James Bond 007 film-by-film thread

nice

 

Prefered him to Dalton, Brosnan..myself.

 

Well, that explains a lot.

Actually, I thought he did some commercial work beforehand. Still, there seems to be, to me at least, a kind of fish-out-of-water quality to his performance.

 

This did happen to the other fella

 

OK, the cat wins!

 

By George, it's James Bond again!

...except in On Her Majesty's Secret Service Sean Connery is NOT James Bond - he's George Lazenby...and this is one of my all time favorite Bond movies.

I'll begin at the most obvious place: George Lazenby. I think Lazenby made a damn good James Bond. Not great, but had Lazenby kept his head and not resigned from the role he could have grown into a worthy successor to Sean Connery. Lazenby sure as hell looks the part - tall and good looking, yet not conventionally so - and he's flat out terrific in the fight scenes. Lazenby's clearly a guy who's thrown a few punches in his life and his Bond isn't afraid to throw hands first.

George does have his shortcomings, though...particularly with dialogue. He handles himself well enough to get through the plot, but fumbles lines Connery would have knocked out of the park. In You Only Live Twice Lazenby's lack of acting chops would have been no shortcoming, but On Her Majesty's Secret Service requires James Bond - and the actor playing him - to be something more than muscle and martinis. Lazenby's also outclassed by the more distinguished cast, especially the feisty and fetching Diana Rigg as Tracy - the most important Bond girl of them all. Pre-Daniel Craig, James Bond would face three different Blofelds (four, if we count the fella in the wheelchair pleading for his life by offering to buy Bond a delicatessen in For Your Eyes Only) and however many different Felix Leiter's, but he'd only ever have one wife.

Would Sean Connery have been better? Well, yes...but he also might have been in a very different movie as the producers wouldn't have felt the need to shake up their winning formula by returning to a leaner, more straightforward adaptation of Ian Fleming's novel. Connery himself might have even been less inspired than he was in You Only Live Twice and a substantially bigger headache to Broccoli and Saltzman than Lazenby.

We have the movie we have though, and from my perspective On Her Majesty's Secret Service is vintage James Bond. It's a better film than its two predecessors and though the movie is more firmly rooted in reality - less gadgets and science fiction hardware - there's plenty of imagination and spectacle. The action sequences are some of the finest in the series, particularly the extended ski chase that takes up the last third of the movie. "James Bond on skis" would become a cliche in the films to follow, but they would never be better than in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The action sequences benefit from genuine tension, with Bond attempting escape purely by wits and skill - and until Tracy shows up, he's on his own. No gadgets, no allies, no helicopters armed with giant magnets. One man trying to save the day.

The movie's (and novel's) plot is one of Ian Fleming's more ingenious (by that I mean just slightly over-the-top) - Blofeld plans to destroy the world's agriculture via an army of brainwashed women...unless he's officially recognized as royalty and pardoned for past crimes (you know, trying to incite a war between Russia and America, hijacking rockets, stealing atomic bombs, etc.). Blofeld's base of operations is a rotating research lab on top of a mountain in the Swiss Alps. Incredibly, the producers found such a building - and Piz Gloria is one of the most spectacular locations in the series (It's also on my bucket list to visit one of these days).

Did I mention Blofeld's back and up to no good again? Only this time the mousy Donald Pleasance is replaced by the far more robust Telly Savalas. Telly gives good Blofeld - snide, physically imposing (unique only to Savalas) , and great at spilling the beans about his latest, most evil-ishious plan. Telly's also robust enough to put some very un-Blofeld like moves on Tracy, even after attempting to bury her and Bond in an avalanche. Savalas and Rigg ham things up spectacularly in their scenes together, letting the champagne, charm, and poetry flow freely...until Bond cock blocks Blofeld by ushering in the best bachelor party in movies - a fleet of helicopters, a crime boss future father-in-law, and team of groomsmen armed with flamethrowers and explosives. Chug!

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is not without flaws, naturally. Despite having previously blown up his Japanese volcano base and foiling other evil schemes, Bond's flimsy disguise as a college professor (not to mention badly dubbed fake voice) fools Blofeld. And while Savalas is capable of maintaining Blofeld's general disposition of arrogance, he can't help sounding ridiculous by brainwashing his female patients with statements as "I've taught you to love chickens" (or "I've taught you to love bananas" or "Potatoes"...etc). Colonel Sanders, he isn't.

