80s action films were adventurous, comedic, larger-than-life and overall fun. LTK, and a lesser extent, TLD weren't fun, breezy films.
This style might go down well with fans, but it didn't with general audiences. They didn't want to see these films! To me it highlights Cubby's lighter involvement.
I would say 80's action films were more violent and had increasingly higher body counts. LTK followed this trend of heavy R-rated action. Die Hard, Terminator, Sudden Impact, Robocop, Commando, Above the Law, etc
My current 10 favorite:
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
I would say 80's action films were more violent and had increasingly higher body counts. LTK followed this trend of heavy R-rated action. Die Hard, Terminator, Sudden Impact, Robocop, Commando, Above the Law, etc
I haven't seen all of those films, but while most of these are incredibly violent films, they also aren't devoid of humour. I think of them, particularly Commando, as fun movies and not dark or overly serious.
I would say 80's action films were more violent and had increasingly higher body counts. LTK followed this trend of heavy R-rated action. Die Hard, Terminator, Sudden Impact, Robocop, Commando, Above the Law, etc
I haven't seen all of those films, but while most of these are incredibly violent films, they also aren't devoid of humour. I think of them, particularly Commando, as fun movies and not dark or overly serious.
Especially Die Hard, it had some very good lines.
The Terminator, not so much but Sudden Impact had some very nice moments.
-We're not gonna let you...walk out of here....
-Whooz we sucka?
-Oh just...Smith...and Wesson....and me. *BANG*
Make my day...etc. While it wasn't the most comedic of the Dirty Harry movies, it certainly had a few moments for comedic effect.
The Living Daylights: USA 51 Million, Worldwide 191 Million
Lethal Weapon: USA: 65 Million, Worldwide: 120 Million Predator: USA 59 Million, Worldwide: 98 Million
Bond was in good company in 1987 with other action/thriller films that could be compared. And it outdid all of them by the way when looking at worldwide figures.
Timothy Dalton was a success. To say otherwise is a myth. Because films in general fared less and less good during the 80s especially the action/thriller genre.
1988: Die Hard: USA 83 Million, Worldwide 140 Million, just another example.
Licence To Kill by the way did 156 Million worldwide. Black Rain did 134 Million worldwide in 1989 and Licence To Kill was the third most successful action/thriller in 1989. Lethal Weapon 2 outdid them all with 228 Million worldwide.
Bond in particular was on a downward spiral in the 80s, no one would have stopped that, Brosnan wouldn't either, but Brosnan would probably have slowed down the decrease with more BO in the US.
Roger Ebert on Licence To Kill in 1989 in his review:
On the basis of this second performance as Bond, Dalton can have the role as long as he enjoys it. He makes an effective Bond - lacking Sean Connery's grace and humor, and Roger Moore's suave self-mockery, but with a lean tension and a toughness that is possibly more contemporary. The major difference between Dalton and the earlier Bonds is that he seems to prefer action to sex. But then so do movie audiences, these days. "Licence to Kill" is one of the best of the recent Bonds.
We've heard all this before - but it still stands:
LTK was the worst grossing 007 movie of all times - no matter how you turn and bend it and Dalton made 2 of the 3 lowest grossing 007 flicks (and yes, Chris they made an amazing roi ).
No surprise that the Americans insisted in firing him.
Btw, I personally enjoy LTK much better then TLD
President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
Roger Ebert on Licence To Kill in 1989 in his review:
On the basis of this second performance as Bond, Dalton can have the role as long as he enjoys it. He makes an effective Bond - lacking Sean Connery's grace and humor, and Roger Moore's suave self-mockery, but with a lean tension and a toughness that is possibly more contemporary. The major difference between Dalton and the earlier Bonds is that he seems to prefer action to sex. But then so do movie audiences, these days. "Licence to Kill" is one of the best of the recent Bonds.
Sure it stands with the BO of TLD and LTK, but you have to look at the big picture. Not even Connery returning would have made much of a difference.
It was the sign of the times.
As for ROI, that is the illness of the recent era. Shame on EON for letting such a thing happen. Those kind of budgets are insane and cost expenditure is not in EONs vocabulary it seems.
