Last Bond Movie You Watched? 2.0

Vesper wrote:

I agree about Greene's death but I have the exact same problem with it as you do with the scene with Yusef. "Everything you want to know about my organisation" is given off screen. We actually learn nothing.

We don't need to, in either scene. It is easy for us to infer the information obtained in Greene's case presumably lead to Yusef, and in Yusef's case, leads originally to Mr White, though with that scene gone you can infer mi6 went on to smash QUANTUM completely or at least do some major damage. Ladling on expository revelations when you're running for the curtain can really hurt the end of a movie (look at the last minutes of PSYCHO, which seem like a PSA on mental health.)

I do like Schaefer's cinematography a whole lot, and just wish people could appreciate it, but the editing really does the imagery a disservice.

trevanian wrote:

I do like Schaefer's cinematography a whole lot, and just wish people could appreciate it, but the editing really does the imagery a disservice.

He did an alright job, but it's constrained by Super35. The framing and staging calls for anamorphic, but they didn't have enough time in post with all the VFX shots.

There's also some annoyingly self-conscious stuff there (much like Otto Heller's work on the overrated IPCRESS FILE) that take me out of the scene. i.e. placing the camera behind a bunch of glass balls, because it looks pretty.

I think if QOS focused more on Bond's drive then the whole thing with not being told all the details of the organization wouldn't have been too bad. It really should have been about Bond searching for Yusef and not about finding out what the organization is and destroying it. That should have only been a part of it. Also, Dominic Greene should have been Vesper's Algerian boyfriend. That would have added much more to Bond going up against Greene but in the grand scheme of things Greene is merely a middle man for Bond to find info on the organization and find Yusef. It's like a glorified act one turned into a whole feature.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

I think the 'tiredness' sadly permeates through the whole thing ... Barry's score, the Duran Duran theme song, Walken, Jones and the finale atop the Golden Gate bridge lift it a bit. But elsewhere, the likes of Rog's frequently extremely obvious stunt doubles drag it right down again.

As a fan who believes Roger Moore was THE definitive James Bond and is undoubtedly the best (hands down, case closed), I do have to say that he seems a bit off his game in AVTAK. Roger doesn't seem to have the same energy for this film as he did in past ones, and some of that may have to do, I think, with his being less than satisfied with Grace Jones' on-set behavior (which wasn't really all that scandalous), Tanya Roberts lack of acting pedigree, or his overall discomfort with the level of violence perpetrated by Zorin on the miners at the end.

To Moore's credit, he's been consistent and honest about his dislike of the way AVTAK ended, and never minced his words about how he hated the machine guns and the killing, but at the same time I've never really understood how that made him uncomfortable, but the machine guns in TSWLM didn't, or the gunning down of Melina's parents didn't. To each their own. But Moore is simply too old for his leading ladies, and the stunt doubling was absolutely atrocious.

Moore got a big paycheck for AVTAK, but $4-5 million would have been better spent bringing in a new actor, putting some of that money elsewhere, and letting new blood restart the series. Instead, Moore limps out of the role in what would have been an otherwise serviceable thriller for a first-time Bond actor. The locations are great, the stunts are imaginative, the score and title song very good...the villains outrageous...and the plot one of the better ones we've seen, despite the lame criticism that AVTAK is a GF rip-off. AVTAK is one of the rare Bond films where 007 is actually doing some investigating, and unlike TND, the dots don't necessarily connect so easily. Bond has to use wits, intelligence, and there's not always a gadget to save him (sucking air from the tire was a neat idea). What we have here is the offspring of a Nazi doctor who has a black female body, and he's such a psychopath that he's not only willing to cause an earthquake that will kill millions in order to raise the value of his company, but he's also one of the more "hands-on" type lead villains that we've seen (from waiting for May Day to parachute down to him, to helping May Day kill the Mayor and burn City Hall....this is one villain we don't see subordinate all the dirty work to his henchman; in that respect Zorin is truly one of the more unique villains).

I just think this film would have been better with Brosnan or Antony Hamilton in the role at that point (or even Finlay Light, if he ever existed).

