James Bond 007 film-by-film thread

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by mr_spenalzo, Mar 12, 2018.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. vzok

    vzok Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    No free copy of Casino Royale 1954?
     
    MerseyBeatle likes this.
  2. MerseyBeatle

    MerseyBeatle Martha my dear (1995-2012)

    Location:
    Charleston, SC
    Nope, no Jimmy Bond. I say we do a class action lawsuit. ;)
     
    Shawn and vzok like this.
  3. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Tom Hardy still in tbe running to play 007.
     
  4. JAuz

    JAuz Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    Thanks for this! I bought the Bond 50 blu-rays a few years ago during a Black Friday sale, so I think I'm eligible for this.
     
    MerseyBeatle likes this.
  5. Time Is On My Side

    Time Is On My Side Forum Resident

    Location:
    Madison, WI
    I still think Henry Cavill would be the best replacement for Daniel Craig. What do you guys think of Jason Statham in that role?
     
    alexpop likes this.
  6. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Stath is pretty old 50 now, but looks ten years younger. He did say if he was offered it, he would do it completely differently. Think Henry Cavill would be brilliant. Who ever is friends with Danny Boyle is sure in with a chance, Ewan?
     
  7. Left Field

    Left Field #1 Shinboner

    Thunderball is in my top 3 bond films. The quality of Bond Girls is top notch, up there with The Spy Who Loved Me and GoldenEye.
     
    California Couple likes this.
  8. Andy Smith

    Andy Smith .....Like a good pinch of snuff......

    Best Sean - Goldfinger
    Best Rog - Live And Let Die
    Best comedy-Bond - Niven’s Casino Royale
    Best Moneypenny - Samantha Bond
    Best Bond villain - that’d be Goldfinger again.
     
    MerseyBeatle likes this.
  9. MerseyBeatle

    MerseyBeatle Martha my dear (1995-2012)

    Location:
    Charleston, SC
    Best M - Bernard Lee.

    For me, Lois Maxwell and Samantha Bond are tied.
     
    Andy Smith likes this.
  10. Malinky

    Malinky Almost a Gentleman.

    Location:
    U.K.
    Just checked my copy of `James Bond Ultimate Box` and has no `Casino Royale (1967)` and no `Never Say Never Again`, and strangely I did not realize this until I read the posts above.
    It seems like the free downloads are for the US only, so it looks as if us Brits lose out.
    Don`t think that I am missing to much though.
     
  11. Andy Smith

    Andy Smith .....Like a good pinch of snuff......

    Oh, I disagree. 'Casino Royale' is classic 60s kitsch. Saw it at the Abbeydale Picture Palace on release. Every Bond supporter should have a copy.
     
    Malinky likes this.
  12. mBen989

    mBen989 Senior Member

    Location:
    Scranton, PA
    I said my peace on the '67 Casino Royale upthread.

     
    Malinky likes this.
  13. GlamorProfession

    GlamorProfession Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tejas
    Thunderball = awesome Bond girls :p
     
    BZync and MerseyBeatle like this.
  14. Wombat Reynolds

    Wombat Reynolds Jimmy Page stole all my best riffs.

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA, USA
    the Beatles hated your stupid flying ship.

    Thats what they told me.

    Even John.

    thats right.
     
  15. SurrealCereal

    SurrealCereal Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    It's been a week since Thunderball started, so is On Her Majesty's Secret Service fair game for discussion now?
     
  16. mr_spenalzo

    mr_spenalzo Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I think we should go for You Only Live Twice first, but sure! Go for it!
     
  17. SurrealCereal

    SurrealCereal Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    Apparently I have my chronology mixed up. For some reason I thought OHMSS came before YOLT. I'll wait until we get there for OHMSS.
     
  18. vzok

    vzok Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    I think the producers got their chronology pretty mixed up around there too.
     
    Big Pasi likes this.
  19. SurrealCereal

    SurrealCereal Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    That's probably what got me confused. I was thinking of Diamonds Are Forever instead of You Only Live Twice.
     
  20. Slappy9001

    Slappy9001 Senior Member

    Location:
    Kingston, PA
    YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE has an even bigger scope than THUNDERBALL, involving spacecraft being stolen in orbit and a plan to trick the U.S. and Russia into attacking each other, but I don't like it much. Written by Roald Dahl and directed by Lewis Gilbert, the majority of the action scenes are surprisingly tired and while the film moves along nicely from one set piece to another briskly, much of what we witness does not pack much of a punch. Whereas Connery was probably at his peak physical condition in 1964-65 when he made parts of THUNDERBALL, by 1966-1967 he was slightly overweight and bored and I think it shows on the screen. He still gives a good performance, and there are admittedly some great moments such as the fight in the office building and the ending, which is full of explosions. But the stuff in between...kind of blah.

    So what's my main beef with the movie? It boils down to the plot device of having Bond pose as a Japanese person. The makeup is not convincing and especially his wig is not convincing. I find myself cringing every time I try and watch this part of the movie. TWICE also suffers from some extremely bad blue screen work, which is disappointing as the film features some better than decent outer space effects. To be fair, THUNDERBALL likewise had some dodgy blue screen work but in that case it was only limited to the ending. Throw in some so-so Bond girls and you have a pretty lackluster affair.

