Film Thread

[Giggles]

Quantum, Skyfall, For your eyes only, Octopussy, OHMSS, live and let die. All excellent.

Edit - Spy who loved me too. And view to a kill and the living daylights.

[randomlegend]

Quantum, Skyfall, For your eyes only, Octopussy, OHMSS, live and let die. All excellent.

Edit - Spy who loved me too. And view to a kill and the living daylights.

Quantum of Solace???? I thought that was absolute shit.

[Shindig]

I'd like a Quantum of Solace,
but not more than a quantum,
I know you have big bags of solace,
But I don't want them.

[Pepe]

Casino Royale is the only Bond movie that I've liked, although I haven't watched that many.

[Giggles]

Quantum of Solace???? I thought that was absolute shit.

Songs.

[randomlegend]

Missed that detail.

[Cord]

If I can just interrupt the Bond theme chat (I'm voting Tomorrow Never Dies as a guilty pleasure) to give a strong recommend to Everything Everywhere All at Once, and definitely to the idea of going into it knowing as little about it as possible.

[Gray Fox]

I don't know who had the idea to put Alicia Keys with Jack White, but it really works well. That said Keys could probably make most things work.

Since then we do seem to have reverted to flavour of the month singing the song. So much so that I can't even remember the song, or who sang it for Spectre.

[Giggles]

Die Another Day is comfortably the worst song. Probably not even just counting Bond songs.

[wullie]

I always thought Thunderball is a good one, Tom Jones almost giving himself a hernia by the end of it.

[Ben]

Everything about Casino Royale (theme song included) is about as perfect as Bond will get in my opinion. Normally I’m a sucker for the oldest ones but Casino Royale stands out massively.

In terms of theme songs only, the entire Connery era and Live and Let Die are tremendous. The whole thing went tits up with Brosnan.

[Ian]

I fucking hated the Jack White one.

[Dave.]

Die Another Day is comfortably the worst song. Probably not even just counting Bond songs.

It is an awful song in isolation but (I watched Die Another Day the other day) it somehow works when played over the opening credits.

I agree with whoever said that Diamonds Are Forever is the best song. Live and Let Die and You Know My Name follow.

[wullie]

You Only Live Twice would be pretty high up on my list. Sam Smith dead last because of his voice

[Dan]

If I can just interrupt the Bond theme chat (I'm voting Tomorrow Never Dies as a guilty pleasure) to give a strong recommend to Everything Everywhere All at Once, and definitely to the idea of going into it knowing as little about it as possible.

Agreed, it's great.

Casino Royale is definitely the best Bond movie too. The Daniel Craig era has to be the best by far, not least because they got further away from the old formula.

[Mike]

Been tasked with picking tonight’s film as my partners brother and mum are here. Going with Everything Everywhere All at Once, don’t let me down TTH.

[Giggles]

Licence to Kill time :drool:

[Shindig]

I watched Scott of the Antarctic today. That was kind of alright. I did wonder which point in the revisionist history this would coincide with but it felt fairly historically accurate. RP accents all over the shop apart from one lower class lass delivering the post. I quite like the stiff conservatism running all through the acting.

[Dave.]

Agreed, it's great.

Casino Royale is definitely the best Bond movie too. The Daniel Craig era has to be the best by far, not least because they got further away from the old formula.

I'd personally have Skyfall and No Time To Die above Casino Royale because I'm a keen poker player and found that section a little boring and very predictable whereas many others would find it thrilling. It's still great overall though.

For me, the best eras are the early Connery films, Dalton and Craig. Personally, I prefer the grittier, more realistic Bond films opposed to the more comedy based slapstick ones (I'm looking at you Sir Roger).


Licence to Kill time :drool:

Enjoy. It's my second favourite Bond film.:thbup:

[Lofty]

I watched What's Eating Gilbert Grape? Tonight, odd film.

[Manc]

Did you find out?

[Baz]

Did his arse run out?

[Shindig]

All I know about that film is DiCaprio plays a retard ... poorly.

[Limoutsonik]

Anyone else here who watched Top Gun:Maverick? Was it just me who came out thinking it was the movie of the year?

[Alex]

Bond update - The Roger Moore years finished, the brief Dalton period done and the beginning of Brosnan.

A View to a Kill

This one didn't really grip me. It was fine, I suppose. I'm sure the whole Silicon Valley thing was kind of topical at the time too but it just hasn't aged the best. I like the idea of Walken as a Bond villain but he was just going through to motions a bit it felt like. I did like the ending on the Golden Gate Bridge. The Grace Jones character was maybe my favourite thing about it, she was cool. This one has maybe the weirdest of the "Bond getting caught with his trousers down at the end of the film" moments too, where Q tracks him down with his weird remote control robot and catches him at it in the shower. Also, we can file this one in the "good Bond themes" category I think! 5/10

The Living Daylights

I really like Dalton's take on the character. He's not really the "for Queen and country" type of guy at all. He's a bit more jaded but he plays him the most believably (so far) as a stone cold, professional killer, I think. Like as a guy you would not want to cross. Roger was like this gadget wielding, wise cracking lothario with the raised eyebrow and the witty quips. Which was cool. Dalton plays him as a man who is believable as somebody who goes out in the field and, you know, kills people as his job. I just wish they had leaned a little more fully into that. Because it's a great change of pace and much more grounded and gritty but there are still a couple of more goofy bits (he rides the cello case down the bloody mountain to escape, that sort of thing) when it could have done with a clean break from that I think. Still a good film though. 7/10

Licence to Kill

So this one is great, and it's like they took on board what I was thinking about the previous one RE it not going all the way serious and ran with it, to an extreme. I read this is the only one to have ever had a "15" rating and I can see why. They murder Felix Leiter's wife and then half feed the poor bastard to sharks, for fucks sake. Bond off the reservation on a revenge mission is just class. Again it sort of emphasises this side of him as somebody who you don't want to fuck with, and who can work on his own and really make life hell for the people in his sights. I loved it. I wish Dalton had got another crack of the whip because I just really, really enjoyed his version of the character. 8/10

Goldeneye

Another great one. Brosnan is a cool customer. He's got a lot of charm. He delivers the stereotypical Bond one liners with a sort of dryness that I really like. And he does have a lot of great one-liners in this. The opening with the dam jump and him and 006 on the mission is the best Bond opening so far, I would say.

I liked the villains. Alec Trevelyan is great ("For England, James?") and Bean plays him really well. Famke Jansen is class in this too, she's so unhinged. Good supporting characters too. Jack Wade (who assume has come along because, continuity wise, Felix is crippled now!),Valentin, Boris - these are all fun characters. I would argue Judy Dench cements herself as a superior M just in the space of this one film, too.

Brosnan tearing around Saint Petersburg in a tank is an all time great scene. Something about him periodically popping his head up out of the hatch while driving (straightening his tie at one point :D) is just proper cool and very Bond. As much as I love him in it I found myself wondering what Dalton would have done with it though. Because I think the story very much felt like it would have worked in his Bond universe too. 8/10

[Ben]

Licence to Kill is just tremendous.

[Alex]

Licence to Kill is just tremendous.

It really is. Very unique in the series I think, at least of the ones I've watched so far. A very different kind of Bond film. It's not comparable to any of the others really.

[Manc]

Are all titles available on a certain platform?

[Boydy]

Are all titles available on a certain platform?
Amazon Prime has them now.

[Alex]

Are all titles available on a certain platform?

They're all on Amazon Prime. I believe they now own the film company that makes Bond so can do that. Ironically Bezos has all the makings of a classic Bond villain. He's a swimming pool full of sharks away from completely fitting the bill.

[Ben]

Prime is running them all but only for a couple of weeks.

[Manc]

I'll have to get involved.

[Giggles]

Licence to Kill was well worth my time to watch again. Love it. Probably one of the best bad guys in the whole thing and Dalton is great.

Was going to stick on Goldeneye but I’ll wait until next Sunday when it’s next up.

[wullie]

I've got a soft spot for A View to a Kill as it's probably the film I've seen the most times overall and it's one of the top end themes, but Roger Moore really stood out as being too old for all this in that one.

[Ben]

Yeah, definitely. He looked fine in Octopussy though and that was only two years previous.

[Gray Fox]

Anyone else here who watched Top Gun:Maverick? Was it just me who came out thinking it was the movie of the year?

Just got home from seeing this. It's going to take some film to beat it.

[Giggles]

I love hearing that, been looking forward to it for longer than I can remember. What’s Sky store now, about a month after release?

