Last Bond Movie You Watched? 1.0

I dont think thats its particularly "socialist" to show that the villagers are suffering from a terrorist organization hording all their water. It's like showing the suffering villagers in a WW2 film - you have to show that there is suffering being caused by Quantum, not just Bond and Camille saying to each other "they've got all the water - how horrible!"

For me, it's just the way that moment is shot. "Let's insert a five second shot of some impoverished people watching their tap drip it's final drip". It just feels so standard and unimaginative, like it's just been culled from one of those "Look... these people are DYING.... send us all your money before it's too late" TV ads. Really quick and easy, and typical of this film not wanting to dwell on anything for very long if it doesn't involve action. It's like a poor man's version of when Cohaagen switches off the air in Total Recall, actually.

Ed Tom Kowalsky wrote:

I never got the sense that Quantum represented "evil" western corporations. Rather, it was a global criminal organization after the fashion of SPECTRE. I also missed the bottle water angle in QOS, though it's true that the pathos of the sainted indigenes was played up to tug at our heartstrings. More international welfar...er...developmental aid, anyone?

Well no Greene's company wasn't strictly a Western corp or maybe it was, but the parallel is there. eg accusations of Western interests "exploiting" the locals water supply.
The current "boycott bottled water" movement is driven by moral outrage over Corporate interests "exploiting" the local's water supply.

Its the latest Pluto tactic to villify western interests in the region. We are taking all their water for our own nefarious purposes, yadda yadda, just like Greene tried to do.

If there was a political agenda with QOS it must have been given the least emphasis because I barely recognize it.

colly wrote:

I dont think thats its particularly "socialist" to show that the villagers are suffering from a terrorist organization hording all their water. It's like showing the suffering villagers in a WW2 film - you have to show that there is suffering being caused by Quantum, not just Bond and Camille saying to each other "they've got all the water - how horrible!"

It was the more the way it was handled. A subtext, if you will. Especially Arnold's underscore at one point resembling that of BABEL, another bleeding heart, lefty, highly naive geo-political drama/thriller.

Though to be honest, if there weren't the markers of Forster, Zeuteumer and Haggis's trendy ideology throughout the rest of the film, I probably wouldn't view the scenes you describe above the same way. It's a matter of context.

Agreed, Sharky. Context is everything here.

tiffanywint wrote:

Ed Tom Kowalsky wrote:

I never got the sense that Quantum represented "evil" western corporations. Rather, it was a global criminal organization after the fashion of SPECTRE. I also missed the bottle water angle in QOS, though it's true that the pathos of the sainted indigenes was played up to tug at our heartstrings. More international welfar...er...developmental aid, anyone?

Well no Greene's company wasn't strictly a Western corp or maybe it was, but the parallel is there. eg accusations of Western interests "exploiting" the locals water supply.
The current "boycott bottled water" movement is driven by moral outrage over Corporate interests "exploiting" the local's water supply.

Its the latest Pluto tactic to villify western interests in the region. We are taking all their water for our own nefarious purposes, yadda yadda, just like Greene tried to do.

You may be onto something after all.

Then did SPECTRE represent the evil right-wing military establishment holding the world to ransom with their nuclear weapons, space stations and biological warfare, and Bond represented the left-wing's crusade of "make love, not war" by stopping them?

No colly, because, among other things, the context of the SPECTRE films was entirely different from QOS.

Allright - what about Stromberg? Kananga? Sanchez? Carver?

TW just seems to be having a field day because he knows that the writers of QOS have left wing views, whilst the views of the writers who provided representations before are irrelevant.

It's not just the views of the writers. There's the postmodern Hollywood zeitgeist to consider, as well as other clues within QOS itself. It's all of a piece. I can't say the same about any Bond film prior to QOS. Indeed, previous to QOS, Bond films were noteworthy for being overwhelmingly apolitical. It is QOS' great and lamentable innovation to interject politics brazenly and extensively. I can only hope that B23 negates this innovation, but all signs point to the innovation proceding apace, God help us.

colly wrote:

Allright - what about Stromberg? Kananga? Sanchez? Carver?

