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Comments
I just enjoyed it more. Didn t get that "tired" feel, and wasn t bored. Several segments are excellent and engaging. The pts and mts are still among the weakest for me, though.
As a last mission scenario, as I see it ,from an ageing Bond,I love it and I think it’s #11 in my rankings.
I love that bit of the PTS and I don't know why. It feels super out of place and would probably piss me off used in any other film, but I can easily forgive (and enjoy) it here. It's odd.
It’s Sir Roger ,major ;)
Are you saying you don't consider Sir Roger Moore a California Girl?
It would have been one of the best pts if they had the Bond theme playing over that section instead. I think someone on here dubbed it and it was brilliant. I do like that opener though, its nicely shot and Rog look great, even with dodgy back projection!
AVTAK will always get bonus points for me for having one of the very best villains. Walken is excellent, am glad they got him instead of David Bowie, the original choice!
I believe Sting was the second choice. Walken is a better choice than him as well.
Didnt know that about Sting. We really dodged a bullet there. He would have been terrible!
Yes, terrible actor. Bowie was at least decent in some of his work.
It’s got some great aspects like the score and the Duran Duran song but it’s often slow with sloppy filmaking and unfunny comedy.
Walken is...ok but sometimes too hammy.
Roger on the back of the fire engine (or bad back projection) is also Bond’s worst moment up until DAD.
AVTAK for years was my least favorite film in the series, but has graduated at the top of it's class in my "go-to Bond" category. I never tire of it, love the score, cast and of course the legendary Roger.
Nobody does it better than Roger.
The action in LA isn't too great, but still fun to watch. Roger Bonds worst moment would be in OP (ape costume! Or kissing MayDay).
And as it is always said that Roger is too old in this one, I would say the “bad scene because he is looking too old“ should go to Sean in YOLT: The fake marriage (when he sees Kissy for the first time) bothers me every time. He looks like 60.
Back to AVTAK: it's not in my top ten, but far away from the weakest entries. I have a weakness for beautiful blondes: Jenny Flex! Pola Ivanova! And I like Walken as Zorin and Tibbet. The action in Paris is nice and the end is surprisingly brutal.
Some of the elements I enjoy in this film are as follows:
The whole horse auction and the social outside party. I always enjoy the part of the film where the villain and Bond meet in a social setting. They both know that they are out to get each other. Veiled threats are made, and there is a cat and mouse game is played. Here the final shot is Bond saying he enjoys Fly Fishing. Zorin now has some suspicions to follow up on.
Tibbet and Bond have some good chemistry and work well together. I enjoy the banter. When is the last time Bond had a memorable and effective ally?
The action for the most part is rather inventive. The horse race where Zorin cheats and Bond has to perform some heroics is rather good. I remember as a lad watching this film I was tense and fearful that Bond wasn't going to get out of this one. The fire truck chase is well done. Back screen projection aside I think it's rather imaginative.
I like Zorin's back story and Walken plays him with delight. I enjoy the villains in this film, they are likeable but you aren't rooting for them. They seem a good challenge for Bond. In fact the marketing campaign said "Has James Bond finally met his match?" I think they were playing up that everyone knew this was Moore's last go. It was also obvious that they were running out of Fleming novels and titles to use. I believe this is the first movie to simply state "James Bond will Return".
Not Moore's worst Bond, to me that belongs to MR. But a good film and one that never fails to entertain.
I think there are a number of crimes here, but I'll try to be brief:
-lots of hammy overacting: Aubergine, the taxi driver, the monocle-wearing Nazi scientist (!), Zorin's thugs at the lab, the police sheriff. It's all too much. Again, EON - leave just a few ideas on the editing room floor. They don't all have to go in!
-Jones is good as is Walken, but occasionally very weird; they feel like they're in a different movie from everyone else.
-the costuming has aged terribly. Moneypenny at the Ascot and Sutton throughout (as well as Saint Roger himself, sadly) are the epitome of the flouncy, blown-out '80s. In quite a bad way.
-Sutton does nothing for me. She screams a lot. She's generally helpless. She gets snuck up on by a zeppelin.
-The cinematography is a bit flat, sadly, and as always the USA looks crap in a Bond movie.
-There's some real sloppiness here in the stunt-double work. Like, shockingly sloppy.
-Moore is basically playing himself here, and it's a delight to hang out with him as always, but the slapstick elements fall flat again.
On the other hand:
-Macnee is a bloody saint and he deserved better; every minute he and Roger share is a treat.
-Again, Walken and Jones are intriguing.
-Good theme song.
-Umm . . . Fiona Fullerton is lovely to look at.
The Eiffel Tower sequence is good, with a fantastic stunt to end on.
I liked much of the early San Francisco scenes culminating in Bond's meeting with the Russian spy. After that it loses focus.
Christopher Walken was great as the sneering, giggling Zorin. A real, proper psychopath.
I'm not as big a fan of Tibbet as most are. His presence does tend to draw attention to Roger Moore's age, rather than detract from it. They come across as a pair of old scoundrels out on a jolly.
The climax, from the flooding of the mine to the Golden Gate Bridge is well filmed and never boring.
Much of the film feels flat and uninspired. Tanya Roberts screeching 'JAMES' as she dangles in one hole after another becomes wearing to say the least.
Sir Roger deserved a better final outing. There indeed is no chemistry between him and Tanya Roberts.
Christopher Walken gunning down those people is a low point in the series.
The finale on the Golden Gate bridge is indeed good.
I also think that Moore hides his dislike for Grace Jones very well, I only found that out like 10 years after I first saw AVTAK.
MAY DAY JUMP!!!!
GET ZORIN FOR ME!!!!!
AVTAK is odd. I just never knew the purpose between the water pump scene and then the mine climax. Town hall, Staceys house etc just never feels like a Bond film. Just think, one film before had Bond in Germany fighting on top of a train racing against the clock stopping a nuclear bomb. Bond making a quiche and tucking Stacey in like a father visiting his daughter. I don't see Bond. I see a Hallmark movie during this point.