Manhunter wrote:

Never Say Never Again (1983, dir. Irvin Kershner)

I've liked it most of the time, but this time I was pretty excited. (Needless to say, I watched the English version). The plot makes sense, the film is very carefully written and edited. It moves along smoothly and never fails to entertain me. It is full of neat little ideas and touches, has surprisingly good dialogue and many good one-liners (more quality one-liners than in GF). The cinematography is very good, that includes nice scenery as well as interesting and well-working camera moves and angles.
Connery is on top of his game. Not only is he very fit for a 53 year old man, he also delivers the quips well and gives enough depth in the couple of scenes that are of a more serious tone. Yesterday, in a GF review on Amazon, I read that Connery was giving his most sophisticated performance in NSNA (OWTTE), and indeed, he is both a joy to watch and convincing in the serious scenes as well (I may only prefer him in DR. NO and maybe FRWL).
Even Kim Basinger is very fine in her role as Domino. Nothing but excellent is Carrera as the female killer Fatima Blush. Restrainedly flamboyant in the beginning, she reveals more and more of her genuinely mental state of mind in the course of the film. She's a pleasure to watch and infinitely superior in her role to the cheap rip-off that is Onatopp. The way the script/Bond (and Largo) deal with her insane narcissim and sexual craving is excellent.
Brandauer is Top 3 villain material - he does his take on Largo's insanity in his very own, not too exalted, no less than ingenious manner. I cannot possibly describe all the little touches and layers with which he invests this rather small entertainment film character. You will have to see it for yourself. He's gigantic! His jealousy is perfectly used by Bond, very good writing indeed.
Though the score is mostly bland, at least the tango, the chanson (d'amour, no less), the title song and the instrumental variations on it within the film are very fine. All in all, NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN is splendid entertainment and a repeat pleasure.

Agreed that the casting is great. Brandauer's Largo is criminally overlooked. Carrera steals the movie. Basinger is attractive, but not equal to her 1965 counterpart. Could have done without Rowan Atkinson, but must admit he was funny. Connery looked better in this than he did in DAF. Location work was excellent. Chemistry is great between Connery and Casey, and Casey brings the hipness and attitude to the role of Leiter that I enjoyed from Jack Lord and Rick Van Nutter. Loved Max Von Sydow, and his voice clearly seems to be the inspiration for Bane in THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.

BUT.......the film has a couple of serious problems that it fails to account for or overcome. #1 The score is absolutely dreadful. Simply the worst score by far. There is no comparison in the Bond series. Even the less conventional GE score is light years better. I say this with all due respect, but LeGrand's score stops the action sequences cold dead in their tracks. The entire chase of Fatima through the streets of Southern France is undercut and destroyed by LeGrand's breezy jazz club tunes. The score does not punctuate or accentuate the action at all, but rather distracts the viewers attention from what is going on. And the sad part about the score is that it's not simply a case of not helping the movie, it actually hurts the movie. The film would have been better off with no score at all. At least it can't distract from the movie if it's not in there, but in this case it works to the detriment of the movie. Only Fatima's theme works with the spirit of the movie and the character.

#2 When Carrera's character is killed she takes the whole film with her. They probably didn't realize how powerful the actress was while filming (or maybe it was too late), but once Fatima is gone, the interest level for me wanes considerably, and the movie becomes a chore to sit through. I literally remember wanting to hurry up and get through it because it was no longer interesting.

Lani Hall's song is among the worst as well, but at 3 minutes it can't be said to have killed the film like the points listed above.

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

Blunt Instrument wrote:

I think the 'tiredness' sadly permeates through the whole thing ... Barry's score, the Duran Duran theme song, Walken, Jones and the finale atop the Golden Gate bridge lift it a bit. But elsewhere, the likes of Rog's frequently extremely obvious stunt doubles drag it right down again.

As a fan who believes Roger Moore was THE definitive James Bond and is undoubtedly the best (hands down, case closed), I do have to say that he seems a bit off his game in AVTAK. Roger doesn't seem to have the same energy for this film as he did in past ones, and some of that may have to do, I think, with his being less than satisfied with Grace Jones' on-set behavior (which wasn't really all that scandalous), Tanya Roberts lack of acting pedigree, or his overall discomfort with the level of violence perpetrated by Zorin on the miners at the end.