[Mike]

Been tasked with picking tonight’s film as my partners brother and mum are here. Going with Everything Everywhere All at Once, don’t let me down TTH.

Our viewing got delayed but yeah, this was pretty great.

[Gray Fox]

I love hearing that, been looking forward to it for longer than I can remember. What’s Sky store now, about a month after release?

I'd get to the cinema for this one if you can.

[Jimmy Floyd]

On the subject of MI6, I fancied going through the 2011 Tinker, Tailor again tonight. Really is good. I remembered who did it and most of the plot, so not much suspense this time, but I just loved sitting watching men in bad suits smoke in brown rooms and say 'The Circus' portentously for two hours. Brilliant.

[Shindig]

Yeah, it's a shame it rushes out the door with that montage. The deleted scene of Oldman cooking an egg should've made it in.

I watched Sorry to Bother You last night. I wish that film played itself more straight instead of devolving into the forced craziness. Funny at times but really desperate at others. And the director likes nude puppets which is very sus.

[Ian]

I love Goldeneye. Partly it was the first new Bond film I remember (I will have seen the Dalton ones when they first came to TV but I don't remember that at the time.) Goldeneye we went to the cinema though. I remember this because my dad hates heights and obviously the first thing that happens is Bond hurls himself off a dam.

I think Brosnan was a good Bond dealt some terrible scripts, though I maintain that Die Another Day has a great first fifteen minutes or so that then all then goes spectacularly to shit.

[Giggles]

Die Another Day also has the worst special effect of all the films, even going back to the 1960's, when that thing on the parachute goes off the ice cliff.

[wullie]

Was Die Another Day the ice castle and invisible car stuff? I remember seeing that one at the cinema and hating it.

[Baz]

I’ve never seen James Bond.

[Dave.]

I’ve never seen James Bond.

You really are missing out.

[Dave.]

Die Another Day is a classic case of a film of two halves - it's almost as if it's directed by two different people. The first hour is excellent then Iceland happens. It's a shame as it had huge potential.

[Ian]

To have never even seen one Bond film is odd stuff.

[igor_balis]

The Duran Duran and A-Ha are my favourite themes. The latter is great especially for the backstage drama - the when Barry added some strings, he slightly changed the synths and the Scandi lads just changed it back, and Barry eventually called them Hitler Youth. Class.

[Baz]

To have never even seen one Bond film is odd stuff.Yeah I realised that by the amount of people chipping in their opinion, which is why I mentioned it.

I don’t plan on rectifying it anytime soon though.

[igor_balis]

I’ve never seen James Bond.

I don't think you're missing out on much, personally. My mates were going through them in order during lockdown, I got about as far as the 4th one and just couldn't stomach watching any more. I've seen a few other ones from different eras as well, and I don't really get the appeal. I might be being unfair, but it feels like there's not really much depth to any of them, they're quite formulaic, and thus they live and die on whether or not you find them fun, and largely I find them a pretty tedious slog to get through.

In their defence, it probably does it no favours that it's such a cultural institution that you can easily know how they work as films without ever actually watching one.

[Ian]

They are, for the most part, just fun action films. I don't think there's lot depth to miss.

The Craig ones are a bit more overwrought in place but they're still broadly just action films of vary quality.

[wullie]

It's a series that caters to all tastes over time. If you like moody introspection and punching Daniel Craig's your man, if you like knob gags and slide whistles Roger Moore's got you covered.

[igor_balis]

They are, for the most part, just fun action films. I don't think there's lot depth to miss.

The Craig ones are a bit more overwrought in place but they're still broadly just action films of vary quality.

Aye I think that's basically what I was getting at, just more succinct. I just don't find em fun personally.

[Baz]

They are, for the most part, just fun action films.That's me out forever.

[Dave.]

It's a series that caters to all tastes over time. If you like moody introspection and punching Daniel Craig's your man, if you like knob gags and slide whistles Roger Moore's got you covered.

This is it. I think you need to see at least two films from each Bond before writing them off completely. They are all action films but each Bond had their own interpretation of the role. For example, Moonraker and Licence To Kill are two very different films.

[Ian]

Strong "really you need to give this until series 4" energy there, Dave.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

It's only 11 movies (Lazenby only had one) to know for sure if you like Bond or not. That's nothing.

[igor_balis]

I've seen bond films from different eras and I think for all the tonal differences and different ways the lead actors play the role...I mean, wullie saying they cater to all tastes is a bit of a stretch.

[Jimmy Floyd]

They're fun action films, with distinctive iconography that stretches out across the decades, and an absolute belter of a John Barry theme tune (this is very underrated as a reason for their popularity, for me Clive). No shame in liking or not liking them.

[Dave.]

Strong "really you need to give this until series 4" energy there, Dave.

:lol:

[phonics]

I think they're largely quite crap.

The new Mission Impossibles are far better than any James Bond output. Hell, Fast and Furious 5 is better than any Bond movie.

[wullie]

I've seen bond films from different eras and I think for all the tonal differences and different ways the lead actors play the role...I mean, wullie saying they cater to all tastes is a bit of a stretch.

All tastes between moody fistfights and Carry On Spying at least.

[igor_balis]

All tastes between moody fistfights and Carry On Spying at least.

Okay I'll give you that.

[Kikó]

I edge towards largely mediocre films with the odd exception. The latest Craig set were all excellent.

Similar to star wars. Had a few good ones but mostly crap.

[Dave.]

And finally, the film thread has been hijacked into the James Bond film thread and rightfully so. It's only taken 20 years.:eyemouth:

[Giggles]

:cool:

[Alex]

And finally, the film thread has been hijacked into the James Bond film thread and rightfully so. It's only taken 20 years.:eyemouth:

:D

I apologise to the other film enthusiasts for my role in this. I'll be done soon, I promise!

[Alex]

Speaking of which, the conclusion of The Brosnan years:

Tomorrow Never Dies



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jGNxTyVH7c

6/10

The World Is Not Enough

Not good. This is one of my least favourites of the series. I just found myself constantly losing interest. I don't think Robert Carlyle was well cast in this at all. Although it doesn't help that his character was just rubbish. The plot wasn't interesting. Denise Richards playing some sort of Lara Croft take on a nuclear physicist was proper daft and she was also not good at all in it. It's like they realised it was all very shit and uninteresting so brought back Robbie Coltrane as Valentin to a little something, and I loved that character in Goldeneye, but even he just felt shoehorned in for no reason.

Pierce is fine I guess but he can only work with the material he's given. I think Elektra King was a good character to be fair, and Sophie Marceau was the best thing about this film. It was proper obvious she was playing him from the off though. So yeah, just not very good. I didn't like it. One of the low points for me. 4/10

Die Another Day

Let's start by acknowledging the very valid concerns. Yes the whole "Korean men changing their genetic code to be white" thing is ridiculous. Ditto the invisible car. There's a lot of naff CGI that has aged quite badly. It's also got more than it's fair share of terrible dialogue, particularly between Bond and Jinx. BUT. Fuck it, I really liked this one!

It felt a lot like Brosnan doing a Roger Moore style Bond movie. Well, the decidedly grittier intro section with him being a prisoner of war and all that aside, which I loved as a set up. But after that. Over the top gadgets? Check. Effortless womanising complete with very tongue in cheek dialogue? Check. Ridiculous bad guy (complete with ridiculous henchman) with ridiculous evil plan? Check. All the main hallmarks present. It had some big, dumb action set pieces that tied it all together. Was it largely a bit stupid? Yes. Was it also a lot of fun? Absolutely. The sword fight scene with Gustav Graves (who reminds me of Elon Musk) is probably emblematic of the entire film for me. Daft as hell but really enjoyable. I just thought it was a fun watch. 7/10

[Dave.]

:D

I apologise to the other film enthusiasts for my role in this. I'll be done soon, I promise!

I half thought about doing my own reviews combined with ratings then I realised I wouldn't be able to score any of them less than a 6.5/7 so rating them would be a giant waste of everyone's time.:lol:

[Giggles]

I half thought about doing my own reviews combined with ratings then I realised I wouldn't be able to score any of them less than a 6.5/7 so rating them would be a giant waste of everyone's time.:lol:

Do it.

Good long write ups like Alex too :nodd:

[Ben]

I’ll read them, do it Dave.

[Gray Fox]

And you could give us James Bond POWER RANKINGS at the end of it.

