Weekly Bond Poll: Round 59: secondary Bond girls & helicopter flights

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  • Posts: 1,917
    BT3366 wrote: »
    The glass thing with Connery isn't any different from the glass separating him from the tarantula in DN in neither bother me or take away from the scene. Another great film also had a glass partition separating the actor from the creatures was Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Recent home video editions have digitally erased the glass reflection, though.

    Was it a scene with snakes, then?
    Yes, it's the scene when Indy stumbles and a cobra hisses at him in the Well of Souls. They show a before and after in one of the bonus features of the removal of the reflection.
  • MooseWithFleasMooseWithFleas Philadelphia
    Posts: 3,369
    St. George's over Devonshire, though they are both close as they show some of the more violent and terrifying villain acts. They are both very close, but I give FYEO the edge for doing it first, as well as the blood curdling scream that comes from the guy who is getting crushed during the sinking.

    Crocs beat Sharks. There are few scenes that match the crocodile escape in terms of danger, tension, and how is Bond going to get out of this one??? Brilliant all around
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,483
    Results of round 21:
    The sinking of St. Georges (FYEO) wins against Devonshire (TND) 9 : 4
    Bond surrounded by crocodiles (LALD) wins against the sharks in the pool (TB) 9 : 4

    Round 22: M, Moneypenny, Q

    A) Which actor/character return in NTTD leads to greater anticipation? Ralph Fiennes as M vs Naomie Harris as Eve Moneypenny


    Are you expecting an exploding pen? The first Q scene of the Brosnan era and the first Q scene of the Craig era: The amount of gadgets differs a lot but the fun factor is high in both scenes (or would you disagree?).
    B) Which Q scene do you prefer? Q's lab in GE vs. National Gallery SF

  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 9,509
    A) I'm more excited to see M make a big bounce back in NTTD (although I do love Moneypenny/Harris).
    B) National Gallery, SF (I enjoy the playful nature of Q knowing who 007 is, not the other way around. And Bond's patience starts to wear thin. He actually starts to get up and leave!!!)...
  • Agent_47Agent_47 Canada
    Posts: 330
    Got to go with Fiennes as I've never been a big fan of Harris in the role of Moneypenny.

    Goldeneye wins out for me. An absolute classic Q scene that really showcases the great chemistry Brosnan and Llewellyn had together.
  • OctopussyOctopussy Piz Gloria, Schilthorn, Switzerland.
    Posts: 1,081
    Fiennes
    Skyfall
  • While I personally prefer Harris's Moneypenny, I don't think she'll get as much to do in NTTD as Fiennes will, so I'll have to go for M

    These are two great Q scenes, maybe two of my favourite. It's tough because SF is such a great introduction for our new Q, which sets up his relationship with Bond so wonderfully. But it's so nice to see Desmond's Q giving Bond all his gadgets, and it's a really fun scene. I'll go with GoldenEye slightly because it's interesting to see Bond's relationship with Q develop from what we saw in the Connery days.
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    Posts: 13,807
    Fiennes
    Skyfall

  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Probably Naomie for the first one and definitely Skyfall for the second.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,136
    I have not been the greatest fan of the most recent M-Q-Penny trio. My favourite would be Wishaw, followed by Harris. Fiennes, I feel, makes a pretty weak M. Considering that and the question asked, I've got to go for Penny.

    Second question is even easier. GE's Q scene is hilarious, not breaking the traffic laws, Fred demonstrating the exploding pen, don't touch my lunch, etc. Compare that to 'you've got spots' and it's an easy choice. How can one beat Desmond Llewellyn anyway? Impossible of course.
  • MooseWithFleasMooseWithFleas Philadelphia
    Posts: 3,369
    Fiennes. They did a great job developing Craig's Bond and Moneypenny's relationship, but with it being Craig's last, I don't see them developing this much further. I expect some good scenes, but nothing too significant. M on the other hand has a chance for a greatet set-up as well as setting the tone for the next Bond. I think both Fiennes and Harris have a chance of continuing into the next era, but Fiennes is more likely.

    Goldeneye is a top 5 Q scene for me, and while I like the new direction of Q & Bond, it doesn't compare to classic Llewellyn.
  • Max_The_ParrotMax_The_Parrot ATAC to St Cyril’s
    edited February 2020 Posts: 2,426

    No real reason, other than Ralph is such a fine actor that I enjoy watching, and I look forward to any withering putdowns that M might inflict on Bond, so I”ll go for M

    The second is easier, definitely GE - I thought Pierce and Desmond had wonderful chemistry together, and it seems from interviews with Desmond that he did have quite a fondness for Pierce, I think it shows on-screen in all their scenes together.
  • BennyBenny Shaken not stirredAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 15,138
    Fiennes as M

    and

    Q scene in GE
  • Posts: 1,917
    In NTTD, I most look forward to M. One of the refreshing things about the start of the Craig era was not having Moneypenny and Q. I didn't miss them at all and didn't think they needed to be reintroduced. The filmmakers not only did that but made it worse by turning it into what has been dubbed the Scooby Gang by the board members here. Not just unnecessary but distracting.

    M is essential for Bond and I still think the dynamic between Craig and Fiennes may reach its peak in the new film.

    Although I didn't feel the need to bring back Moneypenny and Q, I will still go with the Skyfall Q scene. It's a new introduction and fresh. While I didn't want it, I was getting it anyway and actually looked forward to it knowing this and it was low-key and I liked what Whishaw and Mendes did with the character.

    Now I loved Desmond as much as anybody else and his return for the Brosnan era was welcome. But the GE scene is one that could be interchangeable with practically any of Brosnan's predecessors, nothing fresh or standout, really.

    Brosnan in particular seems kind of stiff in some of his deliveries. The scene also loses points for introducing the BMW and its gadgets only to leave the audience with no payoff, just a cameo late in the film.
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    The first question is really tough because I'm honestly not looking forward to either one. If I absolutely must choose one then I'd go for Fiennes. I think the characters of Mallory and Eve were great in Skyfall. In Spectre, it became clear to me that I really don't enjoy them as M and Moneypenny, respectively. Perhaps that's just a byproduct of the film itself, of which I have many issues. Here's hoping for a better turnout in NTTD, but as time goes by the more I'm starting to think that, "With Pleasure, M" would've been the perfect ending to the Craig era.

    The second option is much easier : GE all the way! Desmond is having so much fun and it's infectious. Hunting! Agree that Pierce plays off him very well. I still enjoy this scene as much as the first time I saw it. It really is one of the all time best Desmond scenes and that's saying something. I have no problems with the SF scene, in fact I quite enjoy it, but it just can't compare.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,483
    Harris doesn't get much love here. In my opinion, the chemistry between her and Craig is very good.
  • Agent_47Agent_47 Canada
    Posts: 330
    Harris doesn't get much love here. In my opinion, the chemistry between her and Craig is very good.

    She plays up the seductive side of Moneypenny too much for me. I want some light flirtation and some fun innuendo; not a Moneypenny who is constantly talking to Bond like she is shooting a commercial for a phone sexline.

  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,483
    I don't get this feeling (apart from the shaving scene). But you are right that it shouldn't be more than light flirtation.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,483
    As some of you mentioned before, I'm also not a big fan of the actual M and Moneypenny. They are alright. Both are good actors but some of the scenes (especially in SP) could be cut and the movie wouldn't be weaker. Fiennes is Fitting as M but he didn't shine so far (in my opinion). As I said befire, I prefer the chemistry between Craig and Harris, which is why I'm Looking Forward a Little bit more for her...

    I'm a big fan of the new Q. It was very smart and important to change Q completely (a young nerd who loves computers) otherwise he would be compared too much with the great and legendary Llewelyn and noone can win this comparison (at least not after such a short time).
    Both scenes are top 5 (maybe even top 3) Q scenes for me. The Scene at the National Gallery is a highlight of the film and has some fantastic lines.
    The GE scene is pure fun and I still love it like the first time I saw it as a teenager.
    Maybe almost a bit too much slapstick, but still good fun.
  • Max_The_ParrotMax_The_Parrot ATAC to St Cyril’s
    Posts: 2,426
    You’re right, I think they went absolutely the right way with a young, modern Q to gently poke fun at the ‘dinosaur’ and it is a great scene, but Brosnan and Llewelyn are a great double-act imo.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    edited February 2020 Posts: 4,483
    Results of round 22: Old school spying and Grant in action

    Fiennes/M is more welcomed to return in NTTD as Harris/Moneypenny: 10 : 3
    The Q scene from GE wins against the National Gallery (Q) scene in SF: 8 : 5

    Round 23:

    A) Which type of "spying" scene(s) do you prefer in DN and FRWL: Bond arrives at the airport and is surrounded by suspicious people who seems very interested in him (who are they, why are they following him etc?...) vs. Bond checks his hotel room for bugs and/or prepares the room to find out if someone will spy around in his room later (i.e. Bond puts the hair to the locker door).
    You don't have to vote for a film this time, but for the "type" of scene.


