The James Bond Thread

Moonraker isn't nearly as bad as most people seem to think it is. Yeah, the space stuff is silly and Jaws falling in love is even sillier...but aside from that there are many great sequences throughout the film.

I also think it has one of the best scores of the series, John Barry always did great work for the Bond series, but I think he really hit the bullseye on Moonraker.

My favorite moment from Moonraker...the security keypad that uses the tones from Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.

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Moonraker isn't nearly as bad as most people seem to think it is. Yeah, the space stuff is silly and Jaws falling in love is even sillier...but aside from that there are many great sequences throughout the film.

I've never thought of it as a "bad" Bond movie, but a lot of Bond fans hate it because it's "so unrealistic" ... like Stromberg's "Atlantis" base in "Spy Who Loved Me" or any of the previous film's plots were so grounded in reality. Sheesh.

"Moonraker" was the highest-grossing Bond movie for a good long while, I believe it held the series record till "Goldeneye" in '95. Now, of course, "Skyfall" holds that title.

The "James Bond Legacy" book I'm reading right now sez that after "Moonraker" the producers realized that they'd gone about as far as they could with the "fantasy" elements in the series and they needed to dial it back some, which is why the follow up "For Your Eyes Only" was an Earth-based, fairly straightforward spy story.

I love Moonraker! The fact that it's so ridiculous and over the top only makes it better. It's James Bond, how is it NOT going to be unrealistic?

Skyfall is not only the highest grossing Bond movie of all-time, it's the highest grossing British film of all-time.

Fat Freddy wrote:

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Finished this book last night... very entertaining overview of the entire Bond series (up to the then-current Die Another Day, anyway) with tons of geeky trivia.

Most recent Bond film seen:

"For Your Eyes Only" (1981)



Roger Moore's fifth spin as 007 brings James Bond back "down to earth" after the space-faring "Moonraker," sending him on a mission to the Mediterranean to recover a missing missile-launch computer system. Along the way he battles the bad guys on skis, in cars, on top of mountains, and even at the bottom of the ocean.

"FYEO" has some decent action scenes but runs a bit longer than it really needs to. Overall I'd say it's a middling entry in the series, but it earns bonus points due to the presence of the cute-as-a-button Lynn-Holly Johnson, who plays a bubbly blond figure-skating bimbo who's fixated on James.

Useless trivia: the late actress Cassandra Harris, who was married to future Bond Pierce Brosnan at the time, has a minor role in "FYEO." She introduced Pierce to Bond producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli when he visited the set during production.

I still think it's a much better film than the embarrassing Octopussy (Bond as a clown, come one now) and View To A Kill which might have been okay if they had cast a younger person in the lead. The Timothy Dalton vehicles...which still aren't that great...are much better than those last two Moore vehicles.

Exciting news for Bond fans.

On this years Academy Awards show they are having a James Bond tribute, it was reported by Jay Leno that all 6 actors who have portrayed Bond on film will be in attendance.

It should be quite interesting to see Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan & Craig together on the same stage.

^^ Cool. I usually don't bother with the Academy Awards show but I'll tune in just to see that!!

On a side note, "Skyfall" will be released on DVD/BluRay within the next week or two (I forget the exact date) ... woohoo! I'm dyin' to see that.

Hey! Where'd all the Bond discussin' go?

Nah, but seriously, there hasn't been much cookin' on the 007 front for me lately. I've had my brother's copy of "Skyfall" sitting on my nightstand for over a month now but I still have not been able to find enough time to watch it... my bro constantly asks, "Did you watch it yet? Did you watch it yet?" and my response is always the same... "Dude, I have kids. When the hell am I going to have two hours and 45 minutes of uninterrupted time?"

On a semi-related note I recently joined the DVD-trading site "SwapaDVD," hoping to clear out some of the old crap from my DVD shelf and exchange em for some new crap. I figured this would be a good way to bulk up my 007 collection, and I've already gotten hold of "The World is Not Enough" (the only Brosnan Bond film I didn't own) and I've got "Thunderball" coming. I'm going to keep an eye on the James Bond selections there and any time a 007 movie comes up that I don't already have, I'm gonna grab it.

^^ Just ordered "The Spy Who Loved Me" (my favorite Moore 007 flick) from SwapaDVD.

"Thunderball" has shown up in the mail and "The Spy Who Loved Me" is on its way. I'll post some blather on "Thunderball" when I get a chance to watch it, hopefully over the weekend.

One of these days I'm gonna have to see some of these movies. Probably about a year ago now, I went to watch From Russia with Love on Netflix (as it was the only Bond film on there) and it had disappeared from instant.

Fat Freddy wrote:

"Thunderball" has shown up in the mail and "The Spy Who Loved Me" is on its way. I'll post some blather on "Thunderball" when I get a chance to watch it, hopefully over the weekend.

(imitates your brother) Skyfall - did you watch it? Did you watch it?

theJOKERiv wrote:

(imitates your brother) Skyfall - did you watch it? Did you watch it?

"Where's my spy camera? Where's my spy camera? LADY, WHERE IS MY SPY CAMERA?"

...in other words... nope, still haven't watched it!!

Speaking of Skyfall. Initially Sam Mendes stated that he wasn't going to direct the next installment, but after much negotiations with the production company he has now signed on to direct the next 2 films. That's a good indicator that the quality will continue to be high and goes against the old Bond standard of switching directors with every film.

