James Bond Watchathon

[stewdogg]

Diamonds are Forever is a strange one for me, there are so many strange things in it, it's really hard to take it seriously.

The stupid voice box throughout, James Bond, not once but twice bigging himself up when pretending to be someone else. Why are the astronauts moving as if they are in space in the factory? How did Peter Franks end up in Amsterdam, why did they not nab him at customs when Bond stole his car? The black girl that turns in to a gorilla. The red car miraculously tilting the other way in the alley. Why was Bert Saxby shooting at Bond and co at the hideout, how did he know they were there, Blofeld spoke to Bond, not Saxby. The ending when he wedgies Mr Wint, and Mr Wint is almost pleasured by it (just cause he's gay). It's a right old mess. With an absolute banger of a theme song.

[Boycie]

Wint and Kidd were superb henchmen, though I just couldn't stand Charles Gray as Blofeld. Donald Pleasance he isn't. I found it mildly amusing how the camera shots tried to avoid showing how Sean Connery was getting a bit of a gut. Overall it was entertaining for what it was but about to get a lot better with the Moore era.

[Vamp]

The irony with OHMSS is that Connery supposedly hated all the gadgets by that point and might have enjoyed being in that movie a little bit more (depending on the golf course situation). 

Having said that, I'm never convinced that Connery would have been as good in that role. There's a vulnerability and earnestness to some of Lazenby's performance that Connery might have been capable of but wouldn't have played. It's also 110% Rigg's movie and I can't see that happening opposite Connery.

The press coverage at the time is quite interesting. As with every Bind since Connery, including Connery, his casting will supposedly move Bond closer to the books. My favourite part ifsthe lengths Lazenby goes to get the role, including using the same tailor as Connery and getting the same haircut. And it works. Then when he shows up to a premiere with long hair people can't believe it. That's all Bond is really. A haircut in a suit.

[Just Some Guy]

Don't forget that DAF begins with Bond grieving for his wife.

What does Moneypenny ask him to bring her back from Amsterdam?

A ring with a diamond in it! Bit heartless!

[Loki]

34 minutes ago, Just Some Guy said:

Don't forget that DAF begins with Bond grieving for his wife.

I remembered it that way as well, but watching it again, it really doesn’t!  I don’t think they even mention his being married, and as I say the first shot is of him in Japan looking for Blofeld.  Plus he rips the girl’s bikini off, which isn’t as you say the actions of a grieving widower.

[Jazzy G]

Connery just doesn't feel like he can be arsed in DAF. 

I watched Dr No & From Russia With Love for the first time when the Bond movies were on Prime earlier in the year, and really enjoyed them. Connery's enthusiasm seems to diminish every movie as they seem to become more and more formulaic. 

I did my obligatory trot through all the Roger Moore movies last week, and they're all entertaining. Moonraker suffers a lot from being The Spy Who Loved Me in space immediately after The Spy Who Loved Me, and the space battle is laughably bad, but it's still entertaining enough fluff. Roger Moore always seemed to go all in, no matter how hokey a set up he may find himself in.

I completely understand that Bond is supposed to be this reluctant killer who's world weary, and maybe I'm overlooking it with Connery's portrayal because it feels like the actor is fed up as opposed to the character? 

I watched the Dalton Bonds again, because they're both decent. It's feels like the Living Daylights was written for Roger Moore, and Dalton was parachuted in, because he doesn't feel comfortable delivering some of the jokes, but he still does the best he can with the material he's got. Licence To Kill is decent. Dalton needed more movies. Goldeneye could have been great with Dalton. 

I also finally made myself sit through the Brosnan Bonds. Again Goldeneye feels quite "written with the last guy in mind". And it feels like it's downhill from there. Anybody who had a problem with all the quips Roger Moore made during his time can sit down and shut up if they don't have that same issue with the amount of one liners shoehorned into Brosnan's tenure. 

Another thing I've really been enjoying has been the scores for the movies as well. Bill Conti's score in For Your Eyes Only is pretty amazing. Marvin Hamlisch getting a little disco in The Spy Who Lived Me is fantastic as well. John Barry is obviously the daddy of Bond scores, having done so many. 

The score for Goldeneye wasn't great, but David Arnold's scores for the other Brosnan Bonds are fantastic, especially when he gets the Propellerheads in to score an action sequence. 

I also enjoyed the Hans Zimmer score for No Time To Die, and Thomas Newman's score for Sky fall was good as well. 

Edited October 20, 2022 by jazzygeofferz

[Just Some Guy]

@Loki We all grieve in our own way. 

I've always imagined the opening sequence of Bond's single minded search for Blofeld as him channelling his grief into this attempt to gain revenge.

