1111 replies to this topic

[staveoffzombies]

The Man With the Golden Gun as a part of my "watching through all the Bond films in no particular order to get ready for QoS"

It was a bit darker in parts then I had remembered, especially regarding Bonds first meeting with Andrea Anders and his interrogation of the bullets maker. The whole first half or so of the film definitely has a more serious tone.

Of course, that all comes unraveled with wedgied sumo-wrestlers, karate teenagers, and Sheriff Pepper....and it kind of gives the film a weird feel. But the great final confrontation with Scaramanga helps to assuage most of the cringe-worthy moments that preceded it.

Goodnight is dreadful, but Maud Adams great performance makes up for it.

A fun Bond film, near the bottom of my list but still plenty enjoyable form time to time.

[Cruiserweight]

Dr. No

[PrinceKamalKhan]

The Man With the Golden Gun as a part of my "watching through all the Bond films in no particular order to get ready for QoS"

It was a bit darker in parts then I had remembered, especially regarding Bonds first meeting with Andrea Anders and his interrogation of the bullets maker. The whole first half or so of the film definitely has a more serious tone.

Indeed. TMWTGG is one of Moore's most serious Bond films(of course when it comes to Sir Rog's films there's not much competition for that title) and is quite underrated.

Of course, that all comes unraveled with wedgied sumo-wrestlers, karate teenagers, and Sheriff Pepper....and it kind of gives the film a weird feel. But the great final confrontation with Scaramanga helps to assuage most of the cringe-worthy moments that preceded it.

Goodnight is dreadful, but Maud Adams great performance makes up for it.

I know I'm in a minority on this, but I actually like Britt Ekland as Goodnight. It's not Miss Ekland's fault that the character was written as a dumb blond but I think Britt gives a funny performance in the role and provides some good comic relief, typical for a Moore film of the time. I prefer her to Tanya Roberts' Stacy and Lynn Holly Johnson's Bibi easily.

A fun Bond film, near the bottom of my list but still plenty enjoyable form time to time.

Agree about it being fun. It's gone up and down in my ratings. It was my 2nd favorite Moore film as a child then it went down to being among the worst before sitting safely in the middle of my rankings around about 12 in the series overall. In some ways, it's an improvement over both LALD and even DAF. The Asian settings are more exotic than in the first two 1970s Bond films. I like how John Barry and Q are back along with M's and Miss Moneypenny's offices. Moore's Bond wears a tux for the first time in the series. And Maud Adams' Andrea makes for a much more beautiful and tragic sacrificial lamb character than either Plenty O'Toole or Rosie Carver. TMWTGG also features my favorite Moore saying "Bond, James Bond" moment when he meets Lazar. I especially like the bits where he's riding a rickshaw thru Macau and later when he first spots Andrea at the casino.

[col_007]

just watching live and let die I skipped you only live twice think I'll watch that tomorrow and diamonds are forever

[Shot Your Bolt]

The World is Not Enough

This movie was . That is all.

Anyway, that leaves DAF, LALD, and TMWTGG to complete this Bond-a-thon.

[Mister E]

Indeed. TMWTGG is one of Moore's most serious Bond films(of course when it comes to Sir Rog's films there's not much competition for that title) and is quite underrated.

It's fairly serious in some parts though the camp overwelms it. Personally, I wish Roger Moore was more like his TMWTGG persona, he's was an hole as well as being funny. When he threatened that gun maker with the rifle, that was simaltaneously Roger's best humor/bad moment.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

The World is Not Enough

This movie was . That is all.

I thought you were a Brosnan fan, SYB? Do TB and LTK look better to you post-TWINE?I'd love to read your full review of it. TWINE presently rivals AVTAK for spot #21 on my Bond ranking lists.

Indeed. TMWTGG is one of Moore's most serious Bond films(of course when it comes to Sir Rog's films there's not much competition for that title) and is quite underrated.

It's fairly serious in some parts though the camp overwelms it. Personally, I wish Roger Moore was more like his TMWTGG persona, he's was an hole as well as being funny. When he threatened that gun maker with the rifle, that was simaltaneously Roger's best humor/bad moment.

TMWTGG was Sir Rog's best performance as Bond IMHO. He was still young and he showed a much harder edge than he would in his Lewis Gilbert-directed films(as much as I love them).

As for me, I watched huge sections of Die Another Day last night with the MI6 Data Stream and with the audio commentary by Pierce Brosnan and Rosamund Pike.

