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Message: <blockquote data-quote="shutyertrap" data-source="post: 293284" data-attributes="member: 134">I've been posting my summaries on Facebook, maybe you guys will enjoy them here...DR NO (1962)First things first, what is up with that title sequence? Clearly not the model for future Bond films, and the jarring music shift from Bond theme to 60's vibe groove to 3 Blind Mice had me puzzled. And then there's the fact it's a 1:66 aspect ratio, which makes sense for the time but still surprised me. Technical flubs were clearly not of concern, as there's jump cut mid sentence and during a fight, when Bond is hunkering down with Ursula on the beach, you can see what must be a crew member trying to hide below the frame line and not doing it well, and then the hideous day for night where they didn't even bother framing out the sky which has lots of clouds and no stars while hard shadows are being cast on the ground.Fully on display is Bonds ability to bed a girl within 30 seconds of meeting her, the gambling trope, and the use of the Bond theme (just not used judiciously). Also SPECTRE is introduced. There is the classic 'giant room set' for Dr No's lab, with tech the Batman '66 tv show clearly copied, including the giant labels telling exactly what each item there is used for. No cool car, no gadgets, no one liners. Does have a miniature model exploding, which is also a future Bond staple.FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963)Title sequence is starting to look like what it'd evolve into, but the song of the same name doesn't play until well into the movie. Again with the 1:66 ratio. Kinda fun seeing a cold war era movie during the height of Soviet/US tension. There's a lighter cheek to this movie, Bond starts dropping one liners here and there, and he gets a cool gadget briefcase. It's a very non exotic film, other than a train ride that takes up a big chunk of the time.The big deal of this film is not only more SPECTRE, but the introduction of Blofeld and his white cat. That imagery, of just a hand petting a cat is something I know best from Inspector Gadget cartoons! And then of course it's all incredibly laughable as this is where the Austin Powers movies took so much for Dr Evil. This of course only makes the movie more snicker worthy, as it's hard to take it seriously now.On the whole, this movie is kind of a mess though. The editing is really weird with establishing locations. It does a sloppy job of setting up supposed double crosses because you know who is double crossing who from the beginning. The way people shoot guns is hilarious as it's all from the hip or in this awkward leaning forward motion. Everybody gets knocked out with simple karate chops too. The end credits say it's the end, but not really, and then tease the title of Goldfinger. The actor listed for Blofeld is a ? mark, which seems a bit cheeky.GOLDFINGER (1964)This finally feels more like what a Bond movie is supposed to. Title sequence has visuals and song that became the standard. Still the same aspect ratio of the prior two, I'm curious when that will change to full 2.35 widescreen. Most of this movie takes place in the US, starting in Miami and shifting over to Kentucky after a stop off in Geneva. The funny thing is all the US stuff is shot on a sound stage with lots and lots of rear screen projection. For a series that is known for its location shooting, this was kinda jarring. Most of the other Bond staples are present though; a visit to Q's offices and one gadget filled Aston Martin (that criminally can barely out drive a convertible Mustang), one liners galore with a delivery that clearly inspired Ah-nold in the 80's, women that Bond only has to walk past in order to make them wanna sleep with him on the spot, and the giant sound stage set used for the climax despite how impracticable its design if being used in a real world application.Most importantly there's the introduction of a proper villain in Goldfinger and his evil lair that includes big elaborate models to explain his evil plan. There's also the double entendre name of the femme fatale, Pussy Galore. What I didn't expect was her squad that clearly inspired the femme bots of Austin Powers.While this feels like a Bond movie should, the action is still woefully bad. The Korean baddies are like keystone cops, hanging out the car windows shooting randomly, spraying machine gun fire side to side even with other henchmen standing in front of them, accuracy worse than a Stormtrooper. At one point they capture Bond, and then let him drive his own car! Hello ejector seat. I'm not kidding when I say these are some of the most moronic NPCs ever. And then there's a sequence when a nerve gas is sprayed over Fort Knox, and the soldiers falling into heaps is some of the worst acting by extras ever. Yes it's revealed later they were just faking it, but that's not what it was supposed to look like from the start!