654 replies to this topic

[Harmsway]

Unfortunetly, that is the case. A deep shame they went with that last half. It would have been right up there as one of the very best.

Maybe. The second half would have had to make up for many of the sins of the first half:

-The dialogue is almost as bad in the first half as it is in the second, and it all kicks off in the pre-title sequence.
-Surfing into a "gritty" desaturated North Korea just seems naff, rather than cool. What is our reaction supposed to be to such ludicrosity? To laugh along with it, like we laughed along with the SPY WHO LOVED ME opening stunt? If we are, the gritty tone robs us of that ability.
-The pre-title sequence is really quite dull. Not a lot of exciting stuntwork, and the chase isn't really anything new. Overall, the whole thing feels like a rehash of TOMORROW NEVER DIES and THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH's pre-title sequences.
-The "dramatic" scenes, i.e. the Bond handover and the M conversation on the ship are quite poor.
-Bond being able to stop his heart is as bad as anything in the entire film. In MOONRAKER this would fly, but following on the heels of some "dramatic encounters" and being accompanied by scenes of torture, this just feels terribly incongruous.
-Jinx appears.
-Madonna's acting coupled with Verity's dialogue. 'Nuff said.
-Gustav Graves' over-the-top, insufferable nature kicks off from the moment we see him. It's fine to have him hauty and full of hubris, but actually give the guy some charisma, too. He's made it that far, hasn't he?

But yes, the film could have been salvaged. At the very least, it could have been another TOMORROW NEVER DIES - a passably enjoyable film that brings some fun. But the second half nose dives.

[Mr. Blofeld]

It's an all-around awful movie.

[Double-0-7]

Oh good, haven't seen this thread in over a month. Thanks for giving it a bump, Mr B!

[Mr. Blofeld]

Oh good, haven't seen this thread in over a month. Thanks for giving it a bump, Mr B!

Very welcome, mon ami...

[sharpshooter]

People can say all they want about the film itself, but Brosnan's performance in DAD is brilliant.

He was really confident and had his interpretation down pat. I would go as far as saying it is his best performance as Bond.

[Mr. Blofeld]

He was really confident and had his interpretation down pat. I would go as far as saying it is his best performance as Bond.

Really? He game more of a "Connery in DAF" vibe than anything else...

[broadshoulder]

People can say all they want about the film itself, but Brosnan's performance in DAD is brilliant.

He was really confident and had his interpretation down pat. I would go as far as saying it is his best performance as Bond.

Watch the first meeting with Jinx scene - I swear Brosnan lowers his performance to match hers. And hers it pretty low..

[BoogieBond]

Rewatched this recently, and realised it is just a Bond adventure that is not my cup of tea. I should like it, TSWLM and MR are among my favourites.
However I do like :
The torture sequence in the credits.
Bonds visit underground to meet M and Q.
Miranda Frost

I also quite like the car chase on ice. But somehow the editing and cinematography make it slightly less enjoyable than it should be.(don't particularly like the speeding up and slowing down of scenes on films)

Goldeneye, I still think is Brosnan's best Bond film.

But I got the same feeling with CR that it could be the best ever. And after over a year, the enthusiasm has slightly died down, but still CR is one of the best.

Edited by BoogieBond, 20 March 2008 - 08:46 AM.

[hilly]

I can generally find something in every Bond film to defend them against critics. In all of them, there are at least a couple of stand-out scenes, stunts or characters that will salvage even the weakest of the films (even allowing for my ultimately biased view that Bond= Brilliant, regardless) However with DAD I struggle a bit...

It SHOULD have been brilliant. Although the popular view now is to knock the Brosnan films,I thought they were great, and re-energised the series, making it cool to like Bond again ( having weathered criticism amongst friends and colleagues for years that they were for kids and geeks). TWINE had reached high standards of characterisation and drama (by Bond standards) and then DAD chucked it all away again! Yes, Pierce is great in the 1st half of the film, particularly in the early scenes and his anger with M is wonderful. Unfortunately he appears to be acting in a different film to everybody else. The rest of the cast seem to ham it up mercilessly, (John Cleese, Madonna and Toby Stephens, take a bow) the climax on the plane seems to go on for ever and the less said about the CGI the better.. Whilst it's not quite at the bottom of my list (hello AVTAK),its not far off...

