I know, it's not the anniversary yet but yes.
I grabbed myself some lagers, thought about it and hit it all the same.
So here we go.
--
It's just over a year since 9/11, Does it matter? Well maybe as far as the makers go.
I saw this in November 2002 with my late friend. It was my second Bond in the cinema. There was no telling that this would be Brozzer's last film.
At the time it worked that Bond would surf into North Korea. It's not that stupid an idea on the face of it.
But what's with the off-colour shots? To his credit, Broz carries on.
As far as missions go, this is one of the most serious. Though films prior to GE were vs USSR, there's something extra about Bond and North Korea.
The whole anger therapist thing got some chuckles in the cinema.
Now, let's slip past Broz's Dutch accent. It's not perfect but there we go.
Zao by now knows who Bond is, but we don't. Even so, there is a kind of tension.
There's something about Bond's self-assurance. He doesn't think this can go wrong. But some little bastard betrays him.
"...Mr Bond?"
Bond's look, he's fucked let's be honest. The live to see North Korea line though is fantastic. Bond in spite of his situation is that confident.
There still is is in spite of my feelings, something about Bond facing his would-be executioners as the music ramps. For a moment our hero is facing certain death but...wait a tick he escapes!
One critique of the chase is that neither effect seems to know what should come out on top. Arnold's music goes ten to the dozen but the SFX is equally loud.
As always I imagine what the Queen and Prince Philip thought being the Royal Command performance.
We have a hint of what is to come post-credits. The green screen, the slow motion diving out of the way...
...we see the end product and think, perhaps, well thank fuck he's dead!
Wait...
"Saved by the bell!?"
Oh FFS
A brief moment of triumph and then whatshisface shows up. "You killed my son"
Bond's look of "well yeah"
but then here we go, Bond is tortured...this isn't in the cards
For the first time, Bond is up against it. He's held in a real-life enemy...
Oh, Madonna
Well...
Stop start...
This must be when the Queen slunk out
Or when Timothy Dalton shouts: "Are you fucking serious!?"
Sigmund Freud! Analyse this...analyse this
Who the fuck wrote this bilge?
It at least, unlike any other film, show us Bond being tortured.
Ruddy hell, Bond has long hair and a beard, fourteen months in. Would a lesser prisoner succumb by now?
In spite of myself I like General Moon. He has a faint feel of a classic villain.
"Tell it to the concierge"
Now, don't roll your eyes, when I had DAD as 'Sam Neill's last film', Bond was a prisoner throughout. It seems too sudden for Bond post-credits to suddenly be exchanged.
Bond to his credit, though, doesn't want to waste time ("Spare me the pleasantries!"). I try to remember 2002 and North Korea but something tells me post 2016 was worse.
Bond strikes me as fearless in spite of facing death. "Your firing squad should've saved me the job!/Let's get this over with shall we?"
"The same person who betrayed me"
Bearing NTTD in mind, this makes me shiver in the sense Bond could've died here. He expects to die.
Oh look it's Michael Madsen.
Some kind of hero?
As much as this bit works i.e Bond. The lines cringe: "Liver not too good, it's definitely him then."
But it veers back. Four years before Craig made this sort of thing regular, there's something fresh about M and Bond here.
"If I had my way you'd still be in North Korea"
but then the whole threw it away years ago, it works that over forty years, Bond simply got rid of the thing never expecting this fate
Personally, this is the apex of Brosnan's 007 with Dench's M. She's pissed, Bond is pissed in that he should've died and he's confronted with this bollocks.
"You're no use to anyone now"
There's no Bond getting pissed in some foreign joint, he's here on a RN ship. He knows he should be dead.
And yet, I like the badassery here. "I'm checking out/thanks for the kiss of life" this is Bond. It might be in DAD but hell with it.
Ah, Hong Kong, five years after the handover.
Full marks to Bond. Swims the harbour without effort.
I don't care, this hotel lobby bit is great. The Bond theme, Brosnan just strolling through ignoring the looks he's getting.
Any other time Bond might've hopped on the good foot and done the bad with Peaceful whatsherface but he cuts to the chase.
"Put your hands down!"
You fucking idiot.
The days when we could still vaguely get on with the PRC. Now they get pissy when we send a carrier through the South China Sea en route to Guam and get all shirty: "We know what're you're up to!"
"Say goodbye from us."
Universal Exports...by Gardner's reign, it was Transworld Exports.
Here's one of the classic Bond characters. Raoul is instantly likable.
In spite of myself I wish Dalton had done this. Certain parts would've suited him.
"I love my country..."