The flaws are few however, and while On Her Majesty's Secret Service isn't the best James Bond film, it's easily the most sincere. It predates the more human 007 of 2006's Casino Royale by decades, right down to the unusually sad ending. John Barry's score is his last great James Bond soundtrack, possibly even his best. Time's even been kind to George Lazenby, undoubtedly due to OHMSS having been rediscovered as "the lost James Bond movie" via subsequent Collector's Edition DVD and Blu-Ray box sets.

This is a good one.

 

Good one alright, a classic.

 

Well said about John Barry's score.

 

Best two seventies James Bond films?
McCartney involvement & the Union Jack parachute one.

 

Best two eighties Bond films ?
Both Dalton.

Best two nineties Bond films ?

Best two millenium Bond films ?
Casino Royal
Skyfall

 

In hindsight, it was not going to be easy to match or top Goldfinger. Thunderball was an attempt at an epic that fell short, but did well at the box office on the popularity of the previous films. You Only Live Twice was just mediocre. With the departure of Connery the next Bond flick needed something that clicked with the audience, something that was genuinely distinctive, and it needed a Bond to carry it off. Despite being a decent film, restoring some of that good old-fashioned espionage, OHMSS was not that movie, and Lazenby was not that Bond. Maybe it was just a matter of the whole not working as well as the individual parts. I dunno.

Anyway, I think the franchise was at a bit of a crossroads at this point, and it needed a potent shot in the arm to recover. So bringing back Connery was certainly going to get people interested. But the movie itself had to hit big or else the series would end up on life support.

Although it seems to be somewhat hit and miss for some folks, Diamonds Are Forever pretty much saved the franchise, and, for better or worse, it set the tone of the Bond films for almost the next 15 years.

I really like Diamonds Are Forever, a lot. It's definitely in my Top 10. Bringing the humor up in the context of a dramatic film seems to have been an emerging trend at the time, and for a fantasy adventure like Bond I think it works quite well. I didn't see the movie when it initially came out in theaters, but I remember how popular it was. Lots of people were talking about it. Bond needed a serious refresher, and DAF delivered. Minor and irrelevant nit picks aside, the film has a solid storyline, great characters, good action, and it's genuinely funny where it needs. For me, it saves Connery as a great Bond, and once again redefines the genre.

 

Looked so very very old thick bushy eyebrows and grey wig. A diamond in the rough.

 

..And only 41 when DAF came out.
Did John Barry estate, Don Black get any money for DAF/Skyfall theme music similarity?

 

Big Fry.

 

He carried a box. On Her Majesty’s Postal Service

 

Telly is channeling his inner Magott.................actually, a little Maggott would have made him even better here.

 

Live And Let Die.
This looked very modern when it came out in 1973. Bond meets Blaxploitaton film. Roger Moore lost all his chubby fat and looked 10 years younger. Ex-Beatle score to boot. A very entertaining Bond movie.

 

Live and Let Die is the first Bond film that I remember seeing, on TV though not at the cinema. One of Roger's best outings as Mr. Bond in my opinion. For me it retains the right balance without descending into the self-parody that came later in the Roger Moore series.

I'm late to the party here so won't dwell too much on the films already discussed other than to say my favorite Connery film is From Russia With Love, for me this perfectly captures the Bond which Fleming wrote about but has the Connery charisma which makes the character more likable than the books can portray him. A top notch villain in Robert Shaw to boot.

I've tried to like OHMSS more but I just can't get past George Lazenby in the role, to me he is just so wooden that the film is fatally flawed. Yes, he carries off the action scenes very well but a stuntman could do that... Great story though and IMHO the big lost opportunity as if Connery had been in the role (whilst he was still interested in playing Bond) it would have been one of the best ever.

For me Diamonds are Forever didn't really work either, yes it was great to get Connery back in the role but he looked too old for the part and didn't seem that interested in the role either... Live and Let Die gave some new life to the series and whilst Connery will always, to me anyway, be the definitive Bond Moore brought some vigour back to the role and his own style of charisma and charm.

 

To me, Connery is the only acceptable Bond. Fleming had his doubts about Connery's casting but was so won over that he even altered Bond's timeline to include Scottish heredity.

OHMSS is one of the best Bond films but Lazenby is not an actor, and it shows. He can't handle the double entendres as Connery did (ie, by underplaying them) and the section where George Baker dubs his voice is painfully obvious. I also miss Donald Pleasance as Blofeld.