We should get the next film sometime late in 2015 (Mendes is currently filming a new TV series for the BBC called Penny Dreadful and they have to wait until he is finished before starting production on "Bond 24").

"The Spy Who Loved Me" came in the mail yesterday. With the three I've picked up recently and my brother's "Skyfall" DVD still making its residence on my night stand, I think I need to schedule a James Bond Mini Marathon sometime soon!!!

Fat Freddy wrote:

"The Spy Who Loved Me" came in the mail yesterday. With the three I've picked up recently and my brother's "Skyfall" DVD still making its residence on my night stand, I think I need to schedule a James Bond Mini Marathon sometime soon!!!

Yes you do - Skyfall is an excellent film! Watched it a few more times since I picked up the blu ray.... still great with repeated viewings

I finally saw "Skyfall" (2012) last night... y'all happy now?



I loved it!! Craig has finally made the Bond role his "own."

Spoiler:

Watched "Thunderball" the other night. Haven't seen that one since I was a kid... the only thing I remembered from it was lots of guys in SCUBA outfits fighting underwater. Turns out that was most of the movie.  Connery, as usual, was totally bad-ass.



The movie also features one of the hottest Bond Girls ever - former Miss France Claudine Auger as "Domino"
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Oooh, yass. That's the kinda sugar papa likes!!!

Fat Freddy wrote:

The movie also features one of the hottest Bond Girls ever - former Miss France Claudine Auger as "Domino"
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Oooh, yass. That's the kinda sugar papa likes!!!

Settle down there Peter Criss......

My Bond mania has been kick started again thanks to my recent viewings of "Thunderball" and "Skyfall"... just picked up two new books about the series from the library today.

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"The Man With the Golden Touch" looks like another in-depth examination of the film series, from its humble beginnings to becoming a global phenomenon. Plenty of cool photos and I'm sure there will be tons of geeky trivia too.

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This one should be fun. A look back at 50 years of Bond on film, written by Sir Roger Moore himself. Naturally he has a unique perspective on the film series, being that he starred in seven of them, but even prior to becoming 007 he was already friends with producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman so he was a Bond "insider" long before he took on the role. Now, of course, he's become sort of an unofficial spokesman for the Bond series even though he hasn't played the role in over 20 years.

Watched "The World Is Not Enough" (1999) last night... widely considered to be Brosnan's worst turn as Bond.



This time out, an oil tycoon is killed inside MI6 headquarters, and Bond's investigation takes him to the oil fields of Azerbaijan (sp?), where he meets said tycoon's supposedly grieving daughter (Sophie Marceau). Turns out that she killed her Daddy and is actually in cahoots with a Russian terrorist named Renard. Their plan is to take control of the oil supply for the entire region by blowing up the competition's pipelines with stolen nuclear bombs. The pair also have nefarious plans involving Bond's boss "M" (Judi Dench).

Along the way Bond meets Dr. Christmas Jones (a hilariously miscast Denise Richards), a nuclear scientist whose bomb-defusing skills come in handy. She also happens to look pretty damn good in a pair of short shorts and a tank top. Good thing, too, cuz she can't act worth a lick.
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Richards would later win a "Worst Actress" Razzie award for her role in "The World Is Not Enough."

So anyway... as usual, lotsa stuff crashes and blows up, the girls are hot, yadda yadda yadda. The movie was fun while it lasted but it definitely has a "going through the motions" vibe to it, which is a far cry from the awesome comeback the series had made with "Goldeneye" just four years earlier.

Sadly, "The World Is Not Enough" would be the last Bond film to feature Desmond Llewellyn, who had appeared as the beloved MI6 quartermaster and gadget developer, "Q," in every Bond film since From Russia With Love in 1963 (except one - he wasn't in Live and Let Die due to commitments to a British TV series he was in at the time). Desmond was the longest running "regular" Bond cast member, appearing in seventeen films, and having worked with five out of the six men who've played Bond.

His retirement announcement provided one of the most touching scenes in the film. When Q introduces Bond to "the young fellow who's going to replace me" (played by Monty Python legend John Cleese), Bond asks him "You're not retiring any time soon... are you Q?" and Q responds "I've tried to teach you two things, 007: Never let them see you bleed, and always have an escape plan."

Unfortunately, Llewellyn was not able to enjoy his well deserved retirement for long because he was killed in an auto accident shortly after the movie's release. He was 85 years old.

Most recent Bond film watched: "Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997)


Brosnan's second turn as Bond isn't quite as good as the preceding "Goldeneye," but it's still a decent adventure. This time out, a deranged news media mogul played by Jonathan Pryce (think Ted Turner or Rupert Murdoch) is committing terrorist attacks against Chinese and British forces in the hopes of pitting them against each other and sparking a war that will help drive up his TV ratings and sell papers.

The movie opens with an excellent speedboat chase on the Thames and never lets up from there.

Along the way Bond meets up with Hong Kong actress Michelle Yeoh (making her Western film debut, if I'm not mistaken) as a Chinese secret agent also investigating Pryce's character.

Teri Hatcher has a brief and mostly thankless role as the Pryce's wife, who has a romantic past with 007. If they wanted Teri to be a Bond Girl they should've asked her back in the '80s when she was younger - she looks kinda used up in this flick.

Saxon warms up during a recent sound check by playing the 007 theme!