    I imagine if I had seen this new at the appropriate age I would feel differently about it, but I didn't so it compares poorly with other Bond films unfairly or not. In many ways this does not feel like a Bond film to me. What's worse is that You Only Live Twice was always my favorite Bond novel. To say the film is nothing like the book is an understatement.

    I suppose I should add at this point that I feel that THE SPY WHO LOVED ME is one of my absolute favorite Bond films. The fact that SPY has more or less the same plot as this film is not lost on me.

    Stuff to Like:
    • The volcano set. Built at a reported cost of one million dollars, it is by far the most impressive thing in the movie.
    • The fight in the office building. Bond using the couch is great.
    • Japanese scenery. The location does give this movie a certain something something.
    • The space special effects scenes are well done given the time period.
    • The fight and chase at docks is effective.
    Stuff to dislike:
    • Awful bluescreen work. There is blue fringing on just about every bluescreen shot.
    • Connery's Japanese disguise is horrible.
    • Donald Pleasance is not a good Bond villain. That it was the first full onscreen performance of Blofeld is doubly disappointing. Pleasance was not supposed to play the part, but the actor originally hired was fired shortly after filming began and Pleasance was thrown into the role with no preparation. It shows.
    • Connery generally gives a good performance, but at times seems bored.
    • Boring car chase.
    • Boring helicopter battle.
    • Bond doesn't seem to affected by his wife's death.
     
  21. Humbuster

    Humbuster Staff Emeritus

    In the books, OMHSS is followed by YOLT which is followed by The Man With The Golden Gun.

    This is a great trilogy, IMHO. As the last two follow Bond’s journey of mourning and revenge after the death of Tracy. While OHMS book provided a great template for the film, the YOLT and Golden Gun books are far superior to the movies.

    That said, John Barry’s score for YOLT is beautiful with the title song being one of the best in the series.
     
    Max Florian likes this.
  22. Somewhat Damaged

    Somewhat Damaged Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    You Only Live Twice (1967)

    James Bond (Sean Connery) investigates when American and Russian spaceships disappear.

    The movie begins quite good and for about an hour it’s a solid film. From about the Little Nelly helicopter fight scene my attention wandered and never came back. There's a really bizarre dead spot in the film were Bond is taught to become Japanese. It adds nothing to the plot, it's offensive in many ways and it's utterly boring. I fast forwarded at x6 through most of that. Seriously though, why is that section in the film? It's pure bloat.

    The hollowed out volcano set is great but they do little with it. The set is mostly wasted with little screen time and the poorly staged action that takes place doesn't make much use of it.

    There are too many logic issues with baddies constantly not shooting Bond when they have the chance. I know that's part of the formula and charm but it was too obvious and silly this time. No audience member can't be thinking the same thing about just shooting Bond. It's distracting how silly that is.

    It has a decent first half but a boring second half. Not even the amazing volcano set can make it interesting. Overall it's more of a dud than a success in my opinion as it failed to keep me engaged throughout.

    Below average


    Best to worst Bond films ranked IMO:

    Live and Let Die (1973)

    The Living Daylights (1987)

    Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

    Licence to Kill (1989)

    Goldfinger (1964)

    Dr No (1962)

    Thunderball (1965)

    The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

    Moonraker (1979)

    The World is Not Enough (1999)

    Goldeneye (1995)

    Octopussy (1983)

    On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

    Casino Royale (2006)

    For Your Eyes Only (1981)

    Never Say Never Again (1983)

    Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

    Die Another Day (2002)

    The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

    You Only Live Twice (1967)

    Skyfall (2012)

    Spectre (2015)

    Quantum of Solace (2008)

    A View to a Kill (1985)

    From Russia with Love (1963)


    A mini-review from 2009. Some movies might have been watched at the time but I assume most were comments taken from memory:

    ‘Great volcano set. The rest of it's a bit rubbish.’
     
  23. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    I saw it again a few years ago and only made it through to the end cause the wife had never seen it. The whole 'making Bond Japanese' segment is just awful. When he leaves the big city, things go downhill fast.
    And as others have said, Pleasance is terrible and the large set is wasted. It just seems like Connery and others just lost interest.

    I do like Nancy's theme, though (without the double tracked vocals, if you please). Someone here posted a link to her very self-deprecating comments about recording the song. She said she was always out of tune and blowing notes, and they were so nice to her and the final take was an edit of innumerable partial takes.
     
  24. California Couple

    California Couple dislike us on facebook

    Location:
    Newport Beach

    Thunderball is my favorite.

    Yes they could have done without those speeded up scenes.

    But there is nothing about this movie that I do not like.

    Plenty of sharks but no Jaws.


    And Luciana Paluzzi is the best Bond girl ever!
     
  25. California Couple

    California Couple dislike us on facebook

    Location:
    Newport Beach

    You Only Live Twice is my second favorite.


    Like Thunderball, it is beautifully filmed and the music is great, with the best title song of all Bonds.


    Once again there is nothing about this movie that I do not like.


    The great aerial scene at the Kobe docks is one of the most stylish fight scenes ever.
     
    Max Florian and Mark Wilson like this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine