June 5 - Die Another Day - The Invisible Car
- A bad decision, poorly executed
- A bad decision, but executed about as well as it was going to be
- A good decision, well executed
- A good decision, poorly executed
0 voters
1 Like
I agree with everything you say.
The biggest problem with Never Say Never Again for me–and it is by a mile–is the score. It is absolutely horrible and the worst score of all the Bond films. If the filmmakers had selected a better (and fresher) composer than Michel Legrand, such as Henry Mancini, Lalo Schiffrin, or John Williams, I think it would have greatly improved the action scenes as well as the overall mood and tempo of the film, and we’d all look at NSNA in a (much?) better light.
3 Likes
Here‘s the shocker: I even like the score. And the song is one of the best Bond songs for me.
The invisible car is an easy one. Not only is it a stupid concept, but it’s a pretty basic rule that an invisible anything never really works on film (with apologies to Claude Rains). It worked for the Shadow on the radio, but that makes sense. Film is a visual medium.
It’s also poorly done. After establishing the effect is achieved by using cameras to show on what’s on the other side of the car, Bond still manages to crouch behind it and escape detection. And if we hadn’t just endured the lousy tidal wave effect, we’d probably be complaining about how shoddy the “cloaking” effects were. The only bright moment for me was when the biker runs into the car, surprising not only himself but Bond as well.
It doesn’t help that Jim Steranko beat Bond to the punch in a Nick Fury comic way back in the 60s. And even then, it felt like a tongue-in-cheek jab at how outlandish the Bond films could be.
4 Likes
I get what they were trying to do: create the next big gimmick car in the spirit of Roger’s underwater Lotus. While the Vanish has a real world explanation it’s as fantastical as you can get and video game heaven, proven when Everything or Nothing expanded the technology for the nano suit. The car’s best moment is cloaking to cause Zao’s crash - even if the film depicted the car as completely invisible rather than reflecting its environment (as it should) to sell the moment harder.
4 Likes
June 6 - For Your Eyes Only - Bibi Dahl
- A good decision, well executed
- A good decision, poorly executed
- A bad decision, poorly executed
- A bad decision, but executed as well as it was ever going to be
0 voters
Bibi is a bad idea for the simple reason that you could completely remove her from the film without affecting anything important. Bond does not infiltrate Ari’s clifftop monastery to rescue her, sponsoring and trying to seduce her is a just a sideline hobby for Kristatos and not central to his schemes, Colombo ends up her sponsor but doesn’t go in with that goal, and aside from Bibi’s revelation that Kriegler is asexual (or at least immune to feminine charms; either condition a tip-off to evil in a Bond film) while “Uncle Ari” is a dirty old man, she doesn’t even provide any helpful information. Her attempted “seduction” of Bond not only makes the audience squirm, but Bond himself as well, and overall she’s a good example of why we don’t usually include kids (even teenagers) in the formula.
On the other hand, Lynn-Holly Johnson does well enough in a thankless job, and to the extent the character is irritating, it’s mostly down to the script. Having decided to insert a skating waif into the story, it was logical enough to cast Johnson thanks to her then-fame from “Ice Castles” and it helps that she can at least do her own skating. If the “he thinks I’m still a virgin” makes for one of the most uncomfortable moments in the series, Roger’s reply “You put your clothes on and I’ll buy you an ice cream” pretty much makes it all worth it. Plus there’s some personal satisfaction in seeing Roger redeem himself for his unconscionable deflowering of Solitaire at the start of his run (the last time we dealt with the “V” word). But it also touches the third rail by reminding us that his leading ladies in general are all too young for him. (Maybe Bibi is there to make a hook-up with Melina seem less cringey).
And then there’s the name, a little too on-the-nose even by Bond standards.
Bibi was a bad idea, but given they were hell-bent on going forward with it, it probably turned out about as well as it could. So that’s how I voted.
June 7 - OHMSS - “This never happened to the other fella”
- A good idea, well executed
- A good idea, poorly executed
- A bad idea, poorly executed
- A bad idea, but executed as well as it was ever going to be
0 voters
I don’t like breaking the fourth wall, but when you consider all the other ideas they had for explaining Bond’s new physical appearance it’s the lesser of all the evils. It’s the defining quote for Lazenby and does capture his personal experience when making the movie. As Hunt said, you’re saying it all the time so let’s just put in in there for a laugh, and then move on.
5 Likes
It’s very of its time and in the hands of a professional it could have been brilliant. Just like Brosnans latest joke in the outlaw trailer.
3 Likes
I went back and forth on my answer. I’m with Sharp on the fourth wall, and I agree with StB (I gave you an extra capital letter there…) that it’s of its time.
I still don’t know where I stand, but I’ll posit this thought - it’s an interesting way to start the film once you know where it’s going to end. The most tragic of them all starts with the biggest “hey it’s just a movie” moment of the whole series. It’s as uneven as bookends get.
4 Likes
This one is interesting because the first time I saw it I was too young and too casual a fan to know it was a Connery reference. I could only see the films on network television and even then too far apart, so I only mentally registered two Bonds: a dark haired one who wore out of date fashions and a lighter-haired one who was more contemporary in dress and more traditionally “handsome” in an American “TV hero” way. So I couldnt have known Laz was referencing Sean because I thought they were the same guy(!).
When Bond said “the other fella” I wasn’t sure who he meant but took it as some form of reference to Prince Charming and Cinderella hooking up thanks to a glass slipper.
All these years later, that perception still mitigates the “fourth wall” violation for me. Lazenby handles the line just fine (better than “My name is Bond,” IMHO) but it’s really more of a Roger gag. That said, if Roger had done the “talk to us through the camera” schtick, it would have worked against efforts to make us forget Simon Templar.
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How true - that’s most peculiar. When she gets shot in the face, don’t worry, you’ve been told it’s only a movie.
Arguably, being film-school tricksy in black-and-white at the start of Casino Royale is sending out a similar message, with similar end.
Cakey cakey, eaty-eaty. Yum.
3 Likes
June 8 - Octopussy - “Most Dangerous Game” escape from the Monsoon Palace
- A good idea, well executed
- A good idea, poorly executed
- A bad idea, poorly executed
- A bad idea, but executed as well as it was ever going to be
0 voters
It’s a good idea that flips between well executed then badly executed and back again throughout the scene.
2 Likes
I think the ending is so effective because it’s like a loss of innocence that hits suddenly and hard. OHMSS may lack gadgets and the like, but it’s not dark and gritty. The tone is light for the most part. Shooting Tracy is like shooting Bambi.
As for OP’s dangerous game, it’s a great idea set in the context of a Roger Moore movie. I think it’d be even better in a Craig or Dalton type entry, but as it stands I think it’s fine.
2 Likes
Octopussy in a nutshell, then. There’s a line of thought that if one can tolerate that one bit, then one can tolerate the rest of it.
I can see why no vote (given the choices available) may be an option here.
5 Likes
I’m still debating internally which way I’m going to go.
Went with good idea well executed, give them the benefit of the doubt. As you rightly pointed out, Octopussy as a whole keeps moving between the two so the scene is just a microcosm of the film.