What are you watching right now?

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Micky
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Re: What are you watching right now?

Post by Micky »

Crumbso wrote: Fri Oct 22, 2021 7:39 am
Micky wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 12:45 pm I have a bit of a longer venture coming to me with the Roger Moore era of Bond and truthfully, I'm not really looking forward to it, but hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised!
Ooof. The Roger Moore stuff just gets a little silly for me. He sticks around too long as well, his age starts to become a little unbelievable.

The series starts to come back firing on all cylinders when Timothy Dalton is involved though. Those I'm sure you'll enjoy. The Brosnan run is better than it gets credit for too. I'll be interested to read your reviews of that.
So I’ve actually watched every Bond film except for The Living Daylights before. I just haven’t seen some
Of them in years!

I love Dalton and wish he got more of a chance to play the character!

Moore is my least favorite Bond and I remember hating most of his films when I was a kid, so hopefully upon rewatch I won’t be too disappointed
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Re: What are you watching right now?

Post by gbruin »

Micky wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 12:45 pm So after watching No Time To Die, I decided that I was going to watch the Bond series from beginning to end (excluding the Casino Royale parody from the 60s as well as the 80's film Never Say Never Again since it is not official canon. However, I do enjoy both for what they are)
....
I have a bit of a longer venture coming to me with the Roger Moore era of Bond and truthfully, I'm not really looking forward to it, but hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised!
That was really cool, Micky! I haven't seen all of those so I'll forgive the 50+ year spoilers :P . I'm looking forward to your Roger Moore years respective. I quite liked him as Bond back them.
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Crumbso
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Re: What are you watching right now?

Post by Crumbso »

Micky wrote: Fri Oct 22, 2021 4:54 pm
Crumbso wrote: Fri Oct 22, 2021 7:39 am
Micky wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 12:45 pm I have a bit of a longer venture coming to me with the Roger Moore era of Bond and truthfully, I'm not really looking forward to it, but hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised!
Ooof. The Roger Moore stuff just gets a little silly for me. He sticks around too long as well, his age starts to become a little unbelievable.

The series starts to come back firing on all cylinders when Timothy Dalton is involved though. Those I'm sure you'll enjoy. The Brosnan run is better than it gets credit for too. I'll be interested to read your reviews of that.
So I’ve actually watched every Bond film except for The Living Daylights before. I just haven’t seen some
Of them in years!

I love Dalton and wish he got more of a chance to play the character!

Moore is my least favorite Bond and I remember hating most of his films when I was a kid, so hopefully upon rewatch I won’t be too disappointed
I particularly hate the slide whistle noise in the car flip on The Man with the Golden Gun. It encapsulates everything wrong with the Moore era :lol .

It is a shame. I could see Dalton in Goldeneye for sure. I've only ever seen him in Bond and Hot Fuzz but his performances in all those films are so great that I wish he had more of a stab at other mainstream stuff.
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Re: What are you watching right now?

Post by MaraCarr »

Better Call Saul and You. If I get bored with one I switch!

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Re: What are you watching right now?

Post by maximzub »

MaraCarr wrote: Sat Oct 30, 2021 5:53 pm Better Call Saul and You. If I get bored with one I switch!
Why do you get bored with Better Call Saul? It's all good, man.
I'm in love with somebody...
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I'm in love with somebody...
Oh yeah...
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Re: What are you watching right now?

Post by MaraCarr »

maximzub wrote: Sat Oct 30, 2021 11:20 pm
MaraCarr wrote: Sat Oct 30, 2021 5:53 pm Better Call Saul and You. If I get bored with one I switch!
Why do you get bored with Better Call Saul? It's all good, man.
It is all great but I have ADHD and PTSD simultaneously! I’ve been given the power to choose on a “BIG” Screen. “YOU” is so devilishly twisted and then you have “GOT” on HBO Max! I struggle. So I go to and fro always contemplating my next move. Regardless… life is Good and I am Blessed! ;)

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Re: What are you watching right now?

Post by maximzub »

MaraCarr wrote: Sun Oct 31, 2021 2:00 pm
maximzub wrote: Sat Oct 30, 2021 11:20 pm
MaraCarr wrote: Sat Oct 30, 2021 5:53 pm Better Call Saul and You. If I get bored with one I switch!
Why do you get bored with Better Call Saul? It's all good, man.
It is all great but I have ADHD and PTSD simultaneously! I’ve been given the power to choose on a “BIG” Screen. “YOU” is so devilishly twisted and then you have “GOT” on HBO Max! I struggle. So I go to and fro always contemplating my next move. Regardless… life is Good and I am Blessed! ;)
Did you get the joke?
I'm in love with somebody...
Found someone who completes me...
I'm in love with somebody...
Oh yeah...
And it's Lzzy Hale!

