this review of the 50 box set prefers Goldeneye:
http://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/review/bond-50/2447
― cancer, kizz my hairy irish azz (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 13 October 2012 15:59 (eleven years ago) link
i do too
― a hauntingly unemployed american (difficult listening hour), Saturday, 13 October 2012 16:06 (eleven years ago) link
someone threw DAD (lol) a vote for lols, right? I mean, isn't that the one w/ the invisible car & Pierce Brosnan surfing on a broken slab of ice WHILE firing a machine gun?
the only thing i remember from DAD is the completely tension-free ice chase scene. iirc his car gets shot like a billion times and blown up like a hundred times but it's cool, nothing can stop the magic indestructible invisible car.
― Perfect Chicken Forever (Merdeyeux), Saturday, 13 October 2012 16:23 (eleven years ago) link
Goldeneye the only solid Brosnan, but I don't think any of them are particularly dark. They were clearly trying to get away from the harder-edged Dalton stuff, but quickly overcompensated with Moore-esque ridiculousness.
Tomorrow Never Dies has a good chase scene and Michelle Yeoh is good, but the finale is pretty blah and Pryce isn't a very good villain. World is Not Enough has Denise Richards and unmemorable action scenes. I don't think Carlyle is terrible, but submarine stuff is sort of a snooze and bullet-in-the-brain "i can't feel pain" is kind of pointless. Die Another Day is best avoided unless you really want to see Madonna turning up in a fencing kit.
― Legendary General Cypher Raige (Gukbe), Saturday, 13 October 2012 16:37 (eleven years ago) link
CASINO ROYALE tbh
― Raymond Cummings, Saturday, 13 October 2012 16:40 (eleven years ago) link
I watched The Living Daylights for the first time since a cable rerun in 1990, and it holds up! Two crippling mistakes:
1. No villain. Joe Don Baker's war buff isn't given enough to do. The blond mail Annie Lennox-esque master of disguise comes close.2. The cellist is perhaps the most insipid Bond girl, which is saying a lot.3. Timothy Dalton is game but given no memorable quips and is directed to act like he's in Othello.
― the ones that I'm near most: fellow outcasts and ilxors (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 13 October 2012 16:45 (eleven years ago) link
as far as Dalton goes, Benicio Del Toro in a meat grinder >>> sliding around the snow on a cello case.
― Legendary General Cypher Raige (Gukbe), Saturday, 13 October 2012 16:53 (eleven years ago) link
*THREE crippling mistakes rather
― the ones that I'm near most: fellow outcasts and ilxors (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 13 October 2012 16:57 (eleven years ago) link
Daylights was my last one til the Craig Royale. I should try Licence to Kill, I guess.
― cancer, kizz my hairy irish azz (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 13 October 2012 17:09 (eleven years ago) link
actually only recently saw A View to a Kill. just horrifically bland, besides delightful Walken delivery in this scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCmgle7Q5eU
xp you might wanna avoid Licence Morbs, unless you really, really like generic B-action. it's the closest to a Stallone/Norris movie that Bond ever came
― no love spud webb (fadanuf4erybody), Saturday, 13 October 2012 17:11 (eleven years ago) link
everybody has different opinions! I hate that.
― cancer, kizz my hairy irish azz (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 13 October 2012 17:12 (eleven years ago) link
I dunno. What's the diff b/w Bond and Norris -- tuxes and martinis? This is why I'm not a Bond fan.
― the ones that I'm near most: fellow outcasts and ilxors (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 13 October 2012 17:14 (eleven years ago) link
Invasion U.S.A. is a more entertaining movie than all but like 5 or 6 Bonds so I really do not know
― no love spud webb (fadanuf4erybody), Saturday, 13 October 2012 17:16 (eleven years ago) link
RAVES coming in for Skyfall.
― piscesx, Saturday, 13 October 2012 17:28 (eleven years ago) link
License To Kill is a good 80s action movie.
