Topic: James Bond Marathon

[Achim]

I think Tom's review made me more aware of it then was good. What may have appeared as a strong dominant male 44 years ago comes across as an arrogant idiot today. This film has not aged well.

I agree with Rich that the basic storyline isn't all that bad. The way Largo "kidnaps" the bombs is rather ingenious. The underwater battle is something new and somewhat interesting, but ultimately drags too long (I guess lack if interesting sound effects make it worse).

Connery seemed to have phoned in his performance at times. Well, it's his fourth Bond film, so let's not blame him for beginning to grow the urge to get out.

Thunderball is no longer my favorite Bond film, Goldfinger now takes that spot.

But don't get me wrong. I didn't think it's not an entirely bad film. I was just just personally disappointed as I expected more, remembering this much better from years ago.

[richierich]

Is anyone else going to slip in Casino Royale at this point? 

[Achim]

Is anyone else going to slip in Casino Royale at this point? 

It's not even been two years since I watched it last. While I always enjoy seeing them "Play ball!", that is not enough time just yet to go through the entire movie again.

[Tom]

I am not sure if I am up to it. I was rather disappointed the first time around. But maybe I will.

[richierich]

Casino Royale



This swinging spoof of Ian Fleming's spy hero concerns an aging James Bond (David Niven), reluctantly dragged out of retirement to face down the evil crime clique called SMERSH. In order to confound the enemy, the Secret Service sends five other agents, also under the name "Bond," and all six converge on the titular casino. Woody Allen, as the retiring superspy's nephew, causes havoc, while a flood of famous faces (and directors) revel in the silliness. And there's a great Burt Bacharach score to boot.

Take a dash of a poor Austin Powers, some carry-on, a large helping of pink panther, and the names from an Ian Fleming novel, and you get this disappointing effort. It is a shame Niven did not secure decent films throughout his career, he ended up typecast as the aristocrat British gentleman, and this is a perfect example of that curse.
A chaotic disjointed affair, perhaps because of the various writers and directors involved, and a pretty shameless waste of acting talent. To classify this spoof as a James Bond movie suitable for our marathon is like comparing an apple with an orange, besides the title and character names there is no resemblence to Flemings books and the now familiar Bond movie formula.
 

[Achim]

I always enjoyed the first third of the film, the part that actually includes Niven. It has funny bits and is at least somewhat entertaining ("Play Ball!"). Too bad the film then quickly falls apart to a bore and resorts to the bits with Mata Hari, Jimmy Bondi's hiccup and then the bar brawl at the casino

[Dragonfire]

The thrills never let up as James Bond dives into this riveting adventure filled with explosive confrontations and amazing underwater action sequences! Sean Connery brings his characteristic style, humor and magnetism to Agent 007 as he travels to Nassau to track down villainous criminal Emilio Largo, who's threatening to plunge the world into a nuclear holocaust.

My Thoughts

Overall, I liked Thunderball.  The plot was interesting, though certain things didn't work as well.  Emilio was a decent villain, though not as sinister as some of the others.  I did notice things that ended up being used in a twisted version in the Austin Powers movies.  James continued to hit on basically every woman he came into contact with.  Domino was the main female character and she didn't seem as interesting to me as some of the other women have been.  I did think the big fight scene underwater was interesting, though it did run on a bit too long.  I did enjoy the movie, though it isn't my favorite Bond movie.  It is done very well though.  For my review I posted at Epinions I rounded up to 5 stars since I couldn't give it 4 1/2 there. 

My copy has all sorts of interesting extras that included things on the making of the movie that I thought were very entertaining.

I did post a review on Epinions if anyone wants to take a look.

Thunderball

 

[Tom]

Title: You Only Live Twice
Year: 1967
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Rating: FSK-12
Length: 112 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35
Audio: German: Dolby Digital Mono, Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono, English: Dolby Digital Mono, Commentary: Dolby Digital Mono
Subtitles: Danish, English, Finnish, German, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish

Stars:
Sean Connery
Akiko Wakabayashi
Mie Hama
Tetsuro Tamba
Teru Shimada


Extras:
Commentary
Featurettes
Photo Gallery
Scene Access
Trailers

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this one. Maybe because I became interested in Japanese culture and most of the movie is set in Japan.
I found it funny, that Bond was bragging about his language skills, but couldn't even pronounce Sayonara correctly
But even Sake was mispronounced. Why is it, that in English language movies, foreign words almost always get an English touch in the pronounciation?
Was it me, or did Connery fall back to his Scottish dialect for a line there? When he was talking with his "new wife".

Rating:

[Achim]

Why is it, that in English language movies, foreign words almost always get an English tough in the pronounciation?

Actually, that is a very real "problem" to me. When I talk English, which I do most of the time here, and want to use a German word within an English sentence, I even give that an English tone to it, and that's my mother tongue!

[Dragonfire]

A disaster in space pushes humankind towards World War III, and only James Bond can prevent it in this magnificent, pull-out-all-the-stops movie spectacular. Sean Connery returns as Agent 007, who travels to Japan to stop the evil SPECTRE organization and its diabolical leader, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Donald Pleasance), from instigating global warfare from his massive headquarters in an inactive volcano.

