It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
Lee reminds me of Bardem. He's a brilliant actor and people appreciate his effort, but they both got awful villains, in my book. Showed their talent amply, sure, but both characters were not really on it.
Silva, at least, stayed true to his rather low-key goal of killing M for revenge after humiliating her. That's consistency.
Silva had a Macguffin too, but the script forgot about it. He became a crybaby with mommy issues.
I'm stunned: you've missed my point, or ignored it entirely.
I don't miss your point. Silva's consistency is to go from being a fearsome terrorist to a guy seeking a lame revenge.
Did Silva go from being a fearsome terrorist to a guy seeking lame revenge or is he a fearsome terrorist seeking revenge? 🤔
Is the current month May at the time of writing this post, and is the sky blue during the day? So many questions… so little answers…
Apparently Mankiewicz‘s early drafts/treatments were more about the rivalry between Bond/Scaramanga. That actually would have been cool to see. The Solex feels oddly low stakes even though it was probably put in there to raise them.
I don't know, and I don't care. MI6 didn't care too much either. ;)
Tou could go about all day picking the myriad holes in sf
The dig chase at the Chateau. You don't quite know if Corinne will make it. Gruesome.
Is Deke making a joke and/or point and why can’t I understand it? 🤔 Does it even make sense? So many questions…
😉
He was seeking revenge from the beginning. He didn't go from one to the other. So yes, you do miss the point.
I'd have liked to have seen the plot go in a direction where Scaramanga was taking out a contract on someone in the British government and Bond was there to stop him. A sort of 'Day Of The Jackal' vibe.
Scaramanga also had a plan, but we didn't know it.
;)
That definitely could have worked, although I do like how we get the climatic duel between Scaramanga and Bond on the former’s turf as it were, and it’s definitely an idea I can understand prioritising (the fun house is just one of those weird, but quite Bondian spaces - quite Fleming-esque even). They would have had to have worked out a way of making an assassination attempt fit with that idea (which surely could have been done - I dunno, maybe the official in question is being transported via boat within the area due to getting death threats from Scaramanga, or maybe there’s a conference in the area or something the official is attending… perhaps Bond could have thwarted the assassination attempt in the previous act, Scaramanga escapes and kidnaps Goodnight, and Bond in turn tracks down Scaramanga in order to finish the job. Has kind of a SF feel to it that one, and it would have been nice seeing Scaramanga ‘surprise’ Bond with the fun house setting rather than it being this odd ‘gentleman’s duel’).
TMWTGG is an odd Bond film in that way - the ‘what ifs’ are more interesting than what we actually got. I always say I’d love to see its broad story re-adapted in the same way TSWLM used YOLT’s story. Or how DAD takes a lot from DAF, or indeed SF from TWINE.
Sigh. And now we're back to the beginning where I said that the film misused him by having him conjure up that plan instead of playing to his strengths.
You really are a waste of time, Deke.
;) ;) ;) ;)
They just raised the stakes. Like GF, like DAF. And It's a plot twist like SF.
If they had done what you say, the film would have ended within an hour, as happens with LALD.
Imagine Roger Moore playing possessed.
Nope, nope and nope.
TMWTGG has some great ideas which should have a lot more weight to them. We have this deadly assassin - for all intents and purposes Bond's equal, and someone who's murdered another 00 - apparently making a threat against our protagonist's life. And yet M seems oddly (and comically) irritated at the whole thing, and there's no sense throughout the film that we're in some sort of dangerous cat and mouse game where Bond could be killed at any moment. Even with the Solex they're clearly going for this sense of importance with the Energy Crisis angle, and yet in the context of the film neither this object nor the assassination of the scientist has any weight or indication that it's consequential/important (and like or dislike the list in SF, I don't think anyone can say we don't see or feel the consequences of it being leaked).
Even a more low key, supposedly 'grounded' Bond film needs a sense of dynamic storytelling. TMWTGG falls a bit flat at times in this area. Hell, it's what puts OP above it for me. Even Bond dressed as a clown trying to convince people there's a bomb has real sense of tension to it. Same for the rest of that third act.
I wouldn't necessarily say it's clearly an improvement. I actually get a much better sense of that 'cat and mouse' element with Bond in Harlem and constantly being watched by Big's accomplices/set ups. I always felt the stakes/danger in that film much more than TWMTGG.
Anyway, it helps that the chases in LALD are better than the ones in TMWTGG. In my opinion of course ;)
The movie has more action, that's all. Nobody cares about the plot. Not even the characters themselves.
The same thing happens with OP. The plot is a mess, but it has a lot of action, so it doesn't matter. If things slow down you start thinking too much.
I think LALD is quite flat, by the way. At some point the chases no longer make sense.
Actually if anything I'd argue LALD doesn't really have much action before a point. We get a little scene of the driver being assassinated, but it's really only later where we get that string of bigger chases and Bond doing cool stuff. So I'm not sure I really agree with you here. A lot of what keeps the viewer engaged with the film for that first portion is Bond being in the environment of Harlem, being tracked by Big/having to navigate traps, and of course the whole Solitare subplot. So actually yes, to some extent the viewer does care about that sort of stuff. And a Bond film without any action or quick pace, especially by the second and third acts, would feel a bit odd. Not saying LALD is a perfect film, but I think it holds together much better than TMWTGG.
Anyway, none of those films have action scenes every 5 minutes, and all Bond plots on some level have absolute nonsense. A viewer still has to be invested in the film and go along with the story (and characters). Otherwise we'd all just be crossing our arms, looking at our watches, and waiting for the next action scene (or just skipping ahead to them, if not switching off the film as we'd quickly realise none of this was worth our time ;) )
LALD is a far superior film, but it's elevated by its awesome soundtrack.
It's just one of those Bond films I really enjoy, against the general consensus. Feel free to add DAF, TWINE and SP to that list too.
Well, at this point I think that if someone complains about the script what they really mean is that the movie has little action.
;;)
Hmm... I think that depends honestly. I don't think that's always the case.
Anyway, I think LALD holds up fine for the most part. Most people seem to prefer it to TMWTGG for what it's worth. I can see why.
Okay now we have a dilemma as we have one official movie left and two un-official films left. The score of the official ones are rather interesting so I am going to make an executive decision and pit an un-official film against the worst rated official film.
This might get interesting!
Would you rather watch AVTAK (36%) OR NSNA (71%)?
We have Roger's swan song. The final film of a 12 year, 7 film run that unfortunately didn't end on the strongest of notes. We do have a great ally in Tibbett played by Patrick McNee. The chemistry between Roger and Patrick is a joy. Sadly there isn't much chemistry between Roger and Tanya Roberts. We have a wonderful actor as the villain and he plays the role to perfection. In between we have a little bit of Goldfinger, and some Beach Boys.
Rotten Tomatoes says this about the film Absurd even by Bond standards, A View to a Kill is weighted down by campy jokes and a noticeable lack of energy.
OR
Sean's swan song in the role. A final film that came after 12 years away from the role. Sean is engaged and his performance is a highlight. The film makers had to remake a film and yet keep things fresh. Less underwater sequences and more land action. We have an unhinged villain. A memorable Felix Leiter, with some saying Bernie Casey hit all the right notes and he does have good screen chemistry with our lead.
Rotten Tomatoes says While the rehashed story feels rather uninspired and unnecessary, the return of both Sean Connery and a more understated Bond make Never Say Never Again a watchable retread.
Now that I think about it, these films do seem to have a lot in common.
Which one would you rather give a watch on your screen?
Max Zorin is an interesting villain so I'll give AVTAK that point, then so May Day, although NSNA have Fatima Blush and Klaus Maria Brandauer is the better version of Largo (more book accurate) compared to Celi's version.
The plot of AVTAK is a recycled version of a better film (Goldfinger), while NSNA is for me, is a better version of an older film (Thunderball), the only good thing that Thunderball have going for it is Fiona Volpe, but remove her in the film, it would fall apart.
Kim Basinger's Domino is miles better than Tanya Robert's Stacey Sutton, even though neither of them I liked, honestly.
The same for theme songs, I don't liked either of them, but I wished NSNA used the Phyllis Hyman version instead, I've found myself listening to it more often than NSNA's original track, if that's the case, then I may choose NSNA over AVTAK, but now, in this case, I'm going with AVTAK.
NSNA's action is more fun (especially the car chase between Fatima and Bond, Connery was also cool riding that motorcycle), it's just fun all along, AVTAK on the other hand, I remember someone said here before that the action scenes in AVTAK comes off as 'Anemic' and I can't help but to agree, then you have the obviously aging Moore in there makes it more less appealing further, I think AVTAK have one of the worst action sequences (don't get me started on that entire firetruck scene).
AVTAK is not fun for me, it's more of a cringefest of a watch for me, the only good thing in AVTAK is the Golden Gate Bridge Fight Finale, which I do admit is a tense scene, but aside from that, nothing in that film I find enjoyable, NSNA at least entertained me, so for that matter, I'll go with NSNA.