Favourite Bond Moments - Round 26: NTTD- Part 2: Ranking

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  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    edited November 2020 Posts: 13,877
    1. disarming the sexy Rachel Grant while hotel manager Chang comes out of the closet
    2. Bond sneaking around the Alvarez Clinic, plucking a grape on the way
    3. sword fight at Blades - "Steady on!"
    4. abandoned station for abandoned agents
    5. Bond caught spying through the geodome glass, and then saved by Miranda: "Oh, they left ages ago"

    Honourable mentions:

    Brosnan looks great in the black sweater. I really enjoy his confrontation with Graves before escaping from the diamond mine. He tries to shoot Miranda point blank. When he runs along the greenhouse boardwalk, there's a real GE vibe about it. I like the music here, and elsewhere throughout the film.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    edited November 2020 Posts: 6,739
    Main tiltes
    Fire squad
    Hong Kong hotel scene
    Scenes with Raoul
    No Wheelchair?
    Los Organos
    Blades
    "Put Your Back into It"
    Car battle
    Sword fight Jinx v. Frost
    End credits, and this is not a joke. I really like the remix version of the Madonna song.
  • Posts: 6,654
    Nothing, Nada, zip, not a single thing!
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,375
    Again, this has one of the very best main title sequences.

    Yes, I feel the same. And I even think that the song works surprisingly well together with the visuals. I.e. the first 30 seconds create a great atmosphere.
    The ones who mentioned the main titles: do you only like what we see or also the whole package combined with the song?
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 13,877
    I love the main titles, and the song works well alongside it. I actually don't mind the song itself, even if it's below average for a dance song from 2002. Madge wasn't doing her best work around this time, and anyone familiar with 1998's Ray of Light would agree there are tracks on that album that are far more suitable as a Bond theme than what we got. Same with some of her earlier stuff. I like the Dirty Vegas remix of DAD too.
  • Posts: 631
    The North Korean tortureuse. In the scene after the titles he glances up at her and she glances back down at him, and for some reason I find those glances powerful, and full of chemistry. Bond bonds better with the tortureuse than he does with either Jinx or Frost.

    ‘Saved by the bell’ I love that line.

    Frost pointing her gun at Graves then swivelling calmly round and aiming at Bond. That’s very well done.

    ‘Hope it doesn’t get wet.” Another great line.

    I actually like the satellite. Probably I’m the only one... but few things say “this is a James Bond film” as much as a satellite with a laser beam. C’mon everybody, the villain’s got a satellite with a laser beam! This is James Bond!
  • Posts: 6,672
    The Iceland car chase. Great stuff. Love the cars with gadgets, cars sliding through the ice, cars getting wet.

    The Cuba segment is great. I especially like the very beginning, the part with Bond going to see Raoul. The walk through the streets, hand in pocket IIRC.

    And later on when he's talking with Raoul:

    -Mister?
    -Bond.
    -Mister Bond.

    I like how 007 skips the customary introduction. He means business now.

    QBranch wrote: »
    Brosnan looks great in the black sweater.
    Agreed.
    QBranch wrote: »
    I really enjoy his confrontation with Graves before escaping from the diamond mine. He tries to shoot Miranda point blank.
    Cool stuff.
  • edited November 2020 Posts: 6,844
    Again, this has one of the very best main title sequences.

    I haven't been including the title sequences, but yes, Kleinman's work has been consistently amazing. Probably controversial, but I think 6 of his 7 beat or at the very least rival the best of Binder's.
    QBranch wrote: »
    1. disarming the sexy Rachel Grant while hotel manager Chang comes out of the closet
    2. Bond sneaking around the Alvarez Clinic, plucking a grape on the way
    3. sword fight at Blades - "Steady on!"
    4. abandoned station for abandoned agents
    5. Bond caught spying through the geodome glass, and then saved by Miranda: "Oh, they left ages ago"

    Honourable mentions:

    Brosnan looks great in the black sweater. I really enjoy his confrontation with Graves before escaping from the diamond mine. He tries to shoot Miranda point blank. When he runs along the greenhouse boardwalk, there's a real GE vibe about it. I like the music here, and elsewhere throughout the film.

    Everything you listed would be in my top 10. I'm particularly fond of everything that goes down on Isla de Los Organos and in Hong Kong. In these two sequences, everything from the sets to the costumes to the Arnold tunes to Brosnan just playing it amazingly cool ranks up there with the best of Bond. The sequence in Hong Kong has one of the funniest exchanges in the series too:

    Chang: "Hong Kong is Chinese territory now."
    Bond: "Yeah well, don't worry, I'm not here to take it back."
    Time to start the next round. The movie which is often ranked at the bottom or close to it, mainly due to the much weaker second half: Which moments are the highlights of Brosnan's last Bond movie? Are there any scenes you love from the second half?

    The first half is stronger by far, but the aforementioned sports cars dueling on ice, snooping about with Miranda outside the geodome, and the standoff with Graves followed by a narrow escape through the glass all deliver the goods and then some.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,375
    Some of you mentioned the moment where Bond confronts Graves in the geodome followed by Frost's arrival and Bond's escape. I didn't think about this scene before but this could really deserve a spot in my top 5.
    By the way: was someone surprised when Miranda pointed the fun at Bond? Probably not but is nonetheless a good scene (Miranda's reaction, Bonds reaction, the location and the gadget: It is probably my favourite gadget from the movie. No laser beam included (which is a good thing, in my opinion).

    I like the moment where Bond knocks out the guy he puts in the wheelchair and how he travels with him to Los Organos. Brosnan has style there.

    And Raoul is surprisingly likable despite the short screen time.

    I'm not sure if I would rank the car chase on ice as a top moment but there are some great looking shots of the ice lake and the part inside looks cool (no joke intended) and is something we haven't seen before.
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    edited November 2020 Posts: 13,877
    J. Krug (clown in wheelchair) certainly got what was coming to him.
    was someone surprised when Miranda pointed the fun at Bond?
    Double pointed fun!
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,375
    Oops, sorry. The gun isn't fun. I shouln't write on my phone. Too many typing errors (apart from all the grammatical mistakes...)
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 13,877
    Ah, and here I thought you were getting kinky.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,375
    Time for some more rankings. Which are your five favourite moments of DAD and can you rank them?

    We have already the top 5 list of @QBranch. Do you agree?

    Favourite Bond moments: Round 6: DAD - Part 2: Ranking

  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 13,877
    We have already the top 5 list of @QBranch. Do you agree?
    Yep, I'm happy with it, cheers.
  • marcmarc Universal Exports
    Posts: 2,602
    Again I'm late for the suggestions.

    - I quite like the finale, especially the laser satellite plot/use and the already mentioned sword fight
    - IKARUS presentation
    I actually like the satellite. Probably I’m the only one... but few things say “this is a James Bond film” as much as a satellite with a laser beam. C’mon everybody, the villain’s got a satellite with a laser beam! This is James Bond!
    +1, absolutely

    - Bond driving a car with Cuban style music
    - opening shot of the Iceland part and some nice shots of the Ice Palace
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,375
    QBranch wrote: »
    We have already the top 5 list of @QBranch. Do you agree?
    Yep, I'm happy with it, cheers.

    Sorry, I meant if your list would be an inspiration for others. But I'm glad that you agree with yourself ;)
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,375
    marc wrote: »

    - Bond driving a car with Cuban style music
    - opening shot of the Iceland part and some nice shots of the Ice Palace

    Good picks. I have to consider the Cuba opening for my top5.
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 13,877
    QBranch wrote: »
    We have already the top 5 list of @QBranch. Do you agree?
    Yep, I'm happy with it, cheers.
    Sorry, I meant if your list would be an inspiration for others. But I'm glad that you agree with yourself ;)
    Ah, cool. :P I could've easily swapped out any of those five for a scene with Bond and Raoul.

    There are three scenes with Raoul. Which one is YOUR favourite?

    1. on the rooftop: "I'd never ask you to betray your people."
    2. in the office 1: "We find your friend is here, on an island. In Los Organos."
    3. in the office 2: "Yet they're identical to conflict diamonds. What an amazing coincidence."

