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Best '80s Bond Cinematographer


33 replies to this topic

#1 Mr. Blofeld

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Posted 31 July 2009 - 01:50 AM

In honour of tim partridge, I've decided to create a thread to ascertain your opinions on:

Who is the Best '80s Bond Cinematographer?


Your choices:

Alan Hume (For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, and A View to a Kill)
Alec Mills (The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill)
I've decided to stay impartial in this survey; let the sport commence! B)

#2 PrinceKamalKhan

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Posted 31 July 2009 - 04:19 AM

Alec Mills. Love his work on The Living Daylights with the "chocolate box" shots as they called them on the DVD commentary of the Moroccan desert doubling for Afghanistan.

#3 Cruiserweight

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Posted 31 July 2009 - 05:07 AM

Alan Hume

#4 O.H.M.S.S.

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Posted 31 July 2009 - 07:47 AM

Another difficult choice. Alan Hume was marvellous in his work for FYEO and OP, not so much of a fan of AVTAK's mine scenes though, a little bit blend and overall one of the lesser scenes in the franchise if it wasn't for Walken and Bauchau. Douglas Slocombe (not mentioned in the original post) did a convincing job for NSNA. But #1 for the 80's is Alec Mills. Mills' work on Bratislava and the Afghan desert are some of the finest photographed scenes in the series.

#5 Double-Oh Agent

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Posted 31 July 2009 - 07:51 AM

This is a hard one. I feel like flipping a coin. I guess I'll go with Alec Mills.

#6 sthgilyadgnivileht

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Posted 31 July 2009 - 10:42 AM

Alec Mills, but only just.

#7 Rufus Ffolkes

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Posted 31 July 2009 - 05:41 PM

Wow! Four votes for Mills? Really? I thought LTK looked like utter B). The TLD exteriors look good, but the interior scenes are pretty flat. There's no nuance in Mills' photography - it all has the 70s-early 80s floodlit TV look.

Personally, I think Hume is a much better cinematographer, particularly his work on "Octopussy."

Edited by Rufus Ffolkes, 31 July 2009 - 07:30 PM.


#8 Mr. Somerset

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Posted 31 July 2009 - 09:28 PM

Alec Mills for me. Love TLD.

#9 Mr_Wint

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Posted 31 July 2009 - 09:33 PM

Alan Hume.

#10 Forward Look

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Posted 01 August 2009 - 02:59 AM

Mills, with the better outdoor photography.

#11 Tybre

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Posted 02 August 2009 - 02:36 AM

Alec Mills. The defection sequence is his crown jewel, but he's damn great throughout.

#12 tim partridge

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Posted 03 August 2009 - 06:49 PM

I think some of the most innovative photogaphy in 80s 007 was done by Arthur Wooster. Look at the Vienna fairground from TLD, shot on high speed prime lenses in order to capture the existing practical night light of the location.

Also, even if Binder's titles sequences weren't great, Wooster's photography in them was wonderfully high in contrast, and a lot more visually bolder and mysterious than anything in te actal 007 movies of the 80s. I love the deep shadows of the LTK opening sequence or the releftve colours of the FYEO intro. Technically as well, lighting like the dayglo paint dancing from AVTAK is photographically top notch.

Too bad Wooster never shot a whole Bond movie.

I really like both Hume and Mills work on 80s 007, both classically conservative and understated, much like John Glen's direction. Polished and respectful, if not the most exciting work on the series.

#13 Double-Oh Agent

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Posted 08 August 2009 - 09:07 AM

How about adding to the mix Douglas Slocombe from Never Say Never Again?

#14 O.H.M.S.S.

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Posted 08 August 2009 - 11:10 AM

How about adding to the mix Douglas Slocombe from Never Say Never Again?


I agree, Slocombe did a fairly good job on NSNA.

#15 Dekard77

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Posted 08 August 2009 - 05:00 PM

Wow! Four votes for Mills? Really? I thought LTK looked like utter B). The TLD exteriors look good, but the interior scenes are pretty flat. There's no nuance in Mills' photography - it all has the 70s-early 80s floodlit TV look.

Personally, I think Hume is a much better cinematographer, particularly his work on "Octopussy."

Spot on, also with the earlier poster NSNA Slocombe is very impressive! Hume gave the movie a certain look, Mills looks like he is shooting a TV series. LDL exteriors are marvellous but the interiors look really drab.

#16 Donovan

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Posted 09 August 2009 - 07:07 AM

Wow! Four votes for Mills? Really? I thought LTK looked like utter B). The TLD exteriors look good, but the interior scenes are pretty flat. There's no nuance in Mills' photography - it all has the 70s-early 80s floodlit TV look.

Personally, I think Hume is a much better cinematographer, particularly his work on "Octopussy."

Spot on, also with the earlier poster NSNA Slocombe is very impressive! Hume gave the movie a certain look, Mills looks like he is shooting a TV series. LDL exteriors are marvellous but the interiors look really drab.


I completely agree re: Hume over Mills. The exterior shots in FYEO and OP are phenomenal. Although things looked kind of harsh in AVTAK. And I also agree that LTK looked pretty bad.

Not a fan of Slocombe's work in NSNA, however. Way too much soft focus everywhere. It was like watching a 60s episode of Star Trek. It's amazing to me how OP, with its dingy locations, looks a million times better than a film shot in some of the most beautiful places in the world. There's a wide shot of Nice that looks like it was taken with a video camera.

Edited by Donovan, 09 August 2009 - 07:08 AM.


