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Comments
We can dismiss him for calling a Bond film overrated but in the same breath he also calls one underregarded. To be quite honest I would rather watch TLD over SF as well. Sure SF is nowhere near as overrated as, say, Avatar. But this critic doesn't shout irrelevant statements and leaves it at that. His choices are argumented and he presents us with an alternative.
Nobody says we have to agree with him, but I don't think he should be dismissed as someone who knows nothing of cinema either.
+1
OHMSS was once regarded as an embarassment to the series (i.e. it was underrated), but is now widely seen as one of the best. Things change.
Nevertheless, this is indeed all opinion and you are right about that. I'm not saying this critic is right by default, I just wanted to point out that this bloke does know something about cinema and that he does give reasonable arguments to back up what he says.
I also agree with @Getafix that overrated and underrated are terms that can be applied when used sparingly. You can't call a film underrated when it is praised by the majority of critics and public.
How long would Hollywood last if it made a series of movie that critics and buffs loved but made a loss at the box office?
If he had said SF was the most overrated Bond movie he may have had a point, albeit I would disagree with this. If he had said SF was overrated I would even tend to agree even if I loved the movie. But THE most overrated movie ever? A little perspective would not hurt.
One usually gets one chance to get it right, and that is at initial cinematic release. In this respect, SF knocked it out of the park.
While I agree that Craig's era will undergo a critical reassessment after he retires (probably with negative implications, as is usually the case for all of the actors bar Connery post-tenure), I still think SF & CR will be held up as his key achievements (just like LALD & TSWLM are for Roger Moore). I actually think SF will be Craig's GF or TSWLM, with CR being more his FRWL, DN or LALD.
It is in fact not the most overrated film ever. You're right about that. I also implied that I did not agree with that (see Avatar comment). I'd say we more or less agree, my friend ;)
That's a shame too, because the Czechoslovakia section of TLD alone is some of the best character building for Bond, showing how he acts on a mission and his own principles when it comes to his life and job.
And LTK is packed with amazing and dire moments, especially that finale.
The first part of TLD stands up to pretty much anything else in the series.
It's just really strong scripting. Wilson and Maibaum take a simple spy operation and through it paint a very comprehensive picture of who Dalton's Bond is. I get shivers up my spine when Dalton's eyes light in fear once he sees Kara with the gun, and when he chews out Saunders for questioning his principles as they go over the border.
I also love Bond and M's talk about Pushkin, and how Bond is always trying to convince him that more investigation needs to be done, as he suspects the Soviet is innocent. Brown's M refuses, however, and orders the hit to go through. Bond has a history with Pushkin, which makes it hard for him, but he goes through with taking the order to give himself time to find out the truth, and if the truth is that Pushkin is guilty, at least Bond could show him mercy and end his life humanely, which another 00 might not if they took the job over him.
For these kinds of things, TLD is so undervalued. Dalton should be mentioned along with Sean and Dan at all times, and way before Roger and Pierce, but gets forgotten at times. It's a shame, because in two films he did crazy character work with Bond that is staggering.
The parallels between it and FRWL are high in number, and I don't think that was an accident at all.
Its well known that TLD was adapted for Daltons style, and not written specifically for him. I always wondered what Maibaum/Wilson would have changed if they were given the time?
Wow, and if they love cinema they should be desperate to embrace the history of the motion picture.
@NicNac many current movie commentators that are big names now were growing up in the 80s, and some of those forget that movies existed before the 70s. It's sad, but true.