World's Worst Man 0 Report post Posted December 27, 2006 I thought George Lazenby would have been perfect for the early Moore-era movies, as he did comedy the best out of the 4 Bonds I've seen, and those movies seem less serious and more comedic than some of the earlier efforts. Kind of a shame he didn't continue on in the series. What's the story on why he was only in there for the 1 film? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Der Kommissar 0 Report post Posted December 27, 2006 What's the story on why he was only in there for the 1 film? I have heard it was because his agent told him that the James Bond franchise was dying, and that there was no point in sticking with a sinking ship, or something to that effect. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lil' Bitch 0 Report post Posted December 27, 2006 I forgot to mention how much Diamonds Are Forever sucked. Great song, awesome opening sequence, cool villains with the gay hitmen couple, but then it all goes to shit when Blofeld reveals his whole clone plan and has two or three of them running around since it turns out that wasn't him in the intro scene , it was REALLY annoying and practically killed the movie for me. Tiffany Case wasn't that good of a Bond girl either. Also I like Charles Gray, but he wasn't a good Blofeld IMO. Why didn't they get Donald Pleasence or the guy from OHMSS to come back to play the role? I just saw Thunderball for the first time tonight. It sucked. The final underwater battle was so long and drawn out. I thought it would never end. Also, there were a couple fight scenes where you could cleary see where the takes ended. Just looked cheesy. I also get very tired of the whole 'minion screws up, killed for his mistakes by evil boss' bit. I saw that play 3 times in slightly different variations. It becomes a little laughable. Overall, the movie just felt long. I still got alot of Bonds to watch, but this one was not one I'd recommend to anyone. LOL, wait until you watch Never Say Never Again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zorin Industries 0 Report post Posted December 27, 2006 Watched more of my Moore movies: The Spy Who Loved Me This will be completly biased, as its probably my favourite movie of the whole series. Its pretty much a remake of You Only Live Twice really, but its far better, better story, better action and the best Bond Girl of them all. The good first, Barbara Bach, what can you say, shes beautiful, gives a good performance and for the first time in a long time, gives us a female agent we can actually believe in. Compare her to Goodnite in TMWTGG to see what I mean, your convinced that shes as close as an equal as Bond can have. Moore also gives his best performance, has some of his best one-liners and gives a good account of himself in the action scenes. I love his killing of Stromberg at the end, where he pumps 4 bullets into him, its pretty brutal for this period of Bond and also him letting Sandor fall to his death from the rooftop. A beautifully shot film in places as well, the scene at the Pyramids is one of my favourite scenes in any Bond movie, a real sense of menace and a great use of sound and colour. Jaws makes his debut here and is great, even though this was his only worthwhile apperance, i'd say hes pretty much the defining symbol of the Moore period, everyone remembers him. Who can forget that wonderful theme song as well, and of course the gorgeous Caroline Munro, she doesn't appear that much, but i'm glad she does! Onto the bad, as I said before i'm biased, I pretty much love all of it. If I had to make one complaint I would say that I wished that Stromberg was a bit of a stronger villian, I didn't get as much of feeling of menance that I get from previous villians. I kind of wish that it had been Blofeld again, but that fantastic base makes up for it. The best Bond movie hands down, you can diagree with me all you want, but I don't care, because I know i'm right! 9/10 P.S: Ringo Starrs a bastard! Moonraker So from the highs to the lows, its funny how it only took one movie for such a drop in quality. I hadn't watched this in a long time, so wasn't sure if I would agree with everyones opinion. However the critics were right, its crap! The good first, I like Drax as a villian, he menacing and the plans interesting enough, though its pretty much a carbon copy of the previous film, just substitute space for sea. Corinne Clery as Corinne Dufor was very attractive, and I thought her death scene was very well done, certainley not a typical Bond death. I liked the fight between Bond and the Japanese henchman, especially when Bond threw him out of the clock tower, though the last shot of him sticking out of the piano ruined it. But oh God is it boring, you would think that a movie that sends Bond into sapce couldn't be dull, but