LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
Personally, I am very glad that NONE of the Bond films 'don't exist for me.' :007)
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
The key caveat to my statement is "the first 30 minutes of the movie".
The part of any movie that lays the groundwork for the rest of the story. The part where relationships begin. The part where time can be taken for character establishment and development. The part where this particular James Bond story differs most markedly in structure from its predecessors (until the very end, that is).
Once we have the scene where Draco and Bond meet and Bond asks Draco to give him information if he continues pursuing Tracy and the subsequent scene where Tracy basically guilts her father into not waiting to give Bond what he's looking for (which happen about 33 to 36 minutes into the film), everything about their interactions with one another changes because there's suddenly an 'endgame' attached, one that facilitates them organically falling enough in love with one another
It’s not sudden at all. 007 is not at her dad’s birthday celebration simply for information- James and Tracy are falling in love. The scene just after Draco tells Bond what he wants makes this clear, and is followed by the two of them realising it. Their interactions from that point are the logical developments of their interactions before it- these interactions are building up to something.
I didn't understand the point of all those falling in love scenes... they should have just gotten married without talking too much... exposition is highly over-rated in movies.
I didn't understand the point of all those falling in love scenes... they should have just gotten married without talking too much... exposition is highly over-rated in movies.
I'm actually a big fan of the montage, with Louis Armstrong singing over them. A moment unlike any other in the series. Very nice :007)
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
I didn't understand the point of all those falling in love scenes... they should have just gotten married without talking too much... exposition is highly over-rated in movies.
I'm actually a big fan of the montage, with Louis Armstrong singing over them. A moment unlike any other in the series. Very nice :007)
Just kidding. I liked it too.
Funny though, there are similar montages in many other films. Know why we don't hear what they say? Cause if we DID we'd all be laughing too hard. Lovey-dovey talk is only meaningful to the two doing it- it's like a temporarily formulated foreign language that greases the courtship process. )
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
Sorry...there's so much irony bouncing around in this thread it's easy to lose track ;%
Quite right about the lovey-doveys---best let Satchmo sing...
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
My review of The Spy Who Loved Me:
With the way I've chosen to view the films in the pre-Craig Continuity, there's no truly organic way to transition from On His Majesty's Secret Service and George Lazenby's single outing as James Bond to the beginning of Roger Moore's tenure, but TSWLM does make that transition as smooth as it could possibly be given the realities of the situation. Moore's Bond, at least in this movie, does feel very much like an evolution of the character played previously by both Connery and Lazenby, in spite of his tendency to make quips and off-the-cuff comments far more frequently than either of his predecessors. There are a couple of instances where some of his quips fall flat, but, on the whole, most of the things he says feel very much like they could've come from the character as played by both Connery and Lazenby.
TSWLM, story-wise, is very much an echo of YOLT and TB, with a little bit of FRwL tossed in as well, but never to the point where it feels like a retread. Karl Stromberg's characterization and his motivations for doing what he's doing are different enough from what Blofeld and SPECTRE were doing that, in spite of the movie covering several similar plot-beats, everything feels organic and real.
I'm not entirely sure where I'd rank Anya against previous Bond Girls, but I really liked the relationship that developed between her and James over the course of the movie. I also rather enjoyed the way that the actors played off of one another, particularly during the scene where Anya confronts James about the death of her lover in Austria, and the characters did make for a very good pairing throughout the course of the film.
I tend to like my James Bond henchmen to be a little less gimmicky, but Jaws was fine for what he was needed to do, and I did like the way that James ultimately ended up subduing him, since it was pretty clever thinking to use a gigantic magnet and try and feed him to Stromberg's shark.
I hadn't mentioned this before, but, in watching the films as I have, the Aston Martin just disappears after YOLT to be replaced by a generic car in OHMSS and the Lotus Esprit here, but of the two 'specialized' cars James has used thus far, I happen to personally prefer the Lotus, and loved the sequence where it turns into a submarine, which I thought was a nice mirror of and echo for the sequence in YOLT where Bond fights off the SPECTRE helicopters aboard Little Nellie.
