Celebration of the 80's

Absolutely_Cart

Although the 80's were not the most financially successful decade from Bond (it did lack epics like TSWLM, Goldfinger, Skyfall, etc.), it remains my favorite.

It starts out with For Your Eyes Only as true to Fleming spy story. Then, Octopussy, a bizarre campy action-oriented outing. A View to a Kill is the transition period between the parody-like camp and violent tone of the later Bond films. The Living Daylights is a stark shift from the earlier films but also contains the signature over-the-top fun of Bond films. And lastly License to Kill was the darkest entry of the series thus far.

For Moore, the 80's had some of his best moments. And for Dalton, it was his debut, which was underappreciated but nonetheless impactful toward the later Bond films. With detente in the early 80's and an escalation of the Cold War in the mid-late 80's, we got both polar opposites with two different actors. And that's what I like the most about the Bond series. That I could enjoy Octopussy at one moment and then enjoy License to Kill the next.

... Let's just try to forget about Never Say Never Again, though.

broadshoulder

I nearly stumbled at your first sentence..

Although I put the sixties at the top decade - I put the eighties just below it.

Thunderpussy

Agreed the 60's were Bond. 8-)

Silhouette Man

broadshoulder wrote:

I nearly stumbled at your first sentence..

Although I put the sixties at the top decade - I put the eighties just below it.

Just like me, then. -{

always shaken

No the eighties was crap with a capital c , Thatcher ,strikes ,15% mortgage interest rates ,yuppies ,the start of thieving bankers.

Matt S

always shaken wrote:

No the eighties was crap with a capital c , Thatcher ,strikes ,15% mortgage interest rates ,yuppies ,the start of thieving bankers.

Thatcher ruined FYEO for you?

Barbel

Matt S wrote:

Thatcher ruined FYEO for you?

Well, she ruined NHS for me....

broadshoulder

always shaken wrote:

No the eighties was crap with a capital c , Thatcher ,strikes ,15% mortgage interest rates ,yuppies ,the start of thieving bankers.

You know your right...

But the Bonds were top notch

always shaken

Matt S wrote:

always shaken wrote:

No the eighties was crap with a capital c , Thatcher ,strikes ,15% mortgage interest rates ,yuppies ,the start of thieving bankers.

Thatcher ruined FYEO for you?

Yes that bloody woman ruined every thing,we was all to worried that we would lose our houses due to massive interest rates, to enjoy such cinematic greats
and before any body pipes us ,that Mrs Thatcher saved the Falklands , well the Argies ,shouldn't have been there in the first bloody place X-( (ce Senor shall we invade las malvenas , don't be stupid man, if we do we shall certainly get our heads kicked in by the Tommys . )

Thunderpussy

That's the great thing about Bond, for two hours you're in
his world. {[]

Matt S

Thunderpussy wrote:

That's the great thing about Bond, for two hours you're in
his world. {[]

When the person always shaken hates the most ends FYEO, I guess those 2 amazing hours of one of the greatest Bond films are ruined.

Wadsy

The 80's is the best decade of Bond for me, followed by the 60's.
I loved every Bond film that was released in the 80's, with the only weak entry being 'Octopussy' from 1983. I didn't count 'Never Say Never Again' as it obviously isn't an official, but the film is among the worst in the series.

For Your Eyes Only is my favorite Bond of the official series, I love it.
A View To A Kill to me is one of Moore's serious performances, behind Eyes Only of course. I feel the film is very under appreciated and I have always ranked it in the top ten.
The Living Daylights, what can I say? Amazing. Timothy Dalton is my pick for the best Bond actor personally, and this film feels like FYEO in a way, and is a serious cold war spy thriller.
Licence To Kill is another film that is underrated, and I also rank it highly. Although it does contain flaws, it is a great entry to the series.

Bondage007

Regardless of my ranking of the 80's films I love all of them

Absolutely_Cart

always shaken wrote:

No the eighties was crap with a capital c , Thatcher ,strikes ,15% mortgage interest rates ,yuppies ,the start of thieving bankers.

And Reagan too. But aside from mass incarceration, institutionalized racism, AIDS, cocaine-funded guerillas and capitalism taken to an extreme, at least the Bond films within the decade were very good.

chrisisall

Absolutely_Cart wrote:

always shaken wrote:

No the eighties was crap with a capital c , Thatcher ,strikes ,15% mortgage interest rates ,yuppies ,the start of thieving bankers.

