45 replies to this topic

[Harmsway]

I might be nuts - and I think I am - considering how vehemently I've always hated this movie... but I recently revisited it (last night, actually) and quite enjoyed it, despite recognizing its numerous flaws.



Hmmmm...

I recently reviewed it recently as well, and I've come to a similar conclusion: It's not a bad film, but it does drag really bad around the 80 minute mark (around the time Elektra makes love to Renard in their lighthouse). I will always defend the finale as being delicously low-key though.

Well don't get me wrong, I *do* think TWINE is a bad film. It's pretentious, heavy-handed, and goes wrong in most areas. It's still, IMO, the worst Bond film. A new flaw that became incredibly apparent to me was how awkward the dialogue was and how awfully the puns fit.

In spite of that, I ended up somewhat having a good time while watching it though. I'm not quite sure why that was.

[JimmyBond]

Well, I still don't think it's a bad film (save for that embarrasing speech Broz has to recite about Stockholm syndrome). Maybe the reason I enjoyed it more this viewing was because I just accepted that Brosnan is not playing Fleming's Bond, nor is he trying to. "James Bond isnt supposed to get emotional used by woman you say?" "Pierce Brosnan's Bond does" I say See how easy that is

[Harmsway]

Well, the biggest reason I dislike it, is that everything just kind of crawls about. It's got sincere pacing issues. The first 20 minutes or so are fine, but from that ski chase onwards, the film's pace just plummets and everything suddenly becomes uninteresting and drawn-out.

After revisiting that film, the least problem I have with the film is its interpretation of Bond overall. There's just much bigger problems with it.

[JimmyBond]

I agree with the pacing, Goldeneye suffers a similar fate, but not as apparent.

TWINE is made up of decent scenes, I think the scenes with Brosnan and Elektra are pretty memorable, you can really see Brosnan trying his darndest to keep up with Marceau. I especially love his line to Elektra "I take pleasure, in great beauty."

But I could go on and tell you individual bits that I really enjoy all night, the film is full of them. The problem is the film isnt really held together in any cohesive whole, and that's Apted's fault, a stronger director would have made this flow; fixing the pacing issue you and I have. Wouldnt have fixed some of the horrendous lines in the script though, most of which, interestingly enough are not the work of Purvis and Wade.

[Tinfinger]

I love this movie, I need to go watch it again. Thanks, guys, for reminding me how good of a Bond it is.

[tdalton]

I might be nuts - and I think I am - considering how vehemently I've always hated this movie... but I recently revisited it (last night, actually) and quite enjoyed it, despite recognizing its numerous flaws.



Hmmmm...

I recently reviewed it recently as well, and I've come to a similar conclusion: It's not a bad film, but it does drag really bad around the 80 minute mark (around the time Elektra makes love to Renard in their lighthouse). I will always defend the finale as being delicously low-key though.

Agreed about the ending of the film. Even though it could have been done better, I was just thrilled to see an ending to the film that wasn't an all-out action sequence like we got in 2 of the other Brosnan films (TND and DAD).

For me, unlike with the other Brosnan films, this is the one that does not get worse every time that I watch it. It is just kind of a good, solid film that I respect for at least attempting to be a serious, back to the basics film even though it obviously doesn't quite reach that mark. But, they tried, and it's evident that they did try to be serious with this one, so I give it higher marks just for that than the poorly conceived GE and DAD.

[freemo]

No, sorry, it's just dreadful. No "if only they'd done a little more of x" or "if they had just tweaked y a little bit" can save it. It's beyond salvaging.

[Harmsway]

TWINE is made up of decent scenes, I think the scenes with Brosnan and Elektra are pretty memorable, you can really see Brosnan trying his darndest to keep up with Marceau. I especially love his line to Elektra "I take pleasure, in great beauty."

I hate Marceau in every scene of the movie, so I can't agree there. She was a poor casting choice and lended herself to being unbelievable and melodramatic. Nobody for a second bought that she was a good guy.

