The James Bond Film Discussion Thread (With Bonus Lazenby!)

[Starkers]

No Connery? Bold.

I have on occasion ranked him my least favourite Bond...

I'm not going to lie. I actually like this movie but that's because I first saw it when I was about ten years old and this is a Bond movie that is perfect for ten year olds.

I would tend to agree, I can see its flaws but I've never quite got some of the hate directed its way. There are way worse Bond films.

My enduring crush on Michelle Yeoh is testament to that.

I'm somewhat torn. I love Yeoh, but Wai Lin doesn't get a whole lot of character development. she's cool and that's about it. I mean give me a Wai Lin over a Christmas Jones any day of the week but still!

 

[Tallguy]

I have on occasion ranked him my least favourite Bond...

So which version of You Only Live Twice that Lewis Gilbert made was the best?
You Only Live Twice
The Spy Who Loved Me
Moonraker

 

[The Realist]

I mean give me a Wai Lin over a Christmas Jones any day of the week but still!

Christmas Jones gets a bum rap, IMO, mainly because of the low-hanging hur-hur of "Denise Richards as nuclear scientist." But Richards is actually not bad at all in the movie. She knows exactly the performance she was hired to deliver, and she brings some wit and spark to it.

 

[IMC Headquarters]

Natalya and Kara (from The Living Daylights) are two of my favorite Bond girls. I think it really works for me to pair Bond with a woman from outside his world of violence and death.

"We're free!"
"Kara, we're inside a Russian airbase in the middle of Afghanistan."

I love Kara's perpetual optimism in this film.

 

[cooleddie74]

Christmas Jones is never high on my list of Bond girls - at all. But she's super cute and Denise Richards in the late '90s was always a pretty sight to behold and watch onscreen.

 

[The Realist]

"We're free!"
"Kara, we're inside a Russian airbase in the middle of Afghanistan."

I love Kara's perpetual optimism in this film.

She's fuckawesome.

One of the many reasons TLD is my personal favorite Bond film is the great chemistry beyond Dalton and d'Abo. It creates what is, to me, the most organic and believable romance in the series -- more even than the films that are really pushing for it, like OHMSS and Casino Royale. And Bond, in Dalton's hands, comes off as a dashing romantic hero like he does in no other movie.

 

[cooleddie74]

When it comes to Dalton Bond girls I like Carey Lowell a little more, but d'Abo is super sweet and adorable and comes off as earnest and genuine as a character. Kara Milovy is technically the first Bond girl of the "safe sex" and AIDS eras but she works brilliantly, allowing Bond to be both her protector and a bit of a father figure as well as, eventually, lover.

Dalton joined the franchise at a turning point in social mores thanks to the impact of AIDS on the world and I think both he and d'Abo handled themselves well, still depicting Bond and his love interests in a largely traditional manner but dialing back on the explicit promiscuity that had been one of 007's defining traits since Connery.

 

[Tallguy]

Well... That and getting back to more like Flemming's Bond.

 

[Set Harth]

Christmas Jones gets a bum rap, IMO, mainly because of the low-hanging hur-hur of "Denise Richards as nuclear scientist." But Richards is actually not bad at all in the movie. She knows exactly the performance she was hired to deliver, and she brings some wit and spark to it.

I once read a review of the film in a small local paper where the reviewer straight up lied about one of her line readings in an attempt to make her look stupid. I actually went back and checked the film only to be like wtf

 

[Captaindemotion]

Have we acknowledged that OHMSS had its London premiere 55 years ago today (and its American one 55 years ago tomorrow)?

 

[Tallguy]

Have we acknowledged that OHMSS had its London premiere 55 years ago today (and its American one 55 years ago tomorrow)?

Yup:

OHMSS turns 55 tomorrow!

 

[IMC Headquarters]

I just love the energy that goes into the OHMSS opening titles. The music, the clips, the sheer power of Bond.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Yup:

Ah good, dunno how I missed that, other than this thread has been especially active the last few days (given that we’ve no real 007 News to report).

 

[cooleddie74]

The OHMSS anniversary definitely helped add activity in the past few days!

 

[Captaindemotion]

I must’ve been distracted by the name change

 

[IMC Headquarters]

"He branched out." A comment that is pure Bugs Bunny yet delivered by James Bond, as Blofeld twitches helplessly in the air.

 

[cooleddie74]

It's a horrible line, but I laugh every time.

 

[Captaindemotion]

So you don’t think there was a wooden delivery?

 

[cardinal biggles]

The problem isn't the lines themselves but that Lazenby wasn't experienced enough to deliver them well. As much as I enjoy his performance, the one-liners are definitely one of his weak spots.

 

[Tallguy]

So you don’t think there was a wooden delivery?

He was a little stiff.