And Reagan too. But aside from mass incarceration, institutionalized racism, AIDS, cocaine-funded guerillas and capitalism taken to an extreme, at least the Bond films within the decade were very good.

AC! For an American you seem very aware of your history! Bravo! -{

superado

I don't know...I love all the decades in the Bond Movie Series Universe, but because I was a youth of the 80s (high school and college aged), there was that special dimension in the Bond movies for me. I liked the Bond theme renditions by the divas of easy listening, Sheena Easton, Rita Coolidge and Gladys Knight; then of course there were the "New Wave" bands of Duran Duran and A-ha who put the unique and bold 80s stamp on the movies they featured in.

I like the look of the 80s Bond women, including the extras, who, how can I describe them (?)...were the evolution of the organic, earthy 70s woman that have come of age in the then "sophisticated" style of beauty in the 80s. And, as the product of the decade, this group of Bond films inherently had that neo-camp vibe that cannot be separated it seems from anything done in the 80s.

As for Bond himself, the 80s was when Roger Moore put away his disco shoes so to speak and mellowed out to become the 80s Renaissance man that was a trait that even Tim Dalton carried on; for those who also remember the times, who can also get a sense of where I'm coming from because this "it" of the 80s is already hard to describe, perhaps this is the only quality that Moore and Dalton shared.

Then when Tim took over, Bond became young and invigorated again, a sharper contrast than Craig and the reboot in that respect, IMO; Dalton was the brave new world to the Bond Universe, his films were very 80's in look and feel, it was very refreshing and it was about time. I suppose it should always be like that, because ideally the new decade should be heralded with a Bond (or Bonds) for that age. Indeed the series has done that up to now.

Absolutely_Cart

Very well said superado. The shift from the 70s to the 80s and even from the early 80s to the late 80s was a big one but Eon pulled it off very well

Matt S

Absolutely_Cart wrote:

Very well said superado. The shift from the 70s to the 80s and even from the early 80s to the late 80s was a big one but Eon pulled it off very well

There's not a huge difference in tone when comparing FYEO and TLD. FYEO has a few more lighthearted moments, but overall the film is pretty serious. The biggest difference is the tone of the music. If John Barry had scored FYEO, the tone of the film would sound considerably more serious.

chrisisall

Being the big *Timboy* that I am, I'd say the 80's was Bond's 'finest hour'. Roger's best work was there too IMHO.

Absolutely_Cart

Hell yeah. Us timboys need to stick together.

chrisisall

Absolutely_Cart wrote:

Hell yeah. Us timboys need to stick together.

Or the evil Higgins will win! )

Higgins

Well keeping in mind that you are all wrong - I'll be fine to give you the illusion that you've "won"

Absolutely_Cart

^ The 80's had For Your Eyes Only, which you said was one of your favorites. And it has AVTAK and OP, which you also said were probably the best movie

Higgins

Have I?

And what does it have to do with the Timboys?

AlphaOmegaSin

The 80's was the strongest Decade for Bond ( In my Opinion)

And the Timboys Club is still going strong )

Absolutely_Cart

Higgins wrote:

Have I?

Every Bond movie is probably the best movie, except for the Dalton ones.

Higgins

AlphaOmegaSin wrote:

And the Timboys Club is still going wrong )

Yep!

AlphaOmegaSin

Oh Christ, I meant to say strong )

That's what Tiredness does to you

Virgil37

The 80's were the last decade of the original team: the last period Cubby was hands on during production, the last John Barry score, the last Richard Maibaum script, the last Maurice Binder main title. Also, it was also the decade of the last Connery, Moore and Dalton movies. After 1989, the series changed forever. So, if you like Bond movies, you got to love the 80s.

AlphaOmegaSin

Your right, 1989 was really the End of an Era for Bond.

broadshoulder

Virgil37 wrote:

The 80's were the last decade of the original team: the last period Cubby was hands on during production, the last John Barry score, the last Richard Maibaum script, the last Maurice Binder main title. Also, it was also the decade of the last Connery, Moore and Dalton movies. After 1989, the series changed forever. So, if you like Bond movies, you got to love the 80s.

+ -{