To Moore's credit, he's been consistent and honest about his dislike of the way AVTAK ended, and never minced his words about how he hated the machine guns and the killing, but at the same time I've never really understood how that made him uncomfortable, but the machine guns in TSWLM didn't, or the gunning down of Melina's parents didn't. To each their own. But Moore is simply too old for his leading ladies, and the stunt doubling was absolutely atrocious.

Moore got a big paycheck for AVTAK, but $4-5 million would have been better spent bringing in a new actor, putting some of that money elsewhere, and letting new blood restart the series. Instead, Moore limps out of the role in what would have been an otherwise serviceable thriller for a first-time Bond actor. The locations are great, the stunts are imaginative, the score and title song very good...the villains outrageous...and the plot one of the better ones we've seen, despite the lame criticism that AVTAK is a GF rip-off. AVTAK is one of the rare Bond films where 007 is actually doing some investigating, and unlike TND, the dots don't necessarily connect so easily. Bond has to use wits, intelligence, and there's not always a gadget to save him (sucking air from the tire was a neat idea). What we have here is the offspring of a Nazi doctor who has a black female body, and he's such a psychopath that he's not only willing to cause an earthquake that will kill millions in order to raise the value of his company, but he's also one of the more "hands-on" type lead villains that we've seen (from waiting for May Day to parachute down to him, to helping May Day kill the Mayor and burn City Hall....this is one villain we don't see subordinate all the dirty work to his henchman; in that respect Zorin is truly one of the more unique villains).

I just think this film would have been better with Brosnan or Antony Hamilton in the role at that point (or even Finlay Light, if he ever existed).

Yep, he could've left the 'stage' with pride after FYEO, or with sort-of pride after OP. But no, not how it went.

For Your Eyes Only (1981, dir. John Glen)

This film has too many action set pieces and way too thin a plot. Some of the action scenes are good - PTS heli, warehouse raid, and, in particular, pursuing Locque and KICKING HIM OFF THE CLIFF!, ascending the mountain (a brilliant scene, but once they're on top it's so-so); others are seriously marred by stupid slapstick (what is supposed to be an ace ski sport and merciless KGB killer is turned into a goofy Jaws-like idiot of a henchman who sits himself on the arse when trying a jump old Roger has managed without the slightest effort) and by bloody disco music that so does not suit the action. The underwater scenes when recovering the ATAC are quite tedious, since they are lame and feature yet another comic character that isn't funny, the computer geek in the killer-sub - what a bore; each time I try to recall all of the action scenes in FYEO I forget at least half of them, because there are so many; Bond happens to arrive in Spain at a house at the exact time when Gonzales receives a case full of money - and escapes using a bloody sun umbrella! A comedy car chase with a Citroen ensues.
I do like the Ari and his wanna-be Olympian ice skating protegé story element, but L-H Johnson is so, SO obnoxious! We also see a lot of local colour in the cities Bond visits, some of the location work is splendid; I do prefer Melina's revenge story to that of Camille. And we have Q visiting Greece with a false beard posing as an Orthodox priest JUST to get across to Bond that they were not able to locate St. Cyril's. Oohh, how funny. Moore was better in OCTOPUSSY, and that whole film is much more entertaining, in spite of the lame India part.
FYEO has many scenes that, watched on their own, are fine, and watching the first half, waiting a few days, and then proceeding with the second may make it enjoyable, but the two hours watched straight are just too boring.

