Mr and Mrs James Bond
So the familyâs trip through the Bond series has reached the Roger Moore years now with Live and Let Die being our latest view.
I hadnât seen this one since I saw it in the cinema on its release back in 1973 but had fond memories of it. It is still fun but, despite liking Roger Moore well enough in general, it only went to confirm for me that he wasnât at his best in the Bond films. His super suave, polite English gentleman style does not have enough menacing edge to be a convincing Bond for me. On the plus side there are some great chase scenes in this one, the speed boat one being the obvious stand out, and the usual bevvie of lovelies, including a very young Jane Seymour and the Revâs favourite doe eyed busty wench Madeline Smith. Despite my disatisfaction with Moore as Bond in general this is, I think, his best effort in the series. Although that is possibly because he was still young and slim enough to carry it off. The waistband of his trousers hadnât inched up to his nipples yet. :-[
Who is Bond compared with Kronsteen?
Man With the Golden Gun was viewed by the family and everyoneâs enjoyment of the series is noticeably waning. Has some decent moments but it is already starting to head down the pseudo comedy line which I never enjoyed first time around. The pair of Swedish lovelies (Maud Adams and Britt Ekland) are both welcome of course and Chris Lee makes a reasonable bad guy but this is where I remember the franchise sliding in quality and I havenât changed my opinion. Weâll keep going but I donât hold up much hope for us seeing the whole series through as they keep getting worse.
I remember childrenâs author Anthony Horowitz joking that by the end of the Rodger Moore years with A View to Kill, Moore was old enough to hide his gadgets in a Zimmer frame! ;D
Phil, ainât the next one, which is The Spy Who Loved Me, one of the best?
Surprisingly it even has a few stylish scenes. All in all great fun.
Followed by Moonraker a total routine show.
The main problem is that it has no finale
There are some good stunts, some funny moments, Christopher Lee is a good villain, but in the end it all fizzles out
TMWTGG has no real highlights. It builds up to a final duel between Bond and Scaramanga, and this duel is somehow weak.
True. But I thought some of the car stunts were quite nice. This is the film with that car that really âwhirlsâ over a river, no?
Yes it is
It was done at the first attempt
Biggest gap among the Roger Moore films The Man With The Golden Gun and The Spy Who Loved Me. Roger busy on other projects perhapsâŚ
[quote=âStanton, post:266, topic:544â]Phil, ainât the next one, which is The Spy Who Loved Me, one of the best?
Surprisingly it even has a few stylish scenes. All in all great fun.
Followed by Moonraker a total routine show.[/quote]
I really donât recall Stan. Havenât seen it in years and only really remember that I gave up on Bond after Moonraker. Is it TSWLM that has the ski scene with the union jack parachute? That was quite cool as I recall.
As for MWTGG. The corkscrew car stunt epitomised the whole film for me. Great potential ruined by the use of a silly twirling whistle sound effect during the stunt. Instantly changed it from exciting to farcical in one swoop. Amazing how something as small as a little sound effect can have such an impact. But there you go. These things matter.
To illustrate my point watch the following clip with the sound off and then again with the sound on.
Sure is.
[quote=âPhil H, post:273, topic:544â]As for MWTGG. The corkscrew car stunt epitomised the whole film for me. Great potential ruined by the use of a silly twirling whistle sound effect during the stunt. Instantly changed it from exciting to farcical in one swoop. Amazing how something as small as a little sound effect can have such an impact. But there you go. These things matter.
To illustrate my point watch the following clip with the sound off and then again with the sound on.
Oh yes, terrible.
And Clifton James is in the scene, who was tolerable in LALD, but is only annoying in the reprisal of his role in TMWTGG
TMWTGG is rather boring and lightweight, but itâs fun to notice the influences from the kung fu movie craze of the 70s
Moore has a tough scene when he beats up Maud Adams in the hotel room
This film would have suited George Lazenby since he was into martial arts
[quote=âStanton, post:266, topic:544â]Phil, ainât the next one, which is The Spy Who Loved Me, one of the best?
Surprisingly it even has a few stylish scenes. All in all great fun.
Followed by Moonraker a total routine show.[/quote]absolutely agree Stanton " The Spy Who loved Me " is in my top 6 Bond films, easily the best of Mooreâs Bond films, and also agree " Moonraker" is among the worst.
I watched On Her Majestyâs Secret Service. Some consider it to be among the best of the Bond films, while others the weakest because of Georege Lazanbyâs performance as James Bond. I found him to be good, but in a movie where so much is concerntrated on your character, you have to be better than merely good. On the other hand, the direction, editing, photography and supoorting actors like Diana Rigg and Telly Savalas are excellent.
The family and I have had a wee break from our Bond watching recently but fired it up again tonight with The Spy Who Loved me (1977). To be honest they had been losing interest in the series once we started on the Roger Moore ones but this was a welcome return to form and was universally agreed amongst the girls to be the best Moore Bond so far. A couple too many corny gags for my liking but lots of positive stuff which outweighed its faults. Good fun. And one of the best ever for sustained totty. Barbara Bach co stars of course but you also get Caroline Monroe and Valerie Leon thrown in for free. Bargain!
To me TSWLM is no doubt a very spectacular and good looking movie, but somehow a bit boring nontheless, it lacks substance
It firmly established Roger Moore as the new James Bond though, and was the biggest financial success of the franchise since Thunderball in 1965
Itâs sort of a âBest of Bondâ concept where a number of scenes from earlier Bonds re-appear in modernized version