A story by Ian Fleming, produced by Cubby Broccoli, script by Roald Dahl a cast including Gert Frobe and Desmond Llewelyn and a crew including Ken Adam, Peter Hunt,Peter Lamont,Richard Maibaum and a stuntman called Vic Armstrong!!!
And the story? A chauvinistic misunderstood male with an unbelievable car ,who falls for a beautiful, silly named female who finds himself up against a megalomaniac who lives in a fantastical lair and has a very scary henchmen.
I take it neither Cubby or Ian Fleming believed in stretching themselves )
Still, its a great story and I never get bored with it.
Just saw Charlie Wilson's War. Loved it! Excellent performances and a witty script; a comedy-drama for grown-ups. And speaking of cute, Amy Adams is in this, and she's so downright adorable I just might have to take in Enchanted.
Vox clamantis in deserto
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
edited December 2007
Dario Argento's Suspiria
Still a good scare flick but just doesn't hold the fear meter very high with me as much as it did when I was younger.
Then I put on:
Don't Look Now
Still very creepy and beautiful at the same time. A forever classic with me. {[]
Why am I not surprised that both of these films are being REMADE! X-( Has the movie industry really run out of ideas?
But when all is said and done, nothing much beats 70's horror movies. It had to be the best decade for them. B-)
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
The Simpson"s Movie - I guess I would say it was OK. I am not a huge Simpson fan, I find some of the stuff funny, but much of it escapes me. The movie had some laughs, but they were few and far between. Mild spoiler coming, at the end of the movie during the credits, little Maggie says her first word "sequal". I don't see any reason for one.
As a fan of Quentin Tarantino (my fav being Reservoir Dogs), I have to say I like this film. Very well done with excellent stuntwork, direction, and choreography. I'm sure many of you know the plot, but its basically about The bride, who was betrayed by her own people, the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, which she is now out to eliminate for personal revenge.(revenge is VERY sweet here!;))
The movie goes all out in an incredible end fight between Uma Thurman's character and dozens of Yakuzas. Kill Bill may be a fantasy, but thats the intention; to go as far as you want because you can. So in my opinion, this is an awesome and impressive movie.
As a fan of Quentin Tarantino (my fav being Reservoir Dogs), I have to say I like this film. Very well done with excellent stuntwork, direction, and choreography. I'm sure many of you know the plot, but its basically about The bride, who was betrayed by her own people, the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, which she is now out to eliminate for personal revenge.(revenge is VERY sweet here!;))
The movie goes all out in an incredible end fight between Uma Thurman's character and dozens of Yakuzas. Kill Bill may be a fantasy, but thats the intention; to go as far as you want because you can. So in my opinion, this is an awesome and impressive movie.
Pretty good film. My favorite part though is at the very beginning and the two ladies are fighting and the little girl walks in and they just freeze and act normal even though the whole house is destroyed and there is blood everywhere. )
BTW, I'm guessing by your username that you are a Godfather fan?
A Godfather fan I definitely am. The trilogy happens to some of my favorite films. They are all so excellent and mesmerizing and Al Pacino is phenominal as Don Michael Corleone. I know I'm digressing, but you guessed right.
Hannah And Her Sisters - Being a relative newcomer to Woody Allen movies I thought I'd give it a whirl. Think I'm better off for it. Some of his dialogue did crack me up, even if a little of Woody goes a long way. Seeing Michael Caine was also nice. All three sisters were wonderful three dimensional characters, always did like Mia anyway.
Then on to The Spanish Main - One of those cool swashbucklers from the 40s. Maureen O'Hara. Set phasers to stunning. The pirate queen in one of her typical feisty damsel roles. Paul Heinrid played the Errol Flynn/Tryone Power/Cornel Wilde role and I thought he was more then adequate. And best of all, the wonderful character actor Walter Slezak as the heavy. Great saturday matinee stuff here.