From Russia With Love (1963, dir. Terence Young)

Apart from Tanya apparently being indecided on whom to shoot in Venice at the end (does not really make sense), and the stupid gimmick of the SPECTRE guy wearing a Bond mask in the PTS (thank you, Harry - the producers, Harry, Cubby, Chubby, and other fatties should refrain from any creative decision and leave it to the professionals) - this is a pitch-perfect film. I would have to sit through the whole film again, pause it every couple of seconds in order to note down everything I love about it. The story is simply brilliant - Kronsteen relying on the Secret Service to realize it's a trap set up for them, but still taking the risk to get hold of the Lector!!!), the set-up of the intrigue before Bond is shown for the first time, all the incidents beneath the consulate, in the gypsy camp, the brilliant assassination of Krilencu, the most exquisitely suspenseful events aboard the train, the brilliant dialogue, throughout the film - and especially between Bond and Grant - the most realistic and gripping fight scene in a very confined space, the marvelous realistic action set pieces (that is also including the helicopter and boat sequences, which are nothing but excellent); the locations, Moore's astonishing cinematography, Barry's already multifaceted, stupefying, tremendous score - I wish I had the time to write an elaborate review of this film, but I will never be getting around to it. It's a film with a serious, grown up tone, all the right directorial choices, and a lot of intelligent, charming humour. Connery is top-notch, Armendariz and Shaw excellent, and so are Lenya and Sheybal - just look at the latter one's death scene - the whole scene is brilliantly constructed and executed.

Some more technical statements: the Blu is fantastic - sometimes the colours are too bright, and the picture a bit too sharp, but it's astounding how much you can see of what hadn't been seen on video tape and the Special Edition. It's perhaps only the second time that I've watched the original English version. There was no need to change vital elements of the dialogue in the dubbed version; some puns and wordplays cannot be well translated, but even then they made poor decisions with what to replace them; it's true for most of the Bond films, and it hurts DAF a lot, in particular. One example: in the dubbed version, when M, Moneypenny, and the other officials are listening to the tape Bond has recorded interviewing Tanya, M stops the tape when Bond speaks of a beautiful woman he once met in Japan. I've always asked myself why M does that, and I thought that Bond's talk was simply becoming too saucy for M's liking, but in my last viewing for the first time I heard that Bond said he was once with M in Japan, and this is clearly indicating that M was involved in some kind of amorous adventure, and that is why he stops the tape so abruptly! This is infinitely funnier than the dubbed version of the scene. Also, the ending, when Bond answers Tanya's question as to what was on the film, him saying I'll show you, and then proceeding to kiss her, is SO much more smart and charming than what they did in the dubbed version - I won't bother presenting it here, it's too daft.
I must have seen this film about 50 times, but because of the English version and the Blu it feels new in so many ways. I'll buy all the other 60s films on Blu, but not any of the others (didn't ever bother buying the Ultimate Editions of the Brosnan films - see below for reasons). There is indeed a noticeable difference in quality between UE and Blu, but the UE's are fine enough for me; as said, Blus perhaps too sharp and bright sometimes. I just want the 60s cinematographic stuff. The best they've ever made.


GoldenEye (1995, dir. Martin Campbell)

Okay, my advise: GoldenEye fans stop reading right here /

This one has idiotic stunts - Bond catching a plummeting plane by jumping off a mountain and diving after it through the air - perhaps more ludicrous than the parasurfing bit; there are repeated bursts of machine gun firing everywhere Bond shows up - it's loud, it appeals to action-obsessed kids, and it's pure shit.
Most of the quips and one-liners are lousy - For England, James, For England, Alec, Buy me a pint, Boys with toys, Slugheads, I am invincible, Speak to me etc.; - pure shit. There are too many silly comedy characters - Wade (Yo!, Yo!, Yo!, Yo! this Yo! that); Valentin (whose ridiculing of Bond's trade marks is annoying self-mockery on the film-makers' part; he is much more sympathetic in TWINE); Boris, the most obnoxious piece-of-shit character to ever be in any Bond film, utterly despicable, ludicrously unbelievable, with tons of stupid dialogue, an unbearable showy performance by Cumming, camp at its very worst.
Onatopp is a poor man's Fatima, her repeated groaning is pathetic, unimaginative, stale, and most of her scenes are tasteless, particularly the sex scene (??? Is Campbell gay???) with the admiral - utterly pathetic. I cannot possibly state all of the scenes and lines of dialogue I loathe; GoldenEye makes Live and Let Die, The World Is Not Enough, and Quantum of Solace look like cinematic masterpieces. I think there was more I wanted to write, but I'll leave it. (And I haven't even mentioned the new M who verbally humiliates Bond, and Moneypenny behaves similarly; they wanted to turn some of the vital elements of Bond upside-down, I assume; the score is lousy for most part).
I'd rather die than to watch it once more. The Brosnan films were written by hacks, directed by hacks, the producers have awful taste in films and know about what Bond is almost as little as the hacks they've been hiring. I am embarrassed to own the DVD of GoldenEye, and I am embarrassed that this is an official entry to the Bond film canon.

