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Ditto. Hadn't seen it for some time and did enjoy it. That music, the classy and polished look of the film, and the one that established the formular and made Bond his own genre.
Absolutely!. I hadnt seen it for a while either, and really enjoyed watching it again.
I actually quite liked DAD originally but now I have no idea why having watched it last night. Not the worst of the series but definitely down there with DAF and MR at the bottom of the Bond 23.
Me, too. I think we're the only people on this site that like the Thatchers Coda. Talk about controversial!
I've never had any opinion on the Thatcher bit. When I saw it originally in theatre it didn't impress me one way or the other. I thought that's probably amusing to the Brits.
Their polticians, their comedians. Har har. After all, Bond is at core English cinema, so I allow for such indulgences.
It came across to this North American rather, as another quirkly little comic eccentricity of the Rog era, but with a distinctly English bent.
How does it go?
Someone is shot.
Someone takes a drink.
Someone says 007.
Someone says Bond.
Someone says M.
Someone says Q.
When Bond says "Bond, James Bond."
When Bond finally kills Silva.
When Severine takes a drag of her cigarette.
We're in Macau right now and Bond is chatting up Severine at the bar. I am done. Straight vodka is what we've gone with. :))
YOLT: almost everything wrong with this one had to do with logic & common sense being sacrificed in favor of spectacle but it was entertaining as usual.
NSNA: I hadn't seen this in a very long time & expected a worse film than it turned out to be. The final fight with Largo was anti-climatic but I liked Barbara Carrera and Bernie Casey. At my age, I also appreciated an older Bond still attracting the ladies!
MR: Pretty much the same I have to say for YOLT applies here, except that the lame, juvenile humor added to it makes things worse.
FYEO: quite a nice antidote to MR, I seem to like this better each time I see it, although there is still a little too much Moore style comedy for this to be a truly great entry.
Anyways....
The Living Daylights
Superb Mr Bond, superb!
This ranks as one of the very best Bond films. Glen’s direction is assured while it also features probably the best cinematography of his tenure. The screenplay is as intelligent and complex as any in the series. Barry’s score serves as a fitting swansong to this great man (God how I've missed the indelible Barry!). The film is filled with a real sense of Fleming, yet all the cinematic hallmarks are here, and executed brilliantly and originally. And I haven’t even mentioned Tim Dalton, who’s the closest we ever got to Fleming’s 007.
A View To A Kill
When “California Girls” came on the soundtrack, I almost went out of the experience. It just jars with the serious Barry action cue. Luckily Sir Rog saved the day; “Call me James. It's five days 'till Alaska....”.
I always find A View To A Kill to be a schizophrenic film; youthful, dynamic pairing of Zorin and Mayday vs. the aged forces of MI6; inventive action scenes (steeplechase, City Hall) vs. seventies spectacle (Paris chase, Fire truck escape); forward thinking plot vs. 70’s overt humour; well written characters, unfortunately portrayed by weak actors*; Moore’s easy going charm vs. cut- throat 80’s business ethos. It’s like the producers wanted to give Roger Moore a spectacular send off, but the film can’t make up its mind whether go with seventies excess vs. eighties characters/conservative style.
EON seemed to be scarping the bottom of the barrel with the actors they got to fill the secondary/tertiary roles, think Scarpine, Howe, the KGB agent who insults Zorin, Conley, Aubergine, Fisherman's Wharf, erm, fisherman, taxi driver (oh, my car!!) and the Police Chief, who takes us back to the dark days of the 70's; comedy policemen. All terrible actors. Talking of weak actress, that brings me on to Tanya Roberts; beautiful girl, but a middling actress. Imagine what a good a decent actress could have made of Stacy's role. Although, I have to defend Roberts' in the elevator scene. What would you do in you found yourself in her place?
However there is plenty to enjoy in AVTAK; namely Barry's score, the performances from Walken, Fullerton and Macnee, the whole climax and having an intuitive Bond doing a nice bit of espionage, keeping in tone with the previous Glen efforts. And enjoy it I did, apart from the usual "comedic" elements, of course.
Me and my mom watched this movie. we watched it as a comedy and we laughed our butts off. We laughed the hardest when Bond drowns the guy in Mud. Oh It was nice to laugh that evening. =))
I liked it more than the last time I watched it. I certainly respect it for proving that life after Connery was possible. Moore delivers a good performance, and the movie is generally fairly well done. The movie's biggest problem (other than Rosie Carver) is its drifting into voodoo and blaxploitation,
IMO, that is precisely what makes LALD unique and interesting.
Watched DAF last night. It is the best of the lighthearted Bond films, and Plenty is probably the best secondary Bond girl in series history.
I agree, Mr. Khan... the voodoo and blaxploitation make LALD.... it's what Fleming would have wanted.
Since last Saturday afternoon, I've seen the following at the cinema, in this order:
Dr. No, Goldfinger, Goldeneye, Thunderball, Living Daylights, YOLT, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, DAF, For Your Eyes Only, Spy and Octopussy.
More to come over the next seven days.
So as the last Bond movie I've seen, and in the cinema, I have this to say about OP.... It's not as bad as Spy, FYOE, DAF or even YOLT, though some parts were super silly and had they been left out, it would have been much better.
Maud looks amazing. Louis Jourdan is stunning on the big screen. I still love Roger's expressions in the opening scene when he's trying to get the guards to look at Bianca. Still makes me smile.
It might just be the 19-year-old action junkie raised on Brosnan and Craig speaking, but it's definitely true that this movie can drag. Normally, I experience the big slowdown after Bond & Quarrel go to Crab Key, but this time it came during the initial investigation in Jamaica.
Although this is probably the movie's greatest weakness (along with the lack of certain staples like a Pre-Title Scene and a proper title song), it is also one of its greatest strengths. The entire affair is definitely grounded in reality, and feels like something that could have actually happened to a British agent (a concept that would be almost entirely gone just two films later).
Connery is, of course, excellent, as are Joseph Wiseman as Dr. No, Jack Lord as Felix and John Kitzmiller as Quarrel. Ursula Andress is beautiful and doesn't drag the movie down with her acting.
On another note, I decided to keep a kill count for Bond while watching, just to see how violent it really was. The confirmed kills were only 3, Professor Dent, the mook Bond stabs in the water, and Dr. No himself. There were a few other possible kills. There was the scientist Bond chokes out and whose suit he steals, the scientist Bond punches over the railing, the guard Bond punches over the railing while searching for Honey, and the henchman in the boat that Bond throws overboard, all of these could be fatal or just minor injuries. There is still the matter of the people killed in the explosion of the facility, which was caused by Bond, leaving the figure generally in doubt.
All in all, Dr. No is a fine Bond picture that deserves all the respect in the world for getting so much of the series right on the first try. It sits at #7 out of 23 in the official soundofthesinners Bond movie ranking.
The action is inventive and entertaining, locales stunning, the screenplay is involving and plot intriguing, and it has great cast; Maud Adams is a worthy match for Moore's 007; Louis Jourdan is subtly menacing; Steven Berkoff is overtly menacing and Kabir Bedi is menacing, full stop. Roger Moore is on great form here, full off his trademark charm and humour, tempered by some genuine acting - think Bond and Orlov on the train, and when Bond discovers Vijay, subtle and sombre. In these moments Sir Rog, really knocks it out of the park. (Although, Q was very close to meeting Kamal's men. Very lucky indeed. Q is too high up too be dealing with this agent work.)
Over all, Octopussy is an entertaining and fun film, with the theme of For Your Eyes Only retained (I especially like the listening device in the Faberge Egg, being interrupted by a common hair-dryer), the only things amiss with Octopussy is the "tennis match" during the Tuk-Tuk chase, and the infamous Tarzan yell.
We saw Moonraker last night. And, after OP, FYEO and TSWLM, I was preparing for a truly junk film. But up until Venice I thought it was good... after that it became an average Moore Bond and then the space fight took it to a whole new level of complete silliness that was more a joke than cute.
It was still better than FYEO and TSWLM but I think I'd prefer OP sooner than MR only because I really enjoy Maud and Louis.
That all said, Roger Moore looked really good in Moonraker. Like really good. I could imagine the girls going for him. I still hate the way he kisses but he seemed fit and strong. No grandpa Bond in that one.
Majesty was better this time than earlier in the week but I chalk that up to it being a matinee and I was fresh. When we saw it last week it was the second of a double bill after a full day of work so the chase scenes made me a bit woozy. Today is was magnificent. Lazenby is stunning.
TWINE was better than I expected. The action was pretty good, Electra was gorgeous and Christmas didn't make me want to scratch my eyes out as she has in the past. It was better than all the Roger Moore movies we've seen so far, though some of those are still somewhat entertaining. It's very clear that seeing these in the cinema makes a huge difference.
Tomorrow: A View to a Kill.
After the spectacle of the seventies, this film marks a refreshing change of pace, where emphasis is placed on characters, and on having Bond rely on his wits.
For me this makes the film eminently more satisfying. Bond becomes key to the plot, rather than being the catalyst around which action rotates; Bond is proactive in propelling the story along.
Moore is particularly satisfying, his performance now undercut with a steely determination.
What isn't so good however, are the comedic hangovers which bookend the film, and dent its appeal ever so slightly.
Which brings me on to Bibi Dahl. She used to be a cute little irritant. Now she has evolved into a cute little character who, despite admittedly being somewhat out of place in a Bond film, at least establishes a little humanity for Bond and Kristatos.
It's safe to say that TMWTGG is my favourite Moore Bond, with AVTAK coming a close second. They are two totally different films but AVTAK was too hilarious to dismiss. Though OP is had its own good bits, it didn't tickle me like AVTAK.
LTK was great. But the girls drove me nuts. Lupe did not show well on the big screen. But Sanchez made up for that. He was wonderful.
Wow! It was a great couple of weeks. I'm so glad it ended with FRWL. What a fantastic movie. Everything in it seemed perfect. And, oh... on the big screen. Seanery looked amazing but Tanya... what a face! Grant looked even bigger than usual and the train scene was delightful.
There just isn't anything wrong with that movie. On the way home, we talked about our rankings. Where OHMSS used to be number one and two far from number one... both of us felt that numbers two and three were closer to one now. I thought I'd go OHMSS, DN and then FRWL... but FRWL just might inch ahead of DN.
I'll need another cinematic Bondathon to truly decide. :P
"I have friends in low places..."
An excellent, fun film, but a disappointing Bond movie; the usual things that everyone harps on about, the overt humour, and the implausibility of the plot, really hurt Moonraker. This film would benefit from some careful editing;
1. Removal of Jaws flapping in the PTS, and subsequent landing on a convenient circus tent.
2. The entire boat chase in Venice, including the "Bondola" travesty.
3. Removal of the character of Dolly; I think Bond would be able to convince Jaws, that he does not meet the requirements of Drax's master race.
4. Removal of the Magnificent Seven homage.
5. Removal of the laser battle in space - I've never had a problem with Bond in space, but the laser battle just left me cold.
Moonraker has been creeping up my rankings, and with such contributions from, Ken Adam, John Barry, Jean Tournier, and the superb primary cast, this has tremendous re-watch value.
I watched this on Wednesday, in celebration of the Lazenator's birthday. It was wonderful, with one prominent exception.
Lazenby is, for the vast majority of the movie, awful. He has neither charisma nor acting talent, and flubs the one-liners like no one before or since. It doesn't help that they give him far too many, like after he fights the big black guy in his hotel room, when he calls him, "gatecrasher," tells him "I'll leave you to tidy up," and finally mumbles something about the beluga. Worse still is when Draco's henchmen take him to Draco at gunpoint. The decision to dub his voice for a third of the movie isn't the most helpful thing, either.
All the same, Lazenby nails the fight scenes and, inexplicably, the romantic scenes. I have no idea how he managed to make one of the two most meaningful romances in the series believable, but he did.
Enough about the Lazenator, though. Everything else about the movie, from the set design (the Piz Gloria allergy clinic is one of the most underrated locations in the series), to the music (the theme is second only to Goldfinger), to the action sequences, to the villain's plot (just the right mix of threatening and over-the-top) is nearly perfect.
Special mention must go to Telly Savalas, who might have surpassed Donald Pleasance as my favorite onscreen Blofeld, and Diana Rigg, who carries the movie. She is unquestionably the best part about it, and far and away the best Bond girl. Her death is one of the saddest scenes in the series, thanks to her strength as a character, and Lazenby's sudden ability to emote.
One of the great unanswered questions of the Bond universe is what would have happened if they'd filmed On Her Majesty's Secret Service with Connery. In 1969, it likely would have suffered. Connery was completely checked out, as proven by his lackluster performance and overweight and even balder than usual appearance in Diamonds Are Forever. But if they had made it in 1967, away from the insanity of Japan, which soured Connery on the role even further, and with a story worlds better than that of You Only Live Twice, which could have commanded Connery's professional dignity to give the best performance he could, On Her Majesty's Secret Service might be the perfect Bond movie.
But as with all things, there would have been a price. They would be more likely then to make You Only Live Twice and The Man With The Golden Gun following the books in 1969 and 1971, and that could have meant the end of the Bond series as we knew it. Perhaps Bond would have continued like Sherlock Holmes or Star Trek or Dracula, with period reboots and new settings and new takes on the character, or perhaps it would have simply ended then, as a very popular and influential film series, but without 50 years of brilliance. It's a trade-off, to be sure, but I think I'd keep things the way we have them now.
All in all, On Her Majesty's Secret Service is an excellent movie, and lands triumphantly at number 4, behind only Goldfinger, From Russia With Love, and Casino Royale, and just ahead of GoldenEye.
If only Lazenby had returned for Diamonds Are Forever.
I like Hamlisch's score, too; I just wish there was more of it!
Good cinematography and sets in Spy as well. The exterior shots of the Atlantis are particularly striking.
Outside of the atrocious Babs Bach (she's downright homely in comparison to the other women in this film), the only significant weakness in Spy is the Egyptian section, which drags in spots and is plagued by a certain amount of silliness. Still, Sheik Hossein and Max Kalba were quite good, and I liked the docent's lecture on Giza and Cheops. A bit reminiscent of the scene at the Hagia Sophia in FRWL, and very redolent of the romance of the British Empire.
PS--Retrokitty, how did you manage to catch all the Bonds in the cinema?