Huh?
PoorMansJB
USAPosts: 1,203MI6 Agent
Are there certain lines of dialogue that make no sense to you and serve, perhaps, only as set-ups to some joke or situation that need a lead-in to get started?
The one that has always bothered me is Moore's "Well, I'm sure we're better off out than in" in MR. I mean, why? Why not just stay inside the tram where there's probably a phone or control box or at least protection from the elements? Because they wouldn't otherwise find themselves in a defenseless confrontation with Jaws, that's why.
So which lines peeve you?
The one that has always bothered me is Moore's "Well, I'm sure we're better off out than in" in MR. I mean, why? Why not just stay inside the tram where there's probably a phone or control box or at least protection from the elements? Because they wouldn't otherwise find themselves in a defenseless confrontation with Jaws, that's why.
So which lines peeve you?
Comments
I agree, PoorMansJB. It is rather odd. But I have always enjoyed this scene very much. Although the fight on top of the cable car doesn't look very slick at times. MR was the first Bond film I saw, so this scene as always been stuck in my mind as one of the defining scenes in my personal Bond experience. I often say, if I hadn't seen MR first, I might not have become a Bond fan. There was something about it that drew me in, and now that I think about it, not many of the other Bond films would have excited me in the same way. I suppose it was Jaws that did it!
But back to the topic, that it indeed one of the more confusing lines in the Bond series. In fact, off hand, I can't think of any line more confusing than this.
Of course, Jaws could just have a machine gun... but maybe he couldn't get it through customs. This takes place after 2006's Casino Royale, of course, some 20 years into the future, where it may be hard to get hold of weaponry...
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Blofeld(?)(to Bond): "I'll buy you a delicatessen in stainless steel!" ?:)
Yes, that is bizarre!! I'd love to ask whoever came up with that, "What are you on about?!?!"
It was Cubby's idea, some maffia-lingo, I think it's connected to the institution of "protection money". I think he thought it was better-spread - I mean why would Blofeld start using obscure New York sayings? He could say something like "Who loves ya, baby?" instead.
You see the problems when you look too closely at a Bond film? The whole thing unravels before your eyes...
@merseytart
That has always had me confused as well. I've always assumed that she was trying to create a distraction to allow Bond to escape.
Nope, it's not mentioned- and "Well, I'm sure we're better off out than in" isn't said either.
Also, re Solitaire and Bond at the airport: Roger Moore in "Roger Moore As James Bond" (1973) states that "Jane, as Solitaire, takes a swing at me to distract the attention of my captors. This feint gives me the chance to dive under a parked jet plane and escape".
Yes the way Jill St John looks when she says it makes me laugh but what the hell does it mean?
MBE
Yes, that line never made any sense to me. For some reason, I always thought it was a reference to Leiter's incident in LALD - the film wasn't made at the time, but in the novels, LALD preceeds GF. But in this case, the line still doesn't apply, because that would mean Leiter escaped with all of his limbs!
She had no class that girl. Taken out of context though, that line is hilarious!
The kid actually had the better jibe when he said to the attendant: "Who's she? Your mother?" I think EON should do a spin-off film of this kid thirty years later...or maybe have him show up all grown up as the next Bond villian
The telephone rings and Bond answers hurriedly. On the phone, we hear Leiter's police friend casually saying "Hey, Leiter, Where have you been?" This always struck me as odd since Leiter was supposed to have been on his honeymoon. It doesn't seem right that a friend would call up the morning after a wedding and ask what he was doing all night!
Perfect, there could even be a flashback to when he exactly turned to the dark side -- the day he was cheated out of his prize and realized the world was a dark corrupt place where cheaters win.
*sniff*
His #2 would be the kid Bond pushed into the river in TMWTGG.
MBE
It makes no sense at all but a ton more than Leiter yucking it mere days later and flirting with a nurse. Oy.
MBE
That "blow up your pants" never made sense to me..it's like she trips over it, and misses a word. They could have given her a better bratty kid line.
