It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
That should have been the film's tagline! Epic! \m/
(c) 2013 chrisisall all rights reserved.
LTK does seem to be the low-budget Bond, but it's big-budget enough. It works just fine.
Maybe a little Miami Vice-ish, but there is enough that is distinctly Bond about it, that it still works as an authentic Bond film.
All told it's a darn good Bond film. It's one that I do like to re-visit. And the dishing out of all the Fleming stuff from LALD is a nice bonus along with the nod to The Hildebrand Rarity.
The battle at Krest's warehouse, does very nice homage to Bond's battle with the Robber in Fleming's LALD. Killifer effectively ends up subbing for the Robber.
And the girls are top-notch Bond girls, both of them. The best, IMO, of the previous Leiters is back too and fittingly the one from LALD.
LTK has probably grown on me more than any other Bond-film. Despite not bowling me over when it was first released, it does get better with each viewing.
I think Craig should really study Dalt's performance in this film. ie if Craig can't bring himself to do a full swagger, Connery/Moore type Bond-on-mission film - if he needs some character nuance, then why not go for something more like what Dalts does with Bond in LTK. ie Dalts is always recognizable as Bond, even when he gets humbled as he does in this film. Dalts doesn't dwell. He soldiers on.
My personal uncertainties aside this is an excellent well balanced review IMO
It doesn't help when the reviewer gets key information wrong.
"generally Bond films are released in the winter"
This is only true of those films released after LTK. The vast majority of Bond films up to that point were always released in the summer. For a winter release, I think you have to go all the way back to DAF in '71.
EON only moved the subsequent release dates to October/November because of the poor return LTK made at the U.S. box office.
I will now knock down a point for that haha!
The action sequence on Krest's vessel is possibly the best of its kind in the entire series.
A tough, gritty Bond movie that doesn't exactly lack for style or wish fulfilment either. I mean, who wouldn't want to land in an exotic casino with five mil to spend?
Curiously, my main gripe is somewhat petty - I don't like how Bond tries to get rid of Q and the Carey Lowell character like 73 times. Talk about narrative redundancy!
This quote from the review just about sums up how ill judged this film is
"John Glen manages to stage some exciting stunts with the Kenworth trucks7, but the climactic showdown between Bond and Sanchez is over too quickly—somehow we expect an intense fight scene such as the one with Bond and Grant in From Russia with Love. As it is, the rushed ending suggests that not a whole lot of thought went into this showdown between hero and villain because John Glen was too excited to film explosions in the desert."
The whole review is a scathingly good critique of the film
I found the film a thundering disappointment when I saw it way back in 1989. I had such high hopes for it after the excellent TLD, and was hoping for a real step up for the series with a more serious and grounded approach.
What I got was a lame revenge story, abysmal dialogue and Timothy Dalton horribly overacting.
I tried to like it, I really did, but there's just too much wrong with it in my eyes.
I do like Carey Lowell in the film and the PTS isn't bad, but that's about it.
I think the expectations I had for it just made the disappointment even worse.
...and I agree about some of the dialogue too. The one I dislike the most is:
"You know we...we have laws in this country too"
"do you have a law against what they did to Leiter"
Um...yes we do. Very cheesy line.
I loved it when it was released and remember going to see it several times, I think at the time I thought it one of my all time favourites and better than TLD.
Although over time its not aged well and the goofy elements jar terribly with the so called gritty edge, lets be a hard edged thriller or a goofy adventure, you can't have both.
Having Desmond's Q turn up with that bag of gadgets is one of the most ill judged moments of the series, also that broom with the radio in is embarassing.
LTK certainly has its moments but due to it's wildey uneven tone it's predecessor is quite comfortably a better Bond film and considerably more even film.
Dalton is dealling with a film that was rewritten for him but compared to the one tailored for his Bond TLD feels more like the genuine product whereas LTK feels like a mish mash of what was going on at the time as well as trying to do a hard edged Fleming entry that can't quite give up the tick the box moments.
Unfortunately it also has a TV movie look to it.
This is what I currently think too.
Something about the set-up particularly doesn't quite work, despite the nods to Fleming.
@Shardlake. I understand that they needed to maybe lighten the mood a bit and bring in Q but I keep thinking of Q's comment in TB ("I find this business of equipping you in the field, on the run as it were, highly irregular"). Now he's popping by to see how Bond is doing.
It's just this simple for me.
LTK is far better than middle of the road GE. Dalton is Flemings character incarnate and the darker tone reflects the spirit of the novels. As a follow up to LTK, GE was a big disappointment to me.....and it got worse untill Daniel Craig saved the day in CR.
I've already said I like aspects of LTK but the relationship between Bond and Della/Felix is not that convincing.
The Felix and Della stuff doesn't quite work, certainly during the wedding stuff which feels cheesy and forced. Plus Pracilla Barnes really isn't that great an actress either and doesn't do a lot in the film to make me care for her.
Thirdly, the relationship between Bond and Felix doesn't work either as, in the previous film, the scene with the two together suggests they haven't seen each-other for ages so I wouldn't call it a close relationship.
Heddison is sometimes good and has a likeability about him, but overacts at times (the moment when he comes to after Bond finds him).
I like the Tracey reference too, probably one of the best moments in the film.
Yeah, we'll do that.
Like I said, I do like LTK but I don't think the personal relationships that the film is trying to convey quite have the impact they are meant to. I used to think otherwise but changed my view. That's not exclusive to Kill though to be fair.