list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Never Say Never Again on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Never_Say_Never_Again/24349/default.aspx Title: Never Say Never Again
Year: 1983
Director: Irvin Kershner
Plot: The title of the 1983 James Bond adventure Never Say Never Again is a self-mocking reference to star Sean Connery's insistence back in 1971 that he would never play Bond again. Reportedly, the huge salary offered Connery was but one consideration that brought him back to the 007 fold; the other was the producers' assurance that Connery would have full control over all aspects of production, a promise that was not kept often enough to the star's liking. Essentially, this film is a remake of the 1965 Bond flick Thunderball (the producers were able to get away with this due to a legal tangle involving the original 1961 Ian Fleming novel). Bond emerges from cozy retirement to cross swords with Largo (Klaus Maria Brandauer), a megalomaniacal business exec who steals several nuclear missiles, intending to bring the World Powers to their knees. Kim Basinger plays Domino, Largo's mistress, whose loyalty Bond secures when she learns that Largo was responsible for the death of her brother. In addition to Basinger, the film boasts a toothsome villainess by the name of Fatima Blush (played by Barbara Carrera). After wrapping Never Say Never Again, Sean Connery swore that this was his absolutely final performance as James Bond; thus far, he's kept his word. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 6
Number of Lists: 12
Number of blog posts: 3
SpoutRating: 3
]]>Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:01:24 GMTNever Say Never Again1983Irvin KershnerThe title of the 1983 James Bond adventure Never Say Never Again is a self-mocking reference to star <a href="/players/P____10646/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Sean Connery</a>'s insistence back in 1971 that he would never play Bond again. Reportedly, the huge salary offered Connery was but one consideration that brought him back to the 007 fold; the other was the producers' assurance that Connery would have full control over all aspects of production, a promise that was not kept often enough to the star's liking. Essentially, this film is a remake of the 1965 Bond flick <a href=/films/35034/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>Thunderball</a> (the producers were able to get away with this due to a legal tangle involving the original 1961 <a href="/players/P____23863/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Ian Fleming</a> novel). Bond emerges from cozy retirement to cross swords with Largo (<a href="/players/P____82796/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Klaus Maria Brandauer</a>), a megalomaniacal business exec who steals several nuclear missiles, intending to bring the World Powers to their knees. <a href="/players/P_____4427/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Kim Basinger</a> plays Domino, Largo's mistress, whose loyalty Bond secures when she learns that Largo was responsible for the death of her brother. In addition to Basinger, the film boasts a toothsome villainess by the name of Fatima Blush (played by <a href="/players/P____11249/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Barbara Carrera</a>). After wrapping Never Say Never Again, <a href="/players/P____10646/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Sean Connery</a> swore that this was his absolutely final performance as James Bond; thus far, he's kept his word. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide6Taggedy Taggged (6-10)1233http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t08035yzzrm.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Never_Say_Never_Again/24349/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2009/3/26/41266.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 3/26/2009 10:01:24 AM
Body: Next week, Vin Diesel returns (along with Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordanna Brewster) to the Fast and the Furious franchise, which he’d abandoned after the first movie (he did have a cameo in part 3). When news first hit that he’d be reprising the role of Dominic Toretto for the fourth installment, simply titled Fast & Furious, most of us saw the actor as returning under a veil of shame. Because he initially departed the series with an inflated ego — and with it unrealistic salary demands — it does seem obvious that Diesel is now only desperately crawling back because his career failed to take off the way he’d hoped it would. This is quite sad considering not even Steve Guttenberg ever crawled back to the Police Academy movies, nor did Burt Reynolds ever get dragged back for a fourth Smokey and the Bandit. But there have been other shameful returns by stars to franchises they’d previously sat out of (whether the hiatus was of their own choosing or not). Only one of these may have been as desperate as Diesel now appears, but it’s worth looking at four additional actors and actresses who should be very embarrassed of their delayed reprisals. Karen Allen Returned to: Indiana Jones franchise with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) Karen Allen’s absence from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade after playing the female lead in Raiders of the Lost Ark was not because she believed herself above those sequels. Her character, Marion Ravenwood, simply wasn’t written into them. And her return to the series was surely not because her career needed a boost. Her relative disappearance from films after 1990 was actually for personal reasons (she wanted to devote time to raising her son), not necessarily because she could no longer garner significant roles. So why is she on this list? Because even though it must have been quite tempting