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I haven't seen this one in a while and really enjoyed it tonight. It's good to see a Connery Bond film. The man has such charisma and star power that it radiates from him, and his line delivery is just off the charts. Case in point: his opening scene in bed with Ling. Only he could deliver "Why do Chinese girls taste different from all other girls?" like he does. Another example is how he arrogantly and yet silkily tells MP: "you forget I took a first in Oriental languages at Cambridge.". Moore could have done it as well, but Connery is just so damn smooth.
A few observations:
In M's opening scene with Bond, Bernard Lee mentions that he has made the trip out to the field because this is 'the big one' - meaning it's a significant and important assignment. I had a laugh hearing that, because I was reminded of how often M has been in the field during the Brosnan and Craig years since then on more trivial matters. My point is that there was a time M stayed mainly in London, and that is how it should be again.
I realized while watching this film tonight that it was made 2 yrs prior to the first moon landing. I can't imagine how exciting it must have been to watch this for the first time, at the height of the space race with the Soviet Union. The same goes for MR, which was made prior to the first space shuttle flight (which was in 1981, 2 yrs after that film was released). Bond films certainly were cutting edge at one time.
It was amusing to see Connery standing so much taller than everyone when he first arrived in Japan and was walking around the streets prior to meeting Sadanoyama. Also, I have no idea how he could fit into the clothes (and especially the shoes) of Henderson's diminutive assassin.
I really enjoyed the fights in this film. The one with Peter Maiva (Dwayne Johnson's grandad) at Osato HQ is vicious. Maiva is built like a tank, which adds to the visceral nature of it, as do the exaggerated sound effects. I liked the Hans fight as well.
This is a film that I have a mixed relationship with. I absolutely love everything up to Aki's death, but from then to the end I'm almost always bored with it. The volcano finale drags quite a bit (similar to how TSWLM's Liparus sequence drags, but more so). I now believe that Gilbert slows it down in both films deliberately, so he can showcase Adam's wonderful sets. Also, there is an almost 'documentary procedural' effect to the later half of the film, from the time Bond enters the volcano to the moment that the Ninjas arrive. Everything just slows down to a halt during this time, before ramping up at the end. It doesn't help that the Blofeld intro is such a let down.
Nevertheless, there is much to like here, including a superb Barry soundtrack, wonderful immersive location filming, and a lot of money up on the screen. It really is a film ahead of its time, and the first of the really OTT Bond films.
SAY
NEVER
AGAIN
I never knew that it was not an official James Bond movie up to circa 1995 I think.
Seeing it a couple of times back then (1990-1995) I liked it very much and just thought that Connery obviously did one more for fun.
It was only after 1994 that I really educated myself on James Bond, the franchise and books.
Yesterday I watched it for the very first time in HIGH DEFINITION on Blu-ray.
The day before yesterday I watched THUNDERBALL so it was a good way to compare the two.
To make it short I LOVE NSNA.
First of all the cast is superb, all of them.
Largo, Domino, Fatima, Q, M, Blofeld, Felix. Only Moneypenny is a bit of a waste.
Incidentally TB and NSNA take the exact amount of time (44 minutes) for the first act. Then it's off to Nassau.
This first act is infinitely better in NSNA than in TB where I almost fell asleep watching it.
Also I absolutely like the whole ball event sequence at Largo's. The game they both play is great entertainment and very original.
The poor guy Connery gives his Cigar holder and tells him it's a bomb is hilarious and one of the unforgettable minor characters of the whole series.
NSNA gives us maybe the best FELIX LEITER ever. I might be wrong but isn't he the closest to Fleming's vision?
Also Max von Sydow is my favourite Blofeld, there I said it.
Klaus Maria Brandauer, which naturally was very popular and very well known in the German language region, is one of my favourite villains.
Seeing him again I realised that this is exactly what I expected SILVA to be in Skyfall. With such a performance SF would be a true masterpiece. Don't get me wrong, it's not my intention to bash Silva again, but it's something that really came to mind when I watched Brandauer playing Largo.
The car/bike chase also is a high point and I love it that Bond for once didn't drive a car.
Carrera gives us one of the best villainous Bond girls ever. She's quite channelling Xenia Onatopp there, but in reality it's the other way around I guess as Xenia came after Fatima.
Q is fabulous and quite frankly I imagine that Alex McCowan could have been a great successor to Desmond, had he retired in the eighties.
I know that Rowan Atkinson's appearance might be disliked by a lot but personally I love every second of it.
It also gives one of the very best funny Connery moments ever. It might even be THE best funny Connery moment.