 

DC's Bond had the best nemesis with Le Chiffre Mads Mikkelsen.

 

Diamonds Are Forever is a Bond film that is much maligned, but I find it pretty enjoyable.

I think a lot of comments I've seen elsewhere in the past have been complaints that EON did not follow up OHMSS with a revenge story. I can see the appeal of that, but with Lazenby gone they chose to completely ignore it (well there's vague reference to it in the pre-titles) and Diamonds can be viewed more as a continuation from Twice.

I've also never found Connery to be a problem here. Sure he's aged but he was somewhat out of shape in Twice, and he is still able to handle the action here. His hairpiece is greyed but better than the schoolboy's cap they saddled him with in Thunderball. Sean seems at ease here rather than bored, presumably calmed by all that money.

There are an awful lot of minor characters to take in, and they are all rather weird but enjoyable. Shady Tree, Morton Slumber, The Two Mobsters ("I Gotta Brother"), Mrs Whistler, Bambi & Thumper, Professor Dr Metz, Klaus Hergesheimer (checking radiation shields), Peter Franks, Willard Whyte, Plenty O'Toole - there are loads. Even characters on screen for seconds make a mark. I love that casino guy "twetiesarelucckyladiesluckonredlwtqrud".

It doesn't look anything like as gorgeous as the last two Bonds, but Amsterdam looks nice and Vegas looks suitably sleazy.

The plot is OK and keeps moving along nicely in the first half as the villain's pipeline gets wiped out piece by piece by Wint & Kidd. Where Diamonds is a real winner is those endless quips and one-liners. There are so many memorable zingers.

There's a hard fight in the lift (or should I say elevator), a decent car chase in Vegas, a weird and badly finished moon buggy chase, a rushed battle on the oil rig (not exactly a volcano base) and a dip in the pool with two ladies who probably could have held Connery under. A bit mixed.

The film certainly seems rushed and they were trying to save some pennies after all the cost of Connery. The "special" effects as Blofeld's laser blasts various items are laughable.

That scene is accompanied by John Barry's sumptuous space theme "007 And Counting". Last time out Barry served up a cracking soundtrack based largely around two tunes. This time there is such a great variety of tracks. There is the cool "following the diamonds" music, Wint & Kidd get their own eerie cue, and Bond sets off in a hovercraft to the ballsiest music ever. There is loads of lounge tracks ideal for Vegas, and a great piece as Bond dangles outside the Whyte House. Not as good as Majesty's, but it comes real close.

So it is a bit sloppy in it's construction and it doesn't always make sense. But the music is great, it has a sassy script, some cool action and scenes (Bond on top of the elevator), and Tiffany is a good Bond girl (ok she becomes a bit useless in the last scenes).

Not a classic, but a fun ride. Top 10.

 

Live and Let Die (1973)

The Roger Moore-era James Bond film involving voodoo.

I’ve always rated it highly. It held up to that high opinion. It has one of the more creative storylines and some of the most memorable set piece action scenes (the crocodiles and the speedboat chase). The story was also a proper story with a decent flow joining most of the scenes together, although there are a few contrivances to keep things going. It’s a silly movie but it gets away with it and I never found myself being bothered by how unlikely or over-the-top some moments were.

The Bond girl is much criticised as an unsexy wet blanket but I thought she was okay.

Of the Bond films I’ve watched it’s the best one so far. It was silly fun.

Good



Best to worst IMO (films ranked as I watched them so this list has some weight to it)

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)


post my 2009 impressions:

 

Live and Let Die was the first Bond movie i saw in the theatre and it was like a bolt of lightning for me. the intro and the great theme song set the tone. and Roger Moore brought a fresh new vibe to the role that i really liked. JW Pepper cracked me up. and the bad guy just had to go with that over inflated view of himself . one of my favorites. Jane Seymour wasn't the typical Bond girl but i liked her and thought she did a great job with the role.

 

Live and Let Die was the first Bond movie I saw by myself (I was a teen). Probably saw it by myself, as I often went solo when other guys would only go see R rated flicks. I was so excited after seeing the scenes from the film in Paul's TV special. It's my second favorite Moore Bond after Eyes Only. The speedboat chase was really great in its time. I felt Yaphet wasn't that great, I had seen him in 110th Street and remembered him as a good guy. IIRC, there was a huge article in Time about the movie with many pictures. Jane Seymour was kind of OK. Better than Jill St John and Britt E.