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Is the Double-Take Pigeon the silliest thing in Moore's era?

MrBlofeldMrBlofeld
edited February 2015 in Bond Movies Posts: 41
I couldn't believe this when I saw it in Moonraker!

I reckon the parrot comes a close second in FYEO, helping move the plot along by squawking "ATAC to St Cyril's."
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Comments

  • Suivez_ce_parachuteSuivez_ce_parachute
    Posts: 2,015
    If a FYEO parrot scene had been done in a Hitchcock movie, it may have been called great and memorable. Personally, I regret they do not dare any longer to do such scenes. Make it or break it scenes.
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    Birdleson wrote: »
    Tarzan yell. "Sit!"

    For me too.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    They don't bother me too much, and I do remember them getting laughs in
    The cinema. Over time we've grown up, sadly the films remain the same. :)
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,789
    Birdleson wrote: »
    Tarzan yell. "Sit!"
    The 'sit' is outrageous, but who knows? With the right intent it just might work.
    The Tarzan yell is the stupidest thing ever. Close second is Chewie's Wookie version of the Tarzan yell, same year.
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    That whole scene with Hip's nieces defeating a small army of men and then leaving without Bond has to be my number one.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    That is cringe worthy !
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,173
    After the loop whistle, perhaps the second worse thing.
  • bigladiesmanbigladiesman
    Posts: 1,009
    No: Loop whistle comes first.
    The one that unnerves me on MR is actually that sailorman with the open mouth. His reaction is so false it gets in my nerves. At least the pigeon was just looped footage.

    I find the "Sit!" bit pretty amusing... And Chewie making the Tarzan yell always gets me :)) It's a guilty pleasure of mine.
  • CrabKeyCrabKey
    Posts: 1,977
    For me the question has always been "why"? Why take the series this direction? Beginning with GF, things lightened up a bit, but how did we get to the self-parody and buffoonery of the Moore films? Bond as clown in OP is the perfect metaphor for how the series evolved, ending with the Mack Sennett slapstick fire engine sequence in AVTAK. How did wit evolve into silliness?

    I have never been a fan of the Moore films, but I do think he could have been a better Bond than he ended up being. Unfortunately, the continual string of silly sight gags and his semi-serious portrayal of Bond always yanked me out of the films and reminded me we were watching a film. Never any suspension of belief, never caught up in the film the way good films can grab you and hold you.

    Of the many egregious examples of cringe-worthy moments, the gondola with wheels is at the top of my list. It makes no sense whatsoever. It serves no purpose other than to get a cheap laugh.



  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,789
    CrabKey wrote: »
    For me the question has always been "why"? Why take the series this direction?
    The reactions to OHMSS' seriousness scared them, so they went funnier in the next film. Then TMWTGG's bizarre didn't do as well as they'd hoped so the went funnier in the next & struck gold. They went funnier still for MR to continue the roll. By then, even serious scripts like FYEO got funny moments.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    edited February 2015 Posts: 11,189
    I'd say it's the shot of him inside the mouth of the crocodile sub.

    I don't actually mind that bit too much compared to some of the other silly moments. But, even so, it still has to be one of the goofiest single shots in the series.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    I find it funny that they dub an electric motor sound to the mouth of the
    Croc sub, but latter when Bond gets out of it it simply slaps closed. :)
  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,423
    All worthy mentions. But they last but a moment. My main beef is Sheriff Bloody Pepper in GG. We have to put up with his tiresome slobbering for the best part of the middle of the film.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    edited February 2015 Posts: 11,189
    royale65 wrote: »
    All worthy mentions. But they last but a moment. My main beef is Sheriff Bloody Pepper in GG. We have to put up with his tiresome slobbering for the best part of the middle of the film.

    I'd say he's at least one of the most annoying features in the Moore era.

    Silly doesn't necessarily equate to annoying in my view.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    I liked JW in LALD, but not in TMWTGG.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    edited February 2015 Posts: 11,189
    DrGorner wrote: »
    I liked JW in LALD, but not in TMWTGG.

    He's irritating beyond measure in GG

    ~X(
  • LeChiffreLeChiffre
    Posts: 1,548
    Bond sleeping with May Day in AVTAK has to be one of the stupidest moments!
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    The whole bondola sequence qualifies.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    Also in AVTAK, despite his age Moore beds four women, a record for a Bond film.
    That's one every half hour, not bad for a man of his age ! :D
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    ...or Bond dropping the fish out of the car in TSWLM.
  • jetsetwillyjetsetwilly
    Posts: 3,327
    The huge list of silly moments here proves how much the Moore era derailed. I tried watching TSWLM again the other day when it was on ITV, and I have to say, I almost found it unwatchable. I never remembered the film being as bad when I watched it years ago. Maybe my tolerance level for silliness has waned over the years, coupled with the fact that we have been spoiled more recently with the 3 brilliant Craig films.

    For all the faults of QoS (and SF to a lesser degree) when you compare them to the slapstick Moore era, they come across as masterpieces in their own right. I'm so glad the franchise is in the state it is now, and not as it was back in the 70's.

    I quite like LALD and TMWTGG - they both have their serious moments, and I like the retro 70's feel of the films, the hotel rooms, seeing Bond shave, seeing Bond in his apartment, the cool hotel room in Hong Kong, and of course, Lee's Scaramanga, but Sheriff Pepper simply ruins both films as soon as he turns up in them.

  • ThomasCrown76ThomasCrown76 Augusta, ks
    Posts: 757
    Agreed. The 70s were not kind to James Bond.
  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,423
    Funny that, I'm the opposite of you @jetsetwilly - my tolerance for silliness has increased as I get older.
  • jobojobo
    Posts: 7,507
    Im surprised nobody's mentioned Maggie Thatcher yet...

  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    :)) =))
    Classic!
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,789
    Oh REALLY mister Bond...
  • jobojobo
    edited February 2015 Posts: 7,507
    I think its hilarious too, in its utter goofy ridiculousness. :) But it surely must be a contender for 'silliest thing in Moore's era'...?
  • SaintMarkSaintMark
    Posts: 7,653
    royale65 wrote: »
    Funny that, I'm the opposite of you @jetsetwilly - my tolerance for silliness has increased as I get older.

    indeed I find that due to my work I find more fun in the less so called dark takes on everything. And as it is Roger had plenty of darkness as well, but people like to bitch anyhow.

    When we talk about the impossibilities of SF we always end in style over content. I found Silva arriving with a chopper, bloody impossible without being shot out of the sky anyhow, ala Apocalypse Now far more ridicolous than sit or the pigeon double take.

    I admit the Tarzan yell was totally out of place from OP, a movie with a lot of dark moments in it.

  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    I do find the Thatcher scene amusing eventhough you would NEVER get that sort of thing now mocking David Cameron (at least not in that obvious sort of way).

    That sketch is the type of silliness I don't mind.
  • SaintMarkSaintMark
    Posts: 7,653
    BAIN123 wrote: »
    I do find the Thatcher scene amusing eventhough you would NEVER get that sort of thing now mocking David Cameron (at least not in that obvious sort of way).

    That sketch is the type of silliness I don't mind.

    that is because Cameron is a whimp who forgets his kid in a pub, while Thatcher really was a personality that was worth taking the mickey. And she probably laughed about it.

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