Biggest Bond Let Downs?

zebondzebond DolletPosts: 103MI6 Agent
So what were the biggest Bond letdowns? You know, there was so much hype built up, and then it turned out to be a complete downer? ---Die Another Day anyone? Any others?
"Guns make me nervous!"
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Comments

  • fatchuck31088fatchuck31088 Posts: 19MI6 Agent
    My biggest let down was TND. I had just gotten into Bond with Goldeneye (the movie and the game) and I was really excited to see the new one. However, I left the movie quite unsatisfied. Carver and the blond henchman were quite possibly one of, if not the worst, set of Bond villians in the series.
  • InfernoInferno Posts: 45MI6 Agent
    The Brosnan era in general. Although I find that I can look at that era in a kinder note now that they've moved on. But at the time, I was pretty disappointed with each of Pierce's outings.
  • jhermanjherman Posts: 59MI6 Agent
    Inferno wrote:
    The Brosnan era in general. Although I find that I can look at that era in a kinder note now that they've moved on. But at the time, I was pretty disappointed with each of Pierce's outings.


    I enjoy watching Brosnan movie's,and I don't really blame him because his Bond day's were bad,that has alot to do with the writers.But he was over gageted.

    It's like they just made movie's to keep the Bond films going.

    The Dalton movie's aren't much better,but there the acting wasn't that good,and the story lines were bad.

    You know I think George Clooney would have been a good choice for Bond back in the Dalton or Bronsan era's
  • InfernoInferno Posts: 45MI6 Agent
    I loved Dalton and Brosnan as Bond. Now that I think about it, I don't recall ever actually seeing Clooney without grey hair. Sam Neill auditioned in the 80's - I couldn't see that one bit.
  • JennyFlexFanJennyFlexFan Posts: 1,497MI6 Agent
    Thunderball.

    Licence to Kill.

    Casino Royale.

    In fact, when I first saw Die Another Day I wasn't let down, it was only later when it sunk in. But on first viewing, all of these let me down big time.
  • Smoke_13Smoke_13 Kitchener Ont CanadaPosts: 285MI6 Agent
    It has to be the last few Roger Moore Bond flicks for me.

    1) He dressed up as a clown in Octopussy...can't see Craig's Bond doing that.

    2) A fight seen in View to a Kill consisted of a gun that fired salt pellets.

    3) A pigeon doing a double take at the gondola that turned into a car in Moonraker -I think.

    ...Man that whole era was just crap.
  • LoeffelholzLoeffelholz The United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
    edited December 2006
    The opportunity to riff on pretty much the entirety of the Roger Moore era is just hanging out there, in front of me, like a poorly-thrown curve ball... :v

    But I must say the final straw was the (poor cover of the) Beach Boys' 'California Girls' during the snow-surfing sequence. I dragged my best friend, a non-Bond fan, to the opening day of AVTAK, and I'm still apologizing, 21+ years on... :#
    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
  • JennyFlexFanJennyFlexFan Posts: 1,497MI6 Agent
    And then I will attack with so much nastiness that the love scene between Bond and May Day will be considered tame!
  • LoeffelholzLoeffelholz The United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
    And then I will attack with so much nastiness that the love scene between Bond and May Day will be considered tame!

    :o :))
    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
  • BestBondSeanBestBondSean A Bavarian in CornwallPosts: 108MI6 Agent
    Casino Royale '06

    Good film in it's own right, i'll remember it as the time when the cinematic Bond changed from escapism to realism.

    As i said it's a good film, yet the beginning of a complete new area, i will miss the larger than life scope of the other Bond installments, there are many other nitty, gritty dirty bleeding sweaty
    thrillers out there, yet no more larger than life escapism that made the Bond films different for a long number of years, i for one will miss 'em.
  • Sir Hillary BraySir Hillary Bray College of ArmsPosts: 2,174MI6 Agent
    I define "letdown" as a disappointment compared to expectations, so it would definitely be DAD. Having loved TWINE, I was really looking forward to the next film, all the more so when I heard about it being a homage to the series and featuring Halle Berry, an actress with real buzz. Then, the day the film opened, even the stodgy New York Times gave it a good review.

    Alas, when I left the theater, all I could say to myself was That was NOT a good movie.
    Hilly...you old devil!
  • bluemanblueman PDXPosts: 1,667MI6 Agent
    edited December 2006
    YOLT.