    B) FRWL - Which scene with Grant do you prefer: PTS vs. train station scene: Grant kills Nash and takes his place
  • OctopussyOctopussy Piz Gloria, Schilthorn, Switzerland.
    Posts: 1,081
    Hotel room. Iconic Bond.
    Train Station.
  • Airport & Train station
  • BennyBenny Shaken not stirredAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 15,138
    Hotel room
    &
    Train station
  • Max_The_ParrotMax_The_Parrot ATAC to St Cyril’s
    Posts: 2,426
    Hotel room - I used to pretend to be a spy as a kid and had a children’s book on spying explaining all those tricks that ‘spies’ use to know if someone has been in your room (because all spies write secret messages on rolled up bits of paper in an old log don’t they?) So seeing Bond go through the routine was such a great scene for me to watch at that age.

    Train station - the audacity and risk of it, all those people, so many things that could go wrong, if only Bond was a few seconds earlier, the sounds masking the dialogue, the steam, the pacing ..all great stuff! Although the PTS is so good in so many ways as well.
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 9,509
    Love Connery sauntering through the airport, his senses on high alert, but he looks as relaxed as can be (he lets his mask drop in DN, once he gets into the phone booth-- the hard edge of the killer emerges); also love how he uses his hat to block a photograph being taken of him-- just so bloody cool.

    Train station-- Max the Parrot said it best. It's a magnificent scene, and drives up the tension with the choices they made (the steam train whistle, can't hear the dialogue); yes, @MaxTheParrot said it best: this is an audacious scene.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    edited February 2020 Posts: 4,483
    Indeed, very well described @Max_The_Parrot. Is it almost a plothole that Grant's plan only works when Bond leaves the train half a minute later than Grant?? I never thought about that before (!).
  • Posts: 1,917
    The first one is hard, I like both and each is important in showing how cool and different Bond must've been to audiences of the time. At first, I was going for hotel room, but having seen the hotel scene in subsequent Bond films as well made it feel less unique. So I'm going with airport.

    If I'm not mistaken, the shot of Connery in the phone booth was his first as Bond and that scene of him peering out of it screams Bond. Add in the Bond theme and you have an underrated shot for the series and again, one that separated this character and series from anything that had gone before.

    For the Grant question, it looks like I'm going against the grain once again as I have frequently it seems like with recent poll questions: PTS.

    Put yourself in the place of an audience member in 1963 (or '64 if you were in the U.S.): You are familiar with Bond through one film and here you have him thrown into a moonlit pursuit with the setting inspired by the famous film, Last Year at Marienbad.

    There's a shadowy pursuer and Bond seems uncharacteristically nervous. The assassin pulls out a gadget and "kills" James Bond. The lights come up and we discover it wasn't Bond but the danger foreshadows what is to come for the real Bond.

    With spare dialogue, the nighttime and garden setting really add to the atmosphere, topped off by John Barry's first music as the series' primary composer. This is also significant as the very first pretitles sequence, making it that much more unique in that way.

    I just don't see the subsequent bathroom scene as being nearly as memorable or effective. If anything, the scene of Grant in the window as the Orient Express pulls out of the station as Bond, Kerim and Tanya board is so much more unsettling for me, making the subsequent scene with Nash less interesting. All taken together, they make part of a great film and a tribute to the skills of Terence Young.

    That could be a future poll, goldenswissroyale, shots like that with no dialogue but say so much.
  • MooseWithFleasMooseWithFleas Philadelphia
    Posts: 3,369
    Hotel Room: Have always thought this was some of the coolest parts of this era Bond. While it may be dated for today's Bond, I'd love for them to weave some element of this into a future Bond

    Train Station: Much more cereberal and menacing than the PTS, which does a good job of setting intrigue, but could have been replaced by any skilled henchmen or thug.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,483
    I would love to see a modern variation of the hotel room, too @MooseWithFleas.
    Very interesting comment @BT3366. And good to have a vote for the PTS. Connery plays the nervous part very good in the PTS. He almost doesn't look like himself. Good stuff!
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