JoBlo article on Roger Moore

AdamOmega

JoBlo posted this article looking at the career of Sir Roger Moore -{

http://www.joblo.com/movie-news/the-good-the-bad-the-badass-roger-moore-253

While I disagree with the placement of Live And Let Die as "most overrated" (an overrated Roger Moore Bond film? Really??), and have to wonder why The Man Who Haunted Himself didn't make the list... it's a pretty solid article overall and I'm glad that Octopussy gets some respect for a change.

Thoughts?

Moore Than

Always nice to see/read appreciation of Roger Moore as Bond, it is pretty rare these days.

I also disagree with the placement of Live And Let Die as the most overrated film. I do understand though that the blaxploitation/voodoo theme (in particular) is not to everyone's taste, but I love it.

The Man Who Haunted Himself deserved a mention, undoubtedly the best performance of Roger's career in that film. Very convincing playing the two sides of Pelham, confident/brash versus weak/insecure.

Octopussy is one of my favourite Bond films, the sequence beginning with Bond disguising himself as a circus worker right through the confrontation with General Orlov and ending with the defusing of the bomb is right up there with anything in the Bond films. One of Roger's best performances, the backgammon scene, scenes with Octopussy, and the confrontation with Orlov really stand out.

AdamOmega

Moore Than wrote:

Octopussy is one of my favourite Bond films, the sequence beginning with Bond disguising himself as a circus worker right through the confrontation with General Orlov and ending with the defusing of the bomb is right up there with anything in the Bond films. One of Roger's best performances, the backgammon scene, scenes with Octopussy, and the confrontation with Orlov really stand out.

Agreed! -{ The train sequence has some of the best stuntwork ever conceived in a Bond film. I was thinking back to the pre-credits sequence of Skyfall and the confrontation between Bond and Patrice on the train, which seemed clearly inspired by Octopussy; it isn't nearly as sophisticated.

Moore Than wrote:

I also disagree with the placement of Live And Let Die as the most overrated film. I do understand though that the blaxploitation/voodoo theme (in particular) is not to everyone's taste, but I love it.

The blaxploitation stuff seems to be the biggest problem for most detractors... I don't get it! Live And Let Die isn't a blaxploitation film at all, it merely lifts certain cues from the genre, has a funkadelic soundtrack by George Martin & a cast of black Bond villains led by Yaphet Kotto. I think the bigger issue is that Live And Let Die is an outdated film that teeters toward racism, but these factors shouldn't speak for the quality of the overall film.

+1

Firemass

No way is LALD racist. Is it somehow less racist to never have black villains?

Maybe if more Bond critics would take the time to actually read the original Fleming novel there wouldn't be such a fuss over the "blaxploitation" thing.

Anyway, it is nice to read an article from a true RM fan. If I had to choose, I would consider FYEO the most overrated (Especially the car-kick!) and Moonraker the most underrated. SPY is definitely the best.

Interesting that AVTAK is on his top 4 list, yet wishes OP was the swan-song.

I tried watching Wild Geese recently, but turned it off halfway through it was so bad.

The Quest is perhaps one of the worst films I've ever seen and I'm a big Van Damme fan.

And what was that about the academy awards that skipped over the RM era? The one I remember with Halle Berry hosting included a rendition of "Nobody Does it Better" among other things.

Blackleiter

Firemass wrote:

Maybe if more Bond critics would take the time to actually read the original Fleming novel there wouldn't be such a fuss over the "blaxploitation" thing.

I understand what you are saying in the sense that the Black villains and certain scenarios in LALD come right out of the book, and are not merely elements thrown into the movie to cash in on the "Blaxploitation" film fad. And while I don't consider the movie version of LALD to be racist, the novel certainly contains some racist overtones.

Firemass

Blackleiter wrote:

the novel certainly contains some racist overtones.

Yeah, thankfully now seen as pretty embarrassing.

If a film critic was completely unfamiliar with the novel, LALD might seem like an obvious attempt to cash in on the success of Shaft.

btw I never noticed how intently Kanaga is staring at Roger in that promo group photo. )

Thunderpussy

He's probably in character, the villain wanting to kill Bond.
Robert Davi and Tim Dalton did a mock hate filled stare out
In a Wogan show when LTK was released.

Barbel

That would bring tears to your eyes...

Thunderpussy

I think he's off on a holiday or something so we Dalton lovers
Can sing his praises without interruption. ) although keep an
Ear out for this music when he returns ! )
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hNv5sPu0C1E
Star Wars - Imperial March. )

Blackleiter

Firemass wrote:

I never noticed how intently Kanaga is staring at Roger in that promo group photo

I saw that too. Great look! -{

AlphaOmegaSin

Thunderpussy wrote:

I think he's off on a holiday or something so we Dalton lovers
Can sing his praises without interruption. ) although keep an
Ear out for this music when he returns ! )
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hNv5sPu0C1E
Star Wars - Imperial March. )

You can see him before you can even hear him )

Barbel

...further discussion in the SBS!

Firemass

AdamOmega wrote:

it's a pretty solid article overall and I'm glad that Octopussy gets some respect for a change.

Thoughts?

Do you think Octopussy is really "Bond slapped in the middle of an Indiana Jones movie" ?

The only part that comes to mind is the jungle chase with the cobwebs and snakes. (I'm not a big INDY fan so I might have missed a few other similarities)

Surprisingly OP doesn't really get much flak for being an Indiana Jones-type Bond film.
Meanwhile, Moonraker is often criticized as a Star Wars clone, yet bares no direct similarities to that film.

Firemass

Blackleiter wrote:

Firemass wrote:

I never noticed how intently Kanaga is staring at Roger in that promo group photo

I saw that too. Great look! -{

ah this version is probably the more common one without the Kanaga death stare:

http://www.bondstars.com/private/sirrogermoore/images/lald/lald03.jpg

AdamOmega

Firemass wrote:

AdamOmega wrote:

it's a pretty solid article overall and I'm glad that Octopussy gets some respect for a change.

Thoughts?

Do you think Octopussy is really "Bond slapped in the middle of an Indiana Jones movie" ?

The only part that comes to mind is the jungle chase with the cobwebs and snakes. (I'm not a big INDY fan so I might have missed a few other similarities)

Being one year shy of Temple of Doom, I can see where others might make the comparison; Octopussy feels like a cross between spy thriller and 1930's/1940's adventure serial and I love it for that. Some of the action feels very Indiana Jones at times. The train sequence, for instance, occasionally echoes the caravan spectacle from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Then again, Indiana Jones was conceived as a response to the James Bond films so it all comes full circle. -{

Firemass wrote:

Surprisingly OP doesn't really get much flak for being an Indiana Jones-type Bond film.
Meanwhile, Moonraker is often criticized as a Star Wars clone, yet bares no direct similarities to that film.

Moonraker certainly capitalized on the success of Star Wars, yet I fail to see why this is a "bad thing" at all. Moonraker is beautifully made -- arguably even moreso than The Spy Who Loved Me. Even today, the special effects hold up wonderfully. Yet certain fans and critics react as though it were some sort of cynical cash-grab; nothing could be further from the truth.

AlphaOmegaSin

This a bit off Topic, but has anyone noticed that Moore pouts his Lips a lot during Interviews? )

Thunderpussy

I'll have to watch out for it, I never noticed. )

AlphaOmegaSin

He does it a few Times in the Life stories one.