The classic Treasure Island was on next, but arr, I had to leave for work.
Then on to The Spanish Main - One of those cool swashbucklers from the 40s. Maureen O'Hara.
Maureen O'Hara an actress I don't think that has ever been given her due. One of the award shows should give her a lifetime achievment award. She was in some great movies, my favorite being the Quiet Man.
Saw her some swashbuckling movie where she engages in a sword fight with one of the pirate ladies and has her dressed sliced off of her. That was some good sword work.
Then on to The Spanish Main - One of those cool swashbucklers from the 40s. Maureen O'Hara.
Maureen O'Hara an actress I don't think that has ever been given her due. One of the award shows should give her a lifetime achievment award. She was in some great movies, my favorite being the Quiet Man.
Saw her some swashbuckling movie where she engages in a sword fight with one of the pirate ladies and has her dressed sliced off of her. That was some good sword work.
Also agree on the Quiet Man, a wonderful film. I admired and respected her loyalty and devotion to the Duke after his passing. O'Hara also participated in a dvd commentary for The Black Swan recently which I really enjoyed. Still sharp as a whip.
I am currently watching the most languid heist movie ever, The Pink Panther. Very exotic, all snow in Cortina, lots of flashes of Paris and Rome up on the screen.
Sellers isn't in it much, it wasn't a star vehicle originally for him as we all know. But the scenes between Niven and Puccini (a Catherine Zeta Jones type, probably Libran) go on forever... Still, it entertains in a mulled wine sort of way. At one point this gal just starts dancing and singing a cha-cha-cha number around a fondu set while the assorted guests watch on approvingly... It takes its time getting anywhere...
I joked that I would see in the New Year in a hotel room, with a bottle of gin, a loaded revolver and a *****. Actually, that now sounds far the better option...
Blimey, even my ***** got asterixed... you'd deprive me of that on New Year's Eve...
Actually Pink Panther hots up at the end, with the fancy dress ball in the country house. You can't go wrong with a pantomine horse, can you? Or zebra, in this case.
Then on to The Spanish Main - One of those cool swashbucklers from the 40s. Maureen O'Hara.
Maureen O'Hara an actress I don't think that has ever been given her due. One of the award shows should give her a lifetime achievment award. She was in some great movies, my favorite being the Quiet Man.
Saw her some swashbuckling movie where she engages in a sword fight with one of the pirate ladies and has her dressed sliced off of her. That was some good sword work.
Also agree on the Quiet Man, a wonderful film. I admired and respected her loyalty and devotion to the Duke after his passing. O'Hara also participated in a dvd commentary for The Black Swan recently which I really enjoyed. Still sharp as a whip.
I agree with your thoughts on Maureen O'Hara. My Dad used to refer to her as 'my girlfriend' so we had to watch her movies. I loved the Quiet Man though. Terrific film.
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
I agree with your thoughts on Maureen O'Hara. My Dad used to refer to her as 'my girlfriend' so we had to watch her movies. I loved the Quiet Man though. Terrific film.
Couldn't agree more. Maureen O'Hara in The Quiet Man = :x :x :x :x
One of the most beautiful women ever photographed, IMO.
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
See No Evil--known to the Brits as Blind Terror--a nifty little 1971 thriller with Mia Farrow as a blind woman whose family is murdered practically under her nose, and who of course becomes the killer's next target. The ever-underrated Richard Fleischer allows us to see everything Mia cannot--except the identity of the killer. The one drawback to the movie is that once we learn who the murderer is we get no explanation for his motive!
Pretty good version of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, with an excellent performance from Will Smith. The only problem was that the infected humans were completely CGI, and didn't look like they'd ever been human, or could be saved. But it has the best performance by a dog in a movie ever.
