Last Bond Movie You Watched.

Yes, would've made more sense if Bond's resetting of the timer basically stuffed Trevelyan's chances of escaping the facility unharmed ("the same six minutes you gave me") and he subsequently defected. No random Russian-Cossack ancestry.

'Course the typical interpretation is that Trevelyan staged his death and wanted Bond as a witness. Which makes sense, because you'd just assume that Bond would dodge all the bullets of a battalion of soldiers with automatic weaponry and then ride a motorbike off a cliff, catch up to a falling plane, and get in the cockpit in time to safely fly the plane to the other side of the Iron Curtain rather than the bottom of a cliff.

Makeshift Python wrote:

FieldsMan wrote:

And from memory, Augustus didn't survive passed France's draft, and it was Caine's idea for Trevelyan to be younger and then give him the Lienz Cossack backstory.

It's been a long time since I've read the first draft, but I'm surprised if the Lienz Cossack backstory was added AFTER making Trevelyan younger.

HGTB wrote:

Good lord are these available to read somewhere!?!?!?!!!!

This thread my be of interest:

https://bondandbeyond.forumotion.com/t2851-michael-france-goldeneye

Plus, Some Kind of Hero confirms this/gives more insight to the development outside of France's draft. Fascinating stuff. I don't believe Caine's draft exists in cyberspace, but I'd love to be proven wrong and given a link so I can read it!

Hilly wrote:

inspired mostly by Fields

Music to my ears.

Shame Bianchi doesn't do it for you. I think she's a tremendous Bond girl. Give her scenes a rewatch. She's not only entirely useful, but a Bond girl honeytrap is a severely underused idea in the Bond canon, and it's something they've done well. She gives Bond so much to work through to determine her validity as an asset and outwit her just in case. Intriguing character and dynamic and only two films into the series (granted, fifth book, but also one of Fleming's highlights, too!). And Bianchi is gorgeous. Overall, I'm not sure the dubbing helped any of the 60s Bond girls. The most successful I feel was Gayson (why she was dubbed is a mystery) and then probably Bianchi.

CJB wrote:

Yeah, the whole backstory to Trevelyan feels like an afterthought in the final film. Even if you suspend disbelief as one typically would for a Bond film, you're being asked to believe that the 35 year old spawn of Nazi-collaborating, primitive horsefolk somehow ended up in England in the middle of the Cold War, went to the "right schools," and was recruited to MI6 without a hitch? And then as revenge for his father's suicide, he wants to destroy the UK's financial system with a space laser? But it's not just that, he also wants to be "richer than God" which is exactly what you'd expect someone supposedly from a fundamentalist Orthodox Christian background to say.

I can buy Sean Bean as someone not only older than Bond, but by several years. Some people in their mid fifties (Brad Pitt, for example) look several years younger, though Daniel Craig would have you believe otherwise. Plus, there's also the 9 year time jump to consider. Ideally, maybe some make up work should have happened after the PTS.

As for the logistics, I don't think it's totally unbelievable for the British to have organised a young Alec to be transported to England after his parents had died. Since the British were responsible for handing them over, MI6 officials could have easily escorted him to Britain and render him Ward of Court.

And the "richer than God" quip is mere arrogance. Perhaps the scheme is compensation for the loss of the life he could have had.

BI wrote:

They could've ditched all that and possibly had Alec's bitterness towards the situation Bond left him in ('headshot' not necessary, I daresay being left behind in an exploding chemical weapons plant is anger-making enough) as his motivation and had him target MI6.

God no. That would make both Bond and Alec rather stupid and childish. Why would Bond leave his friend? He never has before. And Alec redirecting a space laser to target MI6 (funds?) because of a facial scar? Hmmmm....

Am not saying the 'space laser' would necessarily have to be Alec's method of targeting MI6.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

They could've ditched all that and possibly had Alec's bitterness towards the situation Bond left him in ('headshot' not necessary, I daresay being left behind in an exploding chemical weapons plant is anger-making enough) as his motivation and had him target MI6 specifically rather than London generically (although that would've left TWINE needing a different story, granted).