Instead of speculating "what if", I prefer sticking with the facts.
And those are that both of his movies stank at the BO and that he was not accepted in parts of the audiences and myself.
That's the big picture, my friend! {[]
As you enjoy a good weeping now and then - you should try his movies )
President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
As a producer, I'd rather have a movie with a budget of 300 millions grossing over 1 billion instead of having one with a better roi budgeted with 30million and grossing at 300 million.
Call me crazy, but that's how I see it )
President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
That's called having a range and not just one expression like a certain current Bond )
Timothy is my hero, absolutely, because of him and the PTS of TLD I have become a para-scout and that is a fact! LTK helped that motivation even more and two years later I was accepted by the Swiss Army to train for it
Dalton and Stewart could be twins, same face, same moves, Dalton looks like Stewart with hair and bigger muscles
anecdotally, I stopped watching Bond before a View to a Kill, therefor missed both Dalton films not because I didn't like the new actor, but because I thought I'd outgrown this type of film
why? I was in art school in the 80s, and my cool new friends were teaching me deconstruct mainstream entertainment in search of the inherent cultural biases ... James Bond was easy pickings ... instead I was pretending to like Peter Greenaway, Jim Jarmusch, Wim Wenders, that sort of stuff ... of the list of 80s action films above, the only ones I saw were Robocop, because that was supposed to be satire (the ladyfriend I invited certainly didnt think it was funny) and Die Hard, because I was intrigued by the skyscraper concept
years later I was first in line to see Goldeneye, the filmmakers were smart to incorporate the critique against Bond directly into the dialog then get on with all the fun stuff we really really wanted to see
but had I seen Dalton's films at the time, I'm sure I would have liked them: I always wanted more Fleming content, and less of the comedy routines
That's called having a range and not just one expression like a certain current Bond )
Timothy is my hero, absolutely, because of him and the PTS of TLD I have become a para-scout and that is a fact! LTK helped that motivation even more and two years later I was accepted by the Swiss Army to train for it
A range??
Just watch how gracefully Moore handles the scene at Theresa's grave!
That's class acting - Dalton would have bursted out in tears!
Dalton is limited in playing the range of emotions only in one way: bo-hoo!
That's the opposite of having a range X-(
President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
1987 saw films like Lethal Weapon, 1988 films like Die Hard. LTK was a try to jump on that genre but the remaining Bond fans didn't buy it back then, it was too much of a change too fast.
Watched Die Hard last night, hadn't seen it in ages, with Kamen's score, Robert Davi, Grand L Bush it struck me that the team involved in writing LTK really didn't have much creativity and just took the 80s American action film blueprint and copied it with a few Bond inserts.
Comments
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
you must give me the name of your oculist 8-)
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
https://youtu.be/FDTEsevKumA
Read my lips: or my signature line :P
PS: Best Gun-barrel ever!
you forgot weepy
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
you mistake one Bond for the other...
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
Indeed. He shoots, he scores !
This style might go down well with fans, but it didn't with general audiences. They didn't want to see these films! To me it highlights Cubby's lighter involvement.
"Better make that two."
:x
Give that man a drink, please! {[]
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
That they where not ready for Dalton's interpretation is a myth {[]
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
I haven't seen all of those films, but while most of these are incredibly violent films, they also aren't devoid of humour. I think of them, particularly Commando, as fun movies and not dark or overly serious.
The Terminator, not so much but Sudden Impact had some very nice moments.
-We're not gonna let you...walk out of here....
-Whooz we sucka?
-Oh just...Smith...and Wesson....and me. *BANG*
Make my day...etc. While it wasn't the most comedic of the Dirty Harry movies, it certainly had a few moments for comedic effect.
The Living Daylights: USA 51 Million, Worldwide 191 Million
Lethal Weapon: USA: 65 Million, Worldwide: 120 Million
Predator: USA 59 Million, Worldwide: 98 Million
Bond was in good company in 1987 with other action/thriller films that could be compared. And it outdid all of them by the way when looking at worldwide figures.
