We Have All The Time In The World: OHMSS Turning 50

I agree re Lazenby (and even Moore - I’ve always said that Moore would work in DAF or Connery in LALD).

As regards Connery’s fee, he was indeed paid a huge salary to return, but he gave most of it away in order to set up an educational trust in Scotland
https://scotinted.org.uk/

 

I watch most of the Bond films about once a year or two. One thing I've noticed is that I like Dr. No a little more each time I see it. Diamonds Are Forever though...it gets harder and harder to stick that disc in the machine.

 

Dr. No was my #6 Bond film the last time I compiled a list. DAF was near the bottom.

 

I disagree that Moore would have worked in DAF. Maybe if the film was rewritten to his strengths like it was for LALD. We saw how it didn’t work when they tried to write Moore’s Bond like Connery’s in TMWTGG.

 

I for one don't mind that we got at least one campy Connery film in the EON series. Connery wasn't bad at wry humor and comedic moments but he needed better script material than DAF generally gave him. Moore had to have one movie that was almost totally dead serious(FYEO) and Connery got his goofy entry(DAF). I just wish it hadn't been the immediate followup to OHMSS because damn, does it suffer in comparison.

 

Well that’s the thing, it was never meant to be a follow up of OHMSS. By all accounts, after Lazenby jumped ship, EON pretty much abandoned any plans of a proper follow up. It was all about trying to evoke the tone of GF which is why Hamilton was hired. And that was all when they signed John Gavin as the new Bond, before United Artists approached Connery with a deal.

 

Sadly it'll always be seen as the followup since it was the first movie released after Lazenby. And I'll give it credit for trying to play both sides by having Bond hunt down Blofeld in an act of revenge in the pre-titles sequence and then attempting its own thing without referencing the previous film but yeah, it's like watching Spectre after Skyfall. Damn, does it not land well.

 

Depends on how you view it. The first scene in the film is set in Japan, which I think was the filmmakers trying to imply that they skipped OHMSS altogether and that DAF is a follow up of YOLT. Bond is on a manhunt not for revenge but for finishing the job of taking down Blofeld. This is why Tracy is never mentioned or alluded to.

I’ll knock DAF for its own merits like having a lousy climax, but I’m never gonna knock it for not being something it never meant to be.

 

As a standalone movie separate from its predecessor I'll more likely than not always hold it in higher regard than, say, Die Another Day, Quantum of Solace, Spectre or Never Say Never Again. DAF is mediocre in large part and too silly in spots but at least it's watchable and characters like Whyte and Wint and Kidd burn themselves into your memory and for good reasons. I can't say the same about the aforementioned Bond films, canon or otherwise.

 

I forgot what Quantum was about within a week of seeing it

 

One of its problems. It's just...there. It doesn't make itself memorable, except in how slapdash the camera work and editing is.

 

I have a lot of time for QoS, where it is unusual (IMO) is that it's one of the few Bond films where the second half is better than the first. The first half is all-over the place, both narratively and geographically, but once Bond arrives in Bolivia the story settles down and the film is decent.

I used to love DAF, and there is still fun stuff in there (mainly Wint and Kidd) but following on from OHMSS it's such an inferior film. I've noticed this a lot when I did my run through in order, films I used to love I now have less time for and vice versa. I used to adore Octopussy but I can barely watch it now.

Even YOLT has gone down in my estimation. Setting aside the troubling 'Bond turns Romulan' the plot makes no sense (I know I know). If Spectre already have the finances to build a giant volcano base and create its own space programme then just how much are the Chinese paying them? And where are Spectre going to spend the money if half the world is a smoking ruin? I can accept a madman like Stromberg or Drax wanting to destroy the world but what the hell is Spectre's angle?

That Kobe docks rooftop scene is just beautiful though and you can't beat a giant gun battle in a secret base (I miss those)

Films that have gone up in my estimation in recent years? FYEO is a great film, helps that I've been to Corfu a few times, and TWINE, while still not great, is better than I gave it credit for, though it is depressing that the film that gave us one of the most three dimensional female characters in the franchise also gave us one of the worst.

 

There have been three genuinely great Bond films since the Dalton Era. That's Three out of nine films, which is probably above average for a big budget franchise but still.

 

I think I'd agree with that but obviously my three might be different to yours! I'd say Goldeneye, Casino Royale, and Skyfall. Obviously NTTD might class as a fourth. I really enjoyed it but don't feel I can truly appraise it until I've seen it again..

 

Those are the three.

 

Phew, had a horrible feeling you were going to say DAD QoS and Spectre

 

I'm crazy, not insane.

 

TLD, L2K, and Goldeneye is the best three-film run short of the original three.