I was thinking Annie Wilkes is now seen as an aspirational figure but y’know…
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I wonder: do we have to? Who is responsible? And where does it lead to - a kind of greatest hits/moment-compilation with no exposition or atmosphere? Or will this run its course, with audiences demanding a return to the more “glacial” pace?
EDIT: In the magnificent “Succession” there is an interesting scene in which the Kieran Culkin character makes a sales pitch about the future of reading, referring to people now only reading snippets, the highlights, the twitter messages, with books becoming obsolete.
Might this be the future of movies as well?
I have noticed that Bond fans tend to rank Rog higher than most casual movie goers. But seriously, to rank TSWLM, which is easily one of if not the best in the ENTIRE series, let alone Moore’s tenure last just proves how pathetic cinema blend is. Granted, I’m super biased as Moore is my favorite Bond and TSWLM my fav film. On top of that, Moore is clearly the actor who most enjoyed playing James Bond.
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The guys bio claims he’s a James Bond expert…
…
…
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Probably friends with the “expert” who made this.
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My vote just pushed TSWLM into the lead in Mike Reye’s poll.
As for re-ordering the films:
Moonraker, then YOLT?
Don’t do drugs, kids.
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There’s people who have FYEO as the top Moore Bond movie, and in my opinion, seem opposed to the intent of what his era is all about. This mindset turns positives into negatives, which is how someone can place TSWLM dead last. They fight the spectacle and long for something akin to FRWL. I don’t subscribe to that philosophy with Moore’s era. Applying modern standards to these films in terms of humour and plot is dead end thinking. And that’s not ‘admitting’ they’re inferior either.
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Before he died, Sir Roger was very active on Twitter.
I remember someone tweeted “It’s my birthday today, how about a shout-out from the best Bond ever?”
to which Roger replied…
“I don’t think Sean’s on Twitter…”
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Out of all the Bond actors, Roger Moore had the most fun playing Bond. He never got bored of the character. I love how he brought something different to the role by moving away from the Connery era.
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Saw a brief clip recently of Roger being interviewed during the TSWLM era, and this stuck out.
Interviewer: “It’s deliberately appalling isn’t it? A line, a gag and you say it in such a way which just about saves it.”
Roger: “The whole point is it’s a romp. It is fun. It is entertainment. The problem today, I think the vast number of films, they aren’t entertaining. I like when I go to the cinema to be entertained, and I do not want to come out feeling miserable. With a Bond film you usually come out having had a couple good hours of laughter and action.”
Really does encapsulate his philosophy and what his era was all about.
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Moore played bond like his lord Sinclair character in persuaders. maybe the producers wanted that playboy action star witty persona that was familiar in USA. He was best in Live and Let Die and from then on it was not serious anymore.
I think Moore’s Bond was at his most serious in the very next film, The Man With The Golden Gun. Some would argue it’s actually For Your Eyes Only (proving he was more serious again and deeper into his era), but I beg to differ.
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Welcome to the board, sd259!
I don’t see Roger 's Bond being that close to his Sinclair, plus The Persuaders flopped in America or we might never have gotten Roger in LALD at all. Cubby himself wrote of his priorities in prepping Roger for Bond that “we had to bury…the lightweight giggling of The Persuaders.”
But to your larger point, yes Roger is Roger and his most successful roles, and indeed his off-camera image, tended to hinge on the “rich playboy” persona. It could be that the power of that image, and Roger’s comfort with it, meant his Bond was always destined to drift in that direction regardless of Cubby’s wishes. Or it could be – indeed is more likely – that Cubby was indulging in revisionist history when he wrote the above. But while I can see him wanting to trade on the fame of The Saint (while also, paradoxically, wanting to make people forget it), I can’t see him wanting Roger to go “full Brett” on his 007, and for my money he never did.
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Just a very nice reminder that Bond films do great stunts for real:
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So… the ski stunt for TSWLM seems to have become quite ordinary these days:
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I felt I should put this here as RM took home Marlon Brando’s Oscar originally.
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Happy 95th birthday to Sir Roger Moore! Gone but not forgotten.
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Happy birthday Roger Moore!
I watched this afternoon “Octopussy”, what a fun movie to watch and enjoy on the birthday of my favorite actor and moviestar. It was Sir Roger who made me a super Bond and movie fan for life.
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Roger brought vitality everywhere he went. He had a spark that is often absent from our overly serious lives these days, and that’s why I’ll always enjoy revisiting his Bond movies. They’re the perfect nostalgic escape, especially now.
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