654 replies to this topic

[ChristopherZ22]

About Zencat:

 

I have been using Commander Bond off and on since 2002. I started this account in 2009, but haven't been on here much in the past four years. Anyway, is Zencat still around here? I remember him very well, and I live not far from him. I always liked Zencat, and felt he was one of a minority of people that rightfully appreciated the more fun and campy aspects of the earlier films. I remember he liked The Spy Who Loved Me, Octopussy, and Moonraker, so I knew he understood those earlier films better than many others. Hope he is still around.

[Dustin]

Zencat is one of our most important, prominent and excellent members, a main asset of CBn for many years now. He's still around and posting, though not as much as he used to. His contributions are our main source for news about the literary Bond, a field he currently handles via his own blog The Book Bond: http://www.thebookbond.com/?m=1

[zencat]

Thanks for the kinds words ChristopherZ22 and Dustin. I'm still around but, yeah, I don't post all that much anymore. I share my lit Bond whatnot on my blog now. But I still "shoot in and out" on occasion, especially when I see this thread pop back up.

[DLibrasnow]

I saw "The World Is Not Enough" on EPIX a few nights ago. It's the first time I have watched it all the way through since its theatrical release in 1999 and imagine my surprise when I actually quite liked it. Sure it has some faults:

 

• Slowest bullet in the world
• A limp boring villain
• All that nonsense in the submarine at the end
• Worst most uninspired snow action sequence in the series

 

But the pros definately outweigh the cons:

 

• Fantastic chase on the Thames
• Bernard Lee portrait at MI6 base
• A Scottish castle serving as MI6 base - classic
• Return of Robbie Coltrane
• Denise Richards - horribly miscast yes, but very easy on the eyes. I recall one CBNer who claimed this his favorite 007 movie purely on the fact Richards was in it.
• Sophie M. - thank goodness she didn't listen to her boyfriend who reportedly warned her 007 was beneath her.

 

All in all, I surprised myself. This movie ranked at the very bottom of the series in my rankings but now I would place it above "Quantum of Solace".

[S K Y F A L L]

I always loved the painting of Bernard Lee as well. I would love to see a row of paintings of all the Bonds for an anniversary film but that might be much. 

[DLibrasnow]

I always loved the painting of Bernard Lee as well. I would love to see a row of paintings of all the Bonds for an anniversary film but that might be much. 

 

That would certainly lend credence to the codename theory.

[S K Y F A L L]

I always loved the painting of Bernard Lee as well. I would love to see a row of paintings of all the Bonds for an anniversary film but that might be much. 

 

That would certainly lend credence to the codename theory.

Good point, perhaps a painting of Jedi Dench's M would be better. I should be grateful we got that painting of MI6 at the end of SF. Love those little things though, like the painting in the hotel room as well. 

[glidrose]

Hey, no TWINE talk in the DAD thread!

 

Cut it out NOW, I mean it!

[AMC Hornet]

"Does anyone want a peanut?"

[Taro Todoroki]

Zencat is one of our most important, prominent and excellent members, a main asset of CBn for many years now. He's still around and posting, though not as much as he used to. His contributions are our main source for news about the literary Bond, a field he currently handles via his own blog The Book Bond: http://www.thebookbond.com/?m=1

Yes, I second that. A good man indeed. Zencat gave me a warm welcome when I joined a few years back.

[S K Y F A L L]

Thanks for the dialogue glidrose. Pfft. Sorry bout that folks, didn't mean to change the subject.

 

Anyone back to DAD, I always hated that scene of Bond aboard that British ship before he jumps off and swims to shore. The set outside the ship just looks so fake IMO. 

[S K Y F A L L]

Fun article I came across 

 

In defense of 'Die Another Day': Thirteen reasons why Pierce Brosnan's last Bond film is better, weirder, and more wonderful than you remember

[Agent 76]

Fun article I came across 

 

In defense of 'Die Another Day': Thirteen reasons why Pierce Brosnan's last Bond film is better, weirder, and more wonderful than you remember

thanks for the link

 

 

cheers

[quantumofsolace]

http://www.femalefir...rry-320219.html

[The Krynoid man]

Even though I knew him as Bond first, I always think of Brosnan as Remington Steele.

It's a shame because, if he had been given some decent scripts he could have been a really great Bond. Their are moments where he shines but these are all too brief.

I still enjoy this film though. I don't think that there's a bond film I outright dislike.

[ViperSRT87]

Fun article I came across 

 

In defense of 'Die Another Day': Thirteen reasons why Pierce Brosnan's last Bond film is better, weirder, and more wonderful than you remember

Definitely an interesting take on the movie. Thanks. I don't know what to think of this movie. Sometimes I watch it and think "it isn't that bad" and other times I am like "WTF?" It is a shame because Pierce himself was a great Bond. 

[Major Tallon]

The article points out the incoherencies and absurdities of the movie and then purports to find merit in them.  I'm not buying.  Zencat did a far better job.

[Dustin]

The thing is, DAD as a Marvel comic book might have worked splendidly. Sadly Bond isn't Nick Fury...

[S K Y F A L L]

Lately I've been thinking the producers used DAD simply to kill the Austin Powers films and Brosnan's career. I think I remember liking the producers when I first learned of them but since then I've been continually liking them less and less to the point I wonder if the series would have been better  off in the hands of the studios. 

[ViperSRT87]

I guess to a degree you have to wonder. Brosnan was looked at as "The chosen one who got shafted" for so long, but when he finally arrived in the role he had one film that is almost across the board considered great or at least a good entry to the franchise(GE) and one film that is usually considered good.(TND) But if you look at the boards here and even in many discussions with friends who are fans most rip on Brosnan continuously and he is generally considered one of the weaker Bonds. I admit his Bond does have a different "feel" than the previous eras and his final two films do indeed seem to help push him low on people's lists. I personally thought Brosnan did a great job as an actor and think he gave the role his all, but it is obvious that the films directions helped push him down in people's minds and I think to a degree wasted his talent. 

[SecretAgentFan]

Brosnan was extremely successful as Bond and continually raked in huge box office.  Only on message boards he is considered a "weaker Bond".

[glidrose]

Brosnan was extremely successful as Bond and continually raked in huge box office.  Only on message boards he is considered a "weaker Bond".

 

Agreed! Where else do you find people claiming that Brosnan is "a middling actor and a jerk of a human being." Here for starters...

 

Imagine if someone said that about Dalton?

 

It's considered trendy to say that Brosnan is the worst Bond. Utter bollocks. Uneven? Sure. Didn't live up to his potential? Possibly. A limited actor? Okay. But the worst or one of the worst? Nope.

 

Mark my words, Brosnan as Bond will undergo a re-evaluation by the time the next Bond actor is in the role - or if Daniel Craig hangs around too long.

[ViperSRT87]

Brosnan was extremely successful as Bond and continually raked in huge box office.  Only on message boards he is considered a "weaker Bond".

No I fully meant on the forums here. I know that commercially he was one of the most successful Bonds. I personally like him as Bond and I do agree with glidrose that a reevaluation of his tenure will take place at some point in the near future.

[WhatMeWorry?]

Fun article I came across 

 

In defense of 'Die Another Day': Thirteen reasons why Pierce Brosnan's last Bond film is better, weirder, and more wonderful than you remember

 

Thanks for the link. This article made my night. For years, as a die-hard Brosnan fan, I have always had strange feelings toward DAD. I have been relentlessly defending the film against my own lingering self doubt. "Is it really just the silly movie that everybody on CBn says? No, they're wrong! Just ignore that wave and its an incredible film" Regaurdless of whether or not the ideas discussed in the article were intentional or not, I now have a renewed positive view of the film. Wow... this is great!

 

Long live The Broz.

[glidrose]

Like the (for many years) unfairly maligned Moonraker, DAD is a much darker film - even in the second half - than people give it credit for. Look past the invisible car and the CGI icerbergs and you'll find a much more dramatically interesting film than anything else in his tenure.

[archer1949]

In the interest of fairnesss, I watched DAD again. And I still think it's a piece of crap. THE worst. Makes Moonraker look like From Russia With Love.

 

Frankly, I think the only good thing to come out of it was Rosamund Pike. 

Edited by archer1949, 22 September 2013 - 07:58 AM.

[AMC Hornet]

I thought she came in it.

...or is that with it?

[Dustin]

It's not about certainly...

[zencat]

Like the (for many years) unfairly maligned Moonraker, DAD is a much darker film - even in the second half - than people give it credit for. Look past the invisible car and the CGI icerbergs and you'll find a much more dramatically interesting film than anything else in his tenure.

 

Well said, glidrose. Even all these years later it's easily my second favorite Brosnan film (after GE). Yes, like MR, it has some pretty spectacular excesses and some real tonal mistakes. But if you can't get past that then you're a mid-level cultist in my eyes. Those of us who are truly mad can see there's a Bond movie in there in the BIG tradition of YOLT and MR weirdly fused with Fleming. It actually seems closer to Octopussy in that way. 

[glidrose]

Hey Zen, what's your least favorite PB Bond film and why?