Most inconsistent tone?

DieAnotherDay

Which Bond flick has a few drastic shifts of tone throughout the film? I'd need to go for TMWTGG or my beloved DAD. Both of those films start off as a solid thriller but veer off into moments of pure madness. TMWTGG has very serious & comical moments back to back and it comes off as off-putting in many parts while DAD seems like two completely separate films at times...

Sir Hillary Bray

When I saw this thread's title, I thought TMWTGG even before clicking on the thread. So we're agreed on that, DayAnotherDay. Any film that veers from Bond acting tough with Andrea all the way to him squeezing a sumo wrestler's bare cheeks gets my vote.

JayCobb1045

One man's inconsistent tone is another man's balance. I, for one, really like TMWTGG despite all the criticism it receives, perhaps because of that balance. DAD doesn't do it so well though. TND is one that also comes to mind. Maybe inconsistent tone isn't the right description, but it tries to be too many different types of movies, imo.

Blackleiter

TMWTGG gets my vote, too.

MooseWithFleas

TMWTGG is a good one. DAF as well, after a goofy opening, the first 45 minutes are pretty serious and all good stuff, then it goes all down hill. I'd include TWINE as well.

chrisisall

MR for me.

Dalkowski110

For me, TWINE. Not because there was a radical change halfway through the film like MR or DAD, or going from reasonably consistent to bouncing around like a rubber ball like TMWTGG, but because it just seemed to be going every which way from start to finish. Put it this way: when I watched (and still watch) CR and SF from start to finish, they don't feel anywhere near as long as they really are. When I watch TWINE, it feels longer than it really is.

One particularly stark example of the tone (really the pacing, but it ties into the story) changing very starkly is when they're in the submarine. Bond gets into a lighting-fast gunfight with Renard's mooks that turns into a fistfight. It's REALLY fast-paced. But then when they get into the reactor room, everything slows down to a snail's pace. A good in-universe explanation was pitched for Renard (that he was starting to weaken) when I first described this, but nobody has been able to explain why Bond slowed down all of a sudden. Then, as soon as Renard gets the reactor rod blown into his stomach, it speeds back up!

An earlier example of uneven pacing was the parahawk attack. For the most part, it's evenly paced--but then when they land, it's sped up too much, and then it really gets weird because once Bond destroys one of the two ground-borne parahawks, it slows back down again, in the middle of the chase! I always thought that really hurt an otherwise-excellent scene.

EDIT: Yes, I know, "tone and pacing are different things!" Well, moving from fast-paced to slow-paced, in the case of TWINE, really distracts from the tone of the film, much moreso than the just-as-unevenly-paced QoS (which manages to remain consistent in tone). It was like they tried to insert too many nuances in the slower-paced parts while going full steam ahead into action mode in the faster-paced parts.

DieAnotherDay

^ I know what you're talking about, especially with the para hawk chase. That scene should be electric in every way but it comes off as boring And uninteresting due to lingering shots and sub-par explosions. The pacing of TWINE's action scenes were just strange

Thunderpussy

+1, The parahawk chase felt tired, and lacking that usual Bond magic
According to Bondtoys it was because they didn't use Willi Bogner
Which I have to agree with, Bogner is a Genius when it comes to
Action on snow. -{

Dalkowski110

DieAnotherDay wrote:

The pacing of TWINE's action scenes were just strange

I could not have put it any better than that. At least, not in so few words.

Barbel

It is a strange film, to be sure. Quirky in places. Perhaps that's why I love it so much!

Gassy Man

All of the Brosnan Bonds have an inconsistent tone to me, though Tomorrow Never Dies stays the most balanced of them.

Dalkowski110

Gassy Man wrote:

All of the Brosnan Bonds have an inconsistent tone to me, though Tomorrow Never Dies stays the most balanced of them.

I thought that both TND and GE maintained relatively consistent tones (GE to a lesser degree, although it was necessitated by Trevelyan's change in tone). TWINE, as mentioned, I thought was imbalanced throughout. DAD is strange because if you chop it up into "the movie up until Cuba", it's actually VERY consistent in tone. The whole sequence in Iceland is radically inconsistent, and everything thereafter just flies off in odd directions, although, interestingly, directions that seem consistent with one another.

AlphaOmegaSin

DAD is a Film of two Halves -{

DelicatessenInSteel

Octopussy gets my vote...even though its awesome bordering on avante-garde genius. Moonraker is pretty consistent excluding quick goof cutaways like the pigeon...but Octopussy is a pretty serious cold war thriller with insanity mixed in. Especially the tense elephant chase with Tarzan yell (What were the editors thinking). The really tense disarming of the Bomb with goofy cutaways of circus performers doing shtick...the self aware scene of Vijay playing the Bond tune, the over the top acting general with credible plan...mmmm ehhhh yeah its still an awesome movie though..I'm going to have to watch it now.

Firemass

I was waiting for someone to finally mention Octopussy. Delete a handful of goofy gags and *voila* one of the greatest Bond films.

Thunderpussy

Octopussy is one of the best Roger Moore Bond films. -{

Barbel

Firemass wrote:

I was waiting for someone to finally mention Octopussy. Delete a handful of goofy gags and *voila* one of the greatest Bond films.

+1, totally agree. Back in 83 I was sure NSNA would blow OP away, and was pleasantly surprised to find the Moore film beat the Connery one easily.

always shaken

Thunderpussy wrote:

Octopussy is one of the best Roger Moore Bond films. -{

especialy at the end of the film when all those gorgeous girls in skin tight red jump suits
start fighting ,the little one called Midge was a dancer in Pans people ,for all of you under 30 probably
wouldn't know that ,but for people like TP and me she brings back memories of sitting in front of the tv in our tank tops thinking dreadfull thoughts )

Thunderpussy

) My thoughts were always " Pure ".

Blackleiter

Barbel wrote:

Firemass wrote:

I was waiting for someone to finally mention Octopussy. Delete a handful of goofy gags and *voila* one of the greatest Bond films.

+1, totally agree. Back in 83 I was sure NSNA would blow OP away, and was pleasantly surprised to find the Moore film beat the Connery one easily.

I agree that OP is overall a better made film but for one glaring exception - Connery is still a far better Bond than Moore, even in NSNA!

Firemass

DelicatessenInSteel wrote:

awesome bordering on avante-garde genius.

+1

…and some say that John Glen was an uninspired workman-like director. Go figure.

It's just unfortunate that his love for goofy gags was not kept in check by the producers.

AlphaOmegaSin

TMWTGG has got a pretty inconstant Tone, the entire second Half seems like a completely different Film sometimes.

BIG TAM

AlphaOmegaSin wrote:

TMWTGG has got a pretty inconstant Tone, the entire second Half seems like a completely different Film sometimes.

I agree. The first hour's brilliant with Moore on top form. Then just after the kung fu fight it's as if Guy Hamilton & co handed over the reins to another production team. Barmy.