166 replies to this topic

[RedKelly]

I've taken acting classes and stage combat classes. (...) But sadly both OHMSS and DAF have the fakest fighting scene's in my opinon.

You think OHMSS had fake fight scenes? How much did you pay for the courses? Not too much... I hope.

Well maybe it's just me. I can't find the clips but its mostly the beach and hotel room fights all movies have fake fights to me because to do a stage punch you bring your wrist across the actor's jaw line and he turns his head, from the right angle it slightly looks like a punch. Don't forget there all fake

And all these years I've thought that those stuntmen and actors were REALLY hitting each other!!!??? Man! That really colors my view of the movies now! I feel cheated! Next thing you'll be telling me that people don't really get shot in the movies - that it's all pretend and make believe! In the old days, of course, the unions didn't allow people to really get shot - that's why the old westerns are so bloodless.

Yes I know, sorry to break the truth to you . And to think Jaws was a fake shark and James Bond is a made up character, damnit all!

[Mister Asterix]

Secrets to enjoying the DAF PTS:

1. Be a 10-year-old boy.

2. Have it be your first Bond film.

3. See it in 1971, in a theater.

Follow those three rules, and it suddenly jumps to number one in the canon...

[mra]Will 7-year-old boy do? If so then I

[Daddy Bond]

[quote name='Mister Asterix' post='767219' date='29 August 2007 - 08:04'][quote name='erniecureo' post='767016' date='28 August 2007 - 14:47']Secrets to enjoying the DAF PTS:

1. Be a 10-year-old boy.

2. Have it be your first Bond film.

3. See it in 1971, in a theater.

Follow those three rules, and it suddenly jumps to number one in the canon... [/quote]

[mra]Will 7-year-old boy do? If so then I

[Loomis]

The PTS is glorious tat. Those who saw it on the big screen after enduring the old Pearl and Dean logo, a mindblowingly boring half-hour documentary about something unutterably parochial and rubbish, and those dreadful ads for local curry houses shot - one presumes - by a young Paul Greengrass.... those people saw it as it was meant to be seen. Definitely one of those bits of Bond to bring out one's inner Simon Winder.

I only wish the whole film were like that. True, DAF plumbs depths of ludicrousness, but parts of it are relatively slickly-done and lucid, and it's only really in the PTS that it hits its full lunatic stride.

[plankattack]

The PTS is glorious tat. Those who saw it on the big screen after enduring the old Pearl and Dean logo, a mindblowingly boring half-hour documentary about something unutterably parochial and rubbish, and those dreadful ads for local curry houses shot - one presumes - by a young Paul Greengrass.... those people saw it as it was meant to be seen. Definitely one of those bits of Bond to bring out one's inner Simon Winder.

Loomis - you've taken me back to the depths of my childhood. And now the glorious technicolour panavision of DAF and shines through and immediately puts the PTS of DAF in its true light. Like the 60s of FRWL are really the 50s in disguise, the flares of Sir Rog flapping across the screen in TSWLM and MR are symbolic of the disco era, Brozza's blue screen escapades of DAD are early 21st century movie-making at its core, then the plastic props, poor dubbing of DAF and its PTS are right at home and up to the standard of action/adventure films of the early 70s. Just as when you watched The Saint or The Persuaders or Jason King, and the subtitles told you were in the South of France, what followed inevitably smelt of some corner of north-west London near Pinewood, no matter how many props of umbrellas, polyester bikinis, or signs declaring "The Riviera" were placed up onscreen.

The PTS of DAF, with it's mudbaths, oversized surgical lamps, and mousetraps, is then completely symbolic and at home in 1971. So to judge it now by our current standards is of course completely unfair and unreasonable. In '71, that PTS was the biz!!

[Jim]

...then the plastic props, poor dubbing of DAF and its PTS are right at home and up to the standard of action/adventure films of the early 70s. Just as when you watched The Saint or The Persuaders or Jason King, and the subtitles told you were in the South of France, what followed inevitably smelt of some corner of north-west London near Pinewood, no matter how many props of umbrellas, polyester bikinis, or signs declaring "The Riviera" were placed up onscreen.

Absolutely. And gorgeous and headily and heavily redolent of an innocent age as a result.