I was a little hesistant since this I hadn't watched it since well before Casino Royale. However, I found what I watched quite enjoyable.

Of what I watched-

The bad:

The overuse of CGI in the final 1/3.
The dreadful ripoff of the far superior end of The Living Daylights.
Most of Jinx's lines except for the "What took you so long?" moment. It was nice to see the "female Bond" glad that he rescued her. To be fair to Halle Berry, her character was indeed very badly written. She probably should have played a character more similar to her stewardess character in 1996's "Executive Decision" and I think she would've fared better.

The good:

The opening surfing stunt.
Brosnan's being older and more haggard than in his other 3 in actually a plus for him since he's the slick, "pretty boy" Bond. I liked the lack of "sensitive" Bond(e.g., touching crying girls on video screens type nonsense) that marred his 1990s flicks. Of all his films, DAD's the one where he acted the most like the politically incorrect ladykiller we know and love. His superconfidence showed through as it did for Connery in Thunderball and Moore in Moonraker.I loved all his scenes with Peaceful and Miranda.
The sight of Bond driving the 1959 Ford convertible and David Arnold's cool Spanish flavored music and his smoking the delectados.
Rosamund Pike shined in her film debut and easily stole the film from Halle Berry. Then again, Miranda was a better written character than Jinx. She reminded me of Karin Dor's underrated Miss Brandt from YOLT.
The return of the larger-than-life feel that we hadn't really had since the Lewis Gilbert films.
The Bond/Moneypenny VR scene. A lot hated it but I loved it for this film. Samantha Bond's Moneypenny seemed closer to Lois Maxwell's here than in her earlier turns in the role.
I like how it has more action than TWINE but not as much as TND. It seems better balanced in that area.

All in all, despite some huge flaws, DAD is an underrated goodbye to the Brosnan era and my favorite of his 4 films. And we got CR as a result of it, so that only adds to its pluses.

[Shot Your Bolt]

The World is Not Enough

This movie was . That is all.

I thought you were a Brosnan fan, SYB? Do TB and LTK look better to you post-TWINE?I'd love to read your full review of it. TWINE presently rivals AVTAK for spot #21 on my Bond ranking lists.

I'm still a Brosnan fan. Goldeneye is in my top 3/5 permently, DAD is a big guilty pleasure of mine, and TND is pretty good. TWINE though...man.

SOOOO much plot, maybe the most plot heavy Bond in the entire series. And yet they off-set it with all this goofy stuff like giant buzzsaw helicopters(in a sequence that was COMPLETELY unneccesary), flying snowmobiles, crazy bad guys who feel no pain, etc. The complex espionage thriller making room for the ludicrous set-pieces results in a script that is a tangled mess.

One thing I have to compliment though, is Brosnan. Dude sells everything, and I was rather impressed with how well he handled the love scenes. In fact, I will go so far to say that, as far as Bond Love Scenes go, Brosnan scores a higher believability rating than any other Bond, Connery and Craig included. There, I said it.


I would now like to address the problem of flying snowmobiles. If I am a Bond Villain and I want Bond dead, I have to ask myself: is a squadron of flying snowmobiles the most efficient way to accomplish this task? But attack the squadron of flying snowmobiles do, and miraculously survive Bond does. And then what? Bond frets about who might be trying to kill him.

Well now wait a minute, Mr. World's Greatest Detective. You just got attacked by a squadron of flying snowmobiles in Azerbaijan. How many different people do you suppose are capable of operating flying snowmobiles? Why don't you go to the local flying-snowmobile school and make some inquiries? How many places in Azerbaijan do you suppose sell flying snowmobiles? Why not head over to the local flying-snowmobile emporium and ask if, perhaps, recently a bald man with a bullet in his head came in asking about hiring a squadron of flying snowmobiles to be piloted by a team of daring flying-snowmobile-piloting assassins? Or did the team of assassins come with their own flying snowmobiles? Are they a team of flying-snowmobile pilots like Pussy Galore's Flying Circus, perhaps out of work and looking for a little side employment as a team of crack flying-snowmobile assassins?

(The flying-snowmobile assassins turn out, of course, to be hired not by Renard but by Elektra, which makes even less sense. Hey Bond Villain, when you hire someone to kill Bond, don't hire them to kill you as well. THAT'S JUST STUPID.)

