Topic: Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar

[DSig]

My favourite "Oddjob" will always be Nick Nack

Oh No!!! not "da Plane .. boss da plane"
If you are going there then a better henchman (though not bondian) would be Verne Troyer as the loveable Mini-Me 

[GSyren]

I wasn't too crazy about Nick Nack, either. Most of the later Bonds didn't quite have that clear villain / henchman combination. I thought Götz Otto as Stamper was fairly effective in Tomorrow Never Dies. Too bad the rest of the film was rather disappointing.

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Strange,
especially since he has a unique position in the Bond-Universe.
He was the only "henchman" to show subversive qualities, trying to get his boss out of the way.

[GSyren]

Well, unique doesn't necessarily equal good. J.W. Pepper (though not a henchman) is also pretty unique in the Bond-universe, and I don't know anybody that feels that that makes him good. That said, Nick Nack is nowhere near as annoying as J.W. Pepper, but still not a favorite of mine.

[GSyren]

Title	Moonraker (Disc ID: 08EC-E8BA-5579-0F94)
Director	Lewis Gilbert
Actors	Roger Moore, Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Richard Kiel, Corinne Clery
Produced	1979 in United Kingdom
Runtime	126 minutes
Audio	English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, German DTS 5.1, French DTS 5.1, Czech Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary Dolby Digital Dolby Surround, Commentary Dolby Digital Dolby Surround
Subtitles	Commentary, Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, French, German, Norwegian, Swedish
Overview	James Bond blasts into orbit in this pulse-pounding adventure that takes him from Venice to Rio de Janeiro and to outer space! Roger Moore stars for the fourth time as Agent 007 and joins forces with NASA scientist Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles) to prevent a power-mad industrialist (Michael Lonsdale) from destroying all human life on earth.
My thoughts	Bond marathon #11 Moonraker is probably my least favorite Bond movie (with the possible exception of Quantum of Solace which bored me to sleep so I never finished it). I read the Bond books in the mid sixties, and formed my own view of what Bond should be. This one is about as far from that as can be. The precredit sequence gives a good picture of what the rest of the movie is going to be like. It starts out really good and then turns silly. Then comes the credits and the title song. It's so bland that not even Shirley Bassey's wonderful voice can save it. I didn't like Jaws in the previous picture, and I like him even less in this one. Some say that kids liked Jaws, and that's why they turned him into a silly nice guy. So is this a movie for kids? Two lab technicians killed slowly by nerve gas. Corinne Cléry's character being killed by dogs. No, this is not a movie for kids. And once again we're being served up re-used plot ideas. A transforming vehicle (done in The Man with the Golden Gun and The Spy who Loved Me), a boat chase where a boat is run over and cut into two (again The Man with the Golden Gun). Fighting atop cable cars? Well, at least they stole that idea from a good (non-Bond) film. And James Bond in space? If Ian Fleming was alive he'd turn in his grave! (Yes, I know!) In short – this isn't James Bond. I wouldn't have been half as annoyed if it had been Matt Helm, or even Derek Flint. But doing this to James Bond is heresy. Still, as with all the Bond films, this one has excellent production values. And if one can forget the “nonbondness” (which is hard for me, as you can tell), it is often quite entertaining.
My rating

[GSyren]

Title	For Your Eyes Only (Disc ID: 1048-004D-3D42-AD24)
Director	John Glen
Actors	Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet, Topol , Lynn-Holly Johnson, Julian Glover
Produced	1981 in United Kingdom
Runtime	128 minutes
Audio	English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, German DTS 5.1, French DTS 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary Dolby Digital 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary Dolby Digital 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary Dolby Digital 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles	Commentary, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
Overview	James Bond is thrust into one of his most riveting adventures in this jam-packed free-for-all of outrageous stunts. Passionate encounters and exciting confrontations. Roger Moore portrays agent 007 with lethal determination in a plot that finds him infiltrating the Greek underworld to locate a stolen device capable of controlling a fleet of nuclear submarines!
My thoughts	Bond marathon #12 Those who know my Bond preferences will not be surprised that I consider that it would be an understatement to say that this film is a step up from Moonraker. It's actually a giant step up. This is easily my favorite of the Moore films. Thankfully there is very little silliness in it, apart from some one-liners (and I can live with those, despite the fact that they are quite “un-Fleming”). I didn't mind that they poked fun at Margaret Thatcher at the end of the film, but they could have left Denis out of it. The film does have its weak spots, though. They could have skipped the whole Bibi Dahl thing. Lynn-Holly Johnson may have been cute, but she was mostly annoying, and her character brought nothing to the film. Julian Glover is a fine actor, but he couldn't save Kristatos from being a rather bland Bond villain. Moore is starting to look a bit old. They should have turned the role over to Dalton after this. But what ultimately makes this a good Bond is that they keep the story quite realistic. And that mountain climbing sequence! I have seen this film at least three times before, but that sequence still makes my hands sweat. And the film has the best title song since Goldfinger, in my opinion.
My rating

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

“un-Fleming”

IMO the only James Bond film that is not entirely "un-Fleming" is "In Her Majesty's Secret Service".
All others only use the name of a character originally created by Ian Fleming, even though some even pretend to be based on his books and therefore roughly use the original story-lines.

