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Favourite Sean Connery (non-Bond) film


43 replies to this topic

#1 JCRendle

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Posted 21 January 2015 - 10:55 PM

The clue is in the title! What Connery film do you consider your favourite?

 

My favourites include:

 

Guilty pleasure:- Darby O'Gill and the Little People - Connery doing some weird Irish/Scottish hybrid accent in a live action Disney movie from 1959 - The effects for the time are fantastic, and Connery is really hamming it up in the role. If you haven't seen it, I'd recommend it.

 

 

Classic: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - If you haven't seen this - why not? Need I explain why I love him as Henry Jones Sr?

 

 



#2 Call Billy Bob

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Posted 21 January 2015 - 10:59 PM

Guilty pleasure:- Darby O'Gill and the Little People

Great film! The banshee and the phantom coach are still the scariest things in the world to me!

 

I'd have to peg The Untouchables as my favorite Connery "non-Bond." He stole every scene he was in and finally won an Oscar!

 



#3 seawolfnyy

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Posted 21 January 2015 - 11:39 PM

My number one would definitely be The Hunt for Red October. A classic Cold-War espionage thriller and based off the book that launched Tom Clancy's career. A close second is definitely Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. But as great as that film is, it will always be number 2 to the greatest film of all-time Raiders of the Lost Ark.

 



#4 tdalton

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Posted 21 January 2015 - 11:42 PM

Either THE UNTOUCHABLES or THE ROCK.  

 

I'll certainly concede that, on a purely objective level, that THE UNTOUCHABLES is the vastly superior film.  But, THE ROCK is just a terrific, straight-up action film that never gets old and is always an entertaining ride.  



#5 Bryce (003)

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Posted 21 January 2015 - 11:45 PM

Brilliantly caught "The Great Train Robbery" just this last weekend all nice and letterboxed. Wonderfully done and good stuff with Sean clearly doing much of his own work atop the train. Music is top notch and both Donald Sutherland and Lesley-Anne Down are great as well. 



#6 Bond of Steele

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Posted 21 January 2015 - 11:50 PM

Definately not Medicine Man!!!  

 

It's gotta be The Untouchables.  The others mentioned here are great too.  Also enjoyed Entrapment.



#7 AMC Hornet

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Posted 22 January 2015 - 02:09 AM

The Man Who Would be King.

 

And The Last Crusade.



#8 larrythefatcat

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Posted 22 January 2015 - 03:31 AM

I tend to enjoy campy Sean Connery: so 'Zardoz' or 'Finding Forrester' would be my main choices.

 

I guess the performance I fully enjoy the most would be as Henry Jones Sr. in 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'.



#9 tdalton

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Posted 22 January 2015 - 03:33 AM

Forgot about FINDING FORRESTER.  I really liked that movie, as cliche as it was, and it was a good performance by Connery.



#10 Admiral Messervey

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Posted 22 January 2015 - 05:21 AM

Highlander for me 



#11 Blofeld's Cat

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Posted 22 January 2015 - 05:37 AM

THE UNTOUCHABLES



#12 Jim

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Posted 22 January 2015 - 06:52 AM

Quite like The Offence, although it doesn't really demand to be liked. Very brooding... possibly very over-acted.



#13 S K Y F A L L

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Posted 22 January 2015 - 07:08 AM

Tough one,

 

INDY 3

THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER

THE ROCK

THE UNTOUCHABLES

 

and THE MEDICINE MAN



#14 Guy Haines

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Posted 22 January 2015 - 08:55 AM

For serious stuff I'd go for The Offence and The Hill - both being effectively a war of nerves between Connery and other characters. For more lightweight stuff, I'd vote for The Rock.



#15 Messervy

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Posted 22 January 2015 - 09:59 AM

As has already been said, whatever the movie he pretty much steals every scene he's in. Be it Indy 3, Untouchables, Highlander, or even Entrapment.

 

As far as "favourite film" goes, I'd say Highlander, because I love that movie and thus I love seeing Connery in it.

That being said, I still haven't seen The Man Who Would Be King (I know, shame on me!), and from what I gathered here and there I hear it's a splendid masterpiece, so I might change my vote once I finally get to see it...



#16 Grard Bond

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Posted 22 January 2015 - 10:46 AM

The Rock.

Realy, realy great action flick and Connery is exellent in it as a former English secret agent (!) who was caught and now teams up with nerdy Nicolas Cage to fight against a group of mercenaries who are treatening to fire a missile at San Francisco.