[Alex]

I half thought about doing my own reviews combined with ratings then I realised I wouldn't be able to score any of them less than a 6.5/7 so rating them would be a giant waste of everyone's time.:lol:

You should definitely do it. It's interesting to see other peoples takes on them all.

[igor_balis]

Die Another Day is arguably one of the worst songs ever made, let alone the worst Bond theme.

[igor_balis]

Mad to think Madonna still thinks she's a sex symbol now, and it was already tragic then.

[Shindig]

Yeah, it's like she's doing all the ageing Liz Hurley isn't. And I'd put money down on her shagging one of her adopted sons.

[Yevrah]

Giving Die Another Day a 7/10 should see the white jacket reached for. Are you watching these movies while doing nothing else? No mobile/internet browsing, just watching?

[Ian]

Mad to think Madonna still thinks she's a sex symbol now, and it was already tragic then.

Last photo I saw of her I genuinely wouldn't have known it was her if not for the caption.

[Lofty]

My main takeaway from Goldeneye now, as it was then, is I'd happily let Famke Janssen shag me to death.

[Dave.]

Die Another Day is arguably one of the worst songs ever made, let alone the worst Bond theme.

Die Another Day is a somewhat bizarre song in fact it doesn't work under any circumstances. Hear it on the radio and it's an instant switch-off. However (and against all logic) it works well when played over the opening credits.


Giving Die Another Day a 7/10 should see the white jacket reached for. Are you watching these movies while doing nothing else? No mobile/internet browsing, just watching?

I think it gets too much stick. Yes, John Cleese is a bad Desmond Llewellyn substitute. Yes, Halle Berry is a pretty dreadful Bond girl. Yes, the film falls to pieces after Iceland.

BUT there is plenty to enjoy in the first hour and people do forget this. The opening sequence is one of best in the entire series and the prisoner exchange is well done. I even enjoyed the fencing scene but appreciate if this isn't to others taste.

[Baz]

What just happened?

[Dave.]

What just happened?

Quoted wrong post.:lol:

Fixed now.

[Dave.]

My main takeaway from Goldeneye now, as it was then, is I'd happily let Famke Janssen shag me to death.

100% this.

[phonics]

BUT there is plenty to enjoy in the first hour and people do forget this. The opening sequence is one of best in the entire series and the prisoner exchange is well done. I even enjoyed the fencing scene but appreciate if this isn't to others taste.


Nope it was awful. That whole hoverboat shit was terrible.

[Dave.]

Nope it was awful. That whole hoverboat shit was terrible.

I can't agree. For an action film of it's type in 2002, it was perfectly fine.

Also something you need to remember is that the Bond films need to work hard to create tension. For the most part, the plot is obvious in that Bond doesn't die. The opening scene in Die Another Day succeeds in doing this. Bond's cover is exposed. He escapes but is captured and is sent to prison and tortured. This is something that hadn't been explored in any of the previous films. Also having North Korea as the villains was very topical for the time.

[Alex]

Casino Royale

An outstandingly good film and definitely my new favourite. Craig not only embodies but also really dials up all the qualities of the character that I wanted to see more of over the series. The brashness combined with the insecurity. The brutality. The conflict and the doubt. The collateral damage of his actions. The whole idea that he is a custom built killing machine. A bit of a monster really, but one that M has built/want to be that way. But with a real person lingering inside.

The fact he finally lets somebody in and then how it ends, just sealing him back up completely as an ice-cold killer, is a brilliantly tragic ending and a perfect way to start a reboot. "The bitch is dead" carried more weight than maybe any line I can cite from the series so far.

I loved how grounded and simple the story was. There was no massively complicated plot whatsoever. The poker scenes work really well in terms of breaking things up. Especially when he's playing opposite an actor as good as Mads, who I would watch read the phone book. I wasn't quite expecting the bollock torture scene either. That was grim, Christ. They don't downplay the brutality of his world and what he does at any point actually. The fight scene on the stairs is amazing. It's like Connery on the train for the modern world. Vesper just watching him choke the life out of a man and the effect it has on her. Fantastic.

Eva Green is amazing in this, by the way. I'd have just happily let her keep the money and gone evil for her.

So yeah. Not just a great Bond film but a really great film in general (not that I'm saying the two are mutually exclusive by any means), absolutely loved it. 9/10

Quantum of Solace

I watched this right after Casino Royale, as I was aware that one picks up exactly (pretty much) where the other leaves off. I really liked this one too. It's a very different film in many ways though. Casino Royale sets it up with all this taut drama and emotionally damaged backstory and then QoS works as this sort of "now here are all the car chases and action sequences and gunfights!" coda to it. It's like it's louder, more hyperactive but not quite as smart or cool little brother.

There is a bit too much action, if anything. But it does it very well. Generally it's just a full film of him out in the field doing his thing, really. I love the scene where he just effortlessly rumbles their super secret meeting at the opera and starting mugging them all off on the radio. :cool:

It doesn't overstay it's welcome either, which I like. I want to say it might be the shortest Bond? Dominic Greene is not the best Bond villain, it has to be said. He's far from the worst either though. I like that they still addressed the "consequence of Bonds actions" angle a little bit too in the form of Fields getting killed basically just because he couldn't help himself from seducing her, otherwise she wouldn't have been involved at all. Likewise, he pulls Mathis back in and basically gets him killed.

After Casino Royale (which is now out on it's own) it sits in the next group down of "very good Bond" for me. 8/10

I do have something of a social life, I swear. I've just had a bit of time off work this week and not a lot to do. :D

[Ian]

Die Another Day 7/10 and Quantum of Solace 8/10. You've given them collectively about eight more points than they deserve.

[Giggles]

I like QoS.

[Ben]

I’m very much a fan of QoS, I feel it’s better than most give it credit for. It’s short by modern standards as well. Following up the perfection of Casino Royale certainly hurt it significantly. I’d give it a 6/10.

[Ian]

Quantum of Solace is booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooring.

Not everything has to be be massively over the top but "this weird sex pest wants to nick a load of water" is pants and the final stretch is proper meh.

[Alex]

I wasn't aware of all the bad feeling about Quantum of Solace until I read about it online after I had watched it. I was surprised by it. I basically did watch it as a double feature with Casino Royale though. Maybe that has benefitted it?

[Ben]

As part of the full Daniel Craig arc it’s good. If you view it as a stand-alone it’s a bit strange because of the central story, as Ian alluded to.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Quantum of Solace is booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooring.

Not everything has to be be massively over the top but "this weird sex pest wants to nick a load of water" is pants and the final stretch is proper meh.

This.

I watched it at 10am on a Saturday morning and almost dozed off.

[Dave.]

As part of the full Daniel Craig arc it’s good. If you view it as a stand-alone it’s a bit strange because of the central story, as Ian alluded to.

This.

I definitely recommend watching it as a double bill with Casino Royale .

[Giggles]

Goldeneye is on a day early :cool:

[Giggles]

As much as I like this, the bike to plane thing is ridiculous.

[Giggles]

Death by Famkke would indeed be a glorious exit.

[Lofty]

Watched 'Last Seen Alive' last night starring Gerard Butler. I strongly suspect it was a geezer teaser.

[Alex]

Skyfall

This one is fantastic, and my second favourite of the series after Casino Royale. I really like the prevalence of M in this one. She is almost the joint main character and it's a great send off for Judi Dench (who is fantastic in it) departing the series. I like the idea of her being made to look at her past and to confront certain decisions she's made. That's definitely a running theme of the Craig era that I love. They "good guys" are not necessarily always nice and there are sometimes quite horrible consequences for the things they do.

The reintroduction of both Q and Moneypenny were good in this too. Q in particular is great. They're meeting at the art gallery and the banter about how young he is. I like the handling of the new M too.

Silva is my favourite Bond villain, easily. I think Javier Bardem played him amazingly. His introduction scene where Bond is tied to the chair and he just wanders in and gives the big monologue about the island and the rats is top level. That's how you introduce a bad guy on screen. I loved the slightly sinister sexual overtures while he's talking to Bond too, and Bond just not being phased by it at all. I think he's such a good villain because he's almost like an evil, deranged parallel universe version of Bond.

The shooting scene with the girl too was class. Any other Bond you would have thought "he will definitely save her" but no. The way Silva just very deliberately kills with his first shot and they move right on like it's nothing. Brutal.

I like the examination of the series history in this one too, which I think tied in with the 50th anniversary? When he jumps in the old, Connery era Aston Martin and drives off and it plays the old school version of the Bond theme! That specific bit made me grin ear to ear. So cool!

