Q) What are my Bond film irritations....?
A) Fans who are unable to view Bond films as what they were when they were first released. Gunbarrel logos not being quite "aligned properly"...actors not moving right...characters conveying exposition....? For God's sake, the films supposed irritations only become so when watched over and over.
But yes - Brosnan is over-posey in GOLDENEYE. But then the whole film feels like it was written by fans ticking boxes rather than moving the series on in any way respectful of the six year hiatus the series experienced. But then GOLDENEYE is what it was at the time - a piece of mid-90's mainstream cinema. You could level criticism at many cinematic efforts around that time...and indeed now. The difference is that many fans need to step back from their centres of attention - if only so debates about a fifty year old film franchise don't descend into "how maroon should the next gunbarrel be" and "how old were you when John Gardner was first interviewed in '007' magazine?". Whoops...they already have...
Well, actually, I think that most of us posting our minor irritants are not truly bothered by most of these insignificant little tidbits we are mentioning. We are mentioning them mainly for fun - that's all. True, there are a few significant irritants (like the slide whistle during the barrel roll in TMWTGG and the pidgeon double take in MR), but most of these little things are not really that important to us - they're just fun to mention.
Personally, I am a huge fan of classic movies (I have over 350 movies in my collection from the 30's, 40's and 50's) and have seen a couple of thousand classic films). I enjoy them and am able to accept them from the era in which they are made (with all of their technical shortcomings). My favorite TV shows are The Saint and Secret Agent/Danger Man, and Mission Impossible.
With that said, the gunbarrels in the early Bonds are some shoddy piece of work. Believe me, they had the technology to get the guy centered in the film and to improve the gunbarrels and make the hole in the gunbarrel match the film.
So, the word "irritant", although applicable in some casees, is being used very loosely in many instances - they are little things that we notice that kindof, sortof, in a very insignificant way bug us - but might not have any bearing on how much we like a movie. Other more significant irritants (like the pidgeon double take) - do effect opinions on a movie. For example, the crumby gunbarrel in GF doesn't stop me from thinkings it's one of the best Bond movies ever.
Fair enough. We all need a bit more fun in our lives. And to be honest - it got me thinking over my danish pastry - there are things that annoy me with the world we call Bond. I'm going to put my petty hat on (I do have one - despite what some people with lesser senses of humour think...!)
Right....
Like the fact that the sound department only had about three stock FX used over and over for about twenty years. The scream of men falling from aeroplanes in the 1970's/80's Bond efforts was always the same shrilled cry (i.e. MOONRAKERS opening, when NECROS departs THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS Hercules battle and I could go on).
Secondly, and someone may have alluded to this one already on this thread, the sound of straining elevator cables in A VIEW TO A KILL is the same stock clip used when MOONRAKER's space station is breaking apart and I'm sure it appears when ELLIOT CARVER's Stealth boat takes a tumble.
Throughout GOLDENEYE, Brosnan postures like a 1950's knitwear model (granted there is a Bond link there with Roger Moore's pre-Bond CV). Anyone - let alone world renowned spies - do not prance about Monte Carlo opening yacht doors like that, Pierce!
Yes - George Baker's dubbing of Lazenby in OHMSS makes NO sense and actually draws attention to the lead actor's occasionally visible shortcomings as an actor.
And Sean Connery...if you want to get information from a mysterious lady called TILLY MASTERSON, it really isn't wise to shred both her car tyres at 70 mph round the Swiss Alps. She'll only come to a speeded up emergency stop that makes her look silly.
As for THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH.... that boat chase. It makes no narrative sense apart from the second unit (who nearly killed the Bond franchise in the Brosnan years) obviously got clearances from the river authorities and thought showboating their skills was more important than failing to de-rail a film that starts brilliantly in Bilboa but then becomes all a bit telly movie. And a Canadian telly movie at that...
And...."I feel the oil pumping through my veins...!". Yes Sophie love. Shame your supposedly renowned acting abilities weren't. It's her that should have been dubbed by George Baker...
See - I can enter the fun...sometimes...
Edited by Zorin Industries, 29 November 2007 - 05:31 PM.
