James Bond 24 - Part 2

[Supercajun]

Lazenby himself did a reasonably good job all things considered but he's definitely not as awful as many people make him out to be and again he has the best fight scenes in the series; brutal and balletic. The opening beach fight and the hotel room fight are glorious.

Agreed. Can you imagine Lazenby in 'The Man With The Golden Gun' in place of Moore where Bond is taken to the martial arts school where in the movie he knocks his opponent out with one kick when the guy bows to him and then all hell breaks loose with the karate students? The writers would have most likely made the scene more serious withLazenby doing all the fighting instead of the 2 karate girls since he had martial arts skills. Moore wasn't brutal enough.

 

[Ajendo]

Well, tbh, I don't want Bond doing kung fu-esque martial arts; the fighting style he employed for OHMSS would have sufficed but in the end all of this is something that we can only imagine. I just hope we get better fight scenes akin to CR and QoS for Bond 24.

 

[Dark Raven]

If any one has ever doubted that a George Lazenby run at Bond instead of Moore would have been bad, think again. Lazenby would have made a superb Bond over Moore, maybe even Connery and Craig, especially when it came to the fight scenes. For example, here is Lazenby in a movie made in 1974 after he did Bond called 'The Shrine Of The Ultimate Bliss'. Watch these incredible fight scenes with Lazenby against Chinese fighters at exactly 44:07 (the best) and 58:50 (equally good). You would never have seen Connery, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan and maybe even Craig fight like this.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_uHYpXamXc

What the heck are those people doing only attacking Lazenby one at a time? It's like everyone waits for the other person to have their go instead of attacking en masse.

I don't think I'd like to see Bond doing martial arts though. Lazenby does look like he can hold his own in a fight.

 

[Gort Baringa]

OHMSS was indeed in the top five IMO. And George Lazenby, given the opportunity, might have gone on to make a great 007 - certainly much better than Roger Moore.

I liked his participation as Jarod's father in The Pretender series.

 

[Supercajun]

I liked his participation as Jarod's father in The Pretender series.

I had forgotten about that. Yes, he was good in that role.

 

[Supercajun]

. Lazenby does look like he can hold his own in a fight.

He was in the Australian commandos before he was Bond. That's where he learned his fighting skills.

 

[the gael]

The biggest problem with Lazenby is that he followed directly Connery, a better actor, and the man who was Bond for everyone and "created" the character on the big screen. But OHMSS was also the most difficult Bond movie for an actor, because it was one of the only movie to show the character of Bond behind 007 (only maybe Casino Royale was on par with OHMSS)

OHMSS would have been a suicide for everyone.

But had he be in a more "traditional" Bond movie, had he stayed in the role for "Diamonds Are Forever", he would have improved.

I'm pretty sure that on the long term he would have been a great Bond. And of course he is better than Moore, because Moore wasn't Bond, he was Brett Sinclair on screen. Plus Lazenby couldn't have done worst than Moore in his two last movies (Moore was so out of shape in them that he was just ridiculous. Look at the scene on the "tour Eiffel", the poor guy couldn't even run)

Lazenby was Bond, on the other hand, and, yes, he is underrated. Too bad he wasn't Connery.

 

[Ajendo]

Yeah his biggest crime was that he wasn't Connery but he didn't help matters by acting like an entitled a-hole. Given his lack of craftsmanship as an actor I think he still did an admirable job and probably did a lot better than he should have. He just wasn't focused and didn't take the role seriously but the potential was definitely there.

 

[Dark Raven]

The biggest problem with Lazenby is that he followed directly Connery, a better actor, and the man who was Bond for everyone and "created" the character on the big screen. But OHMSS was also the most difficult Bond movie for an actor, because it was one of the only movie to show the character of Bond behind 007 (only maybe Casino Royale was on par with OHMSS)

OHMSS would have been a suicide for everyone.

But had he be in a more "traditional" Bond movie, had he stayed in the role for "Diamonds Are Forever", he would have improved.

I'm pretty sure that on the long term he would have been a great Bond. And of course he is better than Moore, because Moore wasn't Bond, he was Brett Sinclair on screen. Plus Lazenby couldn't have done worst than Moore in his two last movies (Moore was so out of shape in them that he was just ridiculous. Look at the scene on the "tour Eiffel", the poor guy couldn't even run)

Lazenby was Bond, on the other hand, and, yes, he is underrated. Too bad he wasn't Connery.

They shouldn't have attempted OHMSS with Lazenby. In fact, I wish that Connery had that movie instead. It could've been his 5th movie instead of YOLT, and then, had he still be in the same shape, could've made YOLT his last one.

Lazenby should've started with something more traditional and not so different in tone. I don't know how he would've done in DAF because it might've been quite a different film with him in it, with a completely different plot.

 

[Gort Baringa]

Lazenby was given the impossible task of playing Sir Hilary Bray, the genealogy expert. Can you imagine Connery in the role? Okay, he would have played the part well, but belief in his character would be lacking. I blame this on the filming of the sequence of books. OHMSS should never have followed You Only Live Twice. Ernst Stavro Blofeld had already met 007 and no amount of disguise could have made Connery's character look like Lazenby! If the two films had been the other way around it might just have worked. Criminal mastermind Blofeld would have to be a complete idiot not to recognize that Sir Hilary was 007! And Lazenby was asked to do something that Connery never did - actually fall in love with someone and marry her. And I understand that Diana Rigg and Lazenby did not get along and that Rigg would turn up with a strong odor of garlic on a few occasions. Remember that before OHMSS, Lazenby was a model, and under the circumstance I believe he did amazingly well. His fight scenes were on par with practically any previous or following Bond.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

They didn't even trust Lazenby to fully play Hilary Bray. They dubbed him over for that section with the actor who played the real Bray.