Lumme and I thought I disliked Goldeneye.

:*e*:

The Man With The Golden Gun on the big screen at Tiff Bell Light Box

Great to see this film again in a full movie house. It elicits lots of cheers, although there are a few scattered yobs in the audience for these earlier Bond films who seem to like to jeer them. They laugh with a superior tone as if those '60s and '70s film audiences were such rubes to enjoy such sexist non-pc fare. Yawn.

Meanwhile a great time had by all. This is the film where Bond actually visits Macau, Hong Kong and Bangkok for real.

Btw, I do like this technique of opening the film with the red gunbarrel scene. It really does jack one up for what is about to come and sends a jolt of electric energy through the cinema. I think what the filmmakers probably did was actually commit to this gunbarrel from the get-go,(ya think?) as a form of inviolable opening, and then craft the opening scene so it smoothly came off the gunbarrel. Very good technique!. Works brilliantly.

==I am not impressed with the prints they are screening though. Everything post-sixties seems to be the original old movie house prints. The '70's and '80s films all have a slightly grainy quality. They are still quite watchable and the sound is excellent, but they haven't got the full restoration treatment like the '60s films got.

The '60s films are in pristeen restored condition. They are a sight to behold. I haven't caught either DAF or LALD yet so I am not sure where they drop off with the perfect digital restoration prints. btw I am not bothering with the '90s and beyond screenings. These films are all still fairly recent. I'd rather spend my cash on the old films.

Gun really begins tremendously. The PTS remains my very favorite, and I love the opening shot of Scaramanga and Andrea on Phuket--as exotic as anything in all of Bond--and the opening line, "Nic Nac, Tabasco!", the most bizarre opening line in Bond by a parsec.

Golden Gun is next in my 'thon, needless to say I'm holding out on it for a few reasons.

You Only Live Twice (1967, dir. Lewis Gilbert)

There are some things about the plot that make me wonder - I still don't see what advantage Bond has from faking his death; he behaves pretty daftly when he meets Osato in his office - I fail to see the purpose of his visit, at the very least he blows his cover by answering stupidly to questions that any agent should be trained to tackle when under cover; he walks like an idiot out of the building, as if he was daydreaming, and Aki has to save him once again.
Also, I think it's rather stupid of SPECTRE to draw attention to themselves when they attack a mini-helicopter (or gyro) that flies above their perfectly innocently looking vulcano, with massive machine-gun firing.
But, apart from the first one, these are rather minor quibbles. That is because of all the positive things that YOLT has to offer: I was waiting for anything I could not enjoy, and apart from the questions above (and other trifles like Bond being able to watch the heli pick up the car via mega-magnet - where are the cameras being installed?), I didn't find anything. The storyline and SPECTRE's plot are outlandish - and camp, if it means 'exaggerated'; it certainly ain't poofy, - but the way everything is handled, in script, per direction, and visually, I can easily believe everything that's happening on screen.
They manage to present an outlandish story bordering on science fiction in a way that I can believe all of it, in a very straight manner, avoiding self-mockery and winks to the audience completely, and at the same time without attempting to make parts of it overly serious and dramatic, as they did later with scenes in DAD. YOLT takes its larger-than-life material seriously, exemplified in the scene when Tanaka presents to Bond cigarettes that can shoot explosive bullets - and that is why I can believe these things, as well as a rocket launching base in a volcano, really exist. That is a prerequisite for escapist fantasies to work for me.
The special effects are marvelous for its time, and can really be enjoyed only on the Ultimate Editions. YOLT's plot moves along at a pleasant pace; all the incidents were enjoyable for me. I used to dislike it during a couple of years - recently - , but it used to be my second favourite Bond film behind FRWL when I was a kid. With my viewing yesterday, I enjoyed it nearly as much as back then, in some respects even more, because the picture quality now is so gorgeous, a noticeable improvement on the video cassettes (and recordings from TV), as well as on the Special Edition DVDs.
The film always holds up interest, it has many tense and suspenseful moments. The sets are marvelous, the cinematography gorgeous, the external shots especially are beautiful, often mesmerising.
In the past I have gone on record as saying that Connery is bored throughout the film; this is not true at all. It may be, comparativley, his weakest performance, but he is anything but bored or listless; quite the opposite. And while it is true that the Blofeld of FRWL, with his eerily deep and gravelly voice, is unspeakably sinister and scary, Pleasance is - judged out of context with the former films - quite scary too. I like his scenes before his revelation, as well as all of the others, a lot.
The way the film builds up suspense, in the first half of the PTS, and from Bond's descend into the volcano, his way to the prisoners' cells - watch out for the glimpse the camera gives us of the sinister control room! - Bond being stopped from entering the capsule, and all the stuff right up to Bond making the capsule explode, - all of it is simply terrific. Gilbert really handles this bloated film admirably; I also really feel for Aki when she accidentally is poisoned; the whole atmosphere of that scene at night is stellar. Most of the dialogue that Dahl writes is surprisingly a lot cleverer than the dung that P & W come up with, and that is including the pretensions of SKYFALL.
I'll stop right now; there were many things I wanted to note down that I liked during my viewing yesterday, but I hope I covered the most important ones.
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE is a tremendous science-fiction adventure, dazzlingly well-crafted, exceptional in the realm of entertainment films - just like all of the 1960s Bond films (but with GF to a much lesser extent, because it lacks drive and tension). And I haven't even mentioned yet how beautiful, mesmerising, and compelling John Barry's score is in all of its variety.

PS: I have to qualify my statements about theBlus: They are a bit too sharp, and the colours too bright at times, as said yesterday. The Ultimate Edition DVDs are as good as perfect visually and acoustically, as far as I am concerned, so I see no need to buy any other Bond film on Blu.

PPS: I've just compared screencaps from SE with the corresponding ones from the UE - I preferred the former.
This may be explained by the non-HD devices on my laptop; I wish I could make caps from the HD-TV (though colours and light seem better on the SE-DVDs; must compare them directly on the TV set soon).

A View to a Kill (1985, dir. John Glen)

While the plot hinges on GF quite a bit (baddie has interest in horses, gives a briefing about his plans with model of desired object, wants to increase the value of one of his possessions by destroying that of others (well in the case of GF it's no real destruction, and I've cicumscribed it in very general terms, but you get the drift)), AVTAK changes and adds enough to attain the status of being a very worthy and distinct and even creative entry in its own right.
The plot is very well thought-out, the action scenes are pretty innovative and also well shot, some quite exciting (the horse race/course; Bond using air from the tyre to survive!; the fire truck bit; the escape from the burning city hall; most of all, the Golden Gate/blimp part - which must have been the model for the Greene-Bond axe fight). We get a feeling of really being at the locations, the film has a great authentic quality to it (more so than the post-TLD films, including SF); the stay at Stacey's home, particularly the fact that Bond makes a quiche for her, oozes such a wonderful homely, snugly feeling; Barry's score is tremendous once again, tense, memorable, romantic, exhilarating, moving, simply masterful. Zorin is a brilliantly conceived and acted Bondian psycho villain.
Roger is very committed, the four or five shots in which we can spot a stunt double neither hurt his performance nor do they hurt the film as a whole. If we're honest: A VIEW TO A KILL is considerably better than SKYFALL and GOLDFINGER.
I also cannot agree at all with the complaints about Tanya Roberts - her character is more believable and more likeable than Pussy Galore, and Roberts is pretty convincing, certainly much more so than Bach, Berry, or Richards. There are actresses who could have done it much better, but I never have the feeling Roberts is not Stacey. She gets more variance into her voice than the above mentioned actresses from Bond films - and what a sexy voice she has!
Her screams of fear - Jaamesss! - in the burning elevator shaft are chillingly authentic.
The title song is top-notch.