------------------I'm trying to keep in mind the era these were made in. It's fun seeing the tricks of film making from then, especially since they are so obvious to me now. Seeing the social norms on display, the lurid sexual harassment that doesn't bat an eye, it's like watching Mad Men without it being a commentary of the times. I'm seeing bits and pieces that were obviously the inspiration for other films, not just the parodies. The one thing that is missing is any sort of spying. Seriously, for a super spy there is literally no attempt at being subtle by Bond yet. He's a playboy detective at best. Let's see if anything changes with these next few Connery films.THUNDERBALL (1965)So this felt like the fully realized Bond film I expected. First off, the movie was filmed in Panavision 2.35 which automatically elevates the look. A lot of the movie is set in the Bahamas so we also get a proper exotic location. There's little day for night photography, little rear screen projection, it just looks like they really went for it with this film.The villain has the typical pay me a lot of money or else plot, and his lair is not really anything special other than the fact he's got a pool of friggin' sharks! Sadly no lasers on their heads. He does however have a massive yacht with secret underwater entry, and it separates into a smaller hydrofoil style boat for quick getaway.Clearly SCUBA gear was relatively new at this point, as this movie does a massive amount of underwater sequences showing it off. At one point there is what feels like a 20 minute underwater battle, and I swear it's better than Aquaman as at least this was actually shot underwater and not a green screen. Dig! Unfortunately, as has been the case with all the Bond films I've seen, there's no skill or discipline with gun fights, or in this case spear guns. Instead it's bad guys on one side of the line, good on the other, and everybody just starts shooting at each other with a huge amount of casualties. There's no attempt at hiding behind cover, no flanking, just rush right in.While most of the movie has good production value, the end boat sequence is a terrible mess. Here's where rear screen projection pops up in spades and worse, it's sped up to show how fast they are traveling. Problem is, what is happening out the front windshield doesn't match what is happening with steering on the boat, and it looks like they crash into rocks at least 4 different times. The movie also just ends abruptly with James and companion getting rescued by a helicopter.Never Say Never Again is a remake of Thunderball, so I'll be curious to see what improvements are made.YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967)Holy crap is this a terrible movie! I'm not going to hold it against the film, but though it was shot in Panavision, for some reason the version streamed was only in 1.78. Seriously though, that was the least of the movie's problems. The movie starts with Bond apparently being killed, but this just a ruse so that James can operate 'undercover'. It's absurd, as nothing else about him changes, yet.The setting this go around is Japan, and it is cringeworthy the stereotyping that goes on. Rear projection is everywhere in the film and not of good quality. The biggest sin for me though is security cam screens showing events where there's no way a camera was ever there, other than for making the movie. Like Bond sliding down a tunnel, or footage of a helicopter that is shot from a helicopter except there never was a second helicopter. The seriously stupid one though is footage they had in space of orbiting capsules. And yes, this movie goes into space and it is horrible effects work with no reality of physics being used.The only cool thing this movie as going for it is a volcano lair! That is until you realize how poorly thought out it is. It's Blofeld's lair, we finally get to see him, and I laughed because he literally looks like Dr. Evil. Also, the there has been no consistency with Blofeld, as his voice keeps changing film to film, one time we saw a glimpse of black hair, here he is bald and badly scarred, we really only know it's him because of that white cat he can't stop stroking. Of course these movies also never use the same actor for CIA agent Felix, but they do for M and Q and Moneypenny. Just odd.Now the worst moment of the whole film is when we are told Bond needs to "become Japanese" to really solidify his cover. And oh god, they actually put prosthetic eye lids on him and a wig. And had him go through a few days of ninja training. And get married to a Japanese woman. Uber cringe.I can't begin to tell all that is wrong with the action sequences of this movie, other then they are the sloppiest yet. I think Venture Bros got a lot of it's henchmen tropes from this one.ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (1969)Goodbye Connery, hello Lazenby. Title sequence is both a major step back in quality as well as a retrospective of the prior films? Odd choice. There's also a moment where Bond pulls out props from all the prior films, as if to reminisce. I mean do you want us to move on from Connery or what? George does a fine job as Bond though.This movie is a bit of an odd duck, as there's no gadgets, few one liners, and Bond isn't even on assignment. He falls in love with his Bond girl, and only sleeps with 2 others (on the same night no less). Blofeld is back, though a) he doesn't seem to be working for SPECTRE this go around, and b) neither he nor Bond seem to recognize each other despite having gone mano e mano last film.The highlight of this movie is the ski chaises that take place down the Swiss Alps, as we finally see a solid stunt sequence in one of these films. There's also a fight on bobsleds (clearly the winter olympics influenced this one, as there's even curling) that is okay. The evil lair is at the top of the mountain, and Chris Nolan clearly stole this for Inception's big set piece. The movie ends with Bond getting married, only for his bride to get gunned down moments later