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NSNA feels much fresher, Sean really seems to enjoy playing a more self-aware Bond, Bernie Casey is my favourite Felix, Brandauer and Carrera are superb villains and I love that 80's French Riviera vibe.
NSNA for me.
I pretty much agree with all of this.
Plus Bond and Mayday on the Eiffel Tower. What’s not to like.
Works as an unintentional comedy and has two cracking villains.
NSNA is alright, I suppose, but is an inferior remake.
My (perhaps) controversial opinion is Von Sydow wouldn’t have made a great villain in an EON Bond film. Great character actor, but I don’t think he had that idiosyncratic charisma/presence that the best Bond villains have, including Walken. I think he’s pretty boring in NSNA when he has nothing to work with, and leaves so little an impression you’d never believe if you didn’t know already that this man was one of the best European character actors in film.
Anyway, between the two I’ll go AVTAK. It was actually the first Bond movie I ever watched so I have a bit of a soft spot for it. Not a great entry but I think it has a lot going for it - Walken, Jones, Duran Duran etc. I think it’s quite watchable despite its flaws. NSNA I find much more boring and dated, with a painful score. Very forgettable main villains, although Carrera is great, and I like Casey as Leiter. Connery’s fine but I don’t think it’s one of his stand out performances (including as Bond) and I find the whole thing coasts a little bit having him.
I was leaning NSNA for the weirdness and discussion that it can bring but you've now convinced me I do appreciate AVTAK more than I often considered.
Always bet on Barry.
This. With the addition of Benny's tabacco.
AVTAK has all the makings to be a classic, but the script fails to make the most of them
Grace's character lacks a climactic combat confrontation with Bond, which should be obligatory for all henchpeople, and I always hate it when they have a henchperson change sides (as they did previously with Jaws). IMO a villain's purpose is to provide a threat to the hero, not become a figure of sympathy or pity (unless they get a significant amount of back story and onscreen development, which certainly doesn't happen here).
Then there's Zorin's idiotic behaviour in the mine... IMO Hollywood has a poor grasp of how the real criminal mind works, even less about how a true socio / pychopathic mind operates.
On the other hand NSNA knows it's limitations and stays within them, using its impressive array of acting talent to disguise financial limitations. The only thing I'm not keen on is the video game, somehow it lacks the tawdry glamour of baccarat (or even poker)
The inevitably slow-motion nature of underwater combat is also something of an issue, as it was in "Thunderball". I recently watched a Charles Bronson movie called "Cabo Blanco" which had a couple of underwater action scenes, where director J Lee Thompson tried to mitigate the ponderous sub-marine movements by making a blizzard of quick cut shots, in an attempt to give the sequence more energy, but the trickery failed miserably, only succeeding in making it incoherent instead.
AVTK is underrated, by the way. The movie probably would have been better with Dalton, but this is the film we have.
Perhaps the critics of the time were right, and it's the current ones who are wrong. I'm sure the former understood the film better.
I agree. AVTAK is a lesser Bond film for me but its strengths outweigh NSNA's by a considerable margin, I think (the score being a HUGE one).
To recap as we come to an end of the Rotten Tomato battles here is where the films stack up:
Certified Fresh
Fresh
Rotten
Would you rather learn painting from Pierce or Theatre acting from Timothy?
Brosnan is a passionate visual artist and has been painting for decades, often using bold colors and expressive styles.
He began painting seriously in the 1980s as a way to cope with personal grief.
His works have been displayed in galleries, and some pieces have sold at auction for charity, raising significant funds.
He once said: "Art has saved my life. I managed to find a sanctuary in painting."
Fun Fact: He even designed the cover for a friend’s album and occasionally shares his art on social media.
OR
Creative Hobby: Theatre and classical acting
While not known for visual arts, Dalton has a deep love for live theatre and Shakespeare in particular.
He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
His creative energy is often poured into deep character development, voice work, and classical stage performances, which he’s said bring him “pure artistic satisfaction” beyond film.
Fun Fact: Even after his Bond years, Dalton continued to perform in dramatic roles that challenged him creatively, often returning to the stage between screen projects.
So which one are you happy to be a student of?
Would you rather you pick your own avatar for the game OR one avatar is assigned with no customization?
I saw in the videogame thread that some were wondering if this is finally the game when you can choose your own Bond skin? When you think of it you have 7 actors who have played the role, wonder what the cost is to have their likeness?
You could have a Fleming skin based more on the novel Bond with a scar .
OR
We stick with the tried and trusted trope of everyone getting the same skin. Although the rumour of this game is that this Bond isn't based on any one actor but rather an new creation.
Which one would you rather in the game?
Should be a struggle of "Titanic" proportions...
Would you rather watch Casino Royale 1967 (RT 26%, IMDb 5.0) or Casino Royale 1954 (IMDb 5.6)
David Niven had the debatable honour of headlining this one, along with Woody Allen and Peter Sellers. Ursula Andress gets to be a Bond girl for a second time (decades before Maude Adams) and it's hard to go past Orson Wells as a natural fit for the role of Bond villain. William Holden, Jean Paul Belmondo and George Raft are among the many who pick up an easy pay cheque.
Perhaps the ultimate over the top 1960s Spy Spoof, despite having no fewer than 3 directors, 3 official writers and a further 7 uncredited ones (not including Ian Fleming, who mercifully wasn't around to see it), the plot does actuallly have some sort of consistent internal logic, buried in amongst the all too evident chaos. How many laughs it generates is another matter.
OR
James Bond's dubious debut on any screen (big or small), a threadbare TV production where Bond was played by an American, as an American, with the nickname "Card Sense Jimmy Bond". He is joined by Clarence Leiter as his English ally, played by the ever reliable Michael Pate (the poor man's James Coburn?) and his love interest Valerie Mathis...
By far the productions strongest (perhaps only?) asset is Peter Lorre, one of the silver screens most legendary bad guys, who is also a natural for the role of Bond villain.
(Meanwhile, over in the Marvel cinematic multiverse, it would be almost 40 years before a traumatised public felt able to finally face the third and final installment of this epic Trilogy - Casino Royale 2006!)
Painting by Brosnan. I'm not much of an actor, but had talent painting, to the level that my teacher wanted me to go to the academy.
I don't really care. I'm curious for the game, and love all the Bonds, but no doubt they want to tie it in with the new one. It also depends on where they take Bond probably. And perhaps it would be odd playing Connery-Bond in a 2026 setting.
I think the best middle ground would be 1. giving me all the Bonds to play as, my choice (probably a licensing and rights nightmare with the actors but who knows) and 2. also create their own Bond that I could pick as the default if they want, to offer something both new and old. I have no interest in making James Bond look like me, I'm more interested in what these artists who have been hired to make art come up with.