I read that they briefly considered Connery for the Kincade character but decided not to. Although I imagine it's more likely he just didn't want to do it/wasn't that well at the time. To be honest, knowing that, it feels like they specifically wrote the character for him and then didn't change any of the dialogue after not casting him. Albert Finney was great, don't get me wrong. But a lot of the lines ("I've been ready since before you were born" and "Welcome to Scotland!" in particular) just seemed like they should have been coming out of Connery's mouth.

Random final thought on it - Bond running down a London street towards the danger with mayhem all around him while M quotes Tennyson at the hearing was weirdly very rousing and emotional and one of my all time favourite moments in the entire series. It perfectly tapped into all the nostalgia of the series and the fact that Bond kind of represents a somewhat archaic idea of England that doesn't really exist anymore, but still has value.

So, yeah. Fantastic film. 9/10

Two more to go!

[Baz]

Sees the Film Thread bumped

https://archive.4plebs.org/tv/full_image/1569786667614.gif

Sees it’s Alex probably talking about James Bond

https://www.clipartkey.com/mpngs/m/82-824588_okay-meme-png.png

[Giggles]

You mixed up the pictures.

[Alex]

Sees the Film Thread bumped

https://archive.4plebs.org/tv/full_image/1569786667614.gif

Sees it’s Alex probably talking about James Bond

https://www.clipartkey.com/mpngs/m/82-824588_okay-meme-png.png

Sorry mate, in retrospect I should have started a new thread shouldn't I? :facepalm:

There's only two to go now though, I can't be arsed. :D

I do watch (and have watched since starting the Bond project) other films. I'm not really sure why I don't also post about those to break up the Bond monotony a bit!

[Baz]

Nah it seems like a lot of TTH love Bond.

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/ThunderousAggressiveGoral-max-1mb.gif

[Kikó]

I'm finding it interesting. I might go on a little Bond session myself inspired by this.

[Ben]

I watched GoldenEye last night. It's always been my favourite Brosnan effort and Famke Janssen is just exceptional, even if the CGI hasn't aged well.

[Clunge]

Watched No Time To Die on my flight this am. Not bad at all.

Sillier than I thought it’d be in places, the Russian scientist made me think of Boris from Goldeneye. Kind of poignant in places too. Rubbish ‘baddie’ though, he’s barely in it, and there’s no real back story for him at all. He just arrives, does his thing, and gone.

[Dave.]

One problem I have with GoldenEye is that Sean Bean just outacts Brosnan. It's not as much of a problem as it was with Christopher Lee and Moore in The Man With The Golden Gun but it still exists. Or is it just me that thinks this?

[Ben]

Well I’m not really a fan of Brosnan. I know he’s massively rated as an actor by the industry but I don’t get the hype personally. I also love Sean Bean so I agree with you there.

[Giggles]

Neither of them are very good in it as far as acting goes. Fine for a Bond film.

[Alex]

Spectre

Urgh. What a fucking let down this was. This isn't the worst Bond, but it's definitely the one that has disappointed me the most. It was a bit like Craig trying to do a Connery era film and it just doesn't work. Most of the actors involved just seemed to be going through the motions, there was a lot of bad dialogue and the plot is a fucking trainwreck.

Blofeld and the whole SPECTRE thing never did a lot for me in the originals, to be honest. It's a pretty daft concept and I don't think it really has a place in the more grounded, modern day Bond. But I get that it's a very big part of the franchise and if they want to try it that is fine, and I was totally up for Waltz giving it a crack but he's great. But honestly? He wasn't......really very good in this at all. I think it's a combination of the script being bad and also it's just being a bit too on the nose putting him in that role, it was almost too obvious a casting choice.

But just the whole handling of his character and SPECTRE in general was terrible. Making him into Bond's sort of step-brother was fucking moronic. As was making SPECTRE the architects of everything in the previous three films, which didn't make sense and served no purpose whatsoever other than "oooh, evil!". Both of these things were just shoehorned into the plot in painfully awkward fashion, added nothing and were not really addressed again.

And then, after Bond finds all this out, he just really quickly escapes, blows up up the entire SPECTRE base by, like, I don't know, shooting a gas canister or something (I've never seen him take down a criminal organisation with less hassle, and these guys are meant to be the top dogs) and then takes Blofeld (who should be dead but apparently survived the massive explosion just so he had chance to show up again with his trademark gammy eye, which looked ridiculous in this by the way) down on a few days later on the Thames, in what has to be one of the least interesting "chases" in franchise history, by just taking a few pot shots at his helicopter with a handgun.

I would honestly score it lower but it is somewhat redeemed by:

- The opening in Mexico City which, aside from Brosnan on the dam in Goldeneye, is my favourite Bond opening. That long tracking shot following him up on the roof was unbelievably cool.
- The fight scene on the train with Batista was proper really good. Batista made for a good Bond henchman. There's not been a big scary goon for him to fight in a while.
- Lea Seydoux is unbelievably easy on the eye, she might be the best looking Bond girl. Although her and Daniel Craig do not have much chemistry I don't think and their relationship was believable, certainly not them suddenly being "in love". That is another gripe I had, I suppose.

5/10

[Kikó]

I'm going to give star wars a watch. According to a few places, Solo is where you need to start, so let's start from there.

[Ian]

What's the rationale for starting with Solo? :cab:

[Kikó]

Chronology apparently?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.insider.com/best-ways-to-watch-star-wars-movies%3famp

"Solo"
"Rogue One"
"A New Hope"
"The Empire Strikes Back"
("The Phantom Menace" if you wish)
"Attack of the Clones"
"Revenge of the Sith"
"Return of the Jedi"
"The Force Awakens"
"The Last Jedi"
"The Rise of Skywalker"

[Kikó]

Plus the second reboot is not being watched (the jar jar bastard ones).

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

That's not in chronological order, it's just what they think it's a decent order to watch it all in.

I'm a fan of the machete order which just omits episode 1 completely which is really not needed but it does have some cool pod racing and the fight at the end is good. However, it's hard to then fit in the new stuff. It seems they've just bundled them in at the end.

I still haven't watched Solo or Rise of Skywalker which I probably should rectify at some point.

Edit: Oh and their new machete order seems to exclude Rogue One which is the best of the new films that I've seen.

[niko_cee]

Just watch Rogue One and Empire and save yourself a lot of wasted time.

[Kikó]

I've not seen Solo or Rogue One so I'll waste my time wisely.

[Lewis]

- Lea Seydoux is unbelievably easy on the eye, she might be the best looking Bond girl.

As long as she isn't smiling. Jesus.

[Kikó]

Woody Harelson in star wars is weird.

[Baz]

The best way is to watch Episode 2, realise if an IP can involve something this catastrophically shit it’s definitely not worth watching anymore, then hope you get amnesia and scrub the worst blockbuster film ever made out of your mind.

[Giggles]

Just watch them all in chronological order so the story is in order and never mind these stupid ones that people come up with.

[Giggles]

As long as she isn't smiling. Jesus.

Yeah this one was weird and has almost taken the credibility from the reviews. She’s not even remotely close.

[Giggles]

I've not seen Solo or Rogue One so I'll waste my time wisely.

Rogue One is one of the best of the lot.

[niko_cee]

The best way is to watch Episode 2, realise if an IP can involve something this catastrophically shit it’s definitely not worth watching anymore, then hope you get amnesia and scrub the worst blockbuster film ever made out of your mind.

Is episode 2 the Dawson's Creek in space one? The prequel trilogy isn't actually that bad, you know, in relative terms, but that one is a bit of a stinker.

[Kikó]

Just watch them all in chronological order so the story is in order and never mind these stupid ones that people come up with.

What's chronological order? The date they were released?

[Giggles]

What's chronological order? The date they were released?

The order that time goes by in the story.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

So that would be:

"Episode I - The Phantom Menace"
"Episode II - Attack of the Clones"
"Episode III - Revenge of the Sith"
"Solo: A Star Wars Story"
"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story"
"Episode IV - A New Hope"
"Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back"
"Episode VI - Return of the Jedi"
"Episode VII - The Force Awakens"
"Episode VIII - The Last Jedi"
"Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker"

Haven't watched Solo but that's still a lot of guff front loaded.

[Kikó]

Star Wars really lacks any jeopardy. No-one gives a shit about dying.

[Kikó]

Solo

It's a real who's who of big actors in this but actually, it works pretty well. Some good set pieces, decent pace (considering it's nearly 3 hours) and young Hans is pretty well cast (albeit he reminds me more of similar aged Luke Skywalker).

Onto Rogue 1.

[Ian]

Hans Olo.

[Shindig]

Lukes Kywalker. It'd be great if you could do that with all their stupid character names.

[Kikó]

It's the first rule of TTH naming, use the Lewis method.

[Kikó]

"the master switch is over on that console"
*Random console in the middle of the desert*

[Kikó]

Rogue One is really bloody good. They heard the jeopardy criticism from Solo and told me to fuck off. I'm geared up for a new hope tomorrow. 😎

To add
I think they get the balance of nods to the old films right and stitch it all together really well. The introduction of Darth Vader is very well done and he's brilliantly menacing (with the right amount of force usage).

I'm always struggling on why the rebel fleet main ships are built so randomly (they just seem to be built with obvious weaknesses - but anyway...). Solo doesn't massively fit into this narrative other than knowing he will be coming soon (plus you don't get the "this is the end of Darth Maul" storyline watching it in this order).

[Dave.]

Rather distressingly, this thread appears to have been hacked by a bunch of crazed Star Wars lovers. So to bring it back on topic, here is the start of my James Bond reviews. I will simply review my least favourite Bond film first and eventually end with reviewing my favourite Bond film of all time. I will try to review each one seriously and make them not as fanboy-ish and accessible to all. All of these may contain spoilers. Okay, worst film to kick things off...

Octopussy
Yes, Octopussy is my least favourite Bond film. On the face of it, this may seem very harsh as there is a lot of things to like about this film.

First off to my main bugbears of this film. The Tarzan Yell has absolutely no place in a Bond film. Also, Bond dressed as a clown - I know this was part of the story but no, doesn't sit right with me. Sorry.

Yes, Kamal Khan is a good villain but villains have been so much better in previous films - Dr No, Goldfinger, Largo, Kanaga, Scaramanga, Kristatos. And would be so much better than him in films to come. He's just average really. Henchman Gobinda suffers from the same problem. Vijay is poor as a Bond ally when compared to the various Felix Leiters, Columbo, Draco, Karim Bey, Saunders etc.

And as for Octopussy herself. She's rather boring really when compared to other leading Bond ladies. Given the film itself is titled Octopussy, I found her character very disappointing.

I also found the film quite hard to follow in places.

Roger Moore is the saving grace for this one. It's one of his better performances. I also enjoyed the opening sequence and the theme song. The scene where he has to diffuse the bomb was reasonably tense but I struggled to take it seriously because he was wearing the clown costume.

5/10.

[Ben]

I like this approach, watching them worst-to-best.

I agree with you on this one; it starts quite strong and could be the platform for a really good film but it goes downhill pretty quick around the time Octopussy herself is introduced.

[Dave.]

Moonraker

You can tell that this one is bad by a glance at the IMDB reviews. Every good review of this film is followed by an apology!:lol:

The Ian Fleming novel is far better than the film which doesn't help matters. Michael Lonsdale does his best as Drax but he's a pale imitation of the novel Drax.

Again, I quite enjoyed the opening sequence which reintroduces Jaws from The Spy Who Loved Me - a welcome reintroduction for a popular villain who is very suitable for the Roger Moore era of Bond films. However, half way through the film, an inexplicable decision is made to give Jaws a love interest and he becomes a good guy. Just beyond AWFUL.

Some other good points include the gorgeous cinematography. I'm no film critic here but even I recognise the sheer beauty of some of the scenes pre-space. We also have the rather haunting scene in which Corinne is chased by dogs. In my opinion, the rest of this film could have benefited from this tone rather than the comedic (verging on the slapstick) action we get. The space scenes are passable.

This film would get a higher mark if the slapstick was toned down, the plot was closer to that of the novel and Jaws didn't turn face (the wrestling fans amongst you can have a quick reference).

5.5/10

[Shindig]

The Roger Moore era is probably where they decided James Bond was something you could let the kids watch.

[SvN]

As a kid, I absolutely loved The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker, and often watched them as a double feature together. Moonraker could genuinely be a kids film.

[Dave.]

The Roger Moore era is probably where they decided James Bond was something you could let the kids watch.


As a kid, I absolutely loved The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker, and often watched them as a double feature together. Moonraker could genuinely be a kids film.

I largely agree with these two posts. I used to love Moonraker but my appreciation for it gradually declined as I got older. It used to be my least favourite Bond film but now Octopussy has that distinction.

[Ben]

It's my least favourite for sure. I've never been into the space stuff so even as a kid I wasn't fussed by it. As an adult, I just don't like the Roger Moore version so all his films are down the bottom for me.

[Dave.]

It's my least favourite for sure. I've never been into the space stuff so even as a kid I wasn't fussed by it. As an adult, I just don't like the Roger Moore version so all his films are down the bottom for me.

Some of his films are at the bottom for me and some nearer the middle. My favourite one of his is Live and Let Die. Interestingly, one of the best performances by a Bond was by him in For Your Eyes Only. He absolutely nailed it in that one. I need a rewatch of this one because I think it'll just fail to make the top ten as I don't particularly like the opening scene or the ending with Maggie Thatcher.

[Ben]

I just looked at the IMDb rankings and to be honest apart from its pathetic Licence to Kill score it's not a million miles off my personal rankings. Moore a bit lower overall and Dalton a lot higher.

[Alex]

Rather distressingly, this thread appears to have been hacked by a bunch of crazed Star Wars lovers. So to bring it back on topic, here is the start of my James Bond reviews. I will simply review my least favourite Bond film first and eventually end with reviewing my favourite Bond film of all time. I will try to review each one seriously and make them not as fanboy-ish and accessible to all. All of these may contain spoilers. Okay, worst film to kick things off...

Octopussy
Yes, Octopussy is my least favourite Bond film. On the face of it, this may seem very harsh as there is a lot of things to like about this film.

First off to my main bugbears of this film. The Tarzan Yell has absolutely no place in a Bond film. Also, Bond dressed as a clown - I know this was part of the story but no, doesn't sit right with me. Sorry.

Yes, Kamal Khan is a good villain but villains have been so much better in previous films - Dr No, Goldfinger, Largo, Kanaga, Scaramanga, Kristatos. And would be so much better than him in films to come. He's just average really. Henchman Gobinda suffers from the same problem. Vijay is poor as a Bond ally when compared to the various Felix Leiters, Columbo, Draco, Karim Bey, Saunders etc.

And as for Octopussy herself. She's rather boring really when compared to other leading Bond ladies. Given the film itself is titled Octopussy, I found her character very disappointing.

I also found the film quite hard to follow in places.

Roger Moore is the saving grace for this one. It's one of his better performances. I also enjoyed the opening sequence and the theme song. The scene where he has to diffuse the bomb was reasonably tense but I struggled to take it seriously because he was wearing the clown costume.

5/10.

Although I really liked Octopussy and it was one of my favourites, I do agree with you on the actual character of Octopussy herself. I feel like the entire film could have existed almost as well without her. I basically think they threw her in there mostly to justify using that (ridiculous) name as a title. :D

[Jimmy Floyd]

I haven't watched it for donkey's years. Is the implication that she has eight vaginas?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Phwoar.

[Alex]

I haven't watched it for donkey's years. Is the implication that she has eight vaginas?

Bond would love that. Certainly the Roger Moore version of Bond anyway.

[Dave.]

The World is Not Enough
Yes, this is my least favourite Brosnan Bond film and not Die Another Day but they are plenty of reasons for this so stay with me...

This was actually a film with so much potential in terms of plot and Robert Carlyle's character Renard and it failed on both counts. More on this later.

TWINE's good points include a terrific opening sequence, a well-written (almost Shakespearean) villain in Elektra King (wonderfully played by Sophie Marceau) and an extended appearance by Judi Dench as M.

Okay, now onto the bad points...

We have a villain in Renard who has been shot in the head, survived for now but will eventually die but for now he is invincible. On the face of it, a very interesting character! Well, a character this film managed to make boring.

The plot that had potential? It's a bit of a damp squib really. Boring at times and hard to follow at others.

And then we have Christmas Jones. The nuclear physicist portrayed by Denise Richards. Just let these two sentences sink in for a while. This actually happened. And, of course, it was a complete disaster. Who actually sanctioned this idea?

5.5/10

[Dave.]

Okay, now we come to the Quantum of Solace. Since I cannot review this film as part of a double bill with Casino Royale , it belongs here as a standalone film. But if watched in combination with CR, I'd rank it slightly higher.