[quantumofsolace]

In every way this film is bad, but at least it's not TWINE

[Colossus]

You know...... i'm coming around on this film too. All of its sleights that irked me before i don't really mind anymore, the inviso-car, the ice palace, in fact the only thing that did bother me was they at least didn't make the CGI parasailing stuff more realistic looking at least. I look at it as just pure fantasy excess and it's entertaining after that, one of the traits of Tamahori is pushing the limits to extreme... the almost softcore of the sex scenes, the OTT action (inviso-car vs. machine-gun car lol) this excess is entertaining in its own way.

[Mr. Blofeld]

You know...... i'm coming around on this film too. All of its sleights that irked me before i don't really mind anymore, the inviso-car, the ice palace, in fact the only thing that did bother me was they at least didn't make the CGI parasailing stuff more realistic looking at least. I look at it as just pure fantasy excess and it's entertaining after that, one of the traits of Tamahori is pushing the limits to extreme... the almost softcore of the sex scenes, the OTT action (inviso-car vs. machine-gun car lol) this excess is entertaining in its own way.

Not to me, mister...

[Colossus]

Well then guess we should learn to live and let ....DIE.

[quantumofsolace]

This film I find entertaining and at the same time. I don't think it will be looked back on so badly in future as now. It's a modern Moonraker but not as good. i.e. it doesn't have moore in it

[Colossus]

I like Moonraker too, easily my favorite Moore entry, just edging ou its Mediterranean epic predecessor.

Edited by Colossus, 24 March 2008 - 08:30 AM.

[Eddie Burns]

I'm willing to stick my neck out and predict that it will be regarded very highly by the general movie-going public in the not too distant future (or maybe too distant future). But I see its admires increasing. The only thing that lets it down really is the CGI and terrible structure of the story after Bond leaves Cuba (where really the movie should have come into its own).

People criticizing the acting seem to forget of far worse acting in previous Bonds. Halle Berry does no better and no worse than Andress, she's wonderful to look at and thats all that really mattered (to me). Pierce is Pierce.

But the movie's strength lies in its overall feel. Its almost futuristic (a la MR) and very tongue in cheek. Its pure fantasy Bond (no Fleming in sight), that definitely doesn't take itself too seriously. Its Pierce's last film, the 20th of the series, Its got a great song (in my opinion) by Madonna, which, in all honesty, will not sound out of place in 2020. It pays homage to previous Bonds, has a wonderful theme (Ice/Snow/Frost).

My cousin's son (he's 10) watched it with me last week and he loved it. He'd never seen any Bond film before and now he's coming over again this weekend to watch the other ones. He saw DN during the week and told me he loved that one as well. His reaction to DAD made me look at the film in a completely different light.

I still think its a poor Bond film, but can be enjoyable if you just lower your expectation. And considering its popcorn nature, I do believe it will stand the test of time...

Edited by Eddie Burns, 28 March 2008 - 05:38 PM.

[00Twelve]

A ten year old that likes DN? Wow. That's awesome.

[HH007]

I have come to this conclusion about DAD, there are Bond films that are supposed to be taken seriously (somewhat), and there are Bond films that are not to be taken seriously at all. DAD obviously falls into the latter category. However, that said, I still think the film is a piece of steaming dog. It fails on every level, imo, including the level of camp. I can be entertained by campiness (I do own a box set of Ed Wood's films), but DAD does not entertain me at all.

[Double-0-7]

I have come to this conclusion about DAD, there are Bond films that are supposed to be taken seriously (somewhat), and there are Bond films that are not to be taken seriously at all. DAD obviously falls into the latter category. However, that said, I still think the film is a piece of steaming dog. It fails on every level, imo, including the level of camp. I can be entertained by campiness (I do own a box set of Ed Wood's films), but DAD does not entertain me at all.

Perhaps it is time to stop watching or thinking about Die Another Day then.

I enjoy most of the first half of the film, and have learned when to hit the "skip" button on my dvd player to make the second half a more Bond-like experience. It isn't at the top of my list, but the DVD does get played.

[HH007]

I have come to this conclusion about DAD, there are Bond films that are supposed to be taken seriously (somewhat), and there are Bond films that are not to be taken seriously at all. DAD obviously falls into the latter category. However, that said, I still think the film is a piece of steaming dog. It fails on every level, imo, including the level of camp. I can be entertained by campiness (I do own a box set of Ed Wood's films), but DAD does not entertain me at all.

Perhaps it is time to stop watching or thinking about Die Another Day then.

Whenever it has left my mind, someone brings it up again, so I must think of it whether I want to or not.

[Scottlee]

I can still watch the film but it would take the release of a very bad Bond film in the future to knock it off the top of my least favourites list.

Of the things mentioned in this latest page, I can at least concur with the notion that Pierce Brosnan is very good in DAD. His performance is even more noticably good in this one because of how everything else around him is so bad.

