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Thank you. It was all a bit unintentional, but I have thoroughly enjoyed writing them. I am glad they read okay.
After the exceptionally over-the-top Moonraker, this was, as Roger Moore actually says in this movie, "a feast for my eyes"! This movie is remarkably well done in basically every form and fashion. Roger Moore returns Bond to his more hard-edged, spy personality, and boy, he really does deliver! He was more brutal in his fights, more deadly with his enemies, and far more lethal! The villains this time around were not far out and larger-than-life like the predecessors of Stromberg, Drax, and Jaws, but were nonetheless very satisfying, for sure. Kristatos made for a worthy adversary who knew how to play both sides of the coin to his advantage. Although the transition from Columbo to Kristatos as the villain is rather under-developed and not distinctive enough, I still thought this was a very nice plot twist, and necessary as well. Special mentions here to Locque and Kriegler, I mean you might not think they are very memorable, and for good reasons, but I for one think they make outstanding enemies and are certainly among the best. The action, as I've stated before, is simply marvelous, striking a great balance between down-to-earth and yet bigger than life at the same time, which I've always adored about FYEO. The action here is among the finest in the series! Add to this action an absolute killer soundtrack by Bill Conti and fabulous, eye-popping locations, and you've got a real of a Bond movie gem here!
Bondathon Current Ranking:
1. For Your Eyes Only
2. From Russia with Love
3. Live and Let Die
4. The Man with the Golden Gun
5. The Spy Who Loved Me
6. Thunderball
7. Diamonds Are Forever
8. Moonraker
9. Dr. No
10. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
11. You Only Live Twice
12. Goldfinger
The '80s Bond movies continue with Roger Moore's sixth Bond outing, and just like FYEO, this one fully satisfies! Although the campy and sometimes cheesy elements of Roger's era creep back into the mix with OP, after being nearly fully absent in FYEO, they're still not too much to worry about, and really don't make that much of a difference. The plot is not quite as simple as FYEO's was, but nevertheless delivers in plausibility, ingenuity, and excitement! In fact, it's one of the best plots of the series in my opinion! Add to this the remarkable villains of Kamal Khan, General Orlov, Gobinda, Mischka, and Grishka, and the tension mounts further! The location work is very nicely done, especially in India, which is the visual highlight of the movie for sure. One drawback with me, however, is the soundtrack. I have always thought Barry could have done better. If not, then they should have brought back Bill Conti following on his amazingly outstanding soundtrack to FYEO. Still though, the other pluses manage to cancel this out in the grand scheme of things. Definitely top ten material, and quite possibly top five also!
1. For Your Eyes Only
2. From Russia with Love
3. Octopussy
4. Live and Let Die
5. The Man with the Golden Gun
6. The Spy Who Loved Me
7. Thunderball
8. Diamonds Are Forever
9. Moonraker
10. Dr. No
11. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
12. You Only Live Twice
13. Goldfinger
I fancied watching GE. So I did.
GE has a very good cast, a very strong script, better, alas, than Brosnan would ever get again, and the direction by Martin Campbell is taut and pacy. Moreover, Brosnan really impressed me, this time; I was worried that he would be overshadowed by the great cast around him. I needn't of feared. Brosnan's nerves, and there were traces of them coming through, added a kind of flintiness to his performance. I was also surprised at Brosnan's “stillness”; I watched The World Is Not Enough last month, and he was too animated at times. It put me in mind of Fleming's Bond; economy of movement.
There were some issues, however, like Boris being too annoying and too superfluous. When GE was first released on T.V, it skipped the bit when Natalya and Boris are messing about; “slugheads”,etc. It picked up when Boris goes outside for a cigarette. I think it worked much better on the abridged version.
Also the cinematography is middling at best; it looks chronologically closer to Licence To Kill than Tomorrow Never Dies.
I have not enjoyed GoldenEye this much, since, well ever. My friend has GE as his favourite Bond movie, so I chose TWINE as mine. (We were about 12-13 at the time... ;-)). I think I had a slight bias towards GE, because of that. You know boy's, how competitive we were...
I think I have to watch TND tonight, to see which one is better; GE or TND. I always felt that TND was a better Bond film. Now, I'm not so sure...
That's excellent news! Glad to see that Tomorrow Never Dies stepped up for you! It's a top five favorite of mine, always has been!
The differences are quite glaring - and whereas they tried to make OHMSS different to the previous Bond films - they again tried to make DAF different again - mainly due to public response to OHMSS, because, if I think I'm right, there was a bad audience and critical response to OHMSS when it came out - then Lazenby left etc
With hindsight; OHMSS is the Bond film I've watched again and again - just because there's so much to it, and the direction was groundbreaking for it's day. The script for DAF is terrible in places - and reminded me of Die Another Day in places for some reason. I hated the whole hokey american vibe where all the action takes place in and around a casino like a ruddy Oceans film lol Then again I loved Blofeld and the whole doubles thing.
YOLT: since the start it has a feeling of a real classic Bond film, with all its virtues and faults. If the special effects of the Spectre rocket were better, and if there weren't cameras at the space and above Tanaka's helicopter, it would be an almost perfect movie! Blofeld is not bad, but his voice is. I wish they've used Eric Pohlman's voice from FRWL and TB.
OHMSS: this is a real beauty, my 3th favorite and each time I watch it my appreciation towards this jewel increses. The only problem is Lazanby's acting which is not equally bad nor good. He has very solid moments: his conversations with M, the relationship with Tracy and her demise, the revelation with Blofeld, the interchange with Draco and of course all the fights. The weakest side is his happy introduction of Bond James Bond to a girl that just attempted suicide.