So with the (possibly pointless) ramblings out of the way, here's my review:

Quantum of Solace
I'll start right away with the major problems in this film. The editing in the action sequences is quite annoying and this is very prominent in the opening sequence. In fact, the opening sequence overall is very poor. It just seems like a random car chase (I know it isn't, we find out that later) but it's sadly lacking compared to other openings.

The "shaky-cam" technique I rather poorly described above becomes a feature of the film and is both annoying and disorientating in equal measure.

Daniel Craig and other prominent figures have stated that the writer's strike of 2007-2008 was a major problem for this film and watching it, I can tell.

General Madrano and Dominic Greene are two of the least interesting villains in Bond franchise history.

Good points include but are not limited to a typically excellent central performance by Daniel Craig, an excellent Bond girl in Olga Kurylenko and a welcome but brief return for Rene Mathis. I also loved Bond interrupting the Quantum meeting at the opera. The closing sequences are also decent.

6/10

[Giggles]

I'd get to the cinema for this one if you can.

I hate them with all I have but I’ve booked the cunt for tomorrow. Watched the original tonight. Without the songs it’s nothing.

[Shindig]

I was in the mood for Werner Herzog so watched Nomad on the iPlayer. Another one of those documentaries that makes me feel insignificant in a massive world.

[Don]

Watched Top Gun tonight. The after-credits easter egg scene where Jon Hamm peels his clothes off to reveal his zionist lizard skin was mad.

What a crock of shit it was, though. The entire dialogue is a disjointed collection of shit one-liners, the romance story arc is completely pointless and the action is transformers-esque nonsense in that you don't know what's what until it's ended. My faint memory of the original suggests it was purely driven by the music and the rivalry, neither of which are here. That Lady Gaga track at the end :face:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I'm impressed that Morbius managed to be as bad as the reviews were saying.

[Lofty]

Haven't watched anything new recently but in my quest to make sure I watch all the physical media I buy to ensure I don't just waste money hoarding (I am a massive hoarder) I rewatched An American Werewolf in London and Candyman last night.

The former is just a joyous romp through the horror genre, great effects, well written story and good performances. Young Rik Mayall and 'younger' Alan Ford aka Bricktop from Snatch (still looks about 50 here) always raise a smile. Landis' favourite film out of his work apparently and easy to see why. Also amsuing that Blue Moon wasn't the original choice for the opening song but it works so well. I vaguely remember seeing the sequel but I was a teenager and was just cruising sky movies for skin at the time.

Candyman, I waited so long to watch this first time as an adult due to the cult status it has but I never found it scary. In fact I'd say AAWIL is scarier despite being a horror comedy. It is a very interesting idea though, I can see why they made a modern version but I haven't seen it yet. The titular villain is great, and some nice imagery adds to the mythology. Also an unnecessarily long scene with the leading lady sat with her baps out in the bath is a bonus. Haven't seen the sequels, any good?

[Yevrah]

I'm impressed that Morbius managed to be as bad as the reviews were saying.

It did give rise to this though, which I quite like.

1510361009621450761

[Bernanke]

The only scene I've seen from Morbius was this one and I was sure the music was dubbed in after, but apparently this is straight from the movie?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBp6exx2kZM&ab_channel=M%CE%BBFDOMiNUS

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Yep, straight from the film.

[Yevrah]

What the fuck is that? :sick:

[Yevrah]

Silly me, it's him morbing, isn't it?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

He's not Morbius so can he really morb?

[Shindig]

Matt Smith is a career that shouldn't have happened.

[Gray Fox]

Maybe it’s Morbin’ time, all of the time?

[Yevrah]

I think it should be, particularly if Matt Smith is involved. The poor man's John Barrowman.

[Gray Fox]

The best part of this films release, was that it originally bombed, so it was pulled from Cinemas quite soon after. Then Sony saw all of the traffic it was getting as a meme and mistook it for popularity and re-released it. It pulled in less than £100k on the weekend of re-release :D

[Dave.]

Live and Let Die on ITV tonight. One of my favourite Bond films and my favourite one to star Roger Moore.

[Giggles]

Wasn’t worth the hell that is the cinema but Maverick was :cool:

[Dave.]

The Man With The Golden Gun is on ITV today at 6pm. Not one of the best Bond films but some beautiful scenery, an interesting opening sequence and a top draw main villain. Interestingly enough, this is the next Bond film I will be reviewing so expect a review in more detail soon.:thbup:

[Giggles]

RTÉ don’t have one today for some reason. Crocodile Dundee is on after the football :moop:

[Dave.]

I found The Damned United on BBC Scotland last night after I watched LALD and I don't think it was on the normal BBC channels. It was a nice surprise and a great film.

[Pepe]

Wasn’t worth the hell that is the cinema but Maverick was :cool:

I thought for a second that someone had remade the Mel Gibson film (what a film that was), but I see that you are talking about Top Gun. Meh.

[Lewis]

Maverick: the Mel Gibson Story.

[Shindig]

"I'm going to fly this plane over Israel and count them. Then we'll see who's right."

[Manc]

Has anyone seen X?

[Alex]

No Time to Die

Better than Spectre but far below the bar set by the previous Craig films. The plot was a bit daft. Rami Malek wasn't great, I don't think. It just felt like the people who do the casting had just thought "he's a weird looking lad, we need him as a Bond villain" and then not put much thought in it past that. Blofeld and his bionic eye was silly. Far too long as well. But, there were some decent action sequences and I'll give it credit for the ending. Killing Bond off. Bold. It was quite movingly done too. 6/10

Here endeth the Bond-a-thon. Apologies for hijacking the thread for the last few weeks.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Hijack it again with a new series.

Godzilla has about a million films, do that.

[Baz]

Has anyone seen Dashcam?

[Dan]

I’m watching Warrior now as I seem to remember it being a well regarded movie, but I think it might actually be utter garbage.

[phonics]

Did you confuse it with The Warriors?

[Dan]

In that The Warriors is meant to be good but Warrior isn’t? Maybe, Otherwise no.

[Ian]

I really liked Warrior whenever I watched it last despite it having another weird Tom Hardy accent.

[Dan]

It felt like the writing was done by WWE creative, which basically torpedoed the whole thing for me.

- Why would an event marketing itself as the Super Bowl of MMA invite two random assholes from Pittsburgh, one of which was a below average fighter like a decade ago & is now a teacher, and the other hasn’t ever fought professionally or even as an amateur & nobody even knows if he has any training beyond being an elite high school wrestler (which they don’t even know, and he never uses at any point).

- All their fights are equally implausible. Sure, maybe you catch one guy with an OHKO but an amateur is not going to wipe out three of the best pros in the world is a total of about thirty seconds, and Brendan should’ve had all his fights stopped way earlier - the ref basically let him get choked out for 20 full seconds in the first fight alone.

[Ian]

I mean it's just cherry picking bits from other stupid fighting / martial arts type films. Just because it's presented realistically doesn't mean it needs to be.

- Rocky esque chump (s) beasting pros? Check.
- Nonsensical made up tournament like in Bloodsport? Check.
- Pro wrestler in there for no good reason (also Rocky)? Check.

I think it's a silly film that is good fun if you don't insist on scrutinising it and asking HOW WOULD THE UNTRAINED UFC MAN DO ALL THE FIGHTING SO GOOD EH?

[Dave.]

No Time to Die

Better than Spectre but far below the bar set by the previous Craig films. The plot was a bit daft. Rami Malek wasn't great, I don't think. It just felt like the people who do the casting had just thought "he's a weird looking lad, we need him as a Bond villain" and then not put much thought in it past that. Blofeld and his bionic eye was silly. Far too long as well. But, there were some decent action sequences and I'll give it credit for the ending. Killing Bond off. Bold. It was quite movingly done too. 6/10

Here endeth the Bond-a-thon. Apologies for hijacking the thread for the last few weeks.

You hijacking the thread has been a treat. It's always interesting to hear people's thoughts on the Bond films, especially when they differ to mine. This, once again, proves my two Bond mantras - "When it comes to Bond, there is no wrong answer" and "There is something for everyone in the Bond franchise."

Reviews (or random thoughts or ramblings of a mad man if you prefer :lol:) of two further Bond films to come from me. The Man With The Golden Gun is next, I wonder if you can guess the next one?

[Dave.]

The Man With The Golden Gun
After a very promising opening that sets up Scaramanga and Nick Nack as villains and a great scene to follow between Bond and M further creating a sense of danger, this film seems to be all over the place. The tone is off for this one, on the one hand it wants to be a serious Bond film and on the other, it wants to be a slapstick action comedy.

To give an example of this, we go from serious action Moore (slapping Maud Adams' character Anders about in order to get information) to embarrassing sequences at a martial arts school to a reasonably tense boat chase (which was completely spoiled by a needless cameo appearance by J W Pepper (returning from the previous film)). We also have an amazing stunt with a car in mid-air accompanied by a screeching noise (who on earth sanctioned this?)

Good points include Maud Adams who plays a much more interesting character here than she does in Octopussy . She completely outshines Britt Ekland's Mary Goodnight. Christopher Lee is absolutely excellent as Scaramanga and is one of the best villains in the series. He manages to be genuinely threatening throughout the film. Speaking of excellence takes me to Bernard Lee's M and this is definitely one of his better outings.

I also enjoyed the character of Nick Nack but not how he was dealt with at the end.

6/10

[Dave.]

Diamonds Are Forever
Let me start with a rant here. This should have been a revenge film with Bond trying to avenge the death of his wife at the hands of Blofeld. Instead, we get an action comedy. Completely the wrong tone for this one. Also, we have one of the most miscast villains in the series with Charles Gray playing Blofeld.

However, the rather bizarre opening scene plays out and we are treated to the best theme song in the entire series by Shirley Bassey. So we decide to give this film a chance...

I would like to comment on Connery's performance which has widely differing views among the Bond fan base. For me, he does a decent job with the material he's got but his performance is nowhere near the level of the first four films.

Tiffany Case had the potential to be an excellent Bond girl and was doing fine until half way through, then seemed to have a sudden change of character and becomes VERY annoying after that.

With the main villain and Bond girl not shining, the best performances come from Wint and Kidd. The henchmen are perfect for this film and manage to be both menacing and funny at the same time. The support cast are quite decent (especially the stereotypical Vegas elements) and some of the action sequences are very good. The fight between Bond and (the real) Peter Franks in the lift is my personal favourite and quite brutal.

I feel I'm quite generous in ranking this film this high but the theme song is worthy of a few marks on it's own.

6/10

[Raoul Duke]

With all this Bond chat I watched Casino Royale yesterday. Think I'll do a run through of the Craig ones at least. My two cents:


Firstly, some very fucking weird scenes in this one: Bond sucking her fingers in the shower, then getting his balls mashed by Le Chiffre. Makes me think the director was probably a deviant. Also, the theme tune was so generic-Bond-theme-by-numbers.

It wasn't a bad film overall - the casino stuff is alright and the opening chase plus the bit with the airport felt like classic 007 shenanigans. The set piece at the end with the building sinking was cool as well. But it overall felt like a bunch of random things happening around a central plot that wasn't sure of itself

[Dan]

I mean it's just cherry picking bits from other stupid fighting / martial arts type films. Just because it's presented realistically doesn't mean it needs to be.

- Rocky esque chump (s) beasting pros? Check.
- Nonsensical made up tournament like in Bloodsport? Check.
- Pro wrestler in there for no good reason (also Rocky)? Check.

I think it's a silly film that is good fun if you don't insist on scrutinising it and asking HOW WOULD THE UNTRAINED UFC MAN DO ALL THE FIGHTING SO GOOD EH?

Yeah, I think I was just expecting it to be a gritty, realistic type movie, so it actually not being that at all really threw me off.

[Alex]

The Man With The Golden Gun
After a very promising opening that sets up Scaramanga and Nick Nack as villains and a great scene to follow between Bond and M further creating a sense of danger, this film seems to be all over the place. The tone is off for this one, on the one hand it wants to be a serious Bond film and on the other, it wants to be a slapstick action comedy.

To give an example of this, we go from serious action Moore (slapping Maud Adams' character Anders about in order to get information) to embarrassing sequences at a martial arts school to a reasonably tense boat chase (which was completely spoiled by a needless cameo appearance by J W Pepper (returning from the previous film)). We also have an amazing stunt with a car in mid-air accompanied by a screeching noise (who on earth sanctioned this?)

Good points include Maud Adams who plays a much more interesting character here than she does in Octopussy . She completely outshines Britt Ekland's Mary Goodnight. Christopher Lee is absolutely excellent as Scaramanga and is one of the best villains in the series. He manages to be genuinely threatening throughout the film. Speaking of excellence takes me to Bernard Lee's M and this is definitely one of his better outings.

I also enjoyed the character of Nick Nack but not how he was dealt with at the end.

6/10

Totally passed me by until you pointed this out that the same women was in TMWTGG and Octopussy! I agree about Nick Nack too. Something about tying a midget to the mast of a ship and just leaving him there was a bit mean. I mean I know he was a little shit, but still. :D

I'm also a bit confused by his (Nick Nack's) relationship with Scaramanga in that film. He seems to half be loyal to/serving him, half pretty keen on killing him. :D

Scaramanga is probably the Bond villain I'd most like to be mates with. Honestly he mostly seemed a chilled out and quite nice bloke.

[Giggles]

According to wiki she had a cameo in A View to a Kill too.

[Alex]

Maybe Sir Roger had something going on with her for real behind the scenes.

[Dave.]

Totally passed me by until you pointed this out that the same women was in TMWTGG and Octopussy! I agree about Nick Nack too. Something about tying a midget to the mast of a ship and just leaving him there was a bit mean. I mean I know he was a little shit, but still. :D

I'm also a bit confused by his (Nick Nack's) relationship with Scaramanga in that film. He seems to half be loyal to/serving him, half pretty keen on killing him. :D

Scaramanga is probably the Bond villain I'd most like to be mates with. Honestly he mostly seemed a chilled out and quite nice bloke.

I think Nick Nack's servitude towards Scaramanga comes from the fact that Scaramanga could kill him at any time. After all, we know what happened to Hai Fat and Anders. Keep him on side and hope his ego eventually gets the better of him in these duels he has.

[igor_balis]

Well I’m not really a fan of Brosnan. I know he’s massively rated as an actor by the industry but I don’t get the hype personally. I also love Sean Bean so I agree with you there.

https://youtu.be/d4sco7g51Zo

[Ben]

:lol:

[Kikó]

Unreal. Like an over the top Brian Blessed.

[Raoul Duke]

Watched Quantum Of Solace last night - another very weird Bond film, that I don't think I'd seen before.

The baddies were very forgettable, from the nerdy guy and his strange BFF with the Lloyd Christmas haircut to the Colonel guy who was a walking cliche (with a side of rape thrown in). Just odd, 2D characters that didn't even seem to be that bad, just generically shitty corporate goons.

I did like the Bond/M dynamic and how she sees him as a loose cannon but trustworthy.

[Yevrah]

Taffin. :cool:

[Baz]

Look at Me: XXXTentacion

Completely stumbled upon this by chance while scrolling through my IPTV provider at midnight trying to find something to keep me awake for the next few hours while my baby slept on me, and I feel like I should preface this saying I’m no fan of X but basically knew most of the story already. I thought it didn’t shy away from a lot of the negativity and felt like an accurate portrayal of his life. I say I’m not a fan, but essentially I mean I don’t regularly listen to his music like Waffdon but I have maaaaaad respect for the influence he made and how meteoric his rise was, and what impact it had on those who followed his journey. Quite phenomenal, and it was well told.

Call me an idiot but I’m a fan of 6ix9ine. In a way, Xxxtentacion is more interesting but he was legitimately a scumbag albeit with mental health problems, whereas I’ve never shaken the feeling that 6ix’s character is all an act (that eventually he couldn’t escape) to get rich and famous.

The stats regarding streaming plays for X’s music shown at the end of the doc are insane though: XXXTENTACION is the first hip-hop artist to have three solo songs with over 1 billion streams each on Spotify and his album ‘?’ is the most streamed album ever on the platform. Especially impressive considering I’m pretty sure they took all his songs down for a bit when the court case was brought to like by Pitchfork.

Made me SAD!

[Manc]

Has anyone seen X?

Arthouse horror meets retro porn. The soundtrack bangs as does the cinematography. Well worth a watch.

[Baz]

I watched Minions: The Rise Of Gru before. Same old, really; enjoyable enough for what it is.

[Lofty]

New Predator film decent.

[Ian]

New Predator film decent.

Yeah it really is. I'd rather they did these as contained stories rather than trying to build up a load of backstory and lore. Just pick a new setting where you can do different stuff with it.

[Lofty]

I found Avatar on blu ray in a charity shop the other day and decided to add it to my collection for posterity, as it was the 'go to' disc prior to the advent of 4K.

