James Bond In Skyfall - Part 7

[babbage]

Finally watched OHMSS...why did Lazenby only do one movie?! He was awesome!

Agreed. And imo his fight scenes still hold up to this day. They were just economical and brutal, the way I think Bond should be when he's not off being a bon vivant.

As for Bond Girls, young Jane Seymour/Solitaire =

 

[Octoberist]

I think he was good. Kinda awkward at times though.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Bond vs Peter Franks was also a pretty damn good fight.

Yes. That was probably the best part of DAF.

Actually, other than Dr. No, Connery got a good one on one fight in each of his films.

FRWL - vs. Grant
GF - vs. Oddjob
TB - vs. Bouvar
YOLT - vs. "High Chief" Peter Maivia
DAF - vs. Peter Franks
NSNA - vs. Pat Roach

 

[AnneFan]

Domino was and will always be a hottie.

She was nice.

Fiona Volpe and Xenia Onatopp.

 

[The Joker]

Yes. That was probably the best part of DAF.

Actually, other than Dr. No, Connery got a good one on one fight in each of his films.

FRWL - vs. Grant
GF - vs. Oddjob
TB - vs. Bouvar
YOLT - vs. "High Chief" Peter Maivia
DAF - vs. Peter Franks
NSNA - vs. Pat Roach

The fights with Grant and Oddjob are my favorites.

 

[Gianakin_]

Bond vs Peter Franks was also a pretty damn good fight.

True, I had forgotten about that one.

 

[Gianakin_]

I hope Craig gets a good one-on-one fight in SF. I liked te QoS fight with the bad guy from the Blade TV series, but it was too short.

 

[Sebastos]

 

[ChickenScratch]

Yes.

 

[Van Petrol]

I think he was good. Kinda awkward at times though.

Yep. Apparently at the time, he and Diana Rigg hated each other. There was a story going around that she used to eat onions and/or garlic before doing the intimate scenes with him just to p*** him off. They both apparenlty denied these allegations, but you never know.

 

[babbage]

Yep. Apparently at the time, he and Diana Rigg hated each other. There was a story going around that she used to eat onions and/or garlic before doing the intimate scenes with him just to p*** him off. They both apparenlty denied these allegations, but you never know.

The way I read it is a journalist was on set when he or she heard Rigg yell over to Lazenby that she just had garlic for lunch and was ready for her kissing scene. Rigg and/or Lazenby later said that it was a joke taken out of context.

Lazenby definitely was not quite there on the acting chops, but I think there was a lot of potential for him to grow as an actor in the role if he had given it a chance.

Digressing (or rather going back to a previous conversation in the thread), I rue the day Roger Moore got involved in the Bond series (and when You Only Live Twice actually opened up that whole relentless and self-consciously silly can of worms in the first place), although if I'm going to watch Moore, The Spy Who Loved Me is certainly the movie to do it with... somehow that flick worked magic with that nutty formula. Otherwise I consider the Moore era akin to the Bat-verse's TV series or Schumacher era, of which I'm no fan. I think part of what makes Moore's Spy work is that the characters take the ludicrousness seriously. I don't want to watch a movie that feels like it's a big practical joke on the audience. At least attempt to "sell" your ludicrousness without the knowing winks at the camera, so to speak.

And I agree with another poster on here who made the distinction between "silly" and "cool" in respect to Spy's gadgets and plot trappings, in comparison to the other campy Bond flicks. Spy indeed somehow makes it all... cool.

 

[regwec]

I think he was good. Kinda awkward at times though.

I rewatched OHMSS last night, to see whether I was judging George too harshly. And I don't think I was. He's really no actor at all. It doesn't help that he has more acting to do that any other Bond actor than DC, but he delivers every line like he is reading the script aloud for the first time. He doesn't have much presence, either. Yes, he can throw a convincing punch, but I felt that the other actors were acting around him as if the real lead had failed to turn up for rehearsal and he was reading the part.

I have nothing against the man, and I think he probably makes the best of what talents he has. But with the best will in the world, he is a poor actor.

Fit.

 

[BruceWanner]

Agreed. And imo his fight scenes still hold up to this day. They were just economical and brutal, the way I think Bond should be when he's not off being a bon vivant.

I think Lazenby gave a much better performance in the role than anyone could have expected of him. However, I think my biggest (and perhaps only) criticism of him is that he's IMO the least charismatic Bond.

 

[Dark Raven]

OHMSS should've been a Connery movie. Imagine if he had that one under his belt.

And yes, Domino and Fiona Volpe were gorgeous. 2 of my favourites. Daniela Bianchi was hot too.

If Thunderball had better pacing on the underwater scenes it would be one of the best movies. It has some really great stuff in there with some witty dialogue and interplay that you just don't really get these days.

 

[Doctor Jones]

If only OHMSS was Connery's last Bond. Would have been perfect.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

The way I read it is a journalist was on set when he or she heard Rigg yell over to Lazenby that she just had garlic for lunch and was ready for her kissing scene. Rigg and/or Lazenby later said that it was a joke taken out of context.