to again work with Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford, especially in a role that is beloved by fans, she should have had a little more reserve, because she ended up looking like an easily employed, easily exploited actress. At least she didn’t have to swing through trees, and at least she didn’t receive the brunt of criticism with the film, but the latter fortune is also mostly because she’s given so little to do in the movie. Her participation in the film is largely forgettable, yet her association with the film is not. Instead of bothering with this very disappointing sequel, Allen should have held out for the more necessary Starman follow-up (continuing from where the TV series left off, of course). Sean Connery Returned to: James Bond franchise with Never Say Never Again (1983) Officially, it wasn’t exactly the James Bond franchise, because Never Say Never Again wasn’t made by EON Productions, though this clarification makes Sean Connery’s return to the role of 007 even more shameful. After Diamonds Are Forever, which had already marked his first delayed return as Bond (after the quick interruption of George Lazenby in the part with On Her Majesty’s Secret Service), the actor claimed he’d never return to the role he’d originated onscreen (this led to the film’s title), but obviously he was offered enough money to not only reprise the character but also to slap EON’s Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman in the face by agreeing to appear in an unofficial installment initially meant to directly compete head to head with EON’s own Octopussy, which starred Roger Moore as Bond. In agreeing to the film, Connery cemented his reputation for questionable career choices, most clearly influenced by big paychecks. Though he’d previously been enticed by huge offers, including the astonishing $2 million he demanded to come back to Bond for Diamonds, this time he showed a great lack of concern for fans of the Bond franchise through his apparent greediness. Given his love for big money, it’s surprising that he never sold himself out of retirement for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Maybe his asking price has just gotten so out of hand that even Lucas and Spielberg couldn’t afford him. Lorraine Gary Returned to: Jaws franchise with Jaws: The Revenge (1987) She hadn’t been onscreen in eight years, but Lorraine Gary’s absence from films following her appearance in Spielberg’s 1941 was reportedly her choice. Certainly with a husband as powerful as Sid Sheinberg (President of MCA, Inc. for more than 30 years), she didn’t really need to work, and yet for some odd reason she came out of retirement to reprise her role as Ellen Brody for the dreadful fourth installment of Jaws. According to a press release for the movie, Gary claims she was drawn to the script because of how well it explored her character, which deserved more development than Jaws and Jaws II had allowed for. Gary has also admitted that she was partly lured back with the appeal of playing opposite Michael Caine, romantically. But again, with a husband as powerful as Sheinberg, she probably could have been given a better film with which to come back and with which to make out with Caine. Now, she’s unfortunately more memorable for having starred in Jaws: The Revenge than for originating the role in the first film. Gene Hackman Returned to: Superman franchise with Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) Somewhat like Connery (his A Bridge Too Far costar), Gene Hackman ended up returning to a character thanks to a change in producers. He abandoned the Superman franchise after the first film — though he’d shot some scenes for Superman II, so he does appear in the sequel — because Alexander and Ilya Salkind fired Richard Donner as the director of the second installment. So, when new producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus took over the series, Hackman was fine with reprising his portrayal of Lex Luthor. Surely there was a big paycheck involved in addition to the appeal of new management, but with an ultimate budget of only $17 million (slashed from the planned $40 million), he couldn’t have gotten away with much. At least Christopher Reeve, in his deal to return to the series, was given the opportunity to star in a pet project, Street Smart. All Hackman ended up with was an embarrassing addition to his resume, one that displayed a lack of concern for Superman fans and a disappointing preference for pay over prestige. Peter Sellers Returned to: Pink Panther franchise with The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) Following The Pink Panther and its sequel, A Shot in the Dark, Peter Sellers declined to return to the series, and Alan Arkin took over the role for part 3, Inspector Clouseau. It made sense at the time, as Sellers was still doing quite well through the late 1960s. But after a number of flops in the early ‘70s, Sellers was wooed back to the franchise, obviously with the promise of a lot of money. And another two installments came about with reportedly increased paychecks. In fact, he was set to play Inspector Clouseau in another installment (the series’ seventh, his sixth), but he died before it went into production. Fortunately for his legacy, he also made the wonderful Being There before his death, so he didn’t go out completely on a desperation downturn. Like Sellers’ last few Pink Panther movies, the new Fast and the Furious installment will be a huge hit, but there is a cost of reputation and an increase of shame that comes with the returned wealth and popularity. Then again, Diesel probably isn’t sinking any lower than he did for The Pacifier, right? Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:01:24 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com3/26/2009 10:01:24 AMNext week, Vin Diesel returns (along with Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordanna Brewster) to the Fast and the Furious franchise, which he’d abandoned after the first movie (he did have a cameo in part 3). When news first hit that he’d be reprising the role of Dominic Toretto for the fourth installment, simply titled Fast & Furious, most of us saw the actor as returning under a veil of shame. Because he initially departed the series with an inflated ego — and with it unrealistic salary demands — it does seem obvious that Diesel is now only desperately crawling back because his career failed to take off the way he’d hoped it would. This is quite sad considering not even Steve Guttenberg ever crawled back to the Police Academy movies, nor did Burt Reynolds ever get dragged back for a fourth Smokey and the Bandit. But there have been other shameful returns by stars to franchises they’d previously sat out of (whether the hiatus was of their own choosing or not). Only one of these may have been as desperate as Diesel now appears, but it’s worth looking at four additional actors and actresses who should be very embarrassed of their delayed reprisals. Karen Allen Returned to: Indiana Jones franchise with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) Karen Allen’s absence from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade after playing the female lead in Raiders of the Lost Ark was not because she believed herself above those sequels. Her character, Marion Ravenwood, simply wasn’t written into them. And her return to the series was surely not because her career needed a boost. Her relative disappearance from films after 1990 was actually for personal reasons (she wanted to devote time to raising her son), not necessarily because she could no longer garner significant roles. So why is she on this list? Because even though it must have been quite tempting to again work with Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford, especially in a role that is beloved by fans, she should have had a little more reserve, because she ended up looking like an easily employed, easily exploited actress. At least she didn’t have to swing through trees, and at least she didn’t receive the brunt of criticism with the film, but the latter fortune is also mostly because she’s given so little to do in the movie. Her participation in the film is largely forgettable, yet her association with the film is not. Instead of bothering with this very disappointing sequel, Allen should have held out for the more necessary Starman follow-up (continuing from where the TV series left off, of course). Sean Connery Returned to: James Bond franchise with Never Say Never Again (1983) Officially, it wasn’t exactly the James Bond franchise, because Never Say Never Again wasn’t made by EON Productions, though this clarification makes Sean Connery’s return to the role of 007 even more shameful. After Diamonds Are Forever, which had already marked his first delayed return as Bond (after the quick interruption of George Lazenby in the part with On Her Majesty’s Secret Service), the actor claimed he’d never return to the role he’d originated onscreen (this led to the film’s title), but obviously he was offered enough money to not only reprise the character but also to slap EON’s Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman in the face by agreeing to appear in an unofficial installment initially meant to directly compete head to head with EON’s own Octopussy, which starred Roger Moore as Bond. In agreeing to the film, Connery cemented his reputation for questionable career choices, most clearly influenced by big paychecks. Though he’d previously been enticed by huge offers, including the astonishing $2 million he demanded to come back to Bond for Diamonds, this time he showed a great lack of concern for fans of the Bond franchise through his apparent greediness. Given his love for big money, it’s surprising that he never sold himself out of retirement for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Maybe his asking price has just gotten so out of hand that even Lucas and Spielberg couldn’t afford him. Lorraine Gary Returned to: Jaws franchise with Jaws: The Revenge (1987) She hadn’t been onscreen in eight years, but Lorraine Gary’s absence from films following her appearance in Spielberg’s 1941 was reportedly her choice. Certainly with a husband as powerful as Sid Sheinberg (President of MCA, Inc. for more than 30 years), she didn’t really need to work, and yet for some odd reason she came out of retirement to reprise her role as Ellen Brody for the dreadful fourth installment of Jaws. According to a press release for the movie, Gary claims she was drawn to the script because of how well it explored her character, which deserved more development than Jaws and Jaws II had allowed for. Gary has also admitted that she was partly lured back with the appeal of playing opposite Michael Caine, romantically. But again, with a husband as powerful as Sheinberg, she probably could have been given a better film with which to come back and with which to make out with Caine. Now, she’s unfortunately more memorable for having starred in Jaws: The Revenge than for originating the role in the first film. Gene Hackman Returned to: Superman franchise with Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) Somewhat like Connery (his A Bridge Too Far costar), Gene Hackman ended up returning to a character thanks to a change in producers. He abandoned the Superman franchise after the first film — though he’d shot some scenes for Superman II, so he does appear in the sequel — because Alexander and Ilya Salkind fired Richard Donner as the director of the second installment. So, when new producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus took over the series, Hackman was fine with reprising his portrayal of