Last Bond Movie You Watched.

Hilly KCMG wrote:

It looks like a proper Cold War film (as much as one could in the late 80s), chiefly the Bratislava scenes but then you have the Afghanistan scenes. Dalton's one-liners are neither here nor there, every time he says something -something is usually happening, the winding up of a window, looking away, animals or whatever. Glen has his detractors but he did alright with this coming after VTAK.

And musically, not a bad way for John Barry to go out.

Pretty much. As an aside, had Octopussy the same focus as The Living Daylights, it probably would have been regarded as highly. 

Good write up about Licence to Kill. Though I like LTK, it does remain in the bottom half due to the fact I like my Bond a little more traditional. The villains are definitely the film's highlight - Sanchez is probably in my top 10 villains and Dario is certainly in the top 10 henchmen. Krest is great, also. He's flirting with danger by flirting with Lupe and adds another level of tension to that excellent Wavekrest sequence. 

The cinematography is the biggest let down, I think. I watched True Lies recently and the photography of Florida Keys was a lot more inviting. But I suppose a grittier narrative calls for grittier cinematography. 

Dalton delivers as always, and I especially love that reflective moment after Sanchez's death. I prefer Dalton in TLD however. It's a more balanced portrayal, which is helped by the writing I imagine. For example, he's enamoured by Kara but Saunders' death brings him back to the reality of the mission and soon realises the collateral damage his job brings.

Was channel-surfing earlier this evening and caught the last 15 minutes or so of LTK ... not that I hadn't noticed before, but MAN ALIVE those explosions during the climactic truck chase are fucking A1.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Was channel-surfing earlier this evening and caught the last 15 minutes or so of LTK ... not that I hadn't noticed before, but MAN ALIVE those explosions during the climactic truck chase are fucking A1.

Hard not to get tickled when you combine that truck chase with Kamen's Bond theme.

And the impacts of the shots Sanchez fires at Bond's truck 'playing' the Bond theme.

Goldfinger then From Russia With Love

the former is light and frothy, musically it's a riot. I don't mind it as such though don't seem as mad on it as I once did. What always tickles is the sight of the old granny blazing away at Bond with the sub-machine gun and Bond's reaction. Didn't realise until looking it up but Cec Linder was a year younger than Lord. And yet...

FRWL feels sharp and refined compared to GF. From the beginning to the sets (always like the chess match room) to the action -one scene that ties action, set and music is the gypsy camp gun battle (indeed, the preceding girl fight is a highlight of its own). Shaw's Red Grant is understated, by saying little he dominates proceedings.
As ever, Kerim Bey is a delight -in league with Draco and Colombo, his charisma is overwhelming. Like Draco, he seems a near perfect capture of the literary version of the character. A favourite moment action wise is indeed when Kerim Bey overturns the table to return fire during the gunfight at the gypsy camp.

John Barry does a fine job, beyond the use of the Bond theme early on (which smacks of filler, a shame) the highlight is undoubtedly '007' (in both forms here, at the gypsy camp and the taking of the lektor) with 'Girl Trouble' and 'Golden Horn' up there.

Trivially, tickled by the idea of the Royal Navy coming in to install a sub's periscope for Station I. If ever depicted in media, somewhere between The Navy Lark and Up the Creek.

It's almost criminal that FRWL jostles with the Dalton's in the region of top 3.

I'm finding myself enjoying GF more nowadays, probably because I'm enjoying the second half a lot more. But you're right in that FRWL is sharper than GF. Superior Bond. 

Connery in his prime edges out both TLD and LTK for me, but married with the geniuses of John Barry, Ted Moore, Richard Maibaum and Terence Young, as well as Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell in their prime, the Dalton's entries haven't a patch on FRWL. You could make a case for TLD, which is a return to form for Maibaum.

I usually have From With Russia With Love level on points with Dalton. 'Ahead' by virtue of coming first.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service 

After a beer with a buddy, a double scotch and a couple of Vespers, I put OHMSS on for my annual viewing. Perhaps it played a part in what I'm about to say next (as well as the fact I had also just put down two of the biggest auditions of my life), but Lazenby equipped himself admirably for the job. A little a rough around the edges, sure, and Hunt assumedly had a big part to play in that, but little things like checking out the women as he talks to Manuel, checking out Playboy as he walks out of the office, or wiping the tears from Tracy's face when they wed keeps him in the moment, which is one of the hardest thing for a 'trained actor'. I would have loved to have seen him grow in the role, perhaps at the expense of DAF, LALD and TMWTGG. 

Interesting how Connery wanted to get back to the DN/FRWL mould of Bond, he left and then they did that (like Brosnan wanting to tone down the extravagance and then after he was booted, they made CR- but went too far the other way, mind). One of my favourite parts of DN is when Connery tells Honey he's scared in the elevator. It would have been nice to see his Bond a little more vulnerable opposite Rigg's Tracy, but it wasn't to be.