I can't imagine Bond shut in a darkened room crying (and thanks to Peter R. Hunt we were robbed of what could have been an iconic sight).

I've totally forgotten the ripping off of the bikini top though! Obviously I need a rewatch which I'm not looking forward to.

[Butch2000]

Got home and watched Live and Let Die

A review Butch: No

 

is it easily the best Bond?:  FUCKING RIGHT. 

[Vamp]

There's a really odd tone to DAF. It's almost cynical. It feels more like a TV series filming a special abroad. It also, somehow, feels like the most dated Bond. The older ones feel more like timeless classics where as this one feels incredibly of its time.

They also cut out a scene with Sammy Davies Jr. Can't quite believe that a film this dull feels the need to cut out a scene because its too inconsequential. 

I wonder if some of that is because a lot of the money was spent on Connery or the fact that it was probably a very miserable shoot either waiting for Connery to finish playing golf or watching him mope around the set. 

Connery is also a totally different man. He's a long way from the days when he was partly hired because a producer's wife found him sexy. He's lost all charisma too. The cynic in me wonders if that isn't just down to Connery. There's so much care and effort in those early movies to make Connery into Bond, whether it's getting him to sleep in tuxedos or applying what looks like a Boot's worth of make up. There's very little effort to protect him here. That's going to help the next actor who steps in. 

I do wonder what would have happened if DAF was a better movie. Does it make people believe even more firmly that Bond can't work without Connery? 

It's also a massive shame that we were robbed of a follow up to OHMSS. I suppose we eventually get the Bond revenge movie with License to Kill and actually, I'm not much of a fan. Still, got to figure that that's another potential turning point for the entire franchise. 

[Loki]

On 10/21/2022 at 12:17 AM, Vamp said:

Does it make people believe even more firmly that Bond can't work without Connery? 

For me, it’s the one really bad Connery Bond. And there are some crackers coming up so it proves I guess that Bond is bigger than Connery.  

We’re a decade into the franchise now and a lot has happened in the world and in cinema.  The old studio system has collapsed and swept away a 30 year old routine of movie types - thriller, screwball, epic etc.

 If Bond is to survive it needs a new niche and a new motivation, and to offer something other films don’t.

[Boycie]

I was discussing Diamonds Are Forever with a friend yesterday. He's of the impression that Roger Moore would have been better suited to the film given the camp villains and Connery not playing it straight. I think he definitely has a point. Although, Blofeld does feature (even though Charles Gray is terrible in the role). 

 

In the end I had to ultimately disagree with my friend as for me the Moore era began with Live and Let Die. And what a great film that was!

[Devon Malcolm]

On 10/20/2022 at 11:29 PM, Butch2000 said:

Got home and watched Live and Let Die

A review Butch: No

 

is it easily the best Bond?:  FUCKING RIGHT. 

Hope you're as horrified as I am that nobody in this thread or indeed on this forum learnt a fucking thing from our Learning Tree thread. A lost cause.

[Loki]

Previous Films

 

1. Dr No
2. From Russia With Love
3. Goldfinger
4. Thunderball
5. You Only Live Twice
6. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
7. Diamonds Are Forever

 

Live And Let Die (1973)

Bond: Roger Moore
Bond Girl: Jane Seymour
Villain: Kananga
Henchmen: Whisper, Tee Hee, Baron Samedi

How Bond Is It?

Kicking off the new era, the producers went to lengths to put together some classic Bond tropes to make us feel comfortable.  So you have the Dr No Caribbean setting, glamorous locations and hotels, some proper henchmen and even a fight on a train!  The film even opens similarly to Dr No, with a jaunty jazz number.

Someone decided to dispense with the complex plots and spy capers of the Connery era and distill the franchise down to some core elements.  We need gadgets (magnetic watch w/ spinning blade, shark gun, spy washkit, hanglider etc).  We need beautiful women (Jane Seymour).  We need big stunts (boat chase) and big villains - and the henchmen in this are some of the best of the series, each of course with a disability - Whisper can't talk, Tee Hee has lost an arm, and Samedi appears to be undead.  And instead of a plot, just have James constantly be captured and escape using gadgets, then captured again and taken to the next location.

All the usual visual trappings and music are here, but... no hat!  The era of the bowler in the opening credits is over, and the era of the safari suit has arrived.  Actually the tailoring in this is impeccable, the best since The Spy Who Loved Me - Bond has a gorgeous formal coat and leather gloves in New York, safari and linen suits in the Caribbean, and even pulls off a double denim look at one point.  Many, many open-topped shirts as well, showing that Moore may not have the animal danger of Connery, but he has a decent build.  First introduction of the iconic brown leather holster over black spy suit here as well.