― this is the dream of avril and chad (jer.fairall), Saturday, 13 October 2012 17:41 (eleven years ago) link
Never Say Never Again surprised me! I expected a smug Sean Connery but his quiet weariness is exactly right for the part -- one of his subtler performances. The shark sequence (which I remembered watching on cable as a kid at a friend's house) is quite well shot.
A thousand curses on Kim Basinger. Is there a role she didn't scream for help through?
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 6 November 2012 00:06 (eleven years ago) link
love her in Nadine actually
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 6 November 2012 01:57 (eleven years ago) link
she didn't deserve Jeff Bridges.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 6 November 2012 01:58 (eleven years ago) link
I remember seeing Connery on Johnny Carson when NSNA came out, talking about putting his hairpiece on to play Bond again.
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 6 November 2012 01:58 (eleven years ago) link
I liked it more than Thunderball for sure
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 6 November 2012 01:59 (eleven years ago) link
!
― balls, Tuesday, 6 November 2012 02:05 (eleven years ago) link
shorter, less waterlogged + Max von Sydow
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 6 November 2012 02:10 (eleven years ago) link
It's 2-hours-plus and drags after Brandauer walks away though.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 6 November 2012 02:11 (eleven years ago) link
One of the more disappointing truths of my adulthood has been learning that Thunderball pretty much sucks.
― Room 227 (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 6 November 2012 02:19 (eleven years ago) link
this shit is relative, Thunderball is weak but outweighs 20-odd years of bollocks that comes after it
― movember spawned a nobster (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 6 November 2012 02:21 (eleven years ago) link
cd argue the same about the books, Fleming slid downhill from Casino Royale on but they're all better than say Lee Childs
― movember spawned a nobster (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 6 November 2012 02:22 (eleven years ago) link
sonofagun, it seemed shorter... also forgot Brandauer was in it!
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 6 November 2012 02:30 (eleven years ago) link
I had the Thunderball game.
http://jamesbondboardgames.grrgh.com/2010/10/25/thunderball/
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 6 November 2012 02:33 (eleven years ago) link
Thunderball second worst of the EON Connery Bonds. Diamonds are Forever obviously the worst.
― Gukbe, Tuesday, 6 November 2012 02:34 (eleven years ago) link
still love Diamonds above Thunderball, which is leaden as fuck.
― movember spawned a nobster (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 6 November 2012 02:35 (eleven years ago) link
the two henchman dudes in Diamonds were a portent of things to come.
― Gukbe, Tuesday, 6 November 2012 02:37 (eleven years ago) link
taking your point but there's nothing in the worst non-Roger Moore movie that's more offensive than Live and Let Die
― movember spawned a nobster (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 6 November 2012 02:43 (eleven years ago) link
I just rewatched For Your Eyes Only, and was surprised how lean and stripped-down it was for a Moore Bond. (Though unlike many others, I do love a lot of the Moore era comedy stuff, especially in Octopussy.) There's no grandiose world-conquering schemes for the villain, and the ending is satisfyingly non-black & white ("that's detente, comrade: you don't have it, I don't have it"). It also features what is probably the nastiest scene Moore's Bond ever had (besides him practically raping Solitaire in Live and Let Die), when he pushes the car with the henchman inside down the cliff. And the rock-climbing finale was still a really exciting set piece, with little of the rear-projection corniness that mars many of the Moore era action scenes.
Also, Melina Havelock is possibly the most capable female lead in any Bond movie (and Carole Bouquet manages to convince the viewer she really is that tough): there's no real damsel-in-distress moments for her, and she ends up saving Bond more often than he saves her. I can't recall any Bond girl, not even in the 90s and 00s movies (I haven't seen Skyfall yet), being this skillful, which is a bit sad considering FYEO is 30 years old.
