A New Year: Which Bonds did you watch in January 2014?
Firemass
AlaskaPosts: 1,910MI6 Agent
As January of 2014 comes to a close I'm curious to see which Bond films you've watched to kick off the new year in style?
I didn't watch any until mid-January when I took a house sitting gig and they have a TV quite a bit nicer than my own so I figured that was a good reason to get out the 007 collection.
In this order:
Octopussy - Always a fun one to watch. The sheer enjoyment factor smooths out the obvious flaws.
Moonraker - The only thing I dislike about this film is making Bond a "know-it-all" to the point of being obnoxious.
You Only Live Twice - fell asleep halfway thru. Not the film's fault, I was just really tired. Finished it later. As I've said before this would be one of my favorites except for the "turning japanese" and "killing Aki" I appreciate Karin Dor's elaborate plans to get rid of 007. Kind of like Fatima's in NSNA.
Great final moment of the submarine surfacing under the liferaft. Lewis Gilbert rocks.
TMWTGG - This "weaker" 007 film continues to grow on me. I like it more than FYEO and LALD.
Living Daylights- First half is brilliant. A great Fleming short story plus a stone-cold classic Aston Martin 007 car chase. I wish the they would have just stayed in Austria for the winter. Dalton looked way cooler in a leather jacket than his Arab desert garb.
A View to a Kill- I'm not afraid to follow up Dalton with an aging Roger Moore. This movie still rules.
Thunderball- Just finished reading the novel so I decided to give this one another go. More on that later...
Never Say Never Again- After reading TB my rating of this one went down slightly, but it also picked up quite a few Fleming elements that went unused in the film TB. More on that later...
The Spy Who Loved Me- Still the most perfect Bond film ever made. Neck and neck with Goldfinger for producing the most iconic and memorable moments in 007 history.
*The legendary opening ski jump stunt.
* "Nobody Does it Better" and beautiful soundtrack.
*the underwater Lotus one of the most iconic cars in movie history.
*mega-babe Naomi flying the helicoptor.
*one the best and most memorable henchman JAWS.
*stunning Egyptian locations. breathtaking cinematography. Even simple scenes like Bond walking around Cairo are epic in scope.
*Stromberg's underwater Atlantas lair.
*Derek Medding's Liparus model tanker and Ken Adam's impressive submarine base. These guys are the best of the best. The production values are simply outstanding.
*Roger Moore at his absolute peak. Handsom, but deadly. Features some of his coldest kills.
*exciting big battle NAVY climax that keeps the tension up and doesn't loose sight of Bond in the fray.
*classic ending "Just keeping the British end up"
Also, a very progressive Bond film in terms of making the Bond girl more of an equal and a competent agent in her own right. I can only guess this was a result of backlash against Mary Goodnight as a total bimbo in TMWTGG. This Bond girl template would be repeated in MR, LTK, TND, and DAD.
so yeah...mostly Connery and Moore thus far in 2014. I'm sure I'll get around to the rest in good time. I plan on re-watching OHMSS to try and understand why others hold it in such high regard.
PS- I also watched Austin Power's Goldmember...Ugh Not funny at all. I love the first two AP films but this one was a major drag. Not as many Bond references.
I didn't watch any until mid-January when I took a house sitting gig and they have a TV quite a bit nicer than my own so I figured that was a good reason to get out the 007 collection.
In this order:
Octopussy - Always a fun one to watch. The sheer enjoyment factor smooths out the obvious flaws.
Moonraker - The only thing I dislike about this film is making Bond a "know-it-all" to the point of being obnoxious.
You Only Live Twice - fell asleep halfway thru. Not the film's fault, I was just really tired. Finished it later. As I've said before this would be one of my favorites except for the "turning japanese" and "killing Aki" I appreciate Karin Dor's elaborate plans to get rid of 007. Kind of like Fatima's in NSNA.
Great final moment of the submarine surfacing under the liferaft. Lewis Gilbert rocks.
TMWTGG - This "weaker" 007 film continues to grow on me. I like it more than FYEO and LALD.