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Re: What are you watching right now?

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Yes of course! I always get the joke Max! LoL
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Re: What are you watching right now?

Post by Crumbso »

MaraCarr wrote: Sun Oct 31, 2021 2:00 pm
maximzub wrote: Sat Oct 30, 2021 11:20 pm
MaraCarr wrote: Sat Oct 30, 2021 5:53 pm Better Call Saul and You. If I get bored with one I switch!
Why do you get bored with Better Call Saul? It's all good, man.
It is all great but I have ADHD and PTSD simultaneously! I’ve been given the power to choose on a “BIG” Screen. “YOU” is so devilishly twisted and then you have “GOT” on HBO Max! I struggle. So I go to and fro always contemplating my next move. Regardless… life is Good and I am Blessed! ;)
GOT doesn't exist to me anymore after what they did to season 8. It basically takes all the interest out of the earlier seasons for me too :facepalm :lol
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Re: What are you watching right now?

Post by Micky »

Alright, so that Roger Moore journey took me longer than I had initially anticipated. These movies range from really really good to just outright uncomfortable to watch. Here we go:

Live and Let Die (1973)

The first of the Moore era of Bond is...interesting. First off, I'll talk about Moore as Bond. This is the film where I'd say you can tell he's trying his best to differentiate his version from Connery and, to a lesser extent, Lazenby. He is clearly trying to do his own thing with the role, which I absolutely admire. He brings a sense of humor and charm to the film that I think was lacking the last few Connery entries.

There is, however, a lot of uncomfortable stuff in this film. From the "tricking" a religious tarot card reader into sleeping with him and losing her virginity, all the way to how the film portrays African Americans, there is some real uncomfortable stuff here.

When you put that aside though, I would say objectively it is an okay movie. It's really nothing special in terms of story or anything like that aside from the fact that this is the ONLY Bond film to feature a villain with supernatural powers.

Also, there's this stereotypical hillbilly sheriff from Louisiana who has a bunch of tobacco in his mouth and spits out racist lines like "This definitely ain't the first time you've been pulled over boy" and things like that as well as some really awkward humor.

Moore gives it his all, the action is fun, but it's just okay. The film feels weighed down by how poorly it has aged in terms of social issues, etc.

6/10

The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

Let me say, I was excited for a rewatch of this one because I love Christopher Lee. The dude was freaking Dracula!

A lot of people say this movie is boring, but I actually found it quite entertaining in terms of story. It's about an assassin with a golden gun who is hired to kill Bond (Although, I don't think it's ever clear who hired him. I thought it was this Japanese guy, but when Bond walks up to the Japanese guy pretending to be the assassin, he doesn't recognize him).

The story isn't necessarily thrilling and there's some really awkward humor in the middle of the action scenes, one scene in particular had me rolling my eyes with two girls and a seemingly endless amount of ninjas. There's also, as someone mentioned above me, a really annoying moment where Bond does a corkscrew in the air with a car and a whistle noise accompanies it as opposed to the Bond theme, which really takes away from the awesomeness of the scene.

Moore seems much more comfortable this time around, but I don't really believe him in the action scenes. Probably because in ALL of his movies, it's so noticeable when there's a stunt double on screen.

The final 20 minutes or so of this movie are real fun and were a real highlight for me. There’s also a really good fight scene inside a Gypsie’s dressing room, reminded me of a fight scene that would have taken place in the Craig era of Bond.

There is a little person in this film and I would say his character isn't treated with much respect in his final moments on screen. It's funny, but cruel and I'm unsure if it makes me a total dick or not for laughing at the scene but then immediately feeling bad afterwards.

7/10

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

This is the Moore film that I remember seeing the most as a kid. Spike TV used to do a marathon of these movies every Christmas called the "007 days of Christmas" where they played nothing but Bond for the whole week. When I was a kid, it was awesome because my parents couldn't afford to buy me the movies in physical form.

This and one of the Brosnan films I remember watching the most so this was one I expected to be quite nostalgic for upon rewatch.

I wasn't disappointed.

Now, this is EASILY the best of the Moore Bond films, but I find it's a little too long and kind of boring in some parts. However, the action is great, the effects are amazing for the time and Jaws is easily one of the best villains in cinema history. Moore is also at his best here, with none of his quips feeling really forced or awkward.

The story is also really good and probably the best of the Moore era. Overall, it’s a really great Bond movie and is probably the only true standout of the Moore era.

8/10

Moonraker (1979)

So, interestingly enough at the end of The Spy Who Loved me, it says "James Bond will return in...For Your Eyes Only" yet Moonraker is the next film released. "Well Bobby, you just must be stupid!" you're probably thinking. However, because of Star Wars, James Bond HAD to go to space ASAP.

