Mr. O'Roarke's Crabs
darenhat
The Old PuebloPosts: 2,029Quartermasters
Okay, so I'm watching AVTAK last night, and the crusty character Mr. O'Roarke pops up looking like he just climbed out of a commercial for a frozen fish sticks and mentions something about the mystery of his missing crabs of which he suspects Zorin is to blame. These leads Bond to investigate Zorin's oil rig set-up a bit closer.
Now they don't really explain it, but I believe you see a crab clinging to the grate over one of the pipe intakes. I suppose this is implying that O'Roarke's crabs are being sucked into the pipeline and being deposited somewhere underneath the San Andreas Fault. The question I have is why does Bond follow these silly leads to figure out what Zorin is up to? Missing crabs, oil pipelines, and even horse racing, has absolutely nothing to do with the supposed leaking of chip technology to the Soviets. The more I watch AVTAK the less sense it makes to me, including why Bond dashes off to Paris to find out what leads the French detective has in uncovering Zorin's irrelevant horse racing capers. I just don't get it!
Now they don't really explain it, but I believe you see a crab clinging to the grate over one of the pipe intakes. I suppose this is implying that O'Roarke's crabs are being sucked into the pipeline and being deposited somewhere underneath the San Andreas Fault. The question I have is why does Bond follow these silly leads to figure out what Zorin is up to? Missing crabs, oil pipelines, and even horse racing, has absolutely nothing to do with the supposed leaking of chip technology to the Soviets. The more I watch AVTAK the less sense it makes to me, including why Bond dashes off to Paris to find out what leads the French detective has in uncovering Zorin's irrelevant horse racing capers. I just don't get it!
Comments
I don't know the details but it was filmed. The fishermen lead a protest against Zorin Oil and Zorin sends a security team out to deal with them. Presumably Zorin doesn't want the protesters calling attention to his activities yet Bond considers Zorin's response heavy-handed for a small group excercisng their right to free speech.
Interesting ... the scenese with the Paris police of which I was originally unaware were included in the extras on the last DVD but this material wasn't. Maybe on the new DVD (not out in the U.S. yet)?
*******
BTW, maybe this should be in the Films forum?
It should, ergo I'm moving it. And just to add my two cents, darenhat exposes yet another reason this film is low on my Bond totem pole. As for the thread's title, "Mr. O'Roarke's Crabs," well, I won't go into what that brings to mind. . .
I'm reminded of what befell a friend of mine in Zaragoza, Spain, in 1981...and it occurred in the shadow of the local cathedral (in this case, it was more like, "Maria-Pilar's Crabs") ...
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
It is indeed on the DVD; you'll be happy to hear that it features Patrick Bauchau attempting to act again.
AVTAK is awash with subplots that go nowhere. The microchip, the horse racing, the KGB involvement, the crab fishing, Stacy's family being swindled, Zorin's genetic past... It's perhaps the worst case in the series of stuff being thrown at the audience to divert them from noticing what a hollow centre the film has.
@merseytart
If they were smart, they would've had Alison Doody yelling at the protesters... any of the extra scenes feature her?
The crab fishing leads Bond to the fact that seawater is being pumped into Zorin's OIL pipelines where SEAWATER shouldn't be pumped into the wells. Howe tells him it's safe but Stacey tells him it isn't meaning there has to be foul play going on with this whole seawater punmping operation.
Stacey's family is to give background into the character and why she has a "vendetta" against Max Zorin, and is determined to unearth the suspicious activities.
Zorin's horse subplot is just to show (like Goldfinger) what a jerk he is. He is cheating by using steroids and microchips (which leads into the major plot about how Zorin is hoarding and planning to monopolize the market), the KGB are against Zorin because his horse racing is causing attention and they don't want themselves implicated in that fiasco.
Zorin's past is also just about the character, and how this supposedly capitalistic and pro-British businessman is actually a psychotic, evil Nazi experiment created in a test tube and to show what a sadistic freak he is.
Many of these subplots are just trying to expand the characters, (though it wouldn't have hurt them to expand Jenny and Pan Ho more) or they just help the main plot along in a way.
Maybe the scriptwriters for A View To A Kill took a basic plot, about the faultline, and decided to throw in sub-plots from the Dallas and Dynasty rejected ideas bin.
I understand that Bond finds out that Zorin is up to no good with pumping seawater into the pipeline, but his only incentive to investigate the rig in the first place was because some crusty sailor blames Zorin for his missing crabs. Bond has no reason to suspect that MISSING CRABS are somehow connected to his mission, yet he investigates anyway.
However, these ridiculous subplots do lend some weight to one of the better pieces of dialogue in the film:
ZORIN (in response to 007's threat of MI6 sending more agents after him: "They'll most likely try to cover up your embarassing incompetence."
BOND's REPLY: "Don't count on it, Zorin!"
As for the crabs, if not the entire horse racing - maybe they felt that the original Zorin/Frisco plot wasnt enough to make up an entire movie.
Now that's crazy.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Part of the sequence in Chantilly was the recording of the radio jingle:
"Come to Zorins Crabs
Have whatever Grabs You
Me and my militant army
Will serve you Silicon Carne!"
For some strange reason, it never made it to the film
Well, I could undertsand Stacey but how he passed up Jenny we'll never know. But I think she was repulsed by the double entendre as when she's leading him into the room she gives him a really dirty look.
The Chantilly jingle of course would be helped if Jenny and Pan Ho both sang in it. Though Pan Ho would botch it up like Saint John Smith and be like "Zollin's Clabs!"
As we all know, VTAK opens with that odd disclaimer about Zorin. This thread hightlights yet another bizarre coincidence: The actual Zorin owned a Long John Silver's franchise, was a major stockholder in Mrs.Paul's, and once posed for the Gorton's Fisherman logo!
"Better make that two."
i love it, i think its fantastic. its a shame it gets such a bad rap
"Better make that two."
yes i am, i loved that scene, "im an early rider myself"
"Better make that two."
Which is exactly what Bond suggests. But our salty sea dog prompty shuts down that theory "They didn't go nowhere...they just disappeared!" he says. Hence...the mystery!
when there is only one explination, they swam far far away
"Better make that two."
(or maybe the crustaceans took one look at the script and scurried away)
Ha ha ha, it's very fashionable to take a shot at AVTAK, isn't it?
WOrth a note, I rewatched the protest scene on the DVD again (yes, the one the americans dont have) and it doesnt help explain the crab situation. BUT, it does make it seem a little more than some crazy old sea dog moaning about not being able to go to a dentist.
I've put up with more than a few! Anyway, I'm used to all the AVTAK slandering (and I tried to make an organization to prevent it, but sadly it failed due to a certain rogue agent). Well, I can certainly put up with the AVTAK slandering as much as the Dalton loving, and hopefully, you can also put up w/ the Dalton hating and the AVTAK loving. Whatever, we're all Bond fans here.