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It's also a proper Cold War spy film, only TLD and FRWL have that too.
What about FYEO?
Agreed. I remember the first time I saw OP I thought the first half set in India was a little slowly paced(not enough to bother me but a little). However when the film goes to Germany in the second half I though it sped up considerably. Bond's race against time across East and West Germany to stop the bomb results in one of the fastest moving second halves to any 007 film IMHO. I would even say it's director John Glen's most exciting 2nd half to any of his films even though I consider TLD his best Bond film overall.
Ha ha! My nickname for TWINE is As The World Turns Is Not Enough. At least DAD felt less like a soap opera and more like a spy film(at least in its first half).
True. Forgot about that one. As I do. For me FYEO is a bit vanilla, even though it doesn't commit the greatest sins. It's never quite as bad as, say, DAD or SP but it never really stands out either.
For me, FYEO plays like the best episode of The Saint never made but not one of the greatest Bond films as it's often called. When it comes to "down to earth" spy story type Bond films I prefer FRWL, OHMSS, TLD and CR to FYEO myself.
You also get Grant and Oddjob variations with Loque and Kriegler. Colombo makes up for it a lot and Melina is a refreshing heroine in that she doesn't automatically fall for Bond's charms. But it's mostly about the stunts. I've seen FYEO called the most forgettable Bond film due to some of these elements.
Whenever the series has gotten too fantastical it always becomes grounded as a response. YOLT begat OHMSS, MR begat FYEO
I remember coming out feeling like I had just watched an entertaining romp. I was excited to see where the franchise would go because I wanted to see Pierce in a grounded adventure and there was no where else to go. A shame I never got to see that film as I think he had it in him to deliver a solid effort.
Back in 2002, Belgium's most renowned culture magazine came out with a special edition magazine all about Bond to celebrate the franchise's 40th anniversary. Going through the films, they gave each film some sort of nickname and guess what the one for FYEO was? The forgotten Bond.
Now I read that magazine through about a 100 times so I remember what they said about each of the films:
DN: the first Bond
FRWL: the Cold War Bond
GF: the archetypical Bond
TB: the underwater Bond
YOLT: the Japanese Bond
CR67: the Bond parody
OHMSS: the married Bond
DAF: the Las Vegas Bond
LALD: the voodoo Bond
TMWTGG: the martial arts Bond
TSWLM: the Jules Verne Bond
MR: the space Bond
FYEO: the forgotten Bond
OP: the circus Bond
NSNA: the dissident Bond
AVTAK: the disco Bond
TLD: the Afghan safe sex Bond
LTK: the this-time-it's-personal Bond
GE: the post-Soviet Bond
TND: the Rupert Murdoch Bond
TWINE: the Elektra Bond
DAD: the 40th anniversary Bond
And i was ecstatic when i heard he wasnt coming back! Each to his own!!
What's wrong with vanilla (the original)? I must say that for me, FYEO has been my favourite Roger Moore Bond film most of the time, sometimes (but nowhere near always) being substituted by TSWLM. In the meantime I'm a little confused. My guilty pleasure (from when I was an 18-year old) of LALD and my relatively new-found obsession with MR come in the way. Leaving basically two layers of Roger Moore films I like more and I like less (none of them is really bad, and frankly none of them is really good).
The first group for me is LALD, TSWLM, MR and FYEO. That's chronological, not preferential.
The other group, of course, is TMWTGG, OP and AVTAK. The latter being the lowest on my rating list, but surprisingly the one that I - at the moment I'm writing this - would consider re-watching the most. Go figure.
I could throw much of the same criticism at Tomorrow Never Dies which is currently in my top 10, the difference being that I find TND to be an energetic romp, AVTAK not so much.
AVTAK also holds the distinction of being the only Bond film I've fallen asleep watching, multiple times sadly. Strangely enough though, I do not hate this film, it's just such a sigh of a Bond film that it ends up at the bottom.
I didn't realize anyone responded to my comment. :P Maybe it's just a personal thing for me, but for whatever reason I find it convoluted and my mind just glosses over it; maybe I'm an idiot but I've seen it many times and would have trouble coming up with a concise rundown of what happens in it. I don't particularly like Kamal Khan or any of the supporting characters really (except Octopussy, ironically, and maybe Orlov). Fallen asleep during it more than once; it's always the film I dread most in my marathons (but since my most recent marathon, it's possible I dread AVTAK more).
Going by my own experience, AVTAK would fit that. As I have OP as my favorite Moore film, AVTAK is such a steep drop and for years ranked as my least favorite until TWINE came along.
When it comes to boring, that stretch from where Bond arrives in San Francisco up until roughly the firetruck chase is at the top of my list of the longest most uneventful stretch in a Bond film, just slow-moving and forgettable, punctuated with unexciting action scenes. Not that the firetruck chase makes up for it, but at least there's some energy, which is sunk by unnecessary comedy and Tanya Roberts.
While there are bad moments in AVTAK, this is all balanced out by Walken, Grace Jones, a terrrific baddie sequence on board the dirigible, Barry's score, Duran Duran, Patrick MacNee, and a pretty cool final fight atop the Golden Gate Bridge.
Similarly, OP, FYEO, TND, and TWINE all have elements that keep me from saying it's a bad Bond film.
On the surface, DAF is in the running for the worst, but it is the only Bond film that I view as complete camp. Take it for what it's worth. It's not trying to be anything else and for that, I love it.
The only two films that are tough for me to watch are DAD and MR. The latter just contains too few watchable, enjoyable elements for me to sit through. As outrageous as the series has always been, nothing reaches the drudgery of MR.
The disco Bond? In the mid-1980s? :?
Agreed. AVTAK held the distinction of being my pick for nadir of the series(at least until TWINE and QOS came along later) for many of the same reason. It's watchable but definitely the weakest and least inspired Bond film up to that point in the series, i.e., 1985. Thankfully, TLD with the underrated Dalton was right around the corner.
I remember watching AVTAK once with the audio commentary and the thing that struck me about the California section was how much it seemed like I was watching a standard mid-1980s action show of the same time period like The Fall Guy or Matt Houston rather than a truly epic Bond film. As critical as I am of the 1985 Bond film I will admit I've always enjoyed the fire truck chase since it did make this tired entry come to life for a few minutes.
DAD is still coming last in most lists in the Bond ranking thread! Yeh, its downright unwatchable for me, am not buying into this 'excellent first half hour' nonsense thats been bandied about! It doesnt put a foot right for me! I can tolerate DAF,just about, and i still find SP watchable!
Put 1,000 Bond fans in a room, and you'll find 1,000 different opinions. LOL.
That is the key in a 58-year-old franchise. With 24 films, 6 actors, and countless locales, there is something for (or not) for everyone.
(I'm with you, as disappointing as SP was, I'd still; watch it over a lot of other Bond films, if for no other reason than Craig being in it.)
Yes, it was a really bad idea, but it doesnt stop me from enjoying a lot of scenes in it, and agree, Craig is always top notch for me, am really going to miss him as Bond! He has been excellent throughout!
Agreed. It has great scenes, great sartorialism, great bond moments.
Did it go up against DAD?
Its a movie that I have learned to appreciate more over the years. OP stomped all over it the year it was released, I thought it was a huge disappointment, and was no match for EONs film.
Nowadays, it still has major flaws, but I would easily watch it over any of Brossa entries!
Yes, all of them.
Care to explain why? Is it a McClory thing, a huge TB fan, work for Eon?