As an aside, I understand why the internet largely hates Roger Moore because darker and edgier is in right now, but I thought he was great as Bond. Easily in the top three, along with Connery and Craig. He was in a few bad Bond films (and at least two really good ones), but he was almost always the best part of them and his comic timing was by far the best of any actor who has ever played the role (not counting Peter Sellers).

 

[marvelrobbins]

I don't hate Moore.My first bond film was seeing A View to a kill.My favorate bonds are Connery and Brosnan.I place Moore after that.I place both For Your Eyes Only and The
Spy who Loved Me In my top 10 Bond films.Moore was the right Bond for 70's and early 80's.Yeah he should have left after Octopussy but his regin was very successful.

 

[The Batman]

After Connery, Moore is the actor who has defined the onscreen version of Bond the most, and I too think he's one of the top three actors to play the part. I also think Moore is underrated in terms of how serious his Bond could be. You knew that behind the dry sense of humor, his Bond could be cold blooded.

Lazenby definetely wasn't better than Moore, and the only thing Lazenby has over any Bond is his fighting scenes.

 

[DKDetective]

They didn't even trust Lazenby to fully play Hilary Bray. They dubbed him over for that section with the actor who played the real Bray.

As an aside, I understand why the internet largely hates Roger Moore because darker and edgier is in right now, but I thought he was great as Bond. Easily in the top three, along with Connery and Craig. He was in a few bad Bond films (and at least two really good ones), but he was almost always the best part of them and his comic timing was by far the best of any actor who has ever played the role (not counting Peter Sellers).

Hey, I've always disliked Moore because I got into the books as a teen and in many ways Moore is the antithesis of the literary Bond. So I don't think it is fair to characterize Moore dislike as simply stemming from dark and gritty being fashionable at the moment.

 

[Dark Raven]

After Connery, Moore is the actor who has defined the onscreen version of Bond the most, and I too think he's one of the top three actors to play the part. I also think Moore is underrated in terms of how serious his Bond could be. You knew that behind the dry sense of humor, his Bond could be cold blooded.

Lazenby definetely wasn't better than Moore, and the only thing Lazenby has over any Bond is his fighting scenes.

This. And people forget that Moore was extremely popular in his day. It's not like he was universally hated at all. Dalton, although ahead of his time, didn't really come as a welcomed relief because people still wanted more of Moore.

 

[jmc]

Lazenby was not awful, for years I gave him a hard time but that was probably more due to him not being Connery more than anything else, which isn't really fair. Truth is OHMSS is in my top 5 Bond films, it's just the actor kinda ruins the experience, I really wish Connery had done that film. I still maintain though Lazenby is at the bottom of the list, he might very well have become a great Bond but I can only go off what was presented.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

After Connery, Moore is the actor who has defined the onscreen version of Bond the most, and I too think he's one of the top three actors to play the part. I also think Moore is underrated in terms of how serious his Bond could be. You knew that behind the dry sense of humor, his Bond could be cold blooded.

I feel that the single worst thing Bond does in the entire franchise was in a Roger Moore film. It is when he stalks and tortures a helpless Andrea Anders in order to get her to help him find Scaramanga. That was a real dick move.

 

[Gort Baringa]

And Jane Seymour made the comment against the Bond that Moore played - she said that he was despicable (or something like that) when he tricked her character to give away her virginity.

Cad!

 

[regwec]

He was a bastard, but that is somewhat fitting, really. Bond was not then a post-90s new man. Craig's Bond is somewhat of a return to type, but that is manifested in heavy drinking and rash gambling rather than anything very dishonourable with the ladies. In any case, Moore's Bond would use trickery to take a girl's virginity; Connery's would slap her around the face until she saw sense and complied.

 

[Eggyman]

Moore did his share of slapping, arm twisting, and forcing onto beds. Yeh, some of his films now seem more akin to the Carry On films but within the parameters of the franchise at the time he's great. Plus points for his eyebrow. He didn't bring as much physicality to Bond as some have, but what he did bring was a sly cunning, a wit like no other, and incredibly charming and manipulating. He's as deadly as the rest, regardless of muscles and stature. It's more likely he'll kill you while smiling.

He was my first Bond. I have no choice but to love the bastard.

 

[Dark Raven]

I think with Moore, the movies used to be more of a big summer event and spectacle. The action was ramped up and it was a sheer popcorn movie. They've toned it down, particularly in recent years, although Brosnan's last entry was rather silly. Still, I'd take any of Moore's films over Die Another Day.

 

[MrMaooz]

Would we have gotten a 5th Brosnan entry if he didn't want so much money?

 

[Octoberist]

Yes. I would think so.

 

[Dr. Evil]

So after Bond 25, will Moneypenny, Q and M be recast?

 

[Octoberist]

I highly doubt it.