Oh come on.
This is where the film starts to come apart. The introduction of Jinx, robbing the Dr No bit (but then NTTD...).
I like Halle Berry but she looks better with longer hair.
Again, imagine HMQ et al watching this
I remember when this came out Parky asking Broz about the sex scene. Like it matters.
As Bond shoves the wheelchair:
"Really don't you have any respect for the dead!?"
Alright he's not dead but that's what came to mind.
And this is the first of the ultra-slow motion bits
When you see the mobile phones used etc, you realised how long a period have passed.
There's something about this bit that always rubs. The idiot extras by the copter and in it. They seem to over exaggerate actions.
Aye aye this bird strips...wait a tick, is this green screen?
Ah, 2002 when everything was still faintly innocent.
I'm sorry but if any film needed Kitchen's Tanner this was it.
Go fuck yourself Madsen. "Put your house in order or we'll do it for you"
Aye aye it's Moore's daughter. I've only seen her in a Persuaders episode but I do wonder Sir Roge's reaction here.
If I recall right, the Palace was a bit fidgety about them filming near Buck House. They had to do it sharpish.
First film since OHMSS that a Bond film had another song going on.
Now, as I've said in a thread, if you know your stuff, GG becoming a knight in such a short of time is a bit odd. In theory Graves appears from nowhere. Even if someone greased the wheels, becoming a night after fourteen months is weird.
Oh look, it's Madonna.
In spite of ourselves, the sword fight edges. This is the DAD equivalent of say MR when Bond shoots the would be assassin say. Bond subtly winding Graves up "oh dear, do you want to continue?"
It moves beyond a simple sword fight. We know, in hindsight, that Graves is Moon and so fights perhaps with that extra edge but Bond fights GG simply finding this bastard arrogant.
Do like Bond's reaction after the pleasure in Iceland exchange.
If I had the time, I used to mention that Bond went into this bit here on the end of Westminster Bridge (this was a major stop on the tour). People's faces when I said it was just a small cupboard.
Forget the Craig Era this is it. "You burn me..."
Now, without sounding nerdy, this 'dead station' doesn't line up. SIS HQ is on this side of the river but at least a mile west. Even if they had a dead agents whatever here, it's too far away. It also doesn't align with the network.
We might cringe at this next bit but surely by now, SIS or whatever uses some sort of virtual reality.
Shame Cleese only did one film as Q.
Now I know Skyfall did the anniversary bit subtly but 2002 was a different time. I like the fact that Q Branch kept a bunch of shit.
"Maybe you've been down here too long"
at least Bond is sceptical
Say what you real but the Vanquish is a bit of alright
Though I believe it's first appearance actually was Nightfire
The whole Mr Kil/name to die for is a bit much
Wait a minute it's Jurgen Klinsmann!
"I'd rather not go at all"
The Arnold piece as he drives is a bit of alright.
"Would you like to show me more?"
Keep trying 007
The ice line is chuckle worthy.
Indeed, I have used it in a pub. "Ice?"/"If you can spare it."
It's faintly homo-erotic the whole Zao/Moon bit "I was this close..."
if Toby is good for, it's ham. "Let there be light!"
Bond is suitably unimpressed
"Armed...and dangerous"
Here we go, in spite of ourselves
So you live to die another day...yes but the poem itself is incredible
Bond is unintentionally cocky believing MF is on his side but she isn't
But here it kicks into a kind of gear
{"Kill him...quietly!"} yes, well, about that
I do like the response to "hey Boss, he beat your time."
Now here's the. I was seventeen watching this. Seeing Bond on the edge, the Bond theme going ten to the dozen somehow made me sit on the edge of my seat. Brosnan's groan as the camera pans past helped.
"Global warming, a terrible thing..." boom
I, ah, well, we're surfing...
In spite of myself I like the music here (Ice Palace Car Chase)
"You'll think I'll leave this in the hands of the British?"
go fuck yourself
I somehow feel for Gen Moon's death. He's not entirely stupid
In true Bond fashion Frost changes into a skimpy outfit
"Looks like your friends have bailed!" Brosnan fashion yes
I still remember seeing in 2002 a Blue Peter where they showed the bit where there's the explosion on the Antonov. Toby Stephens a little self conscious perhaps.
We might shake our head but:
"Oh look, parachutes for the both of us!
...you can't kill my dreams..."
The ramping up of the Bond theme.
"TIME TO FACE GRAVITY!"
Bond getting all soppy when he sees Frost is a bit much. She betrayed him. All because they shagged is not good enough a reason.
We'll skip the rest.
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