As much as I did enjoy the movie, it does lose a few points with me for only having the one reference to Tracy's death (I know the real-world reasons behind just the one mention, but would've liked to see a couple more just because), and for not really having as much setup as I would've personally liked as far as the mission James was on in Austria at the beginning.
In terms of ranking TSWLM against the previous movies I've seen, I'm giving it a 9, which puts it tied with FRwL as my second-favorite film in the pre-Craig Continuity thus far behind TB and OHMSS.
Now, onto FYEO.
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
Nice writeup, Digi! {[] I'm glad to see you back.
You probably already know that a great many Bond fans consider this one to be Sir Roger's best...in fact, I think Moore himself thinks so. You'll find the mentions of Tracy few and far between, going forward...but IMO this heightens their importance when it happens.
I look forward to your thoughts on FYEO -{
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
You probably already know that a great many Bond fans consider this one to be Sir Roger's best...in fact, I think Moore himself thinks so.
I look forward to your thoughts on FYEO -{
I don't know if I'll end up watching any of Moore's movies beyond TSWLM, FYEO, and AVtaK, but if I do, I'll probably be judging them against that trilogy of movies, so it'll be interesting to see what my overall opinion of Moore's tenure ends up being in comparison to that of other fans.
You'll find the mentions of Tracy few and far between, going forward...but IMO this heightens their importance when it happens.
The main reason I wish there would've been more than just the one mention of Tracy is that, because of the way I'm watching the films, we go directly from her death to this movie, and it therefore felt a little bit 'artificial' that there wouldn't have been more than just the one reference to her.
Nice review DigificWriter. Glad you enjoyed TSWLM, it's one of my own favourites.
I think though you may be being a bit harsh to criticise it for only referencing Tracy once. There are three films between OHMSS and TSWLM and there is no mention of Tracy in any of them. So in my humble opinion kudos to TSWLM for mentioning her at all, because she barely gets a mention from now on. -{
Maybe I am being a bit more critical of TSWLM than I ought to be re: Tracy, but I can't help feeling like I do.
On the flip side, though, you know you've got a quality film when one of the only things somebody can find to criticize it for is something that, in the grand scheme of things, is really only tangential to it.
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
You probably already know that a great many Bond fans consider this one to be Sir Roger's best...in fact, I think Moore himself thinks so.
I look forward to your thoughts on FYEO -{
I don't know if I'll end up watching any of Moore's movies beyond TSWLM, FYEO, and AVtaK, but if I do, I'll probably be judging them against that trilogy of movies, so it'll be interesting to see what my overall opinion of Moore's tenure ends up being in comparison to that of other fans.
You'll find the mentions of Tracy few and far between, going forward...but IMO this heightens their importance when it happens.
The main reason I wish there would've been more than just the one mention of Tracy is that, because of the way I'm watching the films, we go directly from her death to this movie, and it therefore felt a little bit 'artificial' that there wouldn't have been more than just the one reference to her.
Yes...real life has a way of doing that I often say: I hate it when work interferes with my leisure activities
Eventually, you really should see them all, IMO---even the rest of Moore's, as there are very enjoyable elements in them all. AVTAK is my least favourite Moore, but to each his/her own!
Bond isn't one to emote much, and so we get the sense that he internalizes his grief for Tracy, thus becoming the womanizer we see. I think Eon was probably wise to not have him dwell too much on her, going forward. Ironically, Fleming did much the same with the novels: there was the death of Vesper, in the CR debut novel...and then the death of Tracy, near the end of the novel series. In-between, Bond isn't depicted as thinking about Vesper, but in YOLT (which comes directly on the heels of OHMSS) Bond is a broken man who becomes bent on avenging his dead wife...and then gets the unexpected opportunity whilst on a strictly diplomatic mission to Japan B-)
I think you'll enjoy FYEO
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Double-post (again, sorry), but here's my review of For Your Eyes Only:
Although some of the previous films have reminded me of Quantum of Solace in some fashion or other, FYEO is really the first of the pre-Craig films that I would be willing to call a direct equivalent to that particular film, with the only difference being that FYEO isn't a direct sequel to anything.
