Last Bond Movie You Watched? 2.0

1st thread: https://bondandbeyond.forumotion.com/t61-last-bond-movie-you-watched?

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I meant it's not the best movie, not Bond movie. I did say earlier in the post that it's the worst Bond film, but still has many redeemable features.

I don't think DAD is the worst Bond film by any means though I understand that peer pressure requires most people to say that.

Well, considering where I place, TND, TWINE, TSWLM and GF, and where I have placed QOS, I don't think I'm one to succumb to peer pressure. DAD has flaws - CGI replacing stunts, Halle Berry's performance and the writing of her character, cartoonish villains, excessive gadgetry (except the Vanish - I actually accept that because of the plausibility in its conception and execution in reality and in the film), that laser scene and robo suit.

Pros:

Brosnan's performance
Miranda Frost
Cuban scenes
PTS (I actually like the Hovercraft chase too)
Peaceful
The score
Raoul
Dench's performance (And I like the scene in the hospital)
Jinx vs Miranda
Ice Palace
Jinx's infiltration to the dome.
Cinematography (save for the CGI infested action) (i.e. North Korea/Wales beach ending, Cuban stuff)
Chang
Q's scene

Oh, and having watched all the films in order, having Bond and Moneypenny finally kiss was a good touch for the anniversary film. Samantha Bond's performance was fantastic.

FieldsMan wrote:

Well, considering where I place, TND, TWINE, TSWLM and GF, and where I have placed QOS, I don't think I'm one to succumb to peer pressure.

Well, that depends what you mean. I expect QoS is very popular in your particular demographic.

Erica Ambler wrote:

I don't think DAD is the worst Bond film by any means though I understand that peer pressure requires most people to say that.

Yep. DIE ANOTHER DAY has taken over the spot that was previously occupied by MOONRAKER.

and so with usual pandering onto

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

"So you said...a great crusade"

little has changed in however length a time since I last saw it. Little can be added or moulded to the usual, some would say sickening, platitudes. Lazenby (crash, bang, wallop), Rigg (Dame), even Bernard Lee who somehow seems to have a little more going this time, the scenery etc, etc etc. The Piz Gloria fight is one of the better great action pieces (though perhaps 007 should've been used as opposed to the James Bond Theme).
Indeed, what of Lee's thoughts on Lazenby. I recall quotes from Maxwell printed when she died, and the same with Llewellyn.
I always like OHMSS in one aspect for, what I believe, is a largely faithful sticking the book or as best as you could get. All being said, half wonder if they kept the original proposal scene how it might've appeared. The Zurich Airport lounge, the hustle and bustle of the place, the two huddled at this table and Bond heading off solo for home. Maybe then Tracy's caught by Blofeld.

Anyway gang. T-Minus 50mins till Operation SKYFALL...you see, it's something of a must

Sir Hillary's night out but who will buy my yesterdays-athon

1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (last score 10/10, last ranking 1st)
2. From Russia With Love
3. Dr No
4. Thunderball
5. Goldfinger
6. You Only Live Twice

Erica Ambler wrote:

FieldsMan wrote:

Well, considering where I place, TND, TWINE, TSWLM and GF, and where I have placed QOS, I don't think I'm one to succumb to peer pressure.

Well, that depends what you mean. I expect QoS is very popular in your particular demographic.

Can't really speak for my friends who are my age - they don't really like Bond, and if they did, it's only really CR. Another friend of mine, who is approaching 30, can't stand QOS. And then again, it depends on what you mean, because when you said peer pressure, I thought you were talking of the popular opinions on this forum.

Can't believe I'm subjected to ageism here.

Skyfall

trying to negotiate the Skyfall sections, haven't been that way in about two months. But we'll sort out the rankings.

8/10

The Sky-did thus Fall-athon-rankings
1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2. From Russia With Love
3. Dr No
4. Skyfall (new entry)
5. Thunderball
6. Goldfinger
7. You Only Live Twice

I think (but may be wrong) that I've watched just two Bond movies this year: ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE and THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, both from the new Blu-ray box set.

