The seriousness of Bond films

AlecBoy006 · September 2006

Atleast in FYEO Max the Parrot brings laugh. In LTK- NOTHING is funny.

Bond_is_kool · September 2006

I never thought about that.

Matt S · September 2006

I thought Wayne Newton was slightly comedic in LTK. How about the desk clerk at the hotel who tells Bond that his uncle has arrived? It's not comedy like Moonraker, but still not the most serious characters.

And in FYEO there are some more comedic scenes, like the PTS, the scene at Q's lab, and when Bond offers to buy Bibi Dahl an ice cream. And Victor Tourjansky was back for another brief moment.

Brosnan_fan · September 2006

The serious tone of LTK was due to the producers' intention of bringing the films back to Ian Fleming's original spirit of Bond.

I will grant you the film is hard-edged and tough, but it is definitely an entertaining spy thriller.

By the way the film definitely had amusing value when Q arrived on the scene.

words · September 2006

LTK had one of the worst deliveries of a one liner in the entire series when Dalton says the 'looks like he reached a dead end' line.

I like the film though for all its dourness. I have a feeling CR is going to make LTK look like Moonraker!

Dan Same · September 2006

words wrote:

I like the film though for all its dourness. I have a feeling CR is going to make LTK look like Moonraker!

That doesn't really warm my heart. One of my problems with LTK was that it was too dour. MR, on the other hand was far too silly, especially towards the end. I would like a balance between humour and seriousness which IMO TWINE was the last film to accomplish.

MikeyRichards · September 2006

Davi brings some nice, albeit somewhat twisted humour in Licence To Kill, the "Launder it" line in particular makes me chuckle. It's certainly not the humourless film that everyone says it is.

Robinson · September 2006

I am suprised that no one here has mentioned the role of Q in LTK. It was since as early as Goldfinger that Q was providing an element of comedy to each movie and I find it strange to accept that LTK could have been intended as a solely serious film when it features Q in what was by far his biggest role in any of the movies.

This is really the only movie to date where Q plays such direct part in assisting Bond in a mission and is even semi-integral to the plot. Yet, we get the usual grumpy behaviour from him, plus the typical array of eccentric gadgets such as the plastic explosive toothpaste and laser camera. Q also proves that he genuinely cares about 007 by flying out, presumably on his own expense to Isthmus City to help him.

I think the purpose of giving Q such a relatively large role in this film is to make it more "Bondish", as it lacks so many other features that are traditionally seen within any other Bond film and it does work. After seeing Bond angrily resign from MI6, become a rogue agent and infiltrate Sanchez's organisation Q's presence reminds us that this is a Bond film and not just another thriller.

Napoleon Plural · October 2006

Also Q's there to add humour to the film, as Dalton couldn't be relied upon for this. Likewise the villain Davi has some wit in this one. Dalton doesn't much.

PUCCINI · October 2006

[/quote]That doesn't really warm my heart. One of my problems with LTK was that it was too dour. MR, on the other hand was far too silly, especially towards the end. I would like a balance between humour and seriousness which IMO TWINE was the last film to accomplish.[/quote]

Amen to that, old chap...

highhopes · October 2006

words wrote:

LTK had one of the worst deliveries of a one liner in the entire series when Dalton says the 'looks like he reached a dead end' line.

I like the film though for all its dourness. I have a feeling CR is going to make LTK look like Moonraker!

I don't think so. I'll admit that I'm not really as familiar with the Dalton films as I am with the others, having seen each maybe twice. But I never found them terribly serious and certainly not "dour.". I thought Dalton was serious, but not the films themselves. That's what made them a little strange to me: They were neither fish nor fowl. Dalton's seriousness seemed out of place with the silliness going on around him much of the time. The scene I always bring up is the escape down the mountain in the cello case. I see CR as "serious" in the same way as "From Russia with Love" and "Doctor No" were serious. And they were. Certainly, there was a wisecrack here and there, but Bond was a basically serious character in serious situations. It's a question of tone that's hard to qualify, but I think a "serious" Bond with a little humor will work in a "serious" Bond film.

darenhat · October 2006

Dan Same wrote:

words wrote:

I like the film though for all its dourness. I have a feeling CR is going to make LTK look like Moonraker!

That doesn't really warm my heart. One of my problems with LTK was that it was too dour. MR, on the other hand was far too silly, especially towards the end. I would like a balance between humour and seriousness which IMO TWINE was the last film to accomplish.

I didn't find TWINE's attempts at humour did anything to make it 'balanced'. Cleese's character fumbling about coupled with the poorly-executed continuation of the Zukovsky character were simply distractions from the story IMO. I felt TND did a better job with the humor aspect with the bizarre Dr. Kaufman and Q/Bond interaction...granted the 'gadget' scene in Wai Lynn's flat was a bit uncomfortable to watch. But since the storyline was skewed to be a bit over the top, the humor scenes still meshed well.

caractacus potts · October 2006

if Casino Royale really is going to be faithfull to the book and a type of origin story it will have to be both tragic and disturbing
ending it with some nudgenudgewinkwink double entendre would totally undermine what the filmmakers claim theyre trying to do

heartbroken_mr_drax · October 2006

LTK has very good subtle humour in it,

"Your not gonna believe who this guy is"
"Ex British Agent?"
"How did you know that..?"

Wayne Newton, Krest etc are all funny

hehadlotsofguts · March 2013

"so there you have it east meets west, drug dealers of the world unite"

I enjoyed the conference scene in LTK

Silhouette Man · March 2013

hehadlotsofguts wrote:

"so there you have it east meets west, drug dealers of the world unite"

I enjoyed the conference scene in LTK

Yes, but I think, like the Gangster's scene in the Goldfinger scene, that scene was unintentionally hilarious to those in the know about how these things really work. It was definitely the War on Drugs era, wasn't it. 8-)

hehadlotsofguts · April 2013

AVTAK despite being one of the serious films IMO did have it's moments.

"MORE!" "MORE POWAH!"

I find it funny that an East German KGB agent somehow speaks with a thick NY accent.

i also got a kick out of Scarpine throwing his helmet in the air shouting "WHEEEY!!"

The seriousness of Bond films

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