Posts : 3372 Member Since : 2011-03-28 Location : I know........I know
Subject: Bond car chases Mon Aug 22, 2011 2:00 am
I think they've been just average in the last couple of movies. Casino Royale had one that made the Guiness Book Of World Records for the most amount of flips...but that car chase only lasted about seven seconds.
I hate to admit this...but I just watched Fast Five with Vin Diesel...and that car-chase on the highway with the vault attached to his car was the best I've seen in some time. It made me think...whatever happened to Bond? What's the point of having all those cool cars just for show? Do I have to watch other franchises for these creative car stunts now?
I'm curious, when last did a Bond car chase really excite you?
Guest Guest
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Mon Aug 22, 2011 5:28 am
I must confess QOS's opening is a guilty pleasure, I really liked that. CR's left me cold, wasn't logic to leave the valuable Vesper bound on the street, chances are she just ends up as roadkill. No memorable chases during Brosnan's time for me. LTK's truck chase was pretty good IMO. TLD's could have been great if it hadn't been for those lasers and the skating Aston. Before that there was FYEO's which was just that bit too comedy for my liking.
CJB 00 Agent
Posts : 5498 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : 'Straya
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Mon Aug 22, 2011 5:36 am
Kennon wrote:
FYEO's which was just that bit too comedy for my liking.
I reckon Conti more than made up for the gags during that car chase. 8)
Guest Guest
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Mon Aug 22, 2011 5:47 am
CJB wrote:
Kennon wrote:
FYEO's which was just that bit too comedy for my liking.
I reckon Conti more than made up for the gags during that car chase. 8)
The music was fine, I just found the somersault too stupid. Would also have helped if the car hadn't been a 2CV. Still, enjoyable chase for the most part.
Largo's Shark 00 Agent
Posts : 10588 Member Since : 2011-03-14
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Mon Aug 22, 2011 5:57 am
The votes are now in, and it's been decided that the following piece will be played at Amblersaurus's wake.
Guest Guest
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Mon Aug 22, 2011 6:05 am
I used to have that soundtrack in a car. Admittedly, it plays more fittingly if you're not stuck in a jam.
Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 00 Agent
Posts : 8477 Member Since : 2010-05-12 Location : Strawberry Fields
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Mon Aug 22, 2011 7:42 am
I was particularly thrilled with Quantum of Solace's car chase - actually I have been since I saw it at the cinemas. I'm just blown away by its frenetic nature, combined with the gorgeous location and the brilliant stunt work. It's definitely up there with my favourite James Bind car chases:
BMW in TND (though in the film, I prefer the bike chase) Citroen in FYEO Sunbeam in DN (I really liked it on my last few viewings) Vantage in TLD.
The best one? I'm not sure... Even the others are exciting...
Louis Armstrong Q Branch
Posts : 853 Member Since : 2010-05-25
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Mon Aug 22, 2011 7:49 am
Mrs Aural Sects wrote:
I think they've been just average in the last couple of movies. Casino Royale had one that made the Guiness Book Of World Records for the most amount of flips...but that car chase only lasted about seven seconds.
Apparently an actual chase through woods was scripted, but Campbell decided to eschew audience expectations by having the sequence end immediately. If anything, that choice just made the chase awkward, like they were so focused on the crash stunt they forgot to film any other good footage.
Kennon wrote:
I must confess QOS's opening is a guilty pleasure, I really liked that.
You and me both. For me, it was an excellent sequence in a film loaded with bad action. The choice to leave the beginning unscored was refreshing. And Arnold's track (when it finally kicks in) is a lot more tuneful than what he usually musters.
Sharky wrote:
The votes are now in, and it's been decided that the following piece will be played at Amblersaurus's wake.
You sure you don't mean in Amblersaurus' wake?
Makeshift Python 00 Agent
Posts : 7656 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : You're the man now, dog!
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Mon Aug 22, 2011 8:10 am
The car chase in QOS I do enjoy and agree about it being one of David Arnold's better moments. I liked the lack of music in the tunnel.
Guest Guest
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:16 am
Louis Armstrong wrote:
Kennon wrote:
I must confess QOS's opening is a guilty pleasure, I really liked that.
You and me both. For me, it was an excellent sequence in a film loaded with bad action. The choice to leave the beginning unscored was refreshing. And Arnold's track (when it finally kicks in) is a lot more tuneful than what he usually musters.
Yes, it really sticks out, by and far the best action sequence in that movie (though I like the Siena chase too). Nor do I mind the editing here, there is not such a lot to understand, I think. Contrary to the boat chase (which I still don't get) and that hotel room fight. For my money the QOS car chase is the best in a long time.
MBalje Q Branch
Posts : 537 Member Since : 2011-03-29 Location : Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:29 am
The QOS chase remember me to the first chase in Goldeneye and the police talking be a good bonus. Goldeneye & Tomorrow Never Dies be my favorite chases from the last 6 movies if i only count the car chases.
bitchcraft Potential 00 Agent
Posts : 3372 Member Since : 2011-03-28 Location : I know........I know
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Tue Aug 23, 2011 1:42 am
FieldsMan wrote:
I was particularly thrilled with Quantum of Solace's car chase - actually I have been since I saw it at the cinemas. I'm just blown away by its frenetic nature, combined with the gorgeous location and the brilliant stunt work. It's definitely up there with my favourite James Bind car chases:
I might have liked this one a bit more if not for the flashcut editing...
Control 00 Agent
Posts : 5206 Member Since : 2010-05-13 Location : Slumber, Inc.
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Tue Aug 23, 2011 1:58 am
Sharky wrote:
The votes are now in, and it's been decided that the following piece will be played at Amblersaurus's wake.
I remember a time when Sir Ambler once referred to him as "Bill Cunti".
dalton Cipher Clerk
Posts : 101 Member Since : 2011-08-20
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Tue Aug 23, 2011 3:17 am
The car chases of late in the franchise have been quite disappointing, as most rely on some gimmick rather than simply placing Bond in battle of wits and driving skills against the villain. QOS's chase was pretty good, but prior to that, you'd have to go all the way back to TLD to find a decent car chase in a Bond film.
The chases in the Brosnan Era are some of the worst, given that they all revolve around a gimmick. In GE, it's simply Bond destroying everything in his path while driving the tank; in TND, Bond simply steers the car around a dull parking garage with a cell phone; and DAD features a ridiculously gadget-laden chase on the wide open ice. All of these chases are decidedly subpar, and the "chase" (does it last long enough to even be considered a chase) in CR is one of the few disappointing moments in that film.
Harmsway Potential 00 Agent
Posts : 2801 Member Since : 2011-08-22
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Tue Aug 23, 2011 4:07 pm
Louis Armstrong wrote:
Apparently an actual chase through woods was scripted, but Campbell decided to eschew audience expectations by having the sequence end immediately.
Where'd you get that info?
Guest Guest
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Tue Aug 23, 2011 4:30 pm
Mrs Aural Sects wrote:
I'm curious, when last did a Bond car chase really excite you?
1954. Why don't they film the chase between Bond and Drax and the lorry?
Louis Armstrong Q Branch
Posts : 853 Member Since : 2010-05-25
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Tue Aug 23, 2011 4:56 pm
Harmsway wrote:
Louis Armstrong wrote:
Apparently an actual chase through woods was scripted, but Campbell decided to eschew audience expectations by having the sequence end immediately.
Where'd you get that info?
CR commentary.
Gravity's Silhouette Potential 00 Agent
Posts : 3994 Member Since : 2011-04-15 Location : Inside my safe space
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Tue Aug 23, 2011 7:00 pm
dalton wrote:
The car chases of late in the franchise have been quite disappointing, as most rely on some gimmick rather than simply placing Bond in battle of wits and driving skills against the villain. QOS's chase was pretty good, but prior to that, you'd have to go all the way back to TLD to find a decent car chase in a Bond film.
