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| jeremy |
 Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:09 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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Joe Vitus wrote: Just checked out your mini-review. Thanks.
Joe,
My understanding is that, in the eyes of many, the Bond has tried too hard to mimic the success of the all-action Bourne franchise, losing much of Bond's essential charm in the process. I suspect the film is not terrible, but suffers through falling short of the expectations raised by Daniel Craig's excellent first outing as Britain's most stylish thug, |
Last edited by jeremy on Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:14 pm; edited 1 time in total
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:12 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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| Thanks for that perspective. I saw the first Bourne and didn't care for it. On the other hand, I missed the next two, which I hear were much better. So I'm not sure if a Bourne-influenced Bond would work for me or not. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:17 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| I saw all three Bournes. Thought the first was okay, the second somewhat less than okay, and the third very good indeed. Quantum of Solace is far worse than the worst of them. The villain is Marc Forster; the henchmen are the idiots who gave him the job. He is clueless as an action director, and Bond was never meant to be an action hero in the first place. Trust me: this movie is terrible by any standard. |
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| bocce |
| Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:43 pm |
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Joined: 24 May 2004
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it doesn't really matter...
the coolest spy that ever was or ever will be is HARRY PALMER... |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:52 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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Major Dalby: [of Palmer's dossier] It isn't usual to read a B-107 to its subject, Palmer, but I'm gonna put you straight. "Insubordinate. Insolent. A trickster. Perhaps with criminal tendencies."
Palmer: Yes, that's a pretty fair appraisal - sir.
Major Dalby: Good. That last quality might be useful. But if you give me any trouble Palmer, I shall *bite* you, Palmer! And I shall bite you so hard you'll go right back to where Ross found you!
...
[Palmer and Dalby are attending a performance of a military band playing Mozart]
Palmer: Very neat. Must we sit through any more of this torture? I've got a lot of things to do.
Major Dalby: I think they're playing very well.
Palmer: Tell me who wins.
[gets up and leaves]
From The Ipcress File.
Harry Palmer was very much the anti-Bond. |
_________________
I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 7:03 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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| That name is quite a lulu. Was he named after the Victorian warning againt certain practices? |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 7:16 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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billyweeds wrote: I saw all three Bournes. Thought the first was okay, the second somewhat less than okay, and the third very good indeed. Quantum of Solace is far worse than the worst of them. The villain is Marc Forster; the henchmen are the idiots who gave him the job. He is clueless as an action director, and Bond was never meant to be an action hero in the first place. Trust me: this movie is terrible by any standard.
I tend to agree with jeremy about Bond morphing into a Bourne all action franchise with little character development. In the new Bond, gone are all the endearing, campy touches of "shaken, not stirred" and un-PC Bond girls. Lush locations have morphed into the worst parts of Panama City, doubling for various parts of Latin America.
Bond himself has gone from the dapper spy and master of double-entendre to the gloomy bitter Craig who still hasn't gotten over his love (Vesper) from "Casino Royale."
I think which type of Bond one prefers is a matter of personal preference. The Daniel Craig/Bourne type of Bond seems pitched toward the younger crowd which seems to require non-stop action.
Connery and the other Bonds (some more successful actors than others) presented us with an escapist fantasy.
billy, I see your point; but I could see that some viewers might prefer the all action Bond. I didn't dislike "Quantum of Solace," but I suspect I'd probably have a lot more fun re-watching one of the older Bond films. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 7:17 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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bocce wrote: it doesn't really matter...
the coolest spy that ever was or ever will be is HARRY PALMER...
Agree. I really like Harry Palmer. Wish there were more Harry Palmer films. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 7:18 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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billyweeds wrote: I saw all three Bournes. Thought the first was okay, the second somewhat less than okay, and the third very good indeed. Quantum of Solace is far worse than the worst of them. The villain is Marc Forster; the henchmen are the idiots who gave him the job. He is clueless as an action director, and Bond was never meant to be an action hero in the first place. Trust me: this movie is terrible by any standard.
I'm with you on the Bournes, although I thought the first one was more than okay. (I like Franka Pontente.) Bourne is better when he has someone to protect.
Sounds like I can safely avoid the Bond. |
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| bocce |
| Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 7:30 pm |
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Joined: 24 May 2004
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mo_flixx wrote: bocce wrote: it doesn't really matter...
the coolest spy that ever was or ever will be is HARRY PALMER...
Agree. I really like Harry Palmer. Wish there were more Harry Palmer films.
perhaps we'll get a reprise...it might be really good for a change...Deighton is still alive and the possibilities are endless... |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 7:54 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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Syd wrote: billyweeds wrote: I saw all three Bournes. Thought the first was okay, the second somewhat less than okay, and the third very good indeed. Quantum of Solace is far worse than the worst of them. The villain is Marc Forster; the henchmen are the idiots who gave him the job. He is clueless as an action director, and Bond was never meant to be an action hero in the first place. Trust me: this movie is terrible by any standard.
I'm with you on the Bournes, although I thought the first one was more than okay. (I like Franka Pontente.) Bourne is better when he has someone to protect.
Sounds like I can safely avoid the Bond.
Syd --
I think you'd find the Bond interesting in light of the Observatory location in Chile's Atacama Desert. |
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| Rod |
| Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 8:05 pm |
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Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 2944
Location: Lithgow, Australia
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Joe Vitus wrote: That name is quite a lulu. Was he named after the Victorian warning againt certain practices?
He had no name in the novel. They had to think one up for the film, so they set out to devise the most boring appelation they could - Caine came up with "Harry" and producer Harry Saltzman came up with the last name of the most boring man he'd ever met. |
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| Rod |
| Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 8:21 pm |
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Joined: 21 Dec 2004
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Location: Lithgow, Australia
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 8:44 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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Quote: Anxiety over the modern world’s shape, the simultaneous glamour and terror of it, lies at the heart of the early Bond films’ great success. Satires like the Austin Powers series poked fun at their tropes without really understanding them—the modish trappings of supermodernity (like the omnipresent collarless tunics and the villains’ chitinous-looking machines of destruction) encoded a fear of the future contrasted with Bond’s primal force and M’s oak-paneled office.
I wonder if there is also a related element of a British writer and film makers seeking to affirm their values in a Brave New American World. |
_________________
I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
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| Rod |
| Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 8:50 pm |
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Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 2944
Location: Lithgow, Australia
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| Oh yes. Bond, and the Britain he represents, is the constant mediating balance between the American and Soviet superpowers. This was marked from Dr. No where the title character dismisses East and West as points on a compass, through to You Only Live Twice where Bond is trying to prevent SPECTRE's plot to start nuclear war, and eventually became more archly comic in the later Moore films when Walter Gotell's KGB chief gave him the Order of Lenin for rescuing Silicon Valley for their espionage operations. |
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