I still say the Roger Moore era pictures would have been better without all the Get Smart/Matt Helm wannabe slapstick stuff. Yeah, there was always humor in the Bond pictures, but it was very dry, very British. During the Moore era, it was very over the top, very American, and to me was all wrong for the franchise.
Day dawns dark...it now numbers infinity.
I saw that when it was released in the theater, a very underrated movie and Lazenby did fantastic job following Connery. The John Berry score was also really good, kind of dipping into the modern (at the time) synthesized textures.
You mean that tobacco swillin' hillbilly sheriff didn't do it for ya?
That is when they really started getting silly but i did like Christoper Lee as Scaramanga and Herve's Nick Nack i thought were some of the better villians.
I recently saw Live And Let Die for the first time in many, many years, i didn't realize how racist it was, not quite on the level of Blazing Saddles but i don't think they would be making that one today.
My biased opinion piece:
Roger is my favorite Bond. He was the 1st I saw on the big screen. ("Spy Who Loved Me")
Sure, his were often a little goofy, but you can say that pattern really began with "Diamonds Are Forever".
Roger's Bond films did exceedingly well at the box office in the 70's. Admittedly, his last 2 of the 80's were lacking. But he's still the longest-running Bond. If he truly did a lousy job & audiences hated him, they wouldn't have kept him.
Maybe context is a factor here; In the 70's, people were *looking* for escape & fun. This partially explains the rise of disco & the success of Star Wars. Roger delivered fun & escapism.
He was the perfect Bond of his time. (& besides, why do you think "Nobody Does It Better" was written for *his* Bond?)
GE and TND are my faves from the Brosnan era. i liked parts of World (especially near the end when the bitch Electra finally gets hers) but overall found the plot a bit convoluted. the villain in Die is what ruined it for me. he gave me the creeps. came off to me as kind of effeminate.
"She said you are the air I breathe
The life I love, the dream I weave."
Unevensong - Camel
My first Bond was in the theater for Diamonds Are Forever at the age of 11, and hence have a soft spot for that one.
Live and let Die is the only Moore Bond I can withstand these days.
Dalton and Brosnan ( who should have owned that role), never did anything for me.
Daniel Craig in Skyfall was a perfect modern Bond flick imo .
no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone
the last worthy Bond movie (but hardly at the height of L&LD, IMHO), I think, but I couldn't watch it again nowadays
This is totally insipid for me... easily the worst Moore era Bond, because the next View to a Kill had Tanya Roberts to soften the crap plot.
Don't know if I would call the humour "slapstick"... it's not like we're in a Jerry Lewis movie.
As for the humour itself, it's not like Bond movie were credible in real life (except for maybe From Russia With Love), so it didn't matter if the humour was more accessible
Hey, I thought Buford was a typical down-south sheriff for a few decades... seen a few sheriffs in the old-south and seemed to base their professional lives on the Bond-movie character
Seen with today's eyes and not thinking of the background (mid-70's Blaxploitation after the Civil rights Movement), it might appear so, but back then, it certainly wasn't
Well I'd agree that he was perfect for the mid-70's, but he overstayed his welcome by the end of the decade (not that the scenarios were good either >> I mean: Moonraker??? Puhleeeese!!! )
Not to mention the only good Bond song theme.
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
I know Shirley Bassey sang the hell out of Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever. She never really made it here did she, so she moved to England.
The older I get, the better I was.
Yes, she's Welsh. All these years later she seems to be the reference point for Bond theme vocalists IMHO. I am not at all convinced by attempts to make Bond themes trendy and up-to-date...hello Madonna and Jack White/Alicia Keys.
Thanks for the correction DIB and JJ. I thought I read years ago, that she lived in CA and did some recording there. Think my mom has the same idea. I'll pass it on. Thanks again.
The older I get, the better I was.
[QUOTE=progholio;608242]I remember an interview with George Lazenby where he said he tried to talk Cubby Broccoli into using Blood Sweat And Tears, I think he said on the soundtrack. He apparently had heard them in a club or had a demo tape or whatever, before their first album had even been released. Anyway, Cubby refused, and according to Lazenby, around the time the movie came out, BS&T had three top ten hits. Makes one wonder what a BS&T performed theme song might have sounded like, though.I saw that when it was released in the theater, a very underrated movie and Lazenby did fantastic job following Connery. The John Berry score was also really good, kind of dipping into the modern (at the time) synthesized textures.
I rather liked Britt Ekland and Maud Adams in that one too. Of course, you can't go wrong with Christopher Lee, especially if you're casting him as the baddy.You mean that tobacco swillin' hillbilly sheriff didn't do it for ya?
That is when they really started getting silly but i did like Christoper Lee as Scaramanga and Herve's Nick Nack i thought were some of the better villians.