Describing it is futile so I searched for the clip online and found it. Fast forward to 1 minute if you just want to see what I mean.
The way Connery reacts to Atkinson's comment "I don't know his mother" is priceless and I wonder if that was a natural reaction of Connery, something like that can't be written in a script.
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In my opinion Connery never looked better than in this movie. It shows that he could have played Bond up to AVTAK easily. Having said that I never would want to have missed the great legend that is Roger Moore.
One word to the score and theme. It never bothered me, in fact I like the song very much, but I might be biased as I am a big fan of Herb Alpert.
The movie not having a gun-barrel, proper PTS doesn't bother me at all anymore. The Craig era threw away some of the beloved Bond traits and NSNA profits from that. Also NSNA, the theme is infinitely better than Another Way To Die or the dreary screeching Adele song.
So there you know it. I love NSNA. Personally I regard it as a James Bond movie, that just happened to be produced by a different studio and people.
NSNA for me is like DAF, MR or DAD. While it never will be near the top in my ranking, it is one of the most fun to watch and I will watch it a lot in the future, that much is certain.
Trying to put it into my ranking it would probably beat all of those, but certainly the last 6, making it at least my No 19.
17 DAD / 18 DN / 19 TB / 20 YOLT / 21 AVTAK / 22 TMWTGG / 23 TWINE / 24 SF
I also absolutely adore everything from Volcano lair onwards. I rather feel that the second act drags a little bit. The Little Nelly scene is great of course but the Helga parachute scene is quiet strange. It is probably one of the typical examples where you ask yourself why they cannot kill Bond the easy way but make it overly complicated and expensive.
I also find the whole Bond dressing as a Japanese and Bond trained as a Ninja quiet superfluous since his disguise actually has no purpose. He is easily recognized by SPECTRE as James Bond. The wedding does also not really make sense. Here they could have shorten the whole film quiet a little bit.
And finally I don't really understand why they kill off Aki, if they replace her with just another Japanese agent. This makes the main Bond girl (which I think is Aki) a bit arbitrary which is sad...
But overall, I really like and enjoy YOLT. I also like Connery's performance. Many say he looks bored und uninterested but I liked his portrait of an agent who might be just a bit annoyed by his job. Why shouldn't there be some kind of a development in his character?
Ok, I am probably the only one who quiet likes Experience of Love. Does not fit at all to the Goldeneye credits but as a standalone song it is quiet nice.
I used to like it but hearing it again today it seems so dated and...perhaps most significantly...very un-Bond like.
The melody is quite nice but Serra's voice #-o
The Experience of Love, on the other hand is memorably inappropriate. Why couldn't the GE Tina Turner theme just be placed at the end? Hearing the main theme kick in as the end credits roll gives it that push- so you exit the theatre pumped and humming the music. Anyone exiting GE singing The Experience of Love is most likely mocking it as I did after my 5th viewing.
I quite like the Patti Labelle song - even if it does sound a bit too 80s. It's got feeling.
I agree that the song doesn't quite fit the film.
I really like Glady's Knight's title track though. Starts off fabulously with a great mix of R&B flavour and Bondian bombast.
Ha ha!
Now this movie must be the silliest of the series.
It's really one silly moment after the other all the way through.
But still, so highly entertaining and some truly great dialogue from Moore.
Moonraker definitely is saved from being somewhere at the bottom of my ranking because of the great cast.
Hugo Drax is most memorable and his dialogue belongs to the best of any villain in Bond films.
I always loved Lois Chiles. She is one of my favourite Bond girls.
The last act in space doesn't bother me at all by the way. It's a great long finale in a superb set and the special effects hold up very well.
Also of note is Shirley Bassey's fabulous song Moonraker. I love all of her Bond themes.
Moonraker belongs into the "pure fun" section for me. Like DAD, DAF, AVTAK and QOS.
QOS not because of the humour, that too, but mainly because of the mindless action roller-coaster ride.
I can pop in DAF, MR, AVTAK, DAD and QOS anytime and watch it. In some or the other way all 5 of them are my guilty pleasures.
Not for me I'm afraid l. Those first 4 notes are more memorable than all of the LTK song. The lyrics are also a lot better.
We'll agree to disagree. I don't dislike Gladys Knight's song btw, I just found GE's far more memorable. Maybe that's partly because it was the first Bond song I really heard so it's kind of a fond favourite.
Kill's just seems too much like a standard song you'd hear on a radio 80s marathon.
We agree on The Experience of Love though. Naff.