by Blofeld (who survived his lair exploding, again). Talk about a downer of an ending.I like this movie, but it is lacking a certain Bond feel.DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (1971)Welcome back Connery! But wow is he looking old in this one. This one starts with Bond seemingly getting revenge for Blofeld killing his wife, and he kills him within the first 5 minutes. Except once again we have a different actor for Blofeld. And agent Felix. I mean c'mon guys.Had some thought been put into the story, an interesting diamond heist plot could have been used. Bond once again goes undercover by changing only his name. Genius! We go from Paris to Las Vegas, and anytime a movie finally goes to Vegas it seems like a sure sign it's gonna suck. Sorry, but the place is just not glamorous, especially old Vegas.We don't get to see Q give any gadgets, but Bond is now like Batman and seems to have exactly what he needs on him at any given moment. The climactic battle on an offshore rig has all the excitement of a GI Joe battle as despite all the helicopters shooting bullets and missiles, and all the henchmen shooting back with machine guns, nobody can hit jack. Sigh.--------------Yeah, the novelty of laughing at these movies is wearing off. If I see yet another circular room with random staircases in a lair, or more motorized pocket doors, or another battle with every bad guy doing a high fall for his death, I'm gonna lose it. These movies are also excessively long, with a tighter edit they could lose 15 minutes and you'd hardly notice. So much time is spent with Bond drinking or smoking or flirting with a random girl, and the Daniel Craig films have shown you can still be a Bond film without wasting so much time on those non essentials. Wish me luck as I enter the Moore era.So a few things I've noticed right off the bat with this version of Bond vs the Connery era. First off, Bond only smokes cigars now. He also has no compunction about slapping a woman across the face to get her to talk. Where Connery's Bond was very much portrayed as a playboy bachelor bedding anything that smiled at him, Moore's is more of a sexual predator/addict. Seriously, his go to solution for everything is try and have sex. Need info? Sex. New location? Sex. Got time to kill? Sex. But then he's gross with it, like he wants to mentor his conquests or something. Where Connery delivered one liners, Moore's Bond has smart ass quips. He's also completely not phased by even the most dire predicaments, instead he's slightly amused. Lastly, Moore's Bond is stuck up and pretentious. He'd totally mock you for serving him a drink in the wrong glass. Even M doesn't seem to like him anymore, generally being cross with him rather than respecting his top agent. That being said, he's the Bond I knew first and when Bond is mentioned, it's Roger's face I used to think of first. Key word being used to.LIVE AND LET DIE (1973)Welcome to blacksploitation Bond! Roger Moore's first go at Bond is a scaled back affair from before, way less epic in scope. We go back to a standard 1.85 ratio film, the locations are NYC and New Orleans, so not very exotic, and the villain is seeking not world domination, but a monopoly in the heroine trade. It arguably has one of the best theme songs.I like a lot of elements that seem upgraded for the franchise. For starters, henchman Tee-Hee has a robotic claw arm. Sure Oddjob has his hat, but this dude can cut and slice and pinch and crush with his arm. Interesting trend that starts here and continues the next few films, the bad guy with the plan dies first, then the henchman gets his showdown with Bond. We get a really great stunt sequence with speed boats ripping down a bayou river, jumping over land and roads, and there's not an ounce of rear screen projection the entire time. It's really well done and the start of what I like Bond movies for, their crazy stunts. There's also a bit of car crashing stunts. I wouldn't be surprised to hear if this movie influenced Hal Needham for Gator and Smokey and the Bandit. Why? Because there is a Louisiana sheriff with a giant wad of tobacco in his mouth, spoutin' a deep southern drawl, that is every bit the oaf of one Buford T. Justice.I did notice this is the first Bond film with a swear word, and in going with the blacksploitation feel of the film, there are a few near miss 'f' bombs, Bond gets called "honky" a lot, and even says the word "pimp mobile". We also seem to start the trend of paid product placement, mostly involving one Rolex watch. Unfortunately that's a trend that gets worse and worse down the series.THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (1974)Talk about a movie of its time. Our villain is Scaramanga, and elite assassin who only needs 1 gold bullet and charges a million dollars per hit. He also is really keen on figuring out how to make solar power so good it'll put the oil and coal industry out of business. Oh, so evil! He'll cause a bidding war with his tech, so that the buyer can then rake in huge bucks as the leading energy provider. But Scaramanga isn't doing it for the money, no he likes being an assassin too much and earns enough for his needs with that. Like seriously, I kinda wanted him to come out on top in this movie, to let the bad guy win. The only turning point is oh yeah, he's made a really powerful energy gun too. The movie spends a lot of time in Thailand and Hong Kong, which of course means martial arts. Sadly, they didn't hire Jacky Chan to be in this. Instead