Basically, the only flaws in the movie are the totally unnecessary super-young-iceskater-has-the-hots-for-Bond sideplot (which would've been okay in some of the less serious Bonds, as Moore is quite funny when he's rejecting her advances, but it doesn't really fit here), and the fact that the romance is even more tacked-on than usually: there's literally no romantic scenes at all between Bond and Havelock before the final scene, where they just making out. I guess the idea was that a Bond movie has to end this way, but they could've at least tried to forehadow it in some way. Without those elements I'd say FYEO would easily be among the top 5 Bonds.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 20 November 2012 08:09 (eleven years ago) link
Here's my ranking of all the Bond movies:
The breakdown basically goes like this: 1-5 are essential. 6-11 are very good, but with some (increasingly significant as the rank decreases) flaws. 12-15 are stupid, but fun. 16 is only that high because of Christopher Lee. 17-22 are generally terrible but still worth watching because, you know, Bond. 23 is Quantum of Solace.
1. Casino Royale2. From Russia with Love3. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service4. Goldfinger5. The Spy Who Loved Me6. Goldeneye7. The Living Daylights8. Dr. No9. Skyfall10. Thunderball11. For Your Eyes Only12. Tomorrow Never Dies13. Licence to Kill14. Die Another Day15. Octopussy16. The Man with the Golden Gun17. Moonraker18. You Only Live Twice19. Diamonds Are Forever20. Live and Let Die21. The World Is Not Enough22. A View to a Kill23. Quantum of Solace
― Bound by Habitrails (J3ff T.), Tuesday, 20 November 2012 17:20 (eleven years ago) link
Quantum really seems to be consensus worst, huh? Personally I found it bland enough that I barely remember it now, but View still strikes me as more screechingly bad.
― Room 227 (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 20 November 2012 22:29 (eleven years ago) link
Any movie with Walken and Grace Jones automatically is more exciting than the blandfest that was Quantum.
― this will surprise many (Nicole), Tuesday, 20 November 2012 22:51 (eleven years ago) link
no Never Say Never Again? Best Bond performance of the eighties (guess why).
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 20 November 2012 22:56 (eleven years ago) link
I don't really count Never Say Never Again as canon; if it was a better movie, maybe I would care more, but it isn't so I don't.
View to a Kill is really awful – even Roger Moore was like "I think I'm too old for this, guys" before they started shooting. That said, I can actually stand to look at View to a Kill for more than two consecutive minutes without having to look away, Unlike Quantum. Also, Bond doesn't make a fairly inoffensive villain drink gasoline in View to a Kill.
― Bound by Habitrails (J3ff T.), Wednesday, 21 November 2012 00:28 (eleven years ago) link
"I think I'm too old for this, guys" was Moore's M.O. since the seventies, no?
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 21 November 2012 00:30 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah, but it wasn't quite as embarrassing until that one… That one shot at the race track with Moore, Patrick McNee, Robert Brown, and Lois Maxwell at the race track with them all lined up and looking about 1000 years old is just, quite literally, NAGL.
― Bound by Habitrails (J3ff T.), Wednesday, 21 November 2012 00:32 (eleven years ago) link
Just watched Goldeneye for the first time since it came out; actually, not even really sure I saw the whole thing back then either. Thought it held up pretty well, even on pan-n-scan VHS. The villainess is deliciously psycho, it's great seeing her in the background of shots where she's not part of the conversation and she's just like, licking her lips every time Bond threatens somebody and shivering when Sean Bean raises his gun, whatever. The ending kinda sucked - thought it was lame that Bond just purposefully lets the guy drop to his death, and was convinced that evil lady was gonna come back at some point after being left hanging in the tree (like the heavy in Die Hard).
But it basically pulls off its whole thing really well. Some awesome set pieces (the tank chase, the whole opener with the beautifully stupid "catching up to a falling airplane" stunt), good thematic hook where all the characters, good and bad, are still stuck in the Cold War, and an interesting idea of how to balance glamorous goofball Bond with "dark heavy serious spy guy" Bond. It swings very much towards the former but there are elements - like Sean Bean's "do all the vodka martinis silence the voices of the men you've killed" speech - that suggest the latter. Definitely way more compelling than the gray polygonal wasteland of the video game.