DAF: I always start this movie saying "well, is not that bad", but at the end it was. The end is just so lame and Blofeld is so bad that this erase the good elements of the movie. Circus Circus is just too campy amongst other things. And that I say I without looking at DAF as a sequel of OHMSS (it just doesn't happen to me). The only one that excel at his job is, as always, John Barry.
Most underrated Bond film in the series IMO.
I watched it today for the first time in a long time and there are so many awesome moments. Hell, I'll go as far as saying Dalton's performance in this movie is the most consistently badass and dark and dangerous portrayal of Bond in the series. Had LTK been released today it would probably be Oscar worthy. Sanchez was such an awesome villain, dalton's reaction to seeing sharky dead and ramming the cash box into that bent cop was fantastic.
Dalton and stunts such as fishing for Sanchez and escaping Krest's boat with the Bond theme playing was just bananas. Dalton needed a 3rd film. Fact.
Tomorrow Never Dies
I felt TND was a more complete, poised film in comparison to GE. The cinematography was much, much better than was the case in the preceding film. A neat updating of You Only Live Twice’s plot, and with recent events, so topical. Sleek, sophisticated and thrilling. The accent is on high tech, sleek thrills, and the film delivers it in spades. Kudos must go to Spottiswoode, who betrays his background as a film editor delivering a brisk film. A quick word for Mr Brosnan, who, builds upon his good work in GE, with a more composed and confident performance as Bond.
The negatives, then, alas;
The final ending on board the Stealth Boat, as many people have said, is too “Rambo-Terminator-esque” for my tastes, abandoning the good script in favour of more bullets, more action.
Teri Hatcher was boring. To get under Bond's skin, I expect her to have "something" about her. She didn't.
Still there's plenty to enjoy, namely;
The whole PTS; Bond doing what he does best – effective and so very deadly.
Bond “brushing up on a little Danish”
I don't know if this was a reaction to the underwhelming score by Serra, but I was glad to hear Arnold's music, even if he over-scores a tiny bit.
Carver was an absolute, megalomaniacal nutter.
Wai Lin is the best of Bond's “comrade in arms”
The gadget's were very neat.
Brosnan and the Doctor was exceptional
Brosnan, clad in his white shirt, complete with gun holster, awaiting the assassin. A'la Dr No.
The subsequent seduction between Bond and Paris was erotic.
So which is better, GE or TND?
Tomorrow Never Dies
all in my most humble opinion, of course.
:)>-
I caught the last thirty minutes on TV. Even though it doesn't really feel like a Bond movie I still enjoy it. Wish Dalton would've been able to make one more, sometime before GoldenEye came out.
This movie is so much better on the second viewing. I admit, I was was wrong about Craig. He does have a certain amount of charm. It's subtle but he does have a small debanoir quality. It's the air of someone who knows what it's like to be sophisticated but didn't really grow up in that world. Don't get me wrong, if I had a choice I'd choose Brosnan but I do appreciate Craig's interpretation since it's so differnt. Plus, he has that same badass quality that Connery had.
I really liked the opening sequence and I didn't find the long chase after the PTS as assnoying as I did the first time. The first time, I felt it was too long and too hectic but it didn't feel that long this time.
I really enjoyed Bond's first meeting with Vesper. I will admit, Craig did ooze sex appeal there. I really liked their relationship throughout the entire movie.
The best scene was Bond trying to use the defibrulator after he'd been poisoned and Vesper saving his life.
I don't know why i liked this movie so much better this time. It may have been because I'd already seen it once, or I saw it on DVD this time as opposed to TV, or maybe just because I have myself some space between Craig's Bond and Brosnan. Whatever the reason, CR was excellent.
"In Japan women come first, women come second"
"I might just retire here"
My gripes about You Only Live Twice stack up like this:
1. Horrible performance by Sean Connery
2. Lame, over-rated soundtrack that annoys me greatly
3. Pathetic villains- Pleasance's Blofeld is all right, but Osato and Brandt are just stupid, and the others are too minor to make that much of a difference; I would have preferred to have seen more of Hans, but alas, it did not happen like that.
4. Pacing- let's face it, YOLT can be horribly slow in many places.....
The music by John Barry is lovely too, the wedding scene is on right now.
Oh heavem forbid I ever like the wedding scene......my goodness, what a dull waste of time!
It's on Sky 007 HD right now. I have both the SE DVD & UE DVD and still I have to watch it on tv. LTK is on afterwards. \:D/
Just a fantastic day to unwind after a hard day's work isn't it? Not just a Bond double but a Dalton double :)
Can I ask something to older fans?? Did TLD get the same reception/praise CR got/gets upon it's release in 1987? I ask only because I can imagine it being the same fresh start/approach CR was and did people rave about Dalton in the same terms as Craig is raved about?
Watching it now myself. Pretty good!!
Craig is more compelling than Dalton, I can tell you that much and I'm watching the film as I type.
I think Craig probably grabs the screen a bit more than Dalts. Strange because Dalts IS quite commanding. If we're going to talk about the Bourne inflence lets at least bring up the Miami Vice influence that shadows LTK ;)
I've never sat down and watched Miami Vice from start to finish. But on what little I have seen, it's only (mildly) the 80's fashion influence that appears in LTK. But with the current Bond, it's not just the films that have the Bourne influence, but Bond himself too.
The Pushkin Hotel room scene finished a couple of minutes ago, and Dalton was firing on all cylinders, that scene crackles with tension. I'm watching with my dad whom commented on the music, "I really liked the music in the films back then."
I've not seen much of MV either but the "Bond's going to get even" tone of story does have an American feel to it. Replace Bond with a colleague from the DEA and there wouldn't be much difference.
Regarding the music. Yes, you're right its very nice (although I still find the Ah-Ha song a bit forgettable and skipped over it when I was watching it a few minutes behind the live broadcast on Sky+).
Saunders is just about to be killed at the fair.