Skipping Bonds: OHMSS to LALD

blueman

As much as I enjoy DAF, it's a tough film to take in the EON continuity: Connery circa '71 looked nothing like the previous Bond, Lazenby (he didn't even look like circa 60s Connery!), and the near-complete ignoring of the emotional core of OHMSS in the follow-up has always grated (where was Fleming's outstanding revenge story from YOLT??).

So setting aside DAF as a campy one-off, what about the transition from Laz to Moore with a 4 year gap (these days not unheard of, lol)? I had the thought to connect these two as a local cinema is showing some old Bonds on the big screen, this week is LALD, saw it tonight but also watched OHMSS at home yesterday, primed the pump so to speak. Well --

Laz to Moore, in his first outing, is a surprisingly easy transition to make. Both actors seemed eager for the actiony bits, both worked a tad too hard at being posh, they look kinda similar, and both have sufficient charm plus gravitas to make Bond work. Laz is a bit wooden in places, Moore gets a bit too glib, but as a 60s Bond into a 70s Bond, I like it and it works for me just fine.

What doesn't work as well is the transition from Hunt to Hamilton. Hunt never let on the bad guy's scheme is silly, he played things straight for the most part and the story he tells grabs and never lets go. Hamilton I think realized audiences just wouldn't buy a gadget-ridden, OTT, heroin smuggling plot (he was right IMO), and let quite a cartoony veneer cover things at times, which was odd as he would then hit a note-perfect scene (Kananga revealing himself to Bond then testing Solitaire, for example) and make me want to take things seriously - until poof, back to cartoonland we'd go. When he didn't take himself seriously, I didn't either; on the flipside those stretches were generally quite fun (the boat chase on the big screen rocks! ... JW Pepper and all ;% ). He does keep things moving, the pace is almost QOS-like ( ) so points for that. Would've preferred a scaled-down plot for the bad guy but oh well, EON made a bundle with this one, can't fault 'em even if it's not quite my cup of Bond tea.

I like Kotto and all his cronies, Hamilton does a good job making me believe in Mr Big's organization most of the time (and really like the set designs for Big's hidey places, also Kananga's lair at the end). Seymour as Solitaire is okay, feels like there's a scene at the beginning between her and Kananga that's missing, they wait too long to set things up with her IMO but what's there is pretty good and gets better as it goes along. Contrasted to Rigg's Tracy she's hopelessly light-weight (Hendry's Rosie doesn't help things) but jeez Rigg would be a tough act for anybody to follow. Kotto is as equal with Savalas in OHMSS as Bond bad guys get IMHO, like Seymour he does a great job with what he's given (the Hunt-to-Hamilton tonal shift seems to leave him untouched) even if it feels like he could've had one scene more (cut Quarrel Jr, done!).

Also to note: Barry's synthy soundtrack for OHMSS transitions quite well to Martin's funky-ass, more popcorny (befitting his film) score, IMO. I miss Barry's superlative DAF work in between but when LALD's main credits start to roll I'm ready for a savvy and young-looking (I know I know...) Bond to hit the beach running (or wake up in bed with Madeline Smith, lol).

And of particular note: when Bond checks into the San Monique hotel and is told Mrs Bond has switch rooms for him, there's an uncomfortable moment where Moore doesn't take this in stride at all, really hit a chord coming on the heels of OHMSS.

All in all, a bit more a stretch than say skipping YOLT (another one-off Bond in my book) and going from TB straight to OHMSS, but like that transition it's the solid Bond performances both sides that make it go. Try it, you might like it. :007)

Napoleon Plural

That's an interesting take. I did notice that in their debuts, both Lazenby and Moore struggled with the kind of posh Englishman dialogue that Connery would eat up for breakfast. Connery would always slightly send up the line, from a Scottish point of view. Lazenby completely overlooked that, while Moore sent it up as a sort of fish out of water, Englishman in New York comedy, which became way too arch for me. In fact, on last viewing Moore was intolerable for me but coming on the heels of Lazenby, he might not seem so bad. {:)

blueman

Honestly, Moore came off as a smoother version of Laz, like in those 4 unseen years dude went to finishing school and learned to raise his eyebrow. I enjoyed him as Bond even if I didn't always respect him (do I really need to know what kind of tie Bond thinks is "frantic"?? C'mon now, Guy... {:) ).

