On Her Majesty's Secret Service- Very overrated?

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  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    Posts: 5,080
    And with that, fellow agents, I bid you farewell.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,801
    So explain the batmam tv show style sound effects outside Draco's office. Its jusrlt rediculous.
    There was no such thing.
  • SirHilaryBraySirHilaryBray Scotland
    Posts: 2,138
    As for Moonraker it grossed just a few million more than FYEO but that was due to the expectation and consistancy thanks to Sir Rodge. But everything Fleming was lost when they send bond to space, no suprise that on the next they returned to some normality.
  • SirHilaryBraySirHilaryBray Scotland
    Posts: 2,138
    chrisisall wrote: »
    So explain the batmam tv show style sound effects outside Draco's office. Its jusrlt rediculous.
    There was no such thing.

    Have you actually watched it??. when he strikes dracos henchmen they add reverb sound makes it look like a fight scene out of a batman tv show. Go and watch it I will await your apology.
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    Posts: 5,080
    everything Fleming was lost when they send bond to space, no suprise that on the next they returned to some normality.

    That wasn't your original point, however. You were referring to the box office gross. Let's not make this discussion even more meandering than it already is
  • SirHilaryBraySirHilaryBray Scotland
    Posts: 2,138
    Yawn!
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    Posts: 5,080
    Yawn!

    How very mature of you. Spoken like a real "sir".
  • SirHilaryBraySirHilaryBray Scotland
    Posts: 2,138
    Cant help it your just so boring.
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    Posts: 5,080
    We are among friends here, it seems...
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,801
    Have you actually watched it??.
    Have you actually watched Batman? Those reverb FX were nothing like anything in Batman.
    You must give me the name of your hearing specialist.
  • Posts: 1,993
    BAIN123 said Moore's a better, more experienced actor. Simple.


    Being an experienced actor didn't make Moore a better Bond than Lazenby. It made him a different kind of Bond. Compared with SC, RM's Bond exhibits more refinement in both manner and speech. His Bond is too much the dandy. Vesper captures perfectly the essence of the rough-edged Bond when she says, "You wear it [your suit] with such disdain." Moore may have been experienced, but he never owned the role of Bond. In all his films, he seemed to be playing the role of Bond; he never inhabited the role as SC did. Lazenby fell in between. His first outing is not as strong as Connery's, but definitely equal to Moore's first outing as Bond. There's a certain lack of polish and roughness to his Bond that is reminiscent of the Connery portrayals.

    I won't argue dollars. I know how successful Moore's films were. But box-office didn't make Moore a better actor.

  • Posts: 15,124
    That is why I prefer Moore's performance in his earlier Bond.
  • Posts: 1,146
    @SirHilaryBray I find it ironic that your username and profile picture depicts the very thing you hate. Not criticising, just an observation.

    That is funny.
  • Posts: 1,146
    No but the figures show what people thought about the film at the time and what happened after. Only in recent years have fan boys of OHMSS piped up in support because of the culture shift. Back then OHMSS lacked the macho edge that fans of the earlier films loved. It was a love story. Times have changed and Dan's films are like OHMSS in that they are more about personal story than the macho bond with the gadgets that people are finding OHMSS more in line with whats being done now. But OHMSS was in mh my and in most peoples eyes at the time a poor attempt its now being glorified. But I dont think had Connery stayed OHMSS would have been the next film made. YOLO the novel starts with Bond mourning Traceys loss so OHMSS had already been bypassed.

    Yeah, this film has been admired for quite a while. James Cameron and CHris Nolan, among two that do. It's simply one of the best Bond films ever made.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    edited December 2014 Posts: 12,480
    People will be poles apart in their opinion of this film. But I think the production values and cinematography were very good. Great score. Laz's acting and overall portrayal was quite poor for me and it affects my enjoyment of the film. Therefore, plus a few other things that I dislike, it will never be a great Bond film for me. I highly doubt that the general consensus now is that it is "one of the best Bond films ever made." And, even if the total general opinion of all critics and audiences had changed so dramatically to actually mean that, it would still not alter my own opinion of course.

    Moore is a far better actor, and a far better Bond than Lazenby. All the other Bonds were memorable and good and believable as Bond.

