I saw AVTAK last night. It's never been a favourite of mine. There are too many old people in the cast, including Moore. The movie also seems to set in it's ways, too much same prosedure as last time.
But the villans are great and the plot works. It's more brutal than I remembered it, and here it feels like a positive. The title song is unconventional, but it has drive. I still wish Moore had returned earlier, since I think a "Daltonized" AVTAK would have been interesting.
I saw AVTAK last night. It's never been a favourite of mine. There are too many old people in the cast, including Moore. The movie also seems to set in it's ways, too much same prosedure as last time.
But the villans are great and the plot works. It's more brutal than I remembered it, and here it feels like a positive. The title song is unconventional, but it has drive. I still wish Moore had returned earlier, since I think a "Daltonized" AVTAK would have been interesting.
I can't help but feel that Brosnan would have knocked AVTAK out of the park.
I saw AVTAK last night. It's never been a favourite of mine. There are too many old people in the cast, including Moore. The movie also seems to set in it's ways, too much same prosedure as last time.
But the villans are great and the plot works. It's more brutal than I remembered it, and here it feels like a positive. The title song is unconventional, but it has drive. I still wish Moore had returned earlier, since I think a "Daltonized" AVTAK would have been interesting.
I can't help but feel that Brosnan would have kncoked AVTAK out of the park.
He would've matched the villains in terms of star power/age also.
To Number24's points, I agree. The villains, the storyline and plot of AVTAK is largely what holds the interest value for me in the film. They're fascinating. While AVTAK goes through the motions, this I feel is what the current films miss - a bit of mundane...
Something no one has ever noticed, an early cameo from Blofeld's Cat. Straight after Draco tips Bond off about Gumbold and the Blofeld connection, we cut to the montage of Bond and Tracy. It's clear there are spies in Draco's organisation, because we see Tracy pick up a black cat as they stroll thru the park. But while it might just be the light on its fur, it might also be a streak of white, as it is clearly Blofeld's Cat with a dye job spying on them and reporting back.
'Don't be daft!' I hear you cry. 'Cats can't talk!' Well, idiots, obviously Blofeld's Cat had a tape recording device about its collar.
Otherwise, the editors cut the film to make Lazenby look daft as revenge. After his 'stiffness' in Piz Gloria, he gets up and excuses himself, presumably for a hand shandy, something this Bond tends to do (the safe-cracking scene, for instance) but if Bond was well hung his skirt would fly up like a tent loosing its mooring, instead there is nothing.
They serve drinks very quick in Piz Gloria don't they?
Otherwise, a film of two halves, both halves running alongside each other throughout unfortunately. The excellent arrival in Lauterbrunnen, and aerial climb to Piz Gloria, lovely photography and John Barry's superb score... undermined by having to have Lazenby act like an airsick prig, and unfortunately being maybe more convincing in this role than he is as Bond. And the sly dialogue with Frau Bunt, in Connery's hands would have just the right knowingness, but here you have to notice it yourself. I suppose you can also blame George Baker for this, as he is doing the dubbing.
When Frau Bunt asks Bond about the College of Arms, it should be a tense moment as surely Bond knows nothing and is about to be caught out? When Bond bores on, in Connery's hands it would be his usual superman knowledge moment, you can imagine a bit of showing off on his part as he shows to the audience he's done his homework. In Lazenby's hands, it just seems to indicate that his Bond really is totally boring, though of course he is really only showing how good he is at being Bray.
Also, I can't help thinking the film would work better if Blofeld were more like the Count Dracula the book surely based him on, with Bond masquerading as a researcher on a project? If he were not Telly S, but a foreign, icy figure, really more like Donald Pleasance, okay I guess it would cut him out of the action scenes like in the book, but I do think it would balance the film a bit more and make you root for Lazenby if he were up against somebody really scary.
OHMSS last night on TV.
Watching it I was surprised just how many items were embedded from previous films, from the titles through to odd bits here and there that popped up.
They really were try to engage the audience into believing all was well.
But the story line is a good one and I found a new respect for it which surprised me.
Cheers :007)
My name is Bond, Basildon Bond - I have letters after my name!
OHMSS last night as well. Unbelievably bad fight scenes. Bond was throwing massive haymakers from his waist I only lasted an hour before switching over.