    I'd pick #2, but I do like how Bond looks at Raoul at the end of #3, cigar in hand.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    edited November 2020 Posts: 4,375
    I prefer the moment on the rooftop. Talking about cigars and at the same time checking if they both work for the same company. This gives me FRWL vibes which is a very good thing.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    1 Main title sequence
    2 Peaceful Fountains of Desire
    3 Bond using his gadget ring
    4 The dream machine
    5 Death satellite
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 6,739
    1. Scenes with Raoul
    2. Blades
    3. Hong Kong hotel
    4. Aston v Jag
    5. Title sequence
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,375
    1. Blades
    2. Bond uses his ring to escape from the three villains
    3. Bond arrives in Cuba (love the score)
    and meets Raoul
    4.Title sequence
    5. Bond gets a shaken Martini/London Calling (love this track)

    Honourable mentions: Bond uses the door next to the Westminster Bridge and meets M underground. Q scene underground (yes, I like Cleese!), Jinx knows how to walk in a bikini. Car chase. Moon's introduction in the PTS.
  • 1. Bond infiltrates Isla de los Organos, enjoys grape, fights Zao, makes things blow up*

    Without a doubt, this is the highlight of the film for me. For starters, the set itself is just cool, particularly the bit where Bond passes those revolving mirrors with designs resembling DNA strands. The confrontation and ensuing fight with Zao are both great fun. I particularly like those moments where Bond has to use his wits in the heat of the moment, either by activating the MRI magnet during the fight or devising a makeshift cannon to blow a hole through the clinic wall with an air tank. But what really makes the whole thing work is the introduction of Arnold's main action theme in "Jinx, James & Genes"—truly energizing stuff.

    2. Bond receives the kiss of life, checks into and out of HK hotel

    Bond's escape from the naval ship and pajama-clad stroll through the HK hotel lobby is pure comedy gold, particularly as backed by one of Arnold's coolest, swankiest tracks ever. Then there's the transformation from bearded captive to freshly dressed and shaved 007, the alluring appearance of the amazingly named Peaceful Fountains of Desire, and the hilarious reveal of Chang and associates filming the scene FRWL-style from behind the mirrored closet door. Bond's quip about not being in Hong Kong to take it back seals the deal. This whole segment has all the style, all the cool, and all the comedy anyone could ask for from Bond.

    3. The PTS - "a bit of a minefield out there"

    I wasn't terribly impressed by the PTS the first time around and still don't think it's quite as good as Brosnan's earlier three, but there is a lot of fun to be had here: surfing in to North Korea, impersonating Van Bierk, setting off the diamonds in Zao's face, commandeering the hovercraft and blowing up Moon's car collection. The obvious green screen toward the end of the chase is an unfortunate sign of things to come, but the surprise of Bond being captured and the arresting segue into Kleinman's innovative titles help distinguish the opening as one of the film's better segments.

    4. Blades at Blades

    The one thing I recall I could remark favorably upon as I exited the theater that fateful Dec. of '02. There's a real thrill in the way the scene escalates, upping from rapiers to sabers to full-on broadswords, and Brosnan and Stephens really sell the intensity of it all. While the film itself is a far cry from Fleming's Moonraker, there is more than a trace of the literary Drax in Colonel Moon and I appreciate how the cinematically thrilling fencing match at least mirrors the book's game of bridge. Not even Madonna can pull this scene down a notch.

    5. Ice chase

    As with many of the other best parts of DAD, the ice chase between Zao's Jag and Bond's Vanish represents the best of Bond at its most outlandish and most extravagant, without teetering into the ridiculous (other parts of the film would go there). But the dueling sports cars swerving and sliding on ice as they launch grenades and rockets and pull flips is just big-scaled, good old-fashioned fun. The melting of the ice palace via space laser makes perfect use of the last great Bondian lair and Zao's death by chandelier is wonderfully bizarre.

    Other highlights: Bond exchanged for Zao, using the Universal Exports cover, "London Calling," M's briefing in the Underground, virtual reality takeover of MI6, Q introducing the Vanish, intro to Iceland with Arnold's screaming brass, snooping around outside the geodome with Frost, and last but not least "death for breakfast" and escape

    *Green-screened swan dive not included
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 13,877
    @Some_Kind_Of_Hero Great post - makes me want to watch the film right now. I forgot about the training simulation scenes at MI6 - the first one being very cool, and (both) showing us things we hadn't seen yet, from Bond cleaning the P99 at his desk, to a dead Moneypenny, to working alongside Robinson in such a way.