I watched it this week and then read the book. Captures the book as well as any of the films all things considered. Little things I noted this time like Bond picking at his cardigan after pressing up against that spike decoration between the lifts on Piz Gloria. The music is exemplary, found myself more moved by the song instrumental at the end than usual. Bond theme is a touch jarring though

Hilly KCMG wrote:

 Little things I noted this time like Bond picking at his cardigan after pressing up against that spike decoration between the lifts on Piz Gloria.

That's what I mean in my post above. Usually an inexperienced actor would tense up and not react accordingly to environment around him. My favourite one is when a lock of hair falls in front of their face and they ask "Am I allowed to move it during the scene?".  

Whether that was Hunt's direction or Lazenby being in the moment I couldn't be certain, but Lazenby does sell it, and such direction would be hard to pull off naturally.

Oh indeed, for someone who had no experience I think he does a good enough job. Not easy for anyone to step in after Connery, still isn't really as each Bond is judged by the original. Like I say, it's a shame he didn't get chance to evolve over a few movies be it three or seven. We might have still said he's naff but one film is tricky personally.

I mention the music, a track that stands out for me in recent re-listens is the sound of the theme as Bond inches out of the cable car barn into the open. Makes it a much more epic moment. Little shame we didn't get the Bond medley (as he goes through his old gadgets) on the official release. Or even the extra use of the theme when he gets fired at in the phone box.

Watched OHMSS myself this afternoon. Looking good on Blu, although funnily enough some of the audio seemed a bit 'off' ... a slight tinny quality to We Have All The Time In The World, for instance.

Is it just me, or even in '69 would the decor in the hotel casino have been considered fucking hideous? Those purple walls ... my eyes, MY EYES!

I guess Casino Royale had its off days. It is shocking that décor.

Talking to someone last night about the Blu-ray apparently the safe cracking scene is absent. At least on North American copies? The colour tint is a touch off.

The mecca would be Lazenby audio restored, the Bond theme removed at the end and Diana Rigg in all her finery.

Haven't watched one all year long.

That's a record.

While I wouldn't have the purple wallpaper in my house, I love the production design purely for the nostalgia of heading into swinging 60s. 

bitchcraft wrote:

Haven't watched one all year long.

That's a record.

Not bad. SPECTRE really killed it for you, huh? 

I haven't watched FRWL for over two years. I've wanted to, but I decided to wait for a particular friend to visit to watch it again. Weeks turn into months, months turn into years...

FieldsMan wrote:

Not bad. SPECTRE really killed it for you, huh? 

That, and Craig's dilly-dallying and making a complete arse of himself with his wrist-slashing comment.

He has to really come good for Bond 25 if he wants forgiveness.

Daniel Craig only signed on to do another one due to the huge paycheck.

It was rather insulting to compare how he sleepwalked through "Spectre" to his work in "Logan Lucky" (a movie he obviously wanted to do a lot more than the most recent Bond movie).

I don't expect a fantastic performance on that basis.

Salomé wrote:

Daniel Craig only signed on to do another one due to the huge paycheck.

It was rather insulting to compare how he sleepwalked through "Spectre" to his work in "Logan Lucky" (a movie he obviously wanted to do a lot more than the most recent Bond movie).

I don't expect a fantastic performance on that basis.

You could be right. Perhaps Craig has reached Connery YOLT-level performance status?

I'm with Salome. Highly doubtful he'll deliver, though I don't think he has even when he put his mind to it. Easily the weakest performer in SF.

Die Another Day

apropos from nothing, felt like bashing back fifteen and a bit years. Why I'm not altogether sure. It meanders off well enough, the one-liners are hit and miss, the acting is what it is and then the camera focus gets all weird (Jinx's jump off the ledge and other scenes), I guess it's the green screen. As the film progresses, the camerawork tries to be a bit fancy -the fast-forward-stop you get in the palace.
Someone tonight said Brosnan played it for laughs, there is a twinkle sometimes but it's no different to the previous outing. Stephens hams it up suitably enough, when dealing with some of his lines you have to I suppose. Pike I've never been here or there (fancy her changing into that outfit once on the Antonov) with and Berry is somehow pointless. And Madsen, bloody tool.
When I first saw this, I was sucked in a little -Bond being captured by the North Koreans seemed huge. It wasn't your average Bond bad guy -there was always something about his near frantic look as he gets lined up to be shot (before twisting his watch and detonating the charges) or when you last see him wrestling with the canopy as the ice ledge descends and the Bond theme flares up.

It does have one of my favourite Bond theme renditions, on the Antonov towards the end. And the sword fight, nuts as it seems nowadays, did escalate sharply. Graves/Moon clearly remembering North Korea and the hovercraft crash and Bond's expression as the fight escalates, like he can't believe this guy's insanity and the sheer ferocity of the attacks. Did chuckle at Bond's vicious right hook towards the end of the fight -a dirty move and one borne from the fight's escalation.

But that's how it ended. Brosnan. Some dodgy one-liners, CGI and the rest. Some lines that simply seem memorable either for their badness or not ("Looks like...your friends...have bailed!")

"Saved by the bell" is when I officially knew the movie would be a pile of shyte. Once you can see a quip coming from a mile away, you know it was written by a monkey on a typewriter.

One thing to be said for DAD is that they clearly thought 'We'd better not drop the ball to this extent when it comes to the 50th anniversary film'.

LTK in my regular marathon. Upon reflection I think the US edit actually succeeds in the feeding of Leiter to the shark. The effect is far better using cutaways and instead of missing the gruesome which when finally seen in the uncut release comes across as almost cartoon-ish like the inflating Krest head, actually works better with the later moment when Sharkey asks how Leiter is leaving Bond to reveal to the audience the extent of Felix's injuries making it hit home even harder.
However all the other trims are just plain bad and awful. The cocaine shredder cut is the only one that still works with some of the unedited version's power but it is still diminished. Worst of all edits is how they ruined the death of Sanchez and magically teleported 007 from the explosion via ruining the staging.

What makes LTK tick is that it brings Bond into the world of the darker 80's action thriller with many flourishes most especially by hiring the composer of Die Hard and Lethal Weapon in addition to pulling some members of the Die Hard cast. But you can't get away from the problems stemming from UA which hurt the budget and forced the move to Mexico which in turn colored the eventual film right down to the labs in Mexico and Florida not being able to produce the essential Bond style. Worst was its pitiful marketing. If you look at box office returns it was #36 in US grosses for 1989 and it becomes obvious it had no chance against juggernauts of that summer. The Dalton era was ruined not by a unwilling public but by critics who didn't give Bond serious thought and for the franchise being tied to a rapidly sinking ship that was UA.
And most of all that Maibaum had to leave early due to the writer's strike. LTK still to me feels vastly underbaked and I can understand why some label it as too TV-ish or run of the mill. However to its credit the entire production team managed to produce an intellectually challenging work that used the 80's tropes much to their advantage and turned them on their head. I feel it really is the best film of 1989-and I adore Batman and many others from that year.

I've said it in other places but for my money there is one undeniable moment where Fleming's Bond breathes onscreen and that is the moment where the bloodied, battered and pained 007 sits on the rock staring at the unfulfilling fruits of his labors. While I think TLD is the far superior film and the last truly great entry in the series to date, LTK is an unmissable gem that endured despite the hardships many don't take into account. I remember sitting in Skyfall thinking to myself: "goodness-the last time Bond mattered as a flesh and blood character really was in the LTK finale wasn't it?"


Last but not least the 5.1 remix on LTK is pretty rushed. It misses in some sound effects and changes some of the music levels. The PCM lossless rendering of the original soundmix on LaserDisc is a beauty for sound in the late 80's just as TLD is. And I feel the HD master really isn't up to par as it was yet another title that didn't get an actual restoration (not that the Lowry restorations were any good at all.) and doesn't quite look like film elements I've seen. (Admittedly I've only seen 35mm trailers and 16mm snippets for LTK and not an actual print but none have the popping colors in the HD master that doesn't look very 1989ish.)

Yeah, I watch the series (through TND as TWINE only came out in Japan and costs insane amounts of money.) on LaserDisc several times a year despite owning every major release across all formats excepting CED. (Which I hate.) Why you may ask? Because the quality for the time was the best it could be, the transfers are generally untouched in terms of color timing and generally better represent the theatrical presentations-and because the original audio tracks are encoded losslessly and sound FAR better than any of the later versions. This what major studios have made me do-collect endless versions of favorite films because of transfers being done by people who don't know what they're doing.

Last but not least, "If You Asked Me To" barely works thematically but should have NEVER been put into the film. It is such an AWFUL choice for 007 end credits but I've finally been able to tolerate it more.

Good write-up. LTK has its moments, but I find that it just can't escape the TV show feel to it. TLD captured a classic Bondian/Cold War atmosphere, whereas LTK is an episode of Miami Vice (only Don Johnson has just hopped off a plane from Cardiff where he managed to get a haircut even worse than his usual mullet).

The locales - or at least the way they were used - certainly did the film no favours. I mean, making up a country? Really? Plus - and I hate to say it - Bond films never feel as interesting to me when they're set in the US. Yes, Fleming's Bond spent plenty of time in the States, but I feel like cinematic Bond is at his best when he's in Europe or some far-flung exotic location. The USA is just too conventional given that it's, understandably, the setting for 99% of Hollywood pictures.

Having said that, there's plenty to like. Davi plays a solid villain and Dalton-Bond's devious trickery in getting Sanchez looking over his shoulder is a highlight. As far as typical 80's War on Drugs films go, LTK is up there, but it just missed that Bond magic.

Think LTK is let down by the song choices, don't seem to fit with the overall dark tone of the film.

Otherwise, bless your heart.