654 replies to this topic

[zencat]

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

Don't know. Hard to choose between TND and TWINE. I haven't watched TWINE in a long time. I'd need to watch that again before I could decide.

[Loomis]

 

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.

 

Indeed. I still love DIE ANOTHER DAY, although I haven't sat down to it in quite a while. I have nothing but fond memories of Brosnan's final 007 outing, and indeed I much prefer it as a Bond movie and as a piece of great entertainment to the supposedly more respectable and classy likes of QUANTUM OF SOLACE and SKYFALL.

[glidrose]

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.

 
Indeed. I still love DIE ANOTHER DAY, although I haven't sat down to it in quite a while. I have nothing but fond memories of Brosnan's final 007 outing, and indeed I much prefer it as a Bond movie and as a piece of great entertainment to the supposedly more respectable and classy likes of QUANTUM OF SOLACE and SKYFALL.

That's two of us. I'm a proud defender of DAD. I'll say it again: DAD's reputation will soar in decades to come like that other unfairly maligned (by fan boys, not contemporary critics or audiences) Bond celluloid classic "Moonraker".

[Dustin]

I can see why that happened to MOONRAKER - and as somebody around at the time I used to be absolutely happy with it, so for me it never was all that bad to start with. But for DAD I have difficulty seeing it happen.

That said I note that there is the obligatory Bond retrospective on at one of our 300 channels on the telly, and I note further that my TV programme guide of choice rates nearly all Bond films with top marks, DN, DAF and also LTK. DAD is no exception. It's obvious that only very few Bond films are considered as being less than utterly fantastic by the casual mainstream audience. The majority of whom will simply not bother with the points that concern us around these shores. The generation that was introduced to Bond by DAD - over a decade ago - will therefore never be as harsh on it. They will probably have realised by now that Bond comes in more flavours than DAD's, but they seem to be flexible enough to embrace all of those varieties, from DR NO to SKYFALL.

Edited by Dustin, 28 September 2013 - 06:38 PM.

[dtuba]

There are no bad (EON) Bond movies. Or Bond actors. At least not on the level of, say, Batman and Robin. That being said, someone has to be at the bottom of the list, and that's where DAD lives for me. Whether it is a terrible film or not is a separate issue from the fact, which is, that at the time I saw it in the cinema, I had an extremely un-enjoyable time. And that experience has coloured my view of the film ever since.

 

It's not the OTT moments, or the terrible theme song (That is a fact ) nor the cheap looking CGI...it's just that all of these things were a perfect storm of badness, all at the same time, and made my little brain hurt.

 

But that's my problem, not DAD's.

[DaveBond21]

I haven't watched DAD for a long time but this is partly because I know it so well. I watched it so many times between 2002 and 2005. Probably worth viewing again as it's now 11 years old and has aged a bit.

[AMC Hornet]

Like fine wine...

[Janus Assassin]

I stop watching it when Lee Tamahori decided to start filming an Iron Man movie. 

[S K Y F A L L]

THE WIZARD (1989) comes to mind;

 

[AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän]

Brosnan was a good Bond, and in my opinion his first 3 are all at least decent/average Bond films. It's just his last, the absolutely worst in the franchise, which sticks like a sore thumb. Seeing GoldenEye in 1995 after long uncertainty was as a Revelation.

[Jim]

The thread gets its annual dusting-off, which is nice.

 

Unfortunately it reminds one of the existence of Die Another Day, which is cruel. Especially so close to Christmas.

[Dustin]

The thread gets its annual dusting-off, which is nice.

Unfortunately it reminds one of the existence of Die Another Day, which is cruel. Especially so close to Christmas.

Thankfully Christmas really does come only once a year...

[Bryce (003)]

 

The thread gets its annual dusting-off, which is nice.

Unfortunately it reminds one of the existence of Die Another Day, which is cruel. Especially so close to Christmas.

Thankfully Christmas really does come only once a year...

 

My Lord (Fleming) this thread lives on! Sorry for your pain Jim. 

