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At least TND sees some use, am I right?
Die Another Day is a case study in collapse. The first half hour looks to be setting up for a classic Bond on the fortieth anniversary. Bond has been captured and tortured for over a year, an unexpected first. After his release, he's an angry man going rogue and bent on revenge, looking for the man who corrupted Col. Moon and his evil plot. In the second half hour, the cracks begin to show, and it appears the movie will end up more like TWINE: interesting ideas but subpar execution. In the third part, the wheels come off, as we're treated to a baffling spectacle of ice, half-hearted homages, and CGI. By the final part, the movie has retreated into utter self-parody, and the series has collapsed under its own weight.
The culprits here are many. From the "could harm any Bond" file, we have Halle Berry's turn as Jinx. The lines are bad, the delivery is bad, and the character is inconsistently written. The cinematography is often strange, with sudden slow-motion and inexplicable pans and zooms. Bond's ability to stop his own heartbeat is similarly bizarre. Finally, the use of London Calling is positively jarring when you consider what The Clash stood for (but maybe I just need to remember Death or Glory).
Then there are the errors that are unique to DAD. The movie goes all in for CGI, never taking a moment to consider what made the stunts in previous Bonds so exciting. The gene therapy plot is ridiculous. The shout outs to previous Bond movies are brazen and actively detract from the movie (hello, laser scene). Mr. Kil. The invisible car. Both virtual reality sequences.
By the end of the movie, we're left with a parody of Bond, more than Bond. This, along with the realization that they had a perfect Bond origin story waiting in Casino Royale, lead to perhaps the most drastic decision of all time. Despite Brosnan's popularity and the movie's relative financial success, they would have to end his tenure as Bond and reboot the entire series, starting fresh. I have mixed feelings on the whole idea of a reboot, especially given the way Spectre is headed, but that is a debate for another day.
The movie, weak as it is, does have its strong suits, apart from the already discussed first half hour. Brosnan is excellent as Bond, although the movie is such a mess around him there's little he can do. Toby Stephens is actually quite good in the role of Gustav Graves, although again, the gene therapy plot and his secretly being Col. Moon sinks the whole endeavor. Their swordfight is a high point of the movie, and one of the movie's better, more subtle callbacks (to Goldfinger, naturally). Another fine reference is Bond's posing as an ornithologist in Cuba (Fleming named the character after an author of a book on the subject). Rosamund Pike does quite well for herself as Miranda Frost.
Finally, two things that don't bother me nearly as much as everyone else about DAD are the bullet shooting past and Madonna's cameo. The first, while I readily admit it to be wholly unnecessary, seemed cool to me when I was younger and I've never given up the little bit of affection for it. Some might object to the idea of the singer having a cameo in the movie, but Madonna's role is still quite small, and she managed to have decent chemistry with Brosnan.
But alas, these were not enough to save Die Another Day. It takes its place near the bottom, a failure so grand that it pushed the producers into the ultimate back to basics gambit, about which more next week.
1. Goldfinger
2. From Russia With Love
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
4. GoldenEye
5. The Spy Who Loved Me
6. Dr. No
7. Licence to Kill
8. For Your Eyes Only
9. The Living Daylights
10. You Only Live Twice
11. Tomorrow Never Dies
12. Thunderball
13. Octopussy
14. The World is not Enough
15. Live and Let Die
16. Diamonds are Forever
17. A View to a Kill
18. Die Another Day
19. The Man with the Golden Gun
20. Moonraker
The highlights of both films are: Waterloo Station scene and Tangiers chase for Bourne, PTS, Sienna chase and Tosca for QOS. The soundtracks are the best of the trilogy (Bourne) and the best from David Arnold (QOS).
After watching these 2 films back to back I must say I prefer QOS by a fair margin - Craig delivers the most badass performance I've seen in an action movie, and also because I think Ultimatum kind of dies down once Bourne arrives in New York, and I don't care for the finale at the training facility.
I also noticed how much globe trotting there is in both films - Italy, Haiti, London, Austria, Bolivia, Russia for QOS, Italy, France, London, Spain, Tangiers, New York in Ultimatum.
Other than that, this was an epic double feature to experience. I really enjoy both these films.
I highly enjoyed both of them! TSWLM has certainly risen in my rankings after this viewing. That stylish, classic 007 feel that most everyone assigns to TSWLM finally revealed itself to me at long last. OP will remain in the same position, if not higher up!
Both classics from Moore, for different reasons. I'm glad you enjoyed them. Two of my favourites.
One aspect of the movie that's not remarked upon enough is that it's basically two stories cobbled together (plus the PTS). The first takes up the first hour, in which Bond investigates the parkour bomber and eventually foils the plot to blow up an Airbus stand-in, fighting against primarily against Demetrios in Nassau and Miami. After a brief transition scene in the Bahamas, the second half of the movie starts, where Bond fights Le Chiffre in the card game and its aftermath in Montenegro and Venice. The two stories are connected, of course, but scarcely more than Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.
All the individual aspects of the story are excellent, from darkly brilliant PTS to the instantly iconic parkour chase in Madagascar to the unfairly neglected action sequence at the airport in Miami. Bond and Vesper's first meeting on the train is also some of the best dialogue in the series (and is witty without seeming at all intentionally Bondian, which is something the series struggled with since Goldfinger). The execution of the poker game, both in the tension of the game itself and the various goings on (the stairwell fight, the poisoning) they have to break up the long card game are among the most skillfully executed parts of the movie for how smooth they seem. The torture sequence is just as iconic as the parkour chase, and deservedly so. Perhaps the movie slows down a bit during the big shootout, but Vesper's suicide and Bond's grief more than compensate. The ending, of course, is wonderful.