) lots of us must have been watching it last night -{
Always one of my favourites. Always puts me in the
Mood for Christmas ........... and Taking over the World !
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
I find those of us who've read Fleming revere this film, as its such a close adaptation. And if you take the 14 books as a saga, then OHMSS is the most important part in that saga. Having an unknown actor actually helps put the focus on what Fleming wrote, rather than a movie star's charisma.
For normal well adjusted folk who've never read Fleming, they usually hate the movie the first time they see it, Due again to the unknown actor (not just only one Bond film, but basically only this one film ever), and the long romantic montage that takes up much of the first hour.
However, I find even amongst such folk, repeated viewings win them over. Why?
1. Barry, its one of his best scores, and has a unique doomladen vibe appropriate to this story
2. when the action finally starts it is so cathartic, Basically from the point Irma Bunt locks him up in the gondola machine room, it never lets up. Jut like the Beatles lyric it is literally "when I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride til I get to the bottom and I see you again". I find amongst later films with similar action-heavy last halves (LaLD, or OP), that there is much more inherent logic to these lengthy escapes and chases, much more compelling need that makes me care.
3. Diana Rigg. OK, maybe you have to be familiar with The Avengers, but she is a bonus factor in this film. Amongst the rare deviations from Fleming's text is giving Tracy a bigger part.
4. The music in that romantic montage is Louis Armstrong's last recorded song. How can somebody complain about a piece of musical history of that import?
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,762Chief of Staff
Count me in as another that watched OHMSS last night -{
YNWA 97
superadoRegent's Park West (CaliforniaPosts: 2,656MI6 Agent
My 23 year old son just returned from a 6-week trip to Egypt, Israel and Jordan and the photos he showed me on his phone included TSWLM shooting locations at Giza, Karnak Temple and the Great Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel, places that are on my own bucket list ...well anyway, had to watch TSWLM and all the special features that comes with it on disc. For a 40-year old movie, I can't help but marvel at how beautifully it was made, how Sir Rog just owned it...and I rediscovered the deep crush I have for Barbara Bach :x
"...the purposeful slant of his striding figure looked dangerous, as if he was making quickly for something bad that was happening further down the street." -SMERSH on 007 dossier photo, Ch. 6 FRWL.....
I find those of us who've read Fleming revere this film, as its such a close adaptation. And if you take the 14 books as a saga, then OHMSS is the most important part in that saga. Having an unknown actor actually helps put the focus on what Fleming wrote, rather than a movie star's charisma.
For normal well adjusted folk who've never read Fleming, they usually hate the movie the first time they see it, Due again to the unknown actor (not just only one Bond film, but basically only this one film ever), and the long romantic montage that takes up much of the first hour.
However, I find even amongst such folk, repeated viewings win them over. Why?
1. Barry, its one of his best scores, and has a unique doomladen vibe appropriate to this story
2. when the action finally starts it is so cathartic, Basically from the point Irma Bunt locks him up in the gondola machine room, it never lets up. Jut like the Beatles lyric it is literally "when I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride til I get to the bottom and I see you again". I find amongst later films with similar action-heavy last halves (LaLD, or OP), that there is much more inherent logic to these lengthy escapes and chases, much more compelling need that makes me care.
3. Diana Rigg. OK, maybe you have to be familiar with The Avengers, but she is a bonus factor in this film. Amongst the rare deviations from Fleming's text is giving Tracy a bigger part.
4. The music in that romantic montage is Louis Armstrong's last recorded song. How can somebody complain about a piece of musical history of that import?
Well put CP, this echoes my thoughts on ohmss ( which I did watch on Friday night), -{
My 23 year old son just returned from a 6-week trip to Egypt, Israel and Jordan and the photos he showed me on his phone included TSWLM shooting locations at Giza, Karnak Temple and the Great Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel, places that are on my own bucket list ...well anyway, had to watch TSWLM and all the special features that comes with it on disc. For a 40-year old movie, I can't help but marvel at how beautifully it was made, how Sir Rog just owned it...and I rediscovered the deep crush I have for Barbara Bach :x
My 23 year old son just returned from a 6-week trip to Egypt, Israel and Jordan and the photos he showed me on his phone included TSWLM shooting locations at Giza, Karnak Temple and the Great Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel, places that are on my own bucket list ...well anyway, had to watch TSWLM and all the special features that comes with it on disc. For a 40-year old movie, I can't help but marvel at how beautifully it was made, how Sir Rog just owned it...and I rediscovered the deep crush I have for Barbara Bach :x
"No emperor, merchant or poet has played this disc and not gasped...in awe" 70s softcore porno music play as we see Jaws
I find those of us who've read Fleming revere this film, as its such a close adaptation. And if you take the 14 books as a saga, then OHMSS is the most important part in that saga. Having an unknown actor actually helps put the focus on what Fleming wrote, rather than a movie star's charisma.