TW just seems to be having a field day because he knows that the writers of QOS have left wing views, whilst the views of the writers who provided representations before are irrelevant.

I don't think you understand. The parallels with "ban bottled water" to show " solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the global south" are pretty blatant.

Haggis within the context of a Bond film tried to show indigines being exploited by outside interests buying up their water and those interests being criminal and very evil.
Meanwhile in real life, Haggis' leftist friends are screaming about outside interests buying up the water of indigines.

The logic underpinning their protest is stupefyingly naive and ill-informed however that's OK because the idea is to make a lot of noise towards the broader aim of villifying the western market economies and scoring points for international socialism. Which is also what all the leftist climate change hysteria is about.
Vive le revolution!!! :joker:

Ed Tom Kowalsky wrote:

No colly, because, among other things, the context of the SPECTRE films was entirely different from QOS.

Indeed. If anything, Saltzman and Broccoli made SPECTRE, not the former U.S.S.R., the main villains because they wanted to keep the films non-political so they could appeal to as large an audience as possible(Mike & Babs, please take note.)

Prince Kamal Khan wrote:

Ed Tom Kowalsky wrote:

No colly, because, among other things, the context of the SPECTRE films was entirely different from QOS.

Indeed. If anything, Saltzman and Broccoli make SPECTRE, not the former U.S.S.R., the main villains because they wanted to keep the films non-political so they could appeal to as large an audience as possible(Mike & Babs, please take note.)

Yep. But Saltzman and Cubby possessed discipline, wisdom and a certain species of humility. The same, unfortunately, can not be said for their successors.

Haven't watched a Bond movie for a while since I ran through films 1-9 and then quit. But I might be up for a TSWLM and MR double bill soon. These two blockbusters go well together. I'll keep everyone posted. :)

I'll be watching Spy on my birthday (the 25th), Tiffy.

Ed Tom Kowalsky wrote:

Prince Kamal Khan wrote:

Ed Tom Kowalsky wrote:

No colly, because, among other things, the context of the SPECTRE films was entirely different from QOS.

Indeed. If anything, Saltzman and Broccoli made SPECTRE, not the former U.S.S.R., the main villains because they wanted to keep the films non-political so they could appeal to as large an audience as possible(Mike & Babs, please take note.)

Yep. But Saltzman and Cubby possessed discipline, wisdom and a certain species of humility. The same, unfortunately, can not be said for their successors.

Truth. I would make just one addition to your next-to-last sentence: "But Saltzman and Cubby possessed discipline, wisdom, talent and a certain species of humility." And you're right, that cannot be said for their successors.

tiffanywint wrote:

Haven't watched a Bond movie for a while since I ran through films 1-9 and then quit. But I might be up for a TSWLM and MR double bill soon. These two blockbusters go well together. I'll keep everyone posted. :)

Indeed they do. My dad took me to a TSWLM/MR double feature when I was a kid. Definitely a very fun and memorable experience.

Prince Kamal Khan wrote:

Indeed they do. My dad took me to a TSWLM/MR double feature when I was a kid. Definitely a very fun and memorable experience.

That double bill never appeared in these parts. I am still mad about that. There is nothing like a Bond double bill on the big screen. Its better than blu-ray or any home system.

One of the drawbacks of home video is that its robbed us of the Bond big screen double bills.

Attempting another Bondathon, with a different method of sorting. Start with Dr. No, then create a double feature with a similar film. Rinse and repeat.

What I ended up with:

Bond in Jamaica (DN, LALD)
Bond in the Far East (TMWTGG, YOLT)
Bond til Death do us Part (OHMSS, FYEO)
Bonding with Soviets (OP, TLD)
Bond's Rampant Emotions (LTK, TWINE)
The Death Ray Duo (DAD, DAF)
Britain's Missing Ships (TSWLM, TND)
The Bond Ultimatum (CR, QOS)
Cold War Espionage Thrillers (FRWL, TB)
LASERS! (MR, GF)
A Plot Device involving EMP's (AVTAK, GE)

Also NSNA, but that didn't pair up well with anything.

Tubes wrote:

Attempting another Bondathon, with a different method of sorting. Start with Dr. No, then create a double feature with a similar film. Rinse and repeat.