And while we're at it, later in the movie Elektra sends a helicopter with a giant buzzsaw to go destroy the caviar factory of an enemy. Okay, let's think this out, Ms. I-Want-To-Take-Over-The-Oil-Industry. You're in the middle of a gigantic, once-in-a-lifetime scheme to destroy Istanbul, take over the oil industry and kill all your enemies. It would be a good idea if you were not caught doing these things. You know what's a good way to kill a guy? Shoot him. Poison him. Cut his throat. You know what's a bad way to kill a guy? Send a helicopter with a giant buzzsaw to destroy his factory. Especially when the helicopter with the giant buzzsaw has your oil company's logo painted on the side in bright red letters. The local police show up to investigate the big caviar-factory destruction in the morning and find all the buildings sawn in half; I'm guessing the list of locals who own helicopters with giant buzzsaws is a pretty short list indeed.

And while we're discussing the helicopter with the giant buzzsaw, who is flying that helicopter anyway? Does Elektra know a helicopter pilot who can operate a helicopter with a giant buzzsaw and is also a ruthless assassin? Because we see the helicopter earlier in its daily routine cutting tree-branches away from a roadway. I buy that there are helicopters with giant buzzsaws fulfilling useful functions for oil plutocrats, but where are you going to find a ruthless assassin who can also operate such a machine?

I give credit to TWINE for having a genuine mystery in it and genuine twists worthy of an actual suspense thriller. I take away credit because I spend far too much of the movie thinking things like "We're going skiing now because why?" "Renard lives in a cave surrounded by flaming rocks why?" "We're going where now to do what because why?" "Bond's booby-trapped car just happens to be parked on the dock of the caviar factory because why?"

In the scene with Moneypenny, Bond offers her a cigar. I'm guessing this is a Clinton reference.

WTF @ the Q scene. This is his final film, and all the writers can come up with was some terrible gags for Clease to be wasted in and Desmond simply walking out the room. Gee, thanks for 30 years of service, Q.

WTF @ Denise Richards. I don't think I have to explain that one further.

WTF @ the last set piece in the submarine. I had no idea what the hell was going on there.

And that ending. Oh God that ending...I thought Thunderball was bad, but this takes the cake.

Screw this damn movie.

[The Dove]

Watched Goldeneye and Live And Let Die last night..

[The Dove]

and I watched Diamonds Are Forever and The Living Daylights the other night..

[Cruiserweight]

Goldeneye

[DaveBond21]

I watched Moonraker on Fox Classics, introduced by Roger Moore.

It was good fun, and action-packed and I watched it up to the point where Bond fights Drax's python.

[double o ego]

YOLT.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

Die Another Day without commentary or the MI6 streaming on. It's the first time since well before Casino Royale that I had actually sat and watched it although I ended it with the Bond/Moneypenny scene. And I actually enjoyed it! I enjoyed it more than GoldenEye or the first 2/3 of Tomorrow Never Dies which I watched in the last month. I think it's probably the best of Brosnan's Bond films despite Madonna, the poor CGI and the videogamish finale. So far, with DAD and CR and what looks to be happening with QOS, the 2000s are a better decade for Bond than the 1990s IMHO.

[Shot Your Bolt]

Die Another Day without commentary or the MI6 streaming on. It's the first time since well before Casino Royale that I had actually sat and watched it although I ended it with the Bond/Moneypenny scene. And I actually enjoyed it! I enjoyed it more than GoldenEye or the first 2/3 of Tomorrow Never Dies which I watched in the last month. I think it's probably the best of Brosnan's Bond films despite Madonna, the poor CGI and the videogamish finale. So far, with DAD and CR and what looks to be happening with QOS, the 2000s are a better decade for Bond than the 1990s IMHO.

Yay more DAD fans!

[double o ego]

Where are all these DAD fans coming from? I'm seeing them all over the place these days.

[DaveBond21]

watched it although I ended it with the Bond/Moneypenny scene

Couldn't bear to sit through that final scene between Bond and Jinx?

At least the music is nice.

[freemo]

A View to a Kill

Worse than I ever, ever remember it being before. are long stretches of it where it barely even feels like a Bond movie. Only when he's refered to by name do I remember "oh, yeah, right, Bond". Just so dull. So drab. No zip. No life. The good guys are all so old, Dad's Army old. The stunt doubles and the back-projection are especially bad, Superman IV bad. Boy was the series in need of a tune-up, a shake-up, a jazz-up, a 7-up, a something-up, an anything-up.