Moonraker is often considered one of the low points in the Bond franchise and the jumping of the shark in Moore's tenure...however I thought this movie was a lot of fun. The opening scene is phenomenally shot and really well done considering this was made in the 70s. The action throughout is really well done and Moore is clearly having fun with this. It also doesn't hurt that Jaws is back to torment Bond...and find love.

While the scenes in space are hokey and have aged really bad for the time, I can forgive it because the movie clearly knows what type of movie it wants to be. If you're looking for a dumb fun time, this is the one for you.

7/10

For Your Eyes Only (1981)

I have a funny story about this movie. I put it in my Xbox to play and it started off just fine, but then a bunch of colored squares showed up and it stopped working. There's no scratches or fingerprints anywhere so I was really confused. Turns out the DVD had "corrupted data" and would no longer work. So I had to buy a new copy of it from Amazon.

ANYWAY, this movie was interesting. I did some research and the producers really wanted to bring Bond back to his roots with this one. They wanted it to be more grounded and Moore to be a bit "moore" serious (get it?) They really wanted "For Your Eyes Only" to be the "Goldfinger" of Moore's era.

I think they managed to bring the tone down a bit, but the movie itself just like every two seconds there was some BIG action scene happening and Moore throwing out awkward one liners and they were still inserting his humor into every moment they could. At first they're funny, but when you watch these movies back-to-back like I did (I watched the last 3 in 2 days) the humor really just isn't funny.

However, I will say this is probably more grounded than most of the Bond films during this era, but I think Man with the Golden Gun is the most grounded. I think the story here is fun and the action is great, but it's not exactly what I think they were aiming for. It's a good Bond movie and would've been a satisfactory ending to Moore's tenure...

6/10

Octopussy (1983)

Let me get straight to the point here: I really really really disliked this movie. Some people say that the next Bond film is the worst of Moore's tenure, but I say it's this.

Moore is really starting to look his age here. There's a scene where he dresses up as a clown and the final scene of him in a body cast is the perfect representation of how the franchise had become a broken down series at this point. Moore seems uninterested, except for the love scenes.

The clown scene is another great representation of how far Bond had fallen. There's also a scene where he is swinging from vines in a tree and they play a Tarzan noise. There's just so much in this movie that is embarrassing to watch as a Bond fan.

I also really want to talk about the opening scene. In Connery's last film, Diamonds are Forever, his arch nemesis Blofeld, who killed Bond's wife (SPOILER ALERT FOR A MOVIE THAT'S OLDER THAN YOU ARE) is presumed dead but we never see his body. However, there is NO MENTION of SPECTRE, Blofeld or Bond's wife in any of the movies after that...until here.

This movie opens up with Bond at his late wife's grave, when he gets in a helicopter and it gets taken over by a bald man in a wheelchair with a cat (who's face we never see). This is clearly supposed to be Blofeld, but since the studio had somehow lost the rights to Spectre and Blofeld, they couldn't show his face or call him by his name. They wind up dropping him down an exhaust chimney at a factory and that's it. He isn't seen again until the Craig-Era films.

It's such a stupid and crappy way to kill off one of the greatest villains in cinema history. And what's worse, Bond was supposed to originally be Timothy Dalton in this film, but he turned it down because he didn't like where the series was going at the time in terms of tone. I can't blame him. It's just really cheesy and I would even say disrespectful to the franchise's legacy as a whole.

Plus, I got suspended in high school for saying the name of this movie in class.

3/10

A View to a Kill (1985)

I know a lot of people say this is the worst of Moore's films, but I actually found myself quite enjoying it.

My biggest problem here is the movie is clearly trying to be a smaller scale, more serious film but the villain's plot is to destroy silicone valley with earthquakes. It's so over the top that it contradicts the tone of the film.

Christopher Walken is an excellent villain and he never fails to be entertaining. Grace Jones was really good as May Day, although I did read that Roger Moore hated her in real life, although she's never had nothing but nice things to say about him.

Speaking of Moore, there's something really uncomfortable about a man his age (57 in real life at the time of filming) hooking up with girls in their early 20s. I know it happens in the real world but to see it be portrayed in this one as cool is just really weird lol. Moore does fine in the movie, but you can tell he's tired. His line delivery is even a bit different.

Again, I read that this was offered to Dalton who said he thought it was too soon after Octopussy to be putting out a new movie, so they went to Moore one final time.

The movie is fun though and has some really great action scenes, including one in an elevator that I found really cool and the finale on the golden gate bridge is done exceptionally well for the time.

6/10. It's a fun, serviceable action film and a halfway decent sendoff for Moore.

Overall, the Moore films are a bit of a mess. They are inconsistent with just about everything except for tone. They nail the campy, over the top tone really well. Moore is a good Bond for the type of films he did but I would have loved to have seen him do a serious Bond movie, or even a bit more of a serious Bond in general.