    A highlight for me is seeing an updated version of the TB breather, which Bond casually throws to the side to sink to the bottom.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,375
    QBranch wrote: »
    @Some_Kind_Of_Hero Great post - makes me want to watch the film right now. I forgot about the training simulation scenes at MI6 - the first one being very cool, and (both) showing us things we hadn't seen yet, from Bond cleaning the P99 at his desk, to a dead Moneypenny, to working alongside Robinson in such a way.

    A highlight for me is seeing an updated version of the TB breather, which Bond casually throws to the side to sink to the bottom.

    Great post indeed. Thanks once again @Some_Kind_Of_Hero for the well-thought comments that always give me the feeling that I should watch the film right now.
    The Hong Kong scenes are another moment I like a lot.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,375
    Would anyone else like to list his top five before we move on with the next movie?
    @marc ?
    Others?
  • marcmarc Universal Exports
    Posts: 2,602
    1. Death satellite plot/use and the finale in general
    2. Blades sword fight
    3. Icarus presentation
    4. Sword fight on the airplane
    5. Nice shots of the Ice Palace interior
  • QBranch wrote: »
    @Some_Kind_Of_Hero Great post - makes me want to watch the film right now. I forgot about the training simulation scenes at MI6 - the first one being very cool, and (both) showing us things we hadn't seen yet, from Bond cleaning the P99 at his desk, to a dead Moneypenny, to working alongside Robinson in such a way.

    A highlight for me is seeing an updated version of the TB breather, which Bond casually throws to the side to sink to the bottom.

    Great post indeed. Thanks once again @Some_Kind_Of_Hero for the well-thought comments that always give me the feeling that I should watch the film right now.
    The Hong Kong scenes are another moment I like a lot.

    Thank you, both. The shot of Bond cleaning his gun and taking down hostiles with Robinson really are cool moments. Same with swimming under the ice with the rebreather. There's a lot to like in DAD.
  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,417
    Forgive me for being late to the party. I think we can all agree that DAD is.... disappointing. Some some highlights are to be found in its running time. Such as...

    The action is where the film really stands out. The hovercraft chase and the Blades scene are great sequences, and even the ice chase between the two spy cars - the height of ridiculousness, I know - but, gosh darn it, it's just so much fun.

    The score by David Arnold. Fitting the tone of the movie. In fact for some scenes, it heightened, nay rescues the film.

    Lee Tamahori's muscular direction.

    The Pikelet

    The production values, especially Peter Lamont trying to go Ken Adam.

    Bond going rogue in a novel fashion, trying to redeem himself.

    Main titles given us a glimpse of Bond's torture. The segue into the main titles.

    Raoul is a great little ally, and General Moon brings some gravitas to his one dimensional character.

    The scenes with Bond and M crackle with tension.

    Graves’ sneering villainy. This is what a deranged North Korean thinks that Bond is, full of Western hypocrisy and swagger.

    The Moonraker novel provided inspiration for the screenplay.

    The cinematography is full of vim and vigour by David Tattersall. A step up from the rest of the Brosnan era films.

    The look and colour of this film, being desaturated in the beginning and becoming more saturated as the movie proceeds. Fits the tone of the film nicely.

    I have to disagree with Pierce Brosnan's assessment; he really did nail it on his fourth go. Full of the self confident swagger of Connery, and even his one liners, as bad as they are, lives up to Sir Rog.

    “I’m just here for the birds”
    "Maybe you've been down here to long..."

    But my fav moments are

    1) The exchange between Bond and Zao. Great dialogue between Bond and General Moon before it. Nice panning shot by Christian Wagner.
    2) Bond attempting to kill Frost after she was exposed.
    3) Bit too big to be classed as a moment, but the spy car duel on the frozen lakes.
    4) Disarming Peaceful and the exposure of the Chinese agents.
    5) Waking up a sleeper agent.

  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,375
    Thanks @royale65 for your detailed and interesting thoughts. Good pick with your number one: The exchange definitely deserves a mention when we talk about highlights of the film. You mentioned a lot of other good moments and it shows that even a weaker (very weak?) Bond film has a lot scenes to enjoy. That's how I see it: Even the weaker Bond films are much more entertaining than most other films.
    One thing I didn't understand in your post: What do you mean with "Lee Tamahori's muscular direction"?

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