Last Bond Movie You Watched? 1.0

We'll see what think this October/November when I do a proper Bond run.

I watched QOS again tonight, and I actually liked it a lot more this 'round. It's not a good idea (at least for me) to watch CR and QOS back to back. It played a lot better simply watched on it's own. I like it more than not. Nowhere near my least favorite of the series. I've been toying with a Bond 23 idea (basically a Quantum Trilogy Part III), so I sorta did it as research.

I had in mind a Bond 23 and 24 with Quantum, but I've compressed it to Bond 23. I just like the idea of Quantum and am figuring a way for Bond to squash it in one film. As a sorta "what if" Bond film for 2010.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

I do like those two Mathis scenes, but that "code name" line always confuses me. Is that a joke or something?

I think it has to do with the disconnect between Mathis' nationality in the books and the guy they cast, who is clearly Italian. It's like having somebody named Costa-Gavras as an operative for Station J in Japan.

trevanian wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

I do like those two Mathis scenes, but that "code name" line always confuses me. Is that a joke or something?

I think it has to do with the disconnect between Mathis' nationality in the books and the guy they cast, who is clearly Italian. It's like having somebody named Costa-Gavras as an operative for Station J in Japan.

Rene Mathis: Italian French British agent.

Makes me think of GOLDENEYE, when Bond went to Russia to find a French helicopter or some such.

Watched Thunderball tonight as part of this year's Bondathon leading up to Skyfall.

I would like to fuck Claudine Auger. And Luciana Paluzzi.

But the film was bloody awesome. I actually think I enjoyed it the most tonight than any other viewing. Connery is brilliant, Domino has shot up into my top 10 Bond girls, the score is simply fantastic and the cinematography is excellent. I enjoyed it more than DN this year too!

Ranking for this year's Bondathon:

1. From Russia With Love
2. Thunderball
3. Dr. No
4. Goldfinger

Next up, You Only Live Twice.

I too watched TB last night.

The movie builds beautifully. It's a bit slow and desultory in the beginning, but as we start getting into the Junkanoo scenes, the tension and suspense really ratchet up, and then we get a slam-bang ending.

And I'm beginning to warm to Fiona Volpe. I'd have to say that she's easily the most menacing villainess in Bond history. Really does come across as a nasty piece of work.

Thunderball was never something I cared for since I was a kid but in the past two Bondathons I did (and coincidentally the last times I've done Bond films) it's steadily crept up in my estimation. Low praise indeed.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

I too watched TB last night.

The movie builds beautifully. It's a bit slow and desultory in the beginning, but as we start getting into the Junkanoo scenes, the tension and suspense really ratchet up, and then we get a slam-bang ending.

Not for me. The underwater scenes, funnily enough, went like a breeze. I was sort of hoping for more, but I think the film moved at a remarkable pace.

But I do love the entire Bond meets Domino, Bond lunches with Domino, Bond finds intruder, Largo throws intruder into shark pool sequence. And of course, the scenes at Cafe Martinique.

Live and Let Die

I've always enjoyed LALD, it's easily one of the best Bond movies out there. You've got an impressive lot of diabolical villains, great location work ranging from big city New York to the culturally diverse New Orleans to the tropical Caribbean. The soundtrack by George Martin is outstanding and even better than many of John Barry's soundtracks (though he is amazing as well), and Roger Moore effectively shines through the whole movie with his dead-on performance. The climax on San Monique isn't as thrilling as many of the other "bigger" climaxes, mainly due to the fact that the fights with Baron Samedi and Dr. Kananga are way too brief and lacking in style. However, the fight on the train at the end with Tee Hee makes up for this. All in all, it's top ten material without a doubt.

I was off sick today, so I thought I'd have a double bill.

A VIEW TO A KILL (1985)

I never found seismic activity sexy until I had it explained to me by Tanya Roberts in a ridiculously short bath robe. Aslo, Rog-Bond is cinema's greatest horny old man.

DIE ANOTHER DAY (2002)

Broz-Bond, on the other hand, is cinema's worst horny old man.

A fun moment or two in DAD, but fuck me the screenplay is horrid. Why are Purvis & Wade getting paid?

"Saved by the bell."

"My son is dead." NO SHIT!

"Zao... I'm being traded... for you." NO SHIT! And how did Bond remember his name for so long? If some foreign dude introduced himself to me I'd probably forget his name in two seconds tops. I certainly wouldn't remember it if if I had an intense hovercraft chase straight afterwards and then fourteen months of torture and captivity.

*Jinx looks at Bond's cock* "Wow... now there's a mouthful."
Frankly I don't think Pervert & Wank handle innuendo as well as Mankiewicz could.

How many fucking point/tip jokes are there?

Stereotypical Maori guy: "I use da layza ay bru."

If you see a guy fall off his snowmobile, your immediate thought is that he bumped into an invisible car.

"Kill him quietly."
*guys run after him with machine guns blazing."

"Global warming is a terrible thing."
*North Korean generals bow... grateful for having been taught an important environmental message by the white guy who used to be an Asian guy*

And on and on and on. Brosnan's Bond... I hear a lot of people say this was his best performance in the role. Frankly I find the smarmy c.unt who appears in each outing to be irredeemably annoying and unlikeable.

I always suspected the innuendo DAD was not Purvis and Wade, because it was never as bad as before or after the flick. I suspect Lee Tamahori had a hand in it. Probably wrote all of that at home while wearing lingerie and a wig.

Makeshift Python wrote:

I suspect Lee Tamahori had a hand in it.

I don't doubt he had a hand in something.

The Kiwi loon was probably also responsible for that pointless Maori guy who shoots lasers out his mouth. Mr. Die or whatever his name was.

CJB wrote:

Makeshift Python wrote:

I suspect Lee Tamahori had a hand in it.

I don't doubt he had a hand in something.

The Kiwi loon was probably also responsible for that pointless Maori guy who shoots lasers out his mouth. Mr. Die or whatever his name was.

Haha, you mean Mr. Kil. Good heavens, what a terrible villain name! Completely unoriginal and pathetic. His only redeemable quality comes in his death where Bond says, "I think we need Kil to give us a hand to get out of here." (slices off hand with laser)

By the way, your review of DAD was really funny! I completely agreed with the thing about the snowmobile. I always did wonder why Zao got suspicious. It's not like he could see anything except a guy flipping over! Just another example of bad story writing in DAD.

CJB wrote:

I was off sick today, so I thought I'd have a double bill.

A VIEW TO A KILL (1985)

I never found seismic activity sexy until I had it explained to me by Tanya Roberts in a ridiculously short bath robe. Aslo, Rog-Bond is cinema's greatest horny old man.

DIE ANOTHER DAY (2002)

Broz-Bond, on the other hand, is cinema's worst horny old man.

A fun moment or two in DAD, but fuck me the screenplay is horrid. Why are Purvis & Wade getting paid?

"Saved by the bell."

"My son is dead." NO SHIT!

"Zao... I'm being traded... for you." NO SHIT! And how did Bond remember his name for so long? If some foreign dude introduced himself to me I'd probably forget his name in two seconds tops. I certainly wouldn't remember it if if I had an intense hovercraft chase straight afterwards and then fourteen months of torture and captivity.

*Jinx looks at Bond's cock* "Wow... now there's a mouthful."
Frankly I don't think Pervert & Wank handle innuendo as well as Mankiewicz could.

How many fucking point/tip jokes are there?

Stereotypical Maori guy: "I use da layza ay bru."

If you see a guy fall off his snowmobile, your immediate thought is that he bumped into an invisible car.

"Kill him quietly."
*guys run after him with machine guns blazing."

"Global warming is a terrible thing."
*North Korean generals bow... grateful for having been taught an important environmental message by the white guy who used to be an Asian guy*

And on and on and on. Brosnan's Bond... I hear a lot of people say this was his best performance in the role. Frankly I find the smarmy c.unt who appears in each outing to be irredeemably annoying and unlikeable.

Yes, CJB, people often pan DAD's special effects (and rightly so), but it's the utterly ghastly screenplay that drags this film through the bottom of the barrel. Honestly--and I'm not exaggerating here--this screenplay reads like it was written by a 15-year-old aspiring screenwriter, and not a particularly talented one at that.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Yes, CJB, people often pan DAD's special effects (and rightly so), but it's the utterly ghastly screenplay that drags this film through the bottom of the barrel. Honestly--and I'm not exaggerating here--this screenplay reads like it was written by a 15-year-old aspiring screenwriter, and not a particularly talented one at that.

Absolutely, there are actually several good ideas and themes in there but the script just flushes everything down the sewer, and yet of all the crew working on this picture its those very same writers that remain on the payroll???.

lachesis wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Yes, CJB, people often pan DAD's special effects (and rightly so), but it's the utterly ghastly screenplay that drags this film through the bottom of the barrel. Honestly--and I'm not exaggerating here--this screenplay reads like it was written by a 15-year-old aspiring screenwriter, and not a particularly talented one at that.

Absolutely, there are actually several good ideas and themes in there but the script just flushes everything down the sewer, and yet of all the crew working on this picture its those very same writers that remain on the payroll???.

Yes, I agree, Die Another Day has many incredible ideas that could have been used properly if the screenwriters hadn't ruined it with the cheesy dialogue and ridiculously over-the-top characters that even the other sci-fi based Bond movies like YOLT and MR wouldn't dare attempt. Graves not being able to sleep because of the dream machine and the backstory with him and Miranda Frost are really neat ideas for his character and Miranda's, but they were under-used to make room for more silly sequences, like the wind-surfing scene or the invisible Vanquish stuff. I think they sacrificed storyline for more action, and the latter isn't even that great in some circumstances. Take AVTAK for example. It doesn't have a whole lot of action like DAD, and this is possibly to make room for scenes like when Bond meets Chuck Lee, who informs him about the pasts of Zorin, Carl Mortner, and Bob Conley. I particularly like this scene because we see more of the villains involved instead of watching them try and kill Bond with lasers and whatnot. That's some of DAD's problem- not focusing on the story and the characters but rather what form of action can they use to keep the little kids entertained. I love action scenes as much as the next guy, but DAD stuffs it in more than necessary I think.

God help me I used to be quite liking of Stephens' delivery of "Global warming, it's a terrible thing".



though the kill him quietly line is awesome in the opposite way.

Hilly wrote:

God help me I used to be quite liking of Stephens' delivery of "Global warming, it's a terrible thing".

I just don't get why the NorKo generals bow after it.

CJB wrote:

Hilly wrote:

God help me I used to be quite liking of Stephens' delivery of "Global warming, it's a terrible thing".

I just don't get why the NorKo generals bow after it.

Nor I. The wide shot in total doesn't figure. The generals bowing with Stephens sort of posed cockily/smugly and his blonde lackey looking all shifty like no one knew what to do after the line. Just doesn't look right. But we got the CGI wave thing so there we go

That scene needed a bowing pigeon.

Rather one that double took. "W-what was that!?"

I saw Goldfinger last night at a theatre. Unfortunately they a.) showed the Blu-Ray, and b.) picked the wrong aspect ratio. Shit, I can do both those things at home. It was a bummer not getting to see an actual print of the film. Oh, and they didn't have the sound on for the first few seconds of the gunbarrel. Dumbasses. I would have complained, but it was cheap, it was late, and I had no clue who to complain to.

The film itself has a lot of good stuff. Goldfinger might be my favourite Bond villain, and Barry's score is great.

CJB wrote:

If you see a guy fall off his snowmobile, your immediate thought is that he bumped into an invisible car.

Last Bond Movie? Die Another Day...again! ITV2 are obviously hell bent on making me enjoy this movie by showing it every other week! Although no matter how many times it's on I still want to throw something at the TV once the CGI kicks in :x

Technically I watched GE last, but I only popped it in after watching GF in glorious big-screen big-sound special theatre presentation.

Imagine, the thrill of walking into a cinema and seeing this poster displayed on the way in.



I was so pumped for another Bond, but I wanted to watch something newer and GE is probably the best of the newish Bond films, so I popped that in.

But GF on big-screen. Man is that an awesome experience, as would be any of the great old Bond films.

Someday us Bond fans are going to have to rent a cinema theatre for one day and watch big-screen Bond films, one after the other. We could supply the blu-rays and all chip in for the theatre rental.