I watched Eragon last night. I never read the book(s) so I didn't have any real expectations. While the film was watchable, I couldn't help but be annoyed by the blatant Star Wars rip-off plot: Princess steals vital item from Bad Guys, is captured but not before sending the item to fall in the lap of innocent farmboy who lives with his uncle (who is promptly killed by baddies looking for said stolen item). Farmboy teams up with local old veteran to learn his arcane ways. Together the two journey to rescue the princess and join up with renegade army (lead by the Princess) to overthrow the evil leaders.
The Panther sequel, the first to be primarily based around Inspector Clouseau.
Not bad, had the hallmarks of the series such as Herbert Lom as the twitchy superior, Graham Stark as Clouseau's hapless, unimpressed underling (the best comic characters need both a boss and an inferior to be alternatively shown up by or contemptuous of).
But I missed the exotic locale and I suppose I can only have so much of Clouseau falling over things. Nothing matches the outright hilarity of the PP finale with the characters in fancy dress racing around the French square at night. Plus, I didn't quite get how it was that Clouseau was meant to be an idiot for not suspecting suspect Elke Sommer with a smoking gun in her hand, when
it turns out she's innocent in the end anyway! Doesn't that make us idiots too?! And Clouseau's daft theory not daft at all!
Also missed the slinky feline in the credits because, of course, it's not called The Pink Panther as it has nothing to do with the diamond that features the tiny character in it of the first film.
I've seen this a fair few times. I noticed on my tv's programme guide that it had just started and thought i'd watch the 1st ten minutes or so. Mmmm, not likely. I can't help but watch it, it's mesmeric. Paul Newman is absolutely phenomenal in this film and he has such presence on the screen. And Tom Cruise is pretty good too.
It's not a film I ever think of when I'm asked what my favourite is. I don't know why I never remember because it's definitely up there.
1- On Her Majesty's Secret Service 2- Casino Royale 3- Licence To Kill 4- Goldeneye 5- From Russia With Love
Stardust. Uneven and a bit too long, but a good time for the most part. And Michelle Pfeiffer still looks fiiiiine (well, out of hag makeup, that is)!
Vox clamantis in deserto
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
edited January 2008
Last night I watched:
THE RE-ANIMATOR
&
FROM BEYOND
Jeffrey Combs as Dr. Herbert West is a no-brainer not to pass up. I loved these movies back in the 80s. I'm also a fan of Ken Foree since the original Dawn Of The Dead from way back. B-)
Seeing that these films are based off of Lovecraft's works, can anyone else agree that his literary style carries a certain vulgarity or repulsiveness to it? It comes off as very sick horror but not literally torture porn.
I really haven't sat down to read his stories full on (not sure what I'd enjoy out of his stuff) but every film that has adapted his work has that same texture...
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Seeing that these films are based off of Lovecraft's works, can anyone else agree that his literary style carries a certain vulgarity or repulsiveness to it? It comes off as very sick horror but not literally torture porn.
I really haven't sat down to read his stories full on (not sure what I'd enjoy out of his stuff) but every film that has adapted his work has that same texture...
It's been a while since I read Lovecraft but to the best of my recollection, the stories these movies are based on are nowhere near as vulgar or repulsive as the films.
From Beyond was a short story about a pair of scientists who discover a portal to an alternate dimension. There was no gore whatsoever in the short story; just a double cross between the two scientists. The general theme of Reanimator was the same as the movie but the novella, which was serialized over several months in pulp magazines, had a style to it that the movie completely lacks. Again, while Lovecraft got to the guts of death and reanimation the story was not the gorefest of the movie.
Also, both movies lose a lot of the atmosphere of the stories by being set in modern times rather than the early 20th century of the original stories. I don't think you can fairly judge the merit or tastefulness of Lovecraft by watching his movie adaptations; I'd strongly encourage you to read a few short stories - From Beyond, Pickman's Model. Cool Air and The Music of Eric Zahn for starters - and get a taste for what he was really about. I don't think the movies ever did him much justice.
