The wink wink, nudge nudge Factor Ratings of Bond Films

chrisisall · October 2014

0 to 5, 5 being near intolerable.

DN- 0
FRWL- 0
GF- 0
TB- 0
YOLT- 0
OHMSS- 1
DAF- 4
LALD- 2
TMWTGG- 2
TSWLM- 3
MR- 4
FYEO- 2
NSNA- 5
OP- 3
AVTAK- 2
TLD- 0
LTK- 0
GE-1
TND-1
TWINE-1
DAD- 1
CR- 0
QOS- 0
SF- 0

This is my take on the WWNN Factor, specifically, the "we know this is just silly, so we'll let the audience know we know it" thing. It is, for my purposes on this thread, a measure of how the character of Bond is written & performed.

Thoughts?

Absolutely_Cart · January 2015

Lazenby, Craig and Dalton took their roles seriously, so there's not much self-parody.

Brosnan knew his Bond was a parody, but instead of acting like a parody or winking at the screen, the writers have other characters act as a foil in this regard.

Moore winks and nudges, but much of the time, he isn't very subtle about the fact that he silly. He's direct about it.

Connery's films had the most wink-nudge factor. You could tell that smile on his face when he's about to have sex with a woman. It subtly says something to the effect of: "Yeaaahh.. James Bond is gettin his fix again". Connery took his role very seriously, but he made it a little clear during the sillier moments (i.e. "Pussy Galore... I must be dreaming)" that he is still acting a character.

Barbel · January 2015

It's no coincidence that DAF and NSNA score highly here. Both of these films comment quite directly on Connery as Bond more than James Bond himself, which couldn't have been done until others had played the role.

I notice you've omitted CR67, Chris- probably deliberately since it would be off the scale!

)

Higgins · January 2015

can we please have a ranking of movies which considers the amount of eye water in some regard?

Absolutely_Cart · January 2015

^ TLD/LTK, 5. The rest, 0.

Barbel · January 2015

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Firemass · January 2015

chrisisall wrote:

0 to 5, 5 being near intolerable.

Chris, I just want you to be aware of your own personal bias here.

The scale should be 0 to 5, 5 having the most wink, nudge factor. (or whatever you call it)

Whether or not it's tolerable is entirely up to the viewer. Obviously, EoN would not deliberately make an intolerable Bond film.

chrisisall · January 2015

Firemass wrote:

. Obviously, EoN would not deliberately make an intolerable Bond film.

Point taken.
As a fan of the novels, I see the wink wink, nudge nudge factor as a negative in the films. Some may find it amusing or even necessary (a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down, as it were).
Bias, yes, I plead guilty as charged. -{

superado · January 2015

I think it's key to isolate the self-parody, or the "hey, I'm Bond" aspect. I think that existed from the 1st time we saw Connery in DN, in his self-introduction and "the walk." It got less subtile in GF and increased with what most perceived as Connery's boredom in YOLT and took really shameless levels in DAF. Despite Lazenby's best efforts considering his lack of experience, etc., etc., the parody/Hey, I'm Bond aspect was there. The Moore films had that and IMO he needed it in LALD and TMWTGG to survive the comparisons in the role, but it was practically 0 in FYEO and done to a lesser extent OP despite the growing ludicrousness of his age; this is why AVTAK took the cake, especially in that scene in Zorin's office when his computer tells him how dangerous Bond was, lol.

I agree the WWNN, or parody/Hey, I'm Bond factor was 0 in Dalton's movies, but as with Moore, it was felt to be necessary in Brosnan's films just to remind audiences that old Bond was back. You see that with his Q-Boat tie-straigtening in TWINE and surprisingly, even in Craig's cufflink fixing in SF...to remind people, "hey, I'm Bond."

Firemass · January 2015

superado wrote:

especially in that scene in Zorin's office when his computer tells him how dangerous Bond was, lol.

Superado,

I think you've mis-interpreted the situation in Zorin's office. There's no motive or reason to tell audiences that Bond is dangerous, because he is already a well-established action hero by this point. Rather, it is similar to the scene in FRWL novel when Smersh is looking at Bond's file and it states: "This man is a dangerous professional terrorist and spy."

The point being, to see Bond from the perspective of the enemy. Not as a good guy, but an extremely dangerous spy.

The wink wink, nudge nudge Factor Ratings of Bond Films

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