SirHenryLeeChaChing's For Original Fans - Favorite Moments In NTTD (spoilers)

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  • edited January 2022 Posts: 3,564
    Oh, I'm just kidding. I've never even seen a single episode of SpongeBob. No opinion there at all. I'm just trying to stall for time until I'm in the mood/have the time to give a more detailed review of Daniel Craig's swan song as 007.
  • marcmarc Universal Exports
    edited January 2022 Posts: 2,608
    marc wrote: »
    chrisisall wrote: »
    marc wrote: »
    Must be a great feeling to see a Bond film taking place in one's hometown!

    LALD was in New York. That was my turf! B-)

    I thought that was Mr. Big's turf. But I guess that was before your heyday.

    Hey, take the plastic mask off Mr. Big these days and you just might find yourself confronting @chrisisall.

    Interesting suggestion. Yes, I've heard him point out that too many of his island neighbours have once again let themselves be bullied by United States industry.
  • edited January 2022 Posts: 3,564
    Perhaps it should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway: No Time to Die is the most controversial offering in the James Bond 007 film series. Some folks just can't stand the idea that (spoiler alert) Bond really does die in the closing minutes of this movie; others think it marks a powerful close to the tenure of this iconoclastic incarnation of the world's most famous secret agent. You can count me among the latter. Up until NTTD, Craig's tenure had almost been a wash for me: two of his four films (CR and SF) were in my Top 10 list and the other two were ...... not. The jerky-cam editing and relatively weak villain mar QOS pretty substantially for me. And Craig's fourth entry in the Bond franchise is right down near the bottom of the deck in my opinion. The whole Brofeld idea seems like something that should have been scrapped before even being presented to Broccoli & Wilson, and the fact that it actually made it to the screen still befuddles me. Almost as damning a point in SP's ledger: Bond's attraction to Madeline Swan never really worked for me. Somehow I don't think I'm alone in that regard.

    So Craig's record as of 2019 was 2-and-2. The team really needed to hit one out of the park in his last turn at the plate as far as I was concerned.

    Well, what can I say? Mission accomplished. Craig may have hit some low points in his tenure as 007, but his high notes are pretty well unsurpassed. In the pantheon of Bonds, Craig is safely at #2 as far as I'm concerned. Sir Sean, of course, is #1, but nobody else even comes close to the measure that Daniel Craig has set.

    Back around 1967, a very young incarnation of BSE started wondering about Big Questions, things like "How would James Bond die? He HAS to die eventually; EVERYBODY dies someday. Would he pass peacefully in his sleep at the age of 100 & 1? Would he fall in action, saving the world one last time & bringing Dr. Silver-digit to justice with his dying breath? How would it happen???" Well, now I know, and as far as I'm concerned today, it was a pretty satisfactory answer to that decades-old question.

    The first third or so of NTTD is completely exhilarating to these jaded old eyes. From the very first scene showing the very young Madeline Swan's previously-described encounter with the assassin we will again see later in this film ... to the action-packed PTS in Madera... proceeding to Bond's retirement villa in Jamaica, and then to a much-too-short mission in Cuba with the WAY too-briefly-on-screen Paloma... this is a film that lives up to (or surpasses) every Bond adventure I've seen since the halcyon days of Goldfinger.

    "Oh, come on!" you may be saying. "Surely there's something less than excellent in the opening of this movie!" Well, okay: the theme song & title sequence were only okay. Not as bad as "The Writing's on the Wall" -- which is among the worst ever in my own opinion -- but nowhere near the stratospheric heights of "You Know My Name." Just to prove that I'm not trying to grade everything in this movie as A+++... give it a B-minus.

    I also was less than completely enthralled with the introduction of Logan Ash, who was a little too obviously smarmy and therefore not working the same side of the street as our old buddy Felix Leiter. Jeffrey Wright has been my favorite incarnation of Felix since he was introduced in CR, and assuming that the role will be re-cast at some time in the future I can only say that I hope Eon will eventually find somebody that can fill the bill nearly as well as Wright has. I hated seeing Felix pass for good this time around... maybe next time they can cast somebody who's willing to wear a prosthetic replacement for one hand, per Fleming's prose version of Felix. We won't even need to see the wooden leg...

