Last Bond Movie You Watched

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  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    Same here, as a youngster I hated OHMSS but as I matured, I could appreciate
    How good it was. ;)
  • Last_Rat_StandingLast_Rat_Standing Long Neck Ice Cold Beer Never Broke My Heart
    Posts: 4,592
    I third that notion. Not a huge fan of Lazenby, but overall OHMSS is one of the best films.
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131
    I fourth that.
  • Posts: 11,189
    I always enjoyed OHMSS, but I certainly think it's one of those Bond films you don't truly appreciate until you're a bit older.
  • Posts: 1,596
    @00Beast Not a fan of the Lewis Gilbert Bond films, I see.

    As for OHMSS, I didn't like it as a kid. I appreciate it slightly more now, but I'm still not a huge fan.
  • Posts: 4,762
    OHMSS will have to continue to prove itself to me before I can rank it anywhere remotely close to the Top Ten- right now it'll occupy a middle ground spot, but that's better than dead last. It served its time there for many years!

    @ThighsOfXenia: it's funny, it's not that I have an intentional disdain for them, but YOLT is sort of a drag, and TSWLM usually fails to excite me prior to the Liparus battle and Atlantis finale, which are legitimately thrilling. I'm thinking about ranking TSWLM at least above LALD though, because the latter of those two has truly disappointed me lately.

    Moonraker

    I was planning to watch MR next anyways, but after reading a few reviews of it on a discussion I saw here recently, I decided to hasten the process and pop it into the ol' VHS player today.

    MR still finds ways to let me down, but it isn't for the same reason as it used to be. In the past, it was simply because I couldn't find anything worthwhile in the movie. The cheesy aspects hit me hard and the overall heightened "fantasy feel" left a sour taste in my mouth by the time the credits rolled. On this most recent viewing, my disappointments rest in this: MR could have been one of the best Bond movies ever made. There are multitudes of scenes where everything comes together so nicely. So what's the issue? For every glorious scene of total Bond splendor, there is a follow-up scene of goofy antics to backhand the previous good work. Take Venice for example: Bond does a little spying around the glass company and has a witty encounter with Dr. Goodhead. The flow of events here is excellent and genuinely interesting. Bond boards his gondola, and we expect to have a nice peek into the off duty time of our multicultural hero- NOPE. Instead, it's possibly the corniest scene in all Bond history. However, immediately after this is another fine example of Bond's spy work with his investigation of Drax's laboratory.

    MR is loaded with these terrific book-end scenes containing some rather cheesy filling in the middle. It's a shame, really. This stop-and-go feel between the spectacular and the cringe-worthy is worse than being in bumber-to-bumper rush hour traffic. Thankfully, the always appreciated score from Barry remains pretty consistent, tying together the good and the bad; furthermore, the sensational location work coupled with this fabulous score nearly makes you forget all the useless gags.

    A surprise for me this time around was my semi-enjoyment of Hugo Drax. In a sort of calmly bone-chilling way, Michael Lonsdale gives Drax a lot of life, even if his take in doing that seems to make the character lack any bit of life. By the time the movie reaches Drax's grand monologue aboard the space station, it's clear that this main villain is totally nuts, and not in the overly wince-worthy Gustav Graves way! He won't be topping my list of Bond villains any time soon, but I'll surely be paying further attention to his character on future viewings.

    MR is a mixed bag when all is said and done. The good rests equal with the bad, and both are excessive in their own right. The score, locations, sheer beauty overall, and some decent performances by Moore and Lonsdale keep it from the bottom feeders, but the butchering of Jaws and all the intolerable gags will ensure that it doesn't ever reign too high.

    2014/2015 Bondathon

    1. From Russia with Love
    2. Tomorrow Never Dies
    3. Goldfinger
    4. For Your Eyes Only
    5. Diamonds Are Forever
    6. The Man with the Golden Gun
    7. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    8. Thunderball
    9. Moonraker
    10. The Living Daylights
    11. Live and Let Die
    12. The Spy Who Loved Me
    13. You Only Live Twice
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    edited May 2015 Posts: 5,131
    @00Beast Not a fan of the Lewis Gilbert Bond films, I see.

    As for OHMSS, I didn't like it as a kid. I appreciate it slightly more now, but I'm still not a huge fan.

    Gilbert injected far too much fantasy and over the top 'comic' humour into his films. If Terence Young had directed his films they would have been a million times better for me. How does directing Alfie make one right to direct Bond in YOLT?...Answer....it doesn't. Cubby gave Gilbert more and more free reign until he made the parody that is MR. With careful editing all of Gilberts films could be improved......Jaws falling in love etc!!! Pure crap.

    In terms of OHMSS, Peter Hunt was a hero. He understood Fleming and he understood Bond. He also drove a decent performance out of non actor Lazenby. His editing also 'bathed' the golden age of DN to TB.
  • Posts: 1,596
    @suavejmf, I was just pointing out that it's interesting to see two of Gilbert's Bond films so close to the bottom of his list. And for what it's worth, I love Gilbert as a Bond director.
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    edited May 2015 Posts: 5,131
    No problem, your opinion is your own and all Gilberts films were very successful. My opinion is that he was a negative influence on the series. B-) Before Gilbert directed Moore as Bond, he played Bond. Once Gilbert took over as Director Moore played himself. Just my opinion...
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    That is because Gilbert got starstruck. The same thing happened with Connery in YOLT.
  • edited May 2015 Posts: 11,189
    I do remember Lewis Gilbert saying in an interview that with Moore's first two films "they were trying to turn him into Sean Connery".

    It was probably a decision made jointly.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    It is a bit ironic, as come 1983 they tried to turn Connery into Roger Moore.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    @Bain123 , wrote ....
    " It was probably a decision made jointly"

    I agree, A Joint, was most certainly used for that decision ! :))
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    DIE ANOTHER DAY
    I still suffer from the side effects, but I will give Tamahorri some credit. The nosediving Antonov is the perfect analogy for the state of the Bond franchise at this point.
  • Posts: 2,165
    Currently watching Skyfall (for the zillionth time).

    God damn it Roger Deakins cinematography is exceptional.

    Hoyte has his work cut out, the bar is extrodonarily high.

    As for the film, love it, same as the first time I saw it.
  • Posts: 7,507
    Mallory wrote: »
    Currently watching Skyfall (for the zillionth time).

    God damn it Roger Deakins cinematography is exceptional.

    Hoyte has his work cut out, the bar is extrodonarily high.

    As for the film, love it, same as the first time I saw it.

    The Incredible thing is that I think he will deliver!
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited May 2015 Posts: 23,883
    That trailer shot of Bond in the boat going towards the cabin where Mr. White is suggests we're in for a special treat come November, courtesy of Hoyte.
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    bondjames wrote: »
    That trailer shot of Bond in the boat going towards the cabin where Mr. White is suggests we're in for a special treat come November, courtesy of Hoyte.

    I actually think that shot looked better than anything in SF to be honest.
  • JohnHammond73JohnHammond73 Lancashire, UK
    Posts: 4,151
    Currently watching Goldfinger,

    1 - because its a Bank Holiday (and what is a bank holiday without a Bond movie)

    2 - because I've started a bit of a Bondathon in the run up to Spectre and GF is the next one I need to watch.
  • Posts: 1,596
    doubleoego wrote: »
    bondjames wrote: »
    That trailer shot of Bond in the boat going towards the cabin where Mr. White is suggests we're in for a special treat come November, courtesy of Hoyte.

    I actually think that shot looked better than anything in SF to be honest.

    I thought the best shot in the trailer by far was the way he lit Waltz at the end and his cronies.

  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131
    BAIN123 wrote: »
    I do remember Lewis Gilbert saying in an interview that with Moore's first two films "they were trying to turn him into Sean Connery".

    It was probably a decision made jointly.

    But this shows Gilberts ingorance. In LALD they (the producers and director) had Moore NOT copying SC. E.g. he never orders a martini he has bourbon.
  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,423
    Cosmetically sure, but Moore's roughing up off Andrea screams Connery.
  • Posts: 1,596
    Actually I thought it was widely known that Hamilton was directing Moore to act more like Connery.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,718
    Actually I thought it was widely known that Hamilton was directing Moore to act more like Connery.

    Which is funny because in DAF, Hamilton directed Connery to act like Moore would do years later in MR.

  • Posts: 1,596
    Actually I thought it was widely known that Hamilton was directing Moore to act more like Connery.

    Which is funny because in DAF, Hamilton directed Connery to act like Moore would do years later in MR.

    Haha, good point.

  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,718
    Come to think of it, the closest Connery's been to Moore is GF (compared to the prevous 2 outings) and DAF, and the closest Moore has been to Connery is LALD and TMWTGG. Maybe Hamilton didn't know which of Sean and Rog was which.
  • edited May 2015 Posts: 1,596
    I think he just directed both actors towards his "idea of Bond," so we got a lighter Connery (although I love both of his Hamilton performances) and a harder edged Moore (and I love both of his Hamilton performances as well) so they sort of "met in the middle."
  • edited May 2015 Posts: 11,189
    I think the slightly more serious Moore works better in LALD than it does in GG. In the latter he just seems nasty for the sake of being nasty. The unpleasantness feels a bit overdone and forced at times.

    Connery had that rough, slightly "common" edge to him, hence he could make it work. Moore usually portrayed himself as a suave, calm man. Maybe that's why the excessive nastiness feels exactly that coming from him...excessive.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    Birdleson wrote: »
    Hamilton's Moore is the closest performance we get to the Bond of the novels (not in the tone of the films, of course).

    These are my favourite performances from Moore, along with his work on the Man Who Haunted Himself. In all cases, he plays against type.
  • Posts: 1,596
    Birdleson wrote: »
    Hamilton's Moore is the closest performance we get to the Bond of the novels (not in the tone of the films, of course).

    I'd say Young's Connery, personally.

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