The Ultimate Edition seems only to have made it more blah than ever.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

Where are all these DAD fans coming from? I'm seeing them all over the place these days.

Always been here. Just haven't watched it for a long time. Didn't know how it would hold up for me post-CR but I enjoyed it a lot. And we got CR as a result of DAD so that only adds to DAD's positives.

watched it although I ended it with the Bond/Moneypenny scene

Couldn't bear to sit through that final scene between Bond and Jinx?

Not really. Just thought I'd end it with the first of the "two endings" the film had.

At least the music is nice.

It reminds me of the music when Bond and Elektra go skiing in TWINE combined with the theme from YOLT.

A View to a Kill

Worse than I ever, ever remember it being before. are long stretches of it where it barely even feels like a Bond movie. Only when he's refered to by name do I remember "oh, yeah, right, Bond". Just so dull. So drab. No zip. No life. The good guys are all so old, Dad's Army old. The stunt doubles and the back-projection are especially bad, Superman IV bad. Boy was the series in need of a tune-up, a shake-up, a jazz-up, a 7-up, a something-up, an anything-up.

The Ultimate Edition seems only to have made it more blah than ever.

AVTAK is definitely the series' nadir. At least we got the magnificent TLD as a result of AVTAK. So I'm grateful to it for that.

[killkenny kid]

GoldenEye, but today I need Roger. Any Roger will do, I just need something light and funny.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

GoldenEye, but today I need Roger. Any Roger will do, I just need something light and funny.

I highly recommend Moonraker . I'm on a "let's rehibilitate the more maligned ones" crusade right now.

[killkenny kid]

GoldenEye, but today I need Roger. Any Roger will do, I just need something light and funny.

I highly recommend Moonraker . I'm on a "let's rehibilitate the more maligned ones" crusade right now.

Great idea.

[Jose]

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

I can't stop saying "This never happened to the other fellow."

I think if Connery had done OHMSS, DAF would have been better (for me anyway). And it would have unquestionably undeniably cemented (for lack of a better word) Connery as THE definitive Bond.

[Mr. Somerset]

TWINE, and I must say, although it used to be my fave Broz....it doesn't hold up for me (with the exception of Maria Grazia Cucinotta). I don't appreciate the Bond theme at the end credits as it seems like they couldn't come up with anything else. The action scenes seem flat and somewhat forced. I still like the theme song, although as the song ends, the lyrics may have well just said "He loves only gold".

Maria Grazia, though............sigh.

[DaveBond21]

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

I can't stop saying "This never happened to the other fellow."

I think if Connery had done OHMSS, DAF would have been better (for me anyway). And it would have unquestionably undeniably cemented (for lack of a better word) Connery as THE definitive Bond.

You could be right but of course, we'll never know.

[Kristian]

The Living Daylights...

Even though I technically prefer LTK out of the two Dalton Bonds, I have a soft spot for this one due to the following reasons:

1. A younger, more chiseled Timmy D.
2. An old-school Bond Girl who is also modern at the same time.
3. North European and Russian settings - like a proper spy flick.
4. Shoot me, but I actually like A-Ha's song. Prefer the version on their album rather the original soundtrack, though.
5. "If there was a Man..." Sigh.

I remember reading somewhere that the producers felt that TLD would have made more money if there had been a second major Bond girl, but I'm glad they only had one. Having another woman to vie for Bond's attention would have affected his relationship with Kara. And they explored the triangle aspect in LTK adequately with Pam and Lupe.

Besides.... let's face it - that stocky Russian lady who helped Bond and Yorgi escape through the pipeline in the beginning was technically a Bond girl, no?

Edited by Kristian, 13 October 2008 - 01:10 AM.

[DaveBond21]

Besides.... let's face it - that stocky Russian lady who helped Bond and Yorgi escape through the pipeline in the beginning was technically a Bond girl, no?

Indeed. British actress Julie T Wallace who played that role was famous in the UK at the time, for her starring role in the TV mini-series "The Lives and Loves of a She-Devil" (1986).

[Loomis]

I'm fairly sure I haven't seen any Bond films this year. The last was CASINO ROYALE last Christmas Day, which (as usual) blew me away so much that not even the 1960s Connery and Lazenby classics (or THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN) can compare.

[Cruiserweight]

DAF

[DaveBond21]

DAF

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