Wadsy

Good point. Its what I do when I watch the Bond films in order of release.

I watch the following:

Dr No
From Russia With Love
Goldfinger

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Live And Let Die

The Spy Who Loved Me
Moonraker
For Your Eyes Only
Octopussy
A View To A Kill
The Living Daylights

Goldeneye

Casino Royale
Quantum Of Solace


Those are the ones I watch. Line spaces signal a skip, or multiple skips

blueman

Interesting line up. My changes around, but right now it's:

Dr No
From Russia With Love
Goldfinger
Thunderball

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Live And Let Die
The Man With The Golden Gun

Casino Royale
Quantum Of Solace


Then there's a few guilty pleasures that aren't quite enough Bond for me even if they are entertaining:

YOLT - too much kitchen sink
DAF - too spoof-like
TSWLM - too cartoony
TND - ditto

Thunderpussy

I wonder why some don't count. a man opening a parachute only ten feet from the ground and walking away unscathed as "Gritty realistic " and not "Cartoony" )

blueman

So had Bond opened the shoot 100 feet above ground, his descent would've slowed to nil by touch-down?

At least QOS has physics on its side in that particular scene.

Thunderpussy

I think there's only one way to settle this we both get a couple of shoots and do a jump, I'll open mine at 100ft and you can open yours at 10ft From the ground and we'll see which one ( if any of us ) manage to skip away from it. ) )
Sadly no parachute will bring your decent to Nil as there is a little thing called gravity which makes this impossible. ) we'll all hit the ground just at different speeds.

blueman

different speeds?? You mean after your shoot opens, you begin to fall slower? So if you pop your shoot high enough, you can actually stop falling at some point? Cool.

Thunderpussy

No, Thats your argument blueman, you said "His decent would've slowed to nil by touchdown " as Far as I know once you've opened your shoot your Decent is slowed, ( otherwise why put one on ) However you do not continue to slow down. Rather you float like a lovely feather carried by the wind, or the whisper of love. ) or
If you think a parachute does not slow your decent we'll both do a jump I'll do the chicken thing and open my chute, you do the "I'm not opening my chute for anyone" Bit and we'll see who hits the ground first. )
But I am going to move away from this argument now, as I feel like I on a Bus sitting with someone on a Different wavelength to myself.

blueman

So we agree - once the shute is opened, your decent is slowed. It's an immediate slowing, so whether it's opened at 10 feet or 100 feet, doesn't matter.

QOS is about two people on a shute meant for one person. If they'd popped the shute at 100 feet, they still would've hit the ground as hard as they did, the shute just wasn't designed to take the extra weight.

But you've proved my point, "However you do not continue to slow down" is absolutely correct so doesn't matter at what height one pops the shute. There are only two rates of decent in the equation, no shute and shute. 10 feet above the ground, while a highly unlikely height for a shute to open (but that's the Bondness of it! :007) ), still puts the brakes on as effectively as opening it at 100 feet. It's just that in this instance - two people on a shute meant for one - those brakes aren't entirely effective, and Bond takes his - easily survivable (per Hollywood rules) - lumps.

Never understood the negative reaction to this bit of Bond business, they could've opened the shute right when they jumped from the plane, the landing would've been just as hard for them.

Thunderpussy

Thanks blueman, I'll leave suitabily chastised with my tail between my legs. )

77007

I didn't like the way DAF shifted from Bonds revenge into the diamond plot. Not sure how much time supposedly passed. But I thought Moneypenny hinting at a wedding ring was in poor taste for her character considering the events of OHMSS.

Sir Miles

77007 wrote:

I didn't like the way DAF shifted from Bonds revenge into the diamond plot. Not sure how much time supposedly passed. But I thought Moneypenny hinting at a wedding ring was in poor taste for her character considering the events of OHMSS.

I think the idea was to have the audience forget OHMSS now that Connery was back...

Thunderpussy

I think people should skip Dr No to DAD including NSNA and CR (tv movie) and CR 67. Then just go straight to the Masters work,
CR and QOS. -{

Sir Miles

Thunderpussy wrote:

I think people should skip Dr No to DAD including NSNA and CR (tv movie) and CR 67. Then just go straight to the Masters work,
CR and QOS. -{

Or just skip your posts... 8-)