PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Feb 10, 2015 16:49:55 GMT -5
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is pretty much in line with the kind of Bond films I enjoy the most, that being the type that's generally more grounded than usual. Sure, we get more of SPECTRE and Blofeld, but they're both used pretty well here. First of all, in terms of the movie as a whole, I really liked the pre-opening credits sequence; it's fast-paced, intense and gets the ball rolling nicely. The next thirty minutes or so are also solid and entertaining, but then comes the same basic problem that I had with both Thunderball and You Only Live Twice: there's a pretty big portion of the movie that's either too silly or too boring, and this case, it's the latter. It has to do with when Bond infiltrates Blofeld's facility in the alps while posing undercover and gradually learns the villain's plan. During this section, the pacing slows down a bit too much for my taste, but fortunately, it eventually manages to get back on track in a really good way. From there on out, we get a lot of fast-paced and exciting chase and action sequences, all of them handled exceptionally well. The ski chase is awesome and pretty creative in all honesty.
This film also marks the first and only appearance of George Lazenby as Bond, and he's actually quite good in the role, I thought. He more than holds his own and leaves his own mark on the character, rather than trying to imitate Sean Connery too much. Something else worth commending about On Her Majesty's Secret Service is its ending, and how against-the-grain it is. Even though I knew it was coming, it was still a very effective moment, and a really interesting note to end the movie on. From what I understand, though, Diamonds Are Forever fails to live up to it. But we'll see what I think of that film soon enough.
Overall, On Her Majesty's Secret Service is a really solid entry into the Bond franchise, and probably my second favorite of the early era so far, behind Goldfinger.
***/****
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IanTheCool
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Post by IanTheCool on Feb 15, 2015 14:40:11 GMT -5
Hmm, I am apparently having trouble tracking down The Spy who Loved Me.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Feb 15, 2015 15:55:00 GMT -5
Check HBO Go and Max Go. They've been airing all the Pierce Brosnan movies and a few random Roger Moore movies. If you don't have an account or password or whatever, I'm sure Seakazoo can hook you up. |
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Feb 15, 2015 19:26:44 GMT -5
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Jibbs
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Post by Jibbs on Feb 15, 2015 19:41:00 GMT -5
He was pretty old.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Feb 21, 2015 22:37:54 GMT -5
MARTIN CAMPBELL AND EVA GREEN
BEHIND THE SCENES PHOTO FROM CASINO ROYALE (2006) ROGER MOORE AND PIERCE BROSNAN, CIRCA 1990's
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PG Cooper
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Post by PG Cooper on Feb 23, 2015 10:15:56 GMT -5
Moore looks cool as fuck in that photo.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Feb 23, 2015 13:49:25 GMT -5
Moore looks cool as fuck in that photo. In real life, Roger Moore is the best James Bond. That's probably why his performance was so weak. He's such a nice, cool guy that he's not believable as a spy with a license to kill. |
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Post by Neverending on Mar 1, 2015 15:12:56 GMT -5
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GOLDENEYE (1995)
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Jibbs
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Post by Jibbs on Mar 2, 2015 20:15:57 GMT -5
There's something onatop her car.
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Mar 11, 2015 18:11:24 GMT -5
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Um, okay, wow. I'd heard Diamonds Are Forever was a big step down from the Bond installments before it, and boy, is that true. The last couple of films before this one were all fairly solid and pretty entertaining, but Diamonds Are Forever mainly just alternates between being bad and boring -- most of the time, it's boring, though. And that's this movie's biggest sin: how can you have a plot involving stolen diamonds being used to enhance the deadly capabilities of a satellite in space, consequently leading to a number of chases and shootouts, and it just comes across as remarkably dull? The script is a lot of the reason for that, as it feels as if it were written on autopilot. It offers MAYBE two or three scenes that I genuinely found entertaining, most notably a fight scene in an elevator lift, but the rest of it is just ... almost like a dead zone. The script also shoehorns in WAY too many puns for its own good, and includes two side-villains/assassins whose demeanors come off as the bad kind of cheesy. I mean, this was directed by Guy Hamilton, who made the FAR superior Goldfinger before this ... what happened??? Also, Tiffany Chase makes for a lame Bond girl and the Blofeld villain has overstayed his welcome by this point. Not to mention that the promising ending of On Her Majesty's Secret Service feels absolutely wasted with this plot. Even Sean Connery seems disinterested here; no wonder he walked away from the franchise for a more extended period after this. Diamonds Are Forever is said to mark the beginning of something of a slump for the Bond films for a while, and that's not exactly encouraging for someone like me, who still has a lot more of these to watch.
*/**** |
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Mar 28, 2015 18:01:05 GMT -5
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Mar 28, 2015 18:42:16 GMT -5
Roger Moore wanted Cuba Gooding Jr to play James Bond back in the early 2000's and everyone laughed at him. Now he says Idris Elba would be a bad Bond and everyone gets pissed. The guy can't win.