Lex Luthor. Surely there was a big paycheck involved in addition to the appeal of new management, but with an ultimate budget of only $17 million (slashed from the planned $40 million), he couldn’t have gotten away with much. At least Christopher Reeve, in his deal to return to the series, was given the opportunity to star in a pet project, Street Smart. All Hackman ended up with was an embarrassing addition to his resume, one that displayed a lack of concern for Superman fans and a disappointing preference for pay over prestige. Peter Sellers Returned to: Pink Panther franchise with The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) Following The Pink Panther and its sequel, A Shot in the Dark, Peter Sellers declined to return to the series, and Alan Arkin took over the role for part 3, Inspector Clouseau. It made sense at the time, as Sellers was still doing quite well through the late 1960s. But after a number of flops in the early ‘70s, Sellers was wooed back to the franchise, obviously with the promise of a lot of money. And another two installments came about with reportedly increased paychecks. In fact, he was set to play Inspector Clouseau in another installment (the series’ seventh, his sixth), but he died before it went into production. Fortunately for his legacy, he also made the wonderful Being There before his death, so he didn’t go out completely on a desperation downturn. Like Sellers’ last few Pink Panther movies, the new Fast and the Furious installment will be a huge hit, but there is a cost of reputation and an increase of shame that comes with the returned wealth and popularity. Then again, Diesel probably isn’t sinking any lower than he did for The Pacifier, right? Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/cinemarian/archive/2008/5/13/28866.aspx Post By: CinemaRian
Post To: CinemaRian Blog
Post Date: 5/13/2008 4:40:06 AM
Body: Never Say Never Again is an "unofficial" James Bond film. The legal processes it took to get the film made is more interesting than the movie itself, so I mention them here. I know that all of this is true because I read it on Wikipedia. Before the official series began, Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond and author of the novels on which the film series is based wrote a screenplay for a potential first Bond film. The movie was not made and the film rights of to the novels were sold to Albert R. Broccoli, who produced the official series until his death, starting with Dr. No in 1962. Fleming then took the unproduced script and turned into a novel, Thunderball, which was produced by Broccoli as the fourth Bond film in 1965. However, the original story treatment still legally belonged to producer Kevin McClory, or at least, McClory thought so. A legal battle ensured, and in an out-of-court settlment, it was decided that McClory did indeed have the rights to the film treatment of Thunderball (not the novel)-but could not produce any a film from the material until twenty years had passed. Twenty years later, McClory decides to make his movie. The problem is that Broccoli has made a highly successful series of Bond films himself, with George Lazenby and Roger Moore suceeding Sean Connery as 007. How can McClory compete with the Moore series? Lure back Connery. How can he do that, when Connery said he hated the character and would never play the role again? Simply pay the actor a really, really large sum of money! Ah, I love Hollywood. Was McClory's effort worth it? Financially, yes, as the film was a hit (so was Broccoli's Octopussy, released the same year). From a cinematic standpoint, the film isn't very good. The biggest problem is that there seems to be a certain sense of sleaziness to the whole enterprise, as Never Say Never Again is obviously made to ripoff the Broccoli series. The attempt doesn't quite work, however, it never seems like a real Bond film. Even with Connery, things don't seem quite right without the theme music, the traditional opening sequence (in which Bond kills the veiwer from the point of view of a gun barrel), the big prolouge, title sequence, and supporting cast of M, Q, and Miss Monneypenny (though those characters are present here, they are played by different actors and it doesn't jive). The sexism in this movie is really rampant, making the Broccoli series look feminist by comparison. Connery gives a fun performance, but something is different. It doesn't seem to be the same Bond from the 60's. He's less debonair and more of a pig, an interesting character, but not quite the ultra-cool one from Goldfiner and Diamonds are Forever. An even worse acting dissapoinment is Max Von Sydow, one of the greatest actors ever, who gives a complelty typical, almost phoned in performance as Bond's arch-nemisis, Ernst Stavo Blofield. Too bad. Overall, the movie is just boring. This is surprising since Irwin Kershner directed the best Star Wars movie and doesn't have a problem with action sequences. Never Say Never Again is interesting to see how another cinematic treatment of Bond looks, but it just reminds us that despite his series flaws, Broccoli found at least theorically the best approach, and executed near perfectly with For Your Eyes Only and came close with The Man with the Golden Gun. It's interesting for the differances, but it just reminds us how effective the "real" series is. Never Say Never Again (1983)
