The Most Ridiculous Moment in SPECTRE

What's yours?

I nominate the scene that shows Bond shooting two captors and breaking from his restraints while blindfolded.

Straight out of a Marvel "Incredible Hulk" film.

"Bond tough. Bond kill bad guy. Bond good guy."

Bond still having his sense of balance after not only having a needle drilled into that region of his head that was supposed to fuck it up, but his neck as well. He not only gets up but shoots his way out and blows up the whole lair. Kinda neutered the whole torture scene, which was otherwise quite good by itself.

At least he stayed on the ground after getting beaten on his balls in CR.

Control wrote:

What's yours?

I nominate the scene that shows Bond shooting two captors and breaking from his restraints while blindfolded.

Straight out of a Marvel "Incredible Hulk" film.

"Bond tough. Bond kill bad guy. Bond good guy."

You know, I'd probably go with that as well. On my first watch, I thought why didn't he just do something like that in the van. But it fits in with Craig's invincible Bond, one who runs through walls and rams a plane into the back of a car that has the person he's supposed to protect in the back seat.

Actually, I'm gunna go with that. Ramming a plane into the back of the car.

FieldsMan wrote:

You know, I'd probably go with that as well. On my first watch, I thought why didn't he just do something like that in the van.

He only did it then because the goon made the most glaring mistake of pressing his gun against Bond's head, which allowed Bond to know where to grab the gun swiftly and then take care of the two.

And yeah, I'm gonna go with the plane stunt as well. It's a scene worthy of COMMANDO.

Blofeld: "Aunt Charmian never told you what happened to your stepbrother."
Bond: "She told me enough. She told me an avalanche killed him."
Blofeld: "No, I am your stepbrother."

Not the right words, perhaps, but you get what I mean.

Makeshift Python wrote:

And yeah, I'm gonna go with the plane stunt as well. It's a scene worthy of COMMANDO.

We agree on something? Never thought I'd see the day!

And Walecs: That would be no. 1 for me, but I'm hoping for a retcon job, so hopefully it won't be an issue in future viewings.

FieldsMan wrote:

Control wrote:

What's yours?

I nominate the scene that shows Bond shooting two captors and breaking from his restraints while blindfolded.

Straight out of a Marvel "Incredible Hulk" film.

"Bond tough. Bond kill bad guy. Bond good guy."

You know, I'd probably go with that as well. On my first watch, I thought why didn't he just do something like that in the van. But it fits in with Craig's invincible Bond, one who runs through walls and rams a plane into the back of a car that has the person he's supposed to protect in the back seat.

The same Bond that we saw in CASINO ROYALE and QUANTUM OF SOLACE. Honestly, Craig's is no different than Pierce Brosnan's James Bond.

Stop regressing, people. Don't let Spectre do this to you.

Apologies.

Though Commando is definitely the better film out of the two.

CJB wrote:

Commando is definitely the better film out of the two.

Certainly the least worst.

"Commando" is dumb fun.

I will always watch at least ten minutes of it whenever I stumbled upon it.

When are we going to get your review of Spectre, Sabs? Given that you thought Skyfall was a crock of shit I can't wait to hear what you make of Sphincter.

Except I have been waiting. Get a move on.

I think your recollection of my appraisal of Skyfall is a bit faulty.
Never thought it was a "crock of shit".
I just didn't rate it quite as highly as some on here.
It's not like I ever put it in DAD territory.

My lack of a review has more to do with a lack of desire to see it. The lukewarm reviews haven't helped in that regard.

Once you can't be bothered to watch even a new Bond film then maybe this isn't the forum for you, but, hell, that applies to Lazenby. - you know, the guy who 'runs' this place. Into the ground. What’s your definition of a crock of shit anyway? This from your own review of Skyfall:

Quote :

The post-Macau section of the film is no better than the worst of QoS. It's just a series of action sequence that get increasingly less believable.

cringe-worthy... makes little sense … doesn't even stay consistent to its own plot developments.