National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Completely implausible, marginally acted, totally OTT, so-so script...and exactly what I was in the mood for. Totally mindless fun! {[]
Knocked Up. Some of the most convulsive laughing I have ever done while watching a film. Most of the humor is extremely crude, but killer hilarious. Definitely not for the easily offended, and it goes a little too long, but if you can get past that you are in from some great laughs.
Tomorrow Never Dies. My kids chose this one on Christmas night. Been a while since I watched all the way through. The weaknesses are still there (lame villain, too much machine-gun fire, silly appearance by Wade, weak female lead) but a few things struck me anew:
-- The overall pacing of the film is excellent. It flies by.
-- Gotta say, I don't get the argument that Wei Lin is pushed in our face as "Bond's equal". She simply isn't. That said, she's pretty poor nonetheless -- just nothing memorable about her at all.
-- The final fight between Bond and Stamper is a wet squib.
-- The Kaufman scene is incredibly overrated.
-- By contrast, when Carver mocks Wei Lin with the martial arts routine, that is LOL funny. Yet we never talk about it here. Hilarious scene, very underrated.
Hilly...you old devil!
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
edited January 2008
3 Days Of The Condor (1975)
I always make time to see this when I can; one thing the 70s films were good at was stirring paranoia.
This movie has just too many classic scenes to list but my favorite one is near the end where Joubert is talking to Condor about his dismal situation and of course the chilling ending that leaves you to ponder.
Anyone else catch alot of references similar to the Bourne movies? Without the shaky camera of course.
I recommend checking it out if you haven't already. B-)
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Just saw Juno the other day. Hadn't heard anything about it but had a friend who wanted to see it. I thought it was very enjoyable and highly amusing. Don't think I've been in a theater with an audience that's laughed so many times for awhile. I'd probably best describe the film is very quirky. Quite enjoyable.
I continuing thru my flatmate's boxed set. This is an odd film; the first two Panther films were in the early 1960s and in spite of their silliness have that Breakfast at Tiffany's ambience (another Blake Edwards film). Return is made some 12 years later; it's a very belated sequel and seems to reflect the nadir of British film at that time; it feels more like a crumby sex comedy.
In Bond film terms, it's like making Dr No and From Russia With Love, then doing nothing but returning with The Man With The Golden Gun.
Except Golden Gun is cinematic genius compared to this film. It starts off promisingly, with Herbert Lom's Inspector Dreyfuss in the funny farm, about to be discharged. (Oddly, he's regrown his hair in the interim and sports a toupe.) Why he's to be released when his 'berm' at the end of A Shot In The Dark blew up a car load of people is not clear, nor the time duration he's been in there (there's mention of three years, not the 13 it would be).
It goes wrong when Clouseau makes his first appearance, strangely. Thirteen years on, he looks nothing like his old self, it could be another actor, one with none of his predessessor's comic finesse. Clouseau in the first film was a clown but a real character, he had a stoical pained dignity not too far removed from Fred Kyte, Seller's wonderful trade union leader in I'm Alright Jack. Here's Clouseau's just a stereotype. It's like comparing Connery's Bond of NSNA to the one in FRWL.
The plot? Dreyfuss escapes the loony bin and spend the movie going after Clouseau, getting his hands on a doomesday device that can make the United Nations building vanish - which it does! It's crap, like that awful Batman movie in the 1960s. 8-)
Blake Edwards' style is to just set up some long-winded rubbish joke set piece and let it unfold slowly to use up film and spin it out.
Amazing to see Leonard Rossiter prop up this nonsense. I can only assume the fourth film was greenlit as this was being made. It takes you back to the days when you could wander off for a choc ice, spend 10 minutes getting it and come back and have missed nothing.
* Turns out I was wrong, this is The Pink Panther Strikes Again, the fourth film!