    DAF.

    That stupid solar energy twist in TMWTGG. And the funhouse, the return of JW Pepper, the kung fu sisters...sigh.

    Pretty much everything in and since the 80s. Thank God for Babs and Craig.
  • darenhatdarenhat The Old PuebloPosts: 2,029Quartermasters
    I was incredibly let down by the music in GE. Six years without Bond and when he shows up, we don't even get to hear those classic strains! X-(

    You'd have thought Campbell would have learned something, but no...he goes and does it again in CR!
  • JennyFlexFanJennyFlexFan Posts: 1,497MI6 Agent
    darenhat wrote:
    I was incredibly let down by the music in GE. Six years without Bond and when he shows up, we don't even get to hear those classic strains! X-(

    You'd have thought Campbell would have learned something, but no...he goes and does it again in CR!

    I'm the only one who loves the GE score. :(
  • jbfreakjbfreak Posts: 144MI6 Agent
    darenhat wrote:
    I was incredibly let down by the music in GE. Six years without Bond and when he shows up, we don't even get to hear those classic strains! X-(

    You'd have thought Campbell would have learned something, but no...he goes and does it again in CR!

    I'm the only one who loves the GE score. :(

    Nah I like the GE score.

    The biggest let down for me was DAD. For the first 2 years of my Bond loving days Brosnan was the ONLY Bond. I started with GE (not knowing there were other Bond movies out there, due to age:'( ) and coninued from there. GE rocked, TND wasn't as good but it still hit the spot, and TWINE was just fractions behind GE. Then DAD came along, and I wondered, "what where they thinking!?!?"
  • ZachZach Posts: 51MI6 Agent
    Don't worry JFF, I love the GE score too.

    As for letdowns, I've never really had one. It even took awhile for the crappiness of DAD to kick in with me. Now everytime I watch DAD it gets worse.
  • Thomas CrownThomas Crown Posts: 119MI6 Agent
    Overall, I'd agree with other posters who say Die Another Day. This film was without a doubt one of the most hyped Bond films ever, probably the most hyped Bond film since the late 1970's. I personally had loved both GoldenEye and The World Is Not Enough and was excited about the way in which Brosnan would play a captured and tortured Bond fighting not for vengance, but to reclaim his life. It sounded like a characterization much in line with the world weary, MI6-is-my-life 007 we had seen from Brosnan and that was so apparent in the Fleming novels.

    I was also quite thrilled about what Lee Tamahori could bring to Bond. For as much as we love to trash him now, many fans (myself included) thought the Along Came A Spider and Once Were Warriors director was a solid pick, and could give Bond a solid edge that would hit home to those fans who accused Brosnan (incorrectly, in my view) of playing a "pretty boy," rather than ruthless 007. I also liked the idea of using Moonraker as a starting point for the story, and the homages also got me interested. I was never fully sold on the double billing Halle Berry was getting, or Maddonna doing a song, but really those came down to superficial reasons (this is a Bond movie, Bond and Bond alone is the star, and I dislike Maddonna's personality).

    Yet as the credits ran, my friends described my face as unsatisfied. I was expecting creme brule and got cheesecake, certainly not awful, but definitley not what I was expecting or hoping for. Die Another Day was turning into the Bond film my hype made it out to be for the first hour or so, and then it felt like I was watching a whole other film. The CGI parasailing sequence was a big let down as I was looking for classic "only Bond can do this" escape, and aside from the car chase and Moneypenny scene, I was left uninspired post-Q's lab.

    Now, after a few years since its release, I can put Die Another Day in perspective. My immediate reaction to the film was negative, and I think I was too harsh on it at first because I set the bar so high. I then retracted my sympathy because I like having the bar set high; I did for Casino Royale and it amazed even me. Nevertheless, I now know what I'm getting when I watch DAD and I can accept it, and mostly like it, for what it is.
  • Cynjin SmythCynjin Smyth Rocky MountiansPosts: 98MI6 Agent
    It's hard to pick just one so from each era.
    Connery: TB
    Moore: AVTAK
    Dalton: LTK
    Brosnan: DAD
    Bond: You don't think I enjoyed what we did this evening, do you? What I did tonight was for King and country! You don't think it gave me any pleasure, do you?
    Fiona: But of course, I forgot your ego, Mr. Bond. James Bond, who only has to make love to a woman and she starts to hear heavenly choirs singing.
  • RJJBRJJB United StatesPosts: 346MI6 Agent
    The first true letdown I ever had was the conclusion of Live and Let Die. When Roger Moore's watch turned into a buzz saw, I groaned. And then a few minutes later when Kanaga inflated and exploded, my enjoymnet of the movie--which up until that point was very genuine--was diminished. From point forward I was never truly disappointed in the Roger Moore comedies.
    I still saw them faithfully, but they never exceeded my low expectations. When you know you are going to see another crappy Roger Moore cartoon, how can you be disappointed when you do?
    So bravo to the Roger Moore era for lowering the standards and being consistently lousy.
  • JennyFlexFanJennyFlexFan Posts: 1,497MI6 Agent
    RJJB wrote:
    The first true letdown I ever had was the conclusion of Live and Let Die. When Roger Moore's watch turned into a buzz saw, I groaned. And then a few minutes later when Kanaga inflated and exploded, my enjoymnet of the movie--which up until that point was very genuine--was diminished. From point forward I was never truly disappointed in the Roger Moore comedies.
    I still saw them faithfully, but they never exceeded my low expectations. When you know you are going to see another crappy Roger Moore cartoon, how can you be disappointed when you do?
    So bravo to the Roger Moore era for lowering the standards and being consistently lousy.

    Now, what do you feel about Roger Moore? Hey, remember the time you called me a twit? That was funny.
  • RJJBRJJB United StatesPosts: 346MI6 Agent
    No, I don't remember calling you a twit. I apologize for my lack of manners
  • Krassno GranitskiKrassno Granitski USAPosts: 896MI6 Agent
    edited December 2006
    Nevermind
  • JennyFlexFanJennyFlexFan Posts: 1,497MI6 Agent
    Yes you are.:)

    Who me?

    Anyway, apology accepted RJJB, though looking back on it, it was a fair acop.

    Anyway, I don't know why you hate Moore so much, basically he is the one who kept the series alive during the 70s and 80s. Then Dalton murdered it and Brosnan kept Bond alive during the 90s-00s.

    Let's see if Craig can do the same!
  • Universal ExporterUniversal Exporter Posts: 4MI6 Agent
    Denise Richards playing a doctor of some description. I have nothing against her, I don't go out of my way to not see her in movies, but she was farrr too young to be a Bond girl and a doctor. She looked like a teenager! The World Is Not Enough was a vast improvement over Tommorrow never Dies and gave us more of a thriller with character development. Richards was just micast, which dissapointed me.
  • RJJBRJJB United StatesPosts: 346MI6 Agent
    Yes you are.:)

    Who me?

    Anyway, apology accepted RJJB, though looking back on it, it was a fair acop.

    Anyway, I don't know why you hate Moore so much, basically he is the one who kept the series alive during the 70s and 80s. Then Dalton murdered it and Brosnan kept Bond alive during the 90s-00s.

    Let's see if Craig can do the same!

    I assume JFF, that you are considerably younger than I and no doubt have seen the series from a starting point in the 80s or 90s and played catch up. On the other hand, the first movie I saw in the theater was Goldfinger, so when I was catching up, it was only the double bill re-release of the first 2 movies to bring me up to date. So I have seen all the movies on the widescreen as they were meant to be seen. And I have been there from the time when the series had a serious tone. Sidebar: I bet if you had an opportunity to see Thunderball in its original widescreen version and be totally immersed in the movie, your opinion of it would increase dramatically.

    No doubt there were missteps made, and the silliness of DAF was the first descent into the maelstrom. Then when Roger Moore was foisted upon the viewing audience, the series became a joke. In the 60s, the basic outlook was that every man wanted to be James Bond and every woman wanted to be with James Bond. In the 70s, viewing the Moore movies was like spending time with a kindly old relative. It may have been enjoyable, but it wasn't very exciting. When people refer to the Moore movies as being "fun adventures," to me it just seems that the series lost everything that made it great. If it was necessary to do the massive overhaul to keep the series alive, it would have been better to let it die.

    That's the reason I will never watch the Moore movies again. They were a complete sellout. Unike you, I enjoyed the 2 Dalton movies (they weren't perfect) and had the business issues been ironed out, Dalton would have continued to deliver a strong Bond. Brosnan to me started strong, but he never had a command of the swagger that was necessary for the role. His interpretation always seemed forced, and Pierce Brosnan seemed more important than James Bond, if you catch my meaning. Even Moore put himself into the role as it was written far more convincingly (that's a compliment for RM, by the way). As for Lazenby, he benefitted from being in one of the best movies of the series. So even with his shortcomings, he can still look good.

    For Daniel Craig, he benefits by having the slate swept clean. He's a new James Bond and there is no luggage from the previous movies to slow him down. Comparisons, yes, but no real traditions such as obligatory scenes with Moneypenny or Q to slow things done. I sincerely hope we've see the last of those two. It's all been done with them, and their re-introduction into the series would be a step backwards. We've got a much tougher Bond now. Let's keep him that way and jettison the garbage that weighed him down. Traditions are fine until they start detracting from the overall quality.
  • Dan SameDan Same Victoria, AustraliaPosts: 6,054MI6 Agent
    edited December 2006
    Anyway, I don't know why you hate Moore so much, basically he is the one who kept the series alive during the 70s and 80s. Then Dalton murdered it and Brosnan kept Bond alive during the 90s-00s.

    Let's see if Craig can do the same!
    I completely agree about Moore, Dalton and Brosnan. I'm not sure about Craig though; I'll tell you what I think about him in six days. ;)
    RJJB wrote:
    And I have been there from the time when the series had a serious tone. Sidebar: I bet if you had an opportunity to see Thunderball in its original widescreen version and be totally immersed in the movie, your opinion of it would increase dramatically.

    No doubt there were missteps made, and the silliness of DAF was the first descent into the maelstrom. Then when Roger Moore was foisted upon the viewing audience, the series became a joke. In the 60s, the basic outlook was that every man wanted to be James Bond and every woman wanted to be with James Bond. In the 70s, viewing the Moore movies was like spending time with a kindly old relative. It may have been enjoyable, but it wasn't very exciting. When people refer to the Moore movies as being "fun adventures," to me it just seems that the series lost everything that made it great. If it was necessary to do the massive overhaul to keep the series alive, it would have been better to let it die.

    That's the reason I will never watch the Moore movies again. They were a complete sellout.
    I completely disagree. While some of the Moore films were less serious in tone than the 60's films (some weren't), I think it's irrelevant as IMO LALD, TSWLM, FYEO and OP were each brilliant, while TMWTGG and MR had terrific things going for them. I personally wanted to be Moore more than I wanted to be Lazenby or Dalton. I do agree with you though that a Moore film led to the series becoming a joke. I'm thinking of AVTAK which led to TLD and LTK. IMO, from 1985 to 1989, the Bond series was an absolute joke. :p
    "He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
  • jimbondjimbond Posts: 8MI6 Agent
    To me, the biggest let down of the series was the use (and over-use) of CGI in the stunts.

    A live stunt will always be more impressive because you know a human being is actually doing it. It lends more credibility to the action.

    Who could forget the Union Jack parachute in TSWLM, the skydiving in MR or the helicopter in FYEO? Not just the stunts but the cinematography to capture those scenes has become something of a lost art. Sure many of the closeups were done in a studio, but I'd rather have the quick studio edit than the "oh come on" moment of seeing CGI Bond parasurfing on a tidal wave.

    It looks like we're back on track with CR, and not a moment too soon.
  • bluemanblueman PDXPosts: 1,667MI6 Agent
    Hiring John Glen to direct.

    Then doing it four more times...:#
  • zebondzebond DolletPosts: 103MI6 Agent
    IMO the greatest let downs occured in the Bond films that were released just after Bond was doing so incredibly well. As such, there was incredible hype about the next one only for it to "letdown." Again, all IMO but examples are GF (great) then TB (letdown) TSWLM (great) then MR. TLDL then LTK. GE then TND. TWINE then DAD. Truly sorry if I just offended anyone - that's simply how I saw those movies to be a letdown. And perhaps it's unfiar to judge a Bond movie with the one that preceded it, but I can't help it.
    "Guns make me nervous!"
  • Scribe74Scribe74 San FranciscoPosts: 149MI6 Agent
    The last two Brosnan films were letdowns -- moreso with TWNE, which came across (at least to me) as a parody of a Bond film.

    DAD, while I enjoyed it, was too over the top with its invisible car and deadly laser from outer space.

    I actually think GE and TND were the best of the Brosnan movies. While Elliot Carver was a weak addition to Bond's rouge gallery, the movie itself (I thought) was really well done.
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