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A Thread For Those Of Us Who Had Roger Moore As Their Bond

ChulaChula New York
in Bond Movies Posts: 19
There's a great thread going for those who are old enough to have had Sean Connery as their first Bond. How about a thread for those of us who grew up with Roger Moore as Bond?

Me? Sure the first Bond I knew of was Sean Connery. My older cousins...man, all they talked about was Sean Connery. They had all the classic Bond toys (I snagged a few of them from them: a 007 pen that does a hundred different things, a Goldfinger doll, a Dr. No dragon...they never gave me the toy Aston Martin) and Sean Connery and Bond were a big part of the games we played as kids in the basement. I also used to see bits of the Connery movies on TV and in later years I saw all the Connery films in the theater when they had re-releases or revivals. However...

My Bond was Roger Moore. The first full Bond movie I ever saw was MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN; first Bond film I saw in the theaters was SPY WHO LOVED ME (the theater had a white Lotus parked in front. WOW! I was instantly hooked on Bond.). I really never compared Moore to Connery because I didn't know we were supposed to compare them. I was a kid and figured this guy is playing James Bond and I like him. When I started to really see all the Connery films I did realize that my Bond is very different. Different...but still entertaining. I came to realize the Moore films were lighter films. I was a kid so I didn't mind.

The Bonds who came after Moore...oh, I did not like any of them. Still don't. I'll take a bad Moore film over a great Craig film any day of the year. I guess it comes down to Moore was my Bond, the reason I fell in love with Bond films, so anybody else is just an interloper, an intruder. I did know that Moore's time had come after VIEW TO A KILL. I knew the series had to move on from him. I accepted it...but, my God, what they replaced him with was awful. At least Lazenby replaced Connery; I had Dalton as my new Bond???? Oh, was I unhappy.

I will say this about Moore films: seeing them in the theaters was sooooo much fun. The audience would go along on this wild, entertaining, fun ride. A Moore Bond film in the theater was a thing to behold. We all came in excited and we all left smiling. No way can we say that about Dalton, Brosnan, or Craig Bond films. Roger Moore Bond films were meant to be a good time at the movies,...and they sure were.

Comments

  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Roger Moore started out arond the time I started my year in kindergarten, and ended his tenure arond when I finished high school. Roger Moore WAS James Bond to most of us 70s kids. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY was my first Bond in the theatre. I went to see it with some classmates, we were in the equivalent of junior high. There was no Bond on tv here, and the home video market was just getting started around then. When one of my classmates told me Raiders Of the Lost Ark was way better than Bond, I simply didn t believe him. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY has remained a top five film for me until recently. Both the film and Moore as Bond dropped in my rankings after my last Bondathon. Doesn t mean I don t love them anymore, just that nostalgia probably elevated them above others that I have come to appreciate more now.

    As for the other Bonds, I was well aware of both Connery and Lazenby and got to see both in the cinema the same year as FYEO came out, first OHMSS and then GF. I loved both of those even more, and that love hasn t faded. They are my top two films and I think Connery remains the best Bond. I now understand those who claimed so back in the 70s and 80s. I was happy when Dalton was cast as I had seen him as a perfect replacement ever since seeing him in Centennial a few years before. Today he has dropped to the bottom place for me, but I still rate him highly. It s just that I think the others are even stronger Bonds.
  • ChulaChula New York
    Posts: 19
    Thunderfinger wrote: »
    FOR YOUR EYES ONLY was my first Bond in the theatre.
    That's an odd one to be the first. FYEO lacks all the things that make a Bond film a Bond film: insanely bizarre villain, outrageous Bond maneuvers to save the day, massive sets, Barry score, gadgets, Bond women with cheeky names... (The pre-title scene does have a few classic Bond conventions, but it's just a few minutes long.)

    Though I really love FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, it is not the Bond film one would recommend for a first Bond film to see.

  • RogueAgentRogueAgent
    Posts: 12,506
    Roger Moore will always be my Bond, I grew up on his movies. The first was LALD thanks to my dear mum. I have never looked back since. Was lucky to go to an Audience with Roger Moore a couple of times which I will always treasure. Especially as one of the occasions I took my mum to see him too.
  • barryt007barryt007
    edited July 2019 Posts: 19,339
    I have had the pleasure of meeting Sir Roger twice and having a chat with him.What you see on screen is exactly how the man was - charming,positive,confident,self depreciating (especially regarding his acting) and able to put you at ease immediately,like you knew him for years.

