Last Bond Movie You Watched? 2.0

I'd say Dr NO delivers a good 75% of everything we expect/demand from a Bond thereafter, GF probably tends to get the nod because it crystallises it all a bit more smoothly...but in terms of genuine creativity Dr No and Terence Young cannot be given enough credit imo. As to Connery I think his performance is great but that he really matures as an actor after Marnie so imo we get his very best performances in GF and TB.

lachesis wrote:

As to Connery I think his performance is great but that he really matures as an actor after Marnie

Interesting point. Generally, it's thought that The Hill is when Connery came of age as an actor, but I agree it was a year earlier with Marnie. He benefited from working with Hitchcock regardless of what the critics say about the film as a whole.

lachesis wrote:

I'd say Dr NO delivers a good 75% of everything we expect/demand from a Bond thereafter, GF probably tends to get the nod because it crystallises it all a bit more smoothly...but in terms of genuine creativity Dr No and Terence Young cannot be given enough credit imo. As to Connery I think his performance is great but that he really matures as an actor after Marnie so imo we get his very best performances in GF and TB.

Connery's performance in TB perhaps, but I'd say that his performance in GF - while solid - has nothing on his work in Young's film. All in my opinion, of course!

Been aching to check out Marnie, though.

FieldsMan's 2015 Bond-a-thon Countdown.

With the release of the SPECTRE trailer last night, I was tempted to watch OHMSS. So I did!

Awesome film! Marc Ange Draco is my favourite ally of the series, Tracy is probably my favourite Bond girl of the series, and Savalas' Blofeld is probably my favourite Blofeld of the series. The music is top notch, the cinematography is beautiful, and the sets are great too! Lazenby doesn't disappoint in the role, either. He has some nice moments throughout the film and I totally can see Fleming's version of James Bond in him. He is probably the best fighter we've had as well.

23. Diamonds Are Forever
22. Moonraker
21. Die Another Day
20. Live And Let Die
19. The Man With The Golden Gun
18. Casino Royale
17. Licence to Kill
16. Quantum of Solace
15. The Spy Who Loved Me
14. You Only Live Twice
13. Octopussy
12. The Living Daylights
11. A View To A Kill
10. Goldfinger
09. Skyfall
08. For Your Eyes Only
07. The World Is Not Enough
06. Dr. No
05. On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Look up, look down, look out! James Bond will return as Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in Thunderball.

Finally managed to sit down and rewatch TB. I'll sum it up in a word:

Perfection.

But I'll elaborate on what stood out most this time round:

- Domino. While I don't think she surpasses Luciana in terms of performance, Claudine Auger holds her own very well - more so than Ursula Andress in my opinion. I would have loved to have heard Auger's real voice though. And of course she is one of the sexiest Bond girls - along with Fiona - and helps make this one of the sexiest Bond films.

- Largo. I always forget how villainous he really is, and Celi puts in a great performance.

- The music. Definitely top 5 Bond scores. Classy, brassy and Bondian. The cue when Largo walks up to the cockpit of the disco volante after they've recovered the bombs is fantastic.

- The cinematography. One of the very best looking Bond flicks.

- The script. Without a doubt one of the strongest, wittiest screenplays of the franchise.

FieldsMan's 2015 Bond-a-thon Countdown.

23. Diamonds Are Forever
22. Moonraker
21. Die Another Day
20. Live And Let Die
19. The Man With The Golden Gun
18. Casino Royale
17. Licence to Kill
16. Quantum of Solace
15. The Spy Who Loved Me
14. You Only Live Twice
13. Octopussy
12. The Living Daylights
11. A View To A Kill
10. Goldfinger
09. Skyfall
08. For Your Eyes Only
07. The World Is Not Enough
06. Dr. No
05. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
04. Thunderball

You know the name. You know the number. James Bond will return in GoldenEye.

Just did Goldeneye.

Classic Bond from start to finish! A fine cast, gorgeous cinematography, atmospheric music, great writing. Everything is perfect allowing the two hours breeze by! It's interesting how some believe that this is considered a 'campy' Bond film. I wouldn't say it's campy as such, but bizarre - and it's the right mix of bizarre and spy thriller that Fleming fused in his novels. He would have been proud of this film, I imagine.

FieldsMan's 2015 Bond-a-thon Countdown.

23. Diamonds Are Forever
22. Moonraker
21. Die Another Day
20. Live And Let Die
19. The Man With The Golden Gun
18. Casino Royale
17. Licence to Kill
16. Quantum of Solace
15. The Spy Who Loved Me
14. You Only Live Twice
13. Octopussy
12. The Living Daylights
11. A View To A Kill
10. Goldfinger
09. Skyfall
08. For Your Eyes Only
07. The World Is Not Enough
06. Dr. No
05. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
04. Thunderball
03. GoldenEye

James Bond will return from Russia, with love.

Watched OHMSS yesterday. My sister and I couldn't help but notice that four Bond movie titles get dropped within few minutes, three of which came out after OHMSS (LTK, TWINE and SPECTRE), the fourth being OHMSS of course.

From Russia With Love
Perfection.

Tomorrow Never Dies
Perfection.

And that I think, concludes our business.

FieldsMan's 2015 Bond-a-thon Countdown.

23. Diamonds Are Forever
22. Moonraker
21. Die Another Day
20. Live And Let Die
19. The Man With The Golden Gun
18. Casino Royale
17. Licence to Kill
16. Quantum of Solace
15. The Spy Who Loved Me
14. You Only Live Twice
13. Octopussy
12. The Living Daylights
11. A View To A Kill
10. Goldfinger
09. Skyfall
08. For Your Eyes Only
07. The World Is Not Enough
06. Dr. No
05. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
04. Thunderball
03. GoldenEye
02. From Russia With Love
01. Tomorrow Never Dies

James Bond will return in SPECTRE - no, still in the British Secret Service, but in the film of the same name…

Diamonds Are Forever

The most entertaining Bond film. You're not going to get bored with this one.

The first half was solid, playing like a 70s mystery flick. Everything goes down hill when Bond lands on Willard Whyte's toilet and confronts Blofeld. I laughed at just about every scene following.

The desert chase scene wasn't even really a chase. It was just shots of Bond bombing around in the moon buggy while the security cars crashed into mounds of dirt and flipped around him.

I'm not even sure why Blofeld was dressed in drag, but it was funny. He wasn't even operating as the head of SPECTRE in this film. He was just an eccentric madman with some spare time on his hands.

My favorite lines:

Quote :

"Well, one of us smells like a tart's handkerchief." *sniffs*
"I'm afraid it's me, sorry old boy."

Quote :

Blofeld: Right idea, Mr. Bond...
James Bond: ...But wrong pussy.

Quote :

James Bond: Well, I'm afraid you've caught me with more than my hands up.

Haven't watched one in months, maybe for the whole year actually.

Has primed me for SPECTRE.

Think the last one was VTAK after Patrick Macnee passed. My chances of cramming in all 23 before Spectre with my work schedule is slim.

Control wrote:

Diamonds Are Forever

The most entertaining Bond film. You're not going to get bored with this one.

The first half was solid, playing like a 70s mystery flick. Everything goes down hill when Bond lands on Willard Whyte's toilet and confronts Blofeld. I laughed at just about every scene following.

The desert chase scene wasn't even really a chase. It was just shots of Bond bombing around in the moon buggy while the security cars crashed into mounds of dirt and flipped around him.  

I'm not even sure why Blofeld was dressed in drag, but it was funny. He wasn't even operating as the head of SPECTRE in this film. He was just an eccentric madman with some spare time on his hands.

My favorite lines:

Quote :

"Well, one of us smells like a tart's handkerchief." *sniffs*
"I'm afraid it's me, sorry old boy."

Quote :

Blofeld: Right idea, Mr. Bond...
James Bond: ...But wrong pussy.

Quote :

James Bond: Well, I'm afraid you've caught me with more than my hands up.

Concur with everything. DAF is just sublime to those of us who truly believe.

