Dalton gets the waif like Kara who is possibly (arguably) more rounded and well drawn then any of them. Her back story is interesting and the way d'Abo plays her she is clearly overly trusting of men (first Koskov, then Bond) but she doesn't lose that streak of independence.
But maybe in her world she has to trust men, she has no choice.
d'Abo is slight and elf like but she suits Dalton perfectly. In fact the final scene as they embrace in her dressing room sits quite comfortably with Bond and Tracey as one of the more touchingly realistic relationships.
The villains are Koskov, superbly played by Jeroen Krabbe (another mad, flamboyant Russian, like Steven Berkoff in Octopussy before him), and Jo Don Baker as Whittaker the arms dealer. Two villains world apart who find a shared goal (like Orlov and Khan in Octopussy)
I prefer Baker as good guy Jack Wade in Brosnan's films, but he serves a function without ever being as good as the cowardly, manipulative Koskov.
Everyone puts in a good shift - Art Malik as Shah, giving us two sides to the rebel's character without even touching on his fine pantomime turn in the jail.
Mimic Necros another peroxide killer, but one with a deeper agenda than normal. Saunders in Vienna who is hopelessly jealous of Bond before finally coming round to seeing the world through Bond's eyes. It gets him killed of course, but thems the breaks. And General Pushkin, who is a more than adequate replacement for Gogol.
Sadly the complete miscasting of John Terry as Leiter is a let down of epic proportion. The actor barely registers an emotion in his two scenes and was understandably replaced in the next film.
It's a good, competent cast with a couple of glaring exceptions, but that's true of most Bond films.
But a good cast can't save a bad film. Thankfully, The Living Daylights more than passes that particular test.
I tend not to read other's thoughts on each section until I have submitted mine, to avoid changing my mind. :)
So, I have just read yours and slapped my head because I meant to make a point about Whittaker's collection of waxwork 'butchers' . I thought that was a nice touch by the writers, especially as they are all in his likeness.
Supremely arrogant and it reminds me of Bond's comment to Dr No about madmen thinking they are 'Napoleon..or God'. Whittaker stopped short of a God-likeness, but as Caesar thought of himself as a sort of mortal God, he probably felt that was good enough.
THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (no 14 in my list)
Timothy Dalton:
Mr Dalton with better movies would have become best Bond, with five to six movies probably even bigger than Connery. Incredibly good choice to play Bond and it shows in The Living Daylights. Mr. Dalton carries the movie, every single scene with him is a pleasure to watch. Unimaginable he would have gotten something brilliant like Goldeneye, The Spy Who Loved Me or Casino Royale or For Your Eyes Only.
So Dalton is the best thing of TLD.
Maryam d'Abo (Kara):
I like the actress very much and she has a good presence on screen and good play together with Dalton. She has lot of screen time, maybe more than most other Bond girls. Somehow I always get a little tired of her by the time they reach Afghanistan.
Still, she won't get near my list of favorites Bond girls. Something is just too annoying with her, I can't put finger on it, may be the acting itself and not so much the character or maybe it's just too much screen time.
Jeroen Krabbé (General Georgi Koskov):
This is one great actor. He is very memorable but also like Kara, gets annoying the more you see him in the movie. Again I think it's the acting. Have seen Krabbé in other movies where he is absolut stunning! In TLD he play a bit too much, over the top.
Joe Don Baker (Brad Whitaker):
And again same story. The acting seems too over the top. He seems just silly and only sometimes his dangerous menace comes across screen properly.
John Rhys-Davis (General Leonid Pushkin):
Now we get somewhere! He is fantastic. Great actor, like the others, but he plays character perfectly, great comic timing and also great playing serious scenes. The hotel room scene with him, his wife and Bond is my favorite in the movie!
Art Malik (Kamran Shah):
He is as good as Rhys-Davis. He only one who is entitled to play it a bit over the top because he is like comedic relief of movie and his character works very well. He comes across as good heart person, passionate, humorous and knows what is right and what is wrong. Last scene with him and comrades arriving at concert is absolutely priceless!
Andreas Wisniewski (Necros):
Truly super henchman! One of my favorites. Comes across as very dangerous and mean. He likes to kill you can see it. Good acting and great physical presence. Scenes with him in blue swimwear show how careful and proud he is of his body. It is never mentioned but you can feel he is quite vain and maybe lot of narcism too. Fits his character well. Many great scenes.
Thomas Wheatley (Saunders):
While not big part in movie, he is memorable and provide some of best moments in TLD. His play with Dalton is perfect. Always like to see him.
Q, M, Gogol, Moneypenny, Felix: As usual good amount of screen time, all do well, even Caroline Bliss who has good lines and there was potential for her, that got wasted in LTK.
Sorry for the recent leave of absence, folks. On assignment, need to know and all that. I'm back now & will be endeavoring to catch up this week. Stay tuned....
Gun barrel sequence. Abandoned the original idea to have Dalton leap in the air, spin and fire. It was more Bean than Bond so thank goodness they saw sense.
As it is, nice laid back gun barrel. Steady as a rock, good man, good man.
Locations include Tangiers, Prague, Vienna, Afghanistan etc. Well thought out locations. Not shown in all their majestic glories maybe, but good locations all the same.
Bond uses a stun key fob...over and over again. Not exactly Christmas...
The action is plentiful and on balance works a treat. The PTS is the best one of the 80s. A compact mini-movie which combines great stunt work, plenty of intrigue, some humour and a bird on a boat.
