Then what was the point of the entire Piz Gloria segment? He knows its Blofeld just kill him when he arrives. Oh wait my bad, he needs to bang half of the girls first…
1 Like
His mission there was not to kill - but to lure Blofeld away so he could be properly taken into custody.
And the encounter with the allergy-ridden patients led him to discover a truly dangerous plot that had to be investigated in order to be stopped.
Wow, I’m really good at explaining this, am I not?
2 Likes
It reminds me of what I once said is the difference between Bond and Bourne:
Bourne will efficiently kill the bad guy.
Bond will efficiently kill the bad guy after shagging his wife and enjoying a few cocktails.
2 Likes
That’s what was wrong with Spectre. Bond killed Sciarra before banging Lucia.
I just watched Spectre again, and I think it’s time this film got some love around here: there are the elements that scream classic Bond that I got straight away: amazing pts and snow chase, Monica Belluci oozing class, brilliant train sequence, our first awesome baddie lair in ages. But even the things that grated on me bothered me less: the ill advised family connection was actually pretty underplayed, almost as if they’d realised it was a bad idea. The overuse of the team actually fitted having to deal with C in London and they didn’t actually take the spotlight off Bond: M even said it was all down to Bond when they met in the restaurant. Yes, the escape from the crater was over too quickly, but at least it moved the plot on quickly. Lastly, I actually quite enjoyed the much maligned London finale: it kind of reminded me of classics like Live and Let Die when the main plot was done but the enemy had one last go at revenge. My favourite part of the whole film was the Spectre meeting in Rome which brilliantly updated the equivalent Thunderball scene and built up the menace beautifully. Lastly, I thought Craig gave us his definitive Bond: his conversation with the barman in the clinic was pure Bond! Hope some people on here give it another go without any preconceptions of what they wanted it to be and just enjoy it for what it is. And Mr Hinx rocked!
1 Like
Here’s my biggest question regarding Spectre - exactly what was Bond trying to accomplish during the snow chase? I mean he’s firing bullets into the car then rams it from behind with a plane with Madeline sitting in the backseat - it felt like he was trying to kill the girl, not rescue her!
I respect your opinion and your right to have it. But I fundamentally disagree with almost everything. The film was a mess and it was well known during production what a mess it was.
The PTS is great except for the yellow filter that ruins the look Mexico City. Bond goes rogue…again. The Spectre meeting was great and haunting, but the car chase is underwhelming and the stakes are lowered because of the conversation with Moneypenny in the middle of it. The Austrian clinic is a poor imitation of Piz Gloria and Madeleine’s actions are strange. Q randomly showing up makes no sense. I do like the “throw it down the toilet” line and “no, stay!” I have no idea how the chase works, Bond must’ve been flying the world’s slowest plane. Personally, I don’t know why mr white couldn’t have told Bond where L’Americain is. We had to get yet another Vesper reference. I like the train sequence more or less. I don’t like Madeleine’s sudden 180° turn about Bond. It doesn’t feel organic and makes Madeleine just another in a long line of Bond girls who start strong and then devolve into the typical damsel in distress. The cringe brother reveal. Bond’s too easy escape from the compound. Madeleine deciding that she loves Bond then to leave him solely to allow her to get captured. The poor sequence in the Vauxhall building. Bond somehow shooting down a helicopter with a pistol, in a speedboat, at night, with the cold wind whipping his face. Blofeld encouraging Bond to kill him (which Blofeld wouldn’t do). Not to mention, the terrible Nine Eyes subplot. I’m still not sure what Blofeld’s end goal was. Mass surveillance? Governments already do that. Also, how could no one figure out that C had a hand in the South Africa attack when they were the only ones to vote against Nine Eyes? Rant over.
4 Likes
First, I agree with every last thing you said.
Regarding this one point - Nine Eyes is actually a real thing, only in real life it’s called Five Eyes. It’s an agreement to share intelligence among member nations. Blofeld’s interest was to infiltrate it in order to learn what secrets were being passed so he could use that info to further his own agenda.