For normal well adjusted folk who've never read Fleming, they usually hate the movie the first time they see it, Due again to the unknown actor (not just only one Bond film, but basically only this one film ever), and the long romantic montage that takes up much of the first hour.
However, I find even amongst such folk, repeated viewings win them over. Why?
1. Barry, its one of his best scores, and has a unique doomladen vibe appropriate to this story
2. when the action finally starts it is so cathartic, Basically from the point Irma Bunt locks him up in the gondola machine room, it never lets up. Jut like the Beatles lyric it is literally "when I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride til I get to the bottom and I see you again". I find amongst later films with similar action-heavy last halves (LaLD, or OP), that there is much more inherent logic to these lengthy escapes and chases, much more compelling need that makes me care.
3. Diana Rigg. OK, maybe you have to be familiar with The Avengers, but she is a bonus factor in this film. Amongst the rare deviations from Fleming's text is giving Tracy a bigger part.
4. The music in that romantic montage is Louis Armstrong's last recorded song. How can somebody complain about a piece of musical history of that import?
Well put CP, this echoes my thoughts on ohmss ( which I did watch on Friday night), -{
Pretty well my only complaint about OHMSS is regarding John Barry's music. I really wish the climactic battle scene on Piz Gloria had been properly scored by Barry rather than using The James Bond Theme. Much as I love the tune, it was starting to show its age by now and it's an uncomfortable fit with the rest of Barry's magnificent score. I feel exactly the same way about its use in the Little Nellie sequence in YOLT.
I think I get Hunt"s point - the Bond theme is so iconic that it's a way of creating a point of identification with Lazenby and Bond. The whole sequence would have hung together so much better property scored, though. I'm less bothered by it's use in YOLT as the whole Little Nellie sequence could have been dropped with no injury to the film.
We had OHMSS on our TV the other night ,the more i watch it and the more i think of comments from the likes of TP and SM, it is rapidly going up my list of Bond fave films .
I think Barry himself wanted to write something but was over ruled by Peter Hunt who insisted on it.
Yes. Barry can't be blamed for something he isn't responsible for. Barry's score doesn't have any problems, it's that Hunt decided to add in something beyond the score.
I have no problem with including the James Bond theme there, but Barry should have written the theme into the score for that part. Hunt's idea of cutting and pasting the original recording of the theme was just never a good idea.
I think Barry himself wanted to write something but was over ruled by Peter Hunt who insisted on it.
Yes. Barry can't be blamed for something he isn't responsible for. Barry's score doesn't have any problems, it's that Hunt decided to add in something beyond the score.
I have no problem with including the James Bond theme there, but Barry should have written the theme into the score for that part. Hunt's idea of cutting and pasting the original recording of the theme was just never a good idea.
My 23 year old son just returned from a 6-week trip to Egypt, Israel and Jordan and the photos he showed me on his phone included TSWLM shooting locations at Giza, Karnak Temple and the Great Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel, places that are on my own bucket list ...well anyway, had to watch TSWLM and all the special features that comes with it on disc. For a 40-year old movie, I can't help but marvel at how beautifully it was made, how Sir Rog just owned it...and I rediscovered the deep crush I have for Barbara Bach :x
"No emperor, merchant or poet has played this disc and not gasped...in awe" 70s softcore porno music play as we see Jaws
{[]
"...the purposeful slant of his striding figure looked dangerous, as if he was making quickly for something bad that was happening further down the street." -SMERSH on 007 dossier photo, Ch. 6 FRWL.....
They serve drinks very quick in Piz Gloria don't they?