]]>Tue, 13 May 2008 08:40:06 GMTCinemaRianCinemaRian Blog5/13/2008 4:40:06 AMNever Say Never Again is an "unofficial" James Bond film. The legal processes it took to get the film made is more interesting than the movie itself, so I mention them here. I know that all of this is true because I read it on Wikipedia. Before the official series began, Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond and author of the novels on which the film series is based wrote a screenplay for a potential first Bond film. The movie was not made and the film rights of to the novels were sold to Albert R. Broccoli, who produced the official series until his death, starting with Dr. No in 1962. Fleming then took the unproduced script and turned into a novel, Thunderball, which was produced by Broccoli as the fourth Bond film in 1965. However, the original story treatment still legally belonged to producer Kevin McClory, or at least, McClory thought so. A legal battle ensured, and in an out-of-court settlment, it was decided that McClory did indeed have the rights to the film treatment of Thunderball (not the novel)-but could not produce any a film from the material until twenty years had passed. Twenty years later, McClory decides to make his movie. The problem is that Broccoli has made a highly successful series of Bond films himself, with George Lazenby and Roger Moore suceeding Sean Connery as 007. How can McClory compete with the Moore series? Lure back Connery. How can he do that, when Connery said he hated the character and would never play the role again? Simply pay the actor a really, really large sum of money! Ah, I love Hollywood. Was McClory's effort worth it? Financially, yes, as the film was a hit (so was Broccoli's Octopussy, released the same year). From a cinematic standpoint, the film isn't very good. The biggest problem is that there seems to be a certain sense of sleaziness to the whole enterprise, as Never Say Never Again is obviously made to ripoff the Broccoli series. The attempt doesn't quite work, however, it never seems like a real Bond film. Even with Connery, things don't seem quite right without the theme music, the traditional opening sequence (in which Bond kills the veiwer from the point of view of a gun barrel), the big prolouge, title sequence, and supporting cast of M, Q, and Miss Monneypenny (though those characters are present here, they are played by different actors and it doesn't jive). The sexism in this movie is really rampant, making the Broccoli series look feminist by comparison. Connery gives a fun performance, but something is different. It doesn't seem to be the same Bond from the 60's. He's less debonair and more of a pig, an interesting character, but not quite the ultra-cool one from Goldfiner and Diamonds are Forever. An even worse acting dissapoinment is Max Von Sydow, one of the greatest actors ever, who gives a complelty typical, almost phoned in performance as Bond's arch-nemisis, Ernst Stavo Blofield. Too bad. Overall, the movie is just boring. This is surprising since Irwin Kershner directed the best Star Wars movie and doesn't have a problem with action sequences. Never Say Never Again is interesting to see how another cinematic treatment of Bond looks, but it just reminds us that despite his series flaws, Broccoli found at least theorically the best approach, and executed near perfectly with For Your Eyes Only and came close with The Man with the Golden Gun. It's interesting for the differances, but it just reminds us how effective the "real" series is. Never Say Never Again (1983) http://www.spout.com/blogs/hairylime/archive/2007/2/5/5270.aspx Post By: HairyLime
Post To: HairyLime Blog
Post Date: 2/5/2007 11:24:00 AM
Body: I have to admit, I have been away from the Bond franchise for some time. The last one I saw was 'Goldeneye', and while I thought it was a cut above the previous few entries, I was getting a little tired of the concept, thinking "how long can they keep milking this?" -- Well we had heard that this new Bond Daniel Craig was worth a look, so we ventured out to our local multiplex to check him out around December. Additionally, the 'Encore' channel started running all the old Bonds around the New Year (and if you got the 'on demand' option with your cable service, you could watch all of them at your leisure in widescreen no less!), so around here, we've been thoroughly drenched in Bond for the past few months. This weekend, we were snowed in and watched one of the more recent Pierce Brosnan entries, so with all this is mind, I thought I'd do an overview of the 007 pantheon (at least the ones I've seen, who knows how many times by now).I have to start by qualifying some of my prejudices about the series. I cut a lot of slack for the early ones. Budgets were low, the mindsets were different, audiences weren't quite so demanding of constant 'bang for the buck' as they are today. Sean Connery is still the favorite, and I will never understand how Roger Moore survived as long as he did.Dr. No (1962) - The franchise started the year I was born, but I didn't actually see this film until the mid-eighties video boom. Recently revisited it thanks to the Encore channel last month. Sean Connery sets the standard for the cool playboy secret agent, handles himself well in fights, makes snappy double entendres and Ursula Andress in her bikini and knife-belt combo is probably the most iconic of 'Bond girls'. Action-wise, the film is a little slow, but it has the proto-typical 'evil genius' and 'hidden island lair'. From Russia With Love (1963) - Haven't seen this one since the seventies, so its not fair to review this one. I seem to remember Robert Shaw was an impressive baddie, and the weird little woman with the pointy shoes was probably the model for the female evil sidekick character in the 'Austin Powers' movies.Goldfinger (1964) - Good villain, wierd henchman (with a lethal bowler hat no less), and Bond girl with the best name ("Pussy Galore") - Great car, good memorable lines "I expect you to die, Mr. Bond!" and the best of the theme songs.Thunderball (1965) - Remade as 'Never Say Never Again' in the eighties. Never a good idea to include scuba chase scenes, they really slow down the action. Good Tom Jones theme song. Haven't seen this one since the eighties, so I'll pass on more comments.You Only