That sure sounds like a crock of shit to me.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Once you can't be bothered to watch even a new Bond film then maybe this isn't the forum for you, but, hell, that applies to Lazenby. - you know, the guy who 'runs' this place. Into the ground. What’s your definition of a crock of shit anyway? This from your own review of Skyfall:

Quote :

The post-Macau section of the film is no better than the worst of QoS. It's just a series of action sequence that get increasingly less believable.

cringe-worthy... makes little sense … doesn't even stay consistent to its own plot developments.

That sure sounds like a crock of shit to me.

I will get around to watching "Spectre". But my limited excitement for the film isn't being helped by the critical appraisal as well as the luke-warm (at best) sale of the feature by even the principal actors.

Though this might also be a symptom of my general lack of enthusiasm for modern day cinema. Likely 75% of what I've (re-)watched this year was over 30 years old.

Salomé wrote:

Though this might also be a symptom of my general lack of enthusiasm for modern day cinema. Likely 75% of what I've (re-)watched this year was over 30 years old.

I am very much on the same page here, the desire to hit a new movie is countered by the fact that I find them increasingly populated by people either I don't care about or else find overly obnoxious......as to its reflection on my overall Bond fan status then I would confess that Craig's tenure is not something I am a fan of, my enjoyment of Skyfall being the exception rather than the rule. Increasingly for a 'new' film it is a case of 'wait for the blu-ray' and further even - rent before deciding to buy etc.

Control wrote:

What's yours?

I nominate the scene that shows Bond shooting two captors and breaking from his restraints while blindfolded.

Straight out of a Marvel "Incredible Hulk" film.

"Bond tough. Bond kill bad guy. Bond good guy."

More like "Fat Steven" period Seagal to me
In the context of the Marvel Universe there is nothing improbable about the Hulk breaking restraints while blindfolded and dealing to a couple of villains

FieldsMan wrote:

You know, I'd probably go with that as well. On my first watch, I thought why didn't he just do something like that in the van. But it fits in with Craig's invincible Bond, one who runs through walls and rams a plane into the back of a car that has the person he's supposed to protect in the back seat.

Actually, I'm gunna go with that. Ramming a plane into the back of the car.

That was worthy of Roger Moore, although somehow it reminded me more of the violin case scene in TLD, probably because of the snow

I'm going to stick with taking a train ride into the middle of the desert and wait for the villain to send his roller to pick you up
That's just lazy, an insult to the audience, pure MTV Bond, we won't put even minimal effort into coming up with any sort of cover story or planning for his visit, or have him try to sneak in undercover of darkness, just let the audience fill that bit in themselves, based on the previous movies, they've seen it so many times before they won't miss it

Blofeld should just have left them to die of thirst

Erica Ambler wrote:

Once you can't be bothered to watch even a new Bond film then maybe this isn't the forum for you, but, hell, that applies to Lazenby...

Speaking of Lazenby, I thought this was Craig's most "Lazenby-esque" performance yet

Underplaying is all very well, but Craig is in danger of over doing it IMO

bitchcraft wrote:

Bond still having his sense of balance after not only having a needle drilled into that region of his head that was supposed to fuck it up, but his neck as well. He not only gets up but shoots his way out and blows up the whole lair.

I'm guessing that the first needle worked like vertigo. I have had some really bad cases when the pressure in my ears is different; it feels like I am about to fall over and I get nauseous, but it goes away when the pressure equilises. I assume that, in addition to the pain and Bond's senses being thrown out of order, he would have had the world's worst case of vertigo on top of it - but when the needle was removed, the pain would have gone away, his senses would have resumed normal function, and the vertigo would have passed.

As for the second needle, that was straight-up psycological torture. Sure, the threat of being unable to recognise anyone is terrifying, but once done, the physical torture loses its effect - Bond would not recognise Blofeld at all, while Blofeld wants him to know and appreciate his reasoning for the torture. So when the needle comes out and Bond still recognises Blofeld and Swann, there is a moment of temporary relief ... but then the next needle in might do it, and if not that one, the next one, or the one after that.

