Bond is back! This time, the film makers mine the depths of Fleming’s short stories and cobble something together that is… pretty dang good, actually. There are no gadgets, the girls are not great, and there are no fantastic Ken Adam sets, but there’s also nothing much to really hate—except the idiotic Blofeld appearance at the beginning.
I examine the construction of the plot, defend it against those who say it’s too much like From Russia with Love, and complain that Locque isn’t much of a villain. I lament the birth defect that left Carole Bouquet with a non-functioning forehead and a mustache nearly as luxurious as Topol’s, as well as whatever it is that makes Lynn-Holley Johnson so annoying and seven years too old to be to young for James Bond. And I lament the fact the Roger Moore is just too old to run up all those steps.
NOTE: I think I leave the impression that Willy Bogner performed the ski jump off the cliff in The Spy Who Loved Me. It was stuntman Rick Sylvester who performed the jump. Bogner was, as usual, filming it on skis. Also, Brezhnev died in 1982, Andropov died in 1984, Chernenko died in 1985, Gorbechev took office in 1985.
Start the commentary with the gun barrel sequence, on the countdown.
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Great commentary on one my favourite Bond films. I agree that the Blofeld scene was a bit silly but I always thought the real reason it appeared was because the Bond producers knew that Kevin McClory was making a rival Bond with Blofeld as the villain. It was a “we don’t need him anyway” kind of thing by killing him off. Thought you were a wee bit harsh on Carole Bouguet too, she’s one of my favourite Bond girls, she’s no Dianna Rigg but she’s one of the better ones.
That’s a great point about Never Say Never Again. And you’re probably right about Carole Bouquet. She’s not really any worse than Barbara Bach, and I love Barbara Bach.
Are you going to do Never Say Never Again? would love to hear a commentary on that.
Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that. I probably will. I’ll also surely do at least the first Austin Powers and one of the Harry Palmer movies, just for comparison.