AVTAK im on to a hidding now.
jonnybond78
Posts: 35MI6 Agent
OK
ive just watched AVTAK, on the sunday afternoon re-runs in the Uk. And i really enjoyed it.
Ok Moore is way too old, the plot is ripped off Goldfinger etc etc, but there is alot of positives in this film:
Christopher Walken is excellent, The scenes with Patrick Macnee and Roger Moore are wonderfull. The steeple chase scene is great. When Zorin murders Howe in cold blood is as chilling as any Bond moment. The climax on The GGB is top.
Ok this film is **** compared to Goldfinger, TSWLM, et al. But i dont think it's as terrible as it's often made out???
ive just watched AVTAK, on the sunday afternoon re-runs in the Uk. And i really enjoyed it.
Ok Moore is way too old, the plot is ripped off Goldfinger etc etc, but there is alot of positives in this film:
Christopher Walken is excellent, The scenes with Patrick Macnee and Roger Moore are wonderfull. The steeple chase scene is great. When Zorin murders Howe in cold blood is as chilling as any Bond moment. The climax on The GGB is top.
Ok this film is **** compared to Goldfinger, TSWLM, et al. But i dont think it's as terrible as it's often made out???
Comments
I count myself lucky, as I enjoy every single Bond film. I think they all have much to enjoy. My favourite by a long way is Thunderball though, almost an obsession!
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I like the Technological theme of the movie, Grace Jones is a wonderful villianess, the scenes at the French palace (i.e. the horse race) were wonderfully shot - some excellent stunt work that stays in line with the other Bond movies. No CGI crap here. Stunt men were made to be broken B-).
Who can resist Tanya Roberts - she's very easy on the eyes in this film.
And Chris Walken is terrific - I always love his facial expression while he interviews Bond in his office. When Zorin's face lights up when his PC screen reads "LICENSE TO KILL".
Barry's score is dynamite, Duran Duran's #1 Bond song "A View To A Kill" is a favorite of mine. Their song and accompanying video really appealed to young people ain the mid-80's.
AVTAK receives a bad rap cause RM was 55 at the time, but its miles better than the 2 Dalton movies, TWINE, TND and DAF. I think DAF and LTK are the worse Bond movies ever - I hate watching them. Connery's on auto-pilot for DAF and he looks really old in that movie. And LTK put me to sleep.
One niggling point about this movie though is the presence of "California Girls" in the PTS snowboard chase. It's like a musical version of the big lipped aligator moment for me, and isn't needed when you already have one of the absolute best John Barry scores in this movie already. I know it's a small thing, but it does annoy me. I think moments like that hold the Moore films back.
The Defense Minister has always been a retard. Like in For Your Eyes Only anyone with a brain cell could realize identifying Locque would have made the cold trail hot again.
Two other things: It was snow boarding scene and that wasn't even the beach boys, it was a tribute band.
-Roger Moore (despite admittedly being too old) was charming as ever
-AVTAK had some of John Barry's best music (loved the "Dinner with Stacey" theme - so peaceful)
-Christopher Walken made an excellent villain - a real psychotic
-There were some brilliantly filmed action set pieces (such as the steeple chase, the elavator rescue and the Golden Gate Bridge fight) which made up for some dodgy ones ("California Girl" PTS, police chase)
A lot of people sneer at Moore's Bond films now, which is a shame. In my opinion LALD, TSWLM, MR, FYEO, OP and AVTAK were all far more entertaining (and far more re-watchable) than QoS (which I like less the more I think about it X-( ). Yes they were silly but they were also fun, had character, had better villains and knew what type of films they wanted to be; even if they - for the most part - weren't like the Ian Fleming novels (I draw the line at MWTGG though, despite Christopher Lee's presence).
He was actually 58
That's the only thing I really like about AVTAK.
Also I normally love Christopher Walken but he's only good when he is aloud to be un-restrained. Here Walken is this bland character with a bland motivation.
I am only 23 but I have a old soul.
As opposed to Dominic Greene?
He was even worse. Even Georgi Koskov was more interesting than Greene.
Okay I'll amend that statement. Zorin was a fun character but he still had a bland motivation.
If you ask me, Walken's comparitivley more realistic performance of Zorin's psychopathy makes him a far more interesting villain than he would be if, say, David Bowie had gotten the role. It's not a case of "Christopher Walken plays Christopher Walken" either, which can happen with distinctive individuals like himself.
I thought Walken's plot to destroy Sillicon Valley was rather cartoony though it's not as fantastic as the antics of Stromberg and Drax.
Walken I think did a great job with a role muddled with lack of an interesting motivation or a clever scheme.
I second that
It's called "Fanfare", and it sadly isn't on the official soundtrack. A faithful cover version can be found on various Silva Screen albums such as "Bond Back In Action 2" and "The Ultimate James Bond Film Music Collection". This was conducted by Nic Raine, who was the orchestrator on the original.
I personally don't see why it is criticised so much. Moore was far too old but this was also the case in FYEO and OP and they seem to escape such criticism. And it also enjoys brilliant performances from Walken and Patrick Macnee, as well as the beautiful city of San Francisco.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I think the view that the Roger Moore era turned into parody by the end was a bit of a myth. The only one that went a bit far was Moonraker, but I still enjoy it. John Glen did a lot of good when he became the Director for the 80's.
For your eyes only marked a turning point for the Moore years, but it's a shame he looked so unfit for parts of it.
DC
Roger Moore 1927-2017
- Yes, Roger Moore was way too old, but that in and of itself wouldn't be such a problem if he wasn't such a weak Bond to begin with. Sean Connery was pretty old when he appeared as Bond in Never Say Never Again (an admittedly disappointing Bond film), but he had loads more charm, energy and physical prowess than Roger Moore manifested at any point in AVTAK.
- I agree that the score by John Barry was one of his better efforts
- While I think Christopher Walken made for a good, creepy villain, he was wasted on an underwhelming adversary in the form of Moore's tired Bond
- I found the action scenes to be mediocre at best, and a couple of them (e.g. the fire engine chase scene) to be downright boring
On another point, I thought Tanya Roberts was one of the worst Bond girls ever. Sure, she is attractive in sort of a bland, generic way, but her acting was atrocious and she added absolutely nothing distinctive to the film. Sorry for you AVTAK admirers, but this movie is bottom of the barrel Bond.
Really? I suppose I'd take Moore's Bob Holness/Nicholas Parson's routine over Connery's creaky Andrew Neill routine in NSNA, though such comparisons may be lost on you if you're not in the UK!
When Moore is in the Eiffel Tower, asking about Zorin, there's a flash where he looks deadly serious and full of authority. Connery never has this in NSNA, yet it's his USP. When Moore goes after May Day, he has a kind of urgency that Connery doesn't have when he goes after Blush on his bike.
Roger Moore 1927-2017