18 replies to this topic

[4 Ur Eyez Only]

Ok.. Every Bond actors has Key Scenes that they must do.. since OYMSS.. with the Death of Bond's Wife...

This is the ONLY thing we know about Bond's Personal Life... a little peak into the man! For one reason we got to see Bond doing something outside of his job.

well EVERY Actor that has plays Bond needs to hit this! This is the only time we get to see Bond's raw emotion.. because of the death of his Wife.. which is her pesonal life.

Lets go through each actor:

George: Did a great job! The end was very touching.. and I always felt there is NO way Sean could have played "sadness or passion"..

Sean: This was a complete joke! the begining of " Diamonds ". Sean showed nothing.. it wasn't I guess written that well, but it came off campy & quick... no passion

Roger: they showed Bond reacting to his a bunch of times! I think Roger was the best at showing range to this question of his wife/personal life.. he played it TONS of different ways! In "Spy" Triple X asked him about it at the bar.. and Roger was PERFECT! He just didn't want to talk about it!! He played it exactly like a man still not over it.. also in "For your eyes" The quiet sadness Roger shows at the grave site was very low key,real and came off very quiet/sad!! Bond is laying the flowers at his wifes grave.. stays quiet ..even while being told he must go because of a mission.. Roger semi is listening but still thinking of his wife.. and quietly says it is always something to that effect (dont have the script in front of me;) ) But shows that his Job is his Life and doesn't have time to have a serious life outside his job.. (very nice feel of Bond's emotions)

Tim: I think he with only having very little time to play the role.. he put a major stamp on this important "wife" scene.. after the marriage of Felix.. his new bride throws a garder at Tim.. and just his quiet sensitive acting .. as he says "no.. no" PERFECT!! If they only let Tim do more Bonds!

Pierce: is a complete joke! Because they gave him a serious style of writing for his "wife" scene in "World" he just blows and brushes right over his wifes death.. with the worst line readings and just plain AWEFUL acting... when he meets Electra.. she brings it up and Pierce just plain sucks!..

*Every Bond has this and other scenes you can judge each actor on.. and his wife's death ..really the only thing we know of Bond in his personal life.. in which he is NOT bullet Proof..

I Personally Think Roger Moore was the best at it.. on the "after effect of the death"... George set the standard with us seeing it and did a nice job! But Roger showed us many many different ways to Grieve!! Snappy Anger in the middle of a mission.. and Quietly at a Grave on his time off.. thinking,talking ,praying possibly to his dead wife!..

*** Roger showed allot of growth as an actor..the guy play every Emotion for Bond.. and the most important emotion is Love & Death of his Wife!

Roger did it the best.. He clearly showed the After Effect of dealing with the death of your wife.. BETTER then any other Bond Actor!

[Stuart]

I'll go along with that line of reasoning.

[St.John Smythe]

I agree Roger was really good at these scenes. Timothy Dalton also did a great job in LTK.

[kevrichardson]

Very nice post . I hope that it will dispell the idea that Roger Moore could not act as Bond .

[Mister Asterix]

I agree with alot of what you say but I completely disagree with your assessments of the scenes in The Spy Who Loved Me and The World is not Enough.

Roger’s scene in The Spy Who Loved Me is in my opinion his worst acting of a serious scene in his stint as Bond. He plays this scene completely un-Bond-like. It takes one little statement and Roger shows Bond is vulnerable. Well, damn it, it should take a hell of a lot more than that for Bond to reveal his weaknesses. It is completely out of character and poorly acted.

Pierce in The World is not Enough on the other hand is perfect. He shows no weakness to Elektra, but you can practically smell the emotions burning inside him. Right in character and with just a tensing of his stance he says it all.

Now Roger beats Pierce in alot scenes, but definitely not this one.

Subtlety. That’s what Roger misses in his scene that Pierce hits perfectly.

