The launch of the rocket from Blofeld's volcano base in You Only Live Twice presents a similar problem. Yes, Blofeld and his senior staff and all his henchpersons are hidden behind protective layers when the rocket launches but there should have been so much exhaust flame and smoke from the takeoff that the equipment in the surrounding area should have been destroyed or at least heavily damaged. But there's no smoke or fire damage to the inside of the crater base.
"But won't they get incinerated?" "Just repeat to yourself, 'It's just a show, I should really just relax.'"
The thing that gets me about YOLT is the plan? China (presumably) want the USSR and the West to annihilate each other in WWIII, but I always wonder what the aftermath looks like for both them and SPECTRE? I mean even in the late 60s Mutually Assured Destruction was a thing. Did China just imagine America and Russia would destroy each other and there'd be no fallout (in either sense of the word) and what do SPECTRE get out of it? Money, but then where are they going to spend it? Power? Again in what sense when large parts of the globe are now a wasteland and where China are the only superpower (and can perhaps crush SPECTRE like a bug)?
Blofeld and SPECTRE were dangerous and had vast criminal resources but nobody ever accused them of being the smartest people in the world. I mean, in DAF Blofeld locks Bond inside an easily escapable storage closet on the oil rig and it takes him just a few minutes to escape and help defeat Blofeld's plans. Blofeld is sinister and cunning but apparently doesn't think much beyond the monetary reward or the title of nobility. Even at his best he's lacking in having true long-term vision.
That's for sure. I mean, what kind of international criminal/terrorist/espionage organization has a clever and memorable Madison Avenue acronym (actually a "backronym") for a name?
And a symbol(the octopus)that can be recognized by anyone with the knowledge of their organization. A hidden tattoo or password I can see making sense but SPECTRE flaunts so much of itself on the surface and any British or other foreign agent worth their salt can recognize a SPECTRE operative with relative ease just based on what they say and their choice of clothing.
Kinda like Gerry Anderson's UFO. S.H.A.D.O. is a super top secret organization but every single one of their very publicly seen vehicles has S.H.A.D.O. emblazoned on each side. Secrecy was never the Bond film's long suit. "Oh my God! You just killed James Bond!" "Your reputation has preceded you, Mr. Bond." "My name is Bond, James Bond." "And I'm Dick Tracy and you're still under arrest."
Even Blofeld's bathysub escape vehicle at the end of Diamonds Are Forever had the octopus on it. They branded a lot for an underground criminal organization.
Even though we don't see the body, I prefer to believe Blofeld died in DIAMONDS before Wint and Kidd. After Tracy's death, it seems quite fair. Bond's too happy at simply capturing him as opposed to being vengeful. And having unnamed Blofeld get wasted in the fricking pre-credit scene----and totally unrelated to the body of the film----was simply misguided. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY picked a strange time to briefly bring him back. And then came non-canon Sydow.....
A Facebook page I follow did a post about Live and Let Die, which was released 49 years ago this week. In the post, they included this quote from Roger Moore about his approach to playing Bond: "To me, the Bond situations are so ridiculous, so outrageous. I mean, this man is supposed to be a spy and yet, everybody knows he's a spy. Every bartender in the world offers him martinis that are shaken, not stirred. What kind of serious spy is recognized everywhere he goes? It's outrageous. So you have to treat the humor outrageously as well. My personality is entirely different than previous Bonds. I'm not that cold-blooded killer type. Which is why I play it mostly for laughs." So it only makes sense to send the world's most conspicuous secret agent to battle an international criminal organization with such impeccable branding.
Interestingly, a Thunderball preproduction sketch for the octopus logo was more naturalistic, with a recognizable human skull for a head. Although I can see why they went with a more stylized look for the movies -- it's a lot simpler to work into a ring!
Frankly given Moore showed more pain over the death of Tracy than Connery ever did, then if Lazenby's Bond couldn't be the one to get revenge, I'm glad Rog could.
That's really interesting. I own the Roger Moore/Spy Who Loved Me one, some friends got it me as a birthday or Christmas gift quite a few years ago now! Not sure I've ever taken him out of the box!
The moment Connery quits they give his character a shocking moment of grief I still wish to hell he had played. Had he quit at that point, I'd say Moore could have stepped into DIAMONDS fairly well. It's Mooreish in the sense he has to take on the sidekicks last, which he did more often than not.
For all the crap some fans give Moore for his films being so campy in many respects the camp factor started before Roger got there. DAF is essentially a Roger Moore movie starring Sean Connery.
In certain ways having the sidekicks survive the prime threat/boss cuts down on the overall menace. On the flip side, the comedy was a major Bond factor since GOLDFINGER through DIE ANOTHER DAY.