My Thoughts

I still enjoyed this movie, though there were some slow parts that didn't work as well for me.  I also thought it seemed obvious that Connery was tired of playing Bond since he didn't seem to ..connect with the part as well as he has before.  This was to be Connery's last movie as Bond and the movie was based on the last Bond book written by Ian Flemming before his death.  I enjoyed the parts dealing with SPECTRE and Blofeld.  Some other things, like how Bond was supposed to be disguised as a Japanese man, just didn't work.  He didn't even remotely look like a Japanese man.  I also didn't care for the women in this movie that much.  There just wasn't anything special about them.

Overall it was still an entertaining Bond movie, but not one of my favorites.   

I did post a review on Epinions if anyone is interested.

You Only Live Twice

[Tom]

Title: On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Year: 1969
Director: Peter Hunt
Rating: PG
Length: 136 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Mono, Commentary: Dolby Digital Mono
Subtitles: Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish

Stars:
George Lazenby
Diana Rigg
Telly Savalas
Gabriele Ferzetti
Ilse Steppat

Plot:
Agent 007 (George Lazenby) and the adventurous Tracy Di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg) join forces to battle the evil SPECTRE organisation in the treacherous Swiss Alps. But the group´s powerful leader, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Telly Savalas) is launching his most calamitous scheme yet: a germ warfare plot that could kill millions!

Extras:
Commentary
Featurettes
Photo Gallery
Radio Interviews
Scene Access
Trailers

My Thoughts:

George Lazenby had potential as Bond in my opinion.
I found the first half of the movie rather boring, but it did pick up with the second half.
Although I find it unrealistic, that Bond would fall in love this fast, I nevertheless liked it, that they got him married followed with such a tragic ending.

Rating:

[Najemikon]

I didn't like Lazenby at all. Still find it astonishing that they gave Bond's first really emotional story to him instead of Connery.

Damn, I'm way behind! I don't have many but I was going to watch Goldfinger...

[Dragonfire]

James Bond goes undercover in the treacherous Swiss Alps in this action-packed epic filled with artillery-laden ski pursuits, incredible stunts and nonstop thrills! George Lazenby leaps into the role of Agent 007 with supreme confidence and undeniable charisma, even finding love with the beautiful and seductive Tracy Di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg). But first Bond must stop evil genius Blofeld (Telly Savalas) from releasing a germ warfare plot that could kill millions!

My Thoughts

Well I finally watched this one.  This was probably the Bond movie I was least wanting to watch and I'm still not completely sure why.  I put off watching this one since like...September or October when I had started the others.  It wasn't horrible....but I didn't love it either.  Lazenby was ok, but just didn't seem right as Bond to me..and that frilly shirt he was wearing with the kilt at one point was just ridiculous.  The plot was somewhat interesting, but it just moved too slow.  I actually had to watch it in two sittings.  There were some decent action scenes, but too much of the other stuff just moved too slow.  It didn't work for me how Bond went undercover and came face to face with Blofeld...Bond didn't do that much to change how he looked and the men had met before - going on the order the movies were made instead of the original books.  The big chase in the bobsleds just seemed ridiculous to me. 

The relationship between Bond and Tracey was alright, though I don't think it was given enough time to develop for it to be believable.  The fact that he jumped into bed with her so fast fit his character...then when he was undercover he got with those other women...yet right after that when he was with Tracey again, he declares his love and proposes.  It was just a bit too fast.  There was emotion to what was going on, especially late in the movie.  I don't really like how everything worked out there either, even though I knew it was coming and things for the movie series really wouldn't worked that well otherwise. 

I did like the movie overall...but I had issues with it.  It was mostly entertaining, though the pace could have been handled better.  I have started a draft of a review that I'll post on Epinions.  I want to watch the extras from the second disc of my DVD and talk about those for the review as well.  I just haven't gotten myself motivated to watch them yet.  lol  I might do that yet tonight..or wait until tomorrow.  I do know I'm ready to return to Connery and then move on to Moore.

 

[richierich]

You Only Live Twice



A disaster in space pushes humankind towards World War III, and only James Bond can prevent it in this magnificent, pull-out-all-the-stops movie spectacular. Sean Connery returns as Agent 007, who travels to Japan to stop the evil SPECTRE organization and its diabolical leader, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Donald Pleasance), from instigating global warfare from his massive headquarters in an inactive volcano.

By far the worst of the Bond films so far, and unlikely to be worsened.
The acting is sub-standard, effects in general were poor (despite huge budget), some action scenes were laughably put together, and the whole feel is of a movie squeezed out for commercial reasons only. No wonder Connery walked away at this point, possibly knowing how silly this film was, or perhaps the ridiculous ninjas, or even the straying away from Flemings books into a more scifi focus?
Disappointing Mr Bond
 

[Najemikon]

By far the worst of the Bond films so far, and unlikely to be worsened.

I'll remind you of this comment come Moonraker!