"Dont blow it all at once ": Die Another Day Appreciation Thread

1616263646567»

Comments

  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    chrisisall wrote: »
    DAD is on the same level as YOLT, DAF & NSNA for me. Totally enjoyable nonsense.

    I actually found myself preferring DAD to DAF after this latest rewatch!

    I get that. DAF, & NSNA for that matter, are very lightweight stuff. DAD has its compelling bits, much like YOLT....
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,038
    chrisisall wrote: »
    DAD is on the same level as YOLT, DAF & NSNA for me. Totally enjoyable nonsense.

    I actually found myself preferring DAD to DAF after this latest rewatch!

    Always been the case for me. I think the biggest crime a film can commit is to be boring; DAD has a lot of awful elements but it's never boring.

    DAF is very, very dull for me.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    chrisisall wrote: »
    DAD is on the same level as YOLT, DAF & NSNA for me. Totally enjoyable nonsense.

    I actually found myself preferring DAD to DAF after this latest rewatch!

    Always been the case for me. I think the biggest crime a film can commit is to be boring; DAD has a lot of awful elements but it's never boring.

    DAF is very, very dull for me.

    Curious, do you find NSNA less or more boring than DAF?
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,038
    chrisisall wrote: »
    chrisisall wrote: »
    DAD is on the same level as YOLT, DAF & NSNA for me. Totally enjoyable nonsense.

    I actually found myself preferring DAD to DAF after this latest rewatch!

    Always been the case for me. I think the biggest crime a film can commit is to be boring; DAD has a lot of awful elements but it's never boring.

    DAF is very, very dull for me.

    Curious, do you find NSNA less or more boring than DAF?

    They balance out about the same overall, but each have different strengths and weaknesses in comparison with the other.
  • edited April 23 Posts: 2,952
    NSNA is, in my opinion, an extraordinarily boring film for what it is. Very dated in terms of cinematography and soundtrack too. While Connery’s presence adds a bit of legitimacy I don’t think it’s one of his most exceptional performances. I’d take DAF over it any day.

    So I do agree, DAD by contrast isn’t boring. Brosnan actually looks quite cool and confident for much of it, and puts in a far better performance than in TWINE. A lot of the special effects are a bit dated but it does retain that timeless quality that the EON Bond films all have to some extent. It’s not the best Bond film, but if it’s on tv I can happily watch it. If NSNA comes on I tend to tune out after a point.
  • Posts: 725
    NSNA is fine. Thunderball is more "boring" than the remake and I love Thunderball.

    Kershner did a good job with the pacing.

  • Posts: 2,952
    I will say that TB as a story is a bit inherently boring. It involves bombs being stolen (which is obviously very high stakes) and yet the main bulk of it involves Bond following up (usually quite vague) leads in the Bahamas, which for some reason drags a bit. There’s this odd disconnect between the urgent deadline Bond is on and just how low stakes everything seems to come across as. Especially after the health clinic and SPECTRE meeting I’ve never felt any version of the story lives up to that sense of urgency afterwards (and yes, the book has exactly the same issue). It has one of the weaker plots in Bond.

    That said NSNA really drags for me. It’s just such a lifeless film. The climax is particularly terrible. It’s actually quite funny, you can tell they were trying to add something extra to it by having Bond and Leiter get shot out of the submarine with jet packs only to go back into the water. Even just watching the film it’s bizarre and underwhelming.
  • edited April 23 Posts: 725
    007HallY wrote: »
    I will say that TB as a story is a bit inherently boring. It involves bombs being stolen (which is obviously very high stakes) and yet the main bulk of it involves Bond following up (usually quite vague) leads in the Bahamas, which for some reason drags a bit. There’s this odd disconnect between the urgent deadline Bond is on and just how low stakes everything seems to come across as. Especially after the health clinic and SPECTRE meeting I’ve never felt any version of the story lives up to that sense of urgency afterwards (and yes, the book has exactly the same issue). It has one of the weaker plots in Bond.

    That said NSNA really drags for me. It’s just such a lifeless film. The climax is particularly terrible. It’s actually quite funny, you can tell they were trying to add something extra to it by having Bond and Leiter get shot out of the submarine with jet packs only to go back into the water. Even just watching the film it’s bizarre and underwhelming.

    I don't see anything wrong with this scene. I mean, NTTD has the aeroplane scene too. Pretty Bondian stuff.



