I'm quite music-oriented, and it does affect my enjoyment of a Bond film. John Barry always "got it",obviously, and David Arnold most of the time, but the others are pretty much hit (Martin, Hamlisch) or miss (Kamen, Newman, SERRA!!!, Conti).
I like the FYEO PTS. It was the perfect way to bring Bond and audiences back to earth after we last saw him "attempting re-entry" in outer space in MR.
Tracy's grave and Blofeld tells us everything: he's the same James Bond who lost his wife to Blofeld. He's the same James bond of the 60s and early 70s. In the OHMSS novel, Bond visits Vesper's grave, just before meeting Tracy, so it's also very Fleminesque.
Tracy's grave and Blofeld tells us everything: he's the same James Bond who lost his wife to Blofeld. He's the same James bond of the 60s and early 70s. In the OHMSS novel, Bond visits Vesper's grave, just before meeting Tracy, so it's also very Fleminesque.
I appreciate that FYEO is part homage to OHMSS as after the theatrics of Moonraker, Cubby wanted to bring Bond 'back win to earth', so the sequence including Bond visiting Tracey's grave and the Blofeld antics were meant to connect to earlier more serious Bonds. But the way it was handled to avoid any potential litigation by McClory, by implying it was Blofeld but not showing him, and the jokey treatment culminating in dropping him down a chimney, was a cop out and robbed it of any suspense.
Sorry for bumping this old thread, but I wanted to ask why McClory allowed Blofeld to be openly portrayed in OHMSS and DAF but not in FYEO?
I appreciate that FYEO is part homage to OHMSS as after the theatrics of Moonraker, Cubby wanted to bring Bond 'back win to earth', so the sequence including Bond visiting Tracey's grave and the Blofeld antics were meant to connect to earlier more serious Bonds. But the way it was handled to avoid any potential litigation by McClory, by implying it was Blofeld but not showing him, and the jokey treatment culminating in dropping him down a chimney, was a cop out and robbed it of any suspense.
Sorry for bumping this old thread, but I wanted to ask why McClory allowed Blofeld to be openly portrayed in OHMSS and DAF but not in FYEO?
He didn't, he isn't mentioned as Blofeld in the credits. It's just ''Bald guy in wheelchair'' I believe. Everyone knew it was supposed to be Blofeld, but up until 2014 it wasn't officially Blofeld. Back in 2014 Barbara admitted it was him.
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I know, but Blofeld appears openly in OHMSS and DAF, which were before FYEO. Given that, why did Eon suddenly feel the need to not mention Blofeld in FYEO? It seems inconsistent of them.
McClory turned legal pain in the ass belatedly, when he cottoned on to the fact that they were using Spectre, which he helped originate in the Thunderball screenplay.
Really, EON shouldn't have used Spectre in Dr No and FRWL as it didn't feature in those novels. Then the court case was resolved, but I guess McClory didn't want to make a fuss, hoping to entice EON into a co-production on TB.
Again, yes, Spectre got used in YOLT, OHMSS and DAF when only Blofeld was mentioned in two of them, and really only Spectre in one. I think McClory let it slide.
But with the 10 year hiatus stopping him from making a Thunderball remake about to end, in the early 70s I think he took steps to assert himself regarding the whole Spectre thing to maybe make his new adaptation a bit more special. That forced EON to drop Blofeld and Spectre from drafts of TSWLM - and also to make it the mother of all underwater spectacle Bond movies.
When McClory decided to make a rival Bond film in the early 1970s, EON filed a lawsuit to stop McClory. McClory came back with the assertion that he had alone had the legal rights to Blofeld. So he probably had a new lawyer at the time who told him that he could do this and get EON to stop using Blofeld and SPECTRE.
McClory turned legal pain in the ass belatedly, when he cottoned on to the fact that they were using Spectre, which he helped originate in the Thunderball screenplay.
Really, EON shouldn't have used Spectre in Dr No and FRWL as it didn't feature in those novels. Then the court case was resolved, but I guess McClory didn't want to make a fuss, hoping to entice EON into a co-production on TB.
Again, yes, Spectre got used in YOLT, OHMSS and DAF when only Blofeld was mentioned in two of them, and really only Spectre in one. I think McClory let it slide.
But with the 10 year hiatus stopping him from making a Thunderball remake about to end, in the early 70s I think he took steps to assert himself regarding the whole Spectre thing to maybe make his new adaptation a bit more special. That forced EON to drop Blofeld and Spectre from drafts of TSWLM - and also to make it the mother of all underwater spectacle Bond movies.
When McClory decided to make a rival Bond film in the early 1970s, EON filed a lawsuit to stop McClory. McClory came back with the assertion that he had alone had the legal rights to Blofeld. So he probably had a new lawyer at the time who told him that he could do this and get EON to stop using Blofeld and SPECTRE.
I appreciate that FYEO is part homage to OHMSS as after the theatrics of Moonraker, Cubby wanted to bring Bond 'back win to earth', so the sequence including Bond visiting Tracey's grave and the Blofeld antics were meant to connect to earlier more serious Bonds. But the way it was handled to avoid any potential litigation by McClory, by implying it was Blofeld but not showing him, and the jokey treatment culminating in dropping him down a chimney, was a cop out and robbed it of any suspense.
Sorry for bumping this old thread, but I wanted to ask why McClory allowed Blofeld to be openly portrayed in OHMSS and DAF but not in FYEO?
Supposedly, part of the deal that gave McClory the producer credit for Thunderball gave B & S the rights to the use of the Blofeld character and SPECTRE for 10 years (until 1974 or 1975).
