Last Bond Movie You Watched? 2.0

And that means you, smartass!

Live and Let Die

it's never one I look forward to, overall feeling a tad longwinded and stretched further than it should have been. You think it's over than bam, boat chase and to San Monqiue again. Minor irritations in the way of one-liners, JW (though less so than in the next film) and even Solitaire (quickly falling into the classic Bond 'oh James' line).
The music is good though more perhaps in the boat chase and a bit more beyond reuses of the LALD theme. Roger Moore does well enough in his first outing, confident and assured. He gets on with Felix quite well but then when your mate Hedison plays Felix it helps. Somehow wished Hedison played Felix in TLD never mind LTK. John Terry would've fitted in with Leiter's chirpiness at the end.
The bus scene isn't bad, proving Bond can do anything when it matters. Still get a chuckle from the scene after the airport: Felix's "Now, there's no reason for name calling I'm sure" and Bond's "these are too frantic" about the ties.
Was it just as well Kenny More, another Moore best mate, was not drafted in to play M if Lee was ill? Perhaps but who knows. A small role as it is. Another 'who cares' Bond facet.

rating- 7/10

Is that all it does-athon?
1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2. From Russia With Love
3. Licence to Kill
4. Dr No
5. Skyfall
6. Thunderball
7. Goldfinger
8. Live and Let Die (last rating 6.5/10, last position 13th)
9. You Only Live Twice
10. Diamonds Are Forever
11. Quantum of Solace

The World is not Enough
Better than Die another Day, but a bit slow in places, felt like it was trying to be a more female friendly Bond film and looks like it's trying to be a more Skyfall type Bond film but I didn't really like any of the characters and the climax battle was a bit lame. A good try but just too messy dull and unlikeable in places, probably the best Brosnan Bond film though.

Thunderball
Really classic film when it gets going but slows down too much too often, some brilliant lines though "she's just dead"! Lol. One of the best older Bond films.

You Only Live Twice
Another Bond film that's too slow in places, a bit silly and cartoonish in places like Austin Powers without the jokes, a bigger film than Connery's others but a sillier and less interesting one. Didn't like many of the characters either and Sean Connery doesn't seem as good as usual. Some cool stuff but a very average film on whole.

The Man with the Golden Gun
Another average Bond film, wish there had been more scenes with Bond and Christopher Lee. The girl was awful but the film was okay fun in places, and I loved the song by Lulu.

Moonraker
Starts brilliant, gets a bit silly in places but so far it's the most fun of the Roger Moore Bond films I've seen, never really lost interest during this one and the line about reentry at the end was funny. Enjoyed this one, song and music were really good as well.

Watching On her Majestys Secret Service tonight, George Lazenby the only Bond I haven't seen yet, so looking forward to it.

Live and Let Die (1973, dir. Guy Hamilton)

Up until Bond arrives at Kanangaisland, the film is an acceptable, bearable, but definitely not good thriller comedy. Most of the second half is boring chases and other mindless stuff. Most of the quips don't work. Yaphet is a good villain, and first Solitaire's mental abilities are well used in the film. I also like the score, it's pretty funky and elevates many scenes. Overall, though, the film is unforgiveably stupid and boring. Pepper is one unfunny cackhead. I still love the You knew that! scene - it's brilliantly bizarre, tense, and ends in genuine drama. It's one of my favourite scenes of the whole series, unfortunately within one of the very worst Bond films. The scene is better than CR, QOS, and SF combined. It's a pity Hamilton wasn't consistently as good as this, and that Maibaum wasn't working on the script.

The World Is Not Enough (1999, dir. Michael Apted)

It's not as bad as everyone says it was. The central story is one of the best of the series. It just happened that Eon's insistence on applying the formula ruins the film. Arbitrary feeling action scenes that aren't emotionally engaging, the overuse of slapstick elements, the "bullet-down-the-spine" nonsense, and Christmas/Denise R. hurt the film a lot. I can't say Marceau doesn't act well, she does many scenes very well, particularly when she does the "mad villainess" thing in the last part of the film, it isn't hammy at all. She makes the character's emotional problems, resulting from her unhealthy relationships to her father and Renard, palpable. I think they should have presented her as a more likeable character in the beginning, with her playing the nice girl, which becomes clear to the viewer after she reveals to M that she is responsible for her father's death. In fact, Marceau isn't noticeably weaker than Marlohe or Rigg, and much better than Green. I can't complain about Dench here, either. I think, provided a good script, Apted would have been the much better choice for CR than Campbell. Still, the film is ruined by the elements mentioned above. A shame, actually.

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977, dir. Lewis Gilbert)

It's still hard for me to get through the first 80 minutes. Moore is horribly smug, Bach is a frozen-faced nuisance, the story is not very interesting, and Bond proceeds from one uninteresting engagement to the next. Even more horrible are the quips and one-liners. Some scenes, looked at individually, are okay and quite atmospheric, like Jaws at the pyramids, one or two shots of the desert. The really fine score helps. But overall, it's boring. The PTS is overrated, unfunny nonsense. The ski stunts are okay, though.
The last 40 minutes are mostly superbly filmed, a great looking and sounding action finale, but I cannot enjoy them properly after those 80 minutes of dreariness.


