Voting closes December 14.
THIRD PLACE DEATH-OFF
- Goldfinger
- The Spy who Loved Me
0
voters
THE FINAL
- Moonraker
- OHMSS
0
voters
3 Likes
I went with:
The Spy Who Loved Me over Goldfinger
Moonraker over On Her Majestyâs Secret Service
1 Like
Iâm happy to see this result. MR hate used to have the inevitability of an unloved season, but now we bid it farewell. It rips apart most Bond movies like a pack of hungry Dobermans.
5 Likes
I recall being particularly irked by a passage in the insufficiently insightful book âThe Making of Licence to Killâ headed âAfter Moonrakerâ as if that was some sort of mutually accepted low point.
Licence to Kill came very, very last in this category.
Good.
4 Likes
But I distinctly remember the hardcore âfansâ of those years really arguing just that point. There was a long and dark age - approximately going well into the 90s - where young fans coming aboard ca TSWLM/MR (us) were shamed for their MOONRAKER love as if it was a kink.
4 Likes
It still causes questions: âOh, I thought you are a real Bond fanâŚâ
âI am. But Moonraker is great because-â
Laughter and silly noises of laser pistols stop me from answering.
4 Likes
Iâve always adored MR and yes Iâve gotten my share of being knocked around by the schoolyard bully contingent of Bond fandom (âLetâs knock him down and take his glasses!â) but in fairness this round was about the sets and locations, which reflects not on matters of plot, tone or casting.
The cold, hard fact is that Moonraker has some phenomenal sets and locations, arguably the best in the series. As sets go, thereâs the (working) centrifuge, the glass museum and the wonderfully lit warehouse area above it (with that big clock face), Draxâs pyramid HQ that looks like a cathedral made of flat screen monitors, the boardroom/blast area where Bond and Holly are placed (with, in a shameless display of Eonâs fiscal extravagance, a large, stainless steel conference table that gets less than a minute of screen time before folding up and descending into the floor), and of course the show-stopping space station. This film was maestro Ken Adamâs mic drop on his way off the stage.
Location-wise, we have the beautiful Drax estate (relocated from France to California just for our entertainment!), breathtaking Iguazu Falls, Brazilâs Sugarloaf Mountain, always-gorgeous Venice, etc. Whatever else you think about Moonrakersâ various elements, thereâs no denying the sets and locations are top-drawer.
LTK, whatever its other merits, isnât IMHO easy on the eyes at all.
7 Likes
And if we would want to understand why more recent entries arenât in this finale, compare MOONRAKER
to this âinspired-byâ SPECTRE version
To me this illustrates more than a difference in budgets and approach to cinematography - I think the Bond productions of yesteryear were primarily a visual affair, something that appealed to our pictorial imagination, a stream of colourful images that wasnât restricted by explanations or practicality (what kind of use could these screens up there be?).
In a way they were science fiction productions that just dressed differently - and never asked questions of real life accuracy. You just imagined it and Ken Adam went to work.
5 Likes
It also used to be that colors were a vital part of a cinematographers arsenal; the more dramatic and vibrant, the better. We went through a long recent stretch where the opposite was true and filmmakers did all they good to leech any hit of chromatic vibrance out of the image. Look how dull and bloodless that SP image is compared to the warmth of the MR one.
Thematically, though, maybe it fits: the cathedral-like design of Draxâs control room, with the angled ceiling and the colorful monitors that suggest stained glass windows, directing the eye to the âpulpitâ where Drax sits in front of a design thatâs not too terribly removed from a cross, all serve to reinforce Draxâs delusions of godhood (âthey will look up and know there is order in the heavensâ) and the cult-like vibe from his followers. While on the other end of the spectrum, the soulless, colorless inhumanity of Blofenhauserâs control room suggests what an oppressively bleak goal he has in comparison. He doesnât want to build a new world, he just wants to suck the marrow out of the one that exists. He doesnât have followers, just flesh and blood drones. They donât get bright, yellow jumpsuits but genericized black slacks and turtlenecks from Steve Jobsâ estate sale. Theyâre glued to their keyboards because theyâre an extension of the machinery, and theyâre all turned away from us because having faces would make them human.
However deluded, Drax and his team envision something they feel is hopeful and exciting; a second Genesis. Blofeld and his slaves have stopped believing in anything at all, and like the camerawork and post-production filters used to present them are about taking away what is instead of imagining what could be.
Or maybe SPâs just an ugly film, and itâs a simple as that.
7 Likes
If one compares the sets and the final color grading one must really question Mendes´ intentions. Even the Spectre meeting set was colorful before it was drained in post.
3 Likes
I remember watching the Blu-Ray extras and seeing all the wonderful colors at the âDay of the Deadâ festival, thinking, âWow! I want to see that scene in the film!â Then I realized I HAD seen it, just through a badly unwashed window on a cloudy day. I canât imagine spending that much on sets, extras, costumes and decorations only to flush it all away with a desaturating filter so close to the finish line. What a waste.
4 Likes
4 Likes
I went with some colleagues to see COBRA WOMAN this weekend, and they were fascinated by the effects of Technicolor. Being younger, they had been raised on a photoârealist/tourist-ready visual aesthetic. They loved the way the image looked real without being realistic.
John Huston suffered the same complaints with REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE. He drained the color, and that version played for a week, and then Warner Bros. pulled it, and released a full-color version, which looked like nothing more than Elizabeth Taylorâs home movies. At last on Blu-ray, we have Hustonâs intended images, and the genius of the film is revealed.
Almost as bad as spending money on colorful extras, costumes, and decorations, and then filming in black-and-white. People flocked to the soundstage where Sternberg was filming THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN to see a set done completely in black and whiteâthe first time ever at Paramount Studios.
2 Likes
Yes, Spectre would have been better in black and white.
1 Like
Agreed, but I doubt Eon would be that daring, and so we got a compromise between photorealism and stylized cinematography.
1 Like