Looking forward to watching Dalton's Bonds. I have only ever seen License to Kill so his first one, The Living Daylights, will be a first watch for me!

I'll rank the Bonds from worst to best as I progress the series:
1. Sean Connery
2. Moore
3. Lazenby (I can't really give him anything higher because he only did one film)
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Re: What are you watching right now?

Post by Ubik »

This is making me realise how few Bonds I've seen despite it being an institution over here. I remember The Man With The Golden Gun, mainly because of Lee (a real life Bond if anyone was) and the hilarious/dumb way Bond wins.
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Re: What are you watching right now?

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Crumbso wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 5:48 am
MaraCarr wrote: Sun Oct 31, 2021 2:00 pm
maximzub wrote: Sat Oct 30, 2021 11:20 pm
MaraCarr wrote: Sat Oct 30, 2021 5:53 pm Better Call Saul and You. If I get bored with one I switch!
Why do you get bored with Better Call Saul? It's all good, man.
It is all great but I have ADHD and PTSD simultaneously! I’ve been given the power to choose on a “BIG” Screen. “YOU” is so devilishly twisted and then you have “GOT” on HBO Max! I struggle. So I go to and fro always contemplating my next move. Regardless… life is Good and I am Blessed! ;)
GOT doesn't exist to me anymore after what they did to season 8. It basically takes all the interest out of the earlier seasons for me too :facepalm :lol
I haven't gotten out of Season 1 of GOT. My daughter and my new son in law said it is a must see so Ive been trying to get it in too. I really loved El Camino as it gave me some closure for Jessie. He was the one I most deeply connected with. I was happy to see him get a 2nd chance at life! It was a great ending. Maybe I won't waste my time with GOT or maybe since you have given me this wisdom ....Stop at season 7! :)

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Re: What are you watching right now?

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Alright, so in a very welcome change of pace, I am finished with the Timothy Dalton Bond films and I'm excited to say that now I have officially seen every Bond film in the franchise.

The Living Daylights (1987)

Let me say this right off the bat: This was a first watch for me. As a kid, I could never find this movie or it's successor License to Kill anywhere! Not on TV, DVD, nothing. The Bond franchise was "remastered" (they didn't look much better than their VHS counterparts) when I was in middle school and I was able to find License to Kill but never this film.

Man, was it worth the wait. I loved this film. There's some amazing action, the tone is far more in line with what I prefer in my Bond films and even though there's humor, it's never forced into unnecessary moments.

Dalton is perfect in his iteration of Bond. I would even say that without Dalton's Bond we would never have the Craig-style Bond that we have had the last 15 years. While Dalton's tenure as the character is tragically brief, his impact is huge and both his movies are top notch.

As I said before, the action is great and I think the story is really well done. From the get-go you are just thrown right into the action with some fun little jokes on the audience in the beginning (two other agents are made to purposely look like George Lazenby and Roger Moore to try and confuse the audience as to who Bond really is) as well as made very aware of the way this Bond works.

The Living Daylights is a great action movie and a great Bond film. One that I will revisit for sure

7/10

License to Kill (1989)

This was the only Dalton film I saw for over ten years and I absolutely love it. I actually think what makes this film so good is the fact that it's really not a Bond film. It's about Bond, sure but it isn't the stereotypical "bad guy wants to blow up the world" plot. Instead, Bond is out for revenge against a drug kingpin who nearly killed a loved one. It's such a typical plot but it works so effectively that it's forgivable and even surpasses it's predecessor.

Dalton is straight up cold in this film. Some of the things he says and does in this film are so dark that you sit there and go "Holy crap!"

This is also the first ever PG-13 Bond film, which is surprising to me, but when you watch it it's an increasingly noticeable but worth it because it elevates Dalton's Bond to a different level than prior iterations of the character.

The action scene, in particular the opening scene and the finale in the warehouse are top notch. They're fun, creative and downright brutal in some parts.

License to Kill is a bittersweet ending to Dalton's era of Bond and I truly wish he had the chance to do at least one more film and round out a trilogy of some sort. I think it would have been a damn near perfect ending for his time with the character and if you look up some of the unused scripts for his potential third film, they all sound awesome, except for one which was a parody of Bond. Many of the ideas that weren't used for his 3rd film became the first three of the Brosnan films. (More on those later on)

License to Kill is one of my favorite Bond films and it gets better every time I watch it.

8.5/10

Dalton goes out on a bittersweet high note. Up next is the Bond that I was introduced to when I was 7 years old!

Ranking the Bond from best to worst so far:
1. Timothy Dalton
2. Sean Connery
3. Roger Moore
4. George Lazenby (I almost put him above Moore here)

I have decided that at the end of this review series (Look at me, thinking I'm a critic) I'm going to rank ALL the Bond movies and ALL the Bond actors. I won't provide in depth reasons why with the ranking the films, but with the actors, I will give you my reasons behind my rankings.

Really appreciate all the positive feedback on these posts, guys. I'm really excited to rewatch the Brosnan Bond films as I think they get a bad rap and they were the first batch of Bond films I ever saw!
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Re: What are you watching right now?

Post by Crumbso »

Micky wrote: Wed Nov 03, 2021 8:42 am Alright, so in a very welcome change of pace, I am finished with the Timothy Dalton Bond films and I'm excited to say that now I have officially seen every Bond film in the franchise.

The Living Daylights (1987)

Let me say this right off the bat: This was a first watch for me. As a kid, I could never find this movie or it's successor License to Kill anywhere! Not on TV, DVD, nothing. The Bond franchise was "remastered" (they didn't look much better than their VHS counterparts) when I was in middle school and I was able to find License to Kill but never this film.

Man, was it worth the wait. I loved this film. There's some amazing action, the tone is far more in line with what I prefer in my Bond films and even though there's humor, it's never forced into unnecessary moments.

Dalton is perfect in his iteration of Bond. I would even say that without Dalton's Bond we would never have the Craig-style Bond that we have had the last 15 years. While Dalton's tenure as the character is tragically brief, his impact is huge and both his movies are top notch.

As I said before, the action is great and I think the story is really well done. From the get-go you are just thrown right into the action with some fun little jokes on the audience in the beginning (two other agents are made to purposely look like George Lazenby and Roger Moore to try and confuse the audience as to who Bond really is) as well as made very aware of the way this Bond works.

The Living Daylights is a great action movie and a great Bond film. One that I will revisit for sure

7/10

License to Kill (1989)

This was the only Dalton film I saw for over ten years and I absolutely love it. I actually think what makes this film so good is the fact that it's really not a Bond film. It's about Bond, sure but it isn't the stereotypical "bad guy wants to blow up the world" plot. Instead, Bond is out for revenge against a drug kingpin who nearly killed a loved one. It's such a typical plot but it works so effectively that it's forgivable and even surpasses it's predecessor.

Dalton is straight up cold in this film. Some of the things he says and does in this film are so dark that you sit there and go "Holy crap!"

This is also the first ever PG-13 Bond film, which is surprising to me, but when you watch it it's an increasingly noticeable but worth it because it elevates Dalton's Bond to a different level than prior iterations of the character.

The action scene, in particular the opening scene and the finale in the warehouse are top notch. They're fun, creative and downright brutal in some parts.

License to Kill is a bittersweet ending to Dalton's era of Bond and I truly wish he had the chance to do at least one more film and round out a trilogy of some sort. I think it would have been a damn near perfect ending for his time with the character and if you look up some of the unused scripts for his potential third film, they all sound awesome, except for one which was a parody of Bond. Many of the ideas that weren't used for his 3rd film became the first three of the Brosnan films. (More on those later on)

License to Kill is one of my favorite Bond films and it gets better every time I watch it.

8.5/10

Dalton goes out on a bittersweet high note. Up next is the Bond that I was introduced to when I was 7 years old!

Ranking the Bond from best to worst so far:
1. Timothy Dalton
2. Sean Connery
3. Roger Moore
4. George Lazenby (I almost put him above Moore here)

I have decided that at the end of this review series (Look at me, thinking I'm a critic) I'm going to rank ALL the Bond movies and ALL the Bond actors. I won't provide in depth reasons why with the ranking the films, but with the actors, I will give you my reasons behind my rankings.

Really appreciate all the positive feedback on these posts, guys. I'm really excited to rewatch the Brosnan Bond films as I think they get a bad rap and they were the first batch of Bond films I ever saw!
Big up the T-Dal! Fantastic actor. Glad you liked them.
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Re: What are you watching right now?

Post by Crumbso »

MaraCarr wrote: Tue Nov 02, 2021 8:30 pm ....Stop at season 7! :)
Take this advice seriously!
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Re: What are you watching right now?

Post by Timotheus »

Season 4 is a great season to end, if you're not gonna finish it. Maybe 6 if you want sooome kind of closure, but the decline starts quite dramatically in season 5.
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Re: What are you watching right now?

Post by MaraCarr »

Timotheus wrote: Wed Nov 03, 2021 12:03 pm Season 4 is a great season to end, if you're not gonna finish it. Maybe 6 if you want sooome kind of closure, but the decline starts quite dramatically in season 5.
I will go with the flow and not exceed season 7! I appreciate the input! Don’t want to waste my time! :)

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Re: What are you watching right now?