There really isn't a single frame of or plot point from this movie that doesn't in some fashion correspond to something that happened in Quantum, from the "cold open" sequence of Bond getting his closure on Tracy's death by killing Blofeld (see James having Mr. White locked up in his trunk) to Melina Havelock's quest for revenge on the man responsible for calling out the hit on her parents (see Camille) to Bond's early interactions with Kristatos (see Bond's interactions with Dominic Greene), and since Quantum is my favorite of the Craig!Bond Continuity films, it's nice to find a direct equivalent to it in the pre-Craig Continuity.
I mentioned in my review of TSWLM that it was easy for me to believe that Roger Moore's Bond was exactly the same character as the one played by Connery and Lazenby, and FYEO only reinforces that impression, with Moore delivering a performance that not only builds on what he did in TSWLM, but refines it down to its essence and reminds you exactly why the character of Bond is MI6's "go-to" agent. From the sly way he flirted with both Melina and Bibi Dahl (who I really liked as a character even though she was more or less there as a 'collateral witness', as it were) to the way he demonstrated just how ruthless he could be (from calmy killing Blofeld and Loque, Moore was really in top form, delivering a performance that I honestly think outdoes not only Lazenby, but Connery as well.
It was a little bit jarring at first to see Chaim Topol (with whom I'm only familiar as Tevye from The Fiddler on the Roof) in a James Bond movie, but I loved his performance as Colombo. He reminded me very much of Rene Mathis both in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, and the way he and Roger Moore played off of each other was great. I particularly liked that he ended up getting to save James' butt by killing Kristatos, and his final scene in the movie was charming and a nice way to end things with both his character and Bibi's.
The order in which I was going to watch this movie ended up shifting several times over the course of this thread and the various conversations I've had with other posters in it, but, after having seen both it and TSWLM, I honestly think you could very easily slot it in as a direct follow-up to OHMSS. I know that some people might argue that you need to watch TSWLM first because it's our first introduction to General Gogol, but, with the way the scene where Gogol and Bond meet for the first time in TSWLM is shot, one could make the argument that while it's their first FORMAL meeting, they could've easily met face-to-face before during the events of this film.
I really can't think of a single thing about this movie that didn't work for me or that I didn't like, and would be so bold as to make the claim that it really is the perfect James Bond movie. Therefore, I'm giving it a very well-deserved perfect score of 10 out of 10.
I really can't think of a single thing about this movie that didn't work for me or that I didn't like, and would be so bold as to make the claim that it really is the perfect James Bond movie. Therefore, I'm giving it a very well-deserved perfect score of 10 out of 10.
While I disagree with some of your connections to other Bond films and your continuity comments this is a great review - glad another person (there are a few) that likes FYEO that much!
The personal connection that Gogol and Bond develop in TSWLM may partially explain why Gogol doesn't want Bond killed in FYEO, and again when he is mad when he hears that Bond has been killed in AVTAK. TSWLM also introduces the Minister of Defence, though his rocky relationship with Bond is established in MR.
Well, in the old days very little was revealed about Bond at all in the films (other than his tastes in food, drink women, etc.), which was carried over from the books: Fleming intended Bond to be a blunt instrument of the government, a man who was only a silhouette; a protagonist that was carried along by the action and movement of the story. After the initial tragedy of CR (the first novel), we simply observe Bond in the moment for the lion's share of the book series. Then comes the larger personal tragedy in OHMSS...and then finally we get to read his obituary in YOLT when he is believed dead.
This is the larger effect that Craig has had on the films, and why I believe the challenge for Eon will grow exponentially when they've finished plumbing his history, psyche and motivations.
