14 replies to this topic

[emmapeel]

Tried to watch The Spy Who Loved Me today but I am afraid I had to give up after about 40 minutes. It is completely lacking in excitement and the acting is appalling. It is only interesting, I am sad to say, as a museum piece, with the disco take on the theme tune from time to time and Bond's extraordinary flared trousers.

[Mr_Wint]

I disagree, of course. TSWLM has a timeless appeal.

[Hotwinds]

It gets better with age and is fun. Watch it again with Rogers commentary and you will appreciate it more.

[Miles Miservy]

Tried to watch The Spy Who Loved Me today but I am afraid I had to give up after about 40 minutes. It is completely lacking in excitement and the acting is appalling. It is only interesting, I am sad to say, as a museum piece, with the disco take on the theme tune from time to time and Bond's extraordinary flared trousers.

There is little that can be done regarding fashion & music for ANY movie (007 or otherwise). Although the Bond films can (and do) usually stay 1 step ahead of the trend, It's kind of hard to do that in terms of decades. The cut of Moore's collars in MOONRAKER is a perfect example; though ridiculous-looking now, in 1979, he looked very cool.

As far as the film itself is concerned, I think it's Roger Moore's best. It has all the right ingredients; wonderful locations, the most beautiful women, profound bad guys and 100 minutes to prevent the end of the world. I will even forgive the writers in that it's a virtual remake of YOLT.

Edited by Miles Miservy, 14 December 2011 - 09:02 PM.

[jaguar007]

Tried to watch The Spy Who Loved Me today but I am afraid I had to give up after about 40 minutes. It is completely lacking in excitement and the acting is appalling. It is only interesting, I am sad to say, as a museum piece, with the disco take on the theme tune from time to time and Bond's extraordinary flared trousers.

Some people will also give up on Citizen Kane, Gone With the Wind and The Godfather after 40 minutes.

[The Shark]

SPY is probably Moore's weakest Bond film. Doesn't hold up well to repeat viewings.

Some people will also give up on Citizen Kane, Gone With the Wind and The Godfather after 40 minutes.

We ain't talking THE GODFATHER here. More like a tacky, dated, late 70s spy adventure starring Barbara Bach. It's about as classy as STARCRASH, except in STARCRASH Caroline Munro's talents weren't wasted.

[jaguar007]

SPY is probably Moore's weakest Bond film. Doesn't hold up well to repeat viewings.

Some people will also give up on Citizen Kane, Gone With the Wind and The Godfather after 40 minutes.

We ain't talking THE GODFATHER here. More like a tacky, dated, late 70s spy adventure starring Barbara Bach. It's about as classy as STARCRASH, except in STARCRASH Caroline Munro's talents weren't wasted.

Sorry, I think TSWLM is Moore's strongest film. It holds up very well to repeat viewings.

No, we are not talking The Godfather. I just used an example that some people don't like even the best of films.

[doublenoughtspy]

Tried to watch The Spy Who Loved Me today but I am afraid I had to give up after about 40 minutes. It is completely lacking in excitement and the acting is appalling. It is only interesting, I am sad to say, as a museum piece, with the disco take on the theme tune from time to time and Bond's extraordinary flared trousers.

1) I'm not naive enough to think a movie populated with a car that goes under water, a 7 foot giant with metal teeth, and a villain with webbed hands is going to have a tour de force of "ACT-ING." I enjoy it for what it is: light entertainment.

2) While I agree that some of the fashions are painful - that pain is only realized because we view the film through a prism of today's fashion sense. Every film is a time capsule. They don't have today's fashions, they don't have today's technology: you might as well complain that Roger should pull out his cell phone while in the van and call for help.

Roger spends the majority of his time in the film either in a dinner jacket or his naval uniform, both of which are timeless.

I also make an effort to compare elements from films to their contemporaries: do the fashions of TSWLM seem egregiously bad compared to other films of the period? I don't think they do. I think you would be hard pressed (haha!) to find reviews from the time that claim that the costumes in Spy are out of date/lame.

[Dustin]

I also make an effort to compare elements from films to their contemporaries: do the fashions of TSWLM seem egregiously bad compared to other films of the period? I don't think they do. I think you would be hard pressed (haha!) to find reviews from the time that claim that the costumes in Spy are out of date/lame.

Exactly. At the time TSWLM was as up-to-date fashion-wise as it was with regards to its genre. It was state of the art light entertainment of the late decade. The Lotus, the SEIKO, the wetbike, the skiing chase at the start, all that kept our childhood fantasies busy for years and older audiences amused for the better part of the evening. Nobody frowned at flared trousers and the wide ties because they were a common sight at the time, with the Bond variety always a touch above what all and sundry was able to afford and in -relatively speaking - decent taste.

Yes, the 1970's used to somewhat affected by substances...

[SecretAgentFan]

Tried to watch The Spy Who Loved Me today but I am afraid I had to give up after about 40 minutes. It is completely lacking in excitement and the acting is appalling. It is only interesting, I am sad to say, as a museum piece, with the disco take on the theme tune from time to time and Bond's extraordinary flared trousers.

1) I'm not naive enough to think a movie populated with a car that goes under water, a 7 foot giant with metal teeth, and a villain with webbed hands is going to have a tour de force of "ACT-ING." I enjoy it for what it is: light entertainment.

2) While I agree that some of the fashions are painful - that pain is only realized because we view the film through a prism of today's fashion sense. Every film is a time capsule. They don't have today's fashions, they don't have today's technology: you might as well complain that Roger should pull out his cell phone while in the van and call for help.

Roger spends the majority of his time in the film either in a dinner jacket or his naval uniform, both of which are timeless.

I also make an effort to compare elements from films to their contemporaries: do the fashions of TSWLM seem egregiously bad compared to other films of the period? I don't think they do. I think you would be hard pressed (haha!) to find reviews from the time that claim that the costumes in Spy are out of date/lame.

Perfectly put.

And the "old is lame"-argument is shooting itself in the foot all the time. As if only current films can be worthwhile. People should realize that today´s current films are tomorrow´s old films. Then again, I recently heard teenagers complain that "The Lord of the Rings" is an old movie and therefore so boring that they should remake it.

I also don´t understand how TSWLM is "completely lacking in excitement". It has that in spades, from the first scene onwards.

[Chief of SIS]

Then again, I recently heard teenagers complain that "The Lord of the Rings" is an old movie and therefore so boring that they should remake it.

What world am I living in?!

[Dustin]

Then again, I recently heard teenagers complain that "The Lord of the Rings" is an old movie and therefore so boring that they should remake it.

What world am I living in?!

A fast moving one.

[doublenoughtspy]

Then again, I recently heard teenagers complain that "The Lord of the Rings" is an old movie and therefore so boring that they should remake it.

Obviously they were referring to the 1978 version

[mrevans]

I watched TSWLM recently. I have to agree that the first half is pretty bad. The acting is rough, the characters dumb and the story does come across as kind of bland and uninteresting. By the middle of the movie it begins to pick up in everyway and by the time the credits roled I felt legitimately entertained. It's no where close to the best Bond movie but (the second half at least) is a fun ride.

[col_007]

I watched this earlier today the 2 hours flew by its an enjoyable bond film in my eyes now days people are too quick to over analyze everything