Post by Eddie Love on Sept 28, 2009 12:35:00 GMT -5
Great new GEB! I entirely concur on your assessment of these two. Although Moonraker and AVTAK are both all around worse films, TND may be for me the most anemic Bond picture. It just feels like it could be any action picture from the time with a sop to the Hong Kong craze. You nailed Pryce's missed opportunity as Carver and that main henchman who couldn't be more generic. Too little Teri Hatcher too much Michelle Yeoh, love her though I may.
And Tom is dead on with Sheryl Crow writing a song -- I don't hate it as much as you guys -- but one that she just couldn't sing herself. Meanwhile k.d. lang has a blast belting out the closing number with her Bassey-like pipes. It's a much better song and performance. I suspect the producers felt she wasn't as sexy as Crow so they stuck it at the end. Or else they realized her theme promised a return to Bond glory that the film doesn't deliver on.
Also, you notice how often this movie employs the James Bond Theme? More than any picture since Dr. No, I'll bet. It's as if they want to remind people what they're watching.
And Derrick nailed the bit about the car landing in the storefront being distractingly likely to cause collateral damage. There's simply no way Bond could have known passersby would not be killed by that stunt. (The same is true of the ridiculous speedboat chase at the start of the next film.) I think you guys recognized that many of the right elements were there, but they just don't come together as a satisfying whole.
Goldeneye is a much better film, though you do let it off the hook for some residual Moore-iness. The tour-de-France bike domino fall at the start? Please. The witticism that's Brosnan's first line as Bond? I'm sorry, but if some guy appears in front of you hanging upside down while you're taking a dump, you're not gonna let him get a quip out before you freak out. And while I like the female lead she does come off as a scold with that "boys with toys" line and her screaming in the plane is a bit of a turn-off. I also wish Framke weren't dispatched so swiftly at the end. Otherwise Campbell and company get it right and serve up Brosnan's best. Great theme, opening and villain and with a satisfying finale as opposed to the other Brosnan ones.
Also, I think in TWINE we get the evidence that the Brosnan Bond is in fact the same character that's been seen in all the previous movies making Goldeneye a "soft" re-boot. He's asked by Electra King if he's ever lost anyone close to him and Bond has a pregnant pause before declining to answer. In LTK, we have a similar moment with Dalton where his late wife is referenced just as there were two such moments for Moore in TSWLM and FYEO. That's really the only personal benchmark for the character, and while clearly Daniel Craig isn't the same guy, I think the suggestion is that Brosnan is. Or is that debatable?
I'm really looking forward to the next installment as I rank both those higher than TND -- yes, even DAD which I think is good for the first half.
I pity you having to watch all 4 Matt Helm films. I hope you find time for all 5 (yes -- 5!) "Harry Palmer" pictures.
*Proper usage when praising a pod-cast.
And Tom is dead on with Sheryl Crow writing a song -- I don't hate it as much as you guys -- but one that she just couldn't sing herself. Meanwhile k.d. lang has a blast belting out the closing number with her Bassey-like pipes. It's a much better song and performance. I suspect the producers felt she wasn't as sexy as Crow so they stuck it at the end. Or else they realized her theme promised a return to Bond glory that the film doesn't deliver on.
Also, you notice how often this movie employs the James Bond Theme? More than any picture since Dr. No, I'll bet. It's as if they want to remind people what they're watching.
And Derrick nailed the bit about the car landing in the storefront being distractingly likely to cause collateral damage. There's simply no way Bond could have known passersby would not be killed by that stunt. (The same is true of the ridiculous speedboat chase at the start of the next film.) I think you guys recognized that many of the right elements were there, but they just don't come together as a satisfying whole.
Goldeneye is a much better film, though you do let it off the hook for some residual Moore-iness. The tour-de-France bike domino fall at the start? Please. The witticism that's Brosnan's first line as Bond? I'm sorry, but if some guy appears in front of you hanging upside down while you're taking a dump, you're not gonna let him get a quip out before you freak out. And while I like the female lead she does come off as a scold with that "boys with toys" line and her screaming in the plane is a bit of a turn-off. I also wish Framke weren't dispatched so swiftly at the end. Otherwise Campbell and company get it right and serve up Brosnan's best. Great theme, opening and villain and with a satisfying finale as opposed to the other Brosnan ones.
Also, I think in TWINE we get the evidence that the Brosnan Bond is in fact the same character that's been seen in all the previous movies making Goldeneye a "soft" re-boot. He's asked by Electra King if he's ever lost anyone close to him and Bond has a pregnant pause before declining to answer. In LTK, we have a similar moment with Dalton where his late wife is referenced just as there were two such moments for Moore in TSWLM and FYEO. That's really the only personal benchmark for the character, and while clearly Daniel Craig isn't the same guy, I think the suggestion is that Brosnan is. Or is that debatable?
I'm really looking forward to the next installment as I rank both those higher than TND -- yes, even DAD which I think is good for the first half.
I pity you having to watch all 4 Matt Helm films. I hope you find time for all 5 (yes -- 5!) "Harry Palmer" pictures.
*Proper usage when praising a pod-cast.
