108 replies to this topic

[Zorin Industries]

I'm sorry Zorin, Roger Moore himself has said he never took the Bond part seriously. So I cannot take his performance seriously. To me he always had this incredible patronising nature about his performance. Also despite their faults both Goldeneye and TWINE are far better made films than AVTAK. Both made by directors who have credible track records. John Glen since leaving Bond has done virtually nothing.

What - more patronising than Pierce Brosnan and his amateur dramatics with Sophie Marceau?! GOLDENEYE is a pale remake of A VIEW TO A KILL (granted, the Bond series is not entirely innocent of remaking itself now and then). At least A VIEW TO A KILL had a subtler script with Maibaum's wit and drive apparent at all times. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH just felt like a Christmas episode of DEMPSEY AND MAKEPEACE (M being kidnapped, Denise Richards outdoing Tanya Roberts on the dumb blonde stakes and lazy cultural references to the Millennium Dome and the Thames shoe-horned in for no other narrative reason than location clearances were granted by media-leaching Labour councillors).

And because John Glen never made his stamp on the history of cinema post-Bond doesn't mean his 007 directorial efforts should be ignored. The same could easily be said for Terence Young, Peter Hunt, Guy Hamilton and Lee Tamahori.


We're not going to agree on this one, are we? (!). I will say though that I remember A VIEW TO A KILL being released and how astute, cool and contemporary the film was marketed, branded and discussed whereas THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH and GOLDENEYE felt like BOND TV Movies ticking the 007 acoutrements wish list rather than crafting intriguing screenplays worthy of Brosnan's verve to wake up the role.

Edited by Zorin Industries, 12 January 2007 - 12:11 PM.

[Hitokiri]

GOLDENEYE is a pale remake of A VIEW TO A KILL (granted, the Bond series is not entirely innocent of remaking itself now and then).

GoldenEye a remake of A VIEW TO A KILL?! If any film in the franchise is a remake of A VIEW TO A KILL, it's DIE ANOTHER DAY.

[Peter]

Count me in the fans of AVTAK. The locations are gorgeous, I find Stacey Sutton appealing, the villlians creepy, and most of the actions sequences exciting. The plot at the time was very cool, but I would call it a reworking of Goldfinger. It does have a certain mid-80s cheese, but as that was my youth, I like it.

A few things I would change:
--take out the SF cop...especially the scene where the counterweight crushes all the cars
--I like the truck and ladder scene, but I wish the "obstacles" weren't played for laughs or embarrassing (the couple in the truck camper)
--Do more with minor characters like Chuck Lee (too brief) and Aubergine(played for cheese). I found the whole Pola Ivanova thing confusing, although I agree she was a good actress.
--Perhaps smarten up Stacey a little bit, but I still believe Tanya Roberts was right for an "innocent" who stumbled into a villians scheme (similar to Honey Ryder, Tania Romanova, and Natalia Simonova)
--Very picky, but the wig on the guy at Stacey's mansion-yuck
--The dog robot...and why wouldn't Bond report in and then go off on vacation with Stacey? MI6 flew Q to SF with a camper and that robot? Why not another local contact?
--Why did Mr. O'Roarke seem like a New England fisherman on touristy Fisherman's Wharf in SF?
--Also reduce some other minor laughs/cheese (the skiiers falling down in the pretitles, the drunken bum at City Hall, the Paris taxi driver "my auto! ohhhh!", etc)

I am also a fan of May Day/Grace Jones. I cannot understand the endless flaming she gets for a scary and formidable character. To say that Grace Jones had no charisma is quite surprising to me. She has limited range as an actress, but she had enough for this role.

And I love that title song and credits. I would put it fourth of Roger's films, but far above Brosnan's films except maybe GoldenEye.

[Marquis]

I've just finished watching the UE of A View To A kill and i can say with the utmost certainty, it is my least favourite of the 20 Bond films.....just ever-so-slightly worse than the god-awful TWINE.

Roger Moore- He looked way too old to play Bond in FYEO but watching him move around with his whispy hair sprayed into place and the agility of an ageing pensioner in AVTAK...well, it's just embarrassing. Also, Moore clearly didn't take it at all seriously by this point and his performance is pure parody for the most part.

The Script - Following on from the above, the tired script (Goldfinger re-hashed) was obviously tailored for Moore's tongue-in-cheek portrayal and the constant string of groan-inducing bad puns is quite painfull. Also, making Bond self-aware really is the low-point of the entire series for me.

Beach Boys - One of the film's few half decent scenes is completely ruined when John Barry's score is interupted with 'California Girls'. WTF?

Hot Tub Scene - Who'd want to watch their Grandad take a bath with a woman 30 years his junior? It's just plain wrong! Also, Fiona Fullerton, whilst easy on the eyes, can't act for toffee. Did anyone tell her she was supposed to be Russian?

Tanya Roberts - She's awful, isn't she!? A terrible casting choice for leading lady with the charisma of a house brick.

Good points? Duran Duran's title track is one of the best Bond themes ever written and John Barry turns out another solid score. Grace Jones is also rather memorable as MayDay...but that's about it for me. If i were to rate this movie out of 10 i'd give it a generous 2.

Edited by Marquis, 13 January 2007 - 09:08 AM.

[Zorin Industries]

GOLDENEYE is a pale remake of A VIEW TO A KILL (granted, the Bond series is not entirely innocent of remaking itself now and then).