In fact one might even go so far to say that most of the films are nothing else but parodies of the original material.
Except for the Daniel Craig films (possibly), which at least present James Bond as a human being with doubts, fears and feelings and by this come as close to the character "James Bond" as none of the others (which mostly reduce him to a womanizer with a Licence-To-Kill and a whole lot of Gadgets by Q).

[GSyren]

Well, Michael, you may be right about On Her Majesty's Secret Service. It's almost 50 years since I read the books, and I haven't re-read them since. My impression of Bond was initially a mix of the books and the early Connery movies. And since I've re-visited these films more than once, that has probably reinforced the Connery image. So I can't really say that “doubts, fears and feelings” are the things that I personally associate with Bond. A re-reading of the books could perhaps change that.

I would certainly agree that many of the Moore films are close to parodies of Bond. Pretty much all of them, except For Your Eyes Only. I would say that the two first Connery films are pretty much in Fleming's spirit, and then the producers decided to take Bond in their own direction. The “gadgetryness” wasn't all that pronounced in the early Bond's, but slowly grew to ridiculous proportions. I always disliked the clearly impossible gadgets, especially the invisible car (in Die Another Day, wasn't it?). That might work as camouflage from a distance, but the concept of it rendering the car invisible from a short distance is absolutely ridiculous.

For me, Daniel Craig is the best Bond after Connery. Lazenby as OK, but a bit unpolished as an actor. Dalton had no-nonsense scripts, but there was something about him that didn't quite gel for me. I can't put my finger on it. I quite liked Brosnan, and after Goldeneye I had high hopes, but the films went downwards after that. I guess I can say pretty much the same thing for Craig and Casino Royale, although Skyfall was definitely better than Quantum of Solace.

[GSyren]

Title	A View to a Kill (Disc ID: 8C64-36FE-074B-717C)
Director	John Glen
Actors	Roger Moore, Christopher Walken, Tanya Roberts, Grace Jones, Patrick Macnee
Produced	1985 in United Kingdom
Runtime	131 minutes
Audio	English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Dolby Digital Dolby Surround, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French DTS 5.1, German DTS 5.1, Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary Dolby Digital 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary Dolby Digital 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles	Commentary, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
Overview	Roger Moore lends humour, elegance and lethal charm to his final performance as James Bond in A View to a Kill. Bond confronts Max Zorin (Christopher Walken), who has devised a plan to corner the world's microchip market, even if he has to kill millions to do it! But before Bond can stop the madman, he must confront Zorin's beautiful and deadly companion, May Day (Grace Jones).
My thoughts	What's wrong with A View to a Kill? Well... * Roger Moore is too old * Christopher Walken is too hammy * Tanya Roberts is too screamy * The script is too farfetched * Moore's stunt doubles are too obvious * The movie is too long * And Grace Jones is too... Grace Jones (for the film, that is) But it's not all bad. As usual, the production values are awesome. Especially the mine set – it's “mineblowing”. There are some nifty stunts. The car jump onto the bus is impressive. The jump from the Eiffel Tower looks good, except possibly for the very visible long platform that they had to erect in order for stuntman B.J. Worth to safely clear the tower. So, not one of my favorite Bonds. Definitely in the lower dozen. Still, even a bad Bond sticks in my memory.
My rating

[Achim]

A View To A Kill was the first Bond film that I saw at the cinema. I remember liking it at the time, but I blame that on having a limited field of reference and the cinema experience itself. However, having re-watched it last year, when I went through the Bond 50 set, I will confirm that it does not hold up very well.

I also agree with you, that For Your Eyes Only is easily Moore's best Bond film. They went somewhat back to the basics and Moore was less silly than in the other efforts, which obviously worked very well.