The film is clearly trying to set Blofeld up as an evil criminal mastermind whose judgement is compromised by his irrational hatred of Bond. Where others who represent a clear threat to Spectre are eliminated relatively quickly, effectively and efficiently, Blofeld is driven to distraction by the need to prolong Bond's suffering. I think that it's a really interesting take on the character, and one of the strongest points of the film.

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

The film is clearly trying to set Blofeld up as an evil criminal mastermind whose judgement is compromised by his irrational hatred of Bond. Where others who represent a clear threat to Spectre are eliminated relatively quickly, effectively and efficiently, Blofeld is driven to distraction by the need to prolong Bond's suffering. I think that it's a really interesting take on the character, and one of the strongest points of the film.

Maybe, but Blofeld's hatred of Bond shouldn't be rooted in daddy issues, and further, when Bond was in temporary care. If anything, the distraction that is Blofeld's hatred of Bond should stem from Bond's constant interference in their affairs as an organisation.

Plus, I think there is something more interesting in the protagonist and antagonist having a mutual respect for each other, rather than the black/white relationship of hating each other because they're fighting for their respective sides.

FieldsMan wrote:

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

The film is clearly trying to set Blofeld up as an evil criminal mastermind whose judgement is compromised by his irrational hatred of Bond. Where others who represent a clear threat to Spectre are eliminated relatively quickly, effectively and efficiently, Blofeld is driven to distraction by the need to prolong Bond's suffering. I think that it's a really interesting take on the character, and one of the strongest points of the film.

Maybe, but Blofeld's hatred of Bond shouldn't be rooted in daddy issues, and further, when Bond was in temporary care. If anything, the distraction that is Blofeld's hatred of Bond should stem from Bond's constant interference in their affairs as an organisation.

Plus, I think there is something more interesting in the protagonist and antagonist having a mutual respect for each other, rather than the black/white relationship of hating each other because they're fighting for their respective sides.

The patricide angle (or "daddy issues"), like in SPECTRE, will likely be irrelevant by the next film anyway because of the more immediate events like Blofeld's organization being crumbled by Bond, which anger Blofeld. He never seemed to give much of a damn about Bond prior to that. He was probably jealous of Bond as a youth, but by adulthood he had moved far beyond that and Bond was just a fly to pick at.

One thing I want to see in a follow up is the Blofeld that was in the YOLT novel. I like the idea of Blofeld haven been driven to mania during his seclusion. He goes off on rants about how his organization's goals were purely humanitarian and that he was simply doing everyone a favor, but they're too stupid to understand his genius. It's the one aspect of Blofeld from the novels that has yet to be explored in the films.

FieldsMan wrote:

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

The film is clearly trying to set Blofeld up as an evil criminal mastermind whose judgement is compromised by his irrational hatred of Bond. Where others who represent a clear threat to Spectre are eliminated relatively quickly, effectively and efficiently, Blofeld is driven to distraction by the need to prolong Bond's suffering. I think that it's a really interesting take on the character, and one of the strongest points of the film.

Maybe, but Blofeld's hatred of Bond shouldn't be rooted in daddy issues, and further, when Bond was in temporary care. If anything, the distraction that is Blofeld's hatred of Bond should stem from Bond's constant interference in their affairs as an organisation.

Plus, I think there is something more interesting in the protagonist and antagonist having a mutual respect for each other, rather than the black/white relationship of hating each other because they're fighting for their respective sides.

Oh, I think the more immediate events will take priority; the irrational hatred simply has its origins in their shared childhood. Although I wonder if some of the details published in the hack were cut; there was talk that Blofeld was himself adopted, which would make his irrational hatred more believable.

I don't think that the idea of "shared mutual respect" would work, though, because Blofeld's position is indefensible. I think Bond can acknowledge his cunning and guile, but I don't think he can respect Blofeld.