Just out of interest Loeffelholz, do you think what Eon are doing with the Craig tenure is good? IE: exploring Bond's back-story and history a bit more? or do you prefer the straight-up spy stories?
Excellent question! -{ I was someone on here, before CR came out, who lobbied for some depth in Bond. I wanted his parents' death explored (in fact I advocated the use of the Oberhauser character (and, given that he's mentioned in the Eon-approved official Bond dossier, it seemed likely); I wanted to see his morning exercise regimen. Others here at the time (and now apparently gone) didn't agree with me at all---they argued that it would demystify the character. Presently, I've come to think we were both right, to a degree. Exploring Personal Bond has been good for the films in terms of success...but I now also worry that they risk going to the well too often, and will (sooner rather than later) paint themselves into a corner...and the only way out will be via the Precious Classic FormulaTM that dominated from GF through DAD. It might have been better to ration these revelations over a dozen pictures instead of four in a row...but then perhaps this is the carrot they dangled in front of Craig to get him to sign on. That's why I've come to call him the 'Backstory Bond.'
I'm still waiting for his morning exercise regime, though :007)
I have to agree with pretty much everything you say there -{
It is interesting if you watch FYEO after OHMSS because the PTS with Bond dropping Blofeld down the chimney you get that feeling of revenge and closure that was missing in DAF.
It is interesting if you watch FYEO after OHMSS because the PTS with Bond dropping Blofeld down the chimney you get that feeling of revenge and closure that was missing in DAF.
Going right from the end of OHMSS to the PTS of FYEO is too soon for me. It works when you feel that the 12 years have passed, but without that time Blofeld's death just feels too easy. Ideally, Bond should have spent an entire film trying to kill Blofeld, like he does with Sanchez in LTK. DAF should not have been so light, and Bond should have killed off Blofeld violently at the end.
DAF should not have been so light, and Bond should have killed off Blofeld violently at the end.
DAF is the lowest point in the entire franchise. It's fun, but overall the way SC comes back based on UA command and the plot has not continuity is insulting to a Bond fan.
At least with DAD they attempted to make something respectable to fans in terms of homages and being the biggest yet. We all know how that went, but in comparison with DAF, the heart was in the right place.
It is interesting if you watch FYEO after OHMSS because the PTS with Bond dropping Blofeld down the chimney you get that feeling of revenge and closure that was missing in DAF.
Going right from the end of OHMSS to the PTS of FYEO is too soon for me. It works when you feel that the 12 years have passed, but without that time Blofeld's death just feels too easy. Ideally, Bond should have spent an entire film trying to kill Blofeld, like he does with Sanchez in LTK. DAF should not have been so light, and Bond should have killed off Blofeld violently at the end.
Agreed. The film DAF should have been, compared to the film we got is one of the reasons I find it so disappointing. OHMSS is my favourite of them all and it was crying out to be followed by the LTK type of film you describe. But it wasn't. I watch DAF not as a sequel but as a standalone Bond film and find I can enjoy it more that way.
So we are left with Blofeld being dropped down a chimney. The PTS is possibly my least favourite thing about FYEO simply because Blofeld gets a five minute death scene when it should be an entire film dedicated to him. It therefore feels out of place in an otherwise brilliant Bond film. But at least Bond gets his revenge which was something DAF failed to do. -{
It is interesting if you watch FYEO after OHMSS because the PTS with Bond dropping Blofeld down the chimney you get that feeling of revenge and closure that was missing in DAF.
Going right from the end of OHMSS to the PTS of FYEO is too soon for me. It works when you feel that the 12 years have passed, but without that time Blofeld's death just feels too easy. Ideally, Bond should have spent an entire film trying to kill Blofeld, like he does with Sanchez in LTK. DAF should not have been so light, and Bond should have killed off Blofeld violently at the end.
Agreed. The film DAF should have been, compared to the film we got is one of the reasons I find it so disappointing. OHMSS is my favourite of them all and it was crying out to be followed by the LTK type of film you describe. But it wasn't. I watch DAF not as a sequel but as a standalone Bond film and find I can enjoy it more that way.