The redneck sheriff was bad enough in Live And Let Die, but to bring him back for a second movie I think was pushing it. But there again, that's another example of the broad, "Let's do something the Americans will like" kind of humor that plagued the Moore era pictures.
You might be interested to know that Solitaire was originally written as a black woman, but of course, that "had" to be changed for the movie. Gloria Hendry (who played Rosie Carver) said that during the production people kept apologizing to her, and she couldn't figure out why until she realized that it was because Solitaire's ethnicity had been altered, presumably to due to concerns about Bond engaging in an interracial relationship (though, of course, as usual, Bond also beds Rosie, but I guess having him a black woman in his arms at the end of the picture would have been too..."radical", or whatever).I recently saw Live And Let Die for the first time in many, many years, i didn't realize how racist it was, not quite on the level of Blazing Saddles but i don't think they would be making that one today.
But one of the things about Live And Let Die is that it was made and released at the height of the blaxploitation era, and it's pretty clear that it was meant to be the Bond version of Shaft or Black Caesar or Sweet Sweetback's Badassssssss Song. With that thought in mind, it's a damn shame they messed with Solitaire the way they did. I mean, they could have had Pam Grier playing her. And that would have been uber hot!
Well, I do agree with you there. As I recall, she plays the helicopter pilot henchwoman who Bond kills via a missile fired from his Lotus Espirit car/minisub (too bad those idiots on Top Gear didn't think of trying to convert a real Lotus into an actual amphibious vehicle, that might have been something). She was also in one of the Harryhausen Sinbad movies, and was also featured in a rather provocative ad campaign for Lamb's Navy rum.
The problem wasn't Roger himself, it was the written material, and specifically the need for the comedy material. I suppose then, the real problem, was audiences willingness to put up with that crap. I'm sure if the slapstick dren had tested poorly, they'd have dropped it in a heartbeat. (shrug)Roger's Bond films did exceedingly well at the box office in the 70's. Admittedly, his last 2 of the 80's were lacking. But he's still the longest-running Bond. If he truly did a lousy job & audiences hated him, they wouldn't have kept him.
Keystone Kops is more like it. I just think they let the comedy get away from themselves, like Broccoli and company didn't care they were turning the franchise into a massive joke.Don't know if I would call the humour "slapstick"... it's not like we're in a Jerry Lewis movie.
I don't know what "credible in real life" has to do with it. Most movies aren't "credible in real life". C'mon, you expect me to buy a fifth rate Eddie Van Halen wannabe being fluent in Chuck Berry licks? Or a giant great white shark that not only attacks people for no apparent reason, but devours them, leaving little or no trace behind, much less, three of them, spread across three different movies?! Or a police detective deliberately obfuscating the investigation on a vigilante who's running around NYC picking off the thugs, scumbags, and other trash the cops can't or won't handle?!As for the humour itself, it's not like Bond movie were credible in real life (except for maybe From Russia With Love), so it didn't matter if the humour was more accessible
I just feel if I want to watch a satirical spy movie that's being played for laughs, I'll watch one of Dean Martin's Matt Helm pictures, or Top Secret. I don't think there was a need to drop that kind of humor into the Bond franchise.
If such law enforcement types actually do exist, they probably were either there to begin with, or else they based themselves on similar characters that appeared in movies that predated Live And Let Die (where Buford first appears), typically where such portrayals weren't being played for laughs.Hey, I thought Buford was a typical down-south sheriff for a few decades... seen a few sheriffs in the old-south and seemed to base their professional lives on the Bond-movie character
Goldfinger, The Spy Who Loved Me, and For Your Eyes Only all had good theme songs, too. There was a great Mad magazine parody of the entire Bond franchise up until the early 80's (when the piece was written), where each film get's like half a page of panels, before they move onto the next one. For Live And Let Die, Bomb (I think that's what his name was in the parody) tells his handler, "You've got a cast of unknowns, with me leading them!", and the M parody says, "But we've got Paul McCartney doing the theme song, so get dressed!"Not to mention the only good Bond song theme.
One could argue that attempting to "make Bond themes trendy and up-to-date" really dates back to Live And Let Die. I mean, why else would you get Paul McCartney to do your theme, if you weren't going for the "youth market"? Then you had Carly Simon The Spy Who Loved Me, Duran Duran on View To A Kill, and A-ha on The Living Daylights.I am not at all convinced by attempts to make Bond themes trendy and up-to-date...hello Madonna and Jack White/Alicia Keys.
More precisely, the part of LIve And Let Die that Sheriff Pepper appears is set in Louisiana, where you might expect to encounter that type of stereotypical law enforcement officer.
Apparently, Guy Hamilton (who directed both pictures) "liked" Sheriff Pepper in Live And Let Die, so he had Tom Manciewicz write him into the next picture as well.
I liked the Dalton films. That poor guy never had a chance.
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