Regarding the idea of Bond being able to stop his heart as being a bad thing - Assuming that DAD takes place long after CR, maybe Bond somehow learned how to stop his heart from the Valenka-poison experience, kind of like how Riggs figured out how to dislocate his shoulder?

[Skudor]

Rationalising. Isn't that one of the steps of, of, of...something or other?

[BoogieBond]

I will add I think that the swordfight between Bond and Graves is pretty good, and a highlight of the film.
But it is one of my least favourites, but as a Bond film, I would still give it a watch once in a while. I even afford that to DAF and AVTAK. And all entertain to a certain degree

Edited by BoogieBond, 01 April 2008 - 08:12 PM.

[sark]

Unlike some, I cannot think of a single thing about this film.

Please, give me a list of good things about DAD, so maybe I can find some redeeming feature.

[HH007]

Unlike some, I cannot think of a single thing about this film.

Please, give me a list of good things about DAD, so maybe I can find some redeeming feature.

1) Rosamund Pike
2) Swordfight
...
...
3) Rosamund Pike.


That's all I got.

[sark]

Unlike some, I cannot think of a single thing about this film.

Please, give me a list of good things about DAD, so maybe I can find some redeeming feature.

1) Rosamund Pike
2) Swordfight
...
...
3) Rosamund Pike.


That's all I got.

1. Good only in comparison to the likes of Stacy Sutton and Jinx. Compare her to Vesper, Anya, or Honey and she is pretty sad.
2. The swordfight actually really annoyed me. Can you imagine if Craig had out-parkour-ed... Whatever that guy's name was? It would have looked rediculous. As does this. Also, I haven't seen such lax rules concerning property damage since driving tanks through Moscow (and at least there the police got involved, here, it seemed no one cared).
I'm sorry sir, try again.

[BoogieBond]

Unlike some, I cannot think of a single thing about this film.

Please, give me a list of good things about DAD, so maybe I can find some redeeming feature.

1) Rosamund Pike
2) Swordfight
...
...
3) Rosamund Pike.


That's all I got.

Did you forget Rosamund Pike
Gotta agree with you there HH007.

[Mr_Wint]

One thing I like about DAD is the cinematography. Bondfilms always looks great and DAD is perhaps one of the better examples. From Cuba to Iceland, the film is full with amazing visual scenes (I particularly loved the London-scenes). Even though Wagner did the best he could to ruin it with his editing, I still think you have to give the D.P. some credit. In fact, I wouldn't mind if Tattersall became part of the regular crew on these films.

[HH007]

Unlike some, I cannot think of a single thing about this film.

Please, give me a list of good things about DAD, so maybe I can find some redeeming feature.

1) Rosamund Pike
2) Swordfight
...
...
3) Rosamund Pike.


That's all I got.

1. Good only in comparison to the likes of Stacy Sutton and Jinx. Compare her to Vesper, Anya, or Honey and she is pretty sad.
2. The swordfight actually really annoyed me. Can you imagine if Craig had out-parkour-ed... Whatever that guy's name was? It would have looked rediculous. As does this. Also, I haven't seen such lax rules concerning property damage since driving tanks through Moscow (and at least there the police got involved, here, it seemed no one cared).
I'm sorry sir, try again.

I didn't think Rosamund was as good as Vesper, Anya, or Honey... but in the context of the film, I think she was a definite plus.

Oh well, how about John Cleese? Yeah, I know, there's no comparing him to Desmond... but when you compare him to most everything else in DAD, he has to be a good thing.

And to Mr_Wint, I'm sorry, but I think DAD is one of the worst photographed Bond films.

[sark]

Oh well, how about John Cleese? Yeah, I know, there's no comparing him to Desmond... but when you compare him to most everything else in DAD, he has to be a good thing.

Well, he's not terrible. Hadn't thought of that. I'm certainly glad I didn't see him in CR though.

EDIT: Something that occured to me that I hate about the Aston (besides the invisibility and the fact that launching the ejector seat flips the car right side up): the stupid automatic guns. How inconvienent would it be to have guns on your hood that blast anything moving in front of it? Sorry birds. I'm sure some will say "he could switch it off and on though", but the car certainly didn't appear to be on when Cleese brought it in, and they didnt activiate before Bond tossed the manual. As an aside, how funny would it have been for Bond to throw the book and the guns were off and it just bounced off the hood. Then Q could roll his eyes and matter "moron..."

Edited by sark, 04 April 2008 - 12:31 AM.