[4 Ur Eyez Only]

I clearly really think Pierce had NO clue that there he had to show any emotion at this point of bringing up Bond's Death..

he just stood there.. and then kept talking..

[Mourning Becomes Electra]

I agree with Mister Asterix, it's called subtlety and Brosnan's reaction was perfect. That little moment was actually poured over by the writers, director, producer and actor. Some thought Bond should mention Tracy and his loss, in this scene and maybe later when they were in bed. Instead the producers and Brosnan rightly IMO said that Bond would never volunteer that kind of information, that he wouldn't show that it hit home, especially not with a stranger. Which is why he stiffens slightly, almost flinching but not quit, ignores her question and changes the subject, just as later in bed he evades when asked how he survives (I take pleasure in great beauty). But we know what Bond is thinking in that small moment, we know he's thinking about Tracy and all the loss in his life, and that's what makes it such a great moment.

I think it's far stronger than Roger's in TSWLM which is too much for Bond to show, especially to an adversary. Roger overplays it. I much prefer Roger's reaction in LALD when he's told "his wife" is in their hotel room.

As for the no dialogue in TWINE well that would be a criticism of the writing (and I think it's definitely the right choice) not Pierce's acting, just as you've criticised Connery's Bond reaction in DAF which IMO more a matter of the writing and tone of the film than Connery's acting. The scenes weren't written for Bond to show grief, the producers didn't really want to remind the audiences of OHMSS or Tracy or Lazenby, but just to show Connery was back. Otherwise there wouldn't also be later scenes with Blofeld and Bond that were almost (OK more than almost)jokey in tone.

[Mister Asterix]

MBE is right; the Live and Let Die scene is a much better scene. I cringe every time I see the Spy scene. To me, it is the one low point in an otherwise slendid performance by Roger in that film.

What could have made the Spy 1000% better is rather than the wimpy ‘About some things, yes.’ if he would have argrily yelled through gritted teeth, ‘I said enough!’

[Bryce (003)]

I agree with most of what's been said here.

However....

I think Pierce did deliver with his moment in TWINE. The look says it all. That's all you need when someone touches a nerve.

Roger did do quite well in that moment. For once I disagree Mr. *(and hopefully the only time - although I like your concept) If Bond had revealed (any more the he did) that it was a raw subject with him to Anya, it would have given her an edge on him - at that point they were still sizing each other up.

Also, in TSWLM, the scene between Anya and Bond when he confesses to killing her lover with no regret is something that should have been Oscar worthy. Very well done Roger.

Although I have yet to be aware of it, someone, whom I was quite close to, once witnessed me stop two large gentlemen in their tracks with an icy look when her honor was at stake. She later told me it was the one time I frightened her.

Whenever your loss is mocked, it creates something that should never be exposed. Roger got that across and so did Pierce.

One with a line and the other without. Such is the 'changing of the Bonds'....and times.

[Mister Asterix]

Originally posted by Bryce (003) (edited)
Also, in TSWLM, the scene between Anya and Bond when he confesses to killing her lover with no regret is something that should have been Oscar worthy. Very well done Roger.

Quite right, 003. That scene is one of Roger’s—and Bond’s—best.

[Lazar]

Rog overplays it?! I disagree totally. Bond let's Anya know that he will not tolerate certain things, especially an unwarranted mention (on a first meeting!) of his wife's death. If anything, this makes Bond stronger in my eyes and sets the rules for further interactions with Anya. It was the perfect way to tell her not to discuss that topic under any circumstances. Plus he immediately gets up and leaves with a sarcastic quip: "Tragically...". This shows a certain contempt for her at even attempting to broach such a topic.

[DLibrasnow]

I think Roger did a great job with his "Tracy" scene in TSWLM. I'm not going to talk about the other actors because I don't want to be accused of not liking any of them - I like all the actors who have played Bond, on a personal level. But, I think Roger played the scene with Anya really well and it was right on key.

[doublenoughtspy]

I think all of the references to Tracy have been played well.