  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,423
    @4EverBonded - you've piqued my interest. What other issues affect your enjoyment of Majesty's, apart from Lazenby performance, of course?
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
    Not much - his is the biggest elephant in the room for me, by far. :)

    But also - I cannot stand the stupid Angels of Death girls; they are beyond annoying to me. Really stupid, even for the 60's time period.
    Add to that mix the overall tone and feeling when you watch the film. We spend 2 hours (approx.) watching a fabulous Tracy, growing to know and appreciate her ... and then have her killed suddenly and the film then ends right there, on the complete downer, depressing bit. (I have read the novels; don't just down my throat, people.) I would have greatly preferred to kill her in the opening PTS of Diamonds are Forever and make that a more serious revenge film (even if keeping some of the tone of it). No wonder audiences left the theater feeling not so great about Bond. Even if I had believed Laz as Bond (not a small thing; I really tried and could not) the other issues were big enough to have this film be more of a disappointment for me.
    But having a happier ending would have helped audiences want to see the next film (even those who had read the novel). Don't end it with them driving away safely, end it at some scene of the wedding reception and foreshadow something about tragedy very carefully. That is what I would have strongly preferred.

    I can enjoy aspects of this film, yes, for sure - but not overall. It is not a Bond film I want to experience often. Not enjoyable except in parts.
  • edited December 2014 Posts: 7,507
    But also - I cannot stand the stupid Angels of Death girls; they are beyond annoying to me. Really stupid, even for the 60's time period.

    As a big fan of OHMSS, I must say I completely agree! Those girls -- and indeed the entire sequence at Piz Gloria until Bond finaly gets captured and we get back on track -- is just pure, boring farce. It feels so out of place and completely kills the momentum. ~X( It feels like they were trying to force some overt humor and babes into the film that were really not needed, and the film just slows up as a consequence. I have to resist my urges to skip that bit entirely every time I watch the film. Piz Gloria as a location is what saves it.¨

    The rest of the film though, as far as I am concerned, is pure classic stuff!
  • Posts: 11,189
    I think you have to be English to appreciate those Angels of Death.

    I must admit I find Ruby a delight.
  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,423
    Peter Hunt had the idea of using the PTS of Diamonds for Tracy's death.

    Yes, I saw see what you mean about Angels of Death, well Ruby anyway. Personally I can't stand her.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    edited December 2014 Posts: 12,480
    Thanks for not ripping me to shreds, @jobo. :) Glad someone else besides my personal friends and myself find the Angels of Death annoying and bloody boring. You are right, it seems inserted and does kill the momentum.

    The soundtrack really grew on me. I love the snowy scenes. I wish the script was significantly different in a couple of areas, as I mentioned. And Piz Gloria is a huge plus! Yes, it would have been not so enjoyable at all in a different location, would it?
  • Posts: 7,507
    BAIN123 wrote: »
    I think you have to be English to appreciate those Angels of Death.

    I must admit I find Ruby a delight.

    Oh there is a Norwegian there too. ;) Although she doesn't get any lines...
  • Posts: 15,124
    The Angels of Death are essential to the story. And the fact that they are all innocent, carefree barely out of teenage, a tad ditzy young women is central to emphasize the very sinister nature of Blofeld's plot.
  • edited December 2014 Posts: 7,507
    But why do we need to spend so much time on them? And why do we need all the silliness?

    Fleming managed to get the balance perfectly right. But in the film they goofed it up for some reason.
  • edited December 2014 Posts: 11,189
    I suppose now they do kind of seem like caricatures of 60s "sexually free" young women - especially with the clothes and hair styles. That said I do like Ruby:

    "You are funny pretending not to like girls"
    "Ruby Bartlett...from Lancashire"
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
    I get they are essential to the plot. It could have been less stupid and annoyingly done, though. Girl eating chicken saying "I love chicken" and dreaming "I love chicken" just kills it for me.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
    I love some sixties films, though. Anyway, parts of OHMSS are glaringly bad for me, others are good.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,801
    Thanks for not ripping me to shreds, @jobo. :) Glad someone else besides my personal friends and myself find the Angels of Death annoying
    Totally annoying IMO. I like OHMSS but it's not near the top of my list. Honestly, if not for Diana, I might almost never watch it.
  • Posts: 7,653
    for me OHMSS is 007's out of the MI6 through the love of a beautifull women. In the mean time 007 stops an act of biological warfare against the UK. Then Blofeld kills Bonds wife and we are set up for the next installment of the Blofeld trilogy. It is not untill the end of the TMWTGG that the phoenix of 007 rises from the ashes.

    What Peter Hunt did with OHMSS is sheer brilliance in beauty, action and Truly faithfull to Fleming, something we have not seen since.
  • Posts: 11,189
    I get they are essential to the plot. It could have been less stupid and annoyingly done, though. Girl eating chicken saying "I love chicken" and dreaming "I love chicken" just kills it for me.

    Well...that was in the book I think.
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