Post by maximzub »

Rest in peace, Sean Connery.
I'm in love with somebody...
Found someone who completes me...
I'm in love with somebody...
Oh yeah...
And it's Lzzy Hale!

MaraCarr wrote: It is not like a crush or a lust thing.
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Re: What are you watching right now?

Post by gbruin »

Micky wrote: Tue Nov 02, 2021 11:16 am Alright, so that Roger Moore journey took me longer than I had initially anticipated. These movies range from really really good to just outright uncomfortable to watch. Here we go:

Live and Let Die (1973)

The first of the Moore era of Bond is...interesting. First off, I'll talk about Moore as Bond. This is the film where I'd say you can tell he's trying his best to differentiate his version from Connery and, to a lesser extent, Lazenby. He is clearly trying to do his own thing with the role, which I absolutely admire. He brings a sense of humor and charm to the film that I think was lacking the last few Connery entries.

There is, however, a lot of uncomfortable stuff in this film. From the "tricking" a religious tarot card reader into sleeping with him and losing her virginity, all the way to how the film portrays African Americans, there is some real uncomfortable stuff here.

When you put that aside though, I would say objectively it is an okay movie. It's really nothing special in terms of story or anything like that aside from the fact that this is the ONLY Bond film to feature a villain with supernatural powers.

Also, there's this stereotypical hillbilly sheriff from Louisiana who has a bunch of tobacco in his mouth and spits out racist lines like "This definitely ain't the first time you've been pulled over boy" and things like that as well as some really awkward humor.

Moore gives it his all, the action is fun, but it's just okay. The film feels weighed down by how poorly it has aged in terms of social issues, etc.

6/10

The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

Let me say, I was excited for a rewatch of this one because I love Christopher Lee. The dude was freaking Dracula!

A lot of people say this movie is boring, but I actually found it quite entertaining in terms of story. It's about an assassin with a golden gun who is hired to kill Bond (Although, I don't think it's ever clear who hired him. I thought it was this Japanese guy, but when Bond walks up to the Japanese guy pretending to be the assassin, he doesn't recognize him).

The story isn't necessarily thrilling and there's some really awkward humor in the middle of the action scenes, one scene in particular had me rolling my eyes with two girls and a seemingly endless amount of ninjas. There's also, as someone mentioned above me, a really annoying moment where Bond does a corkscrew in the air with a car and a whistle noise accompanies it as opposed to the Bond theme, which really takes away from the awesomeness of the scene.

Moore seems much more comfortable this time around, but I don't really believe him in the action scenes. Probably because in ALL of his movies, it's so noticeable when there's a stunt double on screen.

The final 20 minutes or so of this movie are real fun and were a real highlight for me. There’s also a really good fight scene inside a Gypsie’s dressing room, reminded me of a fight scene that would have taken place in the Craig era of Bond.

There is a little person in this film and I would say his character isn't treated with much respect in his final moments on screen. It's funny, but cruel and I'm unsure if it makes me a total dick or not for laughing at the scene but then immediately feeling bad afterwards.

7/10

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

This is the Moore film that I remember seeing the most as a kid. Spike TV used to do a marathon of these movies every Christmas called the "007 days of Christmas" where they played nothing but Bond for the whole week. When I was a kid, it was awesome because my parents couldn't afford to buy me the movies in physical form.

This and one of the Brosnan films I remember watching the most so this was one I expected to be quite nostalgic for upon rewatch.

I wasn't disappointed.

Now, this is EASILY the best of the Moore Bond films, but I find it's a little too long and kind of boring in some parts. However, the action is great, the effects are amazing for the time and Jaws is easily one of the best villains in cinema history. Moore is also at his best here, with none of his quips feeling really forced or awkward.

The story is also really good and probably the best of the Moore era. Overall, it’s a really great Bond movie and is probably the only true standout of the Moore era.

8/10

Moonraker (1979)

So, interestingly enough at the end of The Spy Who Loved me, it says "James Bond will return in...For Your Eyes Only" yet Moonraker is the next film released. "Well Bobby, you just must be stupid!" you're probably thinking. However, because of Star Wars, James Bond HAD to go to space ASAP.

Moonraker is often considered one of the low points in the Bond franchise and the jumping of the shark in Moore's tenure...however I thought this movie was a lot of fun. The opening scene is phenomenally shot and really well done considering this was made in the 70s. The action throughout is really well done and Moore is clearly having fun with this. It also doesn't hurt that Jaws is back to torment Bond...and find love.

While the scenes in space are hokey and have aged really bad for the time, I can forgive it because the movie clearly knows what type of movie it wants to be. If you're looking for a dumb fun time, this is the one for you.

