Last Bond Movie You Watched? 1.0

I fear that if Fleming were writing today his novels would be soft porn laden with expletives. I'm glad he wrote when he did.

Makeshift Python wrote:

Thunderball invalidates NSNA.

Card game > Video game

What's the point in comparing these scenes? I'll play along anyway.

In the former, Bond simply taunts Largo, beats him handily and goes off with Domino. In contrast, NEVER's duel builds to a climax as the stakes escalate further and further. No such tension exists in the '65 version. Discrediting the '83 merely because you find video games to be childish seems rather childish in itself. I'm sure Fleming would have written Bond into one, had he lived to see the day. Either way I think it's a superficial criticism that misses the point.

Please forgive me if I came across as snarky. I just don't like to use emoticons is all.

Nah, you made a good point there. Bond playing a video game just doesn't gel for me, no matter how well executed it might have been. The TB card game isn't the best in the series but at least it doesn't feel out of place in his world.

Eh, while I'm not discrediting the film for the video game scene, I still don't think it fit too well in the film. Another card game would have worked fine. Though, I'm sure the producers were trying to find some sort of common ground with younger audiences, along with taking a brand new direction. For the most part, they came up with quite a mature Bond flick, despite a few silly aspects. It could have also done without fake Q, too.

Overall, the producers of this flick did just about everything correctly to create a great rival of the Broccoli franchise. But, unfortunately, as others have hinted in this thread, the brand name Bond seems to be more powerful. With BabsBond's current state, I'd welcome another rival film. They'd just have to cast the right person (not fucking Brosnan or Toby Stephens).

Anyone remember back on Mi6 when people would express their hate for Kevin McClory regularly? And then when he died, he "wasn't so bad."

NSNA, if anything, needs a good trimming. Even if Thunderball was slow, it was at least visually interesting. NSNA is both slow and boring to look at.

Also, NSNA needs a score that pulls it along forward. Jerry Goldsmith used to 'save' lots of blah movies with energetic scores, but NSNA just goes at its own pace and the score does NOTHING to energize it.

I think the vidgame might have worked better if they had figured out what it was about before shooting it. As it stands, VFX and director didn't settle on much till well after the scene was shot. It is just WAY too busy looking to my eye, though the 'pain' aspect is terrific (and should apply to all videogames for real.)

I think I've mentioned before that Connery, while clearly on his game, did not demonstrate the old eye of the tiger, so that also held the pic back a bit. I think you get a bit of that edge during the opening scene, but even when he calls M on things about teaching not doing, he is pretty mild.

I think the score worked decently in some areas. Would have been better if Legrand just did an orchestral version for the main titles, though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_jDAKMEHcg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrd946azduY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4mes90q2Uk

The cue where Bond finds the book of matches works well, and the whole horse business is okay, but I think that is because they tried to put across a subjective feel of 'this is what it is like to be Bond doing this stuff' in the shooting (which fails somewhat because Connery seems to be more nimble than his double in the grabbing of rifles and suchlike)

But the lazy pace of the music is antiBond to me ... it is like hearing a lounge version of KissKissBangBang for a whole movie instead of a single slow interlude.

Connery's delivery of 'my name is Bond' reminds me of the way The Ventures covered HAWAII 5-0 music ... like somebody had their thumb on the record, slowing it down and making it 'off' instead of supercharged.

I still watch the movie, but it is more for Brandauer's Largo, who seems to be a postmodern Bond villain, somebody who knows that there is a camera on him and is playing to it. And I do LOVE that they play Bond's "I've never lost" line in a medium two shot rather than a William Shatner mugging close shot (I'm sure they pinched that from the previous year's "I don't like to lose" from STAR TREK II) ... it's just that it could have been so much more, and perhaps inspired more competition for future Broc-Bond efforts (then again, if they succeeded too well, we wouldn't have had Dalton, and THAT would have been a colossal shame IMO.)

trevanian wrote:

Also, NSNA needs a score that pulls it along forward. Jerry Goldsmith used to 'save' lots of blah movies with energetic scores, but NSNA just goes at its own pace and the score does NOTHING to energize it.

