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It may not be the most spectacular entry action- or stuntwise, and the original music, bar the immortal James Bond Theme of course, can be rather uninspired at times. Though having said that, the first Bond film excels in its old-worldly atmosphere, its mysterious vibe, its unforgettable characters -of which I'd like to give a rare but well-deserved shoutout to the great John Kitzmiller- and its elegant, well-dressed and eloquent protagonist -perfectly brought to life by Sir Sean Connery from the get-go- who can outsmart baddies just with a single lock of his hair.
Rating before rewatch: 8/10
Rating after rewatch: 8/10
An extraordinary mix of colourful Indian locations, atmospheric Cold War border-crossing tension in divided Germany, thrilling action & stunts and wildly of-its-time humour. Furthermore, Octopussy has a wide variety of awesome characters such as the titular Bond girl who also happens to be the Moore era's best one, crazy Orlov, elegant Kamal Khan, beautiful Magda, likeable Vijay, the knife-throwing twins, and dice-crushing Gobinda. Also, as an alfista, it's nice to see Bond drifting around in an Alfa Romeo. Admittedly this one is not for everyone, but being somewhat of a sucker for 80's vibes, it's definitely right up this fan's alley.
Rating before rewatch: 9/10
Rating after rewatch: 10/1]
It's getting some added attention on another thread here ( most of it negative as usual 🙄) so it inspired me to watch it again yesterday afternoon!
I still enjoy this first sequel immensely. Craig is really impressive, I adore Olga, Amalric is a really underrated villain, it looks gorgeous ( that sweeping shot of Italy after the stunning car chase always takes my breath away!) It has wonderfully presented dramatic scenes ( the two with Mathis, at his villa and on the plane, and Camille explaining her backstory!) Greg Beam is one of the most memorable characters in the series, and I love Judi Denchs M in this film, she has some great scenes, prefer her here to that miserable old Granny she plays in SF! Great score from David Arnold, and though it gets a hammering for the editing, I love Dan Bradley's action sequences, they are inventive and thrilling, wouldn't mind seeing him return in a future Bond!
It's too long.
Easily one of the best PTS of the entire franchise. Up to and including time of release it was the biggest, longest and best of all existing entries. Maybe they should have cut out the Bilbao scene and focused more time on MI6 HQ/ Thames River sequence but even now, perhaps it's best left as it is.
Marceau doesn't always make for a thoroughly convincing villain once she turns bad, Carlyle's Renard is similar in that doesn't radiate nowhere near enough menace, and while the impervious to pain angle was a different slant on things the character just wasn't interesting enough or carried enough on-screen threat to stand company with other more memorable adversaries such as Scaramanga, Goldfinger or Dr No.
Theme song is good, it's very good, easily one of the best of the last say 40 years and once the action gets underway it's always a bit hit and miss but there's a lot of fun to engage with. Coltrane's Zukovsky adds intrigue and humor to his return and as for Bond himself, Brosnan is largely credible in the role and it could well be his finest hour as 007 from all four appearances. Is it a better overall release than Goldeneye ? Perhaps not, just saying Brosnan feels (that) he gives the best portrayal of the character here than his others.
Denise Richards Jones' as always takes a tumble in credibility in role of a physicist and she's nowhere near as enduring or memorable as past Bond girls but still is able to help move the story along. Need to count sometime just how long Bond was able to hold his breath from the (outside) submarine swim sequence near the end when helping to thwart Renard's plans but then again it's just a movie, guess you don't need to read too much into it.
Final analysis, 8 out of 10. The plus points simply outweigh any negative aspects to it. This should have been Brosnan's final 007 hurrah. Take DAD out of it, (in that) TWINE would have been a near perfect way for the actor to finish in the role.
The massively ill-advised Brothergate and the admittedly pet-peevey mispronounciation of the name "Sciarra" notwithstanding, it's an improvement over its predecessor in almost every way: better Bond girls (Léa! Monica!), better locations (besides most-gorgeous-place-on-the-planet Rome, there's also Mexico City, the Austrian Alps and Tangier), better car+gadgets, better music (similar scores but I think it works better here), and far more atmospheric in general. Personally, and I know it's an unpopular opinion, I think this is Craig's (second*) best 007 film.
Rating before rewatch: 9/10
Rating after rewatch: 9/10
*still need to rewatch CR, so SP might move down to 2nd.
I wouldn't quite call it Craigs second best, but most certainly gets an unfair rap! I remember being quite relieved after first viewing in the cinema, having not enjoyed SF at all. For me SP just feels more like a Bond movie, and only loses its way for me on its return to England for the finale, though even that has moments I enjoy!
Maybe that's it for me too. SF, and to a lesser extend NTTD, never really fully feel like Bond films to me while this one does.
I also really like SP for giving us a Craig Bond in his prime. With CR-QOS portraying him as a rookie, and SF-NTTD portraying him as washed-up relic of the past, SP is the only one who portrays him in his prime.
Giving this Bond movie yet another chance to see if it clicks this time!? Nope, not this watch either! I'm beginning to think it's a case of 'Emperors new clothes' about this! Everyone jumped on the "it's one of the, if not THE Best Bond movies of the series!" and loads of people/fans/critics go along as it's the common opinion,but in reality, they believe it's not very good at all!!
Anyway, rant over, I still enjoy only the same things, parts of the pts, SOME of the visuals ( it's NOT the best looking Bond for most of it!), Craig is good, though not his best performance, the duel scene was the ONLY time I got excited, and that really hurts, it has no real excitement throughout, doomy atmosphere all the way through, they might as well have it lash rain throughout its run time, and by the time we got to the Home Alone finale, I was frankly bored, as I was all those years ago , whenI first saw it in the Cinema! It's fast becoming lead contender for most overrated Bond! I think I have it placed at 17 in my list, think I'll have to drop it a few places! Gloomy!
In agreement with you here too.
I suppose it's perceived wisdom that this one is one of the very best. Perhaps it's also because it got such good comments outside the fandom. One wants one's favourite series to get some appreciation, so it's not unnatural to like your best adverts.
While some of the dialogue and acting is good, it's such a gloomy affair I don't get much out of it. Seems to take itself superserious too, which doesn't help.
Not fond of the way this one looks either, I know Deakins is a master but a name alone won't save it for me. I feel none of the locations really work here, save for Shanghai. Istanbul and the Scottish countryside are fine locations too, but in this film they are devoid of any colour, it's all monotonous.
Time and time again I want to see what so many others see, but I can only point out two highlights: the very first time the DB5 is revealed, and when Eve turned out to be Miss Moneypenny. Probably the only two moments I realised this was indeed a Bond film.
Yeh, my last word was Gloomy, a perfect description of it! I've mentioned the duel scene, and it really was, for me, the only sequence I felt I was watching a Bond film. The macabre setting, the off putting French music, Bond and Silva facing off, a girls life at stake, Bond coolly turning the tables ( a lot of fans had an issue with Bonds reaction to Silva shooting her, but I got it first time, he was feigning disinterest to get the drop on them, exactly what Bond would do!) and despite the cgi helicopters, a great finish! How I wished there were more scenes like that!
‘That’s a waste…of good scotch’