Elsewhere we have good stuff like the kidnap of Koskov from the safe house, and the fight hanging from the back of the plane.
But we also have the not so good, such as Bond's final show down with Whittaker.
Sometimes the film feels pacey and exciting without any particular action scenes being involved. The smuggling of Koskov from under the KGB's nose is very good. It's a long sequence, and sometimes these lengthy story setting scenes can drag on a little - the sinking of the Devonshire in Tomorrow Never Dies, the capture of the atomic bombs in Thunderball - but this flows along and feels urgent, in no small part to the music (instrumentation of The Pretenders' Where Has Everybody Gone?) and Jeroen Krabbe's turn as the duplicitous Koskov.
I mentioned the fight in the plane, and must tip my hat to the stuntmen who performed in the long shots. I mean, come on, that was something else.
The Living Daylights isn't loaded with laughs, but that isn't a particular problem.
Dalton who read the Fleming books to find the character could also have done with watching the 60s Bond films to understand how to deliver a quip. 'Salt corrosion'. That would challenge any actor, but come on Tim, not good enough.
However, in the Russian airbase jail his good natured reply of 'Terrific' to Kara's perfectly timed line 'Well at least we're together' remains a small highlight. He smiles as he says it, which is understandable considering the trusting way she gazes into his eyes.
Krabbe gets some laughs as he flounces around the safe house trying to encourage the assassination of Pushkin, and earlier when he panics at the idea of getting 'boshed'.
'What is boshed?'
This is still the funniest part of the film for me.
And while we are on the 'boshed' scene, did Saunders really have no idea about the pipeline which the West had been perfecting for some time and which went right through his 'patch'? If he didn't know, why didn't he? If he did know why didn't he come up with the idea himself?
I also laughed on the couple of occasions that mild Kara suddenly lost it and went bat shit crazy. In the jail when Bond is up against it she launches at the guard, probably causing brain damage with a bed pan. And later she charges off away from Shah's men like a whirling dervish on a one woman crusade to save Bond.
The plot appears to make perfect sense, as the villains move money and drugs around to make a quick, but massive profit on Mother Russia's 50 million dollars or pounds or whatever. The villains use diamonds to buy opium which is being used to convert to heroin and return a profit ten times the original investment. The terrorists get their weapons, Russia gets its investment back, Koskov and Whittaker get rich. Simple.
The problem is although the plot is revealed piece by piece as Bond gets further along, some of the information is dropped in a little too surreptitiously, and it takes more than one viewing to unravel all the pieces.
This is still Bond, and all the expected elements are there - vodka martini, multi-purpose car, pretty girls. They don't always feel or look right in a Dalton Bond film, but you know, tick those boxes come what may.
It's an old wives tale that people weren't ready for a serious Bond (had they forgotten Sean Connery?) We were ready and waiting, as you well know.
But it took more than a few well placed scowls to be a convincingly serious man of the world.
Dalton wasn't a classically trained actor either. He left RADA sooner than Roger Moore did! After about one term.
But he tried something different, and his take on Bond is an important part of the history of this glorious series. It needed Dalton after Moore in order for Brosnan to take the role on and make a success of it. Brosnan straight after Moore may just have been too much for anyone.
The pts is, as rightly pointed out, one of the best of the series. A fantastic action sequence that feels like a movie within its own right, yet fits the rest of the movie perfectly. A great effort and a brilliant introduction for Daltons’ Bond.
The locations used are all good. All look great without being stunning but they all serve their purposes. Afghanistan, for me, being the standout.
There are a few gadgets on show, such as the Aston Martin, the radio scanner and other things used by villains (the exploding milk bottles for one), but the main gadget Bond gets his use of is the keyring. To be fair, it’s good, especially due to the size of it, nice and compact, and it certainly helps 007 out during the movie.
Some of the action in this movie is superb and we get into it right from the off with the wonderful pre-title sequence. As I said, this is wonderful opening to a Bond movie and a great intro for Dalton. The action never stops and we have other great sequences during the movie. The Blayden House scene is excellent and features the best fight of the movie between Necros and Green Four. It’s a great, albeit brutal, scrap. There’s also the fight, hanging off the plane, between Bond and Necros that, while a great action sequence, features the wonderful stunt. Add the action sequence in Afghanistan too, to the list of good scenes in this. From the airstrip until the blowing up of the bridge (which features some excellent model work) this is another excellent scene. As has been said, Dalton isn’t the best in his fight scenes, although not to the extent that Moore was poor, but I can forgive that as I would with Sir Rog. The rooftop scene I’m not keen on and am very glad that the “magic carpet” addition was scrapped. All in all though, some decent action throughout.
The humour in this movie is not as in your face as we were used to with the Moore Bond adventures (not that I minded that at all) but we do have a few humorous parts during the movie. Dalton has a few quips during the movie that he delivers, okish, but never to the standard that Moore had set. His line of “He met his Waterloo”, in particular, is not delivered very well, as well as being a poor line in general. The scene with Rosika is meant to be quite funny but, for me, falls a little flat during a great sequence and only there for comedy value.
The plot is as credible as any other Bond movie but, as with some others, turns to nothing but greed on the part of Koskov and Whitaker. Buy opium, turn to heroin etc. and a massive profit without anyone ever knowing. Nice, simple but all boils down to greed, similar to GF and Zorin in AVTAK. I do like how it takes time over the course of the movie for this to be worked out and it’s a decent scheme thought up by the two. I guess they just didn’t expect Bond to be the fly in the ointment.
Same. See you on the flip side, @Creasy47. Or whatever the kids are saying these days.