Sounds pretty similar to SKYFALL, only it's Bond that makes the judgement to leave an agent to die. Certainly would fit in with the line "somehow I knew 007 was always loyal to the mission and never to his friends". We kinda got that in the OHMSS novel where Bond coldly turns a blind eye on Campbell in order to finish his mission, as much as he hates to do that to a fellow colleague.

The Living Daylights

Had a whole thing written last night but my laptop died. Salient points: I'll always like Dalton, some of his facial expressions and tone -to me- fit the literary Bond. I half imagined his face peering through cigarette smoke in a scene with Le Chiffre. Yes, the one-liners don't always sit but then something seems to crop up to truncate, winding up a car window, plane about to crash etc.

It's a solid enough film throughout but for the typical Glen touches. In the more 'serious' films that came with Craig, you wouldn't have Dench's M possessing a field office in a Hercules for example (nor pyramids, submarines etc). For some reason that desk gag (for gag I assume it is) is a touch annoying.
I always like seeing actors in the thick of it and seeing Dalton on some of the on-location close-ups in Gib' seal the deal. Likewise the airbase battle, seeing Krabbe and Wisniewski in long shots for example also work (though there's something almost comical about Koskov's "you'll destroy the plane!" and his lines therein).

Musically it has touches of the late 80s of course but otherwise a cold feeling to it that works. The Sniper Was a Woman, Ice Chase for example but beautiful scores that work with some good camera work in Afghanistan's scenes. I know JB wasn't thrilled with a-Ha (the name alone) but I do like the TLD instrumental that crops up in Hercules Take Off etc. As always, good to see the maestro cameo at the end. It seals his time with Bond suitably. There are those who say John Williams should cameo in Episode IX to sign off his involvement with Star Wars...

Cast wise, strong enough. D'abo I don't quite mind (coming after my Bianchi comments I'm not one to judge). There's an innocence to Kara in spite of the fact that when you see her early on, she's wielding a sniper rifle (indeed, gadgets seem to not be a Dalton-Bond strongpoint. *His* rifle seems far too fancy -if Bond can have one that is compact and fits in a briefcase in FRWL, perhaps so for Bratislava) but then she goes one way, than the other and though her doe-eyed nonsense crops up at the airbase battle ("James! James!") she is there for some good lines to/from Dalton ("Now, what about later?!"/"You're calling me a horse's ass!?")

I like Saunders. Him and Koskov contrast well. Koskov you find yourself warming to from the off and then he's an utter shit (and melodramatic- "How you say...put away") whereas Saunders you're a touch cold with, what a bastard and then his death is so stirring. I love Dalton in most of this film. Highpoints- PTS when you first see him, the narrowing of the eyes, the MI6 briefing at Bladings ("Death to Spies...minister"), the fair ("Yes, I got the message"), with Pushkin ("That was damn stupid!") and even in the car with the women ("Take it all").

John Rhys-Davies is a delight, Necros is a potent enough villain and even Whitaker has some good points though I find that Koskov and Necros dwarf him enough. There's even something good about Caroline Bliss. She's ideal for Dalton's Bond, as much as I love Lois Maxwell, had she continued it would have seem quite disjointed (though didn't Dalton do a film with Mae West?). The shame is that in the second film she has nothing with his Bond and there was no third Dalton film. Would she have worked if in Goldeneye with Brosnan? Was it even an option? I doubt it.

And Felix? We always mocked him on the old forum for the WWIII line but what about the next utterance, not just the "well, you got me!" but that expression before him like he's about to deliver Lawrence of Arabia's blood curdling NO PRISONNNNERS!

To borrow a quote from SNL's old Bill Clinton: "I love this movie!"

Good one, Hilly. Never thought of Saunders and Koskov as contrasting each other. Interesting observation. I remember Saunders being my favourite ally for a long time when I first discovered TLD. At the time, I was writing fanfics and there was definitely a villain I'd written with him in mind. Don't hear much of Wheatley these days.

Hilly KCMG wrote:

*His* rifle seems far too fancy -if Bond can have one that is compact and fits in a briefcase in FRWL

It was the 80's, everything was bigger.

Also, maybe a dumb question, but is it entirely clear how Necros killed Saunders? Squish him between the automatic doors?

He has fitted a device to the mechanism that controls the opening/closing of the cafe's automatic doors, which he then triggers to close the doors much faster than usual as Saunders is leaving through them.

Given the fair-goers reaction to Bond drawing his gun in a public place shortly afterwards, it actually 'holds water' logically over a somewhat simpler gunshot.

I'd say that's it in a nutshell, Blunty.

Just my thoughts, Fields, on the 'contrast'. I'm sure none was intended but it struck me this time round that the two sort of go through this change opposite the other. Poor Wheatley doesn't even warrant his own Wiki page apparently. The only thing I can recall him in was one of the last Auf Wiedersehen, Pet things they did a decade or so ago.

Are you really Colombian?

Licence to Kill
(pre-empting the 30th anniversary viewing but I’ll gladly revisit later in the year)

if you do TLD, it's only fair you do the other Dalton. Too short a season. Hold on chaps, Hilly goes long.

I'm skipping past the look of the film -without sounding facetious, I always choose to look past it and what we have. I remember on the old forum launching spirited defences of this film and I still hold it high. Top 5 high which always makes eyes water.

The lengthy PTS you wouldn't have Sir Roge's Bond doing outside of the parachuting into a wedding perhaps. Sets the film up well enough -on one hand we have Felix going after a drug dealer and on the other, we have the music which from the off lets you know that of course John Barry isn't doing the gig anymore. (I skip the title song, song's good enough yes but to me doesn't quite fit the overall tone of the film. What I expected I don't know).

From the off it's good to see Bond is on one hand slightly attracted to Pam (at least there's something in that first look) and that he seems to have an instant dislike to Kilifer when he first meets him.
Indeed, to use the same expression, from the off the tone of the film after the titles goes right into an area we're perhaps not used to or at once, is quite concentrated. Sanchez has already demonstrated the man that he is in the PTS by beating his girlfriend, then there’s Felix’s (and off screen, Della’s) fate. By the time poor Felix is fed to the sharks it’s quite clear we’re not in regular Bond territory (Del Toro’s “hoooonnneyyyyymooon!” is still quite chilling).

To me, Davi’s Sanchez is one of the best villains in a Bond film. He’s probably the most ‘real’ of all villains –he’s a damn drug lord. He’s charismatic and deadly, there’s a sinister joy he has when Felix is about to hit the water (Felix’s facial expression after the “today is the first day of the rest of your life” is somehow quite brilliant). There’s also something about his trust and loyalty first to Kilifer (he seems to genuinely think this guy is one to keep) and then Bond. His scenes are all a delight- check out that look he gives his henchman late on, a simple slight flick of the eyes that conveys a lot.

(Honourable mention first to Benecio del Toro, who again is one a very real villain and a creepy little shit to boot -he at least is probably the only Bond villain to twig Bond but also to Anthony Zerbe. I can imagine this Krest being exactly the same as the one in Fleming’s short story. I’m a huge fan of Mr Zerbe and he’s not too bad in this film –“Mr…/”Goodbye”- his death perhaps a top 5 most grisly Bond death). Don Stroud isn’t too bad (the last thing I watched him in was this week, an episode of Ironside and it’s fair to say he’s better here than in that).

More contrasts albeit not the same as Koskov/Saunders. In Sharkey we have a decent ally –poor man is taxed from the off but he’s likeable and his death is a top 5 one. Like Kerim Bey, like Vijay and even like Ferrera to a point in FYEO, it’s keenly felt –especially underlined by the “His name really was Sharkey!” which demeans him further. And then in Kilifer there’s a near instant dislike to him- there’s something slimey about him and then you see him sell out our beloved Felix. His death is satisfying to a point. Bond’s pay off is brilliant.
“What a terrible waste!”
[cue Bond’s absolute killer of an expression]
“Of money!”

Pam is the latest in a long line of Bond women who can handle herself. I’d say skill-wise she’s probably on par with Ms Goodhead. She knows her trade and then some (helicopter pilot in some danger zones), she’s a Goodhead that’s been refined, sharpened and thrown out there. Yes, yes I prefer her with longer hair but then that’s my thing- I quite like her even after that. (I’m not mentioning much of Ms Sato. Attractive yes but acting wise, Jesus wept).