Mahvellous.

[Daddy Bond]

...then the plastic props, poor dubbing of DAF and its PTS are right at home and up to the standard of action/adventure films of the early 70s. Just as when you watched The Saint or The Persuaders or Jason King, and the subtitles told you were in the South of France, what followed inevitably smelt of some corner of north-west London near Pinewood, no matter how many props of umbrellas, polyester bikinis, or signs declaring "The Riviera" were placed up onscreen.

Absolutely. And gorgeous and headily and heavily redolent of an innocent age as a result.

Mahvellous.

Actually, the outside shots for the Persuaders were mostly on location (if I'm not mistaken) - being the most expensive TV series of its day because of the locations and salaries for Moore and Curtis.

Well, I'm a classic film and TV fan with movies spanning the 30's to present and TV shows from the 50's to present, and I still think the DAR PTS is terrible film making. But I appreciate your nostalgiac take on things.

[Double-0-Seven]

Regardless of whether you love/hate DAF (or somewhere in between), does anyone other than me find the Diamonds are Forever Pretitle Sequence an absurd mess? The acting is bad, the action is bad, the editing is bad, the sound is off, the music is terrible - what a jumbled mess! It looks like a cheap B movie cobbled together by a couple of teens in their basement.

Why is this PTS such a wreck? It looks like an afterthought thrown together in 10 minutes.

Anyone agree, disagree or have any insight into why this PTS is so lousy???

Thoughts???

I agree. The entire sequence is a complete mess. Even LALD's is better, and that is one of my least favorites.

[Turn]

Lay off my DAF. It was the first Bond film I saw new in a theater at the age of 5.

It's not the most polished film of the series as they were working on a tight budget and timeframe. But I still rank this PTS above silly ones like FYEO or AVTAK or some of the drawn-out ones of the Brosnan era.

Furthermore, I think it caps off the revenge factor spilling over from OHMSS just fine.

[DaveBond21]

I have always liked this review of Diamonds are Forever, from the British guys at Tv Cream. It's their favourite Bond film:-

Diamonds Are Forever


Connery's comeback caper, easily the best 'non-serious' Bond of the lot. It's endearingly daft without being offensively stupid (yes, Moonraker, we're looking at you), goes all over the place without getting tedious, and features the great more-than-just-a-dodgy-stereotype sub-villains Kidd and Wint. OK, so Charles Gray is a disappointingly avuncular Blofeld, Jill 'Tiffany Case' St. John and Lana 'Plenty O'Toole' Wood don't do much, and the theme song's by Shirley bleedin' Bassey again, but what a plot! Directionless, profligate, vulgar and wantonly episodic, just how Bond should be. You can imagine the scene - with only weeks to go until shooting starts, round the big conference table a hundred harried writers nervously pitch their little bits of business - "OK, so there's this robotic pipe-welder, right..." "There's a bomb hidden in a big fake trifle..." "Bond fights two feisty kung fu ladies in bikinis!" "How about we have Q playing the fruit machines?" "... and so the car goes up on two wheels..." "... he sticks the marching band cassette down her pants..." "... false fingerprints..." "... TWO Blofelds..." "... a moon buggy!!" - and Good Old Cubby, at head of table, holds up his hand for silence, takes a drag on his cigar, leans forward and says, "Fellas... we'll shoot 'em all!" And we're so glad he did!!!

[triviachamp]

Furthermore, I think it caps off the revenge factor spilling over from OHMSS just fine.

Except that Blofeld isn't actually dead and Bond forgets his murderous rage for no reason.

[DaveBond21]

Furthermore, I think it caps off the revenge factor spilling over from OHMSS just fine

DAF deliberately ignores the events of OHMSS, and that is one of its major flaws. It begins in Japan suggesting it follows on from YOLT and M even admonishes Bond for taking time away (not the kind of thing you say to a grieving employee).

[crheath]

- Ca-Ca-Cairo...Even Sergio Leone's westerns have better dubbing and synchronicing of the lines than this scene.

I think that was done intentionally as a joke to make fun of the bad dubbing in those Asian movies. Didn't anyone else notice that?

Edited by crheath, 30 August 2007 - 03:55 AM.