it is. I would say it doesn't pick up till the last half hour when they actually go into space, to be honest I was reading a magazine rather than paying attention. Holly Goodheads distinctly average, shes supposed to be a CIA agent, but i'd have trouble believeing her as a ticket warden. Compare her to Barabra Bach in TSWLM, its night and day, shes attractive enough though. We all know how they ruin Jaws, so theres no need to go in depth, but why bother having him in the prologue? If anything it ruins what would have been a good reveal later on when he arrives at the airport. In fact that brings me to what I feel is the main problem, you get a sense no-one in the cast and crew really cared about this picture. The amount of editing mistakes and coninuity mistakes are staggering, so to is the fact of how glaring they are. Also look at how Bond gets involved, the theft of the Moonraker shuttle. Why bother, it was explained in a throwaway line late on, which makes me feel the writers realised it didn't make sense and tried to ignore it. I mean Drax could have built another shutle, sure it would have delayed his plans, but it was never stated there was a strict timetbale. It was stupid things like this that really ruined the movie. Pretty much crap, not even so bad its good, just bad. Though that final line by Q will always be great. 4/10 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cabbageboy 0 Report post Posted December 27, 2006 Moonraker was actually a bit better than I remembered. The script was lazy as hell (they never bother to explain fully when Jaws started working for Drax, or half of what Bond is doing) but the outer space stuff is at least campy fun. I don't know if I'd say Spy Who Loved Me is the best in the entire series, but it is very likely the best Moore outing. Either that or Live and Let Die, and since L&LD is highly dated with its cheesy 70s blaxploitation stuff I'll give a slight nod to TSWLM. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zorin Industries 0 Report post Posted December 27, 2006 Yeah, the movie finally picked up for me when they got into space, but the stuff before that was dire. The Blaxplotation aspect of LALD is probably the main reason I enjoyed it, I love all that sort of stuff. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zorin Industries 0 Report post Posted December 28, 2006 For Your Eyes Only Its been many a year since i've seen this, and after Moonraker I knew this could only be an improvement, if anything it exceeded my expectations. After the camp excesses of Moonraker the Bond series (if you'll excuse the pun) had to come down to Earth. It did so in great fashion with this outing. The diabolical schemes of supervillians are out the window, instead you have smugglers and vicious killers, fighting over a shipwreck. After the lacklustre performances and direction of Moonraker it was good to see the cast and crew so up for this movie. Great performances all round, Moores at his best here again, you have a good Bond girl in Melina Havelock and both Julian Glover and Topol give good performances as two bitter enemies. Julian Glover stands out, as if you go into this film without any prior knowledge, you will believe that he is one of the good guys, till the truth comes out. I have to mention Walter Gotell as General Gogol, hes always a pleasure to watch and I love his encounter with Bond at the monastry. The dominant theme of FYEO is that nothing is what it seems, a small tug turns out to be a British spy ship, the Havelocks are salvagers for the British, and the supposedly trustworthy allie turns out to be a double agent. The movies full of smart, gritty writing, just what was needed after Moonraker. I especially loved Bond kicking the car over the cliff, a hard edge that maybe Moore didn't show enough of in his movies. A standout is the chase down the ski slopes, very well done. Bond dangling from the cliff face near the end is also very tense, a hard feat in Bond movies at times, since we know hes not going to die. There are a few bad points however, I didn't really mind Blofeld turning up, but we didn't really need him, and his apparent death was a bit weak. Not enough to spoil the film though. We could have done without Bibi the iceskater however, she added nothing and could easily have been dropped. They only kept her in as comic relief, unfortunatly shes not very funny. A great soundtrack, great performances and a strong script almost push The Spy Who Loved Me from the top of my list, not quite but very close. Plus that giant Diving suit scared the shit out of me when I was a kid! A strong 8/10 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Darthtiki 0 Report post Posted December 28, 2006 Zorin, I'm with you on the love for TSWLM...especially the love of Barbara Bach. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zorin Industries 0 Report post Posted December 29, 2006 She really is an extraordinarly beautiful woman. Meant to add in my review of FYEO that this was the first movie in which I thought Moore was getting to be too old. I think the producers probably thought so too, the only proper love scene he got was with the Countess, who was much closer to his age than the other girls, though he did get Melina in the end. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cabbageboy 0 Report post Posted December 29, 2006 I think in retrospect Moore should have given it up after FYEO and gone out on a relatively high note. His last two (Octopussy and AVTAK) both find the series going more into self parody. That said, I don't think the lack of Bond banging chicks in FYEO had much to do with Moore, but rather the more serious tone the movie was trying to set. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kahran Ramsus 0 Report post Posted December 30, 2006 I think in retrospect Moore should have given it up after FYEO and gone out on a relatively high note. His last two (Octopussy and LALD) both find the series going more into self parody. That said, I don't think the lack of Bond banging chicks in FYEO had much to do with Moore, but rather the more serious tone the movie was trying to set. I can understand him sticking around for Octopussy since EON wouldn't want to stick a new Bond up against Connery in Never Say Never Again, but that should have been it for him. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zorin Industries 0 Report post Posted December 31, 2006 My brother summed up Live and Let Die better than I ever could "Its like there was a script for a fourth Shaft movie, but they scored out the name John Shaft and replaced it with James Bond" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lil' Bitch 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2007 I enjoy your reviews, Zorin. Please keep them up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Robfather 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2007 Well, I finished watching all the Bond movies, save for Golden Eye and on. Seen them in the theaters, so I’ll exclude them. A few thoughts: Diamonds Are Forever is a horrible movie. The Bond girl is obnoxious, Blofeld is lame in this movie, and it drags. Too bad, Bond in Vegas should be so cool. Live and Let Die, the only two things I like about this movie are the theme song and Solitaire. The movie is not fun, with the racial stereotypes that plays throughout. It's uncomfortable to watch. I liked License to Kill. Bond has an edge, setting off as a vigilante to avenge his friend. A lot of cool action scenes and how Bond gets Sanchez at the end is great. A View to Kill has a GREAT villain. One of my favorites, nice to see Bond up against someone completely insane. The Tarzan yell is cringe worthy, tough. I like Moonraker. Fun movie, great effects, though I can understand why people wouldn't like it. Most forgetful Bond Movie, for me: You Only Live Twice. I watched it awhile back and haven't given it a thought since. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zorin Industries 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2007 I enjoy your reviews, Zorin. Please keep them up. I've been meaning to sit down and watch Octopussy and AVTAK, but things keep popping up to stop me. Might try and sit down and watch Octopussy tomorrow. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zorin Industries 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2007 Well, I finished watching all the Bond movies, save for Golden Eye and on. Seen them in the theaters, so I’ll exclude them. A few thoughts: Diamonds Are Forever is a horrible movie. The Bond girl is obnoxious, Blofeld is lame in this movie, and it drags. Too bad, Bond in Vegas should be so cool. I rather like DAF, Jill St. John can be annoying, but is easy on the eye. Charles Gray is very watchable, though pretty mcuh the opposite to Pleasence in demeanor. Plus its got Mr Wintt and Mr Kidd, who dosn't enjoy the gay hitmen!? Your right about it dragging though. Live and Let Die, the only two things I like about this movie are the theme song and Solitaire. The movie is not fun, with the racial stereotypes that plays throughout. It's uncomfortable to watch. For its time its no different than your average Blaxplotation movie, which at heart is what it really is. Its a fun movie, your not supposed to take it that seriously. I liked License to Kill. Bond has an edge, setting off as a vigilante to avenge his friend. A lot of cool action scenes and how Bond gets Sanchez at the end is great. Haven't seen it yet, hope to soon. A View to Kill has a GREAT villain. One of my favorites, nice to see Bond up against someone completely insane. The Tarzan yell is cringe worthy, tough. I agree, its not often you see Bond go uo against this kind of pyschopath, hope to have a full review up soon. I like Moonraker. Fun movie, great effects, though I can understand why people wouldn't like it. While it has fun parts, its shoddily written, directed and acted. Coming off the high point of Spy Who Loved Me, it can't be anything other than a let down. Most forgetful Bond Movie, for me: You Only Live Twice. I watched it awhile back and haven't given it a thought since. I don't know, YOLT has its good parts, Donald Pleasance and the battle in the volcano, but it drags in places. Was better when they remade it as The Spy Who Loved Me. I'd actually say Thunderball is the most forgettable one for me, have seen it a few times and I can only remember the last 5 minutes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cabbageboy 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2007 By the way the Tarzan silliness was in Octopussy instead of View to a Kill. For most of AVTAK I was disappointed with Walken's performance, but when he goes totally berserk in the mines I was greatly amused. DAF used to be one of my favorites in the series, as I said earlier. It was only when I put it in perspective with the superb previous outing (OHMSS) that it really starts to look a bit weak. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Robfather 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2007 By the way the Tarzan silliness was in Octopussy instead of View to a Kill. Opps. That you're right. I didn't really get Octopussy. Khan just didn't really hack it getting the screen time as the major villain. General Orlov was much more interesting in his limited role. Octopussy. Geez. Before I saw this movie, all I knew was there was some lady in the movie called Octopussy. I thought, maybe a lead female villain? If she's going to be the title character, she better be something really intriguing, but all she was is a smuggler. Very disappointing all around. The big finale with Octopussy, her female henchmen, and Bond and Q in a hot air balloon attacking Khan's palace is just sooo stupid. Also, Bond dressed as a clown... who's bright idea was that? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cabbageboy 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2007 I'll admit that Octopussy in some ways hasn't held up with time, but it was still a fun outing. It was the main movie that showed the distressing, goofball direction that the series was going. Orlov was a much more interested villain than Khan, in fact watching recently I didn't exactly understand why the two were in cahoots. On one hand you have an Afghan prince or rich dude, whatever he was...and he's a smuggler of rare jewels. On the other is a Russian general bent on starting WW3. WTF? Would a wealthy smuggler really want to be partners with such a total wacko? An underrated aspect of the Moore outings: General Gogol. I am a mark for Gogol. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lil' Bitch 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2007 FUCK, I got Vol.2 the other day and I was watching Die Another Day and I realized upon putting in the Special Features disc that there's no Mission Dossier or Ministry of Propaganda like all the other films! I'm like WTF?!! I paid so much for the bloody set, why gyp me on the extras? If there's a way to contact the Customer Service Department of MGM, Sony, or Fox Home Entertainment, I'd really appreciate it so I can inform them of this error and get a proper replacement with everything intact! Also, it would be a real shame if Madonna's music video wasn't on the UE on the real copy because they got all the other music videos for the other titles! Edit: Its seems like the number you want to call for Sony's Customer Service line is 1-877-766-9496 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lil' Bitch 0 Report post Posted January 27, 2007 I apologize. The correct people to get a hold of is Fox Home Entertainment. Their number is 1-888-223-2369. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zorin Industries 0 Report post Posted August 8, 2008 I never did get around to finish my reviews, watch this space... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cabbageboy 0 Report post Posted November 27, 2008 Zorin, did you ever finish watching all the Bond movies? How about some thoughts on the Craig films? Personally I still can't make up my mind whether to put Casino Royale in my top 5 or not. It might come in at #5, or I might keep another Connery in there. I do share the enjoyment of the Moore era, at least his better outings. Even stuff like Moonraker is silly escapist fun. I swear it seems like Drax thinks of every way under the sun to kill Bond and none of it works at all, haha. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites