I had a big piece prepared on this for the Commander Bond site, but got 'access denied'. Guess I forgot my false eye... )
The film was on yesterday and I caught a bit, to be fair it's okay as a tourist Bond. Nice, South of France! Motorbike chase! Fatima Blush! Gadget pen! etc Unlike LTK the week before, which I thought was just awful though I enjoyed it at the time when it came out... hammy Dalton and trite dialogue ("But Sir, they're not going to do anything!" "Spare me this sentimental nonsense! He knew the risks!" 8-) )
My main beef with NSNA is Connery's performance. Now, again, in fairness it is amiable. That's what audiences expected from Bond at the time, and a surprise given how grouchy and severe Connery was in the 1970s, starring in determinedly uncommercial, grim movies, but it doesn't go down well with Bond purists or indeed in the Craig era.
Connery's Bond evolved at EON, but there were certain traits you could rely on, a checklist. The panther like grace. The boyish charm - sincere with Moneypenny, mock innocent with a femme fetale. A dash of lust and cruelty in bed. Cold contempt, usually directed at a grey bureacrat or potentially perfidious hotel porter. A flash of anger, nostrils flaring, when a girlfriend or male ally is offed. And also that panicky look when he thinks he's going to die. You see it when the guy in the bath is reaching for the gun in its holster in Goldfinger's pts, and later on when the laser inches towards its groin. You see it even in DAF when the gizmo trundles along the tunnel towards him and the rat has the advantage, scampering away at speed.
For that's the thing about the much-derided DAF; although it's a ludicrous film, Connery's performance is NOT. Sure, some will be annoyed he doesn't follow the Tracey revenge plotline. But when he pulls a gun and shoots the would-be Blofeld, he really means it! When he battles Peter Franks in the lift, it's a fight to the death! It's for real.
If sex is the flipside of death, well, Bond lusts properly in DAF too. He seems to have better chemistry with Case than with maybe most other Bond girls.
Now, back to NSNA, where we don't really see any of these traits. In a way, blame the script doctors Dick Clement and Ian Le Frenais, who unwittingly fill the entire movie with comical characters, leaving Bond looking on the sidelines amiably. The humour often doesn't come from him. He lacks that edge, that sharpness, as a result.
For the main thing about NSNA is, he doesn't really seem to kill anyone! He doesn't even meet Blofeld, let alone off him. Largo is killed by Domino. The health club guy has a jokey, accidental death, and the fight is strictly Pink Panther. The goons in the opening scene turn out to be alive presumably as it's a training exercise. Okay, Fatima gets offed, but as the gadget doesn't quite work, it seems to be less at Connery's hands. Otherwise, he hardly gets his weapon out , making it rather similar to Moore's Moonraker, where he swans around seemingly unarmed, allowing for all kinds of unlikely duels with Jaws and Chang, similarly unarmed.
So does that make NSNA a bit like MR? Not really. For as laughable as MR is at times, it does actually allow for some grave moments and a bit of acting from Moore that Connery never gets close to in his film. The centrifuge scene and Bond's dignified, hurt reaction after. The death of Corinne. The accidental death of the scientist and Bond's contrite expression. And a good, meaty showdown at least with the villain at the end. People actually die for real in this film, but in NSNA there's no real threat, Nicole's death is well handled (in fact the whole Nice stretch is the best of the film imo) but we don't know her well enough to care. The whole thing is lukewarm, it is too scared of its own shadow to try to get the audience to believe in it.
I've touched on other flaws in other threads. Sadly, Connery looks unnecessarily old in this, the permatan makeup, the trimmed eyebrows, the awful toupee. They made him lose weight, which adds lines to your face, and the clothes seem to hang off him at times. For the first time, his diction has that sh sound that he's much mocked for, perhaps due to dentures. It's a drag, because he doesn't have it in a film one year earlier, Wrong is Right.
And he doesn't really seem to convey much lust for his leading ladies either. The scene on the boat with Blush, it's like she's ordering him down below deck and he's her puppy! There's no chemistry with Kim Boringer. Valerie Leon is okay but a bit trampy, not quite vivid enough either. Fair enough, the health farm girl is more his cup of tea and that has something going for it.
I appreciate that Connery's return must have been a breathe of fresh air for older fans who had to put up with Moore for 10 years. And Connery's non-Connery like performance went unnoticed by me at the time, not having access to the DVDs or videos. But now I notice it a lot.
