It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
Not sure if it's controversial but I used to like TWINE a lot until Michael Apted made me dislike by some comments that I found rather arrogant. I've been finding flaws on the movie since then. Before I knew there were some but overall I thought it was a solid entry. Other truly controversial opinion: its overlong PTS is maybe the weakest of the series.
Actually like the PTS very much; maybe more than the rest of the film!
What comments did Apted make?
When it comes to a controversial opinion concerning each actor's 4th Bond film this is mine: in each case where a Bond actor has made a 4th Bond film, I actually preferred his 4th to his 3rd.
TB>GF
MR>TSWLM
DAD>TWINE
SP>SF
MR and TB are among my favorites since MR was the first one I saw in the cinema while TB was the first Connery Bond film I saw after seeing MR the first time. For me, TB is Connery's MR and while MR is Moore's TB and I mean that as a compliment in both cases. TB was also the first Ian Fleming novel I read not long after seeing TB for the first time so that probably adds to my affection for it.
I think it's up for debate to be fair, since it's difficult to point out a clear main villain in FRWL. The threat there is more SPECTRE as an organisation.
Utterly false? I wou say arguably false myself.
I agree with @thelivingroyale - the only real contender is Rosa Klebb and as she has Blofeld ordering her about is she actually the main villain?
Personally I've always had the impression that Apted never really had it on his radar to make a big blockbuster and was rather surprised to be asked. But then he perhaps thought he would regret it if he turned down such a national institution.
I've always really liked TWINE and I think Apted did a good job. I even like the action, which not a lot of people seem to. I think there are a lot of inventive concepts in the action scenes. Like the caviar factory bit, even ignoring the buzzsaw helicopters he spices up a simple shootout by making it take place on different levels, there's that great bit where Bond pops up through the floor. I think it's a real shame he didn't do DAD personally.
Completely opposite for me.
Agree with the others that this is probably up for discussion. What he didn't do first, was having a female villain so central to the plot, in that Rosa Klebb is after Bond from start to finish in FRWL.
This is Brosnan at peak Bond for me. From all the faults you could find in his last two films, his performances were at his best in TWINE and DAD. Would had loved seeing him doing another one before CR, as I think he could have delivered an even greater performance.
Love the action in TWINE. It's the action that makes up for the weaker parts of the film. If there's a scene you don't like, there's always a great action scene just around the corner, making TWINE an entertaining Bond film. Easily better than the action scenes in SP if you ask me.
I’d say Apted is quite right that Elektra was the very first female Bond main villain. The first female baddie who has to account to no one except herself.
Also, I’m pretty sure he knew she wouldn’t be the first female who worked for the wrong side as we had Xenia only four years earlier.
@thelivingroyale Nice to see some love for TWINE; It being my favourite entry and all. The plot is complex and the characters more nuanced with actual history and relationships that help push the plot yet manages to perfectly balance the more indulgent aspects of the series. I feel that Apted really allowed that film to balance out nicely without ever betraying its soul focus.
Also +1 for the action sequences. The skiing setpiece, the bankers office, boat chase and helicopter attack are all grade A for me.
He is wrong as Rosa Klebb was the main antagonist in FRWL at least in equal part with Grant. Now for TWINE Elektra shares her function with Renard. Whatever Apted said about him being a henchman.
It's not Renard who influences her decision. She is left at his mercy because M advises her father not to pay the ransom. She then forms an alliance (using him) to take control of the company, kills her father and uses Bond to get herself closer to M. She aligns herself with Renard because they have similar goals. She doesn't care about Renard, he is merely a tool to exact her revenge.
You may need to watch the film again and pay closer attention. Especially to the torture sequence where all is revealed.
Renard is by all intents and purposes... the henchman; One of the best I might add.
I'd also like to point out that she is the one who switches the lapel pin, kidnaps M, uses and tortures Bond, pays off Zukovsky and supplies most of the equipment and the necessary cover to accomplish their goals.
Agree with all your points except in bold. He's rubbish.
This might be controversial: in a lot of ways I think TWINE proves wrong a lot of the common criticisms of the Brosnan era. Too formula driven? Christmas feels shoehorned in but apart from that it's full of original ideas and shakes things up in a lot of ways. Too reliant on gadgets? There are gadgets in the film but Bond also uses his wits and feels like a real detective. Too generic and not in the spirit of the original books? I can't be bothered to type it all out again but I made a pretty long post about how it feels very Fleming here
https://www.mi6community.com/discussion/1678/the-world-is-not-enough-appreciation-thread/p7
I'd rather not rewatch TWINE as it sits at the bottom of my rankings. Although it could be interesting to revisit it to see if I have any change of mind. It feels very by-the-numbers in terms of the tropes and action and the other ideas seem like a dry run for what would be better honed during the Craig era.
Yes. That's how I see it as well. Actually, it's not entirely clear to me how one can see it any different.
Even though films like CR and SF offer lots of quality stuff, and are objectively speaking better than the likes of DAF or MR, they just don’t feel like James Bond to me. This is by no means meant as an insult towards the recent films, because they have some fine moments too.
To me they just feel too different and despite their advantages they don’t have that special place in my heart that other, sometimes more flawed, Bond films have.
It could be down to me being overly melancholic as the films between 1962 and 1999 turned me into a film fan in general.
Maybe I’d even go as far as considering AUF, Nightfire and the FRWL game being my favourite Bond items released since 2000.
I think it is the lack of the gunbarrel and Bond music etc that doesnt help things.
I tend to watch the Cubby era films far more often than CR or SF. However, when in the mood for it, I enjoy the Craig films quite a bit. Therein lies the problem: I don't have to be in the mood for Roger to enjoy any of his films, I can pop in OP any time and get the same excitement I got in the cinemas in '83. Same with the Connery films.
The newer films seem almost too prestigious for me.
Indeed. That's the one element of the Craig films that angers me to no end. I'm still pi$$ed about QOS's gun barrel and especially SF!!! If I were Bruce Banner I'd be hulking out at this very moment just thinking of the gunbarrel as well as the Bond Theme music.
Unforgivable dis-respect to the great Maurice Binder, John Barry and Monty Norman for disregarding these elements in the Craig Bonds.