Good to see David Hedison in action one more time as Felix, albeit after sixteen years. (Hope yet, that John Terry could return!). Though I figured drug stuff is more the purview of the FBI rather than CIA?

Likewise, how good is to see Q having probably his biggest outing? Though it’s a touch off that SIS’ top armourer would off to South America just like that to help Bond, he has some good scenes and moments (being there for Pam’s curt “Bullshit!”). Bond and Q having to share a double-room is quite funny in its way. Something you’d expect in a Moore film complete with shot of Bond trying to sleep.

And finally, Dalton. As good a performance as Daylights. His scenes with Felix early on are ten times better than  in TLD (it’s a pity, personally, Hedison did not have at least one more Bond film as Felix) and there’s the scene with M. There’s something akin to Bond’s scene with M in OHMSS when he wants to go after Blofeld at Piz Gloria. “We’re not a country club, 007!” (Though M chides the other, one assumes they’re SIS, agents not to shoot as it’d cause a scene. A- you just let your guys shoot at Bond and B-anyone with half a sense would surely see the rifle toting agent on the tower).
To me it’s somehow natural that Bond would go after someone who has hurt his friend and murdered/raped his friend’s new wife.

Again, as in TLD, Dalton has some killer Fleming-Bond expressions. When he’s with M at Hemingway’s House, with the narcotics mob (“Piss off!”), his second scene on the boat with Lopez (“It’s Sanchez’s way you seem to like it”), even in response to Della at the wedding (nice touch linking Dalton to Tracy somehow)

Not to mention the action scenes –the helicopter, the skiing scene onto the plane (top ten Bond action scene. I like that moment where Bond slashes at the camera more than I should), the lorry scene late on…everything really (evening the nightclub. Fleming’s Bond might not be caught dead in a dive in Flordia but Dalton does well –got to love when he sorts out Dario’s buddy).

Musically, Kamen does a good job. Key moments are the aforementioned boat scene, the sound of the Bond theme when Bond holds onto the boat driven by Sato and the PTS. It does sort of date the film but not massively. Again, a shame we didn’t either get one more Kamen score or a chance of a third Dalton to see what goes. Surely any third film would’ve had him return to the fold. A DAD-esque scene with Dalton meeting M at the Lost Tube Station.

Ah well. In an alternate reality, perhaps, not only did Lazenby do seven films or maybe Moore wrapped up with FYEO/or Octopussy, but Dalton got to do five films and Brosnan did Casino Royale.

Watch the birdie you bastard.

Nice one, Hilly.

The villains of LTK do feel "real" which is perhaps one of the reasons people criticise it for not feeling Bondian enough given the series made a name for itself with outrageous escapism. In saying that, Davi plays the evil SOB brilliantly.

Dalton does a good job of bringing literary-Bond touches to an ostentatious, very 80's Americanized setting. Though Fleming's Bond is thoroughly English (despite Fleming pulling a quasi-JK Rowling manoeuvre and making him Scottish/Swiss after the fact) the Welshness in Dalton's accent really lends itself to conveying a sense of menace; elegant yet slightly piratical is how I'd describe both the voice and the character himself.

Good right up, Hilly. I too prefer Pam with the longer do. And Hedison popping up in TLD instead of Terry would have been better. Good summary of the villainy in this film, too. Davi is excellent, Zerbe's a great choice for Krest and del Toro is, as you say, a chillingly creepy little shit. I remember discovering LTK for the first time and relishing Davi and del Toro's performance just as much as they did. The latter's 'honeymooooonn' line particularly. And not sure what it is, but the camera and actors' movement in this shot:

https://youtu.be/t10mNXtfdUw?t=123

(great tribute video too, if you haven't seen it)

Apt timing with this review as I'm sure it's well and truly time to move from Moonraker onto the next anniversary. 3 months from now we'll move to TWINE, then OHMSS for Christmas.

Thanks fellas, it went on a tangent but thanks again :) I'll check out the vid shortly, Fields.

I must confess I forgot which anniversary was which.

It is a little funny that Hedison has that long a gap between films. Must be a very simple reason but all the same it's kind of weird. From Moore's very first to Dalton's last.

Can you imagine a third Dalton hot on the heels of this, say in 1991? A different director...?

