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Oh yeah- and isn't 'imperfect' a Bond trope by now? The last uncontroversially amazing film was Goldfinger...
Mendes should have moved on, he had one Bond in him and what a great film that was but this, after the PTS it is just dull and not one action sequence registers. The dialogue at times is utterly terrible, the supposed Mickey Mouse joke is embarrassing.
The Bond and Hinx fight is quite enjoyable but as the rest of the film is just lacking totally in tension it's just lost momentum by then I just don't care.
Waltz may well redeem himself with NTTD but I think more than ever he was just the wrong person for this, Hans Landa promised something but the dialogue was just so rubbish he was given and the whole Blohauser, Foster Brothergate business still remains to me unforgivable.
I think the biggest shame as this will be a connected part of this 5 film arc and I think I'll be inclined to just watch the first 3 and skip to the last.
Thought I hadn't heard Smith's caterwauling in sometime and it just gets worse, the most appalling Bond theme even taking Madonna's into account, just so wrong but the film deserves it, I wouldn't have wanted either Radiohead's Man Of War or Spectre attached to this train wreck.
It can only go up from here and I'm pretty sure it will but tomorrow will be the proof of that.
You say Waltz was the wrong person for this, but then go on to blame the writing and story.
I agree that the writing and story are what let down the character of Blofeld in Spectre. Despite that, I think Waltz was a fantastic choice for the character, and given better writing and story, would have knocked it out of the park.
1. The helicopter PTS...better suited for the final act and Bond's final confrontation with Hinx
2. The safe house...a better place for Madeleine to be abducted.
3. The lair...better as a macguffin. Imagine going all the way there to see Blofeld and it's just basically a satellite tracking facility with few people and nothing going on, but Blofeld attempts to imprison Bond and Madeleine there.
4. Nine Eyes...should have been set up as more dastardly and British Parliament's vote, not the entire world's. Therefore...
5. C's role is to establish this. When it fails...C is killed, like many Spectre agents are when they fail. C is then found dead, with his eyes gouged out (Hinx!). To get England to reconsider...
6. Spectre goes with Plan B: a terrorist act (possibly in London). This is what Bond discovers and must thwart.
7. We could have had a bombing threat, a kidnapped love interest, and a henchman on the prowl. TSWLM was the perfect template to fix SP's final act.
Why didn’t we get this film instead?
Great ideas. Especially point 5.
Agree with point 2 as well, always seemed weird she was just walking off to the shops or something after leaving Bond.
Didn't we sort of get "kidnapped love interest" in the final act of Spectre?
QOS on the other hand is utterly dry and dour. It lacks the light touch that CR/SF/SP maintained. It’s also the only film of the Craig era to not have the second unit action by Alexander Witt. Instead it was the second unit Paul Greengrass used in his Bourne films, along with the editors. So when news came of SF bringing back Witt and editor Stuart Baird, I knew the series was getting the course correction it needed for its 50th anniversary.
It’s just too bad that Baird didn’t come back after SF. I wasn’t a fan of Lee Smith’s editing style in SP.
Yeah, I suspect a lot of goodwill from SF had a part in its boost at the box office.
Which actually refutes the idea that SF wasn’t popular. I’ve seen so many fans try playing that narrative, that the film was only a hit because of the 50th anniversary, the Olympics, etc. That no one could have liked the film for its own merits.
It’s a strange combination and I do enjoy watching it but it doesn’t live up to Skyfall and I was really bummed when it seemed like it was going to be Daniel’s last. I do really love all the dark, gothic imagery and vibes in it though.
Watching it a week before NTTD was such a whiplash. They really are night and day. NTTD has so much energy and color and drama that Spectre just lacked. I still think it’s a great film though.
Completely agree, Spectre was the first "classic Bond film" since TLD that contained all the elements you expect from a traditional Bond film and captured the feel of the Connery films. All of the other ones had some kind of "angle" like the many "this time it's personal" stories we got with LTK, GE and all of Craig's, plus "Bond goes to the XGames" in DAD. That's not a comment on the quality of those movies necessarily, I quite like CR and SF and CR is still the better movie. But to me SP was a welcome throwback that a true Bond fan should be able to like. I think a lot of the backlash came from newer fans who got into it with Craig's and wanted another vendetta.
I might actually agree with that statement. In any case I find this one to be the one film in Craig’s tenure that you feel wants to be a ‘traditional’ Bond film and I quite like that.
Doesn’t mean I don’t like the others as you also pointed out. Personally I loved CR and QOS, while I had a good first viewing of NTTD as well.
I must admit, I’m rather late to the show. Had an agreeable first viewing in the cinema, but over the years my feelings towards it became rather lukewarm. In the run-up to NTTD I ‘rediscovered’ its charms, now it’s a favourite of mine.
Edit: I also feel nostalgic whenever I watch it, because I used to study in Rome just before they started shooting there. Even ran into SP’s location manager when I went out with my roommate. Remember spending quite some time with him and the people he was with. Friendly man, he did not like Belgium though :))
Really cool! I remember my cousin was in Rome when they were filming and got some photos of the DB10 while they were filming the car chase. Really cool.
Everything that takes place in Rome (up until the car chase) feels like an elaborate dance to me, and is really captivating to watch. The funeral, Lucia's home, the meeting... loved it.
I think Lucia’s home is my favourite part of movie. Pouring herself a drink, putting on the dramatic music, the gunmen creeping up behind her, the silenced PPK and Bond telling her that they at least have time for a drink. Poetic stuff.
I know his suit in these scenes is somewhat controversial (a disguise, maybe, to attend the funeral of a criminal), but I love it. With the boots, the gloves... truly looks like armour, which is just how Tom Ford would have it.
I'd say TND captured more of that classic Bond film feel with the least "this time it's personal" trappings as the Teri Hatcher thing was quickly over with and becomes a Bond races against time to save the world in the spirit of YOLT and TSWLM film. It hasn't gotten more classic Bond than that. GE did as well, only separated by the updating of the series for the '90s and Bond against a former Mi6 operative.
That aside, how is SP not qualified as a this time it's personal film or angle, as you call it? It's Bond against Blofeld, who turns out to be practically family. That's where Bond fans find SP a frustrating experience along with the retconning of the previous villains into working for SPECTRE and some lame action scenes. CR did better with fewer yet creative and tough action scenes than more that never went anywhere SP had - in particular the Rome car chase, the Austria plane/Range Rover thing, the escape from Blofeld's base and that shoot Blofeld's chopper down from a mile away climax.