Lazenby definitely was not quite there on the acting chops, but I think there was a lot of potential for him to grow as an actor in the role if he had given it a chance.

Digressing (or rather going back to a previous conversation in the thread), I rue the day Roger Moore got involved in the Bond series (and when You Only Live Twice actually opened up that whole relentless and self-consciously silly can of worms in the first place), although if I'm going to watch Moore, The Spy Who Loved Me is certainly the movie to do it with... somehow that flick worked magic with that nutty formula. Otherwise I consider the Moore era akin to the Bat-verse's TV series or Schumacher era, of which I'm no fan. I think part of what makes Moore's Spy work is that the characters take the ludicrousness seriously. I don't want to watch a movie that feels like it's a big practical joke on the audience. At least attempt to "sell" your ludicrousness without the knowing winks at the camera, so to speak.

And I agree with another poster on here who made the distinction between "silly" and "cool" in respect to Spy's gadgets and plot trappings, in comparison to the other campy Bond flicks. Spy indeed somehow makes it all... cool.

Great analysis on The Spy Who Loved Me. To me, it's up there with Connery's movies.

I also like Live and Let Die and For Your Eyes Only, though the former not for Moore's performance. To be honest, if it wasn't for the one scene where Roger Moore stuck a gun to Rosie Carver's head and the last half hour of Live And Let Die, I would have hated Moore's performance, but those scenes and how he handled the set pieces kept from being completely horrible.

Also, the fact that he doesn't fight anyone for the first 30, 45 minutes always bothered me, and when he does it's really brief. That's a fail on the writers part. OHMSS got away with that but this movie does not get a pass. Also, Rosie Carver was f**king annoying. She couldn't act to save her life. I was hoping Moore would pull the trigger when he stuck a gun to Rosie Carver's head. Sheriff Pepper is f**king annoying too.

Also at the same time, I love the blaxploitation presentation and George Martin's score, especially during the scene in which Roger Moore sticks a gun to Rosie Carver's head. By the way, did I mention that I love Moore sticks a gun to Rosie Carver's head. t:

 

[Doctor Jones]

Yeah, that was pretty badass. But that whole boat chase scene. Jesus, that went on for SO DAMN LONG. And the Sheriff and cops didn't help it.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

He so effortlessly portrays Bond the sociopath. I can't imagine Connery being emotional. I just can't imagine him in OHMSS.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Maybe in this OHMSS, but if they reworked the script a bit for him, he would have done fine. He already has the acting chops anyway.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

Yeah, that was pretty badass. But that whole boat chase scene. Jesus, that went on for SO DAMN LONG. And the Sheriff and cops didn't help it.

Oh yeah, I forgot that was another of my main criticisms of the movie. The bad editing for boat chase scene.


And in OHMSS if Connery was in it, he would have done one hell of a great job. Connery's a guy who studies the scripts to his role, and would have adjusted to where he needed to.

Many scene would have been more powerful with Connery, like his anger from being removed from Blofeld, him wanting to spend time with Tracy, and of course, the ending.

 

[Ajendo]

Connery would have been excellent in OHMSS, go check out the film, Marnie. It's ironic Connery not doing OHMSS as one of the major reasons him wanting to leave the series was that the scripts were becoming too outlandish and less focus being applied to the story....and then he comes back for DAF lol.

 

[Brian Braddock]

For all of GL's acting faults, he still gave us one amazingly poignant moment - where he cradles the body of Tracy and just sobs. Sure, it would have been interesting to see how Sean would have played that, but I actually think that George's 'rawness' actually added to that scene because it wasnt polished, it felt a bit 'more'. It's a weird kind of thing to try and explain.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

And the great thing about OHMSS is that you felt for Tracy. You cared that she died. She was only one of three women (Her, Vesper, and Elecktra for different reasons obviously) that felt like more than just a simple Bond girl.

I loved that character of Tracy because she really is different than all the other Bond girls. She loved the thrills of danger, as shown in her looking for Bond and rescuing him. But at the same time she had this vulnerability too. Her and Vesper (both are just slightly ahead of Elektra) I felt are the best Bond girls because they were able to tap into Bond's sensitive side. Both were strong women, but I love Tracy than Vesper more because she felt stronger as she didn't fear danger the way Vesper does.

It's tough to imagine Bond marrying someone, but Diana Rigg does such an excellent job, it was easy to believe that Tracy would be the only woman Bond marries and may continue to stay that way. A friend who's a bigger Bond fan than me said that one Fleming's requests for the movies before he died was that Bond should never marry anyone else other than Tracy (You Only Live Twice doesn't count because that was for cover).

 

[Blue Sugar]

I will never get the complaints about the underwater battle in Thunderball being boring or too slow. I think it's gorgeous and exciting, really imaginative and cool. Beautiful scored and beautifully shot.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

It takes long for it to heat up. I was talking more about the earlier underwater scenes any way, where they hide the jet, and when Bond looks for it.