World's Beyond: Ken Adam's Best

I'm a touch bored but watching these films lately, I was thinking if we had an opinion on the best sets that Adams produced. I've done some researching so if I've missed an option, apologies.

Oh c'mon Hilly! This is too difficult.

Should we alter Stromberg's dining room for Atlantis as a whole? Maybe include Osato's office or the YOLT's surgical room? Spider room in Dr. No?

Sure, I can edit it. And it is flaming difficult, Adam was a genius

It was a toss up between Crab Key, Fort Knox and the volcano lair. I opted for Fort Knox. I've really grown to appreciate the ending of GF in the last few rewatches and much of that is down to Ken Adam. The gold behind the bars, those vault doors, the staircases, the colour scheme, the offices/garage section... Truly showcases the striking imagination of a creative mastermind especially since he needs to operate within the confines of a real building/location.

I plugged for the Liparus. Just the scale of it, the replicas of the three subs, the moving parts like lifts, mini Mokes, the battle itself, the subs leaving and everything wrapped up in the middle. It's a tough call as even the 'minor' Adam sets are brilliant in their way.

Hilly wrote:

It's a tough call as even the 'minor' Adam sets are brilliant in their way.

Yep, Osato's office still remains a firm favourite in the entire series for me. And Dr. No's living quarters.

Blofeld's in YOLT was pretty nifty, the piranha pond, the bridge...Adam's sets always had scope.

I forget outside of Bond he was responsible for the war room in Dr Strangelove.

Why didn't he return after MR? Did we ever find that out? Is it just because of the change of direction from MR to FYEO?

That said, one of the finest non-Adam sets is the Soviet meeting room in Octopussy!

I can't choose just one, the man was a genius.

If you forget you're looking at something that is contained within a studio/soundstage, job done. And every one of Adam's sets does that.

It's a right Sophie's Choice, Blunty.

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

Why didn't he return after MR? Did we ever find that out? Is it just because of the change of direction from MR to FYEO?

That said, one of the finest non-Adam sets is the Soviet meeting room in Octopussy!

I don't know why he didn't stay on, I'll have to have a look. Direction of films might have something to do with it, they're rather 'grounded' from FYEO on though the mine set in VTAK is grand enough and the drug factory in LTK.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

I can't choose just one, the man was a genius.

If you forget you're looking at something that is contained within a studio/soundstage, job done. And every one of Adam's sets does that.  

Quite! No matter how fantastical, they never feel like sets. Right from the off with that excellent skylight in the spider room in Dr. No.

Yep, and the fact that he pulled that off in the days before Broccoli and Saltzman had a stack of cash to throw at it is even more impressive.

They're all astonishing both the bigger than life ones and the small ones. But he could then do a complete 180 and do Barry Lyndon of all things! Talented, genius visionary these words don't even begin to describe-but I might have to go with the entirety of DN which he did FOR NOTHING. I have no earthly idea how it looks so good and so striking through the whole picture on that budget. And then the spider room was a last minute afterthought with no budget!!!

My vote for the volcano base altered the results from a four-way, 25 percent tie to a five-way, 20 percent tie. If I'd voted for the Liparus (my other favorite) the result would have been the same.
Adam also designed the sets for Addams Family Values, much more reminiscent of Chas. Addams illustrations than those in the first film.

Sound choices chaps. Well, we have to hope someone comes to break the deadlock.

hegottheboot wrote:

They're all astonishing both the bigger than life ones and the small ones. But he could then do a complete 180 and do Barry Lyndon of all things! Talented, genius visionary these words don't even begin to describe-but I might have to go with the entirety of DN which he did FOR NOTHING. I have no earthly idea how it looks so good and so striking through the whole picture on that budget. And then the spider room was a last minute afterthought with no budget!!!

Very good point. Shoestring budget for the production design and yet I'd gladly live in No's living quarters at Crab Key. Even knowing the entire film was budgeted at $1m dollars, when the Doctor himself says the fish tank alone cost as much, you somehow still believe it.

Blofelds volcano lair hands down, the biggest most budget busting set at that time....amazing!
Oh, Willard whytes home wasn't a set this was Elrod house in (i think ) California

Adam was a genius. I picked the SPECTRE briefing room in TB. There is just something so cool and stylish about it, and Ted Moore also is a part of that.

What, no 'tarantula room' from DN?

given that STRANGELOVE is his early crowning achievement, he still delivered absolute wonders for decades after that. I really love the control room in MR and the corridors in SPY ... I think a lot of these pics reflect what his work on STAR TREK would have resembled if it came to fruition, especially MR's hamster habitrail tubes, which seemed very Paris airport if I remember THE CONCORDE AIRPORT 79 correctly. Love the TB conference room too, and Blofeld's Vegas digs.

trevanian wrote:

What, no 'tarantula room' from DN?

Good call. That is certainly at the top of the list. Looks fantastic.