Fair enough. My problem with the whole plot is that Blofeld’s plan is never fully explained and for Blofeld, it is rather tame. This is a man who previously tried to take over the world by having the US and Russia destroy each and ruling over what’s left, hold the world to ransom to prevent a pandemic causing mass intfertility, and extort the world by using a space laser to blow up nuclear missiles all over the world. Compared to that, Nine Eyes is pretty bland by comparison.
Why does everyone make this assumption? Is it because Bond said “World domination - same old dream” to Dr. No?
Or perhaps I’m wrong to assume that the ‘advance’ Blofeld demanded from the Chinese agents was for his role in starting WWIII for them without their overt involvement. I thought China (although unnamed) was supposed to be the ‘new power’ the world would see rise.
It never seemed to me that Blofeld was interested in lasting power - only in seducing others like Osato into doing his dirty work, then selling that power to the highest bidder.
1 Like
You Only Live Twice…
All of Blofeld’s plots are financially motivated except for Spectre where it’s access to security feeds from multiple governments.
… Which is to allow his criminal activities to be more successful and so make him more money, as clearly explained in the Rome meeting. I really don’t understand the confusion over this part of the plot?
1 Like
Anyway, the SP Blofeld is not the Blofeld who hatched those other (bigger) plots, any more than Craig Bond is the Bond who fought Dr No, Godlfinger or Drax.
Apples to oranges. Or grapefruit, maybe.
4 Likes
DAF–underrated by both Bond aficionados and the general public (though interestingly it was praised by both Vincent Canby and Andrew Sarris on its original release. They disagreed about the previous Bond–with Sarris calling it the best and Canby not liking it at all).
I think the problem is that Connery’s DAF Bond is not his Bond of the first five films–it is a 7th Bond: Connery 1/Lazenby/Connery 2/Moore/Dalton/Brosnan/Craig. The film acknowledges that things have occurred since YOLT, but does not want to recall them too specifically. The franchise resets even as it maintains a limited recall of the events of OHMSS. The film also reeks of the year it was made–1971–so if a viewer is not a fan of the 1970’s and its films, there might be a disconnect.
In terms of technical aspects, the cinematography is excellent (there is a strong documentary feel and some stunning framings) as is the editing and mise en scene. The score is one of Barry’s best, and for a pleasant change it is withheld in action sequences longer than usual. The theme song is the first sung from a female perspective, and the credits have the first weaponized female figures.
Themes of doubleness and masquerade and the new threats that the 1970’s would pose–feminism, gay rights, corporate-military-governmental alliances–are brought into play without over-burdening the film.
Lastly, it is both a Bond film and an anti-Bond film. All the expected elements and tropes are included, but tweaked and/or presented at an oblique angle as if the audience is being offered a standard Bond movie which at the same time is a critique of the standard Bond movie. Hamilton and Mankiewicz attempt something similar with LALD where they try to fuse the Bond film with blaxploitation cinema, but it did not work at all.
4 Likes
OK, but (^) - threats?
1 Like
Much love for DaF here! Best theme, great score, 2 of the all time great henchmen, one of my favourite Bond moments when he’s climbing up the Whytehouse, and the script just fizzes with brilliant one liners. Oh and Bambi and Thumper in the Elrod House is a stunning location. I’m short, if I have a spare couple of hours it’s my go to easy viewing Bond flick and I love it!
1 Like
It was Roger Moore’s favourite Bond film, by the way.
1 Like
I think DAF, LALD and TMWTGG are tonally quite similar and bring out Hamilton‘s penchant for flippancy most entertainingly.
TMWTGG is for me the most underrated Bond film, especially by me. Didn‘t appreciate it for too long, now I love it.
1 Like
There is a trilogy of movies for that Bond. DAF, LALD, TMWTGG, I always felt tonally they were similar and I think that DAF is great fun , possibly Moore would have made it an equally enjoyable movie, however , TMWTGG would be vastly improved with Connery’s Bond in DAF
1 Like