IIRC, Roger Spottiswoode was touted as a director for Dalton's third Bond.

As for the vid - it's just because it features one second of the shot I was talking about. But I found a still for that other thread. As you were

http://www.007.info/the-bond-film-that-nearly-was-daltons-third/

A reminder of what nearly happened in terms of a third Dalton flick.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

http://www.007.info/the-bond-film-that-nearly-was-daltons-third/

A reminder of what nearly happened in terms of a third Dalton flick.  

Nice. I always find it admirable that Dalton held on as long as he did to play Bond again. I mean for any actor surely five years or so is a long period (and yes he worked in that time) but some surely would have had less patience. Reading that it's a case of the saddest words being -what might have been. Sounds like it segued into Goldeneye a little.

---

Apropos from nowhere, saying I needed a film to take my mind off things, I decided to venture into

Live and Let Die

Dalton this ain't, to borrow an expression. In a weird way, saying I watched TSWLM a little while ago, it's a very brief Rimmer tribute as our late Supermarionation star dubbed the chap who's killed early on. The camera work makes me wonder though if when you see him facing the Fillet O'Soul, if it's somewhere like Pinewood and the sidelong shots on location. Something about it.

But I guess with Hedison lurking in my mind being fed to sharks I wanted to see him in action prior. LALD is a murky film. It bored me to tears as a child (and I was likely not helped by my Dad's stories of it being the first in a double-header when he went to the cinema after '73 and had to sit through it to see the second. Apparently you couldn't just turn up for the second). It's a film that seems to reach a point and then there's more coming.

But...here we go. I do, Fieldsy, sit through the title sequence. Lyrics make no sense as is usually the way with Bond songs ("He strikes like thunderball….") but it's a damn catchy tune. It's Moore's first and hot on the heels of his Persuaders stint. There is a touch of Brett Sinclair when M barges into the home, mentions three chaps killed and the mention of the lattermost, Baines prompt to say he liked him as they had the same bootmaker! I do like the glimpse of Bond's flat, like Connery's it seems quite smaller than what I envisaged Fleming's Bond to live in.
M's line about the taxpayer knowing how our money is spent on ordnance is tickle worthy -(I almost wrote a tongue in cheek FF where Bond is hauled in before someone from the Treasury who since 1962 has had to come up with ways of covering things Bond has done).
Only Moore’s Bond can paraglide smoking a cigar and then strip off to reveal a suit. Well, I guess that and Connery in Goldfinger. (And remark about his clothes, “that one is a little frantic” definite Sinclair line.

Felix is brilliant from the off. Again, like with his turn in LTK, Hedison comes in after a somewhat unfortunate stint by Norman Burton (good actor but too old for Felix me-fears, or at least older looking). Hedison I grew up with Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and since anything he's in I love (even the TJ Hooker pilot as he's so delightfully slimey. And again, in a Fall Guy episode where he's pulling one over so to speak over the beautiful Anne Lockhart). The "there's no need for name calling" line makes me laugh -just the way he does it. I believe Hedison and Sir Roge were mates from acting days in Blighty and it shows if this was the case. It's therefore all the more brilliant he seems to gel with Dalton. In one film he's dealing with a shall we say comical Bond and in the last the most serious. (His knitting a flag line I've managed to wrangle into conversation. Seriously).

“Intensive care but she’ll pull through!”

Gloria Hendry, oh no. Oh dear. (I do like Bond’s line to her when they’re accompanied by the LALD theme). Sadly a fairly incompetent agent.

Quarrel Junior, what are the odds? Are we lucky Dalton did not team up with Quarrel III?

The trick with the snake in the hotel, nice.

Clifton James somehow a fantastic delight in spite of the years passed since 1973. “On whose side” is smashing and his smart-ass line is tickle worthy.

Yaphet Kotto is not bad, it see-saws –the Mr Big bit quite frankly is weird. Though the tombstone line is quite brilliant.

Jane Seymour. Ah, ever since Battlestar Galactica I had a massive crush on her (a Warrior’s uniform does wonder for the women of BSG78). Like a fine wine she has matured well. She doesn’t do too badly in LALD and does prompt the half-cocked line which Moore should’ve been awarded a medal for (that and his reaction Hendry’s scream when she vanishes into the bathroom –I mean it’s so subtle and yet kind of ‘oh shit, what now’). What a bastard Kananga is properly laying her out with that punch.