    My first Bond film at the cinema came a little late with me,after watching the films on tv whenever they came on at Xmas or Easter or a Bank Holiday,and that film was OP,when I was 13,and It blew me away.
    I couldn't believe the difference between Bond on the TV and at the cinema,it was chalk and cheese,and Sir Roger's screen aura was immense,he owned the film and the cinema audience.

    That's why OP is my favourite Bond film (call it nostalgia but I love the film) ,and why Sir Roger will always be my favourite Bond (and as the Saint as well) .
  • ToTheRightToTheRight
    Posts: 15,801
    barryt007 wrote: »
    I have had the pleasure of meeting Sir Roger twice and having a chat with him.What you see on screen is exactly how the man was - charming,positive,confident,self depreciating (especially regarding his acting) and able to put you at ease immediately,like you knew him for years.

    My first Bond film at the cinema came a little late with me,after watching the films on tv whenever they came on at Xmas or Easter or a Bank Holiday,and that film was OP,when I was 13,and It blew me away.
    I couldn't believe the difference between Bond on the TV and at the cinema,it was chalk and cheese,and Sir Roger's screen aura was immense,he owned the film and the cinema audience.

    That's why OP is my favourite Bond film (call it nostalgia but I love the film) ,and why Sir Roger will always be my favourite Bond (and as the Saint as well) .

    Wonderful post, @barryt007.

    I would have loved to have met Sir Roger. I was lucky in that he answered a few of my fan questions on his website. Very charming man.
    I agree seeing the Roger films on the big screen with an audience was an amazing experience. Especially in those days when you really had to stand outside in line and wait.

    I remember my folks taking me to a Sunday matinee of AVTAK, and we got there early enough the line formed about a block behind us. The poster outside the cinema was the Bond/Mayday poster and audience members were discussing what kind of showdown they would have. The trailer was PALE RIDER
    , and the film immediately kicked in afterwards. No commercials or silence your phones BS back then.
    The Roger gunbarrel, especially backed by John Barry is an adrenaline rush in he cinema. I remember those first close ups of Roger as he discovers 004 in the snow, and I had a HUGE smile on my face. There was my hero. Roger's presence was huge. Felt like seeing a beloved relative during the Holidays. Even the Bond films that critics and or fans may find sub standard were a lot of fun in the cinema. Later that day my Dad kept saying "Wasn't that fun? That one was great!". I felt that was about all the new Roger's we saw together.
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 4,941
    I saw the following films in the theatre. MR, OP, AVTAK. I remember thinking that MR was a great film (I was 10 at the time and big time into Star Wars). I was somewhat frightened of Jaws. I remember thinking how real it all seemed.

    OP I really enjoyed! Loved the train action sequence and even thought the clown bit was good piece of story telling. The twins were a bit freaky. I was turned on by Magda and thought she was hotter then OP. Hey I was 14 by this point and the hormones were starting to kick in.

    By the time AVTAK came out I was major into Bond. I was playing a Role Playing game with friends that was from Avalon Hill and was officially tied into EON. I enjoyed the portrayal of Zorin by Walken.

    Was Moore my Bond? Hard to say I was 10-16 during these movies hitting the cinema. I wouldn't say Dalton was my Bond as I found him to be rather lacking. Still do. I enjoy some of the Moore films. Not a fan of all of them, unlike Connery. I do think Moore saved the character and the series. For if the producers had casted another Lazenby I doubt the character would survive. As it was the character was suffering after TMWTGG.

    I enjoy reading everyone's perspective and trips down memory lane.
  • brown7777brown7777 chelmsford
    Posts: 10
    Me as i was born in 1974 the year tmwtgg came out so i grew up when Roger was Bond
  • OctopussyOctopussy Piz Gloria, Schilthorn, Switzerland.
    Posts: 1,081
    I was born in '99 but The Spy Who Loved Me was the first Bond film I ever watched. Growing up I wanted to be Roger Moore. To me Roger Moore was Bond and his lighthearted portrayal captured me as child. If he were still alive, he's still the one Bond I would love to meet in person.
  • CraterGunsCraterGuns
    Posts: 615
    Not my favorite 007, but to me he's certainly the definitive Simon Templar.
  • BT3366BT3366
    Posts: 1,882
    Interesting connection for me: Roger started filming LALD when I started kindergarten and AVTAK was released exactly one week before I graduated high school. You may say I had a Saint watching out for me in those formative years.
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