Actually while I agree with the negatives you raise regards NSNA, as I neared the end of your post I realised that all those negatives were exactly what I liked about NSNA.
Comments
The film was on yesterday and I caught a bit, to be fair it's okay as a tourist Bond. Nice, South of France! Motorbike chase! Fatima Blush! Gadget pen! etc Unlike LTK the week before, which I thought was just awful though I enjoyed it at the time when it came out... hammy Dalton and trite dialogue ("But Sir, they're not going to do anything!" "Spare me this sentimental nonsense! He knew the risks!" 8-) )
My main beef with NSNA is Connery's performance. Now, again, in fairness it is amiable. That's what audiences expected from Bond at the time, and a surprise given how grouchy and severe Connery was in the 1970s, starring in determinedly uncommercial, grim movies, but it doesn't go down well with Bond purists or indeed in the Craig era.
Connery's Bond evolved at EON, but there were certain traits you could rely on, a checklist. The panther like grace. The boyish charm - sincere with Moneypenny, mock innocent with a femme fetale. A dash of lust and cruelty in bed. Cold contempt, usually directed at a grey bureacrat or potentially perfidious hotel porter. A flash of anger, nostrils flaring, when a girlfriend or male ally is offed. And also that panicky look when he thinks he's going to die. You see it when the guy in the bath is reaching for the gun in its holster in Goldfinger's pts, and later on when the laser inches towards its groin. You see it even in DAF when the gizmo trundles along the tunnel towards him and the rat has the advantage, scampering away at speed.
For that's the thing about the much-derided DAF; although it's a ludicrous film, Connery's performance is NOT. Sure, some will be annoyed he doesn't follow the Tracey revenge plotline. But when he pulls a gun and shoots the would-be Blofeld, he really means it! When he battles Peter Franks in the lift, it's a fight to the death! It's for real.
If sex is the flipside of death, well, Bond lusts properly in DAF too. He seems to have better chemistry with Case than with maybe most other Bond girls.
Now, back to NSNA, where we don't really see any of these traits.
For the main thing about NSNA is, he doesn't really seem to kill anyone! He doesn't even meet Blofeld, let alone off him. Largo is killed by Domino. The health club guy has a jokey, accidental death, and the fight is strictly Pink Panther. The goons in the opening scene turn out to be alive presumably as it's a training exercise. Okay, Fatima gets offed, but as the gadget doesn't quite work, it seems to be less at Connery's hands. Otherwise, he hardly gets his weapon out
So does that make NSNA a bit like MR? Not really. For as laughable as MR is at times, it does actually allow for some grave moments and a bit of acting from Moore that Connery never gets close to in his film. The centrifuge scene and Bond's dignified, hurt reaction after. The death of Corinne. The accidental death of the scientist and Bond's contrite expression. And a good, meaty showdown at least with the villain at the end. People actually die for real in this film, but in NSNA there's no real threat, Nicole's death is well handled (in fact the whole Nice stretch is the best of the film imo) but we don't know her well enough to care. The whole thing is lukewarm, it is too scared of its own shadow to try to get the audience to believe in it.
I've touched on other flaws in other threads. Sadly, Connery looks unnecessarily old in this, the permatan makeup, the trimmed eyebrows, the awful toupee. They made him lose weight, which adds lines to your face, and the clothes seem to hang off him at times. For the first time, his diction has that sh sound that he's much mocked for, perhaps due to dentures. It's a drag, because he doesn't have it in a film one year earlier, Wrong is Right.
And he doesn't really seem to convey much lust for his leading ladies either. The scene on the boat with Blush, it's like she's ordering him down below deck and he's her puppy! There's no chemistry with Kim Boringer. Valerie Leon is okay but a bit trampy, not quite vivid enough either. Fair enough, the health farm girl is more his cup of tea and that has something going for it.
I appreciate that Connery's return must have been a breathe of fresh air for older fans who had to put up with Moore for 10 years. And Connery's non-Connery like performance went unnoticed by me at the time, not having access to the DVDs or videos. But now I notice it a lot.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Actually while I agree with the negatives you raise regards NSNA, as I neared the end of your post I realised that all those negatives were exactly what I liked about NSNA.
Maybe for me it is so bad its good!
Bond’s Beretta
The Handguns of Ian Fleming's James Bond