Now, I may have sounded like I was driving the score into the ground on other threads but it does have plenty for it. For example, I do like "Bond to New York" even if the clip of the Pan-Am 747 (supposedly travelling to New York is partially over land!). Then you have Whisper Who Dares with some gloriously 70s sounding effects. The music for when Bond first meets Solitaire is somehow enough to convey the seriousness that Bond is facing death albeit via a brief show of voodoo cards (how funny they need her to read cards to tell if Bond is armed).
Always forget LALD contains a swear word –nothing earthshattering nowadays but funny.
New York is at its best in the 70s on film and LALD was no exception. It's a shame really, we didn't either get Connery or Dalton in New York City. I suspect if Craig did a NYC based film half of New York would be strewn with broken Aston's.

The gags semi-started in DAF go full here. Wrapping a toy snake length-wise, sheer magnetism, a genuine Felix Lighter etc.

The action isn’t all bad. You were never going to get Moore laying into people a la Lazenby or Connery. The bus scene –well, if later in film Schwarzenegger could go toe to toe with the bad guy in Red Heat driving a sodding bus so can James Bond in 1973.
I wish Fleming had lived long enough to see some of the films after FRWL. He would’ve been what almost sixty-eight but I reckon OHMSS, DAF and LALD in particular would give him palpitations.

Indeed LALD was the one I least grabbed for as a kid because it dragged despite some very effective moments and characters. Say what you will of Pepper but he brightened an otherwise dreary second half.

There's just not enough tension, danger and momentum to keep the film going. That said, the last couple of rewatches I've enjoyed more. It still probably won't push past the fifth last spot on my ranking, but it certainly won't fall passed SP, QOS and CR06.

Good to see Hedison get more love. Always thought he was a great Felix.

Usually feels with the film that just when you think it's winding down, something is tacked on. Like the boat chase -now it's probably one of the better parts but when it ends, there's a whole other chunk, more and the ending always feels somewhat against the flow of the film before. Kananga is a bastard but in the climax he's just nutty. Perhaps losing Solitaire made him crazier.

I'm not touching TMWTGG though. I'm likelier to reach for DAF.

Did The Spy Who Loved Me over the weekend, in tribute to Shane Rimmer. His Commander Carter is a great presence in the film and his sarcastic "you got a date?" to one of his men always elicits a chuckle. There's good chemistry between himself and Rog so always a pleasure to see him on screen.  

I can understand how TSWLM is seen as a celebration of James Bond up until that point, a means to rejuvenate the series after TMWTGG and a three year break. Perhaps without it, the future of Bond would have been threatened, and for that I'll always appreciate it.

There's a tightly plotted film up until, well, I'm inclined to say Egypt (around the 20 minute mark) but in reality, it's probably until the "Egyptian builders" scene. As humorous as Rog's quips are in the subsequent car scene with the terrifying image of Jaws ripping the roof off, Bond's nonchalance removes any sense of danger. It's here when the remaining Egyptian portion starts to fall apart for me. A minor gripe is that we're lead to believe Anya is Bond's opposite number - Gogol's best agent - and yet she has to have to men follow her around for her to give orders to? "I'm sorry about [Russian] and [Russian] - they exceeded their orders". What were these orders exactly?

Shame that Lois Maxwell is relegated to long shots, presumedly to hide her age, and two very short scenes.

The film picks up again in Sardinia, but again, Stromberg's motivation is not a strong one which is why the film overall never really grabbed me like most others have. There's the ghost of Blofeld and SPECTRE permeating in the playing off of the superpowers which would have worked so much better than what we ended up with. Creating a world beneath the sea screams of a quick brainstorm to justify neo-Blofeld's Stromberg's actions but it's too cartoonish for me. It's also a colossal waste of Jurgens' booming presence and villainy. Now him playing Blofeld? He could have very well been the best. Jurgens' gives so much weight to Stromberg who's otherwise very boringly characterised. He works best in his earliest scenes because we've yet to work out why he's doing what he's doing.

All that aside, it IS classic Bond. I don't think it will ever crack my top 10, but thanks to Daniel Craig's era, it won't fall into the bottom 5. I really dig the scenes at the Navy base, with Bond, the minister, the admiralty, Q, etc. Gives a sense of urgency and scale, though that diminishes when Bond reaches Egypt. Anya has all the makings of a great Bond girl but not sure Bach is up to the task. If there was more focus in Egypt, we could have had more development of their dynamic, and reminder of Bond's involvement of killing of Anya's lover. Maybe their walk in the desert might have been an apt time for Anya to talk about her lover without their joining the dots. Tension would crackle, and as I said, serve as a reminder because it's forgotten about until Anya mentions it Sardinia.

Wasn't Faye Dunaway up for the role (and supposedly very interested, too)? She would have done an ace job in the role.

Also, it occurred to me Bond was actually up against the Russians in the PTS - one of the few times we see that in these films (the others being, what, FYEO, briefly in AVTAK and the GE PTS?)...

You guys are killing me. I was the opposite and still am-to me LALD is the one all out adventure film of the series. I think only the boat chase is too long and could be shortened but everything else feels intrinsic to the story and despite not having the inherent grandeur feeling of DAF-LALD is a more focused and faster paced film. It's darker in tone, a bit grittier and Bond is a cold bastard in spots as he should be yet can be the definition of debonair in another. And he is shown to be a fully intelligent, capable field agent who tears apart Kanaga's empire piece by piece just as in the novel.

Outside of Jack Lord, Hedison has and will always be my favorite Felix. He's definitely the only one to really hammer home the fact that these two are supposed to be friends. Almost every other line in the film or shot has another inspired Mankiewicz touch and I still think he and Hamilton sparked ideas off of each other like crazy.

The setpiece buildups are out of this world, the score builds incredible tension so that even seemingly minor moments are iconic such as the nighttime hang gliding entry, 007 to NYC, checking out the Oh Cult Voodoo Shop and even the placement of the Martin version of the JB theme adds a dark undercurrent of excitement to Bond's entry into the villain's HQ in Harlem.

But the big moments are undoubtedly:
-the bus chase culminating in one of the series best stunts. And the thing is it's a small moment but built up so well that it never fails to amaze AND IMO thus tops the DAF two wheel alley exit because in the bus chase there is an element of danger present and more of a buildup to the shearing off of the top level.
-the climax of the voodoo rites, choreographed by Holder and scored by Martin to such a perfectionist level that for a moment you feel as if you are tied to the stake yourself.
-The alligator farm: the setup to the sequence, villain's hidden plot point reveal, sadistic henchmen, seemingly inescapable death trap, the gadget that then proves useless...all designed to milk every last second to keep the audience tense and guessing until it seems there is absolutely no way out. Then comes what is arguably the best action beat in the series with the jumping across the backs-because it has been built up so incredibly well that only the FRWL train figh tand GF Oddjob fight tops it in terms of buildup. But you're not given much room to breathe because the music suddenly switches tone and Bond systematically engulfs Kananga's hidden plant in flames before diving into the lone jetboat for his escape.

TMWTGG has some dumb moments yes. It has some raunchy moments too. It has the feeling of being for lack of a better term even lackluster in a few places.
But it just plain works. And has truly inspired bits throughout. It could and should have been better but it's really a good film in spite of its flaws and dated qualities I think. To me is suffers most of all from being at the point of the Broccoli-Salztman breakup, and the public awareness having shifted away in 1974.

But this film has a pissed off Bond, some of Mank's absolute best witticisms, what I think is Lee's best performance, achingly beautiful score cues by Barry, some of Maibaum's style back in the writing, a dark underlying tone and the immortal Herve.

If one could simply make Goodnight not a pure buffoon and give Andrea some more characterization then the film overall would be thought of better.

I've quoted both of these films on almost a daily basis most of my lifetime. I still like to pull out a FORGOT TO TELL YOU!, I admit it's a bit kinky, Phuyuck, Tabasco!, To the nearest pharmacy, chap who made the bullet 007!, of all the fouled up half witted..., jealous husbands-outraged chefs-humiliated tailors the list is endless 007! among many many others.

