Last Bond Movie You Watched? 2.0

SKYFALL (2012)

Part 2 of my Creggathon. Remains one of the most superbly executed films of the series. In terms of visuals and music, perhaps the most superb. This is one of the very few Bond films which feels like an all-round cinematic experience and not just another cog in the 007 wheel.

One gripe with the writing is that Bond seems to use the sarcastic "Of course it/he is" quip about half a dozen times. Stop it.

CJB wrote:

SKYFALL (2012)

Part 2 of my Creggathon.

Crazy how it took six years for them to make a second Bond film with Craig.

Makeshift Python wrote:

Crazy how it took six years for them to make a second Bond film with Craig.

Sadly they were off making a Jason Bourne film in that six year period so they didn't have time to make a Bond film.

FieldsMan wrote:

G section wrote:

From Russia With Love

The level that the fight on the train reaches is something I don't think we've seen matched until CASINO ROYALE (perhaps the elevator fight in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER) - where we can believe that both participants could truly kill each other. The fight in SPECTRE was refreshingly brutal, albeit a bit one-sided for the most part. I like the fights that are evenly contested.

007 vs 006?

Ah, yes. That was a solid fist-fight. It's been too long since I last watched GOLDENEYE.

Makeshift Python wrote:

CJB wrote:

SKYFALL (2012)

Part 2 of my Creggathon.

Crazy how it took six years for them to make a second Bond film with Craig.

Well Craig did take a break to make a documentary about Bolivia's water supply.

SKYFALL (2012)

Fucking superb, fun and smart.

Lots of interesting parallels in this one, displayed through both themes and visuals.

I enjoy when Kincade sets down the knife and says, "Sometimes the old ways are the best." That knife later ends up in Silva's back.

Nice to see no diminishing in the love for Skyfall 3 years on. I maintain that SPECTRE is a more than satisfactory Bond flick, but SF just took it all up a notch or six.

Bond films at the level of SKYFALL is a rarity, especially for post-60s Bond films, so I treat it as it is and never expected anything to come close to that again. It really was the perfect storm then and holds up.

Control wrote:

I enjoy when Kincade sets down the knife and says, "Sometimes the old ways are the best." That knife later ends up in Silva's back.

Yep I agree. I've read some criticism about that scene, and how Silva needed a more OTT death/he died too easily. But I think it fitted perfectly.

FieldsMan wrote:

Control wrote:

I enjoy when Kincade sets down the knife and says, "Sometimes the old ways are the best." That knife later ends up in Silva's back.

Yep I agree. I've read some criticism about that scene, and how Silva needed a more OTT death/he died to easily. But I think it fitted perfectly.

Indeed. All part of the Old versus New motif of the film.

Silva's death works because it's intimate and appropriate. Fans suggesting it should have been a more OTT death really miss the point.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Again, it's been a few years since I last saw it so to watch it again now was like seeing it through new eyes. Possibly my number 1 Bond film, although it seems each time I watch one of either DOCTOR NO, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, THUNDERBALL or this, the same occurs.

Whilst I've always defended Lazenby, previously I've felt that he seemed slightly too young. However, I can now say with confidence that he absolutely owns this film and the part of Bond. He's suave, dangerous but immensely likeable.

The angelic, exceptional Diana Rigg - thank God we got her and not Bardot (not that I have anything against her).

Favourite gunbarrel sequence hands down. I think my favourite Bernard Lee M performance too. And of course, Savalas' Blofeld. Ferzetti. Barry. And Hunt's direction is damned exciting. Just a film full of the best of Bond.

★★★★★


As a side note, looking forward to Lazenby's long-awaited autobiography.

With Spectre coming to Blu-ray February 9th according to Amazon (not a theater goer so ... my review of that one will be then) I think I might tackle a Bond marathon ... if I feel like finishing it.