Living Daylights- First half is brilliant. A great Fleming short story plus a stone-cold classic Aston Martin 007 car chase. I wish the they would have just stayed in Austria for the winter. Dalton looked way cooler in a leather jacket than his Arab desert garb.
A View to a Kill- I'm not afraid to follow up Dalton with an aging Roger Moore. This movie still rules.
Thunderball- Just finished reading the novel so I decided to give this one another go. More on that later...
Never Say Never Again- After reading TB my rating of this one went down slightly, but it also picked up quite a few Fleming elements that went unused in the film TB. More on that later...
The Spy Who Loved Me- Still the most perfect Bond film ever made. Neck and neck with Goldfinger for producing the most iconic and memorable moments in 007 history.
*The legendary opening ski jump stunt.
* "Nobody Does it Better" and beautiful soundtrack.
*the underwater Lotus one of the most iconic cars in movie history.
*mega-babe Naomi flying the helicoptor.
*one the best and most memorable henchman JAWS.
*stunning Egyptian locations. breathtaking cinematography. Even simple scenes like Bond walking around Cairo are epic in scope.
*Stromberg's underwater Atlantas lair.
*Derek Medding's Liparus model tanker and Ken Adam's impressive submarine base. These guys are the best of the best. The production values are simply outstanding.
*Roger Moore at his absolute peak. Handsom, but deadly. Features some of his coldest kills.
*exciting big battle NAVY climax that keeps the tension up and doesn't loose sight of Bond in the fray.
*classic ending "Just keeping the British end up"
Also, a very progressive Bond film in terms of making the Bond girl more of an equal and a competent agent in her own right. I can only guess this was a result of backlash against Mary Goodnight as a total bimbo in TMWTGG. This Bond girl template would be repeated in MR, LTK, TND, and DAD.
so yeah...mostly Connery and Moore thus far in 2014. I'm sure I'll get around to the rest in good time. I plan on re-watching OHMSS to try and understand why others hold it in such high regard.
PS- I also watched Austin Power's Goldmember...Ugh Not funny at all. I love the first two AP films but this one was a major drag. Not as many Bond references.
My current 10 favorite:
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
Comments
CR, QOS and Skyfall .
and the 40th anniversary of The Man with the Golden Gun.
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
It's missing the big, bold, powerful, booming voice of Dame Shirley Bassey or Sir Tom Jones, and the big, brassy notes of a big band.
That may have been the intent, but in my view, they failed miserably. Barbara Bach was hopelessly miscast in that role. She was meant to be Bond's equal, but she did not in any way look deadly. Small and of slender build, and not showing any martial arts moves to prove her worth as a combatant. Did she even make one single kill in the film? Threatening to kill Bond doesn't count - she didn't even look or sound deadly when she made the threat. To me, she was not believable at all.
Michelle Yeoh in Tomorrow Never Dies was a far, far better Bond girl (in terms of being Bond's equal) than Barbara Bach.
45th Anniversary of OHMSS
35th Anniversary of Moonraker
25th Anniversary of License To Kill
20th Anniversary of Brosnan becoming Bond
Ever heard the expression "different strokes for different folks" ?
I respect your opinions, but sometimes your snobbery goes a bit too far. I happen to like "Nobody Does it Better" "Roger Moore" and "The Spy Who Loved Me" and there's nothing you can do or say that will change that.
So which Bond films are you going watch this year besides DN, FRWL and OHMSS?
Anyway, you might be pleased to know that I'm currently reading Fleming's TSWLM right now. -{
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
On TV.... The end of DN, FRWL, GF, GE, TND, TWINE, DAD, QOS (for some reason all the Brosnans and QOS were shown on ITV2, but not CR ?:) )
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
On TV.... The end of DN, FRWL, GF, GE, TND, TWINE, DAD, QOS (for some reason all the Brosnans and QOS were shown on ITV2, but not CR ?:) )
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
True that!
That wasn't my intent.
Well, I just saw The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill and Casino Royale recently - three Bonds in a month and not a Connery in sight
I thought the book was better than the film. Some say it was Fleming's worst, but I'd say it's just different - written from the first person perspective rather than the third person perspective. I think it is a fantastic book underrated by many.
Check out my Instagram: @livingthebondlife
"I never joke about my work, 007."