The moment when Scaramaga comes to the junk bedroom and pulls the golden gun on Andrea is one of the most staggeringly original moments in the series and perhaps my favorite moment of Lee in any film.

Fields I have the opposite reaction for Spy. I think it gets better with age and is perhaps the best self contained two hour Bond film in terms of having everything without losing realism or going overboard. i don't think it ever loses the sense of danger as Jaws can still come across as quite striking or even scary at points. (Glen's jump scares notwithstanding!!!)

The editing is very good overall I would argue but you're spot on with Stromberg being an obvious SPECTRE replacement and the whole laid back characterization really undoes tension for the audience. however I like Jurgens in the role and like that the villain is different this time around and actually insane. Some of Stromberg's monologues and closeups are quite good-but his is a different sort of menace to say perhaps his structural clone Drax who is far more shall we say active in his participation.

I disagree on the killing reveal as it is placed right when they have developed a bond and thus the reveal shatters that connection and ups the ante for the final act because now Bond has an ally determined to kill him.

I've heard Dunaway was up for a film but wasn't sure which one.

Yes but remember it's indirectly. It always indirectly whether it's Russian or Chinese involvement up until FYEO and there they still use Kristatos as their buffer.

I've always found the Egyptian scenes to be the weakest in TSWLM. You've got:

- The Lawrence of Arabia goofiness
- Bond punching on with a slow-moving fat guy
- That unintentionally funny Logan's Run-esque synth effects when Jaws is illuminated at the pyramids
- Jaws chomping on those blokes
- The silly scene in the ruins and subsequent goofy van antics

The best things going for LALD are the one liners and Martin's music. Then the ensemble of villain and supporting characters. The problem is the plotting. Like most of Tom's Bond screenplays, it's light on story but heavy on cracking dialogue. All of LALD is wrapped up in one scene and while it's a great one, it leaves the rest of the film feeling rather empty. I'm not sure LALD qualifies as an all-out adventure film - I'd say TSWLM and OP really encapsulate that. LALD feels too low-key, but not in the same league as DN, whereby that film has a potent mystery to puzzle together which a very active 007 who never lets up the fantastical nature of it all.

I don't mean to say TSWLM isn't ageing well. I'd agree it does get better with age, but I can also see that where the film fails especially when compared to others in the series-- and when compared with what Bond is all about. I absolutely believe, however, that TSWLM does teeter on the edge of going overboard - if not there already in parts. It's an excellent set up with a rather poor reason for it (underwater city). That's all. And the saying about the protagonist being only as good as their antagonist rings true here I'm afraid. It's my least favourite of Moore's portrayals. There's a harder edge to his other films sans MR, whereby in that film it's Rog amplified - playing to his strengths. Here, he's a rather diluted version which becomes all the more apparent when the excellent subplot is ignored/underused and you're left somewhat unsatisfied. If Stromberg is a diluted Blofeld, unfortunately so is Bond.

I still enjoy this movie - don't get me wrong. The tone especially helps with allowing you to go along for the ride; it never betrays its own identity. With a little more focus on the Bond/Anya dynamic, a stronger motivation for Stromberg and a tighter Egyptian portion, it would be top 5 material (though a John Barry score wouldn't go astray, either).

CJB wrote:

I've always found the Egyptian scenes to be the weakest in TSWLM. You've got:

- The Lawrence of Arabia goofiness
- Bond punching on with a slow-moving fat guy
- That unintentionally funny Logan's Run-esque synth effects when Jaws is illuminated at the pyramids
- Jaws chomping on those blokes
- The silly scene in the ruins and subsequent goofy van antics

Jaws' killings of Fekkesh and Kalba, and Bond and Anya stalking a bizarre villain in an exotic location in evening dress sits very well with me. It encapsulates so much of what Bond is about. Everything else you mention I agree with. That's what I mean that. with a bit of focus, it would be so much better. That's why it sits alongside DAD, YOLT and OP for me - they all suffer from similar cosmetic flaws.

FieldsMan wrote:

Shame that Lois Maxwell is relegated to long shots, presumedly to hide her age, and two very short scenes.

And yet she was in 4 after that, and I don't recall her being restricted to long shots in those.

She didn't have any close ups in Moonraker. But yes, there's a return to form from FYEO-AVTAK.