The chases in the Brosnan Era are some of the worst, given that they all revolve around a gimmick. In GE, it's simply Bond destroying everything in his path while driving the tank; in TND, Bond simply steers the car around a dull parking garage with a cell phone; and DAD features a ridiculously gadget-laden chase on the wide open ice. All of these chases are decidedly subpar, and the "chase" (does it last long enough to even be considered a chase) in CR is one of the few disappointing moments in that film.
I disagree that the Brosnan car chases were bad; I even thought the tanker chase in LTK was very well executed, even though you don't seem to include it in your post-TLD assessment. I do agree, however, that the car chase in QOS barely registers because the movie doesn't hold a scene for longer than 2 seconds. Even in a post-MTV world, where we've all grown up on quick sound bites and fast editing, QOS really takes it to the extreme. I've seen car chases before where a lot of tricks were played with the camera to try and disguise that the car was actually moving pretty slowly, or that the stunts weren't as dangerous as they were trying to make it appear...perhaps that's the case with QOS.
Control 00 Agent
Posts : 5206 Member Since : 2010-05-13 Location : Slumber, Inc.
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Tue Aug 23, 2011 7:32 pm
I'm sort of sick of car chases.
Best one in the film series was in DN, when Bond was being chased by some mindless thugs and then they drove off a cliff. Wasn't it mainly Connery sitting in front of a back-drop and a few cuts to the cars on the road? Then he went and fucked a girl.
Doesn't happen that way anymore.
Guest Guest
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Tue Aug 23, 2011 7:39 pm
Bond needs robots. With big hooters. Hydraulic.
Gravity's Silhouette Potential 00 Agent
Posts : 3994 Member Since : 2011-04-15 Location : Inside my safe space
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Tue Aug 23, 2011 10:16 pm
Brilliant analysis of the problems with action scenes today:
I swear I haven't posted over at Big Hollywood, but guess which Bond film is being discussed in the comments section for its lack of coherent action scenes?
Best point made at the 4:21 mark: "In many post-millennial releases, we're not just seeing an intensification of classical technique, but a perversion. Contemporary blockbusters, particularly action movies, trade visual intelligibility for sensory overload."
Quantum of Solace highlighted at the 8:30 mark: "....vague and hyperactive visuals...."
Guest Guest
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Tue Aug 23, 2011 10:18 pm
Oddly enough, Harms just posted a link to the same in the Chaos Cinema thread.
trevanian Head of Station
Posts : 1958 Member Since : 2011-03-15 Location : Pac NW
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Sun Aug 28, 2011 8:41 pm
The QUANTUM cutting does have a precedent; OHMSS has got some absurdly fast-cut stuff (I remember seeing the Bond and Spectre guys in the bell room scene at a reissue house about 30 years ago and just shutting my eyes, giving up on following what was going on.)
Not saying it was a good precedent, but it isn't straight out of the blue, like the unintentionally funny time-ramping stuff in DAD, which dates that movie as much as if DAD had included bullet-time sequences.
Harmsway Potential 00 Agent
Posts : 2801 Member Since : 2011-08-22
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Sun Aug 28, 2011 11:10 pm
trevanian wrote:
The QUANTUM cutting does have a precedent; OHMSS has got some absurdly fast-cut stuff (I remember seeing the Bond and Spectre guys in the bell room scene at a reissue house about 30 years ago and just shutting my eyes, giving up on following what was going on.)
Yeah, some of Hunt's editing is pretty dodgy.
trevanian Head of Station
Posts : 1958 Member Since : 2011-03-15 Location : Pac NW
Subject: Re: Bond car chases Mon Aug 29, 2011 5:26 pm
Well, that's actually Glenn, I think, though maybe it was because Hunt dared him to cut even more extremely than had been seen previously.