Oh and ben? The gorilla scene always reminds me that DAF IS an LSD trip. I love it too though, wide pink tie and all.
Apparently the name of that so-called secret agent is well-known to everyone everywhere.Bond's internationally famous.How else to explain a Vegas showgirl recognizing a British spy's name? No wonder the Bad Guys always get the drop on 007.Like Tiffany,they all see Bond's films(probably read the novels, too) and can thus accurately predict 007's every move.
Yikes.:o
Gotta love that gorrilla barker
To be fair, Tiffany is not a Vegas showgirl but a well placed operative in a diamond smuggling syndicate. But it's still beyond grating that she knows who James Bond is -- unless Blofeld had his named leaked to everyone working in his criminal organization (even though they didn't know they were working for Blofeld) because he knows that James likes to use his real name and he wants his people to be on the lookout. Of course providing a photo or physical description might have made more sense. Here Bond gets away with a simply fake thumbprint. Now as shown in DAD his face would be scanned by a phone and sent to headquarters for further information. And why isn't Bond surprised that she knows who he is? You'd have thought that would make him worried.
And yes as wonderful to watch as I think the GE PTS is it makes no logical sense in the context of the film. But it could have made even less if Campbell got his way and we saw 006 actually get a bullet in the head. Campbell says it was because of the ratings board and seems clueless that it might have been a big no no for the plot. Huh? personified!
MBE
It is interesting,however, that Trevelyan and the General knew exactly in advance where 007 would be standing and also the precise angle of his vision when they enacted the false execution of 006.What if 007 had blinked,or closed his eyes,or run away?Or better yet,decided to kill 006 himself,making sure his friend was safely dead so that no vital secrets could ever be disclosed to the enemy?
And as we know,although a blank was fired in the movie,in the real world blacks fired close to a person can be extremely dangerous--even fatal in certain instances.
Something the actor Jon-Erik Hexum(of the spy series "Cover Up") wasn't aware of when he accidently killed himself by playing with a gun loaded with blanks.
I suppose with 'you' Bond is referring to the United States rather than Leiter, meaning the toppling of American space rockets was to close for comfort.
For me some of Blofeldt's comments in DAF are too far fetched , yet in a strange way they always make me laugh, i think of the La Roch Faucault line for example.
As suggested by my original post, a little of both, actually. The writer(s) need to place Bond in peril and the only way to do so in that instance was to excuse irrational action via dialogue that doesn't hold-up under even the most cursory analysis.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I've always found Olympe's "It would be interesting to attend night school perhaps" line to be a non-sequitur. I guess she's trying to say it would be fun to play around with Bond at night, but it sure is a strange way to say it.
Another from OHMSS...in the Bond-Draco conversation in Draco's study:
BOND: I'm sorry, Draco, but in my line of w--
DRACO: Eh?
BOND: You have connections not open to me...
This sequence baffles me. Bond and Draco obviously know who each other are, and have been having an in-depth conversation. Suddenly, there's supposed to be some twist, emphasized by the Bond theme playing in the background. It just seems off. What I think they were trying to convey was that Bond suddenly realizes he has some leverage over Draco and can use it to find Blofeld. But the way the scene is constructed, it almost looks like the lightbulb going on is Draco's, the way he says "eh?" Maybe it's just down to Lazenby's lack of experience, but it doesn't work.
Similarly, Octopussy's "I have no price on my head!" tantrum, followed by her storming out of the room, is certainly not consistent with the dialogue that precedes it.
Finally, a series of weak links from FYEO..."I wanna win the gold medal!" is totally out of context and serves no purpose other than as a set-up for Bibi's put-down of Kristatos as a pervert, which in turn serves no purpose other than to get Kristatos mad at at Brenk, which in turn serves no purpose other than to make plausible Brenk's helping of Bond and Colombo. Pretty lame.
Mind you conversely I feel that Roger does step his game up when acting against the likes of Stephen Berkoff in the same film.