7/10

For Your Eyes Only (1981)

I have a funny story about this movie. I put it in my Xbox to play and it started off just fine, but then a bunch of colored squares showed up and it stopped working. There's no scratches or fingerprints anywhere so I was really confused. Turns out the DVD had "corrupted data" and would no longer work. So I had to buy a new copy of it from Amazon.

ANYWAY, this movie was interesting. I did some research and the producers really wanted to bring Bond back to his roots with this one. They wanted it to be more grounded and Moore to be a bit "moore" serious (get it?) They really wanted "For Your Eyes Only" to be the "Goldfinger" of Moore's era.

I think they managed to bring the tone down a bit, but the movie itself just like every two seconds there was some BIG action scene happening and Moore throwing out awkward one liners and they were still inserting his humor into every moment they could. At first they're funny, but when you watch these movies back-to-back like I did (I watched the last 3 in 2 days) the humor really just isn't funny.

However, I will say this is probably more grounded than most of the Bond films during this era, but I think Man with the Golden Gun is the most grounded. I think the story here is fun and the action is great, but it's not exactly what I think they were aiming for. It's a good Bond movie and would've been a satisfactory ending to Moore's tenure...

6/10

Octopussy (1983)

Let me get straight to the point here: I really really really disliked this movie. Some people say that the next Bond film is the worst of Moore's tenure, but I say it's this.

Moore is really starting to look his age here. There's a scene where he dresses up as a clown and the final scene of him in a body cast is the perfect representation of how the franchise had become a broken down series at this point. Moore seems uninterested, except for the love scenes.

The clown scene is another great representation of how far Bond had fallen. There's also a scene where he is swinging from vines in a tree and they play a Tarzan noise. There's just so much in this movie that is embarrassing to watch as a Bond fan.

I also really want to talk about the opening scene. In Connery's last film, Diamonds are Forever, his arch nemesis Blofeld, who killed Bond's wife (SPOILER ALERT FOR A MOVIE THAT'S OLDER THAN YOU ARE) is presumed dead but we never see his body. However, there is NO MENTION of SPECTRE, Blofeld or Bond's wife in any of the movies after that...until here.

This movie opens up with Bond at his late wife's grave, when he gets in a helicopter and it gets taken over by a bald man in a wheelchair with a cat (who's face we never see). This is clearly supposed to be Blofeld, but since the studio had somehow lost the rights to Spectre and Blofeld, they couldn't show his face or call him by his name. They wind up dropping him down an exhaust chimney at a factory and that's it. He isn't seen again until the Craig-Era films.

It's such a stupid and crappy way to kill off one of the greatest villains in cinema history. And what's worse, Bond was supposed to originally be Timothy Dalton in this film, but he turned it down because he didn't like where the series was going at the time in terms of tone. I can't blame him. It's just really cheesy and I would even say disrespectful to the franchise's legacy as a whole.

Plus, I got suspended in high school for saying the name of this movie in class.

3/10

A View to a Kill (1985)

I know a lot of people say this is the worst of Moore's films, but I actually found myself quite enjoying it.

My biggest problem here is the movie is clearly trying to be a smaller scale, more serious film but the villain's plot is to destroy silicone valley with earthquakes. It's so over the top that it contradicts the tone of the film.

Christopher Walken is an excellent villain and he never fails to be entertaining. Grace Jones was really good as May Day, although I did read that Roger Moore hated her in real life, although she's never had nothing but nice things to say about him.

Speaking of Moore, there's something really uncomfortable about a man his age (57 in real life at the time of filming) hooking up with girls in their early 20s. I know it happens in the real world but to see it be portrayed in this one as cool is just really weird lol. Moore does fine in the movie, but you can tell he's tired. His line delivery is even a bit different.

Again, I read that this was offered to Dalton who said he thought it was too soon after Octopussy to be putting out a new movie, so they went to Moore one final time.

The movie is fun though and has some really great action scenes, including one in an elevator that I found really cool and the finale on the golden gate bridge is done exceptionally well for the time.

6/10. It's a fun, serviceable action film and a halfway decent sendoff for Moore.

Overall, the Moore films are a bit of a mess. They are inconsistent with just about everything except for tone. They nail the campy, over the top tone really well. Moore is a good Bond for the type of films he did but I would have loved to have seen him do a serious Bond movie, or even a bit more of a serious Bond in general.

Looking forward to watching Dalton's Bonds. I have only ever seen License to Kill so his first one, The Living Daylights, will be a first watch for me!

I'll rank the Bonds from worst to best as I progress the series:
1. Sean Connery
2. Moore
3. Lazenby (I can't really give him anything higher because he only did one film)
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Micky
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Re: What are you watching right now?

Post by Micky »

gbruin wrote: Fri Nov 05, 2021 4:38 pm :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol
My parents still bring it up every time there is a new James Bond movies coming out!

