OHMSS v Casino Royale
Kent007
Posts: 338MI6 Agent
I've just finished watching OHMSS and every time I do, I like it more and more. I'm not gonna lie, I don't like Lazenby but I think apart from that it's a great film. This got me wondering, how do people think it compares to what could be seen as it's twin in the reboot, Casino Royale? Both have received great praise but in my opinion it's for different reasons. I prefer the love story aspect of On Her Majestys Secret Service but prefer the action scenes and the villain's plot in Casino Royale.
Just wondering what everyone else thinks?
Just wondering what everyone else thinks?
"You are about to wake when you dream that you are dreaming"
Comments
CR is great, but there are too many superhero-like moments for me to rank it above OHMSS (not to mention SF, even), which some of you might argue could be seen as "left-overs of the Brosnan era" (which someone did say they were, and I disagreed, as I do so now). These moments, of course, clash with the overal tone of the film, and somewhat bring it lower than, well, this. But its a great Bond film.
Still... OHMSS is absolutely awesome. The story is the best in Fleming's canon, and the films, too, and thats a hard thing to go against.
The two novels also have a place my heart too, especially the opening lines of both. I love OHMSS.....
it was one of those Septembers when it seemed like the summer would last forever
Not had one of those for a while!!!!!!
Ditto
The romance with Tracy is also far more believable; beginning as a one night stand and gradually blossoming into something far more meaningful over an extended period of time. One of CR's many failings for me was that I never really bought or even understood why Bond would fall so completely in love with Vesper so quickly (I mean we're talking hours - two days at most between their first meeting and LeChiffre's death).
So for me OHMSS is the best of both worlds: a movie full of all the classic hallmarks of a Bond film while managing to stay surprisingly faithful to the source material and still packing a genuine emotional wallop at the very end.
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Of course, would have been better to have Craig's world weary Bond in OHMSS and Lazenby's eager young greenhorn in CR.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
My God, that's a hard choice! They are my top two favorite Bond movies of all time. As much as I love CR, I have to give the edge to HMSS.
Fortunately, he had old pros like Savalas and Rigg to give him some pointers. As far as the romance - the filmmakers really have a difficult time showing the evolution of Bond's relationship with either Tracy or Vesper - and unfortunately it's due to the nature of the Bond films
history. In the case of OHMSS, they were still trying to sell the character as an action hero in an suspense/action film littered with spectacle sequences. They felt showing too much of any personal feelings involving Bond would slow down the plot or pace too much and lengthen the running time. The end result was the same thing that what happened with CR. Though Hunt tried to convey the evolution of Bond/Tracy's relationship in a short hand way (using that awful video music montage) - for me it just never worked. It was only Rigg's sincere performance that helped it feel less forced. Unfortunately for me, as much as I understand the reason behind making her character more like Emma Peel and less like the more vulnerable Tracy of the novel, it doesn't come across to me as authentic. I have a harder time feeling Rigg as much as in danger when she's doing hand to hand combat with a Blofeld henchman or being able to drive her way out of the chase scene. Tracy was supposed to be the spoiled, suicidal, bored daughter of a wealthy father - more like a mature version of Paris Hilton (though with more class, intelligence and empathy). Just can't picture a Tracy/Hilton having a tussle with a henchman. However, since they wrote the film Tracy with Rigg in mind, Rigg is the perfect match for Bond.
As for Vesper - again only the acting abilities of the two leads putting as much sincerity in the relationship as they could helped - but could not totally convince the audience. They were handicapped terribly by the demands of an audience that prefers seeing Bond going after the bad guys or just having a one night stand, so once again we get a short hand version of a relationship that would normally take longer to develop. In the future, they should just stay away from these type of relationships with Bond if they can't be handled properly. Since they're not doing Fleming's novels now, they can do this.
Getting back to the two film comparisons, I think it's difficult to put them next to each other because they have very different plots. The first is Bond starting out (even though in the novel he's really a veteran agent) and the OHMSS Bond is the veteran on Blofeld's tail while falling in love and getting married only to end in tragedy. I think what puts both films up near the top (or at the top) of the series for most is that they treat Bond as a real flesh and blood spy with emotions and he is put into more realistic plots. Put that together with the fact they originally come straight out of Fleming's imagination and you have a winning combination.
CASINO ROYALE is strictly monkey-see monkey do.
And he always delivers
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
No doubt!
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