Favourite scene in SPECTRE

FieldsMan wrote:

lachesis wrote:

The pts tracking shot is a wonderful mechanism for drawings the viewer in and really works well....but that aside I find the PTS a mess, disjointed and stupid in the way it pretty much makes Bond more of a danger to innocent lives than his enemies

But is it any different to the tank chase in GE?

I think you're right though in that SF's PTS is much more engaging. But I still think rather highly of the SP PTS, even if you have to suspend your disbelief a bit more. The flaws have become more apparent on repeated viewings. Still, better than what comes after it.

Maybe I am being unfair but given the overall tone and presentation it does feel different and equally there is a different impetus to the objective in each case, Bond racing to rescue the damsel in distress as opposed to Bond just attacking someone in case they might possibly be thinking of doing something bad (oddly it is the entire plot of QoS in PTS form and still feels wholly unsatisfactory)...later undermined still further by the reveal of the stupidest 'message from the past' in the history of stupidly conceived past messages.

It all comes to the balance of the movie and imo that is one of SP major failings.

'Might possibly be thinking' of doing something bad? He overhears them explicitly plotting to bomb a packed stadium!

But doesn't he actually kill the bombers themselves (certainly there is no hint Bond thinks of anyone else being involved). He already has the next location to check out, the ring identity check is beyond lame (and is rightly proven so) making his descision making with the Helicopter seem more inept and reckless than actually justified because that helicopter crashing into the square below was a potential explosion in its own right.

I think it's a given that James Bond will end up at the Hague one day.

dalton wrote:

Pretty much the only thing in Spectre that worked for me was Lea Seydoux.  Even though she's basically given a stock character to work with, her performance elevates it into something that, for me, carries the film.  I love the moment in Tangier where she mimes shooting him through the curtains on the bed.  Thought that was a great, albeit minor, moment in the film.

FieldsMan wrote:

Those scenes at L'Americain feel so empty in my opinion. Nothing of note really happens aside from a contrived plot point.

Dalton gets it. Rewatching this, it's like a two-hander from an adult thriller that somehow ended up in a children's film. Seydoux was given something to work with here - an opportuity to emote - and she took it and ran. It's as close as the film comes to any human element.



The rest of the film is vulgar chases and explosions, a tired old has-been admiring itself in a mirror. SPECTRE went so badly wrong.

Seydoux is totally wasted on that film.

Maybe in isolation, Ambler, but context is everything. Considering the schizophrenic nature of Swann's love story and character arc, they build toward something only for the rug to be pulled out, and breaks  the flow of their developing relationship. Take this scene out and it doesn't enhance or detract from their journey. Same could be said about many scenes in SPECTRE, though.