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That said, for me, FYEO has really risen in my rankings over the past few years – as has MR (in somewhat of a surprise). Far from dull, I find FYEO to be quite enjoyable, even if the chief villain Aristotle Kristatos is a bit meh.
But it can't be the most boring movie when you have endless movies like SPECTRE or NTTD.
OK, dialogue-wise it doesn't hold a candle to MR (although the really intelligent lines there are all Drax's). But if anything, it's some of the overblown comic-relief scenes and lines that bother me in FYEO. There has been a shift in my preferences, but personally I like it more than TMWTGG and waaaaaay more than OP. My top three RM films (in rotating order) are MR, LALD and FYEO.
And needless to say, I find none of those three boring. But not even the worst Bond films are boring IMO. Just to get back to the subject in point.
They love Octopussy. I guess FYEO is too dry for them.
You guys are on the same wavelength as me. I find TWINE a bit of a struggle to get through.
It's like the paradigm shifted.
I think that's true, especially when she has to disappear for almost all of the ski section.
Also if you think about Melina's appearance in Cortina too hard it starts to fall apart completely. The baddies sent her a letter which was supposed to be from Bond? How did they know about him? Or her for that mater?
Good way of putting it, yeah. I remember being slightly stunned coming out of TWINE because it did so many new things (and it really does), but it also aims for being more dramatic than previous Bonds, and compared to CR it does now feel quite half-hearted and fake in that regard.
For me the closest a 007 film ever came to being boring, is actually SF. I realise that's not a popular opinion, but that's how I feel about it nonetheless.
You're ok @GoldenGun
I'm another who finds it hard to get through SF!
Agreed. Though I generally don't think of Bond films in terms of 'boring'. ;-)
I do like that Roger actually doesn't have much trouble making a more serious 007 flick work- he gets too much flack for being the lightweight Bond with no range.
Yes, very true. It's all relative.
I recall a cousin saying he saw it and enjoyed Eyes. He claimed it was a better film than Raiders. Both my Dad and I found that statement hard to believe. The first time I watched it I remember thinking, this is better than Raiders???? Nope.
edit: Raiders premiered June 12 1981 and Eyes premiered June 24 1981
As I watched it over the years I have found myself saying "if only they had a different Bond." To me it plays like an adventure to setup a new Bond. Moore is not quite right for the task and the age gap between him and Melina is jarring. I find it rich that he scolds Melina for seeking revenge and yet he's had his revenge with Blofeld, plus all the countless times he's gotten revenge before.
Finally the plot makes little to no sense. Why the need to retrieve this device? Why not have it destroyed, which Bond does at the end of the film anyway. Never understood why the device needed to be brought back to London. If it's that top secret and vital why have the thing aboard a fishing ship in international waters?
I love the rock climbing sequence, the car chase in the yellow car is a great piece of film. I enjoy the kicking of the car off the cliff and the dynamic between Bond and Columbo is a nice throw back to Bey and Draco.
Overall a mid Bond picture that could have been so much more with a tighter script and a different actor playing Bond.
I remember critic John Brosnan, who was a big Bond fan, claiming at the time that most people would go to see 'Raiders' twice rather than 'FYEO' once! A bit harsh imo!
Yeah, I love Bond hugely, but your cousin was way off the mark! :D
I think it's more meant as Bond's way of self defense, as Blofeld nearly killed Bond in that helicopter, so Bond needs to fight back, or else, he wouldn't make it to the MI6, I don't see it as a revenge for Tracy.
I'll always have a soft spot for FYEO as they got quite a bit of unused Fleming material on screen
Concept wise it’s a bizarre film - it seems to aim at being a more ‘back to basics’ adventure, and yet you have these strange bits of outright comedy such as Bibi sneaking into Bond’s hotel room, a Thatcher lookalike appearing at the end, and whatever the heck is going on in that PTS. It incorporates a lot of Fleming material, and yet the take Bond is weirdly un-Fleming esque compared to Moore’s previous films (the ‘two graves’ is an example - it’s a bastardised line from the original story where Bond is being somewhat ironic/saying Judy is going to get herself killed. Bond in the film wags his finger and talks about the pitfalls of revenge despite killing constantly for this reason throughout the film, to the point it seems like the script isn’t aware of this irony). Personally, I find it a waste of good Fleming material.
Yes, that is nicely bizarre that the film doesn't appear to notice Bond digging two graves all over the place! It's a shame that Melina disappears so often that she doesn't get to call him out on this double standard: it could make for a good scene. Even at the end we have Columbo getting his revenge on Kristatos, which is fine apparently.
I do think it's bizarre that Bond doesn't set the explosives as soon as they find it in the St Georges- it's what the actual Naval officers were trying to do after all. They probably should have set up some sort of plot where Bond needs the ATAC to swap in order to save a hostage or to flush the unknown baddie/mole out.
As it is it does kind of make me wonder- is Bond secretly a Russian double agent in this one? Is he actually trying to make sure that the Russians get the ATAC but without blowing his cover? :D
Raiders has less action than it seems.
That's an odd thing to say.
I still think that Lucasfilm could have easily made Indiana Jones their true equivalent to James Bond. Alas, George Lucas couldn’t stop pushing aliens into the plot, delaying the 4th movie. And that’s from someone who really likes Crystal Skull.
As for FYEO, I don’t think it’s boring, it just lacks a bit of memorable elements of a Bond movie. John Glen didn’t direct certain actors, well. I know Raymond Benson called it the best RM movie, and it shows in his work. Namely with Blast From The Past, with Irma Bunt. Quite a few story beats and themes.