TMWTGG: What could have been

jonnybond78

After watching the much maligned TMWTGG the other day. It dawned on me that the first hour of the film is quite decent. Moores performance is very hard, especially when he's interogating Andrea Anders for information. The feel of the film is quite gritty and dark and has the makings of a good thriller. Obviously this is all spoilt with the unforgivable return of Sheriff Pepper and the 2 school girls beating the crap out of an entire karate school. So a film of 2 halves maybe? Any thoughts?

AlphaOmegaSin

There was going to be an Elephant Stampede in there originally. Thousands of Elephant Shoes were even ordered -{

jonnybond78

AlphaOmegaSin wrote:

There was going to be an Elephant Stampede in there originally. Thousands of Elephant Shoes were even ordered -{

Would have been better than Pepper )

Firemass

jonnybond78 wrote:

Obviously this is all spoilt with the unforgivable return of Sheriff Pepper and the 2 school girls beating the crap out of an entire karate school. So a film of 2 halves maybe? Any thoughts?

Obviously not! Don't let some bad comic relief scenes ruin the entire film for you. There's some really great stuff in TMWTGG.

Higgins

Fan here of Pepper's appearances.
I find him hilarious and he was quite popular back then -{

danjaq_0ff

BOY, you sure are ugly

Brosnan_fan

I used to dislike this film a considerable amount; it used to be on my bottom 3 or 4 Bond films for a while. Having re-watched it a couple of times, its risen from those ranks and I find it not too bad now.

I find Christopher Lee to be a charismatic villain, Maud Adams is quite attractive and I like the Asian locations, which I find picturesque. I don't mind Clifton James' J.W. Pepper; he does bring a smile to my face.

The slide whistle doesn't bother me in the slightest, as it does for many here. I also find myself wishing I had a seaplane like Bond used in the film. -{

AlphaOmegaSin

TMWTGG has it's Flaws, but it will always be in my Top Ten -{

Thunderpussy

I remember when I was much younger. My Father and his mates thought
Sheriff JW , was hilarious. ) as kid I thought he was funny too.

AlphaOmegaSin

Pepper should of had his own Spinoff )

jonnybond78

I think Pepper was good for Live and Let Die (one of my fav Bond films). But for me is too over the top in TMWTGG. But my opinion for what it's worth

Gassy Man

It's an odd little film. The early Moore films are anemic compared to the Connery ones -- everything is scaled down, and they just don't seem to be trying too hard. The notion that Bond is on a "personal" mission, and therefore the movie can be smaller, is silly to me. Today, grit is in, but even in those days, it was the sign of a cheap movie.

It's not very glamorous either, though one could argue that that really started with Diamonds are Forever, which has a bigger scale but a similar washed out look. The Man with the Golden Gun has mid 1970s written all over it,

BIG TAM

LALD has a better consistency of overall tone. JW Pepper's an idiotic character but he just about cuts it.
TMWTGG is definitely a film of two halves. The first is terrific, the second almost childlike. But its first half also features some of Moore's best work as 007. I disagree with those who say the tough stuff doesn't suit him. I think it does very well.

Blackleiter

jonnybond78 wrote:

AlphaOmegaSin wrote:

There was going to be an Elephant Stampede in there originally. Thousands of Elephant Shoes were even ordered -{

Would have been better than Pepper )

Almost anything would be better than Sheriff Pepper, in my opinion. I guess it's no secret that I'm not a fan - I just don't find him to be very amusing.

Firemass

I actually find JW kinda funny in TMWTGG. "Now, if you pointy-heads would get out of them pajamas, you wouldn't be late for work!"

Bodie

I find TMWTGG like OP in that they could both have been great Bond movies if they had been played for thrills rather than laughs.

If you take out JW Pepper, and have Goodnight played as a competent MI6 officer rather than a blonde bimbo, then up to the time Bond arrives at Scaramanga's island you have a good movie.

After Bond arrives at the island the whole movie falls apart.

The duel with Scaramanga is long and boring with absolutely no hint of danger as there was in previous fights with the likes of Grant and Oddjob.

The retrieval of the Solex with Goodnight's arse posing more of a threat to Bond than Scaramanga ever did is overlong and unnecessary.

The final fight with Nic Nak is cringingly embarrassing.

Grindelwald

40 today -{

Higgins

Always a supporter for JWP and the movie, I wished that they'd extended the (cut-off) beach battle scenes and cut a bit the lengthy scenes in the funhouse.

I also agree on the karate girls but that silliness had to be there in the happy 70s! {[]

broadshoulder

I like it

Thunderpussy

The extended cut of the beach fight would have been fantastic. As
In the trailer you can see Bond making a petrol bomb ! )