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No bashing for FRWL?


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#31 Connerybond

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Posted 06 October 2012 - 07:03 PM

Although I like most Dr No, because in 1958 I read the book, and in 1962 I was overjoyed to see Bond on the screen, I am very fond of FRWL-the second Bond film I saw when it was released, as it creates many happy memories.

#32 DR76

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Posted 07 October 2012 - 05:05 AM

No doubt, it is a near-perfect piece of film-making, I admit, but there has to be a word in edgewise.


Even though it's a favorite of mine, I don't think it's near-perfect. Actually, I've already posted my complaints about it, earlier on this thread.

#33 glidrose

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Posted 07 October 2012 - 06:23 PM

It's only a bit above mid-level for me. Always thought it overrated. Possibly the weakest of the first four films.

#34 Dustin

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Posted 07 October 2012 - 07:11 PM

Really? I used to think of it as the strongest, due to the slow build-up and fine use of Grant. Also Armendáriz IS Kerim Bey, the Bond ally incarnate.

#35 tdalton

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Posted 08 October 2012 - 02:49 PM

Really? I used to think of it as the strongest, due to the slow build-up and fine use of Grant. Also Armendáriz IS Kerim Bey, the Bond ally incarnate.


Agreed. It's definitely the strongest of the first four films, and certainly much moreso than Goldfinger (which is a film deserving of the "overrated" label much more than From Russia With Love is).

#36 Dustin

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Posted 08 October 2012 - 04:05 PM


Really? I used to think of it as the strongest, due to the slow build-up and fine use of Grant. Also Armendáriz IS Kerim Bey, the Bond ally incarnate.


Agreed. It's definitely the strongest of the first four films, and certainly much moreso than Goldfinger (which is a film deserving of the "overrated" label much more than From Russia With Love is).


GOLDFINGER is all about the imagery, the golden girl, the Aston Martin, the marvellous Ken Adam Fort Knox set. Without those you'd be left with a very flimsy story. Granted, the splendid Gerd Frobe is a highlight, but the package would hardly be valued to the same extent. FRWL in my opinion is a far superior film, despite there being maybe one action scene too much for its own good after the true climax on the train.

#37 Gothamite

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Posted 09 October 2012 - 05:54 PM

FRWL is like a fine-wine. It's probably not the film that will entice casual fans simply looking for a breezy popcorn adventure (I didn't regard it as highly as a 10-year old as I do now as a 22-year old), but when you really sink your teeth into the plot, the style and the characters it really is the quintessential 'serious' Bond-film.

It adapts the feel and atmosphere of the Fleming novels effortlessly and even if the character of Bond still isn't as fully-fleshed out as he would be in the Dalton or Craig films (at which point the Fleming novel was too outdated to work, anyway), Connery gives one of his best, most enthusiastic performances. Of all the Connery films, this probably has the best ensemble cast: Robert Shaw, Lotte Lenye, Bernard Lee, Daniela Bianchi - even Anthony Dawson who is ICONIC as Blofeld (arguably my favourite use of the character in any of the films). In my opinion, Thunderball is the only other film from the Connery era to rival its stellar cast (outside of Gert Frobe himself and maybe Honor Blackman, there's not much to say about casting in GF).

One of my favourite Connery moments is when he's simply looking around his room for bugs and the full Bond theme is playing. He's effortlessly cool, even when he's doing the simplest of things (Craig is similar in this regard).

Edited by Gothamite, 09 October 2012 - 05:57 PM.


#38 Mr. Arlington Beech

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Posted 09 October 2012 - 08:59 PM

Ayn Rand and Robin Wood hated it. I posted about it.


Yes, I also think that DN is better than FRWL

#39 DR76

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Posted 09 October 2012 - 11:04 PM

Granted, the splendid Gerd Frobe is a highlight, but the package would hardly be valued to the same extent.



If it were not for Gert Frobe's performance, I would have harbored a very low opinion of the Goldfinger character.

#40 Colossus

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Posted 14 October 2012 - 09:31 PM

Interesting to see the FRWL criticisms, very good.

There is one particular shot that somehow seems very modern and that was Connery running across the hills while the copter chases him and the camera turns as he passes it really closely, looks almost circa 1990s.

#41 Armand Fancypants

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Posted 15 October 2012 - 01:35 AM

What FRWL brings to the table far outstrips the flaws it has (and yes, it certainly has them).

Personally I think it sits alongside OHMSS as the most robust EON productions; there's very little that feels out of place, everyone is firing on all cylinders, it's atmospheric and there's a lot to chew on.

Perhaps it's a coincidence that both feature an absolute power of work from Peter Hunt. Perhaps it's not. The most unsung Bond contributor, for my money.

#42 Trevelyan 006

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Posted 15 October 2012 - 06:45 AM

certainly much moreso than Goldfinger (which is a film deserving of the "overrated" label much more than From Russia With Love is).


Thank you!

#43 bey-columbo

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Posted 15 October 2012 - 11:37 AM

Cary Grant is hot and NORTH BY NORTHWEST is great, so I don't mind the helicopter scene.


When I look at FRWL I think to North by Northwest.
Because of Sean Connery and Cary Grant, who look like each other.
Because of the modest and simple action scenes.
Because of the helicopter scene.

FRWL is one of the bests ever made, It is almost impossible to reproach anything to this one.

Edited by bey-columbo, 15 October 2012 - 11:39 AM.


#44 Jarvio

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Posted 15 October 2012 - 01:47 PM

The only bashing I have of FRWL is that it is slightly slow/boring in places. But other than that, I find nothing else wrong with the film.

It's not my favourite bond film by all means, and is 12th on my list. But regarding criticisms towards it, I guess I have none.

#45 DR76

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Posted 15 October 2012 - 08:59 PM

Because of Sean Connery and Cary Grant, who look like each other.



I don't think so.

#46 Colossus

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Posted 16 October 2012 - 06:59 AM

Hey Trevelyan 006, semi-ot but honeslty...ive come to the conclusion that... f it, Sean Bean is the best Bond villain since friggin Robert Shaw.

What supposedly irks me is that there is, if the rumors are true, more of the train fight existing but it's cut out?

Oh guys, no Goldfinger bashing, i don't want to unleash my defense weaponry.

#47 Iceskater101

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Posted 16 October 2012 - 04:36 PM

I was actually suprised by how many people who loved this bond movie, not that it is the worst it just wasn't my personal favorite.

#48 Trevelyan 006

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Posted 18 October 2012 - 01:07 AM

Hey Trevelyan 006, semi-ot but honeslty...ive come to the conclusion that... f it, Sean Bean is the best Bond villain since friggin Robert Shaw.

What supposedly irks me is that there is, if the rumors are true, more of the train fight existing but it's cut out?


Could this be true!? :o

#49 SPECTRE ASSASSIN

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Posted 18 October 2012 - 03:49 AM

Watched it recently on Blu-Ray.This has always been my favorite Bond film since I was a teenager simply because I love the story and the slowly build-up of the characters. Just the fact that the character James Bond in the movie had been played a patsy by SPECTRE throughout most of the movie made it much more better then the other following formularic Bond movies makes the film still so refreshing today. You can't go wrong with this movie.

#50 Colossus

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Posted 18 October 2012 - 06:19 AM


Hey Trevelyan 006, semi-ot but honeslty...ive come to the conclusion that... f it, Sean Bean is the best Bond villain since friggin Robert Shaw.

What supposedly irks me is that there is, if the rumors are true, more of the train fight existing but it's cut out?


Could this be true!? :blink:


Yes but i think it could have been a few seconds, to make it less brutal is what i heard.

#51 IcedCamaro

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Posted 18 October 2012 - 07:24 PM

FRWL is like a fine-wine. It's probably not the film that will entice casual fans simply looking for a breezy popcorn adventure (I didn't regard it as highly as a 10-year old as I do now as a 22-year old), but when you really sink your teeth into the plot, the style and the characters it really is the quintessential 'serious' Bond-film.

It adapts the feel and atmosphere of the Fleming novels effortlessly and even if the character of Bond still isn't as fully-fleshed out as he would be in the Dalton or Craig films...


These are my thoughts, exactly. It's not a perfect movie... I didn't find it as "popcorn entertainment" as others, but there is just something about it that screams classy and classic too. I don't think it's perfect, it's just that what it set to do, it did perfectly well. Whether GF is overrated, that's up for debate, but it certainly is rather OTT. GF is such a different type of film to FRWL that comparing both causes my mind to short. I think it boils down to personal taste as far as how you prefer your Bond... more outlandish or more serious.

#52 Dustin

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Posted 18 October 2012 - 09:16 PM



Hey Trevelyan 006, semi-ot but honeslty...ive come to the conclusion that... f it, Sean Bean is the best Bond villain since friggin Robert Shaw.

What supposedly irks me is that there is, if the rumors are true, more of the train fight existing but it's cut out?


Could this be true!? :blink:


Yes but i think it could have been a few seconds, to make it less brutal is what i heard.


Indeed, I think it's mentioned in Steve Rubin's book, a concern for the PG rating, quite understandable. Take a look at contemporary fighting scenes from the same early-60s period. FRWL's train fight is by and far one of the most violent fights, the final strangling of Grant a particularly tough scene to get by the authorities.

I can really not remember a lot of similarly convincing scenes of screen brutality from that time. At the moment only two come to mind: a few years later Hitchcock had an East German Stasi agent murdered most brutally by Newman in TORN CURTAIN. And Richard Widmark got his hand pinned to a table with a knife in some western I don't remember the title of. But for its year and for a British production FRWL's fight was groundbreaking.

#53 FOX MULDER

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Posted 18 October 2012 - 09:25 PM

For me, FRWL is up there with The Spy Who Loved Me as joint best Bond film to date...

Not seen Skyfall yet, mind...

#54 NVT

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 06:30 PM

I admit when I was younger that I found it to be boring. It was not until I was older my senses started to appreciate the finner things in life, thats when I started to enjoy the film.

#55 glidrose

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 09:23 PM

I'm surprised people criticize GF's script yet give FRWL a free pass. You want padding? Everything from the moment Kerim's office gets bombed through the gypsy encampment sequence to Krilencu's death is padding. Remove them from the film and what have you lost? Zip. At least the section where Bond is captured in GF is integral to the plot.

Kerim's arm seems to recover quickly once he's on the train. Not bad for a guy who got shot and couldn't use his arm.

I defy anybody to tell me that FRWL is better directed or photographed than DN.

#56 Panavision

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Posted 25 December 2012 - 10:28 PM

I love it. There's little to criticise here. Perhaps the girl fight isn't necessary, but it does add flavour to the film. The ending with the helicopter is padding - the film doe end with Grant's death, anything after that wasn't needed.

I recently read the novel and was surprised how easy it translates to the screen. Most of the other novels wouldn't work as straight adaptations, but this one does.

I actually love the PTS, it sets up the movie perfectly. My fave Sean Bond film.



#57 B5Erik

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Posted 20 January 2013 - 05:20 AM

I just watched FRWL for the 6th or 7th time tonight, and it is a nearly flawless movie.

 

There are some minor editing issues, and some FX limitations of the time, but other than that there isn't much to criticize.  It's a great movie.



#58 Professor Pi

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Posted 20 January 2013 - 07:06 PM

It's of note that most of the criticisms of this film were parts the filmmakers added--the faux Bond PTS, the boat chase, the North by Northwest homage/ripoff, SPECTRE.  In interviews, the filmmakers often justified their bonus-action scenes at the end saying they wanted to open up the film to the outdoors after the confinement of the climactic train fight scene.  FRWL was the first to have a pre-titles sequence.  The SPECTRE addition was to avoid direct politics, hence no SMERSH, and develop the villain storyline from DN for TB, OHMSS, etc.  Fleming had introduced SPECTRE in the Thunderball novel so while EON added it to the script, it is still a Fleming sanctioned idea.  It also sets up one of the most memorable scenes in the film, the three Siamese fighting fish.  Not in the novels, but introduced in FRWL by the producers, is Blofeld's white cat.  There are some signature Bond elements introduced in this film.

 

It's also interesting that EON auditions every Bond actor with the Tania seduction scene.  The Bond producers acknowledged trying to one up the fight scene of FRWL with the Trevelyan/Bond fight in GoldenEye.  As they hadn't yet established the formula so often repeated after Goldfinger, FRWL is able to distinguish itself from other entries in the Bond canon.  The friendship between Kerim Bey and Bond is the best in the series.  While a very close adaptation of the book, Bond doesn't appear in the first several chapters and he nearly dies at the end of it as Fleming was thinking about killing off the character.  The film has a more suitable ending with Tania rightfully getting to shoot Kleb.

 

While it's in my top five or so, I must confess I've probably seen it the fewest times of any Bond film, though it was the first Bond book I read.



#59 Iceskater101

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Posted 21 January 2013 - 09:02 PM

I actually ended up rewatching this movie, and I enjoyed it. I think when I was younger, I was rather bored by this movie, but I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought. I actually rate it highest out of the Connery Bonds.



#60 Turn

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Posted 21 January 2013 - 10:37 PM

I actually ended up rewatching this movie, and I enjoyed it. I think when I was younger, I was rather bored by this movie, but I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought. I actually rate it highest out of the Connery Bonds.

That's a pretty common reaction. When I was a kid, I never missed a Bond film when they played on ABC in the days before home video and numerous cable outlets. Then as I was getting older I recall skipping FRWL to do something else and not really caring, whereas something like MR kept my attention better.

 

Now the film has gone up more than any other Bond film in recent years in my personal rankings.