I thought that synopsis didn't sound quite right. The Return of the Pink Panther invovled the theft of the titular diamond and guest-starred Christopher Plummer as Charles Litton and Catherine Schell as Lady Litton (who seemed to be a totally different character from Capucine in the first Pink Panther movie). For what it's worth, it suffered from many of the same problems as Strikes Again: a flimsy plot which existed primarily to introduce games for Peter Sellars to bumble his way through.
I was able to derive some enjoyment from these movies because Sellars was a genius at physical comedy; but you're right that each entry was weaker than the one that preceded it.
Weaker they may be, however I derive an extreme amount of pleasure from The Return of the PP and The PP Strikes Again. The former was originally shot for television, and in my opinion contains some of the funniest Sellers scenes ever. (just check out the vacuum cleaner and parrot segment)
I have very fond memories of both these as a boy, a scantily clad Lesley Anne Downe in a medieval castle remained in my adolescent hormones for a very VERY long time. :x
If you're talking about Strikes Again Alex, I think you're wrong; Lesley Ann doesn't get anywhere near the castle, she seduces Clouseau in a hotel room. Clouseau copies that going under the bedclothes trick she does in The First Great Train Robbery.
That's what passed for sex on screen in the 70s; like the Joan Collins' film The B**** is just bonking with a red lightbulb on, missionary style.
Comments
A James Bond film in all but name
A story by Ian Fleming, produced by Cubby Broccoli, script by Roald Dahl a cast including Gert Frobe and Desmond Llewelyn and a crew including Ken Adam, Peter Hunt,Peter Lamont,Richard Maibaum and a stuntman called Vic Armstrong!!!
And the story? A chauvinistic misunderstood male with an unbelievable car ,who falls for a beautiful, silly named female who finds himself up against a megalomaniac who lives in a fantastical lair and has a very scary henchmen.
I take it neither Cubby or Ian Fleming believed in stretching themselves
Still, its a great story and I never get bored with it.
Sweet Xmas movie about a magic toyshop. Natalie Portman is so damned cute. :x
Still a good scare flick but just doesn't hold the fear meter very high with me as much as it did when I was younger.
Then I put on:
Don't Look Now
Still very creepy and beautiful at the same time. A forever classic with me. {[]
Why am I not surprised that both of these films are being REMADE! X-( Has the movie industry really run out of ideas?
But when all is said and done, nothing much beats 70's horror movies. It had to be the best decade for them. B-)
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
As a fan of Quentin Tarantino (my fav being Reservoir Dogs), I have to say I like this film. Very well done with excellent stuntwork, direction, and choreography. I'm sure many of you know the plot, but its basically about The bride, who was betrayed by her own people, the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, which she is now out to eliminate for personal revenge.(revenge is VERY sweet here!;))
The movie goes all out in an incredible end fight between Uma Thurman's character and dozens of Yakuzas. Kill Bill may be a fantasy, but thats the intention; to go as far as you want because you can. So in my opinion, this is an awesome and impressive movie.
Pretty good film. My favorite part though is at the very beginning and the two ladies are fighting and the little girl walks in and they just freeze and act normal even though the whole house is destroyed and there is blood everywhere.
BTW, I'm guessing by your username that you are a Godfather fan?
Then on to The Spanish Main - One of those cool swashbucklers from the 40s. Maureen O'Hara. Set phasers to stunning. The pirate queen in one of her typical feisty damsel roles. Paul Heinrid played the Errol Flynn/Tryone Power/Cornel Wilde role and I thought he was more then adequate. And best of all, the wonderful character actor Walter Slezak as the heavy. Great saturday matinee stuff here.
The classic Treasure Island was on next, but arr, I had to leave for work.
Maureen O'Hara an actress I don't think that has ever been given her due. One of the award shows should give her a lifetime achievment award. She was in some great movies, my favorite being the Quiet Man.
Saw her some swashbuckling movie where she engages in a sword fight with one of the pirate ladies and has her dressed sliced off of her. That was some good sword work.
