Was DAD Brosnans MR?
AlphaOmegaSin
EnglandPosts: 10,926MI6 Agent
Both were laden with Sci-Fi Elements, both Villains had Structures in Space and had rather Momentous Headquarters.
1.On Her Majesties Secret Service 2.The Living Daylights 3.license To Kill 4.The Spy Who Loved Me 5.Goldfinger
Comments
It was certainly as near to Moonraker as Brosnan got but IMO it is head and shoulders above MR.
I actually adore DAD
An apparently benevolent personage, who turns
out to be a villain, etc.
Agreed, plus the dreaded "fourth film" curse, where a perfectly realised third film (GF, TSWLM. TWINE) is followed by an attempt to do the same thing again with a bigger budget and more spectacle- failing critically but doing well at the box-office.
I say this despite TB being one of my fave films, and hoping that the next Bond epic doesn't fall into that trap.
It ended with a laser battle in space.
I love Moonraker but can only just about watch Die Another Day. The first half is actually quite good but the invisible car makes me want to weep.
We're in agreement there, my friend! -{
"DIE ANOTHER DAY" wasn't set in space.
However, I consider DAD better than say . . . "TOMORROW NEVER DIES", which struck me banal crap. And I consider MR better than say . . . "THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN", in which the best thing about that film were the Orient locations.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
MR (imo) started out well, had plenty of good moments and interesting gadgets and props (always a selling point for me). It ended badly though, as it was trying to keep up with the sci-fi interest everyone was having with the release of a certain space flick involving some incest stuff with a guy called luke and some bird called leia.... Sure MR had it's ups and downs, but the majority of the film wasnt that bad. I thought drax was a great villian, coldly ordering that 'some harm' came to bond, a great moment. Pew pew lasers aside, its not as bad as some claim. I think half the bad opinions are simply said to keep in line with the general consencious.
As for DAD, its a totally different film, and bad for different reasons. With the anniversary being celebrated, the 'homages' were simply too blatent and over the top. "heres your new watch, this will be your 20th i believe" 8-) etc etc. The storyline wasn't that bad, but i thought bond and graves were leaning more towards the younger market. Graves could and should have been played a lot colder and sinister, as should have bond to mirror him, but i guess it was toned down somewhat to cater for the kiddies in the audience. The sfx and props were good, not sure on that suitcase, but what really did it all in was the over the top 'this is what a bond film is' directing from the pe.... sorry, drag queen enthusiast Tamahori. Instead of producing a great bond film to celebrate the franchise we got a string of one liners and re-enactments from all the films previous. If you watch Skyfall, there are loads of nods and hints at past films, they're just done so much more subtly, and that how DAD should have been done.
So there ya go, thats my 2 cents. Both considered bad, but for different reasons. And i don't think any of it really had anything to do with RM's or PB's acting abilities.
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MG -{
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However, I still like and enjoy both of them very much. MKR's problem was it tried to hard to invent comedy elements while being a Sci Fi story and a detective story, and wobbled between the different pieces. Defanging Jaws was a mistake - not in making him good, but the blink and you'll miss way it was done. To have a Space Programme baddie like Drax was a great idea, Michael Lonsdale brilliantly underplays him, and lets face it, there IS a Space Station orbiting the planet now.
Pity about the Bondola though. That bit does make me wince. Another bottle of red please!
DAD tried to hard to be Classic Bond while new and different hence the change of pace once we head tro Iceland. xXx was still fresh at the time this film was made, and Lee Tahmori gave a shocking interview to SFX mag about how to keep Bond "relevant." As MiniG noted, the film lacks a deft subtly in the places it really needed it. The tech is more blatant in the context - TWINE is a bigger leap than the gap between TSWLM and MKR. Bond almost seems like a super athlete in places, and a lot of the character building dialogue is cut in favour of pithy quips. The Icarus weapon is initially disappointing because the orital laser of doom has been done twice before, and the pace of the story gets a bit lumpy once Bond confronts Graves. Having said that, there is an excellent couple of Bond / M scenes, bitchy exchanges between Ros Pike and Hallie B as their characters leading to a great cat fight with bladed weapons, and Mr B brings a certain panache to his character driven scenes.
My attitude to DAD was awful at the cinema, but repeat viewings have changed my opinion. In part because I got it. Its a fun Bond, which has moments of being serious. I also strongly recommend watching it while listening to Mr Brosnan and Ms Pike's insightful and in places genuinely funny commentary.
However, I recently learned the Bond films are not individual one offs. They are links in a chain, as the style and production has evolved from one to the next. All of them have their strengths and weaknesses. Are these two films the worst / or unwatchable? To me, No, far from it I enjoy them both very much and they are a lot of fun. But FYEO and CR-06 both prove that a rethink was probably a good idea in retrospect. - To the thread Title question, Yeah, DAD prob was (in its own way) Mr B's equivalent of YOLT, or MKR.
Whats so awful about the Vanish anyway? ?:)
DAD isnt all bad !!! I love the concept of surfing monster waves as a way of infiltrating N. Korea. When Pierce thinks he is on his death march.......I consider his facial emotions as some of the best acting I've seen in a Bond movie.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
Precisely!