I hadn't seen either of them in HD before and it was like watching these flicks for the first time.

FieldsMan wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

FieldsMan wrote:

Well, considering where I place, TND, TWINE, TSWLM and GF, and where I have placed QOS, I don't think I'm one to succumb to peer pressure.

Well, that depends what you mean. I expect QoS is very popular in your particular demographic.

Can't really speak for my friends who are my age - they don't really like Bond, and if they did, it's only really CR. Another friend of mine, who is approaching 30, can't stand QOS. And then again, it depends on what you mean, because when you said peer pressure, I thought you were talking of the popular opinions on this forum.

Can't believe I'm subjected to ageism here.

Not ageism, Jason, science. Different demographics tend to favour the Bond films they grew up with. I seriously doubt there is anyone over 30 who would pick Gemma Arterton as their favourite Bond girl.

Harmsway wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

I don't think DAD is the worst Bond film by any means though I understand that peer pressure requires most people to say that.

Yep. DIE ANOTHER DAY has taken over the spot that was previously occupied by MOONRAKER.

I think the further we'll get from DIE ANOTHER DAY in time, the more entertaining the film will be. I'm mainly pissed because it executes so many things well and then squanders all of it with a terrible second half.

Loomis wrote:

I think (but may be wrong) that I've watched just two Bond movies this year: ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE and THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, both from the new Blu-ray box set.

I hadn't seen either of them in HD before and it was like watching these flicks for the first time.

It really is, isn't it? It's like being blind and then being able to see.

Having said that, I was in Best Buy the other day picking up their exclusive Bond blu-rays and they were showing THE AVENGERS on one of their big screen, flat tvs. I don't know what kind of tv it was (I'll check next time I'm back in), but the quality of the picture was so crystal clear that it didn't even look like film or video. The actors didn't even move across the screen like you'd normally expect them to. It looked as if you could put your hand right through the screen and touch them; as if the whole thing was taking place live right in your living room. I've never seen any sort of HD that looked like that before. It was amazing.

Some of the TV's there have motion that is so smooth that it's unnerving. I personally can't stand the additional processing that manufacturers put in TV's, but I understand why people like it.

Erica Ambler wrote:

FieldsMan wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

FieldsMan wrote:

Well, considering where I place, TND, TWINE, TSWLM and GF, and where I have placed QOS, I don't think I'm one to succumb to peer pressure.

Well, that depends what you mean. I expect QoS is very popular in your particular demographic.

Can't really speak for my friends who are my age - they don't really like Bond, and if they did, it's only really CR. Another friend of mine, who is approaching 30, can't stand QOS. And then again, it depends on what you mean, because when you said peer pressure, I thought you were talking of the popular opinions on this forum.

Can't believe I'm subjected to ageism here.

Not ageism, Jason, science. Different demographics tend to favour the Bond films they grew up with. I seriously doubt there is anyone over 30 who would pick Gemma Arterton as their favourite Bond girl.

Well going by your science, I should be in love with DAD, seeing I grew up with it, but then that contradicts what you said before about peer pressure, and how my peers (in my demographic) don't like DAD.

And then there is the example of Python, who hated TND - his first Bond film.

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

Loomis wrote:

I think (but may be wrong) that I've watched just two Bond movies this year: ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE and THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, both from the new Blu-ray box set.

I hadn't seen either of them in HD before and it was like watching these flicks for the first time.

It really is, isn't it? It's like being blind and then being able to see.

Having said that, I was in Best Buy the other day picking up their exclusive Bond blu-rays and they were showing THE AVENGERS on one of their big screen, flat tvs. I don't know what kind of tv it was (I'll check next time I'm back in), but the quality of the picture was so crystal clear that it didn't even look like film or video. The actors didn't even move across the screen like you'd normally expect them to. It looked as if you could put your hand right through the screen and touch them; as if the whole thing was taking place live right in your living room. I've never seen any sort of HD that looked like that before. It was amazing.

Yep, you buy the HDTV and the Blu-ray player, yet there's always something more cutting-edge out there, and if there isn't then there soon will be. Blu-ray discs (barring odd exceptions like the Bonds, which suddenly breathe extraordinary new life into films you've seen a billion times - films that you first saw and fell in love with as pan-and-scan TV broadcasts that you'd tape onto VHS) no longer seem anything special. But then I guess one quickly takes things for granted. No one would be impressed by standard DVD any more, indeed the notion of being impressed by it is nowadays laughable, but I remember when I bought and played my first ever DVD (in 2001, and it was MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II, if I remember correctly) I was absolutely blown away by the picture quality. And that was standard DVD on an old, small, square TV with a cathode ray tube!

Those mindblowing new TVs that you describe seeing in Best Buy remind me of the TVs I saw at a very swanky store in Beijing in 1996, a store patronised only by the Chinese elite and foreigners. These TVs I saw didn't just have amazing picture quality - they had picture quality that seemed so jawdroppingly stunning, and so far ahead of its time as to make the onlooker rub his eyes with sheer amazement and wonder in all seriousness whether time travel had actually been invented and was being put to use in the procurement of fabulous home entertainment systems for the ultra-rich. Of course, sixteen years on it may well be the case that these stupendously wonderful TVs became museum pieces long ago.... but somehow I don't think so. They were that incredible.

FieldsMan wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

FieldsMan wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

FieldsMan wrote:

Well, considering where I place, TND, TWINE, TSWLM and GF, and where I have placed QOS, I don't think I'm one to succumb to peer pressure.

Well, that depends what you mean. I expect QoS is very popular in your particular demographic.

Can't really speak for my friends who are my age - they don't really like Bond, and if they did, it's only really CR. Another friend of mine, who is approaching 30, can't stand QOS. And then again, it depends on what you mean, because when you said peer pressure, I thought you were talking of the popular opinions on this forum.

Can't believe I'm subjected to ageism here.

Not ageism, Jason, science. Different demographics tend to favour the Bond films they grew up with. I seriously doubt there is anyone over 30 who would pick Gemma Arterton as their favourite Bond girl.

Well going by your science, I should be in love with DAD, seeing I grew up with it, but then that contradicts what you said before about peer pressure, and how my peers (in my demographic) don't like DAD.

And then there is the example of Python, who hated TND - his first Bond film.

Demographics is about groups not individuals so there will always be outliers.

DAD was written with youngsters in mind (the main cinema audience these days), hence its video game appearance and silly editing tricks. DAD's box office figures show it was a huge hit with your age group whatever revisionist histories have been subsequently constructed.

Your generation requires large amounts of explosions to satisfy its appetite. Mine requires smart dialogue, tits and mobility scooters. Every demographic has different buttons that need to be pressed.

Erica Ambler wrote:

FieldsMan wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

FieldsMan wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

FieldsMan wrote:

Well, considering where I place, TND, TWINE, TSWLM and GF, and where I have placed QOS, I don't think I'm one to succumb to peer pressure.

Well, that depends what you mean. I expect QoS is very popular in your particular demographic.

Can't really speak for my friends who are my age - they don't really like Bond, and if they did, it's only really CR. Another friend of mine, who is approaching 30, can't stand QOS. And then again, it depends on what you mean, because when you said peer pressure, I thought you were talking of the popular opinions on this forum.

Can't believe I'm subjected to ageism here.

Not ageism, Jason, science. Different demographics tend to favour the Bond films they grew up with. I seriously doubt there is anyone over 30 who would pick Gemma Arterton as their favourite Bond girl.

Well going by your science, I should be in love with DAD, seeing I grew up with it, but then that contradicts what you said before about peer pressure, and how my peers (in my demographic) don't like DAD.

And then there is the example of Python, who hated TND - his first Bond film.

Demographics is about groups not individuals so there will always be outliers.

DAD was written with youngsters in mind (the main cinema audience these days), hence its video game appearance and silly editing tricks. DAD's box office figures show it was a huge hit with your age group whatever revisionist histories have been subsequently constructed.

Your generation requires large amounts of explosions to satisfy its appetite. Mine requires smart dialogue, tits and mobility scooters. Every demographic has different buttons that need to be pressed.

But to link with your other thread there is this change in perception or mood of the more recent demographics to consider. In the break between DAD and CR the earlier films fans aged and looked back on their earlier selfs as children, adult pretentions abound when we are actually transitioning to adulthood and CR change of tone mined that change well.... Equally I would suggest some of QOS backlash comes from it labouring of CR's tone at a time when many of those same fans ha'd actually transitioned fully to adulthood and felt more comfortable with their inner child ideally opening the door for Skyfall to play a bit more fun.

Not many to go until Skyfall! I continued with Moonraker. Still enjoy this one a lot... and still am awed by the special effects work. Combined with another winning combination of Lewis Gilbert and Ken Adam, as well as Barry's second most melancholic score, Moonraker has enough going for it to elevate it above a good share of the films. Plus, Moore delivers a fine performance... I didn't think of it before, but he looks slimmer in Moonraker than in his previous and subsequent Bond films. Perhaps because we never see him shirtless?

1. From Russia with Love
2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3. Casino Royale
4. Thunderball
5. Dr. No
6. Goldfinger
7. GoldenEye
8. The Living Daylights
9. For Your Eyes Only
10. You Only Live Twice
11. Licence to Kill
12. Quantum of Solace
13. Moonraker
14. Tomorrow Never Dies
15. Live and Let Die
16. Octopussy
17. The World is Not Enough
18. The Man with the Golden Gun
19. Diamonds Are Forever
20. A View to a Kill

GeneralGogol wrote:

still am awed by the special effects work.

Derek Meddings was one of the greats. I'm amazed his name isn't better known outside the industry. Everyone goes on about Gerry Anderson, but it was Meddings who delivered the vision.

GeneralGogol wrote:

Moonraker has enough going for it to elevate it above a good share of the films. Plus, Moore delivers a fine performance... I didn't think of it before, but he looks slimmer in Moonraker than in his previous and subsequent Bond films. Perhaps because we never see him shirtless?

Moore looked real good in MR, moreso than in Spy, I thought. He pulled off Bond quite well.The fight with Chang was well done. MR is epic Bond! I never tire of this film. Girls (both bad and good), gadgets, supervillain, henchmen, brilliant colour and scenery, uber-lairs, pigeons, Ken Adam set design, John Barry, Bassey, Bernard Lee one last time. Magnificent!

tiffanywint wrote:

GeneralGogol wrote:

Moonraker has enough going for it to elevate it above a good share of the films. Plus, Moore delivers a fine performance... I didn't think of it before, but he looks slimmer in Moonraker than in his previous and subsequent Bond films. Perhaps because we never see him shirtless?

Moore looked real good in MR, moreso than in Spy, I thought. He pulled off Bond quite well.The fight with Chang was well done. MR is epic Bond! I never tire of this film. Girls (both bad and good), gadgets, supervillain, henchmen, brilliant colour and scenery, uber-lairs, pigeons, Ken Adam set design, John Barry, Bassey, Bernard Lee one last time. Magnificent!

I think Moonraker is Moore's best performance and surprisingly in retrospect it has become my favourite of his films, he just feels so right and so effortlessly in control - it's not just the comedy either MR has some darker moments, some tension and some emotion and he's delivering all to perfection, great stuff.

Erica Ambler wrote:

FieldsMan wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

FieldsMan wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

FieldsMan wrote:

Well, considering where I place, TND, TWINE, TSWLM and GF, and where I have placed QOS, I don't think I'm one to succumb to peer pressure.

Well, that depends what you mean. I expect QoS is very popular in your particular demographic.

Can't really speak for my friends who are my age - they don't really like Bond, and if they did, it's only really CR. Another friend of mine, who is approaching 30, can't stand QOS. And then again, it depends on what you mean, because when you said peer pressure, I thought you were talking of the popular opinions on this forum.

Can't believe I'm subjected to ageism here.

Not ageism, Jason, science. Different demographics tend to favour the Bond films they grew up with. I seriously doubt there is anyone over 30 who would pick Gemma Arterton as their favourite Bond girl.

Well going by your science, I should be in love with DAD, seeing I grew up with it, but then that contradicts what you said before about peer pressure, and how my peers (in my demographic) don't like DAD.

And then there is the example of Python, who hated TND - his first Bond film.

Demographics is about groups not individuals so there will always be outliers.

DAD was written with youngsters in mind (the main cinema audience these days), hence its video game appearance and silly editing tricks. DAD's box office figures show it was a huge hit with your age group whatever revisionist histories have been subsequently constructed.

Your generation requires large amounts of explosions to satisfy its appetite. Mine requires smart dialogue, tits and mobility scooters. Every demographic has different buttons that need to be pressed.

If they were going to put Bond on a mobility scooter, it should surely have been in AVTAK.

YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE :2*:

To me this has always been probably the least interesting of all the Connery films. Just watched it for the first time on Blu-Ray, and yet again it feels like you're watching an entirely different movie. With 6x the amount of visual and audio stimulation included, it's no wonder every old film I'm catching on blu-ray feels like the first time. In fact, the visuals were so clear, and there was so much extra film on widescreen, that I saw things the producers probably didn't want me to see. Or maybe they were there all along but I never noticed. For example, I never knew that Aki and Kissy were Asians; the detail is THAT STRONG.

Other goofs or flubs: you can see the graying and black hair of the original actor who played Blofeld in a couple of the over-the-back-of-the-chair/from-behind shots, when the bald Donald Pleasance hadn't replaced the original actor yet. A palm tree at a Russian rocket launch? And where did the lava from the volcano come from so suddenly? It's stupid stuff like that that hampers this film.

But the reality is that this is just a weak storyline, and it's not helped by the lack of change in scenery. That the whole film takes place in Japan doesn't help, and the story is a bit simplistic, without any real intelligence work being done. It's amazing how quickly and easily MI6 is able to determine that Japan is at the center of the problem. Even worse, there is no particularly strong Bond Girl in this film. To say that the acting from Akiko and Mie is "awful" is to be a bit harsh. They were Japanese actresses who did not know English, and had to learn it as they went into filming. I can't tell if either or both were dubbed by someone else, but the end result is that whenever they are speaking they come across as little children speaking up to a big adult. Aki is the better character, but that's because she's got more screen time and more lines (I suppose). Mie Hama may have the least amount of lines I've ever seen in a "lead Bond Girl". I think I counted maybe, just maybe, a total of 6 lines for Mie Hama. And for the last 20 minutes she says nothing. She just runs, ducks, and cowers behind Tiger as he does all the shooting and the grenade throwing.

The film is so camp that it's easy to see why it has served as the primary inspiration for countless spoofs. It's just hard to take it seriously, notwithstanding the excuse that it's "just a James Bond film".

Despite the campness of the character, I don't understand (or have since forgotten) why Donald Pleasance did not return as Blofeld. I think these sort of arbitrary decisions to not have continuity seem to hurt the series in ways they probably didn't count on way back then.

Erica Ambler wrote:

GeneralGogol wrote:

still am awed by the special effects work.

Derek Meddings was one of the greats. I'm amazed his name isn't better known outside the industry. Everyone goes on about Gerry Anderson, but it was Meddings who delivered the vision.

My appreciation for the effects and design work in Moonraker has also grown after the Designing 007 exhibit. The sketches of the space city look more 2001 than Star Wars. There were a lot of people the night I visited the exhibit. In the Moonraker section, there was a big screen showing parts of the space battle and the main explosions - people had their eyes glued to the screen.

Goldfinger on the big screen today...really didn't enjoy it much to be honest. It's dated pretty badly and is just so sluggish. Though, the DB5 still amazes and Bond vs Oddjob is class. The audience had a good laugh when Bond threw the gold bar at him