It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
I really agree with that sentiment… the first 45 mins of TB are quite bland. The movie really kicks into gear once they are in the Bahamas. I often say that the “middle hour” of TB is one of the best Bond films in the series, but regrettably the first 45 mins and last 15-20 really drag.
Point to TB, but barely.
YOLT is probably my favorite Bond film of the 60s. Along with GF.
Now, I prefer TB by a decent clip, it contains the best dialogue in the series. I still think YOLT is a blast, though. I love them both.
I think it’s worth noting how Bond tastes can change with age. As a young one, I’d have said YOLT and DAF were two of my favorite Connery films (with GF and DN also liked a lot, particularly the former). Found myself also bored through several points of TB and FRWL, which are now my favorite Connery films as an adult. Another film I loved as a kid I don’t so much anymore is TWINE…
Is it because you're German that you prefer leather-clad Fatima over Fiona? Or is that too much of a stereotype... ;-)
For me TB takes the cake. I find the women superior (Fiona AND Domino), the story more compelling and the villain far better. Now I know people think Adolfo's Largo to be 'boring' but I like my villains brooding and silently dangerous, and the way he plays it really works for me. I also like the fact that he's not the top boss.
YOLT has a fantastic soundtrack, but the story hardly holds together and even though it certainly has one of the best Bond allies, it just doesn't work that well. Ninja armies don't really interest me that much.
*The opinion of Chrisisall does not necessarily reflect the beliefs of his parent company ShowChrisTheDor, nor any of its subsidiaries.
:)) =))
**As a member of the DianaRiggWorshipers cult, I can't forgive your lapse in judgement!!!
One of the weaknesses of TB is that Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi) is – IMO – a much more interesting character than her boss - Emilio Largo. When she takes the bullet, not only does she die, but the air seems to come out of the film. Up until then TB is a top ten Bond film for me, after that, it sags.
The suspense of YOLT, on the other hand, only seems to build.
Old joke: TB goes underwater when the film goes underwater.
THANK YOU!
There are things I like in YOLT, but something very stupid happens every couple of minutes, and it kills the fun for me. A few:
-Bond's fake death makes no sense, as has been widely discussed
-We twice see screens displaying footage that cannot possibly be filmed
-Osato's idea to publicly murder Bond with his uniformed guards instead of killing him in his building makes no sense
-Aki driving up randomly to save Bond in front of Osato's HQ actually happens TWICE(!)
-Helga's method of killing Bond is the dumbest thing imaginable and looks awful
-Blofeld should obviously steal capsules from one side only
etc, etc
And this isn't a failure to suspend disbelief or anything: I love fantastic Bond. These are just dumb things that could have been done in a way that's not dumb.
But I love all those things.
Nicely put!
Was "Production Design" even a category back then? Maybe the "Art Direction" was the closest.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/40th_Academy_Awards
YOLT is the one which is the sequel to Goldfinger: it understands what that film got right and what excited audiences about cinematic Bond. Crazy gadgets, fantastic villains and their lairs, preposterous situations etc. TB ignores all this and goes for an actually really quite pedestrian plot and sticks to the book too closely: there’s nothing in the vein of Oddjob or laser beams or cars with ejector seats. This time his car shoots water, his camera takes photos underwater… yawn. Even Bond’s jet pack is slightly boringly real and he does nothing interesting with it. The most useful gadget he has (genuinely!) is a bucket with a glass bottom. The boat that splits in two is pretty good though.
YOLT is scrappier, but it’s the one which looks at Goldfinger and understands why that hit a nerve with the public.
Yeah, I guess they couldn’t have known when writing it as it’s pretty much all in the performance, but it always seems to me that the film would be a lot stronger if Volpe had been the main villain instead of Largo: she’s so much better. She should be Number 2.
She wasn’t even dubbed by Nikki Van Der Zyl!
The only time I stick on YOLT is for completion of a Bondathon. I'm more likely to play the soundtrack, which is rather excellent and features my favourite Bond song.