41 replies to this topic

[brendan007]

For many years the safe-cracking scene from OHMSS was not available in Australia, due to a lack of space on the VHS tapes. So for most of my life I had never seen this scene, and it was quite a shock when i did.
The scene is brilliant IMO, it was so tense it had me on the edge of my seat. Despite the fact I knew nothing would happen (as it wouldn't match the rest of the film) I was willing Bond to hurry up so whathisname wouldnt come back and find him
So is anyone else a fan of this scene, and did anyone else go for years without seeing it?

Edited by brendan007, 11 January 2004 - 10:33 PM.

[Qwerty]

Wow! I never knew it wasn't on VHS in some parts of the world.

I always have loved it,and had no idea what Bond would do, the first time I saw it. I love Barry's tense music, it's a great scene.

[Johnboy007]

You'd never think a Xerox copier could do that to you.

[Tanger]

A superbly tense scene. Everything about it is perfect.

[trs007]

Ditto on Barry's score for that scene. I was so pleased to see that music finally released on the re-mastered score,

[Turn]

The first time I saw OHMSS I was 7. I think the biggest impression it had on me was I didn't know who the guy playing Bond was and why was Kojak in it?

These days, the scene stands out and makes me a little sad they don't make scenes with that sort of suspense anymore. Instead, we get some explosion every few minutes to satisfy the attention deficit disorder crowd or something like the Bond-Zao exchange scene. Come on, we know Bond isn't going to be shot by a firing squad.

[Qwerty]

It's funny when you recall all the safes Bond has broken into over the years, MR, YOLT, TND and others...yet this one just gets better and better over the years, because it is so simple.

I find it amazing that a scene that long always captivates the people when they watch it, they never lose interest.

[Turn]

You're right, Qwerty. In those movies, he's got some handheld gadget to crack the safe, but in OHMSS he's got this bulky, time-consuming safecracker and that's the best scene of all.

The YOLT safecracking scene always cracks me up because here's Bond out to meet Henderson. Misadventures lead him to a safe and he just happens to have a handy dandy mini safecracker gadget with him. It would be funny if he reached into his pocket and instead pulled out the rebreather.

[Qwerty]

LOL! It always funny that there is always a use for a Q gadget, sometimes you don't even know Bond has it, like you said Turn, the safe cracker in YOLT.

[Athena007]

Honestly my VERY first thought when watching that scene was, "OMG, he's looking at PlayBoy!"

LOL... I know I know, what an odd first thought But think about it, it's the first and last and only time Bond ever is seen looking at that kind of "print". It's not un-bond, but it wasn't something I was expecting I guess.

[Qwerty]

I agree Athena, It doesn't detract from the character, but it's not something I ever expected to see James Bond do.

Wonder who came up with that idea!

[Athena007]

Wonder who came up with that idea!

Ya, now THAT I would like to know....

Was is Lazenby himself?

[zencat]

Honestly my VERY first thought when watching that scene was, "OMG, he's looking at PlayBoy!"

LOL... I know I know, what an odd first thought But think about it, it's the first and last and only time Bond ever is seen looking at that kind of "print". It's not un-bond, but it wasn't something I was expecting I guess.

I'm sure Connery or Moore would have played the scene with a bit more irony. Lazenby made it look like he'd never seen a nude woman before. That really is dated, but Bond and Playboy have such a history together, I'll forgive it.

But if we ever see Pierce learing at the pages of Maxim, we'll know we're in trouble.

[Qwerty]

Wonder who came up with that idea!

Ya, now THAT I would like to know....

Haha Athena, yet another Bond mystery.

I'll agree Zencat, it is a bit odd to see Bond looking at this magazine the way he does, but I've always just accepted it. It's a bit of fun, and something really out of the ordinary, but not the formula for a Bond film.

I don't know how audiences would respond if Pierce Brosnan's Bond was in a similar scene though....

[Athena007]

I'm sure Connery or Moore would have played the scene with a bit more irony. Lazenby made it look like he'd never seen a nude woman before.

Haha Athena, yet another Bond mystery. I'll agree Zencat, it is a bit odd to see Bond looking at this magazine the way he does, but I've always just accepted it. It's a bit of fun, and something really out of the ordinary, but not the formula for a Bond film.

Perhaps that's what was wrong with the scene... Though I didn't think at the time that Bond to be looking at Playboy (again, I thought he had more class than this?) but perhaps it was the way Lazenby played the scene.

But ya, once we see Pierce checking out babes in a mag, we know something has gone wrong. You see... Bond can have REAL woman... why does he need the mag?

[Qwerty]

Could be, I just remembered yet another reference to Playboy: (Bond's membership card in Diamonds Are Forever.