What I ended up with:

Bond in Jamaica (DN, LALD)
Bond in the Far East (TMWTGG, YOLT)
Bond til Death do us Part (OHMSS, FYEO)
Bonding with Soviets (OP, TLD)
Bond's Rampant Emotions (LTK, TWINE)
The Death Ray Duo (DAD, DAF)
Britain's Missing Ships (TSWLM, TND)
The Bond Ultimatum (CR, QOS)
Cold War Espionage Thrillers (FRWL, TB)
LASERS! (MR, GF)
A Plot Device involving EMP's (AVTAK, GE)

Also NSNA, but that didn't pair up well with anything.

Very creative. Might be worth a try to mix one' s Bond viewing up a bit.

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The Bond Ultimatum (CR, QOS)

Reviews from the first 4:

Dr. No

Didn't enjoy it as much this time. It could be that I'm suffering burnout, because every one of the stalled Bondathons I've had in the past have started with Dr. No. There where parts that where well paced and parts where the editing just dragged. It was probably considered slow back in the 60's as well. I'm trying to go easy on it because I have a feeling that in a year or so I'll be singing high praises for it again. But right now, ehhh.

Live And Let Die

Quality. The best boat chase committed to film. Roger hits it out of the park his first time up. The instant he's on screen, he is James Bond. That's something no other Connery successor has been able to do.

The Man With The Golden Gun

Still don't like it. I was actually nauseous towards the end of the film. The positives are Christopher Lee, the return of Sheriff Pepper (who I like better here), and Roger (who still puts on a good performance). Everyone and everything else sucked. One tidbit worthy of note, however. This is the first Bond film where the main girl and Bond had a previous relationship off-screen. It's amusing seeing Goodnight acknowledge Bond's womanizing traits while Bond continues to try to get in her pants. Pity that's the only real amusing part.

You Only Live Twice

Maybe I was just in the mood. Maybe it was watching it on a 100 inch screen. Maybe it's because I saw Golden Gun previously. For whatever reason, I really dug YOLT. Not even Connery clearly not giving a crap could kill my high. It's big, it's explosions, it's action packed, filled with gadgets, and damn entertaining. Why the hell is Golden Gun available on Blu Ray and not this?

Rankings so far:

1. Live And Let Die
2. You Only Live Twice
3. Dr. No
4. The Man With The Golden Gun

Quote :

Why the hell is Golden Gun available on Blu Ray and not this?

For the same reason you rank LALD above DN. Someone's on drugs!

FieldsMan wrote:

Quote :

Why the hell is Golden Gun available on Blu Ray and not this?

For the same reason you rank LALD above DN. Someone's on drugs!

:)

Very interesting idea on the pairings, Tubes.

Quote :

Why the hell is Golden Gun available on Blu Ray and not this?

and not this being YOLT.
What I did hear about TMWTGG is that it's always been a tough sell along with LTK, so Eon initially packaged both films in a 3 pak with QoS, hoping these two "dogs" could piggy back on QoS sales.
This blu-ray 3 pak was released after the original Volumes 1-3 were released and wasn't given't a Volume 4 designation. In fact it disappeared from shelves pretty quickly.
It was a temporary packaging gimick. Both of TMWTGG and LTK are now sold individually at a bargain bin near you while the price of QoS has come down as well.
As for YOLT, the first 4 films were included in the first 3 volumes. I guess they had to draw the line somewhere in order to be able to mix and match the next set of releases.
The strategy seems to be to mix and match to force people to buy all the volumes rather than for example, buy all the Connery films in two sets, and then forget about the rest.

So with 9 blu-rays still to be released, we have the following awaiting release:
YOLT,OHMSS from the classic era
DAF, TSWLM from the 70's
OP, AVTAK and TLD from the 80's
and GE and TND from the Brozzer 90's.

It will be interesting to see how they package these 9 films in order to get us to buy them all.But realistically they will have to eventually put them all out as single releases which will quickly find their way to the bargain bins.

The only way I'll buy them is if they rid of those horrid BluRay covers, and replace them with something classy or suitably Bondian.