IMO this is the worst Bond movie in the whole series!
Here’s why:
Americanized
There is too much action; DAD seems to pull it off in a British way (maybe), I’m not sure why but the feeling is different in TND.
James Bond is like the terminator, but in a bad way. He shoots like there is no tomorrow, which is not cool, there’s no style.
Bad Script
The story of TND is good, but the dialogue is awful. Especially around Wai Lin, James Bond cannot do this mission on his own, which is a problem. Wai Lin gives bond the exit strategy with the things on the end of the missile, Wai Lin is better than Bond in Saigon, with weak dialogue from Bond which is embarrassing. James' one liners suck too.
Dumb Things
The slow motion is odd; it adds unnecessary emotion to scenes, especially the last scenes in the stealth boat. When James saves Wai Lin it feels as if he is some American hero.
Cheapness
The film feels cheap, there is not quality too it. The Atlas hotel is the only thing that feels rich. The Stealth Boat is cheap as, the satellite looks like a model, its not real COME ON!
GE to TND
IMO there was a lot of confidence entering into TND, this is one of the faults, there is no great plotline, which we eventually find out. The Cameos are bad and the acting is crap.
To me, TND has a very been there, done that feel to it. The action sequences arent bad but feel slightly repetitive at times. And all the plot elements, down to the bleach blonde henchman and the kept woman who wants to escape from the villian. Its just a very generic adventure without any good one liners.
Funny, I like TND the best of the Brosnan's for the throwback quality to it. I don't think his other three were as successful overall, just very confused, with ill-thought out and ill-followed through ideas in them. TND's simplicty of structure works just fine for it. It may feel like a retread, but at least actually makes sense, plot-wise: the other three have so many extraneous bits, whole sections of each have very little to with the rest of the film their in. Just bad story-telling IMO, which bores me. I'll take a well-put together simple story over a botch-job complex one any day.
Funny, I like TND the best of the Brosnan's for the throwback quality to it. I don't think his other three were as successful overall, just very confused, with ill-thought out and ill-followed through ideas in them. TND's simplicty of structure works just fine for it. It may feel like a retread, but at least actually makes sense, plot-wise: the other three have so many extraneous bits, whole sections of each have very little to with the rest of the film their in. Just bad story-telling IMO, which bores me. I'll take a well-put together simple story over a botch-job complex one any day.
My problem is that it was too much of a retread. Among the Brosnan films, GE was IMO extremely well-written. I didn't like the psychoanalyzing and M's 'misogynistic dinosaur' speech, but other than that, I thought its screenplay was terrific. TWINE's screenplay was enormously messy but it had some brilliantly original elements and I thought that some of the individual scenes were very well written. I'll leave DAD alone which I consider to have among the worst screenplays of any of the Bond films. ;)TND, was IMO, not simply incredibly derivitive (unlike GE and particularly TWINE) but wasn't particularly well-written with the only well-written scenes being IMO the scene with Dr Kaufman, the party scenes and the scenes with Moneypenny. Although there were exceptions, TND's screenplay failed to shake my continual feeling that not only have the Bond films done it before, but far better.
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
I agree with the original view that TND is under rated. I remember feeling that it "felt" more like a traditional Bond movie than GE. This I think had more to do with the score which was so reminiscent of John Barry in places.
I personally liked the whole pre title sequence, the concept of media mogul manipulation of news and the set piece action scenes.
I did not like Wai Lin, I had no sympathy or feeling for her character. Carver was a little too theatrical in places (There should just be enough time for Mr Bond to see his heart stop beating etc...) I have always thought that this was indicative of Nick Meyer's writing (he apparently contributed to the script) which sometimes requires a completely, convincingly over the top performance to make it work.
I wonder what Anthony Hopkins would have done with it had he accepted the role rather than turning it down.
I have no issues with the ending. I think bond may have been a little gun heavy (hence the "Terminator" reference earlier but generally I felt much more satisfied walking out of the cinema after first seeing this film, than with any other of Brosnan's.
Comments
IMO this is the worst Bond movie in the whole series!
Here’s why:
Americanized
There is too much action; DAD seems to pull it off in a British way (maybe), I’m not sure why but the feeling is different in TND.
James Bond is like the terminator, but in a bad way. He shoots like there is no tomorrow, which is not cool, there’s no style.
Bad Script
The story of TND is good, but the dialogue is awful. Especially around Wai Lin, James Bond cannot do this mission on his own, which is a problem. Wai Lin gives bond the exit strategy with the things on the end of the missile, Wai Lin is better than Bond in Saigon, with weak dialogue from Bond which is embarrassing. James' one liners suck too.
Dumb Things
The slow motion is odd; it adds unnecessary emotion to scenes, especially the last scenes in the stealth boat. When James saves Wai Lin it feels as if he is some American hero.
Cheapness
The film feels cheap, there is not quality too it. The Atlas hotel is the only thing that feels rich. The Stealth Boat is cheap as, the satellite looks like a model, its not real COME ON!
GE to TND
IMO there was a lot of confidence entering into TND, this is one of the faults, there is no great plotline, which we eventually find out. The Cameos are bad and the acting is crap.
TND is awful; thank god it’s easily forgotten.
"Better make that two."
And its the Atlantic Hotel in Germany
"Better make that two."
I personally liked the whole pre title sequence, the concept of media mogul manipulation of news and the set piece action scenes.
I did not like Wai Lin, I had no sympathy or feeling for her character. Carver was a little too theatrical in places (There should just be enough time for Mr Bond to see his heart stop beating etc...) I have always thought that this was indicative of Nick Meyer's writing (he apparently contributed to the script) which sometimes requires a completely, convincingly over the top performance to make it work.
I wonder what Anthony Hopkins would have done with it had he accepted the role rather than turning it down.
I have no issues with the ending. I think bond may have been a little gun heavy (hence the "Terminator" reference earlier but generally I felt much more satisfied walking out of the cinema after first seeing this film, than with any other of Brosnan's.
All above just MHO of course!!!:)