In the 60's when Bond and Playboy were getting going together, it was fine, but I don't think it would be appropriate to see Pierce in that situation.

[DLibrasnow]

Playboy was fashionable back in the 1960s and its pictorials more appropriate and subdued. In todays day and age its image has not remained as trendy and hip as it once was so I doubt we would see Pierce Brosnan doing what Lazenby did in OHMSS.

That having been said we did see Mike Myers doing it in a kids movie this past fall so who really knows?!

[doublenoughtspy]

I've always enjoyed the safe cracking scene - and as a boy it was very memorable because what teenager hasn't snuck a look at some pørn at some point.

Of course this was pre internet - where you didn't get bombarded with images whether you want them or not.

I don't think Bond is being unsophisticated or anything because he looks at it.

Remember, it's Gumbold's copy of the magazine. Bond happens to come across the guy's stash and is amused by it.

As a memento, he steals the centerfold. What a naughty fella!

Also - look at the safe scene in TND - there are pørn mags there too. Pierce doesn't look at them because he doesn't have time.

[stromberg]

As a memento, he steals the centerfold.  What a naughty fella!

Have to agree, it's more like picking up the grape in TB. Altough he might cause some suspicion. On the other hand I guess he feels pretty shure about honest Mr. Gumboldt wouldn't make a fuss about a stolen centerfold .

Also - look at the safe scene in TND - there are pørn mags there too.  Pierce doesn't look at them because he doesn't have time.

Yes, indeed, now that you say it... but that's not real pørn mags, that stuff is some of the worst crap you can get in Germany. If I remember that right, it's some issues of "super-illu". They started as serious magazine, and some day, they realized they would sell a few more copies when they put naked women on the cover (and a few inside). I don't think (I don't know for sure) that you have to be 18 to buy these, no need to put them in a safe anyway.

Oh, and btw, Germany is amongst the countries where the safe-scene has been ommited on some TV versions (not all of them, I've seen them both on TV). Don't know about the video versions. But at least it's on the DVD .

[Genrewriter]

I love the scene too, maybe the best scene in the film. Quintessential Bond.

[Johnboy007]

[quote name='stromberg' date='13 January 2004 - 12:43'] [quote name='doublenoughtspy' date='13 January 2004 - 18:22']As a memento, he steals the centerfold.

[Turn]

I would like to see Gumbold's reaction after finding out his centerfold was missing. On another side, what if he found this out not long after Bond has been in the office and he got paranoid and tipped off Blofeld?

Also about Playboy, in DAF after Bond switches wallets with the dead Peter Franks, Tiffany finds Bond's Playboy club membership. I always found it funny she didn't find a driver's license or some kind of OHMSS ID instead.

[Bryce (003)]

What a great scene.

The music, the editing, the gadget (although my favorite will always be the X-Ray/Cigarette case from Moonraker), and Bond having to do the toughest part of the job - Wait.

Even though the scene plays out over 4 minutes, based on the clock in the square, it takes nearly 50 minutes to crack the safe and the tension with the music just makes it yet another of OHMSS' great moments.

Yeah, OHMSS is slowly but steadily becoming my favorite Bond film after all these years.

*grabs PDA and activates digital recorder*

Note to self: If ever to be wed, never say "We have all the time in the world" and get bullet proof glass installed on Jag. Endit*

[The Dove]

Man I was nervous the first time I ever saw that scene. The great music really added to the tension of the whole moment, plus the shots of Gumbold returning from lunch. That scene is one of my favorite moments in the whole film. Also, I was curious at first as to why Bond didn't use the pocket sized safe cracker from YOLT when he broke into Osato's safe. But then i remembered that this was a larger safe in Gumbold's office, and Bond needed the built in xerox machine too.

[Turn]

Yeah, Bond could have used the little safecracker then just photographed the documents. But the big safecracker thing was in reaction to Peter Hunt's dislike for gadgets and thought that one was a two-in-one, so it was't just something Bond produced from his pocket. Plus it added up to one great scene.

[Qwerty]

Yes, I'm so thankful to Peter Hunt for keep this film as simple as it is in the novel, because it worked SO well. You don't often see Bond have to deal with a big, clumsy gadget like that, but when you do, it adds something else to the onscreen portrayal.

[White Tuxedo]

I remember thinking the music was really cool.

[Qwerty]

Yes, indeed it was White Tuxedo. I had missed it on my original version, although I was glad it was on the 'Bond Back In Action' CD, that is, before I got the remastered CD of OHMSS.

[Agent 76]

I'm struggle to remember that scene....but I really can't remember that....

[doublenoughtspy]

Hi Agent76,

Could it be that the video tape of OHMSS that you own or the last version you saw did not contain the safe cracking scene?

It is cut from a lot of video releases, although newer ones finally have it.