GoldenEye a remake of A VIEW TO A KILL?! If any film in the franchise is a remake of A VIEW TO A KILL, it's DIE ANOTHER DAY.

You're probably right on that one, but let's look at the GOLDENEYE / A VIEW TO A KILL remake notion and the similarities...

Younger villain...

Temptress lady sidekick with a kickboxing penchant...

A villain's plan to unhinge a country's monetary system...

A car chase in a major European city...

Okay - there aren't THAT many. You're right on DIE ANOTHER DAY...!!

Edited by Zorin Industries, 13 January 2007 - 11:29 AM.

[MarkA]

[Zorin Industries]

[quote name='MarkA' post='686656' date='13 January 2007 - 11:46']By the way, as you know, the director of

[Turn]

[quote name='MarkA' post='686656' date='13 January 2007 - 11:46']Maibaum actually didn't have too much to do with the script. There was a writer

[Four Aces]

I did not, do not like Grace Jones.

[MarkA]

I think we just have to differ over this one because I truly believe even though it is not my favourite Bond film that GOLDENEYE is a vastly superior film to AVTAK.

[Four Aces]

...GOLDENEYE is a vastly superior film to AVTAK.

Agreed!

[dodge]

[quote name='Zorin Industries' post='686711' date='13 January 2007 - 16:02'][quote name='MarkA' post='686656' date='13 January 2007 - 11:46']By the way, as you know, the director of

[Zorin Industries]

[quote name='dodge' post='687853' date='15 January 2007 - 23:31'][quote name='Zorin Industries' post='686711' date='13 January 2007 - 16:02'][quote name='MarkA' post='686656' date='13 January 2007 - 11:46']By the way, as you know, the director of

Edited by Zorin Industries, 16 January 2007 - 01:47 PM.

[MarkA]

I think I would appreciate your well presented reasons on how GOLDENEYE is bad, if your favourite Bond film wasn't a AVTOK. I really think that film is the worst of the series by far and has few redeeming features whatsoever. So there is no point in continueing. We will never agree. We are both on a totally different page. I just can't see where you are coming from, AVTAK is so appalling.

[Zorin Industries]

I think I would appreciate your well presented reasons on how GOLDENEYE is bad, if your favourite Bond film wasn't a AVTOK. I really think that film is the worst of the series by far and has few redeeming features whatsoever. So there is no point in continueing. We will never agree. We are both on a totally different page. I just can't see where you are coming from, AVTAK is so appalling.

Well, I'm not losing sleep over it.

Let's not fall out. I admire your zeal and passion. At least you're not arguing over the colour of gunbarrel blood or how Daniel Craig climbs into the Aston (which is often something some fans get too bogged down in - though it's horses for courses - whether they've been genetically modified or not....!)

It might also be worth noting that there is a difference - or at least I think there is - between what is a fan's favourite Bond film and what they think is the Best Bond film.
And just because A VIEW TO A KILL is my former surely should not cancel out my supposed "well presented" arguments against GOLDENEYE - whether we're on the same "page" or not.

As I said before. Let's not fall out over this. I will gladly swap you your A VIEW TO A KILL for my GOLDENEYE.

Edited by Zorin Industries, 16 January 2007 - 05:36 PM.

[Ffolkes]

I can honestly say there is nothing about A view to a kill i do not like,i know alot of people say Roger was too old for this film but that is not at all a problem for me.He still looked younger than Sean in Never say never again IMO.

I love this movie for what it is,and for me Roger got out at just the right time.Sure he was older but time stands still for no man,and he gave the right performance for an older Bond.

From when he started he never looked his age and today he looks ten years younger than he actully is.Moore always gave off a youthfulness which held him in good stead through the seven movies and there is not one i'd give up in favour of another actor playing the role.

Sir Roger i salute you.

[English Agent]

1/ The california girls song in the pre-credits sequence........upto then it was pretty good.

2/ That bloody robot dog.....Its a Bond film not Dr Who.

3/ The geriatric fight scenes.

4/ Stacy screechy voice Sutton.

5/ Roger Moore poncing around as a horse rider.

6/ Fiona Fullerton as that totally unremarkabe Russian agent.

By far best bit of AVTAK was Christopher Walkens performance as Max Zorin.

[Sheriff J.W. Pepper]

I liked AVTAK. I think Roger was looking a bit old and Tanya Roberts has the worst James screetch I have ever heard. Nice to look at, but she should be seen not heard. In fact that is my memory of the movie how much her voice annoyed me...but, I still like the movie. I think Christopher Walken was a tremendous villian and was probably the highlight of the film. But, if Roger didn't play 007 who would. I think Pierce could have done the movie pretty much as written, but I think Timithy would have needed a serious re-write.

[00Twelve]

The relationship between the level of camp and the attempted level of seriousness seemed to come to an unholy climax in AVTAK. I don't think I ever saw the goofy interact with the serious quite as they did in this picture.

And I think the foundation of all this is simply a lackluster and disoriented script. Anything...anything would have worked better to work the title into context than the way it was done. I think this script more than any other in the Bond canon made me ask, "Does anyone really talk this way?"

Also, if I couldn't get Barbara Bach for what was supposed to be Anya's scenes, I would have scrapped it and found another way. But hey, three women weren't enough conquests for Rog's sendoff!

That's it for me.