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That's a good point. It has an easy-going kind of quality that makes it a perfect watch after a busy day.
I don't think it is fair to judge DAF for not being a proper sequel to OHMSS, it goes for something else, a camp direction. Unfortunately it just stinks at what it is doing. The movie feels like they just slapped a bunch of scenes and ideas together and called it a day. It is so uninspired and confusing with very little creativity. Looking at the list of talented people involved here they pretty much all did their worst work this time:
Richard Maibaum
Ted Moore
Ken Adam
Sean Connery
Guy Hamilton
We could almost add John Barry as well
The Shirley Bassey song is brilliant though and there are a few solid scenes early on, I like how they insert Bond into the diamond smuggling chain.
Stupid film with terrible acting. You would almost think it is inspired by Casino Royale '67.
23rd Diamonds are Forever - My ranking: 25th
24th The World is not Enough - My ranking: 10th
25th Die Another Day - My ranking: 23rd
Bond clangs one mud bath guard into the other like bowling pins. Eerie and ultimately grandiose theme song from Bassey. Franks fight is awesome and raw. Slumber's strange, sitting there in silence as Bond waits for his brudder's remains. Circus Circus looks like a lot of fun. Tiffany's reaction to everything is hilarious.
Metz and Hergersheimer are a hoot. Moon buggy and satellite are cool designs. Scaling the Whyte House with the piton is such a great moment, Vegas lights shimmering in the background. Whyte House superimposed onto a real building, complete with elevator going up the side is well done/seamless. Nice vehicles on display. Gadgets are sparse and small. Characters are memorable and dialogue so quotable. Solid performances by all. Oil rig climax is loathed by many but I find it entertaining.
Feel like watching this one now!
DAF is a film that I can forgive for its rampant silliness, simply because it's never boring. The script is ludicrous from start to finish and in its execution, DAF underestimates our intelligence too. BUT, Barry elevates this film to something it wasn't supposed to be. Adam's sets are, once again, a pure triumph. I don't hate Charles Gray as Blofeld. Willard Whyte is a fun character. So is Sid Haid and his boys. Some scenes, while outrageously stupid, are delightful, including pretty much everything with Wint and Kidd. DAF has my favourite theme song and great OTT work by Binder.
Alas, the competition is what it is, and this one finishes in my top 5. The oil rig and love boat climaxes belong in a Derek Flint film. Jill was great in the pilot episode of Batman but annoys the hell out of me as Tiffany Case. (That scene at the gas pump is hard to watch.) And while it's good to see Connery back, I'd prefer it if it wasn't making mud pies.
As a sequel/follow up to OHMSS, its horrendous.
As its own stand alone Bond film... eh, its pretty alright actually, for a lot of the aforementioned reasons. Wint & Kidd, Bassey, Barry, Willard 'BAJA?????' Whyte, Claus Hergershimer etc.
Regardless of its placement though, I don't hate it, and I'm always down to rewatch it.
I actually think they do a good job with it. As much as a direct sequel to OHMSS is something fans tend to discuss, I'm not sure if it was worth doing, especially given the underwhelming reception. Perhaps if Lazenby had returned it might have worked, but I think it was best trying to wipe the slate as clean as possible with Connery's return.
I'll also say this on a weird note - one thing I can say about this film is that I find it funnier than CR'67. Unlike that film all the jokes and witty lines actually land. It also does a weirdly good job of being camp/humorous without quite drifting into parody.
Its "rewatchability" is, indeed, higher than for some other Bond films. One of the reasons I placed TWINE behind DAF is that while DAF has lower lows, it also has higher highs and those matter most. Those highpoints are, in fact, such that I never mind sitting down for DAF, while TWINE demands that I'm "in the right mood".
Yeah, sometimes an installment can be pretty weak in some key areas and yet the positives still outweigh the negatives. Hell, as low as it's ranked, I'd gladly rewatch it any day of the week over other, "stronger" films.
But that made it worst, because it's not until in 1981 where they've acknowledge Tracy again when no one's asking for it at the time in the first place, what's the point of cleaning the slate when they would address it again 10 years later?
Well, technically she was referenced again in TSWLM in '77.
Like I said, it's a soft reboot more than a completely wipe the slate clean film (hence why I added 'as much as possible'). I can very much see why they opted for that over a direct sequel/revenge flick.
But then I realized it’s a movie I would much rather watch than any of the Brosnan of Craig entries, anytime.
Despite its campiness and silliness, I can’t find one thing I outright dislike about it (except maybe the lackluster oil rig sequence), and that has a lot to do with Hamilton’s penchant for quirkiness (both characters and situations).
Enjoyment is also greatly enhanced by Mankiewicz’s witty dialogue and Barry’s outstanding score.
Number 13 for me.
The only danger in there was the scene of Bond being nearly cremated.
This series has some boring duds in my opinion but DAF absolutely isn't one of them. I can see why the more comedic aspects wouldn't be for everyone though.
Don't get me wrong. I won't approve of all silliness provided things never get boring. (The last film on my list may surprise some...) But take CR67. I'm not treating that one as a bonafide Bond film, evidently. And boy is . it . silly! And yet, every scene has something to offer that I don't find dull. That's probably why I can still enjoy watching it as a "non-Bond" Bond film.
I feel the same way. I don't want nonstop slapstick and general goofball antics, but the number one biggest sin for me in this series is being boring.