    I was also mildly amused but not entirely comfortable with Bond's dissing of Ralph Fiennes' M this time around. Yes, I suppose that M's involvement in the development of Project Heracles makes some sort of rebuke a necessity... but I do wish that Bond going rogue wasn't such a staple element of the modern Bond. Perhaps the next fellow can wait a movie or two before having to act in defiance of M's desires, eh?

    That stated, Bond's interactions with Nomi (the new 007) were spot-on perfect to my way of thinking. The fans who were indignant (back in the long-ago Pre-COVID days) about the very idea of a black woman as 007 were way off-base on this topic, so far as I'm concerned. "It's only a number" indeed -- but Bond is always scrupulous in terms of referring to her as "007" -- and after an initial bout of uncertainty, Nomi is charitable in requesting that Bond be re-assigned the 007 designation.

    Oh, and Ben Whishaw as Q, plus Naomi Harris as Monneypenny, were both as dependable as ever. Will they, plus Fiennes, all be re-cast when the new fellow assumes the tuxedo and Walther PPK? I wouldn't be surprised, but would be perfectly happy to see them all continue. I suppose it depends on how completely Eon wants to reboot this most successful franchise...

    Back to the review! The spectacular deaths of the ranking hierarchy of Spectre was pretty well mind-blowing for me...and the demise of Blofeld (at Bond's hand, but due to the properties of the Heracles biotechnology) was equally powerful IMHO. The cavalier dispatching of Spectre has received criticism from some elements of fandom, but I think this is due to a flawed understanding of (or distaste for) the concept of rebooting. James Bond will return, and I sort of suspect Spectre will too. But that's a matter to be debated awhile down the road. Right now let's talk about our main villain, our main heroine... and our surprise mini-heroine.

    Safin, his Garden of Death, and the Heracles Project in general, were largely well-received by this reviewer. I'd have liked to have seen the Garden depicted more thoroughly, as it is the last of Fleming's great concepts to be featured in a Bond film, and its very species and their properties could have been the stuff of grand nightmares if more fully examined. The Heracles project could have been explained in more detail, I'll readily grant that -- how exactly did Safin get involved with a project that had some sort of ties to M and therefore (one supposes) British intelligence? Upon consideration, this issue brings us back to a point briefly mentioned in Craig/Bond's first meeting with Whishaw/Q -- simply doing fieldwork from afar with the very best technology can lead us to startlingly undesirable results. We need an intelligence operative up close and personal to make the final decision to pull -- or NOT to pull -- the trigger. Safin himself has many qualities associated with the best of the Bond villains, not the least of which is the subtle scarring of his face due to his earlier encounter with the young Madeline Swan. But his connection with Madeline, which this encounter posits without fully developing, is less than entirely convincing. Perhaps it's more a matter of Safin being Bond's mirror-equivalent: Just as Bond routinely persuades the bad-guy's moll to come over to his side, Safin is compelled to entice Bond's romantic interest to side with him.

    All this considered, though, my evaluation is that this film goes a long way to rectifying the sins of Spectre. Bond's relationship with Madeline is far more satisfactorily developed here, as is his relationship with Blofeld. Spectre the organization is shown a little more convincingly, even with its' top decision-maker incarcerated. And the failings of the western powers' intelligence community -- far from being minor and easily rectified -- has fatal consequences for our own best beloved.

    Finally, we come to the issue of Bond's issue, Mathilde. An original idea here, to be sure: other depictions of Bond's theoretical progeny have without exception been developed as the Son(s) of Bond. Here, we have a daughter -- and that changes everything. While we can expect that a son would be pretty much left to be raised alone by his mother with (perhaps) a nanny or governess, while Bond is off saving the world yet again, a daughter is a different matter. Bond would WANT to be a part of her life, he would want to be her handsome and heroic daddy. Bond would be far less inclined to leave a daughter at the mercy of the big bad world than would be the case for a son. Can you imagine Bond down in the kitchen, whipping up breakfast for a hungry boy-child? Not really. But it's cute and sweet and more than a little bit funny for him to do so for Mathilde.

    And finally, we come to That Ending. I can understand some people just not liking it. For me, and for THIS Bond, it was the only way to go. As I've stated elsewhere, we know how other mythic heroes die. King Arthur's end is known to us, as is Robin Hood's. Now, we know James Bond's end as well. James Bond is dead, long live James Bond. Let me tell you a story about a man named Bond... James Bond. Daniel Craig went out on a high note and many years from now, when the next fellow is nowhere near the last fellow, fans will see this film as one of the highlights of the franchise. At least, that's my assessment for now. The way NTTD is presented, Bond HAS to die, not just disappear, or Mathilde will forever be in danger despite the fact that the Heracles project itself has been destroyed. And so it goes. It is perhaps the only appropriate way for the story of this Bond to end. We will see... but personally, I just hope that we don't have to wait quite so long for Bond 26, and again, I suspect I'm not alone in that desire.
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 7,948
    hmm... perhaps write a dispassionate review as well?

    ;-)


    Sorry, couldn't resist. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I largely agree. Personally I don't need too much explanation when it comes to Safin and Madeleine, or Safin's plans. I like it when some things are left for the audience to fill in. For me, in the first case, he's explained enough when he decided not to kill her 'because of her eyes'. He may not be in love, but something in her intregues him. We already know he doesn't look at humans others do. It follows through his upbringing, and into his chosen plan.

    I also love the fact that Bond in this film sort of isn't at the center stage, not form the start anyway. It's Madeleine and Vesper. It is far stronger storytelling than just another action-packed adventure, giving far more meaning to all the action that does take place.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,459
    I'm back now, after a few months of heavy stress, challenges, and worry. (I won't get into that on a public forum, but you can send me a private message.)

    Things are sorting out, I am all right. Also, retired at last!! :-bd Well, technically end of this month, but my last work day was last Friday (18th). There aren't enough words to say how happy, relieved, and very ready I am to be retired. Just a lot of emotions at play; things will settle over time.

    I apologize for not keeping up with this wonderful thread. I just couldn't even have it on my radar for months. I will be reading mostly now, maybe comment a little. I hope to get this thread open and thriving within a week or so. But step by step at this point.

    I hope all of you are enjoying Bond - in many ways, all the films and novels. I still love NTTD, though I have not seen it since October in the theatre. I remember it well, and my opinion has not changed; nor do I think it will change after I do get the dvd. My problem with that is that I cannot manage to get a NON Blu-ray dvd that will play on my multi region player (which stopped playing other regions). I won't buy another dvd player till I return to America - aiming for October for that. But I'm happy to discuss the film and plan to do so after awhile.

    Do carry on, and let's have a chat later. 2022 is going to be good for me; just had a rocky start.

    Cheers! B-)
  • Welcome back, @4EverBonded!
  • Posts: 1,879
    I'm back now, after a few months of heavy stress, challenges, and worry. (I won't get into that on a public forum, but you can send me a private message.)

    Things are sorting out, I am all right. Also, retired at last!! :-bd Well, technically end of this month, but my last work day was last Friday (18th). There aren't enough words to say how happy, relieved, and very ready I am to be retired. Just a lot of emotions at play; things will settle over time.

    I apologize for not keeping up with this wonderful thread. I just couldn't even have it on my radar for months. I will be reading mostly now, maybe comment a little. I hope to get this thread open and thriving within a week or so. But step by step at this point.

    I hope all of you are enjoying Bond - in many ways, all the films and novels. I still love NTTD, though I have not seen it since October in the theatre. I remember it well, and my opinion has not changed; nor do I think it will change after I do get the dvd. My problem with that is that I cannot manage to get a NON Blu-ray dvd that will play on my multi region player (which stopped playing other regions). I won't buy another dvd player till I return to America - aiming for October for that. But I'm happy to discuss the film and plan to do so after awhile.

    Do carry on, and let's have a chat later. 2022 is going to be good for me; just had a rocky start.