Dr. No (1962)

This was the first time I watched the film since reading the book earlier this year which was one of the few I hadn't read from beginning to end so it is kind of seeing again for the first time in some aspects, or at least with a new set of lenses. Connery as Bond here while charming and suave is a bit more rough around the edges than in later films  but still it's his first film in the series and his acting is nothing less than stellar. The film sticks to the book well enough and I think improves on certain aspects such as Doctor No's plan seemed to be more fleshed out by Ken Adam's great set design towards the end and I like the addition of Professor Dent to add to the mystery element of the film which leads me to another thing I really like in this one which is how much Bond does more detective work here. Joseph Wiseman brought a good amount of menace and arrogance to the role of Dr. No and Jack Lord while he's playing it more a typical slick, lingo-talking CIA agent is a decent Felix Leiter. Overall still a well made thriller with atmosphere and great locations. 4.5 gulps of Quarrel's booze jug out of 5.


From Russia With Love (1963)

Everything a sequel should be and more. The formula is improved upon quite a bit here especially with the first pre-titles sequence of the series which although short is a pretty tense experience and made me wonder what audience reactions were like viewing it for the first time back in 1963. The theme is amazing as well as the rest of John Barry's score. Connery here is much more relaxed and has fit right into Bond like a glove with the perfect amount of charm and smooth but never lacking in the muscle department. Pedro Armendariz is of course great as Kerim Bey and well, the whole cast is terrific. It's great having more scenes with M and Moneypenny and to see more of the MI6 staff especially the first appearance of Desmond Llewelyn as Q who's first performance is expectedly stiff but the fun's sure to come with his character. But this time I have to give extra credit to Robert Shaw here, damn he's great in this film. A tough act to follow as a cold-blooded professional who's a bit of a master of disguise given his Captain Nash persona he quickly cooked up. Going back to the older films I like how Blofeld is unseen, his voice having an echo of menace and leaving much to the imagination (when I first saw this back when I was a kid I imagined a tall, slender man who would tower over Bond but much to my surprise ... well, I'll leave that to when I review You Only Live Twice again). Overall this review could go on forever with praises. Exciting, thrilling and never skimping on action from start to finish but it also doesn't leave the realm of reality. An absolute perfect Bond film that can easily qualify as a masterwork especially for Terence Young. 5 Correct Russian Clocks out of 5.

Octopussy

Been aching to watch a new Bond film since SP… This is the first time I realised any semblance of this alleged creative bankruptcy in OP - and it happened in the PTS (which I usually love), the Moneypenny scene and despite not being in any previous Bond film, the early stuff in India - I guess it just feels like we're treading old ground. It comes down to the silly need to cater to Moore's portrayal of Bond, and after what is a promising start in FYEO, it seems like they wanted to double the jokes for OP.

Despite that, there is quite a lot of bizarre intrigue that makes this film so damn watchable and captivating. Beneath the goofiness and an ageing Moneypenny in the beginning of OP, there is a brilliant story that had Terence Young, Sam Mendes or Martin Campbell directed it, it would probably have been a top 5 Bond film. I absolutely adore the scenes in Germany, and - as I've said before - having this stuff occur in the second half of the film really leaves a good taste in my mouth about OP as a whole. It's gripping stuff, even with Bond disguised a clown - in fact it just adds so much tension, intrigue and benign bizarre to the film.

And Magda is drop-dead gorgeous. She has her moments as the enigmatic Magda - her lack of talent seeps through at times, but she has a presence and mystique about her that's alluring. I was really drawn to her this time round and loved seeing her on screen.

I feel the goofiness is only cosmetic and doesn't outweigh the so many positives. It's definitely one of the most interesting Bond films, and along with DAD, frustratingly one of the series' biggest missed opportunities.

The thing about the 80s Bond films is that they could have been so much better if they hadn't been bogged down by the same creative team. Glenn isn't the greatest director, but not the worst. But watching him do 5 films in a role is dull. They all look so bland after a while. Had they mixed up the writing team and director more often during that period I think the films would have looked a lot fresher.