Sellers isn't in it much, it wasn't a star vehicle originally for him as we all know. But the scenes between Niven and Puccini (a Catherine Zeta Jones type, probably Libran) go on forever...
I joked that I would see in the New Year in a hotel room, with a bottle of gin, a loaded revolver and a *****. Actually, that now sounds far the better option...
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Actually Pink Panther hots up at the end, with the fancy dress ball in the country house. You can't go wrong with a pantomine horse, can you? Or zebra, in this case.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I agree with your thoughts on Maureen O'Hara. My Dad used to refer to her as 'my girlfriend' so we had to watch her movies. I loved the Quiet Man though. Terrific film.
Couldn't agree more. Maureen O'Hara in The Quiet Man = :x :x :x :x
One of the most beautiful women ever photographed, IMO.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Pretty good version of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, with an excellent performance from Will Smith. The only problem was that the infected humans were completely CGI, and didn't look like they'd ever been human, or could be saved. But it has the best performance by a dog in a movie ever.
The Panther sequel, the first to be primarily based around Inspector Clouseau.
Not bad, had the hallmarks of the series such as Herbert Lom as the twitchy superior, Graham Stark as Clouseau's hapless, unimpressed underling (the best comic characters need both a boss and an inferior to be alternatively shown up by or contemptuous of).
But I missed the exotic locale and I suppose I can only have so much of Clouseau falling over things. Nothing matches the outright hilarity of the PP finale with the characters in fancy dress racing around the French square at night. Plus, I didn't quite get how it was that Clouseau was meant to be an idiot for not suspecting suspect Elke Sommer with a smoking gun in her hand, when
Also missed the slinky feline in the credits because, of course, it's not called The Pink Panther as it has nothing to do with the diamond that features the tiny character in it of the first film.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I've seen this a fair few times. I noticed on my tv's programme guide that it had just started and thought i'd watch the 1st ten minutes or so. Mmmm, not likely. I can't help but watch it, it's mesmeric. Paul Newman is absolutely phenomenal in this film and he has such presence on the screen. And Tom Cruise is pretty good too.
It's not a film I ever think of when I'm asked what my favourite is. I don't know why I never remember because it's definitely up there.
THE RE-ANIMATOR
&
FROM BEYOND
Jeffrey Combs as Dr. Herbert West is a no-brainer not to pass up. I loved these movies back in the 80s. I'm also a fan of Ken Foree since the original Dawn Of The Dead from way back. B-)
Seeing that these films are based off of Lovecraft's works, can anyone else agree that his literary style carries a certain vulgarity or repulsiveness to it? It comes off as very sick horror but not literally torture porn.
I really haven't sat down to read his stories full on (not sure what I'd enjoy out of his stuff) but every film that has adapted his work has that same texture...
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
It's been a while since I read Lovecraft but to the best of my recollection, the stories these movies are based on are nowhere near as vulgar or repulsive as the films.
From Beyond was a short story about a pair of scientists who discover a portal to an alternate dimension. There was no gore whatsoever in the short story; just a double cross between the two scientists. The general theme of Reanimator was the same as the movie but the novella, which was serialized over several months in pulp magazines, had a style to it that the movie completely lacks. Again, while Lovecraft got to the guts of death and reanimation the story was not the gorefest of the movie.
Also, both movies lose a lot of the atmosphere of the stories by being set in modern times rather than the early 20th century of the original stories. I don't think you can fairly judge the merit or tastefulness of Lovecraft by watching his movie adaptations; I'd strongly encourage you to read a few short stories - From Beyond, Pickman's Model. Cool Air and The Music of Eric Zahn for starters - and get a taste for what he was really about. I don't think the movies ever did him much justice.
National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Completely implausible, marginally acted, totally OTT, so-so script...and exactly what I was in the mood for. Totally mindless fun! {[]
Knocked Up. Some of the most convulsive laughing I have ever done while watching a film. Most of the humor is extremely crude, but killer hilarious. Definitely not for the easily offended, and it goes a little too long, but if you can get past that you are in from some great laughs.