Tomorrow Never Dies (1997, dir. Roger Spottiswoode)

If TSWLM is YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE 2.0, this is YOLT 4.0. Just turned into a mindless, unwitty, American-feeling action film with Bond firing machineguns almost without pause. The one-liners are mostly lousy.
Brosnan delivers the one-liners woefully, the guy isn't even able to speak properly: Yuh've made Joe Bed. His attempts at playing drama scenes are pathetic, and in the following film they are not much improved.
In the end, I had to laugh ferociously like I hadn't laughed in months, when Brosnan is about to press Carver to his meeting with the Sea-Vac drill, he acts as if this was meant to be the most serious drama ever filmed: Yuh fogot de first ruhhl of mass media, Elliot - GIVE DAH PEOPLE WOTT DEY WAAANNNT!!!
This is full-retard Bond.


(Can't wait for the first Barry-scored film!)

Manhunter wrote:

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977, dir. Lewis Gilbert)
The PTS is overrated, unfunny nonsense. The ski stunts are okay, though.

I actually have a slight distaste for the whole Union Jack parachute thing. It could be that I am an American and don't share the same closeness to the image but it just reminds me of some of the over-patriotic moments in 'Live Free or Die Hard.' That, and the idea of parachute with your national flag on it wins worst spy idea ever for me.


Octopussy

While I have always had an affinity for the film, this hasn't aged well for me...

The clown sequence is probably the best in the film.

That was either a subtle insult to the film as a whole, or a high praise for Moore's skills gained from clown college.

I mean it. Wonderfully shot, edited, scored and acted scene. Bond as the boy who cried wolf (or in this case atomic bomb) - paying the price for his Bond's reputation as a clown, yet goes about defying the military brass, kicking the arse of the polizei, and wielding an axe. Also a chilling reminder of 009's fate.

n fact, my ideal OCTPUSSY would be the PTS + the killing of 009, followed by the East/West Germany bomb chase. Cutting out all of the bollocks in India.

"LET ME GO, DAMMNIT, THERE'S A BOMB IN THERE!"

Some ridiculous things happen during the Circus bit, mainly because it takes place in a circus. The true tension, however, is palpable. The entire Chase Bomb sequence is class and arguably one of the best Bond moments of the 80's, OCTOPUSSY only really loses in consistency, as it's hard to remain invested in a movie that practically restarts in the middle.

Largo's Shark wrote:

In fact, my ideal OCTPUSSY would be the PTS + the killing of 009, followed by the East/West Germany bomb chase. Cutting out all of the bollocks in India.

I'm down with that. The Indian stuff was pretty dull and a bit farkakte. Could've been a much stronger movie if the focus was on Orlov and the Cold War.

Tubes wrote:

"LET ME GO, DAMMNIT, THERE'S A BOMB IN THERE!"

Damn, that's Moore's finest moment.

And Sharky, let me clarify on the point. I don't think it's a horrible ending. I merely said it has not aged as well for me. Far more memorable when I was younger. My issue is actually with Moore's costume. While I agree it is incredibly appropriate thematic wise, it's one of Moore's best scenes and he is betrayed by an over-sized wig and makeup that hides his real expressions. Instead, I'm left debating is that Moore acting or the makeup doing it for him, which may have been the intent. But the more I watch it, the more it bothers me.

Thunderball (1965, dir. Terence Young)

Horribly well written and executed action thriller, filled with a lot of good humour and quips, many tense moments and sequences, splendid cinematography, sexy women, a varied, rich, fascinating score, and brilliantly executed, very down-to-earth action scenes - how anyone can call this "bloated" is beyond me.
I've also realized - for the first time? That would be ridiculous! - how incredibly fast-paced and slick this action thriller masterpiece is! It's one of the best edited Bond films. Almost every detail makes perfect sense and is well integrated into the whole beast of a film.
I was also surprised to see how excellent Auger's acting is here - it must have something to do with me watching the English version, which I haven't seen often yet (this may have been the third time at best). She gets across different states of her character very naturally and convincingly, with some fine nuances. there are many people who claim she was a horrible, bland Bond girl - obviously, these people have no idea what acting is about. I think there are hardly any actresses in the Bond series that come close - I have to turn to the other Young-directed Bond films to find good female acting (no coincidence).
THUNDERBALL has great atmosphere in abundance - different kinds for different scenes. Not keen on the PTS, but that is the only slight gripe I may have with it.


(PS: I had intended to watch the Bond films in an order generated by drawing lots - it turned out it didn't work for me. LALD was the first i drew, but from then on... Well, I don't want all the bad films to be saved for the end, and I want to jump between the decades in fairly equal measure. I already know which film I'll be watching tonight; one may guess the decade from my choices so far.)

Chief of SIS wrote:

That was either a subtle insult to the film as a whole, or a high praise for Moore's skills gained from clown college.