So we are left with Blofeld being dropped down a chimney. The PTS is possibly my least favourite thing about FYEO simply because Blofeld gets a five minute death scene when it should be an entire film dedicated to him. It therefore feels out of place in an otherwise brilliant Bond film. But at least Bond gets his revenge which was something DAF failed to do. -{
And I think Connery could have done a great LTK-type film. He can be fierce! As long as he treated Blofeld like he treats his fans.
It is interesting if you watch FYEO after OHMSS because the PTS with Bond dropping Blofeld down the chimney you get that feeling of revenge and closure that was missing in DAF.
Going right from the end of OHMSS to the PTS of FYEO is too soon for me. It works when you feel that the 12 years have passed, but without that time Blofeld's death just feels too easy. Ideally, Bond should have spent an entire film trying to kill Blofeld, like he does with Sanchez in LTK. DAF should not have been so light, and Bond should have killed off Blofeld violently at the end.
Agreed. The film DAF should have been, compared to the film we got is one of the reasons I find it so disappointing. OHMSS is my favourite of them all and it was crying out to be followed by the LTK type of film you describe. But it wasn't. I watch DAF not as a sequel but as a standalone Bond film and find I can enjoy it more that way.
So we are left with Blofeld being dropped down a chimney. The PTS is possibly my least favourite thing about FYEO simply because Blofeld gets a five minute death scene when it should be an entire film dedicated to him. It therefore feels out of place in an otherwise brilliant Bond film. But at least Bond gets his revenge which was something DAF failed to do. -{
It does seem a bit out of place, I have always thought that. And I just think of Dr. Evil for some reason every time I watch it. I think it just makes Blofeld look massively incompetent and a bit stupid.
They make him go out in such a ridiculous way, begging for his life with offers of a "delicatessen in Stainless Steel"
Comments
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
The part of any movie that lays the groundwork for the rest of the story. The part where relationships begin. The part where time can be taken for character establishment and development. The part where this particular James Bond story differs most markedly in structure from its predecessors (until the very end, that is). It’s not sudden at all. 007 is not at her dad’s birthday celebration simply for information- James and Tracy are falling in love. The scene just after Draco tells Bond what he wants makes this clear, and is followed by the two of them realising it. Their interactions from that point are the logical developments of their interactions before it- these interactions are building up to something.
Ah, good, you didn’t miss the marriage then.... just the point.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
I'm actually a big fan of the montage, with Louis Armstrong singing over them. A moment unlike any other in the series. Very nice :007)
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Funny though, there are similar montages in many other films. Know why we don't hear what they say? Cause if we DID we'd all be laughing too hard. Lovey-dovey talk is only meaningful to the two doing it- it's like a temporarily formulated foreign language that greases the courtship process.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
Quite right about the lovey-doveys---best let Satchmo sing...
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
With the way I've chosen to view the films in the pre-Craig Continuity, there's no truly organic way to transition from On His Majesty's Secret Service and George Lazenby's single outing as James Bond to the beginning of Roger Moore's tenure, but TSWLM does make that transition as smooth as it could possibly be given the realities of the situation. Moore's Bond, at least in this movie, does feel very much like an evolution of the character played previously by both Connery and Lazenby, in spite of his tendency to make quips and off-the-cuff comments far more frequently than either of his predecessors. There are a couple of instances where some of his quips fall flat, but, on the whole, most of the things he says feel very much like they could've come from the character as played by both Connery and Lazenby.
TSWLM, story-wise, is very much an echo of YOLT and TB, with a little bit of FRwL tossed in as well, but never to the point where it feels like a retread. Karl Stromberg's characterization and his motivations for doing what he's doing are different enough from what Blofeld and SPECTRE were doing that, in spite of the movie covering several similar plot-beats, everything feels organic and real.
