Dramitic Moments of the Series - an Evaluation
LPFilms
Posts: 31MI6 Agent
OHMSS - Tracy's Death:
Yes, the obvious one that everyone thinks of right off the bat. After years of service and many partners, James Bond has finally finds the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. His words earlier in the film, "I have a bachelor's taste for freedom." is one of the most character defining things Bond has said in the films, and Tracy is the one who makes him abandon that outlook on life. After he thinks his new life is about to start, she is taken away from him. Even his haters agree that Lazenby pulled off the scene perfectly. He didn't over act and he shows off the ability he does have. Bond is now a man refusing to believe his love was taken from him, and what makes the scene ever more sad is that we never got a proper follow up.
The Living Daylights - Saunder's Death:
I don't know if many people think of this one. Bond has been having fun with Kara for the evening. He eventually meets Saunders in the cafe to discuss their little unofficial business. After having disagreements in their short time together in the field, Bond and Saunders quickly gain respect for each other. As soon as Saunders walks out, he has a death that nobody but the audience saw coming. Bond is quickly shocked out of his more relaxed mood from the evening and immediately shows his rage. Another innocent agent he'd just warmed up to killed in cold blood for nothing. Bond once again allowed himself to be human, and it failed him again.
Licence to Kill - Della/Felix, Pam's interrogation, and Sanchez's death:
LTK wins for most dramatic Bond film. Sure, OHMSS and CR's ending are dramatic, but the whole films doesn't really focus on Bond's retribution. Dalton plays it perfectly the whole way through. From his expressions at finding Della's dead body and Felix's body bag, Bond is hurt... Bad! Especially the part after Bond reads the "Disagreed with something that ate him" letter, shaking while crumbling up the letter.
After spotting Pam in Hellar's office later on, he proceeds to interrogate Pam the next day. After forcing her on the bed and using her own gun on her, Bond uses all of his intimidation and anger against her. When she clears things up and says there's more to their actions than just his vendetta, Bond realizes that he allowed his thirst for revenge to get the better of him. He then calms down and shows that he might've taken things a bit far.
Bond is Then, Bond is held at Sanchez's mercy at the point of his machete, the classic scene when he burns the gasoline-doused Sanchez with the very same lighter that the Leiters gave him on their wedding day. This has to be the most powerful villain death, hands down. The cherry on top, and a scene that I don't think fans give enough credit to, is when Bond watches over the aftermath of his vendetta and has to hold back some tears, realizing his revenge is complete and looking back at all he had to go through and how many people had to die.
I have to admit, though, all these scenes owe themselves to Dalton's acting, and scenes like this are the ones that make me believe that Dalton really was the best Bond in terms of straight up acting ability.
GoldenEye - Trevelyan's Reveal:
After Alec reveals himself as Janus, Bond is at first shocked and then puts on his cold demeanor, but you can still tell by his tone that he feels something about this situation. It's not just Bond, though, but Alec's backstory is enough to kind of put the audience on his side. The music they play adds to it as well. The rest of the film, Bond then ignores their previous friendship and treats Alec like any other target.
TWINE - Bond killing Elektra:
Elektra filled the roll of Bond girl up until Miscast Jones arrives, and his chemistry with Elektra feels less "shagging the hot girl" and more sympathetic (even though Bond sleeps with her after her father died and after being assigned to protect her) and I've heard some say they think Bond may have been in love with Elektra. When he rushes up the tower and tells her to stop Renard, she says he couldn't kill her in cold blood, that he'd miss her. When she warns Renard of what happened, Bond proves her wrong and kills her. "I never miss." before he goes over and clearly shows he had sympathy for her before finishing the job. BTW, love the part where she looks at Bond, clearly not taking him seriously, and immediately fills with fear and does what he says after he yells to call it off.
Casino Royale - Vesper's Death:
Pretty much the same as OHMSS. While I don't personally believe it's as powerful, it's great on it's own right. The thing that separates the two, however, is Craig's performance and the execution of the scene. The scene is full of dramatic angles and music, while OHMSS had a single take and no music until towards the end. Craig is the one who sells the scene, though. His expressions as he's trying to free Vesper to the ones after she dies. After he discovers she's gone, he shows super-intence anger at the situation, but then sees her body laying there, and immediately switches to a super sympathetic and sad look when the sadness hits him. This is the first time he's ever lost a loved one since taking on the job, and he has realized that he has to accept the losses and risks of his work. It's the last thing he needed to learn about the job.
Honorable mentions:
TND - Paris' death
TB - Domino finding out her brother's been killed
FYEO - Melina over her parent's dead bodies + telling Bond she hasn't entered their study since the assassination
TSWLM - Anya discovering Bond killed her lover
Wow... that was long.
Yes, the obvious one that everyone thinks of right off the bat. After years of service and many partners, James Bond has finally finds the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. His words earlier in the film, "I have a bachelor's taste for freedom." is one of the most character defining things Bond has said in the films, and Tracy is the one who makes him abandon that outlook on life. After he thinks his new life is about to start, she is taken away from him. Even his haters agree that Lazenby pulled off the scene perfectly. He didn't over act and he shows off the ability he does have. Bond is now a man refusing to believe his love was taken from him, and what makes the scene ever more sad is that we never got a proper follow up.