[Daddy Bond]

- Ca-Ca-Cairo...Even Sergio Leone's westerns have better dubbing and synchronicing of the lines than this scene.

I think that was done intentionally as a joke to make fun of the bad dubbing in those Asian movies. Didn't anyone else notice that?

I believe, at least for many of us, we fully understand the cultural context in which DAF occurred, and do therefore cut it some slack because of that. However, it is still a poorly made film.

[BMT-216A]

yep one of the worst PTS , along with LALD

actually the whole movie is somewhat a mess imho

[Carolinabond007]

One of the least effective for sure

[scaramunga]

I'm a huge Diamonds fan! I actually like the intro to Diamonds! Sean has such a screen presence! For sure it's not on par with Thunderball though...

Great film though. Thunderball, Goldfinger and Diamonds are my favorites by Sean.

[O.H.M.S.S.]

I actually like the Diamonds Are Forever pre-title sequence. Bond looking for Blofeld all around the world. Charles Gray: "He would have been me in a matter of days". I think Gray was a very charismatic Blofeld. But still there is one thing that bothers me about this, this film should have been made in a Licence to Kill style with an angry Bond, not a funny Bond.

[DaveBond21]

I thought that the PTS for DAF, LALD and TMWTGG are the worst 3 of the lot.

[Qwerty]

...and Bond forgets his murderous rage for no reason.

They had to get away from [film=99]On Her Majesty

[DaveBond21]

[quote name='Qwerty' post='776016' date='24 September 2007 - 09:46'][quote name='triviachamp' post='767540' date='29 August 2007 - 22:42']...and Bond forgets his murderous rage for no reason.[/quote]

They had to get away from [film=99]On Her Majesty

[LadySylvia]

After thinking about this topic, I now wonder if DAF had the worst pre-titled sequence. I still believe that it's the worst Bond movie I have ever seen. But . . . I can't really decide whether DAF or FYEO had the worst pre-titled sequence.

[Daddy Bond]

After thinking about this topic, I now wonder if DAF had the worst pre-titled sequence. I still believe that it's the worst Bond movie I have ever seen. But . . . I can't really decide whether DAF or FYEO had the worst pre-titled sequence.

Agreed, although I think DAF is still the worst, FYEO was pretty terrible - although fascinating because of the whole SPECTRE/Thunderball, etc. stuff going on.

Don't you think?

[Mr. Blofeld]

I actually like FYEO's PTS... up to the line about the delicatessen, that is.

[HH007]

Yeah, DAF's PTS is bad, but it's serves a purpose in the sense that it lets the audience know the kind of shoddy movie they're in for. And to answer another poster's question, yes, I think DAF would make a hilarious Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode.

[col_007]

- Ca-Ca-Cairo...Even Sergio Leone's westerns have better dubbing and synchronicing of the lines than this scene.

I think that was done intentionally as a joke to make fun of the bad dubbing in those Asian movies. Didn't anyone else notice that?

no i reckon they just made a half-hearted attempt at doing it

[Matt_13]

Ditto.

[Qwerty]

- Ca-Ca-Cairo...Even Sergio Leone's westerns have better dubbing and synchronicing of the lines than this scene.

I think that was done intentionally as a joke to make fun of the bad dubbing in those Asian movies. Didn't anyone else notice that?

It's a nice thought, but it's always appeared to be as just a mess.

[Wade]

Now, I'll grant you that DAF isn't the best Bond. (It's in my top five because it was the first one I ever saw.)

But the PTS? At least there's a plot point to it. Have we forgotten the lamest PTS in the series? MR? It is TOTALLY set up for the stunt, without any effort to establish a reality to it. The circus tent at the end is just thrown in (yeah, I've seen the cut footage -- doesn't help), and could someone explain to me how a guy more than seven feet tall and almost 500 pounds can be HIDDEN in a Lear Jet?

There. Now I feel better.

[DaveBond21]

Fair enough.

But up to the circus tent, and Jaws flapping, Moonraker was one of the best PTS's. And carried on the trend set by TSWLM to always have a high-octane stunt at the beginning of a Bond movie.

I'd still rather watch any of the PTS's compared to DAF and LALD.