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

[XCV330]

The moment he kills the surviving knife-throwing twin in Octopussy is also a savage one for Moore. His facial expression when he throws the killer's own knife into his chest is A-tier Roger Moore James Bond and I love it.

it still gets complaints because of the clown suit, but I think the .. at best worried, if not extremely scared Bond trying to find the nuke to defuse wearing a clown suit in Octopussy is also one of his better serious moments. It also has good callback to the previous double-0 dying in clown costume with a knife in his back.

 

[Commander Troi]

I've never seen the Guinness shows but I saw the Oldman movie of Tinker. (It was suitably impenetrable.)

I haven't seen the Oldman movie because I couldn't imagine paring all the stuff from the shows down into a single movie! It's well worth seeing the Guinness shows IMO.

 

[cooleddie74]

The clown complaint is one of the most tired Bond arguments in existence, surpassed only by the Code Name Theory. Bond is actually undercover and wearing a disguise in order to infiltrate a circus tent in Cold War West Germany and deactivate a nuclear bomb before it detonates, wipes out the area and starts World War III. Bond is a spy. Spies really should don disguises from time to time to get their missions accomplished.

Yes, it's a clown costume and makeup and it's Roger Moore. But those are no excuse to pull out the argument almost every single time and act like it has any real weight.

 

[cooleddie74]

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[Starkers]

it still gets complaints because of the clown suit, but I think the .. at best worried, if not extremely scared Bond trying to find the nuke to defuse wearing a clown suit in Octopussy is also one of his better serious moments. It also has good callback to the previous double-0 dying in clown costume with a knife in his back.

I have many issues with Octopussy but that scene isn't one of them, in fact I'd say it's one of the best bits of the film.

I haven't seen the Oldman movie because I couldn't imagine paring all the stuff from the shows down into a single movie! It's well worth seeing the Guinness shows IMO.

I've only recently watched the Guinness series. Wow, just incredible. I still think the film is a classic, but however good Oldman is (and let's be honest it's the role he should have got the Oscar for) Guinness manages to be another level. I kinda like that we have both (plus the book)

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I haven't seen the Oldman movie because I couldn't imagine paring all the stuff from the shows down into a single movie! It's well worth seeing the Guinness shows IMO.

The Oldman movie is outstanding. I watched the Guinness version back in the day, and I'd love to see it again.

 

[Set Harth]

And of course Andor is John Le Carre's Star Wars.

A couple of years ago I used this exact sales pitch to try to get someone to watch the show.

It did not work.

 

[PCz911]

I think I’d put any bond song on repeat before I would subject myself to Billie Eilish.
Her whole schtick is to be permanently depressed.

Johnny marr playing guitar for the bond theme, though, is mega!

(Sorry, not sure how to add the link)

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[CorporalClegg]

I actually think the clown face is kind of genius on a metatextual level. I think it perfectly encapsulates Moore's character.

It's wrong to say he didn't take the character as serious as Connery. He absolutely did. He understood that an assassin for the Secret Intelligence Service is very serious. But the world in which he exists is completely absurdist.

That is to say, The Bond character is serious. The Bond franchise is not. And Moore's portrayal was a "mask" to better blend in. You know, spycraft.

 

[XCV330]

I actually think the clown face is kind of genius on a metatextual level. I think it perfectly encapsulates Moore's character.

It's wrong to say he didn't take the character as serious as Connery. He absolutely did. He understood that an assassin for the Secret Intelligence Service is very serious. But the world in which he exists is completely absurdist.

That is to say, The Bond character is serious. The Bond franchise is not. And Moore's portrayal was a "mask" to better blend in. You know, spycraft.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

was going down to BBC and somehow still had the hairbrush transmitter prop from LALD. He thought the prop people might like it, so he stopped in at the Doctor Who set, and showed it to one of the prop people. They didn't recognize him, paid him some change, and he went on amused about the entire thing. It later showed up in Revenge of the Cybermen.
(I know, that's probably become like Aragon kicking a helmet story by now, everyone knows it).

You’re not wrong about the prop in question, but I’d never heard before that it was Moore who delivered it unknown? Really?

