We finished off the Brosnan cycle of Bonds tonight with Die Another Day and it is clearly the weakest of the bunch. It starts off OK, in fact the opening sequence is pretty effective, but as soon as the credits start and the theme song kicks in you know you are on rocky ground. A very very weak song which doesn’t fit the movie in the slightest. But worse is to come as the action sequences pile up and the CGI becomes so bad as to be almost unwatchable. The scene where Bond paraglides off a collapsing glacier and surfs to safety is not just overly far fetched but so badly done as to appear like some low budget cartoon. Just awful.
This is a pity as there are other elements to the film which work well and I was left feeling like I’d watched 2 films bodged together. One made by someone who knew what he was doing and the other by his ADHD 10 year old son. If the quality of one half had been maintained it could have been very good. As it is, it’s pretty bad.
Despite this, Brosnan still came out of it reasonably untarnished and still remains well liked in the role by the family. Let’s see what they think of Daniel Craig.
Footnote: I’m an old Punk from way back but who thought it was a good idea to use a clip of The Clash’s London Calling in this film? Just another example of poor decision making. It fits about as well as a training bra on Pamela Anderson.
I really like “Live and Let Die.” I don’t know why its my favorite, but I love the music and the setting and everything about it. I may get railed for picking a Moore film, but I actually like him as bond (not my favorite but still good).
If you’re going to pick a Moore film, this is the one to pick. There are a handful of flaws, some dicey things that can be chalked up to the period in which it was made, but overall this is the best of the Moore years for me, just barely edging out The Spy Who Loved Me. Apparently others agree with you – according to the vote, this is tied for second place (along with my favorite, OHMSS).
you’re right, but it has the best bond-theme ever : paul mccartney and the wings !
for me, Goldfinger is the best JB, Gerd Fröbe is the best villiain in JB history ! maybe i’m writing this, coz Klaus Maria Brandauer (an austrian like me) was so overacting and boring.
Brandauer was also fantastic in Never Say Never Again, but Fröbe had the better scenes and dialogues. So Fröbe wins.
And The Spy Who Loved Me is the 2nd great Moore Bond imo. More typical for the series, and so maybe Moore’s best, but followed very closely by LALD. After these 2 there is a great gap.
[quote=“Stanton, post:349, topic:544”]Brandauer was also fantastic in Never Say Never Again, but Fröbe had the better scenes and dialogues. So Fröbe wins.
And The Spy Who Loved Me is the 2nd great Moore Bond imo. More typical for the series, and so maybe Moore’s best, but followed very closely by LALD. After these 2 there is a great gap.[/quote]
maybe i have a problem with KM Brandauer, coz i’ve seen so many quotes from him in austrian tv. JB films were massproduction, JB is known all over the world. it has to been seen if a JB was directed in the 60’s or 70’s or even later. JB stands for action, homour, sex and political times/enemies which were chanching all through the times. i see JB as movies made for that times they were made in.
18 years old may see all JBs as oldfashioned and boring, but 30 years older than eightteen i see , as i do in italos, a period of time and fashion when a movie fits in or doesn’t. movies like “the Blues Brothers”, “Rocky Horror Pic Show” or “Pulp Fiction” or “Big Lebowski” will get an audience from 15 - 55. young ones will have a problem to know the enemies of JB as their enemies like i did.
only time, and i mean generations of viewers, will tell what movie is “immortal” or what movie is just fun. ITALOS already proofed that they didn’t meant to be important only in the 60’s, they survived !
the first thing i thought in writing in this forum was to get discussing with younger and older folks. every single contribution means to me : learning !
i’m new to the forum, but would like to learn and give to the forum, coz only exchange makes people bigger/better.
I thought Brandauer was a fantastic villain as well. A lot of depth came out through the acting (not over-acting), I thought. One of the few things I liked about NSNA. I’m a big Lani Hall fan, and I didn’t even like the theme song!
None has had anything good to say about Moonraker, but behind the over the top humour there are some positive aspects
John Barry’s score is probably the best Bond score of the 1970s, and much better than Marvin Hamlisch’s disco score for the previous TSWLM
The cast is quite good as well, with Drax being one of the best villains of the series
Venice and Rio de Janeiro, great locations for a Bond film
And above all there are a number of outstanding and very Bondian scenes in this film
For example, when Bond first meets Drax at his mansion and Drax is sitting by the piano playing Chopin’s Raindrop Prelude, the centrifuge scene, Corinne is chased through the woods by Drax doberman dogs [great music in this scene], Bond sneaks into Drax nerve gas laboratory in Venice [very Bondian atmosphere]
Check out these scenes individually if you have the dvd at hand
I have seen it only once, and only remember the opening scene (which is very good, I have seen that more often, by the way: on You Tube, when the film was shown on TV etc.) and a couple of other scenes. Venice is a great location, but I seem to remember that the scene on the San Marco square was rather silly.
The Living Daylights was a solid well-made film and it’s premiere in 1987 marked the 25 Year Anniversary for the cinematic James Bond
It was made with more enthusiasm by the filmmakers than the previous Moore Bonds, and also tried to break some new ground within the franchise
The acting and dialogue was better than most Bonds, and the action sequences were a bit more realistic, with Dalton actually performing some of his own stunts
It still had some Roger Moore style humour and the atmosphere was that of a rather light-hearted matinee adventure
To me it’s better than Dalton’s second Bond though, which I think wasn’t as well-made and didn’t have any real Bondian feel to it, sort of like the latest Craig Bonds
Always liked The Living Daylights. One reason: Several scenes were photographed in Austria especially in Vienna even the scenes which should take place in the former Czechoslovakia. Like Rambo in Rambo 3 007 is helping the Mujahideen.
Much agree with you Dalton’s Bond is more like Craig. Pierce Brosnan’s Bond was more like Roger Moore.
[quote=“Lindberg, post:356, topic:544”]The Living Daylights was a solid well-made film and it’s premiere in 1987 marked the 25 Year Anniversary for the cinematic James Bond
To me it’s better than Dalton’s second Bond though, which I think wasn’t as well-made and didn’t have any real Bondian feel to it, sort of like the latest Craig Bonds[/quote]
I like The Living daylights but I actually prefer License to Kill
True, it’s a step in the direction of the Craig Bonds, but they were a step too far, License to Kill wasn’t in my opinion. It had some of the atmosphere of the novels and the early Connery Bonds, with 007 really being a tough, sometimes a bit nasty guy. I liked Dalton a lot as Bond. Moore was too relaxed. Brosnan has good moments as Bond, but bad ones as well.