  • Posts: 6,822
    I would watch NSNA over DAD any day of the week! Its Connery vs Brossa... Nuff said!
  • Posts: 2,952
    007HallY wrote: »
    I will say that TB as a story is a bit inherently boring. It involves bombs being stolen (which is obviously very high stakes) and yet the main bulk of it involves Bond following up (usually quite vague) leads in the Bahamas, which for some reason drags a bit. There’s this odd disconnect between the urgent deadline Bond is on and just how low stakes everything seems to come across as. Especially after the health clinic and SPECTRE meeting I’ve never felt any version of the story lives up to that sense of urgency afterwards (and yes, the book has exactly the same issue). It has one of the weaker plots in Bond.

    That said NSNA really drags for me. It’s just such a lifeless film. The climax is particularly terrible. It’s actually quite funny, you can tell they were trying to add something extra to it by having Bond and Leiter get shot out of the submarine with jet packs only to go back into the water. Even just watching the film it’s bizarre and underwhelming.

    I don't see anything wrong with this scene. I mean, NTTD has the aeroplane scene too. Pretty Bondian stuff.



    Everything's subjective, and we get different things out of watching certain films.

    For me, it just feels pointless but in a really funny way. The jetpacks themselves look so cheap and ridiculous (like something from a 1950s B movie, but a bad one) and there's not much reason for them to have included it. There's at least a bit of spectacle and very much a story reason for the mini aircraft scene in NTTD.
  • edited April 23 Posts: 725
    007HallY wrote: »
    007HallY wrote: »
    I will say that TB as a story is a bit inherently boring. It involves bombs being stolen (which is obviously very high stakes) and yet the main bulk of it involves Bond following up (usually quite vague) leads in the Bahamas, which for some reason drags a bit. There’s this odd disconnect between the urgent deadline Bond is on and just how low stakes everything seems to come across as. Especially after the health clinic and SPECTRE meeting I’ve never felt any version of the story lives up to that sense of urgency afterwards (and yes, the book has exactly the same issue). It has one of the weaker plots in Bond.

    That said NSNA really drags for me. It’s just such a lifeless film. The climax is particularly terrible. It’s actually quite funny, you can tell they were trying to add something extra to it by having Bond and Leiter get shot out of the submarine with jet packs only to go back into the water. Even just watching the film it’s bizarre and underwhelming.

    I don't see anything wrong with this scene. I mean, NTTD has the aeroplane scene too. Pretty Bondian stuff.



    Everything's subjective, and we get different things out of watching certain films.

    For me, it just feels pointless but in a really funny way. The jetpacks themselves look so cheap and ridiculous (like something from a 1950s B movie, but a bad one) and there's not much reason for them to have included it. There's at least a bit of spectacle and very much a story reason for the mini aircraft scene in NTTD.

    For me it's the same.

    Anyway, there are many pointless things in Bond movies but I don't think this is one of them.
  • edited April 23 Posts: 2,080
    I know NSNA has its fans, but I can’t bring myself to find anything redeemable about that film. It’s a movie clearly made out of spite towards EON, made by people who clearly were looking to settle a score with Cubby Broccoli, and that includes Sean Connery. DAD has tons of issues, but it’s never boring like NSNA, nor does it reek of cynicism.

    Plus I think Brosnan in DAD runs countless laps around Connery in NSNA.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,038
    I know NSNA has its fans, but I can’t bring myself to find anything redeemable about that film. It’s a movie clearly made out of spite towards EON, made by people who clearly were looking to settle a score with Cubby Broccoli, and that includes Sean Connery. DAD has tons of issues, but it’s never boring like NSNA, nor does it reek of cynicism.

    Plus I think Brosnan in DAD runs countless laps around Connery in NSNA.

    Agreed, wholeheartedly. As far as redeeming features go, I'd be remiss not to mention Fatima's character (she's the most interesting in the whole film, as OTT as she is) and the henchman fight in the health clinic. Basinger is easy on the eye, too.

    Beyond that, DAD is simply a more entertaining film.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    I know NSNA has its fans, but I can’t bring myself to find anything redeemable about that film. It’s a movie clearly made out of spite towards EON, made by people who clearly were looking to settle a score with Cubby Broccoli, and that includes Sean Connery. DAD has tons of issues, but it’s never boring like NSNA, nor does it reek of cynicism.

    Plus I think Brosnan in DAD runs countless laps around Connery in NSNA.

    Agreed, wholeheartedly. As far as redeeming features go, I'd be remiss not to mention Fatima's character (she's the most interesting in the whole film, as OTT as she is) and the henchman fight in the health clinic. Basinger is easy on the eye, too.

    Beyond that, DAD is simply a more entertaining film.

    I concur!
  • I know NSNA has its fans, but I can’t bring myself to find anything redeemable about that film. It’s a movie clearly made out of spite towards EON, made by people who clearly were looking to settle a score with Cubby Broccoli, and that includes Sean Connery. DAD has tons of issues, but it’s never boring like NSNA, nor does it reek of cynicism.

    Plus I think Brosnan in DAD runs countless laps around Connery in NSNA.

    Agreed, wholeheartedly. As far as redeeming features go, I'd be remiss not to mention Fatima's character (she's the most interesting in the whole film, as OTT as she is) and the henchman fight in the health clinic. Basinger is easy on the eye, too.

    Beyond that, DAD is simply a more entertaining film.

    I can definitely see where your coming from, it’s just incredibly hard for me to overlook the cynical nature of the production; it just manages to come off screen, and the result is just a Bond film that manages to make me feel uncomfortable watching it. It’s like watching a strange facsimile of a Bond film that does nothing to make it stand out from the EON series. For all their faults, both Casino Royale 1954 and 1967 don’t feel like that all imo, and I prefer watching those two movies because they don’t really evoke the EON Bond; whereas NSNA just comes across as nothing else but a pale imitation of the real deal, and it unfortunately highlights just how generic the Bond series could be if it were stripped of its identity and charm.
  • 007HallY wrote: »
    I will say that TB as a story is a bit inherently boring. It involves bombs being stolen (which is obviously very high stakes) and yet the main bulk of it involves Bond following up (usually quite vague) leads in the Bahamas, which for some reason drags a bit. There’s this odd disconnect between the urgent deadline Bond is on and just how low stakes everything seems to come across as. Especially after the health clinic and SPECTRE meeting I’ve never felt any version of the story lives up to that sense of urgency afterwards (and yes, the book has exactly the same issue). It has one of the weaker plots in Bond.
    I would say in principle that Moonraker is a more "boring" premise than Thunderball. The Thunderball films ultimately lack punch due to completely messing up the beginning with the pilot (leaving more confusion than awe) and stripping all the interesting from Domino and putting that in Fiona/Fatima. The novel is actually one of the better plots in my opinion and it's paced quite well. But I suppose that's opinion.

    Anyway, DAD takes what would be a Goldfinger-esque (that is Bond inactive for most of it) story, and expands it so that it has a globe-trotter element. Graves and diamonds feels akin to Drax and columbite: just a massive shame that this doesn't pan out.
  • Posts: 725
    TB is one of the best novels and the movie is the classic Bond formula (like Goldfinger)
    EON wanted to make the movie for a good reason.

  • Posts: 2,952
    007HallY wrote: »
    I will say that TB as a story is a bit inherently boring. It involves bombs being stolen (which is obviously very high stakes) and yet the main bulk of it involves Bond following up (usually quite vague) leads in the Bahamas, which for some reason drags a bit. There’s this odd disconnect between the urgent deadline Bond is on and just how low stakes everything seems to come across as. Especially after the health clinic and SPECTRE meeting I’ve never felt any version of the story lives up to that sense of urgency afterwards (and yes, the book has exactly the same issue). It has one of the weaker plots in Bond.
    I would say in principle that Moonraker is a more "boring" premise than Thunderball. The Thunderball films ultimately lack punch due to completely messing up the beginning with the pilot (leaving more confusion than awe) and stripping all the interesting from Domino and putting that in Fiona/Fatima. The novel is actually one of the better plots in my opinion and it's paced quite well. But I suppose that's opinion.

    Anyway, DAD takes what would be a Goldfinger-esque (that is Bond inactive for most of it) story, and expands it so that it has a globe-trotter element. Graves and diamonds feels akin to Drax and columbite: just a massive shame that this doesn't pan out.

    Perhaps weakly plotted isn't the right way of saying it, but I do find after the first portion of the story it tends to lose itself a bit. In the novel M sends Bond to the Bahamas on what is actually quite a tenuous (certainly contrived) hunch, and from there he has to do a bunch of investigation. It does feel a bit like he's been plopped into the middle of the Bahamas without much to go on, which makes everything after that feel a bit slow/contrived. TB (the film) at least streamlines it by having Bond know that Pettachi is dead beforehand, so he at least has a bit more agency in what he's doing.

    I will say that NSNA does get Pettachi's betrayal right in my opinion. Having him getting hooked on drugs feels slightly more clean than the whole body double situation in the EON film.
Sign In or Register to comment.