Alright, so I just wrapped up the Brosnan films. These four films, while their quality is certainly up for debate, hold a special place in my heart. While I align myself more with growing up with the Craig films, the Brosnan films were the ones being released after I was born and were the first Bond films I ever saw so while they get a bad rep in most people's eyes, I am a bit biased.

Goldeneye (1995)

Bond is back after a six year absence and with a new actor. During the six year-hiatus, Timothy Dalton's contract expired and he decided not to return so Pierce Brosnan was brought in to become the next 007.

Right off the bat, let me just say that Goldeneye is freaking awesome. It tells a deeply personal, yet over the top and fun film all at the same time. Right off the bat, Brosnan seems so comfortable and right at home in the titular role. He fits like a glove. He goes from charming and suave to a total badass in a split second.

From villains to action to story, Goldeneye is the best Bond film since On Her Majesty's Secret Service in my book. While it's not my favorite Brosnan film (more on that later) it is certainly one of the best Bond films ever. Not to mention it spawned one of the greatest video games of all time.

9/10

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

One thing I want to note here is that production for this movie was a MESS. They started shooting before they even had HALF the script written, Anthony Hopkins filmed for 3 days and then walked off set and didn't return, Brosnan didn't get along with Terri Reynolds and there was even rumors that the set almost got shut down and the film delayed indefinitely.

However, the film was finished and I will say, it's better than most people give it credit for. I actually think the film was a bit ahead of it's time. It is about a media mogul who conspires with China to create WWIII in order to generate exclusive coverage and rating for his multimedia company. While I don't think something like that could really have happened in the 90's (maybe it could've. I'm pretty stupid), I think that in today's society with technology, it could definitely happen and probably DOES.

I think the action is great, Michelle Yeoh is a total badass and Brosnan is really an amazing Bond. His action scenes haven't aged particularly well in the hand to hand combat aspect, but they are a ton of fun as a whole.

The motorcycle sequence is particularly fun as well as the remote control car scene (Yeah, you heard that right.)

7/10

The World is Not Enough (1999)

This was actually the first Bond film I ever saw. It was airing on Spike TV's 007 Days of Christmas and it was one of the rare nights that my dad was actually home. I remember the whole thing very vividly and it's one of my favorite memories of my life.

With that being said, I know that the film objectively isn't as good as Goldeneye, but I cannot help but have far more fun with it (Which is saying something, because this film is actually quite dark)

The story is really personal and doing some research led me to find out that the basic premise of this film was written for Dalton back in 1991 during his tenure. You can really see how well he would have fit into this film. However, I think Brosnan is at his BEST as Bond here. He manages to bring a darkness to the role here that he hasn't had the opportunity to portray before.

The film tells the story of Bond being assigned to protect a young woman who was once held captive by a terrorist for years after he is found out to be the terrorist behind her father's assassination.

The biggest problem I have with this film is Denise Richards as a Nuclear Scientist. As beautiful as she is, she is horrible in this movie. Terrible casting choice.

Another thing I noticed on rewatch was that some of the action scenes are filmed quite awkwardly and doing some research I saw that the director Michael Apted had NO desire to direct any action scenes and left it to his assistant director to do. He wasn't even on set the days the filmed the action. Why sign up for a Bond film if you don't want to do half the work?!

Regardless, this film is a lot of fun and a really good movie. Again, I know it is not as good a film as Goldeneye, but I tend to enjoy this one the most out of Brosnan's tenure as the character.

8/10

Die Another Day (2002)

Ugh. This was the Bond film I dreaded watching the most. The one that almost ended the Bond franchise. The final Brosnan Bond film.

So, the first half of the film is actually really damn good. I think that the film tells a really good story up until about the midway point. If the whole film had Been bond out for revenge against those that captured him, I think it very well could have been Brosnan's best outing. However, the film bounces around and does some ridiculously stupid things (PARACHUTING ON A CAR DOOR THROUGH A TSUNAMI and the "TWIST" at the end of the film are some of the worst moments in cinema history)

Brosnan also doesn't seem as interested in this film here and I think it's because he knows he isn't making a good movie.

https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment ... nother-Day

Right here he explains how he grew frustrated with his films as they went on due to the evolving world. It's a fun little read.

While I don't think it is the worst of the Bond films, that title goes to Octopussy (DON'T TELL MY HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL I SAID IT AGAIN!) it is easily the most unbalanced, messy and stupid.

4/10

The next batch of Bond films are my favorite series of films in recent history. I'm super excited to revisit them (well...most of them)

Bond ranking:

1.Brosnan (I think he encompasses everything good about all the Bonds mixed with his own interpretation)
2. Dalton
3. Connery
4. Lazenby (YEAH I DID IT)
5. Moore
Last edited by Micky on Sat Nov 06, 2021 4:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Thanks Andy!

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