[GSyren]

Title	The Living Daylights (Disc ID: 5065-9218-93D7-42E4)
Director	John Glen
Actors	Timothy Dalton, Maryam d'Abo, Jeroen Krabbé, Joe Don Baker, John Rhys-Davies
Produced	1987 in United Kingdom
Runtime	131 minutes
Audio	English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Dolby Digital Dolby Surround, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French DTS 5.1, German DTS 5.1, Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary Dolby Digital 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles	Commentary, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
Overview	Armed with razor-sharp instincts and a licence to kill, James Bond battles diabolical arms merchants bent on world domination in this thrilling, lightning-paced adventure. Timothy Dalton brings energy, humour and ruthless cunning to his debut performance as Agent 007.
My thoughts	Bond marathon #15 For some reason I was not entirely happy with Timothy Dalton when I first saw The Living Daylights back in the eighties. Now I think he's quite good as Bond. Definitely better than Moore and Brosnan. After watching seven Moore films this one seems like a breath of fresh air to me. I never liked Bond as a comedy figure, the way most of the Moore films portrayed him, except possibly For Your Eyes Only. Dalton's Bond is all business and no joking around. That's the way I remember Bond from the books, and that's the way he should be portrayed, in my opinion. This film is also notably different from many of the previous in that the production design is much more restrained. Most of it is shot on location. Did they even use the huge 007 set in Pinewood? Maryam d'Abo is not very memorable as a Bond girl. Not quite as “dumb blonde” as Britt Ekland in The Man with the Golden Gun, though, thank goodness. None of the villains are megalomaniacs trying to take over the world. I liked General Koskov (Jeroen Krabbé). He's nothing special, just a dirty schemer pretending to want to defect. Joe Don Baker's character is a bit over the top, though. There are still a few excesses in the gadget department. I didn't mind the key ring too much, but I wish they had given Bond a normal car, and have him use skills rather that silly gadgets to get out of the tricky situations. But that's a minor grumble. Among the stunts there are two really outstanding sequences. First the fight on the car at Gibraltar, then the fight in the cargo net. Second unit director Arthur Wooster and stunt supervisor Paul Weston must have had their hands full. All in all a very satisfying and exciting Bond. Four well earned stars.
My rating

[GSyren]

I haven't posted many reviews lately. Two reasons - I've been tinkering with my development of GsyLaunch, and I've been watching mostly TV shows on Netflix. I have watched a few films on Netflix, but I didn't review them because they weren't on DVD and this is after all DVD Collectors Online. But then I thought that since we discuss TV shows that aren't on DVD it must be OK to review movies that one has seen on other media. So herewith my first Netflix review in the following post.

[GSyren]

Title	John Carter (Netflix)
Director	Andrew Stanton
Actors	Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton
Produced	2012 in United States
Runtime	127 minutes
Audio	English Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles	Swedish
Overview	From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton (Best Animated Film, WALL-E, 2008) comes John Carter - a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). Based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' classic novel, John Carter is a war-weary, former military captain who's inexplicably transported to Mars and reluctantly becomes embroiled in an epic conflict. It's a world on the brink of collapse, and Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands. Stunning special effects, great characters and villains - and complete with extraordinary bonus features - John Carter is a heroic and inspirational adventure that will thrill you beyond imagination.
My thoughts	This seems to be a film that most people either love or hate. I didn't hate it, but I couldn't quite get into it, either. I found Taylor Kitsch to be a rather bland hero. He didn't do anything for me. And I tend to get hung up about details. I know it's a fantasy film, and I accept some things while other just annoy me terribly. Air, water and cities on Mars? Well, that's OK, mainly because this was written long before we knew what Mars is really like. And perhaps also to some extent because it is set in the 19th century. Carter's ability to jump is another matter. While the gravity on Mars is less than on Earth, his jumps are just ludicrous. I found the story somewhat disjointed (or was that just because I was getting bored). The CGI was mostly good, but good CGI doesn't impress me much these days. I liked Lynn Collins. I wouldn't mind seeing more of her. So it was not entirely a waste of  time, but not something I'd care to revisit.
My rating

[DSig]

Although I would rate it a little higher than that, it isn't one of my favorites. The story does follow the book (there was a guy named John carter and he was on mars:) ). In the book he could jump like that so that isn't too bad. But growing up on Edgar Rice Boroughs and having those images in my head does limit my enjoyment. I thought that the effects were good.

[GSyren]

It's been quite some time since my last review. I have taken some time off from my Bond marathon. This is mainly due to my watching TV shows on Netflix. I have finished 26 feature length episodes of Wallander (with Krister Henriksson, not Kenneth Branagh), and three and a half season of Warehouse 13. But I'm going to try to finish my Bond marathon. Next up is my review for GoldenEye.