Live Twice (1967) - The goofiest of the Sean Connery films. Check out Bond in Japanese makeup made to pass as a native. Very cliche villain and volcano hideaway which was probably the model for Dr. Evil in the 'Austin Powers' films. Bond flies around in a mini helicopter with 4 distinct weapons onboard, and is chased by and dispatches - you guessed it - 4 helicopters. You can usually tell how weak the franchise is getting by how many techno gadgets get introduced.Casino Royale (1967) - A testament to how stale the franchise was becoming, it was ripe for lampoon. Not worth a look, this is a total mess. But maybe worth a peek at the final reel just to catch Woody Allen's bit as the evil 'James Bond Jr.'On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) - Saw this for the first time last month. Not as bad as I was expecting. Telly Savalas makes a rather lame villain which is probably the biggest flaw. Diana Rigg is appealling and a nice tough mate for James. George Lazenby is a little on the dry side, but handles himself well, has a lot of good one liners. Ski chase scenes aplenty (and we'll be getting many more of them in the future, unfortunately).Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - Connery comes back, looking a little pudgy, but still holding his own. This one has my favorite Bond double entendre when he comments on Jill St. John's wig change : "as long as the cuffs and collars match" - colorful villainous henchmen, just bordering on spoofery, the usual evil genius villain with an exotic hideaway that needs to be stormed. Not bad, but needs fresh ideas badly.Live and Let Die (1973) - Enter Roger Moore. Great theme song. Colorful villains and voodoo setting. A nice boat chase. Overall though, this Bond seems to play everything a little too much for laughs. A constant smirk on his face and the fact that he never looked believable in the fight scenes always left me a little cold on Roger Moore.The Man With the Golden Gun (1974) - More silliness. Killer midgets, another boat chase with the same southern sherrif along for the ride. We are in serious 'sequel-itis' territory now. Just treading water.The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - Tried watching this one last month, couldn't get interested. 'Jaws' makes his first appearance. It just keeps getting more and more ridiculous. Moonraker (1979) - More 'Jaws'. Slow motion outer space climax (pardon the pun). Tied for a three way "worst bond film ever" award.For Your Eyes Only (1981) - Almost palatable Roger Moore bond. (more skiing though - probably easier to hide the stunt man beneath all the protective gear). Topol makes a good ally/sidekick. Revenge seeking crossbow weilding bond girl is a nice touch.Octopussy (1983) - More silliness. Maud Adams again for some reason (wasn't she killed off in 'Golden Gun'?) Girly Circus Troupe. Ok. (three way "worst bond film ever" winner)Never Say Never Again (1983) - To underscore how badly the franchise needs a facelift, but not quite the facelift it needed, Sean Connery goes back at it again in this 'unofficial' remake of 'Thunderball'. Beats the current 'official' Bond movies hands down, but still needs a younger actor in the role. Good villain turn by Klaus Maria Brandauer. A View To a Kill (1985) - Badly in need of a makeover now. Roger Moore is looking quite old and frail by this time and the pairings with the young girls is starting to earn catcalls. Grace Jones and Christopher Walken and Duran Duran title song. (three way "worst bond film ever" winner)The Living Daylights (1987) - Timothy Dalton takes over. While he has a good British theatrical delivery and seems to have a lot of severe intensity, he strikes me as being a bit of a 98 lb weakling in the brawn department. 'AIDS awareness Bond' spends much more time out of bed in the next few movies and more time with small potatoes bad guys and outlandish action sequences. An improvement on Roger Moore at any rate.Licence to Kill (1989) - Revisited last month. Good final chase scene (if not a little improbable - semi trucks doing wheelies?) - Grim determined Timothy Dalton goes on a revenge spree and brings Q along for the ride. Good creepy villain. Funny cameo by Wayne Newton as a new age guru.Goldeneye (1995) - Pierce Brosnan takes over. Refreshing to see the sex jokes back in the mix. Good over the top action sequences (love the tank chase scene). Bond is back in a good way. But oddly enough its not enough to sustain my interest and I end up missing the next three at the theater. Nice touch bringing in Judi Dench as M. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) - haven't seen it yetThe World Is Not Enough (1999) - Saw this one last weekend. Good villain, good 'bad bond girl' - extremely silly 'good bond girl' (who buys Denise Richards as a nuclear scientist?) - Good enough Bond flick, but we seem to be getting back to a bit of Roger Moore-ishness in the spoof/seriousness ratio.Die Another Day (2002) - haven't seen it yetCasino Royale (2006) - Wow. Bond taken a bit more seriously ala 'Batman Begins'. Daniel Craig actually looks like he can 'take a licking and keep on ticking'. And I love the 'Bond with an attitude' persona he puts forward, reminds me of Connery in his youth. Favorite line: Bond: "give me a vodka martini" Bartender: "shaken or stirred?" Bond: "do I look like I give a damn?" - And doesn't everyone need a car with a built-in defibulator?Looking forward to where this goes next... addendum: A few other 'Spy Films' that might help take away the bad taste of 'too much Bond' - "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold" with Richard Burton, "Three Days of the Condor" with Robert Redford, and recently "The Constant Gardener" with Ralph Fiennes -- they treat the 'glamorous world of spy-dom' with a generous dose of skepticism and a refreshingly bleak world view.