Funny enough, Connery wanted Goldsmith to score the movie (Goldsmith and Barry were his two favourites, and Connery even copied Jerry's ponytail for MEDICINE MAN). Unfortunately he was booked (I think he did PSYCHO II, UNDER FIRER and THE TWILIGHT ZONE that year, so one of those). John Barry hands his hands tied thanks to EON, so it went to Legrand. He originally scored ROBIN AND MARIAN, but the producer's rejected his score, and asked Maurice Jarre to do it. Jarre declined, considering the rejection of Jarre an insult to his fellow countryman and colleague - so Barry got the job.

trevanian wrote:

the 'pain' aspect is terrific (and should apply to all videogames for real.)

A very good idea. Risk needs to be reintroduced to society. Factory-induced brake failure in motor vehicles might also be considered.

However, if we must discuss Bond, NSNA has a horrible score, which makes it difficult for me to watch. Yet for some (highly illogical) reason I find a bad film with a good score generally acceptable.

You just illustrated the difference between LADYHAWKE and FIRST BLOOD pt 2 ... the former has a decent concept and beautiful photography, but the score is just too whacky-disco and distracting as all get out. Whereas Rambo is a terrible terrible stupid movie, but it has Goldsmith ... so I can find myself watching for as much as 7 or 8 minutes at a time when I flip past it on the tube. (The only time I paid to see FBpt2 was in a hotel room ... and I still walked out on it.)

Watched TLD yesterday.

Still love it.

I did poke fun at a few things, though. I think I've just watched it too many times. I know it too well.

Watching Dalton never gets old, however... *sigh*

I watched The Living Daylights yesterday too! And likewise, I still love it! I was happy to find that I was still at the edge of my seat while watching the fight with Necros on the cargo net. The scene with Pushkin is brilliant. And I really liked Robert Brown's portrayal of M this time round. Vienna looks gorgeous too! Very vibrant, especially compared to San Francisco in AVTAK.

FieldsMan wrote:

I watched The Living Daylights yesterday too! And likewise, I still love it! I was happy to find that I was still at the edge of my seat while watching the fight with Necros on the cargo net. The scene with Pushkin is brilliant. And I really liked Robert Brown's portrayal of M this time round. Vienna looks gorgeous too! Very vibrant, especially compared to San Francisco in AVTAK.

Definitely a good bit of stunt work, there. Never ceases to thrill.

And I wonder if they really do waltz in the streets of Vienna. Haha.

As intros to new Bonds go, I think that Dalton's in TLD just might run Connery's a close second; that shot of his head whipping around in the direction of the plunging-to-his-death agent's scream is iconic, and then he clings to the roof of a Land Rover careering down the side of the Rock of Gibraltar, parachutes onto an attractive woman's boat ... and 'pulls' her pretty much instantly.

Sheer class 8) .

Definitely one of the better intros. Good way also of introducing the new Bond with the parachute jump. One of those three, etc. And though some might say TLD is not Barry's best score, pretty decent music for that PTS.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

he clings to the roof of a Land Rover careering down the side of the Rock of Gibraltar, parachutes onto an attractive woman's boat ... and 'pulls' her pretty much instantly.

Sexist drivel. Thank God Babs has put a stop to all that nonsense.

Fields 'succumbs' fairly quickly ... maybe Babs was off that day.

I caught a fair amount of TLD on the telly today... I must say I enjoyed it much more than I have in years, even if theres the unmistakable B-movie vibe to some moments in it.

Had an impromptu viewing of Dr. No in the middle of the night....it was before bed and I put in the DVD player thinking I'd fall asleep in the first ten minutes and found myself watching the whole thing.

A phenomenal film from start to finish, Dr. No is for sure in my top 5 Bond films.

Finishing up a Bondathon. Here's the latest 5 entries. Two more to go



License To Kill

Another solid Dalts entry. He seems to be over his Kara puppy love but he's now mooning for Pam. Dalts really falls for his girls. No wonder women love him. He's so romantic. Actually I think what happened is that he took a little break from Kara, as PKK has suggested, to go to Felix's wedding. Then got caught up in the whole Sanchez revenge escapade, forgot about his love for Kara,( I know-unthinkable but it happened) got sidetracked by Pam, dallied with Lupe, but ultimately stayed true to Pam, as his Dalts/Bond romantic self would require, but once the excitment of the revenge adrenalin had died down, he found himself pining for his true love Kara. Thus he sadly broke up with Pam, who wasn't anywhere near as affected by the break as he was.
Dalts Bond then raced back to true-love Kara, where they lived happily ever, thus necessitating a full series re-boot, a 6 year layoff, and finally a return of Bond with the Brozzer era.
Solid Bond movie. Lots of good stuff especially Bond's adventure battling Krest's men on the Wavecrest. Lupe is one smoking Bond girl. "I love James so much" is one of the funniest lines in the series. 10 out 10 stars!

Goldeneye

Great Bond movie. Lots of good OTT Bond adventure. Loved the final villain operations-base. Reminiscent of the YOLT hidden-under-fake-water-surface lair.
I've figured out Brozzer's main problem as Bond. He's not believeable in the tux and formal wear. Yea he looks good, but he doesn't move well ( not like Sean or George or even Dalts) and lacks Rog's presence. He doesn't fight convincingly as formal Bond.
Brozzer is in his element though when he's decked out in field wear and rat-tat-tatting away with his machine gun or blasting with his Walther. His close quarter fighting even passes mustard when he's dressed for combat. Brozzer is a good action Bond.
Miss "Boys with Toys" looks great. Love the way she slapped down Bor-eese at the end of the film. What a worm he was.
Too bad Brozzer didn't toss his drink at Fembot M when she launched into her, misogynist dinosaur rant. Welcome to the Babs era. And its only going to get worse. The Craig-era and Bond-in-drag PSAs are still to come. Yikes.
For some reason I feel like buying a case of Perrier water,every time I see this highly enjoyable romp of a Bond adventure.
10 stars out of ten

Tomorrow Never Dies

Brozzer works overtime with the machine gun.Great action packed finale. This was a Mack Bolan Bond finale. I'm not sure who would win a fight between Bond and Wai Lin. Both are pretty skilled.
Carver is my least favourite Bond villain. He is yecchy. Especilly when he says, "delicious" He utters this twice. Double cringe.
Brozzer's got some very Bond-worthy lines, insulting Carver. The contempt is palpable.
Stamper is a formidable physical villain in the super-Ayrian tradtion of Grant, Hans, Kriegler and Necros.
Teri Hatcher rivals Virginia Hey and Lana Wood for all-time best Bond girl underwear display. In fact I might give her first prize for the lingering rear-view look we were given.
Great job with the BMW car chase through Hamburg.Nice work on the pts shootem-up and plane battles.
Solid Bond action film. 10 out of 10 stars


The World is not Enough

This one has dropped to the bottom of my Brozzer rankings but still a good Bond adventure even if all the Bond/Elektra melodrama gets tedious. Trick is just to ignore it and focus on Morceau's raw beauty and sexy French accent,("my fami-lee!"), shapely curves, and saucy/sexy spoiled pycho-bitch pretensions, and ignore her wacko meltdown in Bond's bouncy-ball blow-up snowsuit.
Cigar Girl does a nice job. Looks great in her form fitting wear. Gave Bond a nice withering look in pts, when he remarked on her figures.
Great Thames boat chase. Liked the parahawk ski-action too. Very well done- both of these extended action scenes. Nicely shot with lots of colour.
And then there's the glimmer girl herself - "or do you just want a glimmer too" - great line. Richards has a nice swish walk. She really knows how to work her assets, not to mention fill out a wet t-shirt.
Morceau/Richards is one of the best one-two Bond-girl punches, rivaling Ekland/Adams in TMWTGG and Auger/Paluzzi in TB.
TWINE is glorious Bond adventure in blazing colour. Nice of Dench to keep the hectoring to the minimum as well. In fact she eats some humble-pie in this romp. Dench is savouring her best rants for poor Craig.
TWINE looks real good in hi-def. 10 out of 10 stars