we get a lot of chop socky style fights that are better than they've been previously, but still pretty laughable.Continuing the trend of memorable henchmen, we get Tattoo from Fantasy Island. Here he's named Nick Nack and he runs all of Scaramanga's household by himself, as well as setting up shooting galleries for Scar's amusement. We finally get the return of ridiculous girl names, as Bond meets a naked asian gal in a pool by the name of Chu-mi. Hilarious! The main Bond girl is Goodnight, so yeah.Also inexplicably returning is JW Pepper, the sheriff from the previous movie. He's on vacation and recognizes Bond. I thought that was the end of it, but then for some reason he is car shopping while on vacation in Thailand, and Bond commandeers the car he's in, leading to one of the most iconic Bond stunts, the corkscrew jump. What isn't iconic is the slide whistle sound effect that is used during it. Good lord guys, way to ruin it. JW also gets all racist, yelling at the locals and calling them "brown pointy heads" repeatedly.Unfortunately the evil lair features, you guessed it, a round room. And automatic pocket doors. Sigh. There is a bit of a funhouse production design theme though, both in the lair and especially on the capsized boat that the British intelligence agency has set up shop in. It's a bit of a bind bender and a really cool set. Speaking of, we do get a nice exploding model of the lair that looks great. Apparently this movie usually ranks low out of all the Bond films, but I don't know, I've already seen a few worse.THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (1977)I can't say for sure if this was the first Bond film I ever saw, but I can say it is the film I think of as being the most Bond-like. Let's start with the opening of the film, certainly the best up to this point. Bond has to leave his latest conquest in a hurry, slaps on a pair of skis, and immediately starts being chased down an alpine slope by baddies with machine guns. It feels a lot like what we already saw in Lazenby's movie, but it's shot better, is way tighter, and ends with Bond base jumping off a cliff and opening a union jack parachute to the tune of Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better".Widescreen 2.35 returns for this film, and for good reason. There's a lot of stuff that happens in Cairo, with set pieces around the pyramids, some ancient ruins, and in the middle of the desert. At one point they even use the Lawrence of Arabia theme. While in Cairo, Bond goes to this one ruin that amazingly has Moneypenny and M situated like this is their regular office. Whats more, Q has an entire lab and there are weapons galore he is testing in the background, a future Bond staple that was only hinted at in past movies.So what else makes this a quintessential Bond film in my book? Well, it's got the go to shark tank villains love, but now within an underwater evil lair in the middle of the ocean! Henchman Jaws is one of the most iconic villains of any Bond film, seemingly indestructible and strong as the Bionic Man. We get the Lotus that turns into an underwater submersible, and then a submersible battle to boot! There's some extremely low flying helicopter stunts, the main villain wants to nuke the surface world and start an underwater utopia, the key Bond woman is Russian Agent Triple X (ha!), and the quips are borderline terrible puns, but work all the same.The most Bond thing of all though is the ginormous set built for the final act. If you thought the volcano lair was big, this thing is twice that. It's the interior of a tanker ship, with water, and houses 3 submarines side by side. There are multiple levels, lots of henchmen, and you just know it's gonna blow up real good. The captured crews of the submarines get released by Bond, and the ensuing gun battle is of course everything I hate, meaning random spraying of machine guns, often with your fellow soldiers directly in front of you, but this time lots of grenades get lobbed in every direction. Of course there's high fall deaths, sometimes with people on fire. Still, it's an impressive set and when it blows up, the interior does not look like a model. The exterior ship that blows up, yeah clearly a model.I should mention, the underwater lair? Of course it features round rooms and sliding pocket doors. Such a cliche at this point. My favorite absurdity though is the escape pod Bond uses to leave the exploding Atlantis lair with Agent XXX. It's like an inverted I Dream of Jeanie bottle. Seriously, the entire interior is one round bed with lots of satin pillows. A shelf surrounds everything, and is stocked with various liquors, a bottle of champaigne, and I **** you not, a Christies auction catalog. You know, all the things you want in an emergency escape pod.As ridiculous as the movie is, this one is my favorite so far.------------------------These first 3 Moore era films were better than I hoped for. I think it's the next 4 that are going to prove challenging to sit through. One thing I don't get, and it's probably where The Incredibles got this from, but why does every villain in every Bond film monologue their evil plan to him? And then why don't they kill him on the spot instead of dragging him away and using some obscure way of taking him out? I mean this happens multiple times in the same film, so clearly the villain wants him dead, or do they get off on seeing if he can escape? Boggle the mind.</blockquote>

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