DAF is just glorious. It's the Connery I put in the most often because it's not quite as grand in size as TB or YOLT which makes it an easier afternoon sit. I like that it can be dark and serious one minute such as just about anytime Wint and Kidd are around but then it'll have goofier moments like Bond in a moon buggy or Blofeld showing up all future cross-dressers in style (snaps finger). Plus it's one of the best Vegas films even better than Ocean's 11 (forgive me, Frank) capturing Vegas in it's true sleazy, glitzy glory with bad comics, loose women named after their father, and Marc Lawrence driving a hearse.

Having been to Vegas for the first time recently, I can confirmed it's still got that DAFian quality to it. One can almost imagine an ageing Wint and Kidd hobbling around in the heat, the former smacking the latter for gazing at some meth'd up tramp with her sagging tits hanging out.

Ach, here we go again. If we get this done by SPECTRE you call me meier

Dr No

basic joy of the film is that it's unfettered by having to live up to a previous instalment and perhaps not setting too high a marker for a sequel. Always liked how you see a fair bit (or more than some other movies in the series) of the SIS HQ. The communications room or even the signs on the wall as Bond comes to M's office. There's a feel to the film up until the arrival on Crab Key that is not in other Bond films if any at all. There's that feel to the books at how Bond gets sent on a mission, turns up and goes about his job, not bogged down by gadgets, idiot characters and so forth. You have the British representative, the superintendent, the hotel receptionist, Dent etc. It could be any film really of 1962.
On this note, love Bond's apparent indifference to the receptionist's gaze as he collects his messages (prior to the spider attack).
And still the synching of the music as Bond beats ten shades out of the spider before he slumps into the bathroom. In Dr No, this Bond has a real feel.
And Felix...that's the Felix I could've seen alongside Lazenby's Bond if he had done at least one more.

So...we're off and running

9/10

BONDATHON 2015
1. Dr No (last score, 8.5/10 placing 5th of 22)

THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS

I'll get into a longer discussion of it later, but suffice to say that it is, in my opinion, the best Bond film. Not an easy thing to say, because I was disappointed with it 28 summers ago, but I think it almost takes an adult to appreciate the film and Dalton's performance.

It's *almost* pitch perfect; it's only minor mistakes are in going for humor that doesn't fit the scene. For example, Dalton's line "salt corrosion" feels more at home with Roger Moore. Roger would've made the line better, but I never really thought it was all that funny to begin with. In Dalton's performance it just sort of falls flat.

Another instance of misplace humor is the inclusion of Art Malik's final scene, which appeared to be nothing more than an attempt to set up the gag "We had trouble at the airport". To be fair, the line got a HUUUGE laugh by the audience, but at the expense of credibility. I'd felt like Kamran Shah's waving to Bond, and Bond using the plane to wave back, was the perfect way to wrap up his character. The way Shah is brought back just feels tacked on unnecessarily. But then there are a few scenes where the humor is perfectly played by Dalton: "He got the boot" got a well-deserved laugh  from the audience, as did "I've had a few optional extras installed." One of the other biggest laughs in the movie was Art Malik's line: "Women!" Huge roar of laughter at the time.

Then there are moments that feel like they could have been bigger but weren't (Bond chasing Necros through the Prater Amusement Park starts and stops awfully suddenly; almost as if a big sequence were planned, then scrapped at the last minute); Bond being totally absent for one of the more ingenious fight sequences (at the safe house), and the escape from Pushkin's assassination (would've been nice if they could have let it go on just a few seconds longer, even if the flying carpet and motorcycle stunt were still not included).

Barry's score is probably his weakest. I've always had to turn up the tv as loud as possible because his score just sounded light and hollow (at least for the first 2/3rds). Once the film hits Afghanistan it really gets stronger, but too many of the earlier action sequences are not helped out by the score at all. The pre-credits sequence cries out for a stronger edit; to be sure, the score isn't bad and never gets in the way of the movie, but it doesn't accentuate the action like Barry normally is used to doing.

Title sequence was uninspiring (apparently EON was feeling it to, and allegedly had put Binder on notice that they next film would need to be better; it wasn't).

On the plus side, I think the plot is perhaps one of the strongest of any Bond film. There were genuine surprises, including the reveal that Kara is Koskov's girlfriend (which I'm not sure could be pulled off in 2015, but back in the pre-Internet days was nice). The plot has multiple twists and turns, but the audience never feels cheated; the story earns every bit of the audience's surprise.

Some of the best acting in the series. Dalton may not have had the physical appeal of Craig's or Connery's Bond, but I think  he capture's Fleming's Bond in a way no one else has. If Dalton had been given a scar on his cheek and a comma of black hair dangling over his forehead, he'd have been Bond 100%. The slightly "cruel" way he laughs off Saunder's inquiry about the girl; the way he sort of smirks when he says "Whoever she was, I must've scared the living daylights out of her"...pure gold. Even Craig can't pull that off. The way he somewhat ruthlessly strips Pushkin's wife naked and makes her stand out in the open to distract the bodyguard...I haven't seen anything really like that since  TLD, and was really pushing the boundaries for the series at the time. I don't think Dalton was able to get away with that scene though; might've alienated female viewers that somehow came back to the series when Craig came on the scene. I don't know.

There's also something cold and angry about Dalton's eyes in a couple of scenes (particularly the scene where he's almost crazed with fury when he sees the balloon that says "Smiert Spionem")...LOVE IT.

The movie also brings back romance; one of the few instances in the series where there is genuine, real emotion rather than simply witty innuendo and banter.

I love the varied locations in the film, and it's a Bond movie that really puts you in the location and doesn't try faking it on the back-lot (something the Brosnan films were horribly guilty of). Film had a nice variety of stunts: air, snow, desert.

One of the best Bond Girls in my opinion....not only beautiful, but well-developed. Excellent acting and a natural story-arc.

Though Koskov was not one of the flashier villains, I still enjoyed Krabbe's acting. And while people for some reason have hated on Joe Don Baker's Whitaker, I loved him and wanted more than four scenes. To me, the lack of a bigger role really was a huge missed opportunity. Also dug Necros and the inventive way he kept changing his appearance and methods to kill people (why couldn't he have had more than one song in his Walkman, though?).

Lastly: If Koskov knew enough about Saunder's to order Necros to go to Austria and kill him (and how exactly did he know Bond was in Austria?), how come Koskov didn't know Kara was still alive? After all, didn't Necros see Bond and Kara together in the amusement park?

Anyway, no film is perfect, but I think this is as close to a pure Fleming adaptation as possible. Great title, great use of the title in the dialogue..great performance by Dalton playing him as sort of an anti-hero...great title song....too bad EON and MGM couldn't have churned out more like it.

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

Another instance of misplace humor is the inclusion of Art Malik's final scene, which appeared to be nothing more than an attempt to set up the gag "We had trouble at the airport". To be fair, the line got a HUUUGE laugh by the audience, but at the expense of credibility.

Some parts of older films date in an interesting way, and that line takes the cake. I watched this three years ago with a friend who had never seen this before and she was really shocked at the development of Bond teaming up with Kamran and his crew, at one point asking me "isn't he going to try to escape?". I didn't realize when putting this film on play that I would have to give a history lesson. Not a lot of people are aware of those events with the Soviets invading Afghanistan and that Americans largely supported the rebels that literally fought for their freedom. However, I first saw this film in 2000 and thought nothing of what was happening in the film in relation to history. Then post-9/11, I watched the film and when that officer greets Koskov "Welcome to Afghanistan" I was taken aback.

If you couldn't notice, I never watched RAMBO III when growing up. That all said, THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS has really grown on me over the years. It might actually end up in my top five, beating DR. NO and THUNDERBALL. We'll see.

Makeshift Python wrote:

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

Another instance of misplace humor is the inclusion of Art Malik's final scene, which appeared to be nothing more than an attempt to set up the gag "We had trouble at the airport". To be fair, the line got a HUUUGE laugh by the audience, but at the expense of credibility.

Some parts of older films date in an interesting way, and that line takes the cake. I watched this three years ago with a friend who had never seen this before and she was really shocked at the development of Bond teaming up with Kamran and his crew, at one point asking me "isn't he going to try to escape?". I didn't realize when putting this film on play that I would have to give a history lesson. Not a lot of people are aware of those events with the Soviets invading Afghanistan and that Americans largely supported the rebels that literally fought for their freedom. However, I first saw this film in 2000 and thought nothing of what was happening in the film in relation to history. Then post-9/11, I watched the film and when that officer greets Koskov "Welcome to Afghanistan" I was taken aback.

If you couldn't notice, I never watched RAMBO III when growing up. That all said, THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS has really grown on me over the years. It might actually end up in my top five, beating DR. NO and THUNDERBALL. We'll see.

When I've done threads that ask where would these characters be now (characters from any of the Bond movies), Kamran Shah is almost always guessed to have gone from freedom fighter to terrorist mastermind plotting crimes against the West. In fact, Art Malik went from mujahadeen fighter in THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS to a terrorist in TRUE LIES 7 years later...sounds about right.

On a sidenote: it's interesting the false starts and stops that the series took with OCTOPUSSY and TLD where Moneypenny and Q were concerned. Each film gave a big hint that they might be shaking up the office staff (or it was perceived that way), yet nothing ever happened. Penelope Smallbone, I thought, was a not-so-subtle way of replacing Lois Maxwell's Moneypenny, but they never pulled the trigger. Q's taking pills at the beginning of TLD was perceived at the time as a signal EON was getting ready to phase Llewelyn out....and then he went on and did another 12 years worth of work.

Funny thing is that Llewellyn was fine with returning in the Brosnan films, but he always asked EON "aren't you guys going to find a replacement instead of coming back to me all the time?" EON was already planning on bringing him back for Bond 20 despite signing John Cleese into a contract as the new Q, but since he was killed in a car crash I suppose we'll never know if that would have happened. I can imagine they would have had him in a cameo. Bond during the first half of the film would have visited Llewellyn Q for a bit of help. Maybe be to that film what Raoul was.

Craig's Bond took the piss out of Whishaw's Q about his youth ... wonder how it would've come across in the Dalton/Brosnan Bonds if they'd ribbed Llewellyn about his advanced years?

For me, TLD was the first decent Bond movie since DAF. Not everyone agrees though - check out this recent lukewarm reappraisal in Den of Geek:

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-living-daylights/35857/james-bond-007-revisiting-the-living-daylights

Unfortunately, everything after TLD was crap until Skyfall...

My only problem with THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS is John Terry as Felix Leiter. Awful performance. He looked bewildered in each of his scenes and that baby blue windbreaker didn't do him any favors.



But, like Gravity said, it comes close to being a perfect Bond film. One of my favorites.

TLD is Top 5 material, no question. Cello-sliding aside, it feels like an actually serious film produced by serious people, in contrast to the two decades of fun-but-cartoonish offerings that preceded it.

Control wrote:

My only problem with THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS is John Terry as Felix Leiter. Awful performance. He looked bewildered in each of his scenes and that baby blue windbreaker didn't do him any favors.

Agreed. However, since he only has 2(?) scenes his impact on the film is minimized. I think Terry could have gotten better if given a follow-up role in LTK, but now we'll never know. He was good in LOST, though that was 20 years later. In a sea of great performances in TLD, his stuck out as an oddity; wonder how he got the role or how much worse the footage was that they didn't use. If those were his best takes, I shudder to imagine the stuff Glen left on the editing floor.

But his girl's reveal as CIA operatives, along with Pushkin's fake assassination, the reveal that Koskov used blanks to make the defection look real, and Kara being Koskov's girlfriend, were all nifty twists that didn't feel like tacked-on double-crosses that seemed to permeate through some of John Gardner's novels. Never felt cheated by TLD as I did by some of the middle and late Gardner offerings.

TLD is certainly knocking on the door of the top 5 for me, I don't mind Felix.....tbh hes in such a short role he barely registers, more problematic is Whittaker and that final showdown which is somewhat unworthy of the rest.