This is clearly part of agents Mi6 training. Recall that very early in the film, 009 was also disguised in full clown-suit and makeup. Standard "00" training.

Chief of SIS wrote:

high praise for Moore's skills gained from clown college.

GoldenEye

Can you spell perfection? I know I can! G....O.....L....D....E.....N......E.....Y......E

Octopussy (1983, dir. John Glen)

The India stuff is really mostly pointless (apart from the Orlov visit), it's lame and silly, and way too long - the whole part consumes 53 minutes!!!
I love the Mishka and Grishka scenes, especially the hunt for 009; the whole East Berlin/Karl-Marx-Stadt part is well done, it's one of the rare occasions when slapstick elements can really help enhance the suspense or tension in a film.
The whole India part should have been re-written (was that MacDonald-Thingamabob mostly responsible for it?); the only scenes that I would never want to miss (and also the fairly decent dice game) are the scenes on Octopussy's island. The way Octo is introduced, by only showing her hands feed the 'puss etc., Jourdan's acting and, later on, Bond's arrival there (minus the croco disguise), the way the Major Smythe story is handled, the Yo-Yo-Saw attack, the wonderful shots of the water, the island surroundings, and the interior, as well as Barry's magical music - all of this is splendid!
I assume we are not allowed to post caps from the DVDs, which is a shame, because OCTOPUSSY contains a couple of wonderful shots. The cinematography in Glen's films (LTK aside, perhaps), as well as the Gilbert films, not to mention the 60s films (GF aside) impresses me a lot more than Deakins' work (let alone CR and QOS).
Jourdan does a lot with his small role, Gobinda is one lame henchman, Orlov is a bit OTT, but likeable, Maud is decent and the right age for Rogey who delivers a really fine performance in almost every scene; I really cannot complain about him. I also quite like the finale on the plane. John Barry was not of this world.
In spite of its numerous flaws and the overboarding silliness, there is more than enough to love about OCTOPUSSY.

I'm one who advocates some of the shots Glen achieved during the 80s (mostly in FYEO and TLD), but Skyfall's cinematography is much more colourful and striking and matches that of the 60s films more than the 80s films.

FieldsMan wrote:

I'm one who advocates some of the shots Glen achieved during the 80s (mostly in FYEO and TLD), but Skyfall's cinematography is much more colourful and striking and matches that of the 60s films more than the 80s films.

Indeed, FYEO and TLD consisted of some of John Glen's best shots for sure, without a doubt. Also, especially in India, OP achieved a great number of excellent shots from Glen. Although I absolutely love AVTAK and LTK, I will admit that their locations and shots are rather drab. However, in AVTAK, I really do enjoy the shots in Zorin's mine.

Once again, it does always feels so good to be back here and see all the veterans from KTBEU. It's a memory for what's not existing anymore!

Well, well. My last Bondfilm i watched except for SF has to be GE. I have over the time grown a great fondness for it, before i thought it was just " a action movie that calls itself a Bond film ". But over the last year i have changed my opinion and i'm now holding it as my favorite Brosnan movie. It is a entertaining Bondfilm that holds up almost the whole time.

8/10

License To Kill on the Tiff big-screen presentation.

I was very disapointed. The print was awful. For two short stretches thin black vertical lines covered the screen from left to right. The film was even out of focus for one of the black line intervals.

It was apparent from the outset, that this was a somewhat grainy beat-up "print".

The OP showing that I saw had no flaws, but the film did have a somewhat grainy quality as well.

I don't know much about film, but with these films out on hi-def blu-ray, why can't exhibitors tap into these versions.

The Tiff showings of TB and OHMSSS were pristeen. Absolutely perfect. Beyond perfect even, but we got the 4k digital transfers from the Lowry group.

Does this mean that if a 4k transfer of the old films doesn't exist, that anything pre-GE could be a dodgy print.

I think the 4k treatment ceased with TMWTGG.

SKYFALL (2012)

Did I love it or loathe it? I'll write up a review in the coming day (if I'm free).

Meanwhile, remain on the edges of your collective seats.

CJB wrote:

SKYFALL (2012)

Did I love it or loathe it? I'll write up a review in the coming day (if I'm free).

Meanwhile, remain on the edges of your collective seats.

.....with baited breath! Bond does a lot of Flammingesque worthy boozing in this film at least. He brings a bottle to Mommy's house, or was that hers. :scratch:

Mommy likes her drink too in this film, come to think of it. Can't blame her, she messed up good.

Caffeine has decided to keep me awake, so typed up my thoughts sooner rather than later.

So I just watched From Russia With Love and Dr No, on my brand spanking new blu-ray set.

Or at least, that's what I thought I was watching. "Awful similar to how the old dvds looked upscaled on the blu-ray player" I thought, "Probably just because they're older films" I said.

Turns out I bought the dvd set instead of the blu ray set.

If anyone wants 2 complete sets of Region 4 encoded Bond dvds PM me

From Russia With Love - I think the novel's ending would have made it stronger, anyway, one of the best Bond movies.