I'm not entirely sure where I'd rank Anya against previous Bond Girls, but I really liked the relationship that developed between her and James over the course of the movie. I also rather enjoyed the way that the actors played off of one another, particularly during the scene where Anya confronts James about the death of her lover in Austria, and the characters did make for a very good pairing throughout the course of the film.
I tend to like my James Bond henchmen to be a little less gimmicky, but Jaws was fine for what he was needed to do, and I did like the way that James ultimately ended up subduing him, since it was pretty clever thinking to use a gigantic magnet and try and feed him to Stromberg's shark.
I hadn't mentioned this before, but, in watching the films as I have, the Aston Martin just disappears after YOLT to be replaced by a generic car in OHMSS and the Lotus Esprit here, but of the two 'specialized' cars James has used thus far, I happen to personally prefer the Lotus, and loved the sequence where it turns into a submarine, which I thought was a nice mirror of and echo for the sequence in YOLT where Bond fights off the SPECTRE helicopters aboard Little Nellie.
As much as I did enjoy the movie, it does lose a few points with me for only having the one reference to Tracy's death (I know the real-world reasons behind just the one mention, but would've liked to see a couple more just because), and for not really having as much setup as I would've personally liked as far as the mission James was on in Austria at the beginning.
In terms of ranking TSWLM against the previous movies I've seen, I'm giving it a 9, which puts it tied with FRwL as my second-favorite film in the pre-Craig Continuity thus far behind TB and OHMSS.
Now, onto FYEO.
You probably already know that a great many Bond fans consider this one to be Sir Roger's best...in fact, I think Moore himself thinks so. You'll find the mentions of Tracy few and far between, going forward...but IMO this heightens their importance when it happens.
I look forward to your thoughts on FYEO -{
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Real life got in the way for a few days.
I don't know if I'll end up watching any of Moore's movies beyond TSWLM, FYEO, and AVtaK, but if I do, I'll probably be judging them against that trilogy of movies, so it'll be interesting to see what my overall opinion of Moore's tenure ends up being in comparison to that of other fans.
The main reason I wish there would've been more than just the one mention of Tracy is that, because of the way I'm watching the films, we go directly from her death to this movie, and it therefore felt a little bit 'artificial' that there wouldn't have been more than just the one reference to her.
I think though you may be being a bit harsh to criticise it for only referencing Tracy once. There are three films between OHMSS and TSWLM and there is no mention of Tracy in any of them. So in my humble opinion kudos to TSWLM for mentioning her at all, because she barely gets a mention from now on. -{
On the flip side, though, you know you've got a quality film when one of the only things somebody can find to criticize it for is something that, in the grand scheme of things, is really only tangential to it.
Yes...real life has a way of doing that
Eventually, you really should see them all, IMO---even the rest of Moore's, as there are very enjoyable elements in them all. AVTAK is my least favourite Moore, but to each his/her own!
Bond isn't one to emote much, and so we get the sense that he internalizes his grief for Tracy, thus becoming the womanizer we see. I think Eon was probably wise to not have him dwell too much on her, going forward. Ironically, Fleming did much the same with the novels: there was the death of Vesper, in the CR debut novel...and then the death of Tracy, near the end of the novel series. In-between, Bond isn't depicted as thinking about Vesper, but in YOLT (which comes directly on the heels of OHMSS) Bond is a broken man who becomes bent on avenging his dead wife...and then gets the unexpected opportunity whilst on a strictly diplomatic mission to Japan B-)
I think you'll enjoy FYEO
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Although some of the previous films have reminded me of Quantum of Solace in some fashion or other, FYEO is really the first of the pre-Craig films that I would be willing to call a direct equivalent to that particular film, with the only difference being that FYEO isn't a direct sequel to anything.
There really isn't a single frame of or plot point from this movie that doesn't in some fashion correspond to something that happened in Quantum, from the "cold open" sequence of Bond getting his closure on Tracy's death by killing Blofeld (see James having Mr. White locked up in his trunk) to Melina Havelock's quest for revenge on the man responsible for calling out the hit on her parents (see Camille) to Bond's early interactions with Kristatos (see Bond's interactions with Dominic Greene), and since Quantum is my favorite of the Craig!Bond Continuity films, it's nice to find a direct equivalent to it in the pre-Craig Continuity.