#17 Dekard77

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Posted 09 August 2009 - 08:41 AM

Wow! Four votes for Mills? Really? I thought LTK looked like utter B). The TLD exteriors look good, but the interior scenes are pretty flat. There's no nuance in Mills' photography - it all has the 70s-early 80s floodlit TV look.

Personally, I think Hume is a much better cinematographer, particularly his work on "Octopussy."

Spot on, also with the earlier poster NSNA Slocombe is very impressive! Hume gave the movie a certain look, Mills looks like he is shooting a TV series. LDL exteriors are marvellous but the interiors look really drab.


I completely agree re: Hume over Mills. The exterior shots in FYEO and OP are phenomenal. Although things looked kind of harsh in AVTAK. And I also agree that LTK looked pretty bad.

Not a fan of Slocombe's work in NSNA, however. Way too much soft focus everywhere. It was like watching a 60s episode of Star Trek. It's amazing to me how OP, with its dingy locations, looks a million times better than a film shot in some of the most beautiful places in the world. There's a wide shot of Nice that looks like it was taken with a video camera.

I don't know if it would help but watching NSNA on Blu really makes a huge difference. There is a timeless feel about the movie especially when Bond is in Nice and Bahamas.

Edited by Dekard77, 09 August 2009 - 08:42 AM.


#18 glidrose

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Posted 28 April 2014 - 07:09 PM

Wow! Four votes for Mills? Really? I thought LTK looked like utter censored.gif. The TLD exteriors look good, but the interior scenes are pretty flat. There's no nuance in Mills' photography - it all has the 70s-early 80s floodlit TV look.


Yeah, I'm with you. A wise man once said that a lot of what we call directing is really cinematography. I do think the two Dalton films look cheap partly 'cos Alan Hume had left the series.

#19 Satorious

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Posted 28 April 2014 - 08:54 PM

Going with Alan Hume here if only as he shows more variety. This comes with a footnote that states I really *loved* the work for TLD (which might have swayed me had it not been for the rather dismal follow-up effort). This said - AVTAK is not a high for Hume to go out on either.



#20 Grard Bond

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Posted 01 May 2014 - 11:01 AM

Hume is it for me. Eyes only and Octopussy are looking terrific!



#21 SecretAgentFan

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Posted 01 May 2014 - 12:23 PM

Great idea for a thread (do we have one for the other decades? we should!)!

 

The difficulty, of course, is to really differentiate between the scenery and sets and the actual cinematography.  FYEO, OP and TLD do have great locations that are very photogenic, while LTK mainly has Florida (nice to look at, of course, but not as varied as the others).  

 

I canĀ“t decide on the spot.  I will have to take a closer look at those films again.  But in my memory, the images of FYEO do have a slight edge.



#22 jmarks4life

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Posted 23 May 2014 - 05:32 AM

Definitely Alec Mills. His work was amazing.

#23 glidrose

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Posted 24 May 2014 - 08:33 PM

What I don't like about Mills' work on TLD, for example, apart from some of the floodlit interiors, is all those chintzy pretty pastel soft visuals. This was supposed to be a hard-edged Bond, right?



#24 dtuba

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Posted 20 July 2014 - 01:54 AM

Hume for me. Some his shots for FYEO were pretty great. Example: One of the very first scenes in the film, where you see the priest running out of the rectory and the camera pulls back to reveal a brooding 007 deep in thought at his wife'e grave.



#25 The Shark

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Posted 20 July 2014 - 11:30 PM

Alan Hume. I've always liked his softly-lit, fog filtered style. For that reason RETURN OF THE JEDI is my favourite STAR WARS film visually.

 

Alec Mills - some stunning shots in DAYLIGHTS, though surrounding my a lot of average stuff. The less said about OFF LICENCE the better.



#26 Colossus

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Posted 20 July 2014 - 11:47 PM

Mills



#27 glidrose

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Posted 22 July 2014 - 06:32 PM

Alan Hume. I've always liked his softly-lit, fog filtered style. For that reason RETURN OF THE JEDI is my favourite STAR WARS film visually.


You are definitely a contrarian. ROTJ is easily the worst shot of the original trilogy, possibly the entire series.
 
This Star Wars fan site provides interesting analysis.

 
 

Alec Mills - some stunning shots in DAYLIGHTS, though surrounding my a lot of average stuff. The less said about OFF LICENCE the better.


LICENCE doesn't look bad if you change your tv temperature setting to "cool".

#28 Odd Jobbies

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Posted 22 July 2014 - 06:48 PM

If i'm honest there are no winners here. For Bond the 80s were not picture perfect.

 

The only 80s Bond to really look attractive was Hume's FYEO, but even that pales besides the other decades.



#29 Rufus Ffolkes

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Posted 30 July 2014 - 02:41 PM

For what it's worth, Mills actually photographed much of Return of the Jedi after Hume quit the picture. 

 

I can only assume those who think LTK looks good never saw it in the theatre. The image on the blu-ray has been seriously manipulated, as it looks nothing like the original theatrical prints. Siskel and Ebert even singled out the dinginess of the film's look in their review:

 

http://siskelandeber...-Met-Sally-1989



#30 Odd Jobbies

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Posted 30 July 2014 - 07:46 PM

For what it's worth, Mills actually photographed much of Return of the Jedi after Hume quit the picture. 

Wow, didn't know that, but it makes so much sense. I'm betting Hume did the Jabba the Hut stuff and the finale Darth / Luke battle (which has marvellous tracking shots).

 

Whereas Mills perhaps gave us Endor and the Ewocks looking like Star Wars the tv show.

 

No offence to Mills - there were far worse cinematographers out there getting high profile work, but he was playing amongst the best. Hume was perhaps slightly more suited to that game.