 

Zencat and I saw this opening night. The first hour in, it was THE BEST BOND EVER. Then we got to Iceland. But Hell, we were along for the ride at that point. One of the best weekends ever for myself. On that Friday I celebrated 40 years of 007 and on the following Monday, 35 years of life for myself...Along with a lovely Latina who remains a friend to this day...and is still occasionally very "friendly". *ahem* *cough* 

[AMC Hornet]

How about that - I met my lady shortly after the DAD premiere as well.

 

DAD is integral to my fond memories of December 2002 too.

 

Like Sir Roger, I consider myself 'one lucky bastard'.

[S K Y F A L L]

Got myself BOND ON SET FILMING DIE ANOTHER DAY, Very pleased.

[Bryce (003)]

All the "Bond On Set" books are great IMO. Looking forward to "SPECTRE On Set". Back this spring, our own Gala Brand paid a visit to L.A. and while she had heard of these books, she hadn't seen them. Flipping through them from DAD to SF, she commented that they were all like being invited "into the family".

 

Great stuff.

[JCRendle]

Is this the longest running thread on here? Can't believe it's still going!

[SecretAgentFan]

It´s because people keep on posting in...

 

Oh.

[Dustin]

There once was an attempt to close it. But this dragon of a thread must be closely related to Smaug, it reared its head and burned the attempt to ashes...

[agentbug]

I think this thread's insistence at clinging to life is indicative of the issues with DAD itself, the arguments will run and run re its merits vs its faults.

I don't dislike it as much as I used to but, overall, it is slightly embarrassing. The 'trashy direction' someone mentioned is perhaps its main fault, as this likely made the more exuberant aspects of the film worse. But then again, it was all in the script, so maybe that's where the fault lies.

[S K Y F A L L]

What is wrong if this is still alve? It's the movie I love to hate or is it hate to love?...

[AMC Hornet]

I love it, without reservations.

 

As I do TB, YOLT, DAF, TMWTGG, and NSNA.

 

"Give me your tired, your poor, your badly written and directed, yearning to be appreciated. The wretched refuse of your favorite franchise."

[Simon]

DAD was shown on ITV (UK Channel) over Christmas.

 

While I don't watch channel showings of the Bonds anymore, I was flicking through and noticed it was on.  It was at the point that Bond meets Jinx at the beach café.

 

I really thought ITV's history of demolishing the Bonds with their random cuts was a thing of the past (an 80's Christmas run of Goldfinger lasted an hour 30 minutes - With Adverts!!) but this showing completely cut the ensuing love scene and cut straight to Bond waking up and seeing Jinx on the jetty the following morning.

 

I turned over.

[Guy Haines]

I had planned to watch DAD over Christmas as but never got around to it, and this incident proved it. The other day someone I know who is into pub quizzes tried (and succeeded) in getting me with this obscure question "Which university fencing team did Miranda Frost belong to?" I'd clean forgotten it was Harvard, where she rather unexpectedly met Colonel Moon. Yes, I know if I could give the answer to that I ought to get out more often, but I guess it shows the impression DAD made on me.

 

I wonder what it is about fourth Bond films? TB raked in money - the biggest grosser adjusted for inflation until SF, I believe - but is now routinely criticised by some as dull, probably because of the underwater scenes. MR is like Marmite - you either love it or hate it. Lazenby and Dalton, of course never made it to film four. And then we had DAD, which elicits a similar extreme reaction to MR.

 

Is it because the film makers start pushing how far they can go with a particular Bond actor or style? Or the law of diminishing creative, if not commercial returns setting in? I only ask because of course Spectre is Craig's fourth film, and I just hope that this time next year we aren't making similar comments about that.

[DaveBond21]

 

Is it because the film makers start pushing how far they can go with a particular Bond actor or style? Or the law of diminishing creative, if not commercial returns setting in? I only ask because of course Spectre is Craig's fourth film, and I just hope that this time next year we aren't making similar comments about that.

I get your point, even though I am one of those who loves TB and Moonraker. The difference is that there is a 3 year gap between Craig's third and fourth outings.