I think it's one of the weaker Bonds. There are really good things like Christopher Lee, some really good lines, James Bond island, the Swedish actresses etc. It's also interesting seeing Moore play a harder, colder Bond. He could have been a good villan in "The Jackal", something I didn't see until tonight. TMWTGG feels cheap to me.
Agreed. A very chilling performance. Interesting to think of the alternative, though, with a 'reverse' hero/villain dynamic between Michel Lonsdale and Moore (even though the Jackal and the detective get only a fleeting moment of shared screen time).
Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
Thunderbird 2East of Cardiff, Wales.Posts: 2,816MI6 Agent
edited June 2020
TMWTGG.....
I think the best way to describe this film is a transition between times. I say that because LALD had all the spooky surreal voodoo stuff before, and TSWLM has an army or perhaps I should say Navy or willing troops, the Liparus and Atlantis. TMWTGG is the middle ground between the two, and this is highlighted best by the way the characters interact and the huge McGuffin in the Solex Agitation device.
In the early seventies the energy crisis was going on (as brilliantly re-enacted recently in The Crown) on Netflix. The same frustration and irritation radiates in this film. Apart from Scaramanga played with cruel and commanding glee by Sir Christopher Lee, all the other characters are various shades of pissed off. M, Moneypenny, Hi Fat, Nick Nack and Bond who comes across as too thuggish when he attacks Andrea. The fact Moore hated doing that scene,and would be friends wil Maud Adams for the the rest of his life speaks volumes as to how good he was.
I feel Britt Ekland gets a raw deal as Goodnight. A character written for light relief can be a narrow line between funny and dippy depending on the script and here the script takes advantage of making her look silly for some ‘cheeky’ fun.
Certain aspects of the film work brilliantly the locations, esp Hong Kong and James Bond Island are stunningly beautiful, the latter a lost paradise now due to the films that put it on the map.
Yip, Hi Fat and the other local characters are a bit stereotypical, but this was 1974.
Unfortunately the film repeats two horrendous errors left over from LALD.
The first is Pepper. He was bad enough in his own territory. Dragging him back here on holiday is in itself criminal. The fact he is in two separate sequences is unforgivable. This is where a Mrs Bell, or Mr Bleaker repeat would have worked, or even bring in Felix L or another old friend of Bond’s might have worked.
The second is the duel scene between Bond and Scaramanga is lacking. At the dinner table Scaramanga talks up how the two of them are the best of the best. But once matters get underway, Bond is running around the fun palace, while Scaramanga is skulking in the shadows. There is no real one on one aspect. This repeats the demise of Dr Kananga in being very anti climatic.
TMWTGG does have the foreshadowing of Moore’s best. Locations, a few gadgetsbiting pieces of humour and prep towards industrial scale world domination plans. It’s just a pity the subject matter of the Solex is such a dated idea, like much of the decor.....
And I only got one proper machine that goes ping!
As someone once said, What’s next?
This is Thunderbird 2, how can I be of assistance?
Thunderbird 2East of Cardiff, Wales.Posts: 2,816MI6 Agent
@Thunderbird 2. Regarding your comments on not liking having Pepper back. He has an overtly casual racism here which he didn't have explicitly in LALD. I think that makes him a problem character looking at it today. He has a lot of vitality, though, and his presence has the effect of displacing Hip, an ineffective character, who basically disappears from the movie after a series of bungles.
Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
Well, I'm looking forward to TWINE in Friday. It has always been a favourite of mine, and I've never understood the venom directed towards it. Sure, it has flaws like any other Bond film but there are many strong points too.
The score isn't one of Barry's best, but it does have its moments- the jazz instrumental of the main theme is great fun for example! As Shady indicates above, Barry wrote this score in a hurry after being brought in very late (he had a busy schedule). He uses his main theme in various arrangements (slow tempo and strings for love scenes ("Goodnight Goodnight"), uptempo and brassy for action ("Kung Fu Fight") plus the jazz version) rather than write, say, a separate love theme- not since GF had a Barry Bond score relied so heavily on one main theme.
There's no new music on the 2003 remaster, and Nic Raine covered only one piece- a medley which appears at the end of the movie- "Slow Boat To China" (very similar to "Goodnight Goodnight") plus "Nick Nack".
I think the best way to describe this film is a transition between times. I say that because LALD had all the spooky surreal voodoo stuff before, and TSWLM has an army or perhaps I should say Navy or willing troops, the Liparus and Atlantis. TMWTGG is the middle ground between the two, and this is highlighted best by the way the characters interact and the huge McGuffin in the Solex Agitation device.
In the early seventies the energy crisis was going on (as brilliantly re-enacted recently in The Crown) on Netflix. The same frustration and irritation radiates in this film. Apart from Scaramanga played with cruel and commanding glee by Sir Christopher Lee, all the other characters are various shades of pissed off. M, Moneypenny, Hi Fat, Nick Nack and Bond who comes across as too thuggish when he attacks Andrea. The fact Moore hated doing that scene,and would be friends wil Maud Adams for the the rest of his life speaks volumes as to how good he was.
I feel Britt Ekland gets a raw deal as Goodnight. A character written for light relief can be a narrow line between funny and dippy depending on the script and here the script takes advantage of making her look silly for some ‘cheeky’ fun.
Certain aspects of the film work brilliantly the locations, esp Hong Kong and James Bond Island are stunningly beautiful, the latter a lost paradise now due to the films that put it on the map.
Yip, Hi Fat and the other local characters are a bit stereotypical, but this was 1974.
Unfortunately the film repeats two horrendous errors left over from LALD.
The first is Pepper. He was bad enough in his own territory. Dragging him back here on holiday is in itself criminal. The fact he is in two separate sequences is unforgivable. This is where a Mrs Bell, or Mr Bleaker repeat would have worked, or even bring in Felix L or another old friend of Bond’s might have worked.
The second is the duel scene between Bond and Scaramanga is lacking. At the dinner table Scaramanga talks up how the two of them are the best of the best. But once matters get underway, Bond is running around the fun palace, while Scaramanga is skulking in the shadows. There is no real one on one aspect. This repeats the demise of Dr Kananga in being very anti climatic.
TMWTGG does have the foreshadowing of Moore’s best. Locations, a few gadgetsbiting pieces of humour and prep towards industrial scale world domination plans. It’s just a pity the subject matter of the Solex is such a dated idea, like much of the decor.....
And I only got one proper machine that goes ping!
As someone once said, What’s next?
Personally I think it's slightly baffling that they had a film where the villain is the greatest assassin on the planet, and the climax is all about some little silver box- why wouldn't you have had Bond racing to stop an assassination?! Trying to stop WW3 being started by Scaramanga killing someone? I mean, that's what all films about assassins are about isn't it? Like the Jackal mentioned above.
Also, another odd note is that Bond is very much the aggressor here and it can be argued that Scaramanga didn't really deserve his attention. He never threatened to kill Bond, and the Solex is something that Gibson builds while he's in the employ of Scaramanga and Hai Fat: the British have no claim on it whatsoever. Bond is just told to go and kill Scaramanga and take it.
Bond even suggests that Scaramanga will take the money from the oil companies to suppress the Solex technology, and when MI6 recover it at the end, do we ever hear about it again? I wonder what they could possibly have done with it...
Comments
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
There is a trailer „guess who is coming for Christmas“ on the Blu Ray, there you can see Bond throwing the bottle and more
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
What's next .... SPECTRE?
And will there be a podcast tonight?
Hadn't realised that.
Oh well, at least there's still an Arnold to go.
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
I believe he wanted the part, as did Michael Caine, but both were turned down in favour of someone more anonymous.
Both fine by me
He certainly did
Glad to hear that. It's my favourite of the Brosnan films, and IMHO beats several of the others, too.
He was, but for the first time I think Roger Moore could have been a good Jackal too.
Agreed. A very chilling performance. Interesting to think of the alternative, though, with a 'reverse' hero/villain dynamic between Michel Lonsdale and Moore (even though the Jackal and the detective get only a fleeting moment of shared screen time).
I think the best way to describe this film is a transition between times. I say that because LALD had all the spooky surreal voodoo stuff before, and TSWLM has an army or perhaps I should say Navy or willing troops, the Liparus and Atlantis. TMWTGG is the middle ground between the two, and this is highlighted best by the way the characters interact and the huge McGuffin in the Solex Agitation device.
In the early seventies the energy crisis was going on (as brilliantly re-enacted recently in The Crown) on Netflix. The same frustration and irritation radiates in this film. Apart from Scaramanga played with cruel and commanding glee by Sir Christopher Lee, all the other characters are various shades of pissed off. M, Moneypenny, Hi Fat, Nick Nack and Bond who comes across as too thuggish when he attacks Andrea. The fact Moore hated doing that scene,and would be friends wil Maud Adams for the the rest of his life speaks volumes as to how good he was.
I feel Britt Ekland gets a raw deal as Goodnight. A character written for light relief can be a narrow line between funny and dippy depending on the script and here the script takes advantage of making her look silly for some ‘cheeky’ fun.
Certain aspects of the film work brilliantly the locations, esp Hong Kong and James Bond Island are stunningly beautiful, the latter a lost paradise now due to the films that put it on the map.
Yip, Hi Fat and the other local characters are a bit stereotypical, but this was 1974.
Unfortunately the film repeats two horrendous errors left over from LALD.
The first is Pepper. He was bad enough in his own territory. Dragging him back here on holiday is in itself criminal. The fact he is in two separate sequences is unforgivable. This is where a Mrs Bell, or Mr Bleaker repeat would have worked, or even bring in Felix L or another old friend of Bond’s might have worked.
The second is the duel scene between Bond and Scaramanga is lacking. At the dinner table Scaramanga talks up how the two of them are the best of the best. But once matters get underway, Bond is running around the fun palace, while Scaramanga is skulking in the shadows. There is no real one on one aspect. This repeats the demise of Dr Kananga in being very anti climatic.
TMWTGG does have the foreshadowing of Moore’s best. Locations, a few gadgetsbiting pieces of humour and prep towards industrial scale world domination plans. It’s just a pity the subject matter of the Solex is such a dated idea, like much of the decor.....
And I only got one proper machine that goes ping!
As someone once said, What’s next?
Thunderbird Too on TWINE. My fav Brosnan Bond and second only to CR-06.
Can’t wait to see the Q Boat.
-To Higgins :007)
Plenty of actually rather decent remade versions of the missing tracks on YouTube though:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtcSS90ddlw&list=PLjRCa5CezuLUFy_x18r_yY607WQHDy9ay&index=12
Personally I think it's slightly baffling that they had a film where the villain is the greatest assassin on the planet, and the climax is all about some little silver box- why wouldn't you have had Bond racing to stop an assassination?! Trying to stop WW3 being started by Scaramanga killing someone? I mean, that's what all films about assassins are about isn't it? Like the Jackal mentioned above.
Also, another odd note is that Bond is very much the aggressor here and it can be argued that Scaramanga didn't really deserve his attention. He never threatened to kill Bond, and the Solex is something that Gibson builds while he's in the employ of Scaramanga and Hai Fat: the British have no claim on it whatsoever. Bond is just told to go and kill Scaramanga and take it.
Bond even suggests that Scaramanga will take the money from the oil companies to suppress the Solex technology, and when MI6 recover it at the end, do we ever hear about it again? I wonder what they could possibly have done with it...