Tomorrow Never Dies. My kids chose this one on Christmas night. Been a while since I watched all the way through. The weaknesses are still there (lame villain, too much machine-gun fire, silly appearance by Wade, weak female lead) but a few things struck me anew:
-- The overall pacing of the film is excellent. It flies by.
-- Gotta say, I don't get the argument that Wei Lin is pushed in our face as "Bond's equal". She simply isn't. That said, she's pretty poor nonetheless -- just nothing memorable about her at all.
-- The final fight between Bond and Stamper is a wet squib.
-- The Kaufman scene is incredibly overrated.
-- By contrast, when Carver mocks Wei Lin with the martial arts routine, that is LOL funny. Yet we never talk about it here. Hilarious scene, very underrated.
I always make time to see this when I can; one thing the 70s films were good at was stirring paranoia.
This movie has just too many classic scenes to list but my favorite one is near the end where Joubert is talking to Condor about his dismal situation and of course the chilling ending that leaves you to ponder.
Anyone else catch alot of references similar to the Bourne movies? Without the shaky camera of course.
I recommend checking it out if you haven't already. B-)
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
I continuing thru my flatmate's boxed set. This is an odd film; the first two Panther films were in the early 1960s and in spite of their silliness have that Breakfast at Tiffany's ambience (another Blake Edwards film). Return is made some 12 years later; it's a very belated sequel and seems to reflect the nadir of British film at that time; it feels more like a crumby sex comedy.
In Bond film terms, it's like making Dr No and From Russia With Love, then doing nothing but returning with The Man With The Golden Gun.
Except Golden Gun is cinematic genius compared to this film. It starts off promisingly, with Herbert Lom's Inspector Dreyfuss in the funny farm, about to be discharged. (Oddly, he's regrown his hair in the interim and sports a toupe.) Why he's to be released when his 'berm' at the end of A Shot In The Dark blew up a car load of people is not clear, nor the time duration he's been in there (there's mention of three years, not the 13 it would be).
It goes wrong when Clouseau makes his first appearance, strangely. Thirteen years on, he looks nothing like his old self, it could be another actor, one with none of his predessessor's comic finesse. Clouseau in the first film was a clown but a real character, he had a stoical pained dignity not too far removed from Fred Kyte, Seller's wonderful trade union leader in I'm Alright Jack. Here's Clouseau's just a stereotype. It's like comparing Connery's Bond of NSNA to the one in FRWL.
The plot? Dreyfuss escapes the loony bin and spend the movie going after Clouseau, getting his hands on a doomesday device that can make the United Nations building vanish - which it does! It's crap, like that awful Batman movie in the 1960s. 8-)
Blake Edwards' style is to just set up some long-winded rubbish joke set piece and let it unfold slowly to use up film and spin it out.
Amazing to see Leonard Rossiter prop up this nonsense. I can only assume the fourth film was greenlit as this was being made. It takes you back to the days when you could wander off for a choc ice, spend 10 minutes getting it and come back and have missed nothing.
* Turns out I was wrong, this is The Pink Panther Strikes Again, the fourth film!
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I was able to derive some enjoyment from these movies because Sellars was a genius at physical comedy; but you're right that each entry was weaker than the one that preceded it.
Weaker they may be, however I derive an extreme amount of pleasure from The Return of the PP and The PP Strikes Again. The former was originally shot for television, and in my opinion contains some of the funniest Sellers scenes ever. (just check out the vacuum cleaner and parrot segment)
I have very fond memories of both these as a boy, a scantily clad Lesley Anne Downe in a medieval castle remained in my adolescent hormones for a very VERY long time. :x
That's what passed for sex on screen in the 70s; like the Joan Collins' film The B**** is just bonking with a red lightbulb on, missionary style.
Roger Moore 1927-2017