Molotov Max


Intuitive improvisation at work


Physiological frrrreak


Spying Rog


Why no sex with Jenny Flex?





Roger's shaft must have been burning as well...

Quote :

If we're honest: A VIEW TO A KILL is considerably better than SKYFALL and GOLDFINGER.

I hate royal pronouns.

Largo's Shark wrote:

Quote :

If we're honest: A VIEW TO A KILL is considerably better than SKYFALL and GOLDFINGER.

I hate royal pronouns.

Looks like tiffy may have found a partner in crime.

Largo's Shark wrote:

Quote :

If we're honest: A VIEW TO A KILL is considerably better than SKYFALL and GOLDFINGER.

I hate royal pronouns.

You're such a killjoy.

Manhunter wrote:

Largo's Shark wrote:

Quote :

If we're honest: A VIEW TO A KILL is considerably better than SKYFALL and GOLDFINGER.

I hate royal pronouns.

You're such a killjoy.

My humour is lost on Germans.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Largo's Shark wrote:

Quote :

If we're honest: A VIEW TO A KILL is considerably better than SKYFALL and GOLDFINGER.

I hate royal pronouns.

Looks like tiffy may have found a partner in crime.

Huh!? Somebody call? No of course not. AVTAK is not better than GF.

SF -- I don't care. I have SF in my alternative Bond rankings. I don't compare these films with the original 20 Eon films. In the alternative Bond rankings though, SF is doing quite well; #2 of 4, behind only NSNA. Not bad!!!

Manhunter - I have read many of your reviews and disagree with most of your points (though not all of them), but I do have to say that I'm glad there is someone else here who thinks highly of Stacey. She is the 'next door' type of Bond girl. And as you said, the elevator shaft stuff feels very natural. She isn't an agent, or Bond's equal. She's a geologist, so being close to death isn't something she experiences every day.

And bloody hell she (admittedly, a little too conveniently) fills out that work suit well!

http://screenmusings.org/AViewToAKill/pages/AVtaK_665.htm
http://screenmusings.org/AViewToAKill/pages/AVtaK_668.htm

Tanya Roberts would have been better as a walk-on role, preferably with no dialogue and no clothing.

FieldsMan wrote:

I do have to say that I'm glad there is someone else here who thinks highly of Stacey. She is the 'next door' type of Bond girl. And as you said, the elevator shaft stuff feels very natural. She isn't an agent, or Bond's equal. She's a geologist, so being close to death isn't something she experiences every day.

And bloody hell she (admittedly, a little too conveniently) fills out that work suit well!

http://screenmusings.org/AViewToAKill/pages/AVtaK_665.htm
http://screenmusings.org/AViewToAKill/pages/AVtaK_668.htm

No one screams "James! James!" better than Tanya. I also like the way Tanya/Stacey blew off that wanker St. John Smythe at Zorin's horse party.

tiffanywint wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Largo's Shark wrote:

Quote :

If we're honest: A VIEW TO A KILL is considerably better than SKYFALL and GOLDFINGER.

I hate royal pronouns.

Looks like tiffy may have found a partner in crime.

Huh!? Somebody call? No of course not. AVTAK is not better than GF.

SF -- I don't care. I have SF in my alternative Bond rankings. I don't compare these films with the original 20 Eon films. In the alternative Bond rankings though, SF is doing quite well; #2 of 4, behind only NSNA. Not bad!!!

Right. But I think it's safe to say you do rate RMBond more highly than most.

My personal Bond rankings are thus

Connery and Laz on pedestals (the only two worthy Bonds)

As for the rest.

Moore 3rd Dalton 4th Broz 5th

And the blue-snuggered wonder falling off a train, going over a waterfall and pulled down into the depths of Bond oblivion where he might indefinitely linger, but possibly to re-appear at his own private beachfront dive-bar but this time without Cable TV, so that he might stay retired with his woman, drink and pet scorpion. He's even got a beach. He can entertain the locals with his adonis rising-from-the-surf routine.

All Bond actors btw are held to the Connery gold standard.

Hmmm. Methinks I detect a cartain pattern to your Bond ratings. It is distinctly and absolutely chronological.

:shock: