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A couple of things I'm not overjoyed with - breaking the fourth wall and the nods to Connerys movies (janitor whistling Goldfinger and when 007 empties he drawer after "resigning"), I feel they undermine Lazenby's Bond somewhat.
However, love this entry in the series.
I needed a re-watch of TSWLM after having mixed-to-low feelings about it the last time around. Truthfully, I've never felt overly against or with TSWLM since it was one of the last Bond movies I ever watched for the first time and therefore not having much sentimental value to me. That has helped me to view it more objectively over the years, but occasionally I tend to look at it too objectively and miss the charm. TSWLM is actually a very entertaining Bond movie, and while I have known that for a long time, I must have overlooked the power of that entertainment. The plot couldn't be more thrilling: two nuclear submarines go missing, one from the Russians and one from the British. In the Cold War world, both nations send their best operatives out to locate the missing subs, leading to a bizarre, reclusive billionaire and his underwater fanaticism. The plot is especially intriguing in the first half with all of the microfilm tracking, and despite the "mad billionaire wants to nuke the world" plot in the second half, the movie handles it in a way that isn't terribly corny or out of this world.
As for other elements, TSWLM offers some very scenic locations and a few solid characters, like Max Kalba, Jaws and Naomi. Stromberg is chilling and classic in his own way, though sometimes dull and uninspiring. Anya is just plain awful. Roger Moore is on fire in his third outing as our hero, as many fans have taken notice before. Some of those uncharacteristic, rougher edges from TMWTGG have been smoothed out, and the lame buffoonery of MR hasn't set in, thankfully. Thus, the perfect balance is struck. As for the score, ol' Marvin gives it his best whirl and doesn't do too bad, frankly. Some tracks are pretty tough to swallow and feel incredibly out of place (i.e. some of the music during the Lotus vs. Naomi's helicopter chase and the journey by boat to Atlantis), but for the most part, it's very Bond-worthy. In the action department, I have no qualms- the action set pieces are well executed and appropriate to their place in the plot progression.
Overall, TSWLM certainly gets a raise in my rankings. I look forward to possibly seeing it rise even further as time goes on.
Bondathon 2014/2015
1. From Russia with Love
2. Tomorrow Never Dies
3. License to Kill
4. A View to a Kill
5. Live and Let Die
6. The Spy Who Loved Me
7. The World is not Enough
8. Dr. No
9. Diamonds Are Forever
10. For Your Eyes Only
11. The Man with the Golden Gun
12. Thunderball
13. The Living Daylights
14. Goldfinger
15. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
16. Moonraker
17. You Only Live Twice
I honestly think his performances with John Glen are all fantastic. Moore isn't exactly known for being a real Fleming Bond, but when people say that they're really just talking about TSWLM and MR.
His Hamilton and Glen performances have a lot of Fleming in them. His age and that facelift probably make AVTAK arguably his weakest, but I've always defended it as another charismatic, confident, and commanding performance from ole Roger.
The movie's greatest weakness remains its ponderous pace and comparative lack of action, but seeing actual detective work in a Bond movie is really a treat, rather than globetrotting and walking into the next step of the plot between action scenes. Connery is great in his first turn in the role, as is the supporting cast (Dent, Quarrel, Leiter, the good doctor). Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder is a bit of a weakness and doesn't contribute to the plot, but we can forgive that much given the influence she had on Bond girls generally.
I quite enjoy the detective work, it just gets very slow. It's kind of a love-hate relationship. But in any event, disagreement is what keeps sites like these going, so it's welcome. My other reviews should be a fair bit longer too.
Did your kids enjoy the movie, @ThomasCrown76?
Ugh.
You want to find redeeming qualities in it, and just as soon as one presents itself to you, something awful pops up to make you forget about it. This may be the most back-and-forth Bond movie of the entire series. It's a constant battle between "wow, that was neat!" and "yikes, I'm going to pretend that didn't happen." If any Bond movie is a headache to make up your mind about, it's DAD.
Visually, DAD offers up its best. The location work is very impressive. I had read a while back on someone's review here of DAD that they thought Tamahori was a talented director in terms of pace, and I agree completely. Give DAD some credit for not being boring! I just wish that entertaining grip was supported by a believable set of characters and a more narrow approach. The characters, save for Miranda Frost, Raoul, Bond, and the MI6 crew, are indescribably lame, and the plot suffers from too much fantasy and not enough simplicity. Its understandable that the 40th anniversary may have called for an increase in spectacle, but my goodness, it's way excessive. Invisible car? Gene therapy? A suit that controls a space satellite death ray? It crosses that crucial border between unlikely and sheer absurdity. Thus, the foolish elements of the plot threaten to ruin an otherwise intriguing plot regarding a rogue North Korean colonel bent on reuniting his peninsula by force. Typical DAD- so close, and yet so far away.
Still, like I said, DAD is a wishy-washy Bond adventure, and because of that, there is some enjoyment to be had. It will probably stay as a lower mid-ranger for a while.
Bondathon 2014/2015 Rankings
1. From Russia with Love
2. Tomorrow Never Dies
3. License to Kill
4. A View to a Kill
5. Live and Let Die
6. The Spy Who Loved Me
7. The World is not Enough
8. Dr. No
9. Diamonds Are Forever
10. For Your Eyes Only
11. The Man with the Golden Gun
12. Thunderball
13. The Living Daylights
14. Goldfinger
15. Die Another Day
16. Moonraker
17. You Only Live Twice
18. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
I realized that OHMSS, however much it may have fooled me during my last viewing, is actually a burden to watch. I cringe when I put it in the DVD Player and nearly fall to my knees in joy when the credits roll, hahaha. I'm not sure what happened on that last viewing to make me almost enjoy it. Nuts!
Cinemark was showing it as part of the digital classic series. The film itself looked so nice, probably better than it did on its initial release back in 1964. I'm sure they probably used the Ultimate Edition DVD to screen it. There was a decent sized crowd in the theater including a grandfather with his grandson(I'm guessing he was about 10 years old).
So now that I've finally seen a Sean Connery 1960s Bond film on the big screen. Now, I want to see the first 3 Panavision Bond films TB, YOLT and OHMSS on a big screen.
Haven't watched it in a while, and every time I watch it I like it more. I do think
Roger gave his best performance as Bond in this.
TMWTGG.
I caught GF as well. Looked better than DVD, I have to assume its the new 4K master that has recently been done. I hope to see other classic Bond films soon, as this is the only one I've seen in theaters that wasn't an upcoming Bond film (my first was DAD, and have seen every Bond film in theaters since). FRWL would be the next best, followed by OHMSS.
I'll post this in the Bondathon thread too.
It is not the finest, but has maybe the best bikini bum in the series.
Surely one of the greatest Bond movies in the series.
Everything fits together so well in OP. Plot, villains, dialogue, locations, Glen's direction, Roger's well-rounded performance- all fall perfectly into place to create a very balanced Bond movie. To put it plainly, save for not being able to finish the last 45 minutes until several days later due to work, I was able to sit through OP without ever feeling the need to break it up into segments. It's an attention-grabber from start to finish!
Bondathon 2014/2015 Rankings
1. From Russia with Love
2. Tomorrow Never Dies
3. License to Kill
4. A View to a Kill
5. Octopussy
6. Live and Let Die
7. The Spy Who Loved Me
8. The World is not Enough
9. Dr. No
10. Diamonds Are Forever
11. For Your Eyes Only
12. The Man with the Golden Gun
13. Thunderball
14. The Living Daylights
15. Goldfinger
16. Die Another Day
17. Moonraker
18. You Only Live Twice
19. On Her Majesty's Secret Service