The Living Daylights - Saunder's Death:
I don't know if many people think of this one. Bond has been having fun with Kara for the evening. He eventually meets Saunders in the cafe to discuss their little unofficial business. After having disagreements in their short time together in the field, Bond and Saunders quickly gain respect for each other. As soon as Saunders walks out, he has a death that nobody but the audience saw coming. Bond is quickly shocked out of his more relaxed mood from the evening and immediately shows his rage. Another innocent agent he'd just warmed up to killed in cold blood for nothing. Bond once again allowed himself to be human, and it failed him again.
Licence to Kill - Della/Felix, Pam's interrogation, and Sanchez's death:
LTK wins for most dramatic Bond film. Sure, OHMSS and CR's ending are dramatic, but the whole films doesn't really focus on Bond's retribution. Dalton plays it perfectly the whole way through. From his expressions at finding Della's dead body and Felix's body bag, Bond is hurt... Bad! Especially the part after Bond reads the "Disagreed with something that ate him" letter, shaking while crumbling up the letter.
After spotting Pam in Hellar's office later on, he proceeds to interrogate Pam the next day. After forcing her on the bed and using her own gun on her, Bond uses all of his intimidation and anger against her. When she clears things up and says there's more to their actions than just his vendetta, Bond realizes that he allowed his thirst for revenge to get the better of him. He then calms down and shows that he might've taken things a bit far.
Bond is Then, Bond is held at Sanchez's mercy at the point of his machete, the classic scene when he burns the gasoline-doused Sanchez with the very same lighter that the Leiters gave him on their wedding day. This has to be the most powerful villain death, hands down. The cherry on top, and a scene that I don't think fans give enough credit to, is when Bond watches over the aftermath of his vendetta and has to hold back some tears, realizing his revenge is complete and looking back at all he had to go through and how many people had to die.
I have to admit, though, all these scenes owe themselves to Dalton's acting, and scenes like this are the ones that make me believe that Dalton really was the best Bond in terms of straight up acting ability.
GoldenEye - Trevelyan's Reveal:
After Alec reveals himself as Janus, Bond is at first shocked and then puts on his cold demeanor, but you can still tell by his tone that he feels something about this situation. It's not just Bond, though, but Alec's backstory is enough to kind of put the audience on his side. The music they play adds to it as well. The rest of the film, Bond then ignores their previous friendship and treats Alec like any other target.
TWINE - Bond killing Elektra:
Elektra filled the roll of Bond girl up until Miscast Jones arrives, and his chemistry with Elektra feels less "shagging the hot girl" and more sympathetic (even though Bond sleeps with her after her father died and after being assigned to protect her) and I've heard some say they think Bond may have been in love with Elektra. When he rushes up the tower and tells her to stop Renard, she says he couldn't kill her in cold blood, that he'd miss her. When she warns Renard of what happened, Bond proves her wrong and kills her. "I never miss." before he goes over and clearly shows he had sympathy for her before finishing the job. BTW, love the part where she looks at Bond, clearly not taking him seriously, and immediately fills with fear and does what he says after he yells to call it off.
Casino Royale - Vesper's Death:
Pretty much the same as OHMSS. While I don't personally believe it's as powerful, it's great on it's own right. The thing that separates the two, however, is Craig's performance and the execution of the scene. The scene is full of dramatic angles and music, while OHMSS had a single take and no music until towards the end. Craig is the one who sells the scene, though. His expressions as he's trying to free Vesper to the ones after she dies. After he discovers she's gone, he shows super-intence anger at the situation, but then sees her body laying there, and immediately switches to a super sympathetic and sad look when the sadness hits him. This is the first time he's ever lost a loved one since taking on the job, and he has realized that he has to accept the losses and risks of his work. It's the last thing he needed to learn about the job.
Honorable mentions:
TND - Paris' death
TB - Domino finding out her brother's been killed
FYEO - Melina over her parent's dead bodies + telling Bond she hasn't entered their study since the assassination
TSWLM - Anya discovering Bond killed her lover
Wow... that was long.
Comments
Skyfall - M's Death:
Bond's "mother figure" throughout the Craig trilogy, they had a mother-son relationship. She never approved of Bond's actions, but knows he's the top agent. They both respected each other, even if they disagreed with each other, and Bond failed to protect her. Bond shows his emotions again for the first time since Vesper's death in CR. Plus, all us who grew up in the Brosnan era know the impact
That should have been addressed more in the film. Alec was Bond's best friend; he should have been struggling. However, the idea wasn't very well executed. The only reason the pre title sequence was that was to show Alec's death. More people could have been set up to be the possible villain. And let's not forget it's in the trailer. It could have been more dramatic if the audience didn't know it was going to be 006.
Thank you! The Connery "dramatic moments" are often overlooked because some have bought into the notion that he isn't capable (or as capable) of showing emotion as the other actors. Not true, and the Kerim Bey moment is a prime example. The same goes for the moment he finds Jill Masterson's gold-painted body, and also his reaction to Aki's death. Perhaps it's due to the fact that in the Connery films those dramatic moments tend to be fleeting (i.e. not as drawn out), but they're definitely there.