Women Bedded

The first shot of the film proper is Bond post-coitally with Italian spy Caruso.  Then there's double agent Rosie on San Monique, another example of Bond not having any qualms about black girls.  And finally Solitaire whom Bond relieves of her virginity with not a moment's hesitation, indeed he tricks her into it of course.

 

Women Hurt

Rosie sleeps with Bond in the second reel, which by tradition means she dies shortly afterwards, shot by a scarecrow.  Bond himself doesn't swing the fist, he's just hugely, hugely patronising to every woman he meets.  Kananga fulfils the traditional violence against Bond girl by slapping Seymour about a bit.

 

Minorities Killed

The film takes a while to get going in the action stakes, with a lot of A-Team style stunts and fights where everyone gets knocked out.  Once we get into the Big Chase though the Honky strikes back - CIA agent Strutter (no cocaine) is stabbed, secondary henchman Adam gets burned to death, there's a shootout at the voodoo ceremony, and finally Kananga is literally blown up by Bond himself.

I got quite worried when Bond's boatman/lackey turned out to be the son of Quarrel from the original Dr No (another callback).  They wouldn't, would they?  But no, Quarrel Jr makes it to the end.

 

Accommodation?

A return to form here too - first off we get a glimpse at Bond's Mayfair lodgings, all light wood walls and advanced coffee machines.  Then there's the San Monique resort - luxurious BUT with its complementary entertainments and holidaying Yanks, it's clear the era of the package holiday has arrived.  Bond gets a bungalow, with a Black Whale above the door which feels like an in-joke, and he sweeps the place for bugs just as in Dr No.  Does Bond take a bath?  Absolutely, he even shaves in there.

Overall

This is an absolute belter of a movie, and sets the tone for the Moore era.  Not serious spy, but full-on campy, tongue in cheek action.  It's an odd one though, as it wears its Blaxploitation influences incredibly heavily - Shaft came out the year before they shot it, and honestly they could have just made Richard Rowntree Bond and finished the job.  All the Harlem bad guys are straight out of Shaft, with their casual racism and broad strokes caricatures, and the voodoo magic sits oddly in a spy thriller.  It all makes Moore's take on Bond even more obviously different from Connery - Moore is the suave, unflappable upper class white man with a ready quip for every occasion (and he delivers them better than any other Bond) who relies on gadgets and luck to get through.

As I mentioned at the top, there's no plot really - drug smuggling is hardly world-threatening.  And we have the villain laying out his entire operation to Bond at every opportunity, so Bond doesn't have to do ANY sleuthing.  But what's important is the chases and the stunts.  Moore is not that mobile even here so the fights are perfunctory but the car and boat chases are boss.  I remember playing the Spectrum game of this film, and it's basically one long boat chase.  There's an extended joke about thicko Southerners as well with the classic Sheriff Pepper character, chewing tobacco and drawling angrily.

I'll give Roger "Sheer Magnetism" Moore's first outing 9/10 on the Bond scale.  It's funny, it requires no thought and it's much bigger budget looking than Diamonds.  Top notch theme tune as well.

[Vamp]

It's interesting going back and looking at how different Bonds are introduced. 

Connery: Man of mystery at a casino

Lazenby: Fight scene on a beach

Moore: Making coffee with one of these new fangled coffee machines

Dalton: Big action sequence

Brosnan: Big bungee jump and knocking a guy out while he's having a shit

Craig: Sitting in a chair recalling yet another fight in a toilet 

 

Moore's introduction has to be the weirdest. It's almost like they didn't want to make a big deal of his introduction after giving Lazenby that quip about the other guy, but at the same time I can't imagine Connery's Bond faffing around with a coffee machine.

It's also weird how Moore's Bond doesn't slap a woman about here but does in the next one. It's like they knew to avoid it here but not in the next one.

Also interesting that they acknowledge that Bond isn't well suited to sleuthing around Harlem. I think latter films are very deliberate in having Bond in his safari get up, or wondering around Egypt in a tux. There's a definite sense in those later films that the idea of an English super spy is a ridiculous concept and the films embracing it, if not really acknowledging it, by having him look ridiculous. 

I do think the chase goes on a little too long. And, I know I'm wrong here, I don't really like the title track. And, well, the tricking a virgin into sex is awful. 

Also, I'm pretty sure the scene where they say they're going to play cards on the train is different from the scene in the novel (actually, might not have been from Live and Let Die) where Bond doesn't want to have sex because he's injured and worries he won't be up to much in bed. I'd love to see that replicated on film. Just something about Bond saying "actually darling, I don't think I'm up to it tonight" in a movie amuses my infantile mind.

But, problems aside, it's a cracking film. Especially since it feels like it's sandwiched between two cheaper films.

[neil]

6 hours ago, Loki said:

Top notch theme tune as well.

The only good song McCartney wrote.