) Great call. Maybe the staff had already made a bourbon and branch water for Blofeld and were just about to bring it down to him when Bond/Bray ordered the same and they decided to impress him with their rapid-fire service.
Or it was an editing error.
Anyway, I admire your restraint, Mr. Plural. First time in a while you haven't mentioned the "cheesy saxophone swell" that accompanies Bond/Bray's first glimpse of the women.
The film holds up quite well, due mostly to its efficiency and tight plot. No real superfluous elements (at least not until Maggie at the end). The cast is uniformly very good, with the exception of Lynn-Holly Johnson, who is annoying. Topol especially shines as Columbo, playing a mentor/partner role to Bond, much like Kerim Bey.
I really like Sir Roger's interpretation here. He plays it pretty much straight and relatively serious. He's inching into old man territory with the women, but I find his relationship with Melina to be quite touching.
Bill Conti's soundtrack, while dated in its instrumentation, is still good and provides some excellent punch to some of the action scenes, most notably the ski/motorcycle chase down the bobsled run.
The poolside scenes at Gonzalez's villa are pretty funny. A total soft-porn vibe, complete with bad/non-existent acting and cheesy music. I laughed out loud when Locque's henchman takes back a wad of cash from one of the women and she screams as if he's assaulted her.
The poolside scenes at Gonzalez's villa are pretty funny. A total soft-porn vibe, complete with bad/non-existent acting and cheesy music. I laughed out loud when Locque's henchman takes back a wad of cash from one of the women and she screams as if he's assaulted her.
All in all, good stuff, even 37 years on.
The fact that late 70s softcore porn music with lyrics (!) plays throughout the scene makes it all the more laughable.
How convenient a make-out was it for Bond when the AK guy kissed his girl?
I mean, did Bond pay her or put laxative in her drink?
Comments
every penny on screen. -{
But the villans are great and the plot works. It's more brutal than I remembered it, and here it feels like a positive. The title song is unconventional, but it has drive. I still wish Moore had returned earlier, since I think a "Daltonized" AVTAK would have been interesting.
Still a lot going for it (Dr Jones aside)
I can't help but feel that Brosnan would have knocked AVTAK out of the park.
He would've matched the villains in terms of star power/age also.
To Number24's points, I agree. The villains, the storyline and plot of AVTAK is largely what holds the interest value for me in the film. They're fascinating. While AVTAK goes through the motions, this I feel is what the current films miss - a bit of mundane...
"Better make that two."
I agree with this. I like seeing Bond being Bond and doing what he does best!
Something no one has ever noticed, an early cameo from Blofeld's Cat. Straight after Draco tips Bond off about Gumbold and the Blofeld connection, we cut to the montage of Bond and Tracy. It's clear there are spies in Draco's organisation, because we see Tracy pick up a black cat as they stroll thru the park. But while it might just be the light on its fur, it might also be a streak of white, as it is clearly Blofeld's Cat with a dye job spying on them and reporting back.
'Don't be daft!' I hear you cry. 'Cats can't talk!' Well, idiots, obviously Blofeld's Cat had a tape recording device about its collar.
Otherwise, the editors cut the film to make Lazenby look daft as revenge. After his 'stiffness' in Piz Gloria, he gets up and excuses himself, presumably for a hand shandy, something this Bond tends to do (the safe-cracking scene, for instance) but if Bond was well hung his skirt would fly up like a tent loosing its mooring, instead there is nothing.
They serve drinks very quick in Piz Gloria don't they?
Otherwise, a film of two halves, both halves running alongside each other throughout unfortunately. The excellent arrival in Lauterbrunnen, and aerial climb to Piz Gloria, lovely photography and John Barry's superb score... undermined by having to have Lazenby act like an airsick prig, and unfortunately being maybe more convincing in this role than he is as Bond. And the sly dialogue with Frau Bunt, in Connery's hands would have just the right knowingness, but here you have to notice it yourself. I suppose you can also blame George Baker for this, as he is doing the dubbing.
When Frau Bunt asks Bond about the College of Arms, it should be a tense moment as surely Bond knows nothing and is about to be caught out? When Bond bores on, in Connery's hands it would be his usual superman knowledge moment, you can imagine a bit of showing off on his part as he shows to the audience he's done his homework. In Lazenby's hands, it just seems to indicate that his Bond really is totally boring, though of course he is really only showing how good he is at being Bray.
Also, I can't help thinking the film would work better if Blofeld were more like the Count Dracula the book surely based him on, with Bond masquerading as a researcher on a project? If he were not Telly S, but a foreign, icy figure, really more like Donald Pleasance, okay I guess it would cut him out of the action scenes like in the book, but I do think it would balance the film a bit more and make you root for Lazenby if he were up against somebody really scary.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Lazenby should get a load of this.
You would've thought he was a method actor
Watching it I was surprised just how many items were embedded from previous films, from the titles through to odd bits here and there that popped up.
They really were try to engage the audience into believing all was well.
But the story line is a good one and I found a new respect for it which surprised me.
Cheers :007)
Always one of my favourites. Always puts me in the
Mood for Christmas ........... and Taking over the World !
For normal well adjusted folk who've never read Fleming, they usually hate the movie the first time they see it, Due again to the unknown actor (not just only one Bond film, but basically only this one film ever), and the long romantic montage that takes up much of the first hour.
However, I find even amongst such folk, repeated viewings win them over. Why?
1. Barry, its one of his best scores, and has a unique doomladen vibe appropriate to this story
2. when the action finally starts it is so cathartic, Basically from the point Irma Bunt locks him up in the gondola machine room, it never lets up. Jut like the Beatles lyric it is literally "when I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride til I get to the bottom and I see you again". I find amongst later films with similar action-heavy last halves (LaLD, or OP), that there is much more inherent logic to these lengthy escapes and chases, much more compelling need that makes me care.
3. Diana Rigg. OK, maybe you have to be familiar with The Avengers, but she is a bonus factor in this film. Amongst the rare deviations from Fleming's text is giving Tracy a bigger part.
4. The music in that romantic montage is Louis Armstrong's last recorded song. How can somebody complain about a piece of musical history of that import?
Well put CP, this echoes my thoughts on ohmss ( which I did watch on Friday night), -{
{[]
"Better make that two."
70s softcore porno music play as we see Jaws
Pretty well my only complaint about OHMSS is regarding John Barry's music. I really wish the climactic battle scene on Piz Gloria had been properly scored by Barry rather than using The James Bond Theme. Much as I love the tune, it was starting to show its age by now and it's an uncomfortable fit with the rest of Barry's magnificent score. I feel exactly the same way about its use in the Little Nellie sequence in YOLT.
Yes. Barry can't be blamed for something he isn't responsible for. Barry's score doesn't have any problems, it's that Hunt decided to add in something beyond the score.
I have no problem with including the James Bond theme there, but Barry should have written the theme into the score for that part. Hunt's idea of cutting and pasting the original recording of the theme was just never a good idea.
I tried to fix the FRWL bug scene, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLmU6N6j-fY
Anyway, last film seen...Octopussy for the German scenes after I'd seen Atomic Blonde some time ago.
Or it was an editing error.
Anyway, I admire your restraint, Mr. Plural. First time in a while you haven't mentioned the "cheesy saxophone swell" that accompanies Bond/Bray's first glimpse of the women.
The film holds up quite well, due mostly to its efficiency and tight plot. No real superfluous elements (at least not until Maggie at the end). The cast is uniformly very good, with the exception of Lynn-Holly Johnson, who is annoying. Topol especially shines as Columbo, playing a mentor/partner role to Bond, much like Kerim Bey.
I really like Sir Roger's interpretation here. He plays it pretty much straight and relatively serious. He's inching into old man territory with the women, but I find his relationship with Melina to be quite touching.
Bill Conti's soundtrack, while dated in its instrumentation, is still good and provides some excellent punch to some of the action scenes, most notably the ski/motorcycle chase down the bobsled run.
The poolside scenes at Gonzalez's villa are pretty funny. A total soft-porn vibe, complete with bad/non-existent acting and cheesy music. I laughed out loud when Locque's henchman takes back a wad of cash from one of the women and she screams as if he's assaulted her.
All in all, good stuff, even 37 years on.
How convenient a make-out was it for Bond when the AK guy kissed his girl?
I mean, did Bond pay her or put laxative in her drink?
Also, the girl acting like assaulted her was nothing compared to this.
https://youtu.be/3zHRQn_IShw?t=2m37s