Wouldnt have fixed some of the horrendous lines in the script though, most of which, interestingly enough are not the work of Purvis and Wade.

Quite. Purvis & Wade's draft was ultimately different from the final product in a number of key areas. It was actually probably superior to the final product, even though it had flaws.''

I'm prepared to level the biggest responsibility for how TWINE turned out with Michael Apted and his wife Dana Stevens (who rewrote P&W's draft and turned it into pretty much what we have now). Poor, inconsistent direction and writing. Awful.

It is just kind of a good, solid film that I respect for at least attempting to be a serious, back to the basics film even though it obviously doesn't quite reach that mark. But, they tried, and it's evident that they did try to be serious with this one, so I give it higher marks just for that than the poorly conceived GE and DAD.

But why is trying to be "serious" worthy of so much praise? The only Connery films that really tried to be so "serious" were DR. NO and FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE. Being "serious" alone is not worthy of any praise if they can't execute it properly. If you're going to create another "serious" Bond film that's just not going to work, give me another MOONRAKER instead. At least I'll be entertained.

No, sorry, it's just dreadful. No "if only they'd done a little more of x" or "if they had just tweaked y a little bit" can save it. It's beyond salvaging.

That I agree with. For TWINE to work, it would have needed to be rewritten (multiple times, mind you... there's so many script problems it's unbelievable), recast, and gotten a different director.

[Loomis]

Coulda, woulda, shoulda. Yes, TWINE could indeed have been great, but the point is it isn't. It's dire. Next!

[Jim]

Coulda, woulda, shoulda. Yes, TWINE could indeed have been great, but the point is it isn't. It's dire. Next!

All Bond films are great until we see them; this is our disease. Then they're just not as good as they once were...

[DLibrasnow]

Coulda, woulda, shoulda. Yes, TWINE could indeed have been great, but the point is it isn't. It's dire. Next!

Quite.

I saw the terrible "Casino Royale" (1967) again recently....You know, I managed to sit through it, which is something that I cannot manage to do with TWINE....That tells me that IMO "The World is Not Enough" is worse than the unfunny spoof "Casino Royale"....It is not only the worst Bond movie ever but it probably ranks as one of the worst "action" (I use the term loosely because there's hardly any of it in this travesty) movies of the last 30 years.

I haven't been able to sit through TWINE since I saw it the first night it was out in the movie theater. I almost walked out in disgust then too...I promised a friend of mine (who will remain nameless) that I would try and sit through it a couple of years ago but I failed...I simply don't like it. Really, after the boat chase it slips into melodrama and never recovers. It is the most boring non-fun movie of the franchise.

- It was boring and they turned James Bond into a Nancy-boy.
- The action setpieces seemed artificial and forced - they lacked the flow evident in earlier movies. The parahawk sequence is a prime example of what was wrong with TWINE's action, it was stilted and lackluster (not helped by a terrible Arnold score). The only action sequence that worked on any level was the boat chase.
- Denise Richards as Christmas Jones was the Stacey Sutton of the Brosnan era (but without the knock-out looks, sorry Finesse).
- Pierce Brosnan seemed to sleepwalk his way through the part delivering his worst performance as James Bond (his best still being his excellent turn as 007 in GE).
- A lackluster screenplay with more twists and turns than a pretzel, none of which were interesting or particularly well explained.
- The worst finale of any Bond movie....who really cared.
- "I thought Christmas only came once a year" -- the whole theater groaned, no one laughed or even chuckled.
- Elektra as a villain was telegraphed way too early.
- They used another flipping gadget car. Prior to Brosnan we had gadget cars in 1964, 1965, 1977 and 1987. They used to be special now they are commonplace marketing which ever newest vehicle of the company that dished out the most dough.
- David Arnold used the James Bond theme too much, the only track that he scored a home run on was during the boat chase.

[JimmyBond]

- It was boring and they turned James Bond into a Nancy-boy.