I mentioned in my review of TSWLM that it was easy for me to believe that Roger Moore's Bond was exactly the same character as the one played by Connery and Lazenby, and FYEO only reinforces that impression, with Moore delivering a performance that not only builds on what he did in TSWLM, but refines it down to its essence and reminds you exactly why the character of Bond is MI6's "go-to" agent. From the sly way he flirted with both Melina and Bibi Dahl (who I really liked as a character even though she was more or less there as a 'collateral witness', as it were) to the way he demonstrated just how ruthless he could be (from calmy killing Blofeld and Loque, Moore was really in top form, delivering a performance that I honestly think outdoes not only Lazenby, but Connery as well.
It was a little bit jarring at first to see Chaim Topol (with whom I'm only familiar as Tevye from The Fiddler on the Roof) in a James Bond movie, but I loved his performance as Colombo. He reminded me very much of Rene Mathis both in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, and the way he and Roger Moore played off of each other was great. I particularly liked that he ended up getting to save James' butt by killing Kristatos, and his final scene in the movie was charming and a nice way to end things with both his character and Bibi's.
The order in which I was going to watch this movie ended up shifting several times over the course of this thread and the various conversations I've had with other posters in it, but, after having seen both it and TSWLM, I honestly think you could very easily slot it in as a direct follow-up to OHMSS. I know that some people might argue that you need to watch TSWLM first because it's our first introduction to General Gogol, but, with the way the scene where Gogol and Bond meet for the first time in TSWLM is shot, one could make the argument that while it's their first FORMAL meeting, they could've easily met face-to-face before during the events of this film.
I really can't think of a single thing about this movie that didn't work for me or that I didn't like, and would be so bold as to make the claim that it really is the perfect James Bond movie. Therefore, I'm giving it a very well-deserved perfect score of 10 out of 10.
While I disagree with some of your connections to other Bond films and your continuity comments this is a great review - glad another person (there are a few) that likes FYEO that much!
{[]
"Better make that two."
I have to agree with pretty much everything you say there -{
Going right from the end of OHMSS to the PTS of FYEO is too soon for me. It works when you feel that the 12 years have passed, but without that time Blofeld's death just feels too easy. Ideally, Bond should have spent an entire film trying to kill Blofeld, like he does with Sanchez in LTK. DAF should not have been so light, and Bond should have killed off Blofeld violently at the end.
DAF is the lowest point in the entire franchise. It's fun, but overall the way SC comes back based on UA command and the plot has not continuity is insulting to a Bond fan.
At least with DAD they attempted to make something respectable to fans in terms of homages and being the biggest yet. We all know how that went, but in comparison with DAF, the heart was in the right place.
"Better make that two."
Agreed. The film DAF should have been, compared to the film we got is one of the reasons I find it so disappointing. OHMSS is my favourite of them all and it was crying out to be followed by the LTK type of film you describe. But it wasn't. I watch DAF not as a sequel but as a standalone Bond film and find I can enjoy it more that way.
So we are left with Blofeld being dropped down a chimney. The PTS is possibly my least favourite thing about FYEO simply because Blofeld gets a five minute death scene when it should be an entire film dedicated to him. It therefore feels out of place in an otherwise brilliant Bond film. But at least Bond gets his revenge which was something DAF failed to do. -{
And I think Connery could have done a great LTK-type film. He can be fierce! As long as he treated Blofeld like he treats his fans.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
It does seem a bit out of place, I have always thought that. And I just think of Dr. Evil for some reason every time I watch it. I think it just makes Blofeld look massively incompetent and a bit stupid.
They make him go out in such a ridiculous way, begging for his life with offers of a "delicatessen in Stainless Steel"
Blofeld is done poorly from start to finish. It's very Austin Powersey.
"Better make that two."