Die Another Day

Brozzer's last effort has shot to the top of my Brozzer rankings and is challenging the Dalts films, for best of the bottom 8, post Connery/Moore era films.
DAD is one of the best looking Bond films. It spills over with colour, especially the Iceland scenes. It's a treat to watch in glorious blu-ray.
I've found even more homages to the previous films in this my umpteenth viewing. I stop counting as a rule at 10 viewings. This goes for all Bond films btw.
Rachel Grant's thigh holster reminds of Pam's similar holster in LTK.
Jinx's rapelling into Graves' fake diamond mine reminds of Wai Lin's descent into Carver's HQ. Both Bond-girls also had to pop a hatch before dropping down.
Bond waiting patiently for Graves to arrive for their little " I know who you really are" tete- a-tete, reminds of Bond waiting patiently to do battle with Bouvar, and also tell him he knows who he really is, in the TB pts and even Bond's waiting for Dent in DN. These connections might be a bit of a stretch but there are similarities.
The big-bird (swan?) bed in Bond's ice palace room, reminds of OP's octopuss bed.
Bond's hanging off the ice cliff for dear life, reminds of Rog's predicament on the mountian face in FYEO.
Bond's mojito drink, looks a lot like his mint julip drink with GF.
Bond's parasail landing, after escaping the collapsing ice, reminds of Rog's hang glide touchdown in LALD, sans the cigar.
When Bond trips up the snowmobile riders, and commandeers one of their snow machines for himself, this is a virtual replay of Sean's tripping up the dune bikers in DAF and taking off on one of their three-wheeled desert machines.
During the Blades fight we see the same painting hanging on the wall, that Bond's eagle eye noticed in DN's lair. The same painting that in real-world 1962, I believe had mysteriously gone missing. There's a story behind that painting. I just can't remember what it is, but its why Bond took notice. He kind of ignored it this time around though.
Never mind the non-sensical suspend dis-belief nature of the film, and the relentless action. I like this Bond. Its grand escapist Bond and Brozzer has never looked better as Bond. The film's varied colour palettes are a feast for the eye. Plus Brozzer puts away the machine gun for most of the film- post Korea.
Brozzer has great lines, egging on Frost - "put your back into it" and "no they left ages ago." Very Bond worthy as was the way he explained she would have to sleep over in his room.
If you pause the ending and read what MP is typing we learn that the offical explanation for the mayhem in the DMZ zone was caused by an electrical storm which caused an observation plane to crash. How quaint.
Madge's acting is brutal, as is her title song. Worst song in the series. It barely qualifies as music. A song without a melody. She's so full of herself, she's not even listed in the closing acting credits despite having a speaking part. What! She can't be listed in the middle of the order, like all the other bit part actors. Puh-lease.
The ice flow car chase is one of my all-time favourite Bond chase/duels. I got no problems with the invisible car. Its not over-used and the science is at least within the realm of possibility. I like Bond films to push the futuristic science envelope real hard.
The Blades sword battle is epic as well. See - just get Brozzer out of his formal wear and he's a believable action Bond.
I'm even getting down with the para-sailing scene. Just pretend that's real water and real ice, and then it works, or watch the dvd extras. The filmmakers explain at length how brilliantly realized the scene is. You can take their word for it, if its not working for you.
DAD earns 10 out of 1O stars.

Avarice wrote:

trevanian wrote:

the 'pain' aspect is terrific (and should apply to all videogames for real.)

A very good idea. Risk needs to be reintroduced to society. Factory-induced brake failure in motor vehicles might also be considered.

However, if we must discuss Bond, NSNA has a horrible score, which makes it difficult for me to watch. Yet for some (highly illogical) reason I find a bad film with a good score generally acceptable.

I think tolerable is the right word, great scores for bad films helps soothe the pain.

Love reading the reviews timmer. Unsure of how you can rate them all 10/10 when you have gripes with them, but doesn't matter! Couple of things that stand out: I agree that I think Paris has the best undergarment shots. I also think The World Is Not Enough challenges Thunderball for best gallery of Bond girls. And it's good to see some more support for the Vanish. While it's not my favourite aspect of the Bond films, in DAD, at least it is, as you said, in the realm of possibility. But, I still think that the car chases from TND, FYEO, QOS and DN are better.

FieldsMan wrote:

I also think The World Is Not Enough challenges Thunderball for best gallery of Bond girls.

:scratch: There aren't any women in TWINE.

FieldsMan wrote:

Love reading the reviews timmer. Unsure of how you can rate them all 10/10 when you have gripes with them, but doesn't matter! Couple of things that stand out: I agree that I think Paris has the best undergarment shots. I also think The World Is Not Enough challenges Thunderball for best gallery of Bond girls. And it's good to see some more support for the Vanish. While it's not my favourite aspect of the Bond films, in DAD, at least it is, as you said, in the realm of possibility. But, I still think that the car chases from TND, FYEO, QOS and DN are better.

:shock: TWINE can challenge any Bond film for having the most annoying set of Bond girls, but the best...? Granted, Cigar Girl was lovely in her scenes. As for the rest...