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

[Judge Death]

I'll go back to Michael Wilson's quote "We always try to make From Russia with Love and we always end up making Thunderball."

Goldeneye was the most balanced movie that Brosnan got to make. TWINE is this "serious" Bond movie interspersed with BIG ACTION SCENES. TND is like this to a lesser extent but it never has the weight that the "spy" scenes in TWINE have. TBH both Carver and Renard are better on paper. ("They'll print anything these days.") Two actors who should have been the best Bond villains ever. Maybe my expectations were too high.

(You want to see Robert Carlyle be Bond villain? Watch Once Upon a Time.)

Then DAD comes along. Rather than flipping back and forth they have the "serious" (<- I can't not put that in quotes) part of the story almost entirely up front. Then you get to the ice palace and it becomes a very action packed Roger Moore film. It's the silliest film Brosnan made. But almost only in the back half.

At the end of the day Renard isn't the villain, he's effectively a henchman, but yes he should have been better (see also Waltz).

I don't disagree with you but given the choice I'd watch TND over TWINE any day simply because it's more fun

 

[Etbj SMY]

I'll go back to Michael Wilson's quote "We always try to make From Russia with Love and we always end up making Thunderball."

How DARE you, MW.

 

[Tallguy]

Comma-lover. Still, how can one not love DAD for having Moneypenny virtually @#$% James Bond at long last?

It's a dumb scene. It diminishes Moneypenny.

But (since it's the last time and because they haven't had a scene together in this movie) when Pierce is possibly his most Remington Steele, leans on the door and says "Moneypenny." And she looks up and says "James." And all is right with the world.

Maybe because that was such a delight I was let down by the rest of the scene.

 

[suarezguy]

TBH both Carver and Renard are better on paper. ("They'll print anything these days.") Two actors who should have been the best Bond villains ever. Maybe my expectations were too high.

I think Jean Reno would have been a lot better as Renard and Carver was one of weaker Bond villains period, probably should have been Anthony Hopkins.

 

[GhoulEddie74]

The best thing about Carver was his Blofeld-style jacket.

 

[cardinal biggles]

For all its flaws, TND is more relevant now than it was almost 30 years ago. The idea of a media mogul using a literal war to achieve world ratings domination isn't so far-fetched anymore. At the time, Rupert Murdoch was mostly known for newspapers, and Fox News was still brand-new. More recently the narrative has shifted to billionaires purchasing things and enshittifying them – Musk with Twitter, Bezos with The Washington Post, and Larry Ellison's kid who just bought Paramount/CBS.

 

[GhoulEddie74]

I do like TND better than I do TWINE and DAD. The third movie was my favorite of the middle two until I just got bored with the Renard and Elektra King submarine plot and the whole movie just got tedious to attempt to rewatch.

 

[Tallguy]

As milquetoast as Renard turns out to be, Elektra is terrific. And more Robbie Coltrane!

OTOH, 20 years later I still have no idea what kills Renard at the end or how he and Bond know that it's coming.

Bronsnan: The only Bond who can deliver a quip and have it show emotional pain! "I never miss."

 

[GhoulEddie74]

Desmond Llewelyn's unintentionally permanent farewell to the franchise remains my favorite part of the entire movie.