And all that without getting into the central relationship of the movie! Vesper is a brilliant character, and her arc with Bond is entirely believable, as they trade barbs, argue, come to respect each other, and finally fall in love after Bond comforts her after killing Obanno and she rescues him from the poison. Their love is doomed to fail, as all viewers know, which leads to Bond's wrath in QoS and his general lack of interest in women as meaningful pursuits, which combines with his spy's lack of trust to produce quite a cold personality. Craig and Eva Green nail the roles, in their confidence, their impatience with each other, their vulnerability, and their slow affection blossoming into love and then heartbreak.
Judi Dench is also great as M, and Mads Mikkelsen is very good as Le Chiffre. Mr. White adds an air of mystery as Mr. White (I'm excited to see him back in Spectre, to see if he does anything worthwhile (I WILL NOT SEE SPECTRE UNTIL NOVEMBER 6, NO SPOILERS)). Obanno and Demetrios are fine secondary villains.
Casino Royale is a truly excellent Bond movie that vaults to the very top of the list for grounding and remaking the series so effectively. Craig's strength as Bond pushes it past OHMSS, although it falls just short of the series-defining From Russia With Love and Goldfinger.
1. Goldfinger
2. From Russia With Love
3. Casino Royale
4. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
5. GoldenEye
6. The Spy Who Loved Me
7. Dr. No
8. Licence to Kill
9. For Your Eyes Only
10. The Living Daylights
11. You Only Live Twice
12. Tomorrow Never Dies
13. Thunderball
14. Octopussy
15. The World is not Enough
16. Live and Let Die
17. Diamonds are Forever
18. A View to a Kill
19. Die Another Day
20. The Man with the Golden Gun
21. Moonraker
All three have significant flaws yet, unsurprisingly, Casino Royale emerges as the best of his run so far. Within that film, the problems lie mainly within the last half hour.
In relation to Craig himself, Skyfall is easily his best overall performance as Bond. While solid in the other two, he's somewhat "mumbly" in CR at times and given relatively little to work with in QoS.
I also appreciate the merits of QoS more. From an acting perspective its solid, but from a writing and technical perspective it has A LOT to improve upon as it features some of the worst edited action in the whole series.
SF gets a better mix of seriousness and levity than QoS did and for that reason I find it a far more entertaining experience. However, the weaknesses in the script are becoming a lot more obvious and some scenerios within the film feel more and more contrived with each viewing. That said, I do enjoy the central performances within the film as well as the moments of humour. When the film is good, its REALLY good. Just a shame the script couldn't have been tighter.
I know ive said nothing particularly new, but I just thought i'd summarise my feelings.
yesterday I watched CR and QOS back to back, SF later today and then, on
Monday watch all the special features, on the " Filming of" before going to
see it at the local cinema. :)
I actually liked it! I´ve seen it only for about 2 or 3 times since the premiere. QoS is way better than I remembered. Maybe not the typical Bond movie but a hard driven political thriller with a realistic story. Of course the editing was still a bit messy for my taste but last night it didn´t bother that much... or was it the Bombay Sapphire I drank during the movie?
Love Sanchez. Love Bond. Love Crest. Love Dario.
Otherwise, easily the worst acting in the entire franchise. Cheese. Glen needed to control the nonsense. Movie just went down a notch in my book.
And I still love both.
Ive noticed the only Pierce movie haven't seen again after my very fisrt Bondathon is Tomorrow never dies.
I liked the plot very much has great scenes and one of my favorite Villains and henchman but i guess from Pierce's films now is my least favorite.
and it's because of Michelle Yeoh. she is very believable as someone who can fight and hold her own but I didn't like her very much as Bond's love interest.
Pierce had great chemistry with most of his Bond girls Including the always hatted Denisse Richards but Michelle was the exception. He didn't look that attracted to her as he did look with his other Bond girls:
Famke Janssen , Izabella Scourpco Cecila Thompson, Teri Hatcher, Sophie Marceau, Serena Scott Thomas, Rosamund Pike Halley Berry and even Denisse Richards looked he wan
Still my favourite Craig film (I haven't seen SPECTRE yet :-SS ) because it is the most classic. CR and QOS are very entertaining, but I don't personally like gritty Bond, so Skyfall has that lightness of touch. Hopefully SPECTRE will be even lighter, more comic. Then I could see it becoming my favorite Craig film. :)
Not just a Bond milestone, but one for cinema as well. OHMSS is so far ahead of it's time in terms of cinematic craft that at times it feels ageless. The photography and editing are spot on and paired with a thoroughly interesting story. Some have argued that Lazenby is a weak point that is detrimental to the entire film, but I don't see that. His acting chops aren't quite there, but he makes up for it with his physical charisma and presence. George is the first Bond that could really beat the shit out of you.
1. ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE
2. GOLDFINGER
3. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
4. THUNDERBALL
5. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
6. DR. NO
Starts strong, but fades away by the end. You could say that for the vast majority of Bond features, but it fits DAF to a tee. It's not the sleaziness or the camp that bothers me. In fact, that's a part of the enjoyment. It's the film disintegrating once Willard Whyte is found. While the rest of the Sean Connery Farewell Tour is decently enjoyable, it's bland climax sinks it.
1. ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE
2. GOLDFINGER
3. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
4. THUNDERBALL
5. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
6. DR. NO
7. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
Good thoughts, good ranking! Only disagree on DN really.
Hmmm.... yeah, true.