Great stuff!

 

PS: Thanks CBB for alert me to the Chicago mistake.


Edited by Grard Bond, 22 January 2015 - 11:33 PM.


#17 Odd Jobbies

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Posted 22 January 2015 - 12:05 PM

All the movie mentioned above are great, The Untouchables  and The Hunt For Red October are pure Connery-fests.  

 

The Name of The Rose  and The Hill  also have outstanding performances from Connery.

 

And The Rock...well with any other actor in that role the movie would've been the sickly, flag waving tosh all of Bay's other movies are. But instead it's a great watch and has virtual cult status, thanks to Connery; not least because of the unsaid, but obvious inference that his ex-SAS soldier could easily be an elderly, betrayed Bond.

 

But there's something very sentimental to his appeal and the movies that go top of the pile for me reflect that - perhaps not 'Oscar-worthy' performances, but characters so well realised by Connery that they seem, well, immortal!

 

In runner's up position is the impossible role, made possible by Connery of playing Indiana Jones' dad. The chemistry is perfect as is his delivery of every single word, grunt and gesture in The Last Crusade.

 

But for me there can be only one winner....

connery-highlander_1702332i.jpg

 

Highlander's  Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez.

 

From the moment he literally leaps onto the screen the movie jumps from cool graphic fantasy to majestic cult status.

 

Sure the FX are dated and you can see the strings at the end (why didn't they remove those on the remastered version?). But it's dated well in the ways that really count - storytelling, performance and direction. Director Russell Mulcahy  showed visceral genius with camera moves that have been copied and never really matched for sheer cinematic joy.

 

There's many films that use a camera move to tell us part of the story (this is filmmaking at it's best). But Highlander  is jam-packed with these moments - moving us effortlessly back and forth through time, as well as upping the anti when the action ensues, going from intimacy to cinematic-epic with a sweeping move and a music cue from Queen.

 

The Queen  soundtrack is really outstanding, pushing the time-hopping adventure along at breakneck speed and underling the tonal shifts with relish (if only they'd done a Bond theme).

 

The casting all seems so wrong on paper, but on-screen i can't imagine any otther actors palying any of the roles so well; Lambert's  poor grasp of English makes his delivery odd enough to believe this is someone whose lived 500 years and been everywhere. Clancy Brown's  Kurgan  is IMO the best archetypal screen villain of all time (and that includes the Bond villains and Darth Vader); his performance is note perfect - at once witty, entertaining and terrifyingly barbaric.

 

And of course Connery steals the show as the regally attired, wise and charming mentor. He tells us the story's legend - sets up the villain and produces the hero. He brings the necessary gravitas to the film's pivotal role; throughout this daft, wacky fantasy you'll believe it's all true because Connery tells us so. He convinces Lambert and he convinces us that there can really be only one.

 

There's talk of a remake, but i think it's long delays and the crappy Highlander sequels prove that the original movie had captured something very magical in a bottle and it's near impossible to re-capture it.

 

 

ETA Note: Talking of the sequels, Highlander 2  is the QoS  of that franchise - both movies that were totally screwed by circumstances beyond the filmmaker's control.

 

Thanks to a stock market crash midway through production in Argentina their budget dollars were suddenly worth sod all. The studio refused to re-finance and the suits were sent in to take it away from the director and wrap up the shoot. Director Russell Mulcahy  walked, disassociating himself from the mess that was left.

 

Like QoS  there's moments of genius in Highlander 2, but as a film it's a bloody mess, without logic and an ending that feels like it was really meant to be a middle act. Aside from that the 'alien origin' plot may well have been as misguided as the fans screamed, but i think we'll never really know if the film could've worked or not. If you're curious there's a nice short doc on the Highlander 2: Renegade Version  blu-ray in which Mulchahy expalins all of this.


Edited by Odd Jobbies, 22 January 2015 - 12:36 PM.


#18 Messervy

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Posted 22 January 2015 - 01:54 PM


 

ETA Note: Talking of the sequels, Highlander 2  is the QoS  of that franchise - both movies that were totally screwed by circumstances beyond the filmmaker's control.

 

Thanks to a stock market crash midway through production in Argentina their budget dollars were suddenly worth sod all. The studio refused to re-finance and the suits were sent in to take it away from the director and wrap up the shoot. Director Russell Mulcahy  walked, disassociating himself from the mess that was left.

 

Like QoS  there's moments of genius in Highlander 2, but as a film it's a bloody mess, without logic and an ending that feels like it was really meant to be a middle act. Aside from that the 'alien origin' plot may well have been as misguided as the fans screamed, but i think we'll never really know if the film could've worked or not. If you're curious there's a nice short doc on the Highlander 2: Renegade Version  blu-ray in which Mulchahy expalins all of this.

 

 

Ouch! Can't let you compare H2 with QoS and walk away with it!... ;)

 

H2 is in itself an utter failure, even if it does have, as you say, some great moments where you can actually see what it could/should have been (of course I'm talking here about the "renegade version", as the original cut is not even worth mentionning).

 

On the other hand, QoS is nothing like that: one can like it or not, but one just cannot state that it's a failed movie as H2 is. The director had creative control over his view on things, the actors knew what they had to do, etc. The end-result may not please you, but it would be very far-fetched to compare it to H2 simply because there was this writers' strike at the time.



#19 Odd Jobbies

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Posted 22 January 2015 - 02:51 PM

My comparison was simply that of there being circumstances beyond the control of the filmmakers that led to a movie which could/should have been better. Of course they're on entirely opposite ends of that spectrum; even the Renegade version of H2 is hard to watch (let alone the studio cut), whereas QoS is a great watch IMO, but with certain issues that sadly prevent being hailed a success, much less the masterpiece i think it could've been without the strike (it may have been as good as CR and SF).



#20 Call Billy Bob

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Posted 22 January 2015 - 03:02 PM

The Rock.
Realy, realy great action flick and Connery is exellent in it as a former English secret agent (!) who was caught and now teams up with nerdy Nicolas Cage to fight against a group of mercenaries who are treatening to fire a missile at Chicago.

FYI, the movie takes place in San Francisco ;)



#21 JCRendle

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Posted 22 January 2015 - 03:14 PM

3486-22115.gif

 

;)



#22 Call Billy Bob

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Posted 22 January 2015 - 03:18 PM

3486-22115.gif
 
;)

Oh, dear God! You just hit me in the nostalgia bone, JC! Nice :D



#23 AMC Hornet

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Posted 22 January 2015 - 08:32 PM

No votes for Sir Billy?



#24 hilly

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Posted 23 January 2015 - 09:41 AM

The Name of The Rose.

I quite like Time Bandits too

 

I tried to watch The Wind and The Lion the other night...I must confess that I gave up after an hour...



#25 dtuba

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Posted 24 January 2015 - 05:19 PM

Gotta be Red October for me.

"Some thingsh in here do not reshpond well to bulletsh."

 

Although Untouchables is probably the superior performance.



#26 Major Tallon

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Posted 24 January 2015 - 06:08 PM

Connery has made some fine non-Bond films, but hey, I've spent two-thirds of my life in Chicago, used to walk daily past the steps in Union Station where they filmed the gun battle with the baby carriage, and lived not far from where Frank Nitti died.  So it's got to be "The Untouchables."



#27 seawolfnyy

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Posted 25 January 2015 - 04:53 AM

Gotta be Red October for me.

"Some thingsh in here do not reshpond well to bulletsh."

Dripping Connery here.



#28 Bryce (003)

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Posted 25 January 2015 - 06:03 AM

Another caught me the other day on some channel or another and I ended up grabbing my DVD and watched "Outland" - Great fun Sci-Fi and essentially a re-imagining of the classic western "High Noon". Good stuff, but my only issue was, why...on a space station, issue the law enforcement with pistol grip shotguns as their primary weapon of choice? Seems like you're asking for it. Then again, it made it cool and Connery is, well, 'nuff said.

 

On my DVD, the tagline: "On the third moon of Jupiter, Man's greatest threat is still man."

 

Any other film, you'd hear that and say "Really?"

 

Not when it's Connery. I remember seeing it in the theater. Good times.



#29 seawolfnyy

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Posted 26 January 2015 - 08:43 AM

To me, the most Connery line has still got to be that one from The Rock:

"You´re besht, loshers whine about their besht. Winnersh go home and *bleep* the prom queen."  :P



#30 thecasinoroyale

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Posted 26 January 2015 - 02:51 PM

Hm. Tough one - toss up between 'The Untouchables' and 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'.

 

I go for...for entertainment wise....

 

Henry Jones Snr in Indy.

 

Henry_Jones.jpg