    Cheers! B-)

    Welcome back and happy retirement. I look forward to resurrecting this thread and keeping the originals conversations going.
  • BirdlesonBirdleson Moderator
    Posts: 2,161
    Happy to have you back @4EverBonded ! I will message you when I get a solid block of time!
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,459
    Thanks ever so much for the warm welcome back!
    I hope to be on here more later this week. B-)
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,687
    Birdleson wrote: »
    Happy to have you back @4EverBonded ! I will message you when I get a solid block of time!
    Thanks ever so much for the warm welcome back!
    I hope to be on here more later this week. B-)

    Get a room. :))
  • BennyBenny In the shadowsAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 14,811
    I was about to send out a search party @4EverBonded .
    Though Dimi, Birdleson or myself couldn’t agree where to start. 8-}
    Good to see you posting again, and here’s hoping 2022 only gets better.
  • Posts: 1,693
    Benny wrote: »
    I was about to send out a search party @4EverBonded .
    Though Dimi, Birdleson or myself couldn’t agree where to start. 8-}
    Good to see you posting again, and here’s hoping 2022 only gets better.

    Japan is usually a good starting place.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    edited March 2022 Posts: 12,459
    Haha! ;) You guys do make me laugh.
    You want to join us, @chrisisall? Don't be jealous; just ask.
    And @delfloria definitely knows where to find me. B-)

    Seriously, it is weekend here now ... no appointments, no stress on the horizon, and I hope to get some in depth participation (on my part) going here today.

    Getting to this point (retired!) has truly felt, to me, like a marathon - one I was not particularly trained for, though - and ended up dehydrated, sore, and bruised as I flung myself across the finish line. I've been saying to friends for at least a year, this feels like a marathon. But the obstacles of stress and worry (about a friend, also; not just my own challenges) at the last round, last bend in the track so to speak, was a lot.

    Well, since I have thought of marathons so much in the last year or so, I just looked up Olympic marathon difficult finishes, and here is such a memorable one. I know me saying it's been like a marathon for me is an exaggeration. But I'd like to share this clip, if anybody cares to view it for a few minutes. I tried to copy it here at the 5 min. 11 second mark in this video. Gabriela entered the stadium 20 minutes after the gold medal winner (Joan Benoit). This is 1984 Olympics in L.A. ~
    OK it did NOT copy - if you don't want to spend all that time on the whole clip, just go to the 5:11 mark.

    So I'm back. And I still love and appreciate NTTD. On that totally noncontroversial note, off I go (but I'll be on here all weekend for the most part) ... :)>-
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    edited March 2022 Posts: 12,914
    Congratulations on your retirement @4EverBonded.

    Just don't let them pull you back in for one last mission to save the world.

    sean-connery-the-rock-retired-of-course.gif
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,459
    If they try, I shall refer them to others who are are still firmly in the game.
    Let's see, perhaps this not so motley crew: @chrisisall (Paloma), @Birdleson (Felix), @CommanderRoss (Mathis/Columbo). Especially if they worked together. :-bd
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,687
    If they try, I shall refer them to others who are are still firmly in the game.
    Let's see, perhaps this not so motley crew: @chrisisall (Paloma), @Birdleson (Felix), @CommanderRoss (Mathis/Columbo). Especially if they worked together. :-bd

    Paloma is my spirit agent.
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 7,948
    Well I feel like how Mathis looks in qos, living through some troublesome times, as some of you have noticed in the 'whining and ranting' thread. Anyway, I'm honoured to take up any glove thrown my way anyway 😉 @chrisisall I have no doubt Paloma would get some life in you...
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,459
    We are a merry band together, @CommanderRoss. And I hope to have longer chats here soon. I'm just waking up now; back in a bit. ~O)
  • Posts: 1,693
    @4EverBonded, now that your retired the fun really starts. BTW it was rather poor form for the Oscars last night to forget to mention Lazenby in their introduction to the 60 year special Bond montage last night.................. what is the world coming to?
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,459
    I have not been able to see the tribute to Bond at the Oscars yet. I will try to later today; look it up on youtube, I guess. Of course Laz should have been mentioned!
  • Posts: 1,693
    I have not been able to see the tribute to Bond at the Oscars yet. I will try to later today; look it up on youtube, I guess. Of course Laz should have been mentioned!