George looks the most devastated, and to anyone who says he can't act - I say look at that scene again.

There was no obvious Tracy reference in DAF, it is sort of implied - but you wouldn't know it from Connery or Blofeld, so I don't count it.

Roger's reference in Spy and FYEO are absolutely fantastic. Because he showed us the lighter side of Bond - it makes you take notice that much more seriously when he shares his grief.

Timothy's performance in LTK is subtle - he can't even put into words why he can't accept it from Della (although it's sort of odd that she wouldn't have known he had been married - too much time with Jack Tripper I suppose).

While Pierce is good at showing emotion at the loss of a lover - I wish that they would make an explicit reference to Tracy by name.

Supposedly (and I can not find this ANYWHERE!) either Bruce Fierstein and/or Michael Wilson have questioned whether or not Pierce's Bond has lost Tracy. The point is somewhat moot when you imply that its the same guy from FRWL with Klebb's shoe, etc. but Tamahori said he made sure that there wasn't any dialog referencing the item (i.e. - I remember this) - he said that he saw the Bond's as different men under the same code name.

[ChandlerBing]

Tamhori's idea is the mother of all bad ideas. What's the problem with mentioning Tracy? I have no problem that Sean and George and Pierce played the same Bond. The other guys is another story. Ok, maybe Roger in 3/7 of his movies, but not the other guy.

[Simon]

I think there's going to have to be a time when they knock the whole marriage memory thing on the head. To be remembering something that happened over thirty years ago is pretty pointless for modern day cinema audiences.

I'm happy that Bond is still being reinvented but I think they should resist this particular angle and only make memories pertinent to the actor that has experienced them. This isn't to break the lines of continuity but to provide an element of realism to a concept that could never be - ie, a 40 year old Bond with 40 years of missions behind him.

[4 Ur Eyez Only]

Yes Terri Alden did have an amazing life after living with Jack & Janet !! she actually must have met Felix in Hawaii when he was on a mission with the CIA.. and they feel in love

LOL

[Robinson]

Originally posted by doublenoughtspy
but Tamahori said he made sure that there wasn't any dialog referencing the item (i.e. - I remember this) - he said that he saw the Bond's as different men under the same code name.

This reasoning would've worked in the Mission:Impossible films. It would've made it more plausible that Jon Voight & Peter Graves were both Jim Phelps at one point in time. You could've then turned Ethan Hunt/Tom Cruise into Jim Phelps and...

Anyway, Tamahori lost it on that one. All of the Bond's, no matter who portrayed him, are all the same. They all have the same attributes and history running through their performances.

I thought Moore's performance in FYEO was top notch. His silent vigil over Tracy's grave is poignant, considering where the producers had taken Moore and the series during his tenure. Sometimes all it takes is a look and often it speaks more than dialogue.

If you want a great example of subtlety, watch Al Pacino in "Donnie Brasco," especially during the climax. It beats his performance in "Scent of a Woman" and anything else he's screamed through in the past ten years.

Roger Moore did his thing...

[SirMiles83]

[quote]Roger

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by SirMiles83

I don't think it showed Bond being vunerable or weak at all. He was there to meet Max Kalba, and felt that Anya overstepped her boundaries and decided that he had more important things to tend to than to listen to her disecting him personally. He told her that was enough, gave her a look, and still retaining the Bond in him, he suavely, politely stepped away. And for Pierce to just say nothing or show nothing as in emotion when Elektra said that, was a big mistake. IMO it looked like Bond had never lost a loved one, I bet the general public saw that as well, there was no reaction. Elektra said it in a mocking tone, and yet Bond didn't shift. He should have at least been affected by it physically if it is said for him to be same Bond as Lazenby. Maybe a little underlying anger welling inside of him or maybe him start to look away and mockingly smile at her (like she doesn't know what she is talking about) and go on with his questioning.

Well said Sir Miles....I agree with you 100%.