Can't disagree there, of course my new stock reply to that is "But it's Pierce Brosnan's Bond." That reply works with anything anyone says about Brosnan

- The action setpieces seemed artificial and forced - they lacked the flow evident in earlier movies. The parahawk sequence is a prime example of what was wrong with TWINE's action, it was stilted and lackluster (not helped by a terrible Arnold score). The only action sequence that worked on any level was the boat chase.

Agreed all around. Apted didnt want to direct the action so he left all of it in the hands of the second unit director (was it Armstong?) so that gave it no cohessiveness at all. Plus it didnt help that the action sequences came in predictable doses: One pig action sequence every thirty minutes.

- Denise Richards as Christmas Jones was the Stacey Sutton of the Brosnan era (but without the knock-out looks, sorry Finesse).

I think Richards is more attractive than Tanya Roberts, but to each his own.

- Pierce Brosnan seemed to sleepwalk his way through the part delivering his worst performance as James Bond (his best still being his excellent turn as 007 in GE).

Disagree about GE, that was a non-performance. However I do feel his best performances were in TND and DAD.

- A lackluster screenplay with more twists and turns than a pretzel, none of which were interesting or particularly well explained.

I didnt mind it too much, it worked for me...for the most part.

- The worst finale of any Bond movie....who really cared.

I liked the ending, as I said earlier, it was delicously low-key.

- "I thought Christmas only came once a year" -- the whole theater groaned, no one laughed or even chuckled.
- Elektra as a villain was telegraphed way too early.
- They used another flipping gadget car. Prior to Brosnan we had gadget cars in 1964, 1965, 1977 and 1987. They used to be special now they are commonplace marketing which ever newest vehicle of the company that dished out the most dough.

Agreed on all points.

- David Arnold used the James Bond theme too much, the only track that he scored a home run on was during the boat chase.

Compared to his other two scores though, the Bond theme practically seems absent in TWINE.

[Johnboy007]

It's tied with DIE ANOTHER DAY for worst Brosnan Bond film. Like DAD, I can sit through the film, but afterwards I can't watch it for months. It tries to incorporate every conceivable plot device known to man (assuming there actually is a plot). Like most Bond films, it needs to take one direction and go with it or at least break it into distinct sections. The fun of TOMORROW NEVER DIES was it was pretty much an action-fest. GOLDENEYE took the sectional route, low-key and then when the tank busts through the wall, picks up action. TWINE tries to be a melodrama, a spy film, an action film, and a comedy and fails on almost all accounts (except the Thames Chase). They didn't seem to learn from their mistake with DAD, but the latter was infinitely more entertaining.

Oh, but Sophie Marceau was pretty good lookin'.

[Loomis]

Coulda, woulda, shoulda. Yes, TWINE could indeed have been great, but the point is it isn't. It's dire. Next!

All Bond films are great until we see them; this is our disease. Then they're just not as good as they once were...

More than a grain of truth there, Jim, but still I say:

It's their fault TWINE is a lazily-written, visually lifeless and wretchedly-acted piece of intelligence-insulting dreck, not ours! They comm----, er, I mean made it, we didn't.

[Double-0-Seven]

I actually really like The World is Not Enough. It's my favorite Pierce Brosnan film. Although it does have many flaws in it, it is one of the most enjoyable Bond films to watch in my opinion.

[DaveBond21]

I am a fan of TWINE.

The film includes my favourite pre-titles sequence, which is also the longest.

Those 17 minutes or so, have all the elements of "classic Bond" to me:-


- the scene with the Swiss banker, and bungee escape

- the conversation with Moneypenny

- a meeting with M

- Q getting flustered

- the fantastic Thames boat chase - classic action sequence (maybe it should have been at the end??)

- dropping from the hot air balloon onto the Millenium Dome - the Dome never looked as good as it did in TWINE.



It's a shame the rest of the film didn't live up to that, although I did enjoy the ski chase, Zukovsky's return and diving off the tower into the water, to reach the submarine.