    What was odd was that Lazenby was feature prominently throughout the clips.
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 7,948
    delfloria wrote: »
    I have not been able to see the tribute to Bond at the Oscars yet. I will try to later today; look it up on youtube, I guess. Of course Laz should have been mentioned!

    What was odd was that Lazenby was feature prominently throughout the clips.

    All I saw of the Oscars was the slap in the face, but I think it'd be nicer if they stopped tributing Bond, and actually started handing out Oscars instead. Personally I feel Craig deserved one for NTTD, and so did some other people.
  • Posts: 1,693
    delfloria wrote: »
    I have not been able to see the tribute to Bond at the Oscars yet. I will try to later today; look it up on youtube, I guess. Of course Laz should have been mentioned!

    What was odd was that Lazenby was feature prominently throughout the clips.

    All I saw of the Oscars was the slap in the face, but I think it'd be nicer if they stopped tributing Bond, and actually started handing out Oscars instead. Personally I feel Craig deserved one for NTTD, and so did some other people.

    There are certainly people in the Academy who feel the same way regarding Craig. Just not enough of them it would seem. Though it did not win I was glad to see NTTD nominated in visual effects. There are tons of VFX shots but most people don't notice them. Almost all the cars in the action sequences in Norway are CGI but you would never know it.
  • Posts: 1,879
    At least the Bond tribute montage was well-handled with the LALD theme over the images. So glad they didn't do what they did to the Godfather clip montage by starting with the traditional Godfather theme before giving in to some hip hop song about money instead of letting the images do the talking supported by the Oscar-winning score. It seemed like an attempt to attract younger viewers and it backfired.
  • Posts: 1,693
    BT3366 wrote: »
    At least the Bond tribute montage was well-handled with the LALD theme over the images. So glad they didn't do what they did to the Godfather clip montage by starting with the traditional Godfather theme before giving in to some hip hop song about money instead of letting the images do the talking supported by the Oscar-winning score. It seemed like an attempt to attract younger viewers and it backfired.

    Agreed,
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 7,948
    delfloria wrote: »
    delfloria wrote: »
    I have not been able to see the tribute to Bond at the Oscars yet. I will try to later today; look it up on youtube, I guess. Of course Laz should have been mentioned!

    What was odd was that Lazenby was feature prominently throughout the clips.

    All I saw of the Oscars was the slap in the face, but I think it'd be nicer if they stopped tributing Bond, and actually started handing out Oscars instead. Personally I feel Craig deserved one for NTTD, and so did some other people.

    There are certainly people in the Academy who feel the same way regarding Craig. Just not enough of them it would seem. Though it did not win I was glad to see NTTD nominated in visual effects. There are tons of VFX shots but most people don't notice them. Almost all the cars in the action sequences in Norway are CGI but you would never know it.

    Really? Well then it was definately well-done! I'll have a very thorough look at it when I have the time. I know there was some CGI in the bike-jump, which I thought was done extremely well. You really can't see the scaffolding they built to make the jump possible, it all blends in perfectly.
  • Posts: 1,693
    Yep, Examples are: When the Defenders and Motorcycles arrive and do that jump, all are CG, every where Bond pushes an enemy off the road and the shots leading up to it, the cars are CG. They did not have production Defenders and the culled together versions they did have kept breaking down so they had to go the CG route.
  • Posts: 1,693
    For what it is worth, GOLDFINGER will be showing at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles on Fri 29th as a 2:00 matinee. Always fun to see it in a theater. Anyone else attending?
  • BirdlesonBirdleson Moderator
    Posts: 2,161
    I used to work near there. Not anymore.
  • Posts: 1,693
    Birdleson wrote: »
    I used to work near there. Not anymore.

    Anybody in the SoCall area thinking of going? I know @4EverBonded won't be attending.
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