Last Bond Movie You Watched.

Moore said of the rock climb that it 'took a lot of Valium to get me up there, I really can't stand heights'. I'm not 100% sure that he was joking, so maybe not EVERY shot of him on the rockface was accomplished with back projection?

There are a few behind the scenes photos of Roger hanging upside down on a rock out crop, admittedly
only ten feet or so above a stunt mat. Perhaps this sort of thing was what he may have meant.

Ahh, maybe. Similar to how some of the shots of Dalton on Sanchez' plane in the LTK pre-credits were achieved with the plane held up by supports and the upward-facing camera being on the ground.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Moore said of the rock climb that it 'took a lot of Valium to get me up there, I really can't stand heights'. I'm not 100% sure that he was joking, so maybe not EVERY shot of him on the rockface was accomplished with back projection?

Heh didn't know that. I was thinking the other day that Moore never really spoke of FYEO much beyond the Locque scene. Maybe I'm just not as well versed as I thought!

Thunderpussy wrote:

There are a few behind the scenes photos of Roger hanging upside down on a rock out crop, admittedly
only ten feet or so above a stunt mat. Perhaps this sort of thing was what he may have meant.

Would be good to see them, if you have a link handy. Might make for good options for our capcon thread!

I can't find it on line, I did a quick search with no luck. Although I definitely remember it from
a old reference book.

Roger mentions it in his FYEO commentary. He is on location at the top when Bond is kicked off by Apostis and throughout whenever they are near the edge of the Metora. Combined with enough footage at the base and lower down the mountain and there's enough to make anyone with a fear of heights queasy.
Roger would frequently talk about his guilt and fears for nay stuntmen and how he felt personally responsible if anything happened to them.

But the crazy thing is that the safety device that worked perfectly to help break Rick Sylvester's fall was merely a box of sandbags at the top rigged by Derek Meddings....the genius behind the film who made everything into an amazing seamless effect!


I always feel the need to re-watch the films...but I always go in order so that means I frequently feel like watching the original 20 plus CR67 and NSNA...again...and again...and again...

hegottheboot wrote:

But the crazy thing is that the safety device that worked perfectly to help break Rick Sylvester's fall was merely a box of sandbags at the top rigged by Derek Meddings....the genius behind the film who made everything into an amazing seamless effect!
.

A box of sandbags!?

I think it was the forerunner of the Descender unit, Used these days with counter weights etc. I
remember seeing a couple on the dvd extras on some action films. Although Like the late Sir Roger
I wouldn't volunteer for it.
  I think it's common knowledge  that the weighted dummy they used to check the Bungee Jump
in Goldeneye kept Smashing in to the Damn wall, but luckily  Wayne Michaels is a very brave man
and jumped ..... In to movie history.  He also pops up later as   Capt. Bernard Jaubertm The  Pilot
of the Tiger Helicopter.

I do wonder what his thinking was from having seen the dummy smashing up against the wall to deciding he'll do it anyway!

I guess a dummy is somewhat inert whereas at least a stuntman can scream blue murder before his impending doom.

I'm still impressed by seeing pictures of Martin Grace casually walking up the Golden Gate Bridge.

I've reached that stage in life when I'm impressed with someone getting up from a chair without
making a groan  I think Stunt People are very different from the rest of us, Might be a case
of the more impossible it looks they more they want to try.
  The expert from BMW told the stunt team they wouldn't be able to do a wheelie on the Bike
in TND. As you can see from the film, The got it to do one.

From Russia With Love

Would you like me to say how brilliant it is again?

I will say though Bond slapping Tanya about is totally justified in the given circumstances. It grates that every time there's some kind of mainstream look into Connery's Bond that he's seen as some kind of woman-bashing maniac.

FYEO

Had a hankering for it and remembered that, appropriately, it's the 40th anniversary year.

One of the things that I'd forgotten is just how many action set-pieces there were. The film moves at quite a frantic pace and it's a relief when you get to catch your breath in the quieter minutes like when Bond has dinner with Kristatos (and roasts his taste in wine) followed by the scenes with the Countess of Nip-Slip. Honestly would rather they lost a few of the action scenes (eg. the hockey rink fight following the already overlong ski chase, the underwater battle with pinching scuba robot-loooking thing). This would allow for a slightly more relaxed paced, allow Moore to (rather than his stuntman) actually show off some acting chops, and make the really good action pieces - namely the climb up to St Cyril - to be extra special.

Otherwise, I like it a lot and it's probably still my favourite Moore film.

Nice write-up CJB, my no.1 Moore film too. Can see what you mean about the rink fight. After all the ski chase before it feels slightly tacked on.

I'm building to my anniversary viewing.

Only my opinion but I think Roger gave his best performance as Bond in his last three Bond films.

Hilly wrote:

Can see what you mean about the rink fight. After all the ski chase before it feels slightly tacked on.

Yes, one of those things that makes this film not quite as "serious" as some make it out to be. The villains fail to kill Bond by chasing him half-way to Switzerland and then decide to hire a hockey time to ambush him?

Also Bond knocking the bloke with the ice resurfacer reminds me too much of Austin Powers on the steamroller.

Thunderpussy wrote:

Only my opinion but I think Roger gave his best performance as Bond in his last three Bond films.

Yes, that's probably true.

[quote="CJB"]

Hilly wrote:

Can see what you mean about the rink fight. After all the ski chase before it feels slightly tacked on.

Yes, one of those things that makes this film not quite as "serious" as some make it out to be. The villains fail to kill Bond by chasing him half-way to Switzerland and then decide to hire a hockey time to ambush him?

Also Bond knocking the bloke with the ice resurfacer reminds me too much of Austin Powers on the steamroller.

Ha, I think more of Mighty Ducks. Though they were so haphazard, they could've actually killed Bond.

Thunderpussy wrote:

Only my opinion but I think Roger gave his best performance as Bond in his last three Bond films.

100% agreed! I might even go as far as saying his best performance is actually in AVTAK, which makes the film all the more enjoyable for me. Helps they give him a cover like James St John Smythe, too. That is, they play to his strengths. But yes, there's a sense of focus and grit (not silly faux grit of the Craig era) in his Glen films that cement his latter 3 films as the best in his run.

Caught Moonraker on one of the ITV channels, I'd intended to only watch the pre credits
but was sucked in to watching the entire film again

Just watched LALD and TSWLM with Sir Roger's commentary track. Made a nice break for my wife to hear someone else talk through the entire movie.

Thunderpussy wrote:

Caught Moonraker on one of the ITV channels, I'd intended to only watch the pre credits
but was sucked in to watching the entire film again

This is why I generally avoid Bond films on TV... I do the same!

AMC wrote:

Just watched LALD and TSWLM with Sir Roger's commentary track. Made a nice break for my wife to hear someone else talk through the entire movie.

I'd listen to AMC commentary at least once.

Since my last post:

GoldenEye
I've said many times how much I love this film. And I continue to do so. What I may not have said, but have always felt, is that the final act is one of the best in the series. That whole Cuba section of the film is, like the rest of the movie, top notch.

The Living Daylights
An excellent Cold War thriller. Dalton has his moments, of course... but I feel he overacts at times. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Unpopular opinion, I imagine. Koskov is a great character. And Kara... I like her a little less each time I watch it, if I'm totally honest.

A View to a Kill
2nd viewing for the year... And perhaps more pleasurable than ever before. I really dig the first half, the leisurely, yet glamourous surveillance work at Chantilly perhaps echoing the actual job of a spy more than most films do... but the second half in San Francisco kicks the film into the next gear, coinciding with the return of Stacey who continues to impress as one of Bond's best women. And she is a woman: capable, resourceful and courageous. And like GE, the final act is one of the strongest in the series, too!

The Spy Who Loved Me
The naval component of the film is one of its biggest strengths and it's a shame it's lost once we hit Egypt-- and not seen again until the end. Also more should have been made of the two goons who created the tracking system for Stromberg. It's also a mistake for Anya to move on so quickly from her Russian lover... it dilutes the conflict. I know Bach isn't the strongest actress but because of it, the subplot loses any resonance or power because compromises were made. Shame. I love the gun barrel music here though. Much better than Barry's generic TMWTGG-MR-OP-AVTAK-TLD rendition.

They aired Licence to Kill on Saturday night on a local tv station and that's the first Bond film I've watched in over a year.

Tomorrow Never Dies

Been a while since I watched any of the Broz films. Always a good bit of dumb fun (in a good way), something that's been missing from Bond movies for many a year.

Funny that I always thought the BMW 750il was a snazzy looking car as a kid but now I get the whole "Why is James Bond driving a Kraut family sedan?" thing.

Mr KKB - Dunno if you ever watched Hey Hey It's Saturday as a young'un but I remembered a segment they had where they played clips of goofs/bloopers etc in movies, often accompanied by a hand-drawn picture parodying said goof. I remember around '97/98 TND got a mention revolving around how long Yeoh's arms must've been to be holding onto the handles of the motorbike while sitting behind Bond; the film clip was followed by a doodle of Yeoh with long spaghetti arms. Anyway I can't remember if I brought up the segment before, but it's just a funny little memory from when entertainment and comedy were still permitted.

The 750il is the most acceptable of Brozzer's Beamers. DAD's Vanquish blows them all away, of course.

I think the 750i was part of Bond's cover as a Banker, and for driving from the back seat, they'd need something bigger than a sports car. So I agree not the usual car for Bond but something a businessman would drive.