Did think it was pretty lame the way they kept calling out Bond's misogynist boys' club shtick and then just letting it past - very have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too and it probably dates the film worse than anything else besides the cheap plastic-y look of Bond's spy-camera, which probably looked good then but now looks like something I'd expect to see at the thrift store.
― Doctor Casino, Sunday, 16 December 2012 21:49 (eleven years ago) link
But the videogame had a way more compelling soundtrack than the trainwreck film version.
― abcfsk, Sunday, 16 December 2012 22:14 (eleven years ago) link
The villainess is deliciously psycho, it's great seeing her in the background of shots where she's not part of the conversation and she's just like, licking her lips every time Bond threatens somebody and shivering when Sean Bean raises his gun, whatever.
In my opinion she was the worst part of the film; the character was interesting in theory, but Famke Janssen's terrible overacting and scenery-chewing made every seen with her painful to watch... Yeah, I know, she's a Bond villain, you shouldn't expect subtlety, but there's a limit how unsubtle you can be without looking silly. Scorupco's character, on the other hand, was surprisingly good, one of the best Bond girls of all time, except for the pseudofeminist lines where she criticized Bond's boys' club thing. Obviously I'm all for strong female characters and deconstructing chauvinism, but the movie was too eager to say, "See? This a new non-sexist Bond movie you're watching!", so those scenes felt tacked-on. Like, are you really gonna start denigrating a guy who just saved your life for his machismo.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 18 December 2012 13:15 (eleven years ago) link
"seen" = "scene"
Yeah, I get where you're coming from with the overacting, I just really went for it, in the same way that I loved, say, Helena Bonham-Carter's preposterous I AM CRAZY VILLAIN hamming in the Harry Potter flicks. Feels like if any series can go slightly beyond the danger line of campiness it's Bond.
Agreed about the tacked-on "boys with their toys" stuff - sort of felt like someone cooked it up in the script at some point and then they lost the scene where it made sense to use it, and kept it anyway...didn't really grow organically out of the scenes it was in.
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 18 December 2012 16:32 (eleven years ago) link
ie leave it out ffs it's a bond movie
― first u get the flower, then u get the honey, then u get the stamen (darraghmac), Tuesday, 18 December 2012 17:24 (eleven years ago) link
You can't talk about limits to over-the-top-ness in Goldeneye. It's as goofy as Moore's goofiest movies. Famke is the right kind of exciting over-the-top and matches the very entertaining and batshit insane action scenes well.
― abcfsk, Tuesday, 18 December 2012 17:33 (eleven years ago) link
xps Nahh, it totally could have been cool if it had just made sense. Part of me wonders if an earlier version had a scene where both Bond and Trevelyan were pulling crazy MI6 gadgets on each other, Trevelyan with an old model laser pocket protector and Bond with the latest grenade foundtain pen, having some kind of standoff. Like, there are ways that "toys" fit pretty nicely in a Bond movie! But the whole deal with Trevelyan is that he's somehow over all the cool-factor spy-gadget stuff, so somehow it becomes just Bond and a Russian guy yelling at each other for no reason when they're on the same side.
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 18 December 2012 17:34 (eleven years ago) link
ahh, famke's great. it's scorupco who's 100% forgettable. i was saying this in the skyfall thread but I rewatched G-eye on tgiving and it really didnt hold up for me in the slightest... its just a roger moore movie with a fresh coat of paint (not-so-fresh coat these days)
― turds (Hungry4Ass), Tuesday, 18 December 2012 17:35 (eleven years ago) link
Roger Moore movies are pretty fun though! If nothing else, Goldeneye looks better than those, and a couple of the sequences (again, pretty much the tank chase and the cold open) seriously up the ante on action-packedness, cinematography, and a general sense of physicality and convincingness. For me anyway.
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 18 December 2012 17:48 (eleven years ago) link