I can tolerate a bit of boredom. I think a bigger sin than being boring is just not being interesting in the first place. Elektra King is inherently interesting. DAF has nothing that interests me. On top of that I still find it kind of boring. It takes more than camp to keep me entertained, and DAF doesn't even contain the good kind of camp, unlike something as Moonraker does.
Connery's return probably saved the series from descending into an abyss, after the lackluster reception of OHMSS, EON needed a hit, and DAF was a hit.
The problem I have is that it's nothing like the early Connery hits, DN, FRWL, GF, this is almost a completely different character, but played by the same actor.
Connery looks a lot older in this film, and has lost his physique, this is not James Bond that I know and love. The film is daft and preposterous, but it's supposed to be, like later entries like MR or DAD, if you can overlook the silliness and go along for the ride, it's really quite enjoyable. The humour of DAF whilst dated is still amusing to the juvenile in me. It's lack of feeling like a James Bond film and the silliness are what bring this film and others like it to be placed at the lower end of my ranking. They're still very entertaining, just not my idea of a great Bond film.
I don't find Elektra that interesting. They showered her with drama, but it never really converged. Issues with her dad and M, her relationship with Renard, her confused psyche, her ultimate goal, ... The parts are all there, but there's no whole.
A VIEW TO A KILL (1985)
Directed by John Glen
"(...) still bungling in the dark."
Another swansong that turns out to be the least-liked entry of an actor's tenure, AVTAK joins DAD as the only other entry that didn't make it into a single top 10.
Unlike DAD though, this was a close call because Rog's final outing did receive one 11th spot. Additionally, there were also one 13th spot and two 15th's.
Ten bottom 5's were counted, amongst which five 22nd places, but not a single last place. That makes AVTAK the lowest ranked participant without being someone's least favourite entry.
No-one really seems to outright dislike it, but no-one really seems to consider it a top entry either.
AVTAK received a total of 80 points.
Still, it’s a good watch. Not a top tier Bond movie for me, but I always get a lot out of it.
I liked the film very much when I was a young lad. I didn't need much to be excited back then. But I have since grown extremely frustrated with the poor script:
- PTS: Bond finds something => ski action. That's it. Fun? Sure, but cheap.
- A leak in Zorin's company => let's NOT focus on the microchips, let's focus on cheating at horse racing.
- I repeat: the bad guy cheats at horse racing. Yes, MI6 has to get involved. Next time you illegally download a movie, the world's greatest intelligence services will send two of their best to investigate you as well. Just saying. Priorities.
- Hey, we're in luck. By pure script coincidence, an investigation into steroids also leads to some microchips. Unrelated, but nice. I was worried about wasting my time here.
- We meet a guy from San Francisco at Zorin's party. Naturally, that's our next lead.
- So, we're finally going to focus on microchips? No, pumping sea water into pipes. Or something. Hey, the KGB is involved too.
- Nice, we're now in GF. People pay Zorin money for Main Strike. One of them says no. He's gone. Meanwhile, Bond and the girl, still looking for clues about sea water pumping installations, once again accidentally return to the microchip plot. And some action ensues. And the movie is over.
I think this plot is terrible! And for every good part in the film (Barry, the theme song, Walken, May Day), there's a horrible, poorly named French nasal stereotype of a P.I, a horribly cartoonish evil German scientist, the frustratingly bad names 'Zorin', 'Aubergine' and 'Scarpine', more police cars crashing into police cars, a cab driver straight out of a slapstick comedy, and so on.
I actually like Tanya Roberts' appearance, I'm cool with Roger, and Patrick Mcnee is a fine addition as well. But this film doesn't have its [bleep] together. It needed a lot more work before it could be released.
I can acknowledge the danger behind this film, I would say is an improvement over Octopussy, I can sense the danger that Bond was in, it's tense like when he's underwater recording Max Zorin and his Operation Mainstrike, Bond analyzing the cheque in Paris when he met Dr. Carl Mortner, or the elevator scenes and the Golden Gate Bridge Fight, it's a level up of tense and danger.
The big elephant in the room were the writing of the characters and Moore's age, no problem about their acting, they did fine and did mostly what the script had demanded them to do, the problem was how their characters were written, I could make this case for Stacey Sutton and Max Zorin, both are over the top despite of the grounded intentions of the characters, Max Zorin's manic behaviour contradicts his intimidating persona (that laughing while machine gunning the people in the mine is the example), and of course, we know Stacey Sutton already, then there's Chuck Lee, I don't get the reason why Felix was not in this film? What's the reason?
Then yes, most of the scenes that happened in the middle were quite forgettable and drab, the Beach Boys theme, and the fact that this film was almost not relevant in Bond or in MI6 for that matter, like it's an obvious CIA mission and Britain was not related to it in anyway? Why they've interfered? I know about the microchip found in the PTS, but the MI6 could've given it to the CIA as their job, it's almost an American mission, so I don't know why Bond should've been involved with it in the first place, it's the same as Felix Leiter and the CIA interfering in the British affairs.
A great Barry score, Walken having the time of his life and not much else.
Walken’s can’t believe I’m about to snuff it last laugh is brilliant acting, definitely the film’s highlight for me.
It's also worth saying Bond plots can fall apart if you think about them too much... still, it's one of the more tenuous plots in Bond, but that's something not uncommon to the Moore films.