Remembering 1983

Denzil2222

Who here remembers the great buzz in 1983 about the return of sc as bond and the battle of the bonds? It really was a great time to be a bond fan, I proposed to my late wife the night we went to see never say never agan in december 83.

Napoleon Plural

Blimey, surprised she said yes after taking her to a dog of a film like that!

zaphod

I was not excited at all. It looked like the battle of two old duffers rather than Bond

Napoleon Plural

Just to put things into perspective, in the UK NSNA took second place in fleapit cinemas to Jaws: 3D, that's how highly rated Connery's return was. This was the era before US-style multiplexes of course, and most cinemas had your just big screen and two other smaller subsidiary ones.

Denzil2222

Doesnt really matter about a few uk cinemas nsna make $160million worldwide and jaws 3d made $88 million. Nsna also made more money worldwide than a view to a kill and licence to kill.

Napoleon Plural

Anyway to answer your question, yep I remember the Battle of the Bonds although it seemed to go over bigger in the US than the UK. Starlog was a magazine that went on about it, got very enthused though there wasn't much info to go on for NSNA initially. The March edition ( Ithink) had a big special, with interviews with Barry Nelson and Richard Maibaum.



Connery's film had a very strong opening in the US, in the Fall.

Frustratingly it was delayed three months before its UK opening, so yeah came out in December.

chrisno1

I do remember it. I was about 14 at the time and was very excited by the thought of SC back as 007. I remember being somewhat confused by the circumstances (the legal stuff surrounding McClory and TB still gives me headaches).
I saw OP in my local crummy 123 on a hot August afternoon and remember thinking it was very long, but generally enjoying it; I also thought Sir Rog looked very old and unfit at times.
My Dad took me to see NSNA in the Christmas holidays at an Odeon, can't remember which but he drove there, as he wanted to see SC as Bond again. I thought Sean was far superior to Sir Rog. My initial reaction was that it was probably one of the best 007 movies of all time.
Sadly (?) my impression of both 1983 films has dimmed over the intervening 30yrs.
I don't remember anything about the press coverage.

Napoleon Plural

Blimey... ditto. Yeah, there was a real heatwave that year. The Police had Every Breath You Take out and their song King of Pain was going round my head when I saw OP. I liked OP more than FYEO, it was more fun and 'out there' in terms of stunts. But it did feel a bit heavy-going and yeah Moore looked his age.

When I heard Connery was returning as Bond I thought, wow, Sean Connery in Octopussy! Guess he and Broccoli had buried the hatchet and maybe Moore had asked for too much cash to return, so they went to the original Bond who wanted the cash. Made sense, as they were trying to make a more serious film.

NSNA I started to have bad feelings about, not least because of its delayed release date, then no news of a big name for the song, no signs of new funky locations or stuntwork. The film itself was a massive anti climax preceded by an awful UK short called Suspicious Man or something with Suzanne Dando or someone. Toe curling, the sort of stuff you had to put up with on a visit to the cinema. The sort of squirmy titles fed thru a sound blender did it for me really, you could tell it would be a howler although a couple of jokes made me laugh out loud in fairness. ('From here?' and the Philadelphia line).

chrisno1

I don't remember King of Pain, but EBYT had been number one for a month and (because I listened to radio Luxemburg, who also did a Top 20 USA chart countdown) I had to listen to it for another 2 months while it topped the US charts. AAAggghhhhhhh.
I was more into Duran Duran, [ don't knock it, it got me dances at summer juice discos with girls! ] and was overjoyed when they got the gig for AVTAK. That Rita Coolidge song for OP stank!

Napoleon Plural

Yeah, I was borderline with Duran Duran. Big that year you also had Wherever I Lay My Hat and Bruce Oldfield's Moonlight Shadow. It's vivid for me cos I went on a school holiday to Switzerland, hiking. I bought a foreign mag with Bond movie coverage and tried to get the foreign language master Mr Sutherland to translate it, but he only did a few lines.

Rita sounded out of tune on that song....

The Reflex was the big Duran song, though the chorus is a dirge. Or was that the following year? Yeah, think it was. Wham! were big in 83 with their debut.

thesecretagent

I was 11 and saw NSNA on a plane. The scene where Bond takes the horse over the castle wall and into the sea has never looked the same on DVD, TV or Video. It really looked like poor old Dobbin fell the whole way and fell badly at that. I remember asking my mum if the horse was ok... I saw OP at the cinema - always the best way to view Bond, it felt like an event as usual.

Napoleon Plural

I take it you know that the scene got cut for the UK release... NSNA had an appalling safety record for animals on that film, including real sharks actually getting killed for our onscreen pleasure.

Thunderpussy

I don't know much about NSNA as it's not one of my favourites and not an official Bond, so didn't know about their ill treatment of animals.It's shocking to think that even in 83 animals could be treated this way.

thesecretagent

Not on topic I know, but does anybody remember a seventies war film where a US soldier shoots the heads off a couple of ducks or geese at the beginning? It stuck with me as a child, and it was definately not done with special effects.

The Domino Effect

The thing that always comes to mind first when I think of 1983 was the FA Cup Final when likkle Bright & Hove Albion held Manchester United to a draw only to lose the replay a few days later. I was neither a Brighton or a United supporter, but I always love the underdog and I quite liked that United side (with Robson, Whiteside, Bailey, McQueen etc). That was a cracking example of the joys and wonders of the FA Cup and it beats 99% of Champions League tussles.

As for NSNA, even then I was only happily curious rather than extremely excited about its release. I saw it in the cinema and thought it was fine, but without the music it just didn't seem like a Bond film. I enjoyed looking at Kim Basinger (well, what pubescent boy didn't?), but the overwhelming highlight for me was Rowan Atkinson. Still one of my favourite 'Bond' characters of all time. A couple of years later I went to Nassau and did my own Nigel Small-Fawcett act in the very same spot - much to the bemusement of my travelling companion who'd never seen the film!

Napoleon Plural

thesecretagent wrote:

Not on topic I know, but does anybody remember a seventies war film where a US soldier shoots the heads off a couple of ducks or geese at the beginning? It stuck with me as a child, and it was definately not done with special effects.

James Suzuki

These is a special feeling that Bond fanatics get after they watch a brilliant bond Film. (All of them are good). I got this feeling more after watching a Bond film that didn't get not-so-good reviews. After Watching The World Is Not Enough I got such a buzz I watched it again straight after finishing it. Octopussy is so up there, in that top five that got me buzzing, nearly dancing to the Bond music.
5. the spy who loved me
4.License to Kill
3.For your eyes only
2.The World is not Enough
1.Octopussy.
If you noticed, 3 out of 5 of that top five that made me get that buzz was a Moore film. Yes, Connery can feel more like the bond from the books, yes he was probably better looking, yes, people liked him more and put down good old Roger, but Roger was far more funnier, a better actor and he made me happy to be a Bond fanatic.

thesecretagent

Napoleon Plural wrote:

thesecretagent wrote:

Not on topic I know, but does anybody remember a seventies war film where a US soldier shoots the heads off a couple of ducks or geese at the beginning? It stuck with me as a child, and it was definately not done with special effects.

Ah yes! That's the film alright, thanks for clearing that up Nap... )

Mark Hazard

Remember it well - it's just last week that I can't remember.

I still have tons of news cuttings somewhere, all the newspapers getting on the "which Bond is best" bondwagon. I would have been 31 then and really looking forward to Sean putting his shoulder holster back on.

It also made me a few quid. In the late 60s (for whatever reason, can't remember what) I bet my cousin £1 (we were both somewhat skint) that Sean Connery would be back as 007 in the future, I won that £1 in 1971. On the back of that I bet her £10 that he would return to the role, after his comments on 007 she thought that was an easy win, I collected £10 in 1983. Then I bet her £100 that he would return at least once again, I had to call it quits when he appeared as 007 in the FRWL game, she claimed it wasn't a true role.

Napoleon Plural

Yeah, I had a NSNA scrapbook charting the progress of the film in the tabloids. Still got it, it's odd how you build up a picture of the film in your mind, one that's always more serious and credible than the one that gets made. This was very true of OP which in fairness had a real FRWL feel about it with the train stuff and the Berlin Wall vibe. Some of this did make it into the mix in fairness, but the whole film was kind of overcooked. Still loved it though, a real summer epic and gave real value for money.