]]>Mon, 05 Feb 2007 16:24:00 GMTHairyLimeHairyLime Blog2/5/2007 11:24:00 AMI have to admit, I have been away from the Bond franchise for some time. The last one I saw was &#39;Goldeneye&#39;, and while I thought it was a cut above the previous few entries, I was getting a little tired of the concept, thinking "how long can they keep milking this?" -- Well we had heard that this new Bond Daniel Craig was worth a look, so we ventured out to our local multiplex to check him out around December. Additionally, the &#39;Encore&#39; channel started running all the old Bonds around the New Year (and if you got the &#39;on demand&#39; option with your cable service, you could watch all of them at your leisure in widescreen no less!), so around here, we&#39;ve been thoroughly drenched in Bond for the past few months. This weekend, we were snowed in and watched one of the more recent Pierce Brosnan entries, so with all this is mind, I thought I&#39;d do an overview of the 007 pantheon (at least the ones I&#39;ve seen, who knows how many times by now).I have to start by qualifying some of my prejudices about the series. I cut a lot of slack for the early ones. Budgets were low, the mindsets were different, audiences weren&#39;t quite so demanding of constant &#39;bang for the buck&#39; as they are today. Sean Connery is still the favorite, and I will never understand how Roger Moore survived as long as he did.Dr. No (1962) - The franchise started the year I was born, but I didn&#39;t actually see this film until the mid-eighties video boom. Recently revisited it thanks to the Encore channel last month. Sean Connery sets the standard for the cool playboy secret agent, handles himself well in fights, makes snappy double entendres and Ursula Andress in her bikini and knife-belt combo is probably the most iconic of &#39;Bond girls&#39;. Action-wise, the film is a little slow, but it has the proto-typical &#39;evil genius&#39; and &#39;hidden island lair&#39;. From Russia With Love (1963) - Haven&#39;t seen this one since the seventies, so its not fair to review this one. I seem to remember Robert Shaw was an impressive baddie, and the weird little woman with the pointy shoes was probably the model for the female evil sidekick character in the &#39;Austin Powers&#39; movies.Goldfinger (1964) - Good villain, wierd henchman (with a lethal bowler hat no less), and Bond girl with the best name ("Pussy Galore") - Great car, good memorable lines "I expect you to die, Mr. Bond!" and the best of the theme songs.Thunderball (1965) - Remade as &#39;Never Say Never Again&#39; in the eighties. Never a good idea to include scuba chase scenes, they really slow down the action. Good Tom Jones theme song. Haven&#39;t seen this one since the eighties, so I&#39;ll pass on more comments.You Only Live Twice (1967) - The goofiest of the Sean Connery films. Check out Bond in Japanese makeup made to pass as a native. Very cliche villain and volcano hideaway which was probably the model for Dr. Evil in the &#39;Austin Powers&#39; films. Bond flies around in a mini helicopter with 4 distinct weapons onboard, and is chased by and dispatches - you guessed it - 4 helicopters. You can usually tell how weak the franchise is getting by how many techno gadgets get introduced.Casino Royale (1967) - A testament to how stale the franchise was becoming, it was ripe for lampoon. Not worth a look, this is a total mess. But maybe worth a peek at the final reel just to catch Woody Allen&#39;s bit as the evil &#39;James Bond Jr.&#39;On Her Majesty&#39;s Secret Service (1969) - Saw this for the first time last month. Not as bad as I was expecting. Telly Savalas makes a rather lame villain which is probably the biggest flaw. Diana Rigg is appealling and a nice tough mate for James. George Lazenby is a little on the dry side, but handles himself well, has a lot of good one liners. Ski chase scenes aplenty (and we&#39;ll be getting many more of them in the future, unfortunately).Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - Connery comes back, looking a little pudgy, but still holding his own. This one has my favorite Bond double entendre when he comments on Jill St. John&#39;s wig change : "as long as the cuffs and collars match" - colorful villainous henchmen, just bordering on spoofery, the usual evil genius villain with an exotic hideaway that needs to be stormed. Not bad, but needs fresh ideas badly.Live and Let Die (1973) - Enter Roger Moore. Great theme song. Colorful villains and voodoo setting. A nice boat chase. Overall though, this Bond seems to play everything a little too much for laughs. A constant smirk on his face and the fact that he never looked believable in the fight scenes always left me a little cold on Roger Moore.The Man With the Golden Gun (1974) - More silliness. Killer midgets, another boat chase with the same southern sherrif along for the ride. We are in serious &#39;sequel-itis&#39; territory now. Just treading water.The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - Tried watching this one last month, couldn&#39;t get interested. &#39;Jaws&#39; makes his first appearance. It just keeps getting more and more ridiculous. Moonraker (1979) - More &#39;Jaws&#39;. Slow motion outer space climax (pardon the pun). Tied for a three way "worst bond film ever" award.For Your Eyes Only (1981) - Almost palatable Roger Moore bond. (more skiing though - probably easier to hide the stunt man beneath all the protective gear). Topol makes a good ally/sidekick. Revenge seeking crossbow weilding bond girl is a nice touch.Octopussy (1983) - More silliness. Maud Adams again for some reason (wasn&#39;t she killed off in &#39;Golden Gun&#39;?) Girly Circus Troupe. Ok. (three way "worst bond film ever" winner)Never Say Never Again (1983) - To underscore how badly the franchise needs a facelift, but not quite the facelift it needed, Sean Connery goes back at it again in this &#39;unofficial&#39; remake of &#39;Thunderball&#39;. Beats the current &#39;official&#39; Bond movies hands down, but still needs a younger actor in the role. Good villain turn by Klaus Maria Brandauer. A View To a Kill (1985) - Badly in need of a makeover now. Roger Moore is looking quite old and frail by this time and the pairings with the young girls is starting to earn catcalls. Grace Jones and Christopher Walken and Duran Duran title song. (three way "worst bond film ever" winner)The Living Daylights (1987) - Timothy Dalton takes over. While he has a good British theatrical delivery and seems to have a lot of severe intensity, he strikes me as being a bit of a 98 lb weakling in the brawn department. &#39;AIDS awareness Bond&#39; spends much more time out of bed in the next few movies and more time with small potatoes bad guys and outlandish action sequences. An improvement on Roger Moore at any rate.Licence to Kill (1989) - Revisited last month. Good final chase scene (if not a little improbable - semi trucks doing wheelies?) - Grim determined Timothy Dalton goes on a revenge spree and brings Q along for the ride. Good creepy villain. Funny cameo by Wayne Newton as a new age guru.Goldeneye (1995) - Pierce Brosnan takes over. Refreshing to see the sex jokes back in the mix. Good over the top action sequences (love the tank chase scene). Bond is back in a good way. But oddly enough its not enough to sustain my interest and I end up missing the next three at the theater. Nice touch bringing in Judi Dench as M. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) - haven&#39;t seen it yetThe World Is Not Enough (1999) - Saw this one last weekend. Good villain, good &#39;bad bond girl&#39; - extremely silly &#39;good bond girl&#39; (who buys Denise Richards as a nuclear scientist?) - Good enough Bond flick, but we seem to be getting back to a bit of Roger Moore-ishness in the spoof/seriousness ratio.Die Another Day (2002) - haven&#39;t seen it yetCasino Royale (2006) - Wow. Bond taken a bit more seriously ala &#39;Batman Begins&#39;. Daniel Craig actually looks like he can &#39;take a licking and keep on ticking&#39;. And I love the &#39;Bond with an attitude&#39; persona he puts forward, reminds me of Connery in his youth. Favorite line: Bond: "give me a vodka martini" Bartender: "shaken or stirred?" Bond: "do I look like I give a damn?" - And doesn&#39;t everyone need a car with a built-in defibulator?Looking forward to where this goes next... addendum: A few other &#39;Spy Films&#39; that might help take away the bad taste of &#39;too much Bond&#39; - "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold" with Richard Burton, "Three Days of the Condor" with Robert Redford, and recently "The Constant Gardener" with Ralph Fiennes -- they treat the &#39;glamorous world of spy-dom&#39; with a generous dose of skepticism and a refreshingly bleak world view. http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/terrorism/MemberTagFilms.aspxterrorism
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