The graveyard and the slapstick elements of the FYEO PTS seem to work together to convey a message from the film-makers: "We're clearing aside all of the Blofeld-style tomfoolery that you may remember from movies like YOLT and DAF, in order to re-set the tone for the rest of Moore's own tenure... as something more serious... and we're including as well a poignant moment by Tracey's grave as a cue for that new tone." But it's kind of an amusing idea that after Connery's and Lazenby's various pitched battles with SPECTRE/Blofeld it was finally a wry Moore (in Bond's original continuity) who got to kill off their arch-nemesis!
Yes, the whole sequence with the chopper (exciting, in its stunt work) may have been a sort of in-joke, sticking up two fingers at McClory and getting in a comic devaluation of the Blofeld figure as a pre-emptive way of undermining any attempt by McClory to bring back the character to the screen in a film of his own. (In the event, Max Von Sydow's rogue Blofeld in NSNA was curiously underused and lacking in impact.)
More recently, as a side note, it was interesting and not a little opportunistic that FYEO was included in the steelbook range of 'SPECTRE'-themed blurays released to coincide with SPECTRE's bluray debut... as if FYEO's PTS alone was enough to justify FYEO's classification for marketing/branding purposes as a SPECTRE Bond instalment.
Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
As this was the first ever Bond Movie I saw in the Cinema I totally loved this scene, thought it was amazing. Unfortunately in recent times the whole McClory Thunderball situation has got me thinking that the Blofeld in this scene was modelled on McClory, and Bond was meant to be Eon extracting revenge.
I also like Conti's score--Barry was always excellent, but his Moore-era work tended to lack the excitement and thrust of his earlier efforts.
As for the PTS, I like the sombre opening of Bond at Tracy's grave, and the helicopter stunt work is still impressive. The treatment of Blofeld isn't. His cowardly whinging and the stainless steel delicatessen line are completely out of character. And judging by the languid way Bond acts, you'd hardly think he was avenging himself on the man who murdered his wife. There's not a note of anger or exultation. How schizoid!
The filmmakers could have avoided this by inserting a different villain, one with a Spectre connection subtle enough to bypass McClory (like someone with a quickly glimpsed Octopus ring sent "by number one"). Instead they provided OHMSS with a ridiculous coda. It wasn't worth it. If you can't do a proper story with Blofeld, one that truly completes the stories of OHMSS and the earlier ones, then don't bother.
Comments
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
Tracy's grave and Blofeld tells us everything: he's the same James Bond who lost his wife to Blofeld. He's the same James bond of the 60s and early 70s. In the OHMSS novel, Bond visits Vesper's grave, just before meeting Tracy, so it's also very Fleminesque.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
Sorry for bumping this old thread, but I wanted to ask why McClory allowed Blofeld to be openly portrayed in OHMSS and DAF but not in FYEO?
He didn't, he isn't mentioned as Blofeld in the credits. It's just ''Bald guy in wheelchair'' I believe. Everyone knew it was supposed to be Blofeld, but up until 2014 it wasn't officially Blofeld. Back in 2014 Barbara admitted it was him.
Really, EON shouldn't have used Spectre in Dr No and FRWL as it didn't feature in those novels. Then the court case was resolved, but I guess McClory didn't want to make a fuss, hoping to entice EON into a co-production on TB.
Again, yes, Spectre got used in YOLT, OHMSS and DAF when only Blofeld was mentioned in two of them, and really only Spectre in one. I think McClory let it slide.
But with the 10 year hiatus stopping him from making a Thunderball remake about to end, in the early 70s I think he took steps to assert himself regarding the whole Spectre thing to maybe make his new adaptation a bit more special. That forced EON to drop Blofeld and Spectre from drafts of TSWLM - and also to make it the mother of all underwater spectacle Bond movies.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Thanks for explaining.
Thank you also for explaining.
He isn't mentioned at all in the credits!
Supposedly, part of the deal that gave McClory the producer credit for Thunderball gave B & S the rights to the use of the Blofeld character and SPECTRE for 10 years (until 1974 or 1975).
Yes, the whole sequence with the chopper (exciting, in its stunt work) may have been a sort of in-joke, sticking up two fingers at McClory and getting in a comic devaluation of the Blofeld figure as a pre-emptive way of undermining any attempt by McClory to bring back the character to the screen in a film of his own. (In the event, Max Von Sydow's rogue Blofeld in NSNA was curiously underused and lacking in impact.)
More recently, as a side note, it was interesting and not a little opportunistic that FYEO was included in the steelbook range of 'SPECTRE'-themed blurays released to coincide with SPECTRE's bluray debut... as if FYEO's PTS alone was enough to justify FYEO's classification for marketing/branding purposes as a SPECTRE Bond instalment.
Nah, the score is very cool! -{
I also like Conti's score--Barry was always excellent, but his Moore-era work tended to lack the excitement and thrust of his earlier efforts.
As for the PTS, I like the sombre opening of Bond at Tracy's grave, and the helicopter stunt work is still impressive. The treatment of Blofeld isn't. His cowardly whinging and the stainless steel delicatessen line are completely out of character. And judging by the languid way Bond acts, you'd hardly think he was avenging himself on the man who murdered his wife. There's not a note of anger or exultation. How schizoid!
The filmmakers could have avoided this by inserting a different villain, one with a Spectre connection subtle enough to bypass McClory (like someone with a quickly glimpsed Octopus ring sent "by number one"). Instead they provided OHMSS with a ridiculous coda. It wasn't worth it. If you can't do a proper story with Blofeld, one that truly completes the stories of OHMSS and the earlier ones, then don't bother.