AVTAK - First half or second half?

Jarvio

Which half do you prefer in this underrated gem?

For me, it is by far the second half - The shooting of Howe, the city hall fire, the fire engine chase, the mine sequence, Roger hanging from Zorin's blimp, and the spectacular golden gate bridge finale. Pure entertainment after entertainment here.

The first half, in contrast, is a little slow and eventless. It has some good moments, like the eiffel tower scene, Tibbet's death, and the businessman falling out of the blimp, but overall, as much as I love the film, I mainly love it for it's second half alone.

What are your thoughts?

Matt S

I definitely prefer the first half. The Eiffel Tower and Paris chase are great. Moore is such a natural at James St. John Smythe, and him and Patrick Macnee together are fantastic. The opening ski chase would have been good if it wasn't for the Beach Boys ruining it. The inclusion of that song is worse than the slide whistle! The second half is ruined by Stacy constantly shouting "James!".

Jarvio

Matt S wrote:

I definitely prefer the first half. The Eiffel Tower and Paris chase are great. Moore is such a natural at James St. John Smythe, and him and Patrick Macnee together are fantastic. The opening ski chase would have been good if it wasn't for the Beach Boys ruining it. The inclusion of that song is worse than the slide whistle! The second half is ruined by Stacy constantly shouting "James!".

Interesting, for me Stacey's screaming never ruined those scenes for me (and besides, she's hot ). However, you said you liked the paris chase, but for me, some of that is ruined by the french cab driver and the obvious stunt double in the half-damaged car. It's funny how different things effect us bond fans.

Bondage007

Both. The film is helped tremendously by Barry's score. We'll see if my opinion changes after by Bondathon

broadshoulder

The second half...

GoldHilding

That's a really tough question. Even though the second half is more exciting, I'd probably say I prefer the first half. It was more original. Second half just became a Goldlfinger remake, and Sutton does not help.

Barbel

Older thread, may be of interest: http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/40635/1st-half-better-than-2nd-half/

HatThrowingHenchman

both have great scenes, but I think the second half is a bit better since the psychopath in Zorin really comes through and I LOVE San Francisco as location

eric7064

Second half. Specifically the mine scene was great. Ruthless killer Walken is.

Golrush007

It's not an easy choice, but I'd pick the first half. The main reasons for this are the Eiffel Tower chase, and Bond's scenes with Tibbett. In fact, I enjoy the whole section of the film at Zorin's estate.

The second half has some great stuff (the climax is excellent), but there are also some parts where my interest and attention wanes a little.

Higgins

IMO the highlight of the movie is right in the middle - when the pace goes slow and Bond drives to Stacey's home with Barry's marvellous "Wine with Stacey" score

Absolutely_Cart

The first half represents the traditional spy aspects of the earlier Bond films and the 2nd half veers into the darker over the top action that would define the later Bond movies.

Wadsy

The second half.
Once they get into San Francisco, the film becomes one epic adventure for me. I love everything that unfolds, such as the underwater scene at the San Francisco Bay, City Hall scenes, Bond and Stacy at her house, the fire at City Hall and the escape, the firetruck chase, the cop car getting stuck at the top of the bridge, and then the excellent mine scenes followed by the perfect climax.

heartbroken_mr_drax

2nd half - only because against the 1st half, doesn't contain any flaws. The first half has the excellent Chantilly scenes, but has the odd Aubergine/Fly rod, silly car chase in Paris and bad fight in the warehouse.

Asp9mm

I like the second half best. The bit where it ends.

Wadsy

Asp9mm wrote:

I like the second half best. The bit where it ends.

lol, clearly you're not a fan

ToTheRight

I love the entire film, but I'll go with the 2nd half. Love the San Francisco section, City Hall, Fight in Stacey's mansion, the mines and Golden Gate Bridge. Great Bond film and sadly underrated.

Wadsy

ToTheRight wrote:

I love the entire film, but I'll go with the 2nd half. Love the San Francisco section, City Hall, Fight in Stacey's mansion, the mines and Golden Gate Bridge. Great Bond film and sadly underrated.

I love the chase scene in San Francisco even, quite action packed and cool. The part where Roger Moore is holding onto the ladder with his hands is quite entertaining.

caractacus potts

first half, because of the smooth comic rapport between Moore and MacNee
had the two actors ever worked together on screen before?
I assume they were friends back when they each had TV series on the same network in the 60s

Barbel

Yes- they had played Holmes and Watson about ten years earlier in "Sherlock Holmes In New York". (Macnee would later play Watson again opposite Christopher Lee as Holmes) Also, both were in "The Sea Wolves" a few years before AVTAK.

welshguy34

Second half for me. The film seems to pick up a bit about half way. Still one of my least favourite Bond films but its still very enjoyable in parts.

IcePak

Easily the first half. Bond's spy antics are classic Bond, and Moore and Macnee play off each other really well. For me, the second half really drags, especially the fire chase scene, which feels tacked on.

Dutchfinger

Second half for me. A lot of the first half's plot developments concerning the performance enhancing drugs for horses play little to no role to the eventual plotline of whiping out the microchips in Silicon Valley to allow Zorin's own chips to increase in value. It's a mediocre Bond film to me as a whole that is highlighted by two of the most memorable and greatest Bond villian's the franchise ever saw.

( My thoughts on the entire film in full detail for those intrested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNLnmzUca3k )

superado

Being from a suburb of San Francisco, I love the city but it doesn't cinematically inspire me unless it's from a really old movie. So, because of that, as a cinema tourist I like the 1st half better, starting with the PTS in Siberia and then the scenes set in France, particularly Paris.

walther p99

Asp9mm wrote:

I like the second half best. The bit where it ends.

I second this

Wadsy

walther p99 wrote:

Asp9mm wrote:

I like the second half best. The bit where it ends.

I second this

Very funny..

The second half, from the time we are in Zorin's blimp heading towards San Francisco is where the film turns from something just good into something outstanding. The entire movie was intriguing, and even though I really like Goldfinger, I like this one more - better locations, climax and it just felt more memorable to me. I love the darker direction that John Glen was heading around this time, which would continue through to Licence To Kill. The part where Roger Moore nearly gets sucked into a moving propeller at the San Francisco bay always gave me this sense of Bond being in real danger, not something I got from the majority of films prior (except On Her Majesty's Secret Service and For Your Eyes Only). Following on from that is easily one of Bond's darkest moments - when Zorin chucks the KGB into a propeller, and him gunning down all the miners in Silicon Valley. I really liked the more realistic and dark approach, which would go on through the amazing Timothy Dalton era. Besides Octopussy, Glen really nailed all his films bringing Bond back to basics and relying more on his wits.

Bond had no gadgets in For Your Eyes Only, except for the Lotus Esprit Turbo. He only had one which he actually used in Octopussy, A View To A Kill and Licence To Kill. The Living Daylights contained two if you count the Aston Martin V8, along with the whistle.