Great find, thanks for sharing!
Does anyone else think that the hockey scene in FYEO was a super dumb moment in an otherwise great film? An “own goal” if there ever was one. See what I did there?
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Having dabbled in ice skating I found the general idea to have these huge and hugely padded figures with their sticks quite intimidating. There are some tough moments for Moore’s Bond in that fight - disposing of these guys single-handedly and in the funny goal fashion was what killed that scene.
I liked that Bond didn’t draw his gun or kill the guys in another way. But it’s mysterious what their actual purpose was. I only can think of Kristatos paying a bunch of regular ice hockey players to roughen up any lurkers around the child he’s grooming. But outside in the Lotus there’s Bond’s contact being killed by Locque, so it’s probably his men too in the ice rink. If so, it’s counterproductive to engage Bond since Kristatos needs Bond to kill Columbo; and for that task Bond should be in decent shape.
If these hockey players were Kriegler’s KGB underlings they’d certainly haven’t bothered with the ice hockey gear and just have opened fire on Bond.
So it’s really a bit pointless as a move for both of Bond’s adversaries. And the comic relief was quite awkward and mainly there to show the Longines branding.
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It are Kristatos’ men, one of them, probably the leader, is the guy played by Charles Dance.
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I always thought them, the black clad motorcycle guys and the Mercedes crew, to be KGB hoods from the way Kriegler orders them around - but thinking about it there seems to be no clear designation other than they all apparently answering to Locque.
Except for Kriegler, who his perhaps more a semi-cover observer for Kristatos’ efforts? It’s all a bit murky, in spite of me having rewatched the film only some months ago.
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This dynamic occurs in many Bond films, I think: bad guys behaving non-sensically.
These days, I conclude, that’s just very realistic.
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But then again we’ve had that in Gardner’s continuations of the 80s too: Licence Renewed’s Murik trying to extort governments to build his own design of nuclear plant with the money; For Special Services’ Spectre doing various attempts on Bond while their head wants him brainwashed for the Cheyenne Mountain raid; Icebreaker’s attempts on Bond although he’s supposed to be handed over to the KGB…the examples are countless and usually quite schizophrenic.
In Bond’s world things don’t necessarily happen according to reason and cause and effect. They tend to follow more a continuously escalating gravity towards a well of outrageousness.
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Perhaps you are referencing henchmen continuing to pursue Bond after their boss and his plan have been defeated?
A sentiment that every Bond fan should have embroidered on a throw pillow.
Another classic Dustin neologism!
EON tool kit meet well of outrageousness.
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Oh, I think they just love their job and wanted to impress future employers (Drax) with their thoroughness. „Choose Kidd and Wint, they follow through even if you can‘t anymore!“
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Blofeld may be dead (or not), Bond didn’t bring down SPECTRE entirely, and the organization surely wants revenge. Also, they’re dedicated professionals who always finish what they started, very much like Winston Wolf, Anton Chigurh, or the late great Dr. Kaufmann. Unlike killers like Red Grant or Xenia Onatopp, who get a kick out of the killing. And it could also be that they took their initial defeat just a little bit personal… 
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I hope these thoughts–with which I agree–are remembered during the next Henchperson Deathmatch. Love of job, professionalism, and thoroughness deserve recognition and support.
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Slightly out of context, there’s a German tear-off calendar for 2025, with a Bond themed illustration for each day. Some are better, some are worse, but with 365 of them, you just can’t win them all.
Thought you might like this one…
Shameless plug for a friend:
https://amzn.eu/d/cAiqgLf
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Here’s an interesting artifact for Moore fans; a 1974 appearance on Burt Bacharach’s variety show (which I didn’t even know was a thing) in which Roger tackles the timely issue of Women’s Lib, then goes into disguise(s) to sing a duet with himself. Oh, YouTube, is there anything you can’t do?
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And he‘s doing it marvelously!
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Fab skit, fab duet!
Some people just have natural charisma and likability. Roger was one of those.
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Yes, I know he dropped out of that stage production over his insecurities about his singing voice, and that he resorted to a talk-sing Rex Harrison routine for his “Muppets” appearance, but I think he sounds great. Maybe he just needed the “security blanket” of a character disguise.
BTW in 1974, at age 8, I received my first non-toy turntable and with it a BJ Thomas album that was headlined by “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head,” which was subsequently played hundreds of times and became the first song to which I learned all the lyrics. So if I’d seen this at the time, I’d have gone nuts.
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I have actually a vinyl single from Roger singing, but I don’t know right now where I have kept it.
It’s this one:
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I like the idea of the ice hockey players, but the execution is off. The players in full gear wielding hockey sticks is scary–particularly when one of the guys tries to eviscerate James Bond with his skate blade. I like how another tries to hit Bond with his hockey stick, Bond avoids it, and then takes it from him and hits him with it. All that is rock solid. Even scoring goals with the henchmen is funny, particularly the first one or two.
Where it all fails is where someone is actively keeping score as the fight goes on. Really? What’s the point? It totally takes away from the danger of the scene. Another problem is another player tries to kick Bond, but 007 grabs his leg and throws him in the net, and yet that simple act is enough to take the fight out of him? He’s not hurt or knocked out, so why can’t he keep fighting? And then there is the guy that skates into the Zamboni. Due to the editing, in general, it’s funny, but if you think about it, a guy going faster than an ice tractor and yet still can’t avoid it when it is barely moving is difficult to believe.
So, overall, the idea itself wasn’t bad, but what they wound up with left a lot to be desired and ruined what could have been a thrilling scene. They could have executed better if they had thought it over some more and found better ideas.
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The times were different back then. Crowdpleasing always was more important than realism. And the film did come after Moonraker, so…
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