Octopussy is an odd mixture ... on the one hand, you've the likes of the unusually realistic (for 80s Bond, anyway) Cold War element of the plot and Vijay's genuinely moving death. On the other, you've the likes of the 'Tarzan yell' gag and the increasingly noticeable stunt performers who serve as a constant reminder that the man playing 007 is 55 years old.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Octopussy is an odd mixture ... on the one hand, you've the likes of the unusually realistic (for 80s Bond, anyway) Cold War element of the plot and Vijay's genuinely moving death. On the other, you've the likes of the 'Tarzan yell' gag and the increasingly noticeable stunt performers who serve as a constant reminder that the man playing 007 is 55 years old.    

One of the things I love the most about OP is that mash-up from the first half to the second. We get the exoticism in the first half and the espionage/spy intrigue of the second, all of it gleefully bizarre. Love that movie.

Agreed absolutely though about 5 movies in a row with the same crew. Even though I like most of them, it's sort of shame.

I'm pretty fond of all the 80s Bond films purely because the stories are strong - or at least stronger than the 70s Bond films. Sure, they could have had more colour in the cinematography, and John Glen could have eased of some of the humour in the Moore flicks (OP is the worst culprit of this), but I'll thank Glen for grounding Bond again and putting him back into espionage adventures. FYEO, AVTAK and TLD all could be in my top 10, OP is very close to the top 10 and LTK never enters my bottom 7.

Did Die Another Day recently.

When I watched and wrote about OP I thought of DAD being a frustrating entry in the series in that it could have been one of the better entries in the series as well. The premise of the film is great and unexplored territory in Bond having him deal with North Koreans, getting tortured and aiming to uncover the mole in MI6. I've said it before - I wish Lee Tamahori worked with the script that Wade and Purvis wrote, and didn't rewrite it himself. P&W can write great Bond flicks - but there work keeps getting rewritten by others - too many cooks spoil the broth and all that. Buried beneath Tamahori's rewrites are glimpses into what could have been - i.e. scenes with Raoul, the Q/M scenes, early North Korean scenes, etc.

Jinx and Zao could have been interesting character but the majority of their dialogue is terrible and they were both miscast. That said, Berry does help create Jinx be a competent agent and is more convincing in the role then Bach as XXX or that Japanese bird as Kissy, but I suppose she is given more to do in Bond like infiltrations and shootouts. Still, in the lower echelons of Bond girls and agent Bond girls. Rick Yune is just awful.

The local colour and the cinematography is nice - sans CGI. The story is more coherent and moves along at a better pace than SP, interestingly enough. And despite the sci-fi elements, it still feels like Bond. Iceland is wasted, but the Ice Palace is nice.

I could go on… If you go into the film without any reservations and just go along with it, it's fun, and I think I need to remember that when Bond fights Mr Kil and escapes the crashing glacier.

SPECTRE - for the fourth time.

Sure, there are flaws and implausibilites (Waltz doesn't really bring any menace to Blofeld (although he is suitably 'detached' when torturing Bond and the self-satisfied laugh in the abandoned MI6 HQ before 'I've really put you through it, haven't I?' is most welcome) ... that said, the character hasn't really had any since YOLT). And Smith's theme song remains one of the franchise's shakier musical efforts. As for the unlikely stuff ... ah what the hell, it's a Bond film. And they're still a long way short of MR's laser battle in space or DAD's invisible Aston.

But overall, a very enjoyable franchise entry that I'm still happy to call Craig's 2nd best 007 flick.

Hmm… At least the invisible Aston had some brains behind it, and the laser battle in MR was beautifully shot, academy award nominated stuff. The 'unlikely' stuff that happened in SP is unlikely because it comes out of nowhere and doesn't gel.

But hey, I like TND and TWINE!

Thing is although the 'invisible' tech did actually exist, DAD still cheats ... it doesn't work on anything that touches the ground, so the Aston's tyres would've been visible.

Interesting, didn't know that. Makes sense though.

Watched TSWLM and TWINE back to back. I like TSWLM because it's Roger's first epic Bond film. Great locations, humour and stunts. TWINE has a villain who is unable to feel pain, which is a first for the series. Bond and Elektra's scenes seem soap opera-ish at times. Pre-title scene is awesome. A great chase through London in the Q boat.

Where would TWINE and TSLWM sit in a ranking for you, BF90?