It is just so long, it is hard to stay invested in such a long film (or should I say a long film with a narrative stretched too far). The visuals are great but it definitely reeks of James Cameron at his worst, god knows what these sequels are going to look like.

[Ian]

It's long and when you're not watching it on a big IMAX screen the spectacle of the thing, which is basically all it ever had going for it, is gone.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Cameron is so weird about the film too.

https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/james-cameron-avatar-trolls-see-movie-shut-the-f-up-exclusive/

“The trolls will have it that nobody gives a shit and they can’t remember the characters’ names or one damn thing that happened in the movie,” he says. “Then they see the movie again and go, ‘Oh, okay, excuse me, let me just shut the fuck up right now.’ So I’m not worried about that.”

“I don’t want anybody whining about length when they sit and binge-watch [television] for eight hours,” he says. “I can almost write this part of the review. ‘The agonisingly long three-hour movie…’ It’s like, give me a fucking break. I’ve watched my kids sit and do five one-hour episodes in a row. Here’s the big social paradigm shift that has to happen: it’s okay to get up and go pee."

[Alex]

I've entered a bit of a "Clint Eastwood Westerns" phase recently, some of which I have seen before and some of which I haven't.

High Plains Drifter is quite a fucking dark film, not exactly what I was expecting! Pale Rider is like a "nicer" version of it. The Outlaw Josey Wales is great but it's a bit long and he has a bit too much plot armour in it. Unforgiven is, like, basically perfect.

[Don]

I randomly started yearnin some good Western action. Ain't been exposed to it since I was about 10, have fond memories that I hope don't get tarnished. Unforgiven is a good starting point probs.

[Lofty]

I rewatched The Revenant yesterday which is sort of a western, beautiful film and I forgot how good Tom Hardy is in it.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I watched The Revenant on Christmas Day 2016 when my entire family (including me) was ill with flu and we hadn't eaten or drunk a morsel for days. It seemed to last for about fifteen hours, and by the time it finished I was in about as good a condition as he was.

Never gone back as I'm convinced I had the perfect experience with it.

[Mike]

We all know Back to the Future 3 is the best western.

[SvN]

The Hateful 8 gets a lot of stick, but I think it's ace.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is obviously the king.

[Giggles]

Back to the Future is the best everything.

[randomlegend]

I probably should give Hateful 8 another go at some point, but I thought it was pretty wank the first time round.

[Lewis]

It's shit. SvN is the last Tarantino fanboy.

[Yevrah]

+1 for Liking Hateful Eight.

[Lofty]

The Hateful 8 is great but it is hard to follow Django and the gallons of blood.

Unforgiven probably the best modern western but Bone Tomahawk is a great twist on the genre.

[Pepe]

The Revenant is good.

Which one is the one with Russell Crowe? That one was good too. True Grit was not bad either.

[Pepe]

The Netflix show, whatever it was called, was also pretty good. I like westerns.

[Lofty]

The Revenant is good.

Which one is the one with Russell Crowe? That one was good too. True Grit was not bad either.

3:10 To Yuma.

[phonics]

Assassination of Jesse James is a good un.

[Don]

Assassination of Jesse James is a good un.

This.

[Baz]

No love for City Slickers or Blazing Saddles?

[SvN]

Unforgiven probably the best modern western but Bone Tomahawk is a great twist on the genre.

Modern? It's 30 years old :D

[Alex]

I know what he means though. It's modern in the way that it approaches the genre. Not to say "revisionist Westerns" didn't exist before that film came out, they did. But maybe not to that extent.

I'm on with the "Man With No Name" trilogy at the moment. A Fistful of Dollars is great. Lot's of close ups of Clint squinting menacingly. Mugging people off for laughing at his horse. Generally being a proper hard case.

For a Few Dollars More I still really loved (Lee Van Cleef is a great addition) but I was slightly less enamoured with (I felt like it was dragging a bit, or something) until the last ten minutes pulled it right back up. The final stand off in that film is maybe the most quintessentially Western thing I've seen yet, in all the right ways. You can see why people worship Morricone for the scores.

Although bear in mind I haven't seen The Good, The Bad and The Ugly yet, which I know is generally considered the pinnacle. If it tops those two it will be quite something.

[SvN]

I love all 3 of them, but The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is just awesome. The finale manages to even surpass Dollars More.

[Lewis]

High Noon is the best Western ever. FACT.

[Foe]

Everyone has a guilty pleasure film right?

For me it’s frequency. My friend mocks me about it highlighting it was once available as a free dvd with the sun.

I rewatched it recently though and still bloody love it.

Tell me your own.

[Foe]

The best cowboy film is toy story.

[Shindig]

Well, if we're going that route, Robocop is the best Western.

[Baz]

Everyone has a guilty pleasure film right?

For me it’s frequency. My friend mocks me about it highlighting it was once available as a free dvd with the sun.

I rewatched it recently though and still bloody love it.Forgot that film existed. Watched it ages ago with my dad and remember enjoying it. I vividly remember the bit where he carves the desk.

[Lofty]

Modern? It's 30 years old :D

Yeah more modern as in not the golden age of westerns. High Noon is great though apparently the remake someone made because they were angry the sheriff in High Noon is a beta cuck soy boy is alright too.

[Foe]

Forgot that film existed. Watched it ages ago with my dad and remember enjoying it. I vividly remember the bit where he carves the desk.

A classic. It’s complete nonsense with no real explanation of why what’s happening is happening, but it’s absolutely great.

[Baz]

Wrestling Ernest Hemingway for me. I’m not even embarrassed to admit it’s the only film to make me cry. Two relatively big leads in Robert Duvall and Richard Harris, a personal favourite of mine in Sandra Bullock, it having WRESTLING in the title, and not really that much happens - what’s not to enjoy. It’s like a long episode of a filler episode of Home and Away, and it’s great.

[phonics]

Everyone has a guilty pleasure film right?

For me it’s frequency. My friend mocks me about it highlighting it was once available as a free dvd with the sun.

I rewatched it recently though and still bloody love it.

Tell me your own.

High Fidelity.

[Alex]

I fucking love High Fidelity.

I suppose it is a bit of a guilty pleasure though, in that all three characters who work in the record shop are undoubtedly "music snob" wankers and I identify with them all on at least some level.

[Shindig]

My guilty pleasure is The Gamechangers. The BBC thing about GTA with Daniel Radcliffe as one of the Houser's and Bill Paxton as Jack Thompson. I don't think it's seen the light of day since 2015. Rockstar called it 'random, made up bollocks' which, when you base it off a book where access to the studio was incredibly limited, is the best you can hope for. :D

It's so shite.

[Dave.]

Cool Runnings is my guilty pleasure. Absolutely fantastic.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is the best Western.

[Foe]

Cool runnings doesn’t count as guilty pleasure surely? Everyone loves it don’t they???

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Yeah you can't have Cool Runnings.

[Dave.]

Fair enough, how about RocknRolla?

[randomlegend]

Tomorrow Never Dies is currently on TV. It's so shit :D

[Kikó]

I love Hot Shots. I've watched both at least 20 times.

[Ian]

Cool runnings doesn’t count as guilty pleasure surely? Everyone loves it don’t they???

This is probably an easy personality test.

Don't like it? Certified wrong'un. Probably an incestnonce to boot.

[mo]

I love Hot Shots. I've watched both at least 20 times.

Similarly, Police Academy (I forget which ones, certainly the first 3/4 I think).

[Baz]

Part Deux > the first one

[Foe]

add the naked gun and airplane! Films to those categories.

Beautiful.

[Manc]

The Mummy has to be up there.

[Foe]

the father is absolutely grim viewing but what a tremendous film.

I’ve lost two grand parents to cancer (males) and their widows have both succumbed to dementia. One is absolutely gone, can’t speak, doesn’t recognise anyone and has zero quality of life. Thankfully I missed the deterioration as she’s quite far away and it seemed to happen whilst I was at uni/career but the stories I’ve heard from my mother mirror what’s happened in this film. My other gran is definitely getting worse with dementia but it’s still quite early. I see her maybe monthly and I’m starting to really see the changes. Going to be horrible when she starts going through the angry/confused/unable to care for herself stage. A few times in the last few months she’s talked to me as if I’m her son, which is terrifying, but I think it’s the new reality.

[SvN]

As someone who has experienced an elderly relative suffering with Alzheimer's, I thought The Father was superb.

[Lofty]

Yeah, glad Hopkins got the oscar for it.