35 replies to this topic

[Scottlee]

Kristatos isn't one of the best villains but he's not as bad as some people make out. I think one of the problems here is that he has such a low-key death (stabbed with a pocket knife, by someone who isn't even Bond).

Some Bond films focus on one or two memorable villains (GF, TND), where as others have several (FRWL, TB, FYEO). In the case of the latter, this isn't to diminish the effect of any one villain, but to go for a more shadowy and sinister approach to Bond's array of enemies. In FYEO there are any number of what you would call 'mysterious' figures going up against Bond - Kristatos, Kriegler, Fostis, Locque, Gonzalez, people who don't get as much time to talk and develop their personalities in the same vein as a Goldfinger or a Carver (see that earlier group) but are just as effective in their own way none the less. TB and FRWL are also good examples of films that have lots of villains but in a mysterious and non-revealing way.

[Skudor]

But Kristatos is clearly the villain for FYEO - the others are just henchmen. It's as a villain that he somehow fails to really make an impact.

Columbo, who turns out to be a jolly good chap in the end, is the one with charisma.

[Head of S]

I think the roles of Kristatos and Columbo are brilliantly cast and performed. It is clear that John Glen understood the dynamic of these characters within his faithful adaptation of Ian Fleming's 'Risico'.

[onlyone007]

The problem with the Aristotle Kristatos character is purely lack of screen time, I swear someone should get out a stop watch and time his scenes. I bet it would probably be around 15 minutes. The Bibi storyline should have been shortened, they tried to make her Bond Girl#2 for the movie when the whole point of having her was to make the joke that she really wasn't a Bond Girl.

[Mr_Wint]

I think the roles of Kristatos and Columbo are brilliantly cast and performed. It is clear that John Glen understood the dynamic of these characters within his faithful adaptation of Ian Fleming's 'Risico'.

Exactly

[pgram]

Some interesting opinions here, tend to agree with most, even if they are contradicting each other.

Nevertheless, one thing that was not mentioned is the fact that Kristatos was Greek. Julian Glover is a nice actor, really classy. A typical English gentleman, one might say... Now what does that have to do with being Greek, I can't understand. I should know, I am Greek. Topol yes, he does have a Greek flare (I think he 's basing his persona on Anthony Quinn, mainly, though). Why couldn't they have cast someone Greek, or looking Greek? I know non-Greeks wouldn't bother too much, but surely, even if you come from some remote island in the Pacific, you can tell Glover is nothing but English.

Whatismore, when judging a character, or a film or a storyline, I tend to not only consider what I liked (or didn't like) about them, but also how much of their potential was used. And in FYEO, although I do like the story a lot, there are big missed opportunities.

The civil war that followed WWII in Greece could have been the basis of a magnificent story (or characters). Hundreds of incidents or real persons could be used to provide with ideas about scenes, villains or allies. The rivalry between two people who used to be allies during the civil war can give the dramatic tone of a (Greek, of course) tragedy. They did think of that (the Electra comment, for example). They just didn't use it as much or as well as they should. It's a pity because it would go well with the greek settings and the more serious tone of the film.

To sum up, I think that, even though I do enjoy FYEO and Cristatos, they both only make use of 10% of the potential they had to make something magnificent.