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IanTheCool
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Post by IanTheCool on Mar 29, 2015 10:50:35 GMT -5
I am having trouble tracking down the spy who loved me. Moviebuff is going to pass me on the rewatches.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Mar 29, 2015 11:11:16 GMT -5
I am having trouble tracking down the spy who loved me. Moviebuff is going to pass me on the rewatches. It was literally on TV yesterday. |
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Mar 29, 2015 11:19:50 GMT -5
I am having trouble tracking down the spy who loved me. Moviebuff is going to pass me on the rewatches. Planning on watching Live and Let Die today, if possible.  |
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IanTheCool
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Post by IanTheCool on Mar 29, 2015 12:38:24 GMT -5
I am having trouble tracking down the spy who loved me. Moviebuff is going to pass me on the rewatches. It was literally on TV yesterday. Yeah well I was busy yesterday. |
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Apr 1, 2015 8:50:25 GMT -5
LIVE AND LET DIE (1973)
Up to this point in the Bond franchise, Diamonds Are Forever has certainly been the low point (and what a low point it was). Now we come to Live and Let Die, the first of seven Bond movies featuring Roger Moore as the suave secret agent, and while it's most certainly better than Diamonds Are Forever, this one still has its problems. From what I've heard of the Moore era, a lot more comedy finds its way into the films, but I didn't really find that to be the case here -- well, for the most part, at least. Moore himself brings a bit more of a sly comedic sensibility to the character than Connery or Lazenby had, but he never overdoes it here. HOWEVER, if we want to talk about overdoing it, let's talk about the fucking stupid Sheriff character in this movie (you knew it was coming). Oh my God, talk about annoying. I've rarely ever wanted a character in a movie to be shot and killed before. Every time he opened his mouth, I just wanted to punch him in the face. And I hear he comes back in The Man With The Golden Gun. Well, whoop dee fucking doo. I mean, Bond running across the tops of alligator heads is one thing, but this Sheriff another.
As for the plot, I can appreciate this film pretty much scaling back on the typical Bond-isms (that's one of the reasons I'm enjoying the Daniel Craig era so much). This time, instead of going up against a megalomaniac, Bond is trying to stop a druglord. It's an interesting change of page for a lavish spy series, but at the same time, I'm not sure it works all that well. That's mainly because the drug trade feels very small-scale for the MI6 to be concerned about, even if three of their agents were killed by it. But really, it's more about the fact that the scheme and the main villain of the film just aren't that interesting, plus, the blaxpoitation elements of the movie feel out of place in the Bond series. There are some scenes here, though, most notably a boat chase that's very entertaining, if not a little overlong. And while the story wasn't the most interesting, I still liked the feel that the New Orleans setting provided the film. Oh, and I love the theme song. Growing up with a Dad who's very into The Beatles and Paul McCartney, of course I'd heard it before, but nonetheless, it works within the film so well; certainly one of my favorite Bond songs.
Overall, Live and Let Die is a step up from Diamonds Are Forever, but this franchise still has a ways to go if it wants to be good again. Though from what I've heard, the 70's weren't too kind to the Bond movies, so we'll see how the others turn out.
**/****
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SnoBorderZero
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Post by SnoBorderZero on Apr 1, 2015 10:54:44 GMT -5
Yup, the sheriff is so damn annoying. And you're right, they bring him back in another film! He doesn't have as large a part, but still, who the hell decided that was a good idea? The title song and Jane Seymour (yum) are the only good things about this one.
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PG Cooper
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Post by PG Cooper on Apr 1, 2015 15:09:09 GMT -5
He's more annoying in The Man with the Golden Gun by virtue of the absurdity that he's there at all.
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SnoBorderZero
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Post by SnoBorderZero on Apr 1, 2015 15:25:51 GMT -5
He's more annoying in The Man with the Golden Gun by virtue of the absurdity that he's there at all. Lol, exactly, I watched them back-to-back and I was just like wait, why the hell is he even on this island? I think that sheriff isn't just one of the worst Bond minor characters, I'd argue he's in the top 10 as one of the worst characters in cinema history especially when you factor in how much screen time he actually receives. |
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Apr 1, 2015 15:31:00 GMT -5
SERIOUS POSTLive and Let Die is the SECOND James Bond novel and the one that really created the formula. That's what makes the movie adaptation so asinine. You'll often hear or read the novel fans talk about Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig as the true representation of James Bond, but that's nonsense. Novel Bond is awful. He's a British snob that spents more time talking about his breakfast than the criminal he's investigating. You really have no idea the impact Sean Connery made as James Bond until you've read the novels. It is his version of the character that society has embraced for over 50 years. Anyway... like I was saying, Live and Let Die is the SECOND novel and it's VERY different from the movie. A lot of the things we associate with James Bond come from that novel: the various locations, the over-the-top villain, the action scenes and the beginning of Bond having flings with women. After Casino Royale was released, LOTS of people wanted Live and Let Die to be remade, but unfortunately, a lot of stuff from the book ended up being used in other Bond movies. There's a KEY scene involving Felix Leiter that ended up being a KEY scene in Licence to Kill. I like how MovieBuff doesn't mention that James Bond basically rapes her. And stay tuned for the next movie where James Bond slaps around a women. Take THAT, feminism! He's more annoying in The Man with the Golden Gun by virtue of the absurdity that he's there at all. It's like Jar Jar Binks in Revenge of the Sith. Basically, a big "fuck you" to the audience.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Apr 1, 2015 16:51:30 GMT -5
The lady Bond gets with in the steam room in Thunderball, now THAT was rape.
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Apr 1, 2015 17:48:56 GMT -5
Eh, I haven't been too bothered by the "rape scenes" so far. I mean, yeah, they don't do any favors for Bond's image with women, but I kept hearing about them beforehand, so they're not as surprising.
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Jibbs
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Post by Jibbs on Apr 1, 2015 17:51:44 GMT -5
I like how MovieBuff doesn't mention that James Bond basically rapes her. And stay tuned for the next movie where James Bond slaps around a women. Take THAT, feminism! Why would he have to when you bring it up given any chance? Goldfinger and Thunderball did it worse, though. Bond just lies to get sex in this movie. I think every teen comedy also has that scene. ...Bond also makes her destroy her faith, but you know. |
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