gabbo Posted October 16, 2023 Share Posted October 16, 2023 4 hours ago, Loki said: You're not making this easy, I've got three more films to slog through before I get to A View... Anyone want to say why Octopussy is their favourite film? Anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vamp Posted October 16, 2023 Share Posted October 16, 2023 Easy, Octopussy has Bond disguise himself as a clown (which is clearly a fuck you to Moore's critics). I seem to remember the train stunt being pretty decent too. A stunt man injured his pelvis for your entertainment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted October 16, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted October 16, 2023 The pre-credits scene in Berlin is excellent, too. Moonraker has that nasty dog attack scene. In amongst the (awesome) daftness of the Moore films, there are some terrific dark scenes scattered about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted October 23, 2023 Author Share Posted October 23, 2023 (edited) On 10/15/2023 at 12:09 PM, Vamp said: For Your Eyes Only is definitely an attempt at responding to the criticisms Moonraker received. Its arguably the most down to earth of Moore's Bond films On 10/15/2023 at 12:32 PM, Loki said: Looking forward to the next movie now! 😔 Previous Films Dr No From Russia With Love Goldfinger Thunderball You Only Live Twice On Her Majesty's Secret Service Diamonds Are Forever Live and Let Die The Man With The Golden Gun The Spy Who Loved Me Moonraker For Your Eyes Only (1981) Bond: Roger Moore Bond Girl: Carole Bouquet Villain: "The Dove" Henchmen: dunno, Charles Dance? Kriegler? How Bond Is It? As @Vamp said, Moonraker caught quite a bit of flak and so once again the producers decide on a refresh of the franchise. Unfortunately what they decide upon is to pillage Connery-era Bond for even more material. Remember the Lotus Esprit? Remember underwater fight sequences? Remember car chases down mountainsides? Remember action on the ski slopes? Remember Bond playing Baccarat in his tuxedo? Yeah, all of that please. As a result this film feels more like a late 60s entry into the canon than the early 80s - except everyone's got old. Bond, Miss Moneypenny, Q, M (who is so old the actor has actually died). Bond even visits his wife's grave, which has the date of her death on and reminds us that happened over a decade previously. It's like Connery but in slow motion, with most of what made Moore's films good stripped away. The plot is quite fun - Bond chases the Macguffin ATAC machine around the Aegean whilst Russian agents try and get it first. But we fall into the other Bond trope of him constantly getting caught, escaping, caught, escaping, and so on through the different locations. The few attempts to modernise fall flat - Tom Conti writes a good theme tune but the rest of the score is awful cod-Blaxploitation nonsense. They even put a cowbell over the gun barrel sequence! Women Bedded There's a young ice-skater Bibi who is maeby underage, but grandfather Bond eschews her in favour of vintage bintage Liver Bird the fake Contessa. And that's genuinely it for this film, although we can assume he beds the Bond girl as the credits roll once they've taken their midnight dip. Actually Bouquet's Melina Havelock is a superior Bond girl, saving Bond's life twice and killing a number of henchmen herself. A sign of the times with a female Prime Minister (a Thatcher impersonation makes an appearance at the end of the film). Women Hurt As only the Contessa swops bodily fluids with Bond, AS IS TRADITION she is immediately killed, run over by a dune buggy. Miss Havelock's mother is shot to death in the opening reel. And young Bibi gets a few sharp backhanders from the bad guy. Minorities Killed I might retire this section for now, as the producers seem to have tired of lining up Caribbean extras for fiery deaths. Here all the henchmen are swarthy Greeks, or Charles Dance pretending to be a swarthy Greek. Accommodation? Another section for possible retirement as the years roll by. All the glamorous locations are here - luxury ski chalet, posh suite at a Côte d'Azur hotel, millionaire's yacht, but Bond spends very little time in any of them. Does Bond take a bath? Yes he does. The audience can get a jumbo jet to Athens for a few denarii at this point, Bond's not nothing to show them. Bond does have the same ski jacket as my Dad did in the 80s though. Overall For your eyes only? Not in HD, where that top is see through, and it's too late I've seen everything. Carole Bouquet is stunning in this despite the tache. Actually the film is well directed by John Glen who will go on to helm all the Bonds in the 80s, but the formula is just so diluted at this point. As we've discussed, the killing off of Blofeld in the pre-credits is petty and cheap, and sets the tone despite guaranteeing that no bootleg Bond will ever be made, phew! Imagine that! And for most of the film Bond creaks around the usual places, getting attacked a ridiculous number of times by endless henchmen in various modes of transport. The final cliff-hanging assault on the villain's lair is actually really tense, and the best bit of the movie. This is a 5/10. In many respects worse than Moonraker but the better locales and final action sequence save it. Surely we've reached the low point of the Moore era by now? Edited October 23, 2023 by Loki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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