Last Bond Movie You Watched? 1.0

The oil rig finale in DAF has never bothered me as much as most, I really like seeing the big fiery blasts rising in long shots, almost offsets the terrible mattework with the copters being blown optically.

The Bond/Tif dialog at end still makes me think they are implying Bond is getting married off, which offends me.

OCTOPUSSY

The first erratic Bond film. OCTOPUSSY starts as a comical adventure in the vein of LALD, yet ends as a high stakes Cold War thriller. The mid-movie tone shift is jarring and hurts the movie overall. The individual pieces are well done, but the movie never comes together as a whole. The entire exercise feels like two different movies smushed together. Shame, because the entire Train and Circus sequence is arguably the tensest set piece in a Bond film. It's up there with the GOLDFINGER climax.

1. ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE 5/5
2. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE 5/5
3. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY 5/5
4. GOLDFINGER 4/5
5. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME 4/5
6. DR. NO 3/5
7. OCTOPUSSY 3/5
8. LIVE AND LET DIE 3/5
9. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER 3/5
10. MOONRAKER 3/5
11. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE 3/5
12. THUNDERBALL 2/5
13. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN 1/5

Dr No - felt like I should on the 50th anniversary day. Connery is awesome, he just nailed it right from the off ... the easy charm, the blackly ironic humour, the sexual self-confidence, the just-below-the-surface ruthlessness. Superb.

Restarting my pre-SKYFALL Bondathon on Blu-ray.

Dr. No

I always make the same points about it, but I did genuinely enjoy watching it.

I do wish some more things had been incorporated from the book. The film has the same plot, but I feel it lacks some of the story's colour in the book. Bond in the book is sent on a "holiday" assignment after having been in hospital and recovery for months, and this was supposed to be an easy, and sorta of insulting (to Bond, if I recall correctly) mission. Then he gets to Kingston and weird stuff starts happening. The film does a good job of setting up the danger for the audience as Strangways and his secretary are killed and a first time viewer is left wondering when they'll take a shot at Bond himself, but some of the investigation part of the film just feels a little limp to me. It feels like a procedural. Obviously they couldn't set Bond up as a guy who just got of hospital, so I'm not sure how.... to actually complete this thought.

And of course, I wish No had an interest in pain, but that's a point I've always made.

Connery gives my favorite Bond performance bar none. This is the one where they really got it right to me. He's a lethal man on a mission, though not a thuggish wrecking ball like Craig.

I love the tone and mood of the film. Feels more like Fleming than later Bond. I think the humor is just right in this film. And there is a dash of Fu Manchu exotic adventure going on that I wish was a little more pronounced.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

Just an all around solid Bond flick. Love everything about it, except: Lazenby. Tux has it right that he should have had a LALD kind of flick first where there was less dramatic weight and more action spectacle. He's way more convincing when he fights anyway. The love montage, it's like how CR condensed the Bond/Vesper romance only this one is accompanied by a pop song. At least Lazenby doesn't talk about his armor being stripped or some shit.

I was pretty struck by how well this one really stuck to the book overall. Of the Bond films by this point it's rather offbeat in a sense, but kind of like how TB is with Bond's stay at Shrublands. It's unconventional, I'd like the films to really go more for that. Show Bond on his off day where something strange happens and it just leads to the real story. Heck the MR book did that with the introduction of Drax.

I'm rambling.

Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

MI6 polls have this at #19. Fuck em, this is no where near the doldrums of Bond. I think our member Vesper once said that it's Mankiewicz writing that automatically puts it ahead of many other films. That's true, because come on, is Bruce Fierstein really better?

Connery gained weight but he regained that twinkle in his eye that was largely absent in YOLT. It's great to see him have a ball and I kind of like that he leaves the series on that note.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.

Why this film has a generally solid reputation within Bond fandom is beyond me.

Python wrote:

Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

MI6 polls have this at #19. Fuck em, this is no where near the doldrums of Bond. I think our member Vesper once said that it's Mankiewicz writing that automatically puts it ahead of many other films. That's true, because come on, is Bruce Fierstein really better?

I think some people can't get over that it's not a revenge picture. More than that, it's not "serious" enough for some. I think you have to have a certain sense of humor to really appreciate DAF, or a certain sensibility.

Harmsway wrote:

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.

Why this film has a generally solid reputation within Bond fandom is beyond me.

Why, pray tell? I haven't heard anything critical about FYEO from here or any other forum. The worst anyone seems to say is "The scale's too small" and "Bibi's annoying".

It's a middle-of-the-pack Bond to me. Maybe just a hair above. Ten years ago it was the one I watched most often.

Tubes wrote:

Harmsway wrote:

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.

Why this film has a generally solid reputation within Bond fandom is beyond me.

Why, pray tell? I haven't heard anything critical about FYEO from here or any other forum. The worst anyone seems to say is "The scale's too small" and "Bibi's annoying".

I'd say John Glen's direction is pretty pedestrian, compared to what came before and it's very drab looking. However, I think there's enough in the flick to make up for that. I agree with Tux though that it's fairly middle of the road.

The whole movie has a second unit feel. I like the feel of the film, though. It is rather goofy, but it's got a nice story and some better-than-average characters (minus Bibi). I'm also in the minority that like Conti's score.

Harmsway wrote:

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.

Why this film has a generally solid reputation within Bond fandom is beyond me.

Just cuz it followed MR, you could only go up (in an entertainment sense, not altitude wise.)

I remember thinking, 'christ, more of the same,' when I heard 'keep your hair on' and the stainless steel deli crap, and while some parts with action do engage, they are undercut by the dumbass stuff.

I think FYEO as Dalton's debut film (where you'd've presumably played it w/o the moron stuff) would have been outasight good, even with Glenn.

The score is kind of like Marvin's SPY score for me ... odd, but since the movies themselves don't really scream Bond at me, that' okay. SPY's score really sounds like something that should have been in a big-budget parody film at times. Conti's just dates the film, but it doesn't really hurt it.

trevanian wrote:

Harmsway wrote:

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.

Why this film has a generally solid reputation within Bond fandom is beyond me.

Just cuz it followed MR, you could only go up (in an entertainment sense, not altitude wise.)

MOONRAKER is infinitely superior to FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.

The biggest problem with FOR YOUR EYES ONLY is that it's a crushing bore.

Harmsway wrote:

trevanian wrote:

Harmsway wrote:

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.

Why this film has a generally solid reputation within Bond fandom is beyond me.

Just cuz it followed MR, you could only go up (in an entertainment sense, not altitude wise.)

MOONRAKER is infinitely superior to FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.

If you're talking production design, cinematography and score, then yes absolutely. But I'd only give Bond awards in the tech category there, and it is all blue mondays for the rest of MR, from the obscene level of product placement to the brain-dead storytelling.

From Russia With Love

What struck me on this viewing is how genuinely good Connery is in this film. I'd say it's tied with his performance in DN as my favorite Bond performance. I've always liked the moment when he runs his thumb up Kerim's cigarette holder. A simple action that communicates a lot. Brosnan would have... taken a moment, or something else overly broad. I also like how he deals with Kerim's son at the station.

I wish DN had the level of nuance that this one has. DN has the skeleton of the story, but FRWL really fills everything in, and improves a few things from the book. SPECTRE playing two sides off of one another, Grant's continued presense, etc.

1. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
2. DR. NO

Live and Let Die (1973)

This one has grown on me for awhile. Four years ago I would say I hate it, today I dig it. I think it makes for a good introductory Bond film for Moore much like Dr. No was for Connery. The shift to 1:85 really confused me for a long long time til I read it was done to make TV airings easier not to pan and scan so frequently like for scope films, as opposed to the old theory of it being a budget reason (even a low budget farce like Battle of the Planet of the Ape sequels had little trouble acquiring 2:35). Overall the sequences like with the alligators were fun, Sheriff J.W. Pepper is a hoot, Moore is dripping with urbane charm. It's a fun ride, and again works as a debut so that later pictures can go bigger.

Yeah, this year, LALD sat really well with me. I enjoyed it a lot more.

Let's hope you have a similar experience with TND and/or TWINE :)

Never.

LALD really moved up in my estimation this past year.

I'm still astonished by how much AVTAK grew on me. I used to haaaaaaaaate it.

Goldfinger

I don't get all the hate this one gets here. It's my personal favorite Bond film. It's the one I most enjoy. I really like how it's directed, and all the elements come toegther for me. I also really like the colour scheme going on. A desert island movie for me.

1. GOLDFINGER
2. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
3. DR. NO

Hear hear. I had trouble trying to figure which Bond film I liked better, FRWL or GF. Both are very different in their respects but succeed where they aim. GF has a better climax though, but FRWL is just flat out great from the moment Bond enters Istanbul up to his fight with Red Grant.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I was shooting earlier today near Fort Knox and there were planes flying overhead. Well, maybe 20 miles from Fort Knox, but plenty close the base there for occasional annoyances, even though we were shooting amidst 600 acres of remote woods and fields.

Last weekend I drove right by the building itself. It's right there off the highway.

FRWL and GF are pretty much tied for me. There are things in FRWL that I prefer (it has greater depth), but I love GF as a whole. Tons of great moments, too. Love when Goldfinger puts the ball towards the gold far.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Love when Goldfinger puts the ball towards the gold far.

Definitely, a nice bit of visual touch.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I was shooting earlier today near Fort Knox and there were planes flying overhead. Well, maybe 20 miles from Fort Knox, but plenty close the base there for occasional annoyances, even though we were shooting amidst 600 acres of remote woods and fields.

Last weekend I drove right by the building itself. It's right there off the highway.

FRWL and GF are pretty much tied for me. There are things in FRWL that I prefer (it has greater depth), but I love GF as a whole. Tons of great moments, too. Love when Goldfinger puts the ball towards the gold far.

Pick up a bucket of Colonel Sanders'?