Last Bond Movie You Watched? 2.0

I'd go as far as to say FYEO is the most underrated Bond film.

Conti, Topol, mountain climbing. The best, Jerry, the best!

Yes, FYEO is a massively underrated gem.

FYEO is with no doubt best Moore's entry as Bond, and it's in my top 6 Bond movies.

Moore wrote:

For Your Eyes Only

Always enjoyed this film. I think it is one off Roger's finest films and probably his best performance as Bond. In Moonraker he was kind of sleepwalking. He seemed bored, his acting very wooden, but he proves to be on top form in FYEO. I always liked Melina. The scene where Bond/Columbo first talk is pretty well done. Glad to see Roger get a proper casino scene, too.

Also I've always liked the score. The gunbarrel cue is one off my favorites. It's very bold, probably one of the most powerful gunbarrels to open a Bond film. It really gets you pumped up and excited for what is to come.

FYEO is probably one of my favorite of Roger's films, might give OP a go tomorrow night.

One of the best scenes in all of Bond.

As to the score, it improves. Pretty cheesy in the early going (particularly the music for the Citroen chase), but definitely comes into its own. The scoring as Bond ascends the ski lift surrounded by Kristatos' heavies would make Barry proud.

SKYFALL (2012)

First time on DVD after having seen it twice at the movies. It loses a bit of its punch on the small screen. It's like motorboating A-cups after a weekend with Lucy Pinder.

Still, my opinion of the film remains much the same. The first thirty minutes or so fail to grab me (though the Shanghai stuff is visually stunning) but Macau onwards is top-notch. Undoubtedly one of the strongest entries in the Bond saga.

Once you've been in space, the only place to go is back to Earth. FYEO manages it admirably, one of my favourites of Moore's tenure.

CJB wrote:

SKYFALL (2012) ... Undoubtedly one of the strongest entries in the Bond saga.

I agree, though Skyfall, for all its nods to the other films, is closer to the Fleming novels than any but the very earliest entries.

Indeed, Silva was the sort of grotesque, perverse, larger-than-life villain Fleming loved to conjure.

Although not nearly as horrific as Dench's M.

ATVAK last night.

Surprisingly good. Moved up in my rankings. Considerably.

This film does a good job of not giving away the game too early. The viewer knows Zorin has something nasty in store for Silicon Valley, but he doesn't know exactly what until very late in the show. Playing it close to the vest allows a good deal of tension to develop, and that tension is punctuated very well by May Day's death (one of the very best in Bond history) and the Golden Gate fight.

I'd also add that Tanya Roberts gets a bit of a bad rap. Now she's no Izabella Scorupco, Diana Rigg or Berenice Marlohe, but she's miles ahead of Richards, Berry and Bach. She's not a bad Bond girl--mid-pack, more like it.

But much of the other acting is dodgy. Bob Conley, Jenny Flex, Mr. O'Rourke and Pola Ivanova won't knock anybody's socks off, that's for sure. And it must be said that the long sequence at Zorin Stables is rather plodding. But AVTAK really picks up about the time "James Stock" interviews Mr. Howe in his San Francisco office.

There is plenty good that can be said about this film.

I must confess it's enjoyable to see praise for VTAK. And such praise indeed :*h*:

Was randomly flipping through cable, and to my surprise, Casino Royale is on the telly right now on SyFy channel.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

I'd also add that Tanya Roberts gets a bit of a bad rap. Now she's no Izabella Scorupco, Diana Rigg or Berenice Marlohe, but she's miles ahead of Richards, Berry and Bach. She's not a bad Bond girl--mid-pack, more like it.

Agreed. Stacey is so underrated. With regards to Denise Richards, I like her quite a bit - not a favourite Bond girl by any means, but she's like Roberts for me.

FYEO - OK, so the pre-credits 'drop Blofeld down a chimney' stuff and the end (with a parrot talking to Mrs Thatcher and being mistaken for Bond) are pretty daft (but it IS the Moore era). But the rest of it is mostly a fine, pacey, could-almost-happen Bond adventure.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

ATVAK last night.

Surprisingly good. Moved up in my rankings. Considerably.

This film does a good job of not giving away the game too early. The viewer knows Zorin has something nasty in store for Silicon Valley, but he doesn't know exactly what until very late in the show. Playing it close to the vest allows a good deal of tension to develop, and that tension is punctuated very well by May Day's death (one of the very best in Bond history) and the Golden Gate fight.

I'd also add that Tanya Roberts gets a bit of a bad rap. [...] she's miles ahead of Richards, Berry and Bach. She's not a bad Bond girl--mid-pack, more like it.

But much of the other acting is dodgy. Bob Conley, Jenny Flex, Mr. O'Rourke and Pola Ivanova won't knock anybody's socks off, that's for sure. And it must be said that the long sequence at Zorin Stables is rather plodding. But AVTAK really picks up about the time "James Stock" interviews Mr. Howe in his San Francisco office.

There is plenty good that can be said about this film.

I am glad you've finally warmed up on A VIEW TO A KILL. I used to hate it as a kid, but now I love it. It's pretty excellent, considerably better than GOLDFINGER in most respects, and overall as a film. It has a better script, much more tension, I even prefer the score a bit, and Moore is at least as good as Connery, just more mature. It also affects me more in parts.
A lot of it is splendid entertainment. I think I'm ranking it 6th at the moment.

NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN. Newly released on Blu-ray here in Britain and lookingly unexpectedly fine on the format, with bright colours and pin-sharp detail. I've always found NSNA a severely underrated affair and it still holds up very well indeed thirty years on. Connery brings a great deal of presence and charisma to the party, rather more than he did in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER. He seems to be having more fun this time round, and his Bond is more, well, Bondian than in DAF.

Klaus Maria Brandauer makes a terrific Largo, while Kim Basinger, Barbara Carrera, Bernie Casey, Edward Fox, Alec McCowen, Max von Sydow and Rowan Atkinson all do good work. The script is witty, the setpieces exciting, and the whole thing is just a great big blast of pure 007 fun of the sort that, sadly, they don't make any more. A wonderful antidote to SKYFALL.

Disagree about Skyfall, but let's not get into that again.

Never Say Never Again has its moments, most of them involving Barbara Carrera. Amazing that the film didn't make her a star.

Carrera and Brandauer steal the show. I also think Bacharach and the Bergmans' title song is seriously underrated. With a better vocalist and a meatier production it has the potential to be great.

Largo's Shark wrote:

Carrera and Brandauer steal the show.

They do indeed, although for some reason Connery never seems to get any credit for his engaging performance in NSNA (perhaps because NSNA is so often dismissed as some kind of vanity project for him), but the surprise for me in rewatching NSNA for the first time in quite a while was that, basically, everyone in the film is really good. Now, maybe not "really good" in the sense of, say, Daniel Day-Lewis in THERE WILL BE BLOOD, but much better than you'd expect for performances in a film that's often written off as pure crap. The general standard of acting in NSNA is actually quite high (and, dare I say it, stratospheric for a pre-Dalton 1980s Bond outing). Even the role of Domino - Basinger makes her somewhat human and believable, and there's an odd realism and poignancy (by Bond standards of the period, anyway) to the Largo-Domino-Bond love triangle that---- well, I was about type "lends weight", but, no, it doesn't lend weight as such, and there's no point overstating the case (NSNA remains, after all, nothing more than escapist hokum - and thank goodness for that), but, still, it does play pretty well onscreen and really helps NSNA out during its second half.

Largo's Shark wrote:

I also think Bacharach and the Bergmans' title song is seriously underrated. With a better vocalist and a meatier production it has the potential to be great.

Agreed. It made me wince a bit during the opening sequence, but that's because I remembered a fan edit that someone had done of NSNA that took the song out completely so that Bond's assault on the "terrorists' base" unfolded, if memory serves, without any music, which I felt made it much more gripping. But, yeah, it's a decent song.

I didn't realise that the Last Bond Movie You Watched thread included spoofs and parodies.

;)

FieldsMan wrote:

I didn't realise that the Last Bond Movie You Watched thread included spoofs and parodies.

;)

Looking at NSNA's Wikipedia page, I was surprised to learn that Carrera actually received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress as Fatima Blush, although she lost out to Cher (SILKWOOD).

Have any official Bond girls received Golden Globe nominations?

My first Bond film for 2013 was Diamonds Are Forever today. A couple of things stood out for me this time round:

- Jill St. John's acting was quite good, except for her "eek!" moments during the Franks vs Bond scene and Bond vs Wint&Kidd. But you can tell there is stuff happening behind those eyes - her first scene remains one of my favourite in the film.

- The music again stood out for me. I discovered its brilliance a few years ago, and it works brilliantly in the context of the film. Outside the film, nearly all the tracks are listenable (Moon Buggy chase music isn't something I can listen to without the film), but I absolutely loooooove the lounge music heard behind Tiffany's scenes, as well as big band stuff heard throughout the score. And I think Bassey's tune is my favourite out of her three.

- The campiness is a bit excessive, such as the elephant cheering itself as it plays the machines. Totally unnecessary and it's a shame that such a moment stays in the film, and not one of Plenty's deleted scenes.

I think the elephant is in the spirit of the rest of the film. The humour in DAF manages to be both dark and light, which is some achievement. It's the only Bond film I find myself returning to these days. DAF is funny, sexy and cruel. Much like life.

Moore wrote:

For Your Eyes Only

Always enjoyed this film. I think it is one off Roger's finest films and probably his best performance as Bond. In Moonraker he was kind of sleepwalking.

Oddly enough I think Roger is at his finest for Moonraker and thereafter it is his age that begins to become an issue (ironically moreso for FYEO than either OP or AVTAK)

Erica Ambler wrote:

I think the elephant is in the spirit of the rest of the film. The humour in DAF manages to be both dark and light, which is some achievement. It's the only Bond film I find myself returning to these days. DAF is funny, sexy and cruel. Much like life.

DAF suits every mood I find, it's quotable nature also means there are many triggers bringing you back to it.

Casino Royale (the 2006 one)
A true masterpiece, enjoyed until the last bit.
Now I am not sure anymore that Skyfall is best Craig's Bond movie. He's very confortable with the role, despite being his first (Bond) movie, and the rest of the movie is so great.