 

[Roundabout]

Usually when Bond is at a gaming table, it is for a game of cards or some other traditional casino game.

In Octopussy, I thought it was a nice change of pace for a Bond movie to feature a different kind of game, backgammon. I had just learned how to play backgammon around that time. So I thoroughly enjoyed that backgammon scene.

Bond cleverly invoked "player's privilege" in order to use Khan's (no relation to Noonien Singh, AFAIK ) loaded dice to win the game. I only later discovered that, in the real world, there is no such thing as "player's privilege" in backgammon. "It's all in the wrist", Bond quipped. I still love that scene even with that fake "player's privilege".

 

[Tosk]

Maybe I'm weird, but I don't hate Spectre. I'll watch it over Moonraker any day.

It had been a while since I watched either, so I thought in the interest of fairness I should rewatch both.

And now that I have, I stand by my statement. Spectre is fine (Not amazing by any stretch, but fine.)

Moonraker alternates between really boring and really silly. This will probably be my last rewatch of it before I die.

 

[Starkers]

It had been a while since I watched either, so I thought in the interest of fairness I should rewatch both.

And now that I have, I stand by my statement. Spectre is fine (Not amazing by any stretch, but fine.)

Moonraker alternates between really boring and really silly. This will probably be my last rewatch of it before I die.

It would be a dull world if we all liked the same things. Heck I probably like TMWTGG more than most Bond fans do (maybe not much more than most Bond fans do but still...)

I remember watching Spectre the first time and right up until Bond and Madeline board the train thinking it was great. I've rarely had a Bond film go down in my estimation so quickly after this point.

I love Moonraker, but I absolutely have to be in the right mood for it!

 

[Tosk]

Heck I probably like TMWTGG more than most Bond fans do

I like that one.



I rewatched all the Craig movies, and boy does he like to quit/go on extended leave a lot.
Craig Bond wants to be 007 almost as little as Craig himself does.

And I'm sure this has been said before but Paloma is the most criminally underused (screen time vs quality) Bond girl in the entire film series.

 

[Tallguy]

Usually when Bond is at a gaming table, it is for a game of cards or some other traditional casino game.

In Octopussy, I thought it was a nice change of pace for a Bond movie to feature a different kind of game, backgammon. I had just learned how to play backgammon around that time. So I thoroughly enjoyed that backgammon scene.

Bond cleverly invoked "player's privilege" in order to use Khan's (no relation to Noonien Singh, AFAIK ) loaded dice to win the game. I only later discovered that, in the real world, there is no such thing as "player's privilege" in backgammon. "It's all in the wrist", Bond quipped. I still love that scene even with that fake "player's privilege".

The game and the line about "spend the money quickly" is actually from the novel Moonraker, isn't it? (It's cards in Moonraker.)

 

[oktay]

President Trump Says He Will Implement 100% Tariffs on Films Produced Outside the U.S.: ‘The Movie Industry in America Is Dying’

President Trump said that he will impose an 100% tariff on 'any and all' films produced in a 'foreign land.'

variety.com

After this stupid decision, it shouldn't be surprising if the new James Bond movies start being shot in a studio in America instead of England.

 

[Roundabout]

The game and the line about "spend the money quickly" is actually from the novel Moonraker, isn't it? (It's cards in Moonraker.)

I don't know if the "spend the money quickly" line was also used in the Moonraker novel.

Yes, it was cards, bridge, to be precise, in the Moonraker novel, according to Wikipedia. Like Khan, Drax cheated. In Drax's case, he used a stacked deck. Of course, Bond outwitted both of them.

 

[Starkers]

If I recall correctly I think the whole point of the game as well is for Bond to let on to Drax that he knows he's cheating, without outright accusing him of cheating, thus protecting his honour?

Be annoyed if I've got that wrong as I only read it for the first time last year.

 

[Brannigan]

The Oldman movie is outstanding. I watched the Guinness version back in the day, and I'd love to see it again.

In the 70s the BBC passed on a mini series of "The Honourable Schoolboy" due to expense of filming in Southeast Asia.
I wish that after the Oldman movie they had proceeded to make films of "The Honourable Schoolboy" and Smiley's People to complete the Smiley Trilogy.