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SC in Time Bandits v NSNA

TroyTroy
edited September 2016 in Actors Posts: 338
Something has always bothered me about SC in NSNA - he just did not seem believable. He seemed too old and middle-manager-pen-pusher, yet he was not that old at the time.

Then last night, for the first time, I saw some of Time Bandits, which was made only 2 years earlier, but SC looked far more energetic, vigorous, authoritative and, well, dangerous.

That got me thinking. Although NSNA is a pretty poor film, there was something wrong with SC's portrayal. But I cannot figure out what it was. Was he trying to act "old"? Was he made up (badly) to try and look like he did in the 1960s? Or maybe was it his clothes?

Comments

  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,804
    Well Connery had such a bad time of it while filming NSNA that he said he did not make another film until 1986, i.e. for three years afterwards he retired from acting. His wife Micheline said that they were telling him how to play James Bond, though in fairness that is the job of the director I suppose. All in all, NSNA must have been a very bad experience for Connery.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,804
    Birdleson wrote: »
    No, most respected directors leave character interpretation to the actor (especially a veteran). There may be some pre-film discussion on where they want to see the character coming from, maybe some suggestions along the way. Obviously their are famous exceptions, but that's the standard approach.

    I see, sorry. Thanks for the clarification on that, @Birdleson. :)
  • ToTheRightToTheRight
    Posts: 15,804
    Indeed, Sean was annoyed throughout NSNA as far as the politics and legal proceedings and so forth. Compared to YOLT where reporters would follow him into the men's room and ask him annoying questions while he was in the can, I think he kept his cool. In fact, I really like his performance in NSNA as the older Bond who has been assigned to teaching duties since Fox's M took over. It's one of my favorite Bond characterizations. He certainly looks older, but to me better than in DAF and actually, YOLT.
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 7,972
    Sean was in great shape for NSNA but his hair made him look like a "middle-manager-pen-pusher. Take a look at him just 4 years earlier in The Great Train Robbery

    Reduce the grey a bit more and have a hairpiece that was more along the lines of the one used in The Hunt for Red October but less spikey and he would have had a look more suited for Bond without trying to look 20.
  • ToTheRightToTheRight
    Posts: 15,804
    The toupee he wore in Cuba was very much a GF style. Something like that might have looked better.
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 7,972
    Funny you mention that, I just looked at stills from Cuba. I've never seen the film. You are right that style would have looked much better.
    Looking at shots from NSNA, I have to say he's got Paw Paw hair!
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 7,972
    I looked at more stills from Cuba; oh yes, that would have worked.
  • ToTheRightToTheRight
    Posts: 15,804
    talos7 wrote: »
    I looked at more stills from Cuba; oh yes, that would have worked.
    I always pictured if he had done WARHEAD around that time, his toupee would have been closer to his CUBA toupee. In NSNA it often looks like he's got a raccoon on his head.

  • boldfingerboldfinger
    Posts: 5,767
    Birdleson wrote: »
    But you do hear hour stories all of the time where this "protocol" is broken and it leads to mass friction.

    Also, I have heard many fine actors saying that they respect the directors (competent directors, that is) who are brave enough to give directives and not be intimidated. So, there is no set rule.
    I could imagine there´s a big difference between the director giving little instructions during shooting in order for the performance in every scene to fit right in with the storytelling, and the director telling the actor during shooting what his character is supposed to be like.
    Don´t know which was the case with NSNA.
    I was never bothered by how old Connery looked, but I don´t like that he many times comes across as too smug, toting a "look-who´s-back" grin.

  • fanbond123fanbond123
    Posts: 1,661
    He looked fine to me.
    I always pictured if he had done WARHEAD around that time, his toupee would have been closer to his CUBA toupee. In NSNA it often looks like he's got a raccoon on his head.

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  • Comte_de_BleuchampComte_de_Bleuchamp
    Posts: 382
    Agreed, his performance in NSNA falls flat for me. Whatever people say about the lack of tension in TB, it's 10 x worse in NSNA. And whatever people say about parody in roger Moore bond, NSNA is much more like a parody because a lot of the characters are spoofs of their official counterparts. The guy who plays Largo is absolutely wasted on that film. He gives a great performance amidst the dreck.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,804
    A commentator (freemo, Luke Freeman) said in an article that NSNA was all about "putting the British end down". I think that there's a lot of truth in that myself.
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