Timothy Dalton was a success. To say otherwise is a myth. Because films in general fared less and less good during the 80s especially the action/thriller genre.
1988: Die Hard: USA 83 Million, Worldwide 140 Million, just another example.
Licence To Kill by the way did 156 Million worldwide. Black Rain did 134 Million worldwide in 1989 and Licence To Kill was the third most successful action/thriller in 1989. Lethal Weapon 2 outdid them all with 228 Million worldwide.
Bond in particular was on a downward spiral in the 80s, no one would have stopped that, Brosnan wouldn't either, but Brosnan would probably have slowed down the decrease with more BO in the US.
On the basis of this second performance as Bond, Dalton can have the role as long as he enjoys it. He makes an effective Bond - lacking Sean Connery's grace and humor, and Roger Moore's suave self-mockery, but with a lean tension and a toughness that is possibly more contemporary. The major difference between Dalton and the earlier Bonds is that he seems to prefer action to sex. But then so do movie audiences, these days. "Licence to Kill" is one of the best of the recent Bonds.
That man was ahead of the times and understood.
LTK was the worst grossing 007 movie of all times - no matter how you turn and bend it and Dalton made 2 of the 3 lowest grossing 007 flicks (and yes, Chris they made an amazing roi
No surprise that the Americans insisted in firing him.
Btw, I personally enjoy LTK much better then TLD
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
It was the sign of the times.
As for ROI, that is the illness of the recent era. Shame on EON for letting such a thing happen. Those kind of budgets are insane and cost expenditure is not in EONs vocabulary it seems.
And those are that both of his movies stank at the BO and that he was not accepted in parts of the audiences and myself.
That's the big picture, my friend! {[]
As you enjoy a good weeping now and then - you should try his movies
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
As a producer, I'd rather have a movie with a budget of 300 millions grossing over 1 billion instead of having one with a better roi budgeted with 30million and grossing at 300 million.
Call me crazy, but that's how I see it
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
I don't know who that is in the picture above.
As for weepy, I simply can't see anything weepy about Dalton...he is ruthless like Connery.
I remember ASP9mm coming up here after having rewatched TLD and he was blown away about how often Dalton does it
When he's happy, when he's angry, when he's romantic, when he's sad, when he sees Kara - he weeps.
Must be a Shakespeare acting school thing
But as you persistently ignore facts about your hero, you may not notice that as well
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
That's called having a range and not just one expression like a certain current Bond
Timothy is my hero, absolutely, because of him and the PTS of TLD I have become a para-scout and that is a fact! LTK helped that motivation even more and two years later I was accepted by the Swiss Army to train for it
anecdotally, I stopped watching Bond before a View to a Kill, therefor missed both Dalton films not because I didn't like the new actor, but because I thought I'd outgrown this type of film
why? I was in art school in the 80s, and my cool new friends were teaching me deconstruct mainstream entertainment in search of the inherent cultural biases ... James Bond was easy pickings ... instead I was pretending to like Peter Greenaway, Jim Jarmusch, Wim Wenders, that sort of stuff ... of the list of 80s action films above, the only ones I saw were Robocop, because that was supposed to be satire (the ladyfriend I invited certainly didnt think it was funny) and Die Hard, because I was intrigued by the skyscraper concept
years later I was first in line to see Goldeneye, the filmmakers were smart to incorporate the critique against Bond directly into the dialog then get on with all the fun stuff we really really wanted to see
but had I seen Dalton's films at the time, I'm sure I would have liked them: I always wanted more Fleming content, and less of the comedy routines
A range??
Just watch how gracefully Moore handles the scene at Theresa's grave!
That's class acting - Dalton would have bursted out in tears!
Dalton is limited in playing the range of emotions only in one way: bo-hoo!
That's the opposite of having a range X-(
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
Watched Die Hard last night, hadn't seen it in ages, with Kamen's score, Robert Davi, Grand L Bush it struck me that the team involved in writing LTK really didn't have much creativity and just took the 80s American action film blueprint and copied it with a few Bond inserts.
Die Hard makes LTK look pretty bad...
"Better make that two."