"how is he going to get out of this?" moments
crawfordboon
Posts: 126MI6 Agent
Watching the Bonds, there can be occasions when he gets into such a predicament, you really start to wonder how he's ever going to get out ofit.
OK, you know the man will never die, but there were moments in the series where it was impossible to think of a plausible way he could escape, only for him to do so!
I remember being in the cinema foe GoldenEye, a new Bond after 6 years away, and when he goes over the edge on the motorbike and plunges downwards, I was shocked, maybe he'll die and the rest of the film and sequels will be prequels to this moment??? No. When it became obvious he was going to fall into the plane and fly it to safety, I swear everyone in the cinema let out the loudest collective groan ever!!
Personally, my number 1 "how is he going to get out of this?" moment would have to be the coffin sequence in DAF, truly terriying and clearly no escape! A bit of letdown how he actually escapes, really.
OK, you know the man will never die, but there were moments in the series where it was impossible to think of a plausible way he could escape, only for him to do so!
I remember being in the cinema foe GoldenEye, a new Bond after 6 years away, and when he goes over the edge on the motorbike and plunges downwards, I was shocked, maybe he'll die and the rest of the film and sequels will be prequels to this moment??? No. When it became obvious he was going to fall into the plane and fly it to safety, I swear everyone in the cinema let out the loudest collective groan ever!!
Personally, my number 1 "how is he going to get out of this?" moment would have to be the coffin sequence in DAF, truly terriying and clearly no escape! A bit of letdown how he actually escapes, really.
Comments
I can remember seeing Bond trapped in the coffin and wondering how he was going to escape. When he was not able to escape on his own my 12 year old brain immediately passed judgement on Connery as a pathetic Bond. I told my friends at school the next day, "Someone had to let him out, that's so stupid!" At age 12 seeing Bond in a predicament that he couldnt get out of using his own merits or a at least some kind of gadget was very shocking to me.
I will close this post by saying that seeing Bond get lucky with the odd escape now isn't so bad. It actually adds a sense of realism to the films. No man in Bond's line of work would be able to survive that long without some lucky experiences here or there. As a post-post note, Connery is my Bond of choice today regardless of how I felt erm...those 26 years ago.:o
Oh, and also you are right Smoke 13, the first time I saw the coffin scene in DAF, I was very dissapointed by the outcome.
Of course I knew that Bond would find a way to outwit and overpower his adversary(he's the film's hero,after all),but Bond sure looked like he was really in danger.I've seen all of the movies but I can't recall another moment to equal this one in terms of Bond being depicted in credible jeopardy.It's a moment that's brilliantly written,staged,directed acted and filmed--and for an instant it looks like Bond's number is up...
The scene you have described is one of my favorite scenes of any movie. Bond's face and dialogue were very memorable.
There's no doubt in my 007 mind, that scene always places me on the edge of the seat. It's amongst some of the most suspenseful of Moore's tenure. (along with defusing the OP bomb and escaping the crocs)
As for Bond's greatest escape. For me, that is stepping on the crocodiles backs in LALD. Classic Bond moment.
What is truly funny/wonderful about this particular scene is that it was lifted wholesale frome an episode of Flash Gordon from the 30s or 40s. After seeing the film, I was watching tv early one morning and got hooked into the serial...I kid you not, Flash did the exact same thing!
As much as I love PB, it's sad that everything old truly is NEW again (remember the coach scene Raiders? Another lift, this time from a western).
Ah well, that's flicks for ya!
Che
I have to go along with MNL on Bond's escape across the back of the crocodiles in LALD---also a debut film for a new Bond actor---it was a defining and 'ultra-cool' Bond moment, made moreso by the outtake footage of the stunt man's scary injury on the DVD extras And the centrifuge from MR is absolutely one of Moore's finest moments in the role :007)
For Craigger's debut, it simply has to be the splendid torture sequence. The fact that Bond was saved by a deus ex machina---as he was in the novel---does not diminish the moment at all, as far as I'm concerned, since it's the character with which Bond was prepared to meet his fate that was the real hook...
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM