1) I read the Bond books a long time ago and, believe me,
Connery is the
nearest to Bond of them all. Actually, Bond is less
supermanish in the bo=
oks
than in any movie. He is often vulnerable, distressed, and
insecure in
dangerous situations. Perhaps the Barry Nelson Bond of the
unremarkable T=
V
show best typifies this.
2) The big problem with the Roger Moore Bond is that he is
playing the
Saint, not James Bond. They obviously went overboard with
effects and
outlandishness in this, which is why they impress so much
newcomers to Bo=
nd
who first see this Bond.
3) Probably Timothy Dalton comes also near to getting the
feel of the "re=
al"
Bond. But Licence to Kill just killed him!
4) George Lazenby was more than competent in On Her Majesty's
Secret
Service. His remark at the close of the opening scene "This
never happene=
d
to the other guy" or something like that is just plain
memorable!
5) Pierce Brosnan is a fun Bond, but I sure miss the
magnificent Lois
Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny) and do not like the female M.
For whatever is worth, my ranking of the movies in
chronological order an=
d
in relation to the whole cannon (not to other movies) 1
(best) to 5 (bad).
Also a short comment on each. Sorry, no Casino Royale (which
I hate) or
Never Say Never Again (which is fun).
Dr. No 4 Surprisingly good; ma=
ybe
should be also a 5.
romance, etc.
Goldfinger 5 Magnificent villains,
closest perhaps to book.=20
Thunderball 2 Incredible letdown; gre=
at
opening scene; actually boring at times.
You Only Live Twice 3 First of Blofeld trilogy;
should have been much better.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service 5 Excellent mix; best
romance,
incredible finale (like in the book).
Diamonds are Forever 5 Superb action; third of Blofe=
ld
trilogy but not end.
Live and Let Die 2 The whole much less than
the sum of some of its parts.
The Man With the Golden Gun 3 2 very good villains.
The Spy Who Loved Me 4 An aura of luxury, first Jaws,
somewhat artificial.
Moonraker 3 All too much like The S=
py
Who Loved Me all too soon; great
opening scene.
For Your Eyes Only 5 Fantastic back-to-basics;
opening scene closes Blofeld
trilogy.
Octopussy 4 Good like previous but
somewhat tired.
A View to a Kill 1 Re-uses Goldfinger plo=
t
but unsuccessful and unoriginal; some
good characters/actors (like Mayday) wasted.
The Living Daylights 4 Refreshing and intellige=
nt;
drawback is over-length.
Licence to Kill 2 Goes out of the mater=
ial
and suffers for this; also, 1st explicit
violence.
Goldeneye 4 A welcome return; a
couple of substitutions only drawback.
Tomorrow Never Dies 3 Lots of action, gimmicks,
etc. but no life or wit. I fell asleep in
the theater!
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Words from the Monastery
[SMTP:anthony.dauer@erols.com]
> Sent: Saturday, January 30, 1999 2:25 PM
> To: rara-avis@icomm.ca
> Subject: RE: Re[2]: RARA-AVIS: Helm vs
Bond:
>=20
> No, "everyone" does not see Sean Connery as the
definitive Bond ... I
> started watching with Roger Moore and see his
portrayals as the definit=
ive
> ones ...
>=20
> volente Deo,
>=20
> Anthony Dauer
>=20
> The Poeticus Furor Caf=E9
> http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/4640/
>=20
> Writers-cafe: A place to share your work or just to
chat with other
> writers
> about anything.
>=20
> http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/writers-cafe
>=20
> Practice random acts of Xeroxing ...
>=20
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-rara-avis@icomm.ca [mailto:owner-rara-avis@icomm.ca]On
> Behalf Of blumenidiot
> Sent: Saturday, January 30, 1999 12:09 PM
> To: rara-avis@icomm.ca
> Subject: Re: Re[2]: RARA-AVIS: Helm vs
Bond:
>=20
>=20
> Jim Doherty wondered:
> does anyone really think that the Bond
movies
> >got progessively better as the series progressed?
For my money, the
> >second Bond film, *From Russia With Love*, is
still the best in the
> >series.
>=20
> I think everyone sees Connery as the definitive Bond.
Starting with
> Goldfinger the series lost any hard edge it had and
became more and mor=
e
> cartoonish. I think it's clear From Russia with Love
was the best of th=
e
> series. With its tight focus on action and lack of a
grandiose plot, it=
s
> almost as though it were the filming of a Matt Helm
novel.
>=20
> Going back to the comments on the original books, it
seems almost
> everybody,
> including most on this list, think of Bond as he
appears in movies. The
> books seem forgotten.
> Mark Blumenthal
> >
> >
> >
>=20
>=20
>=20
> #
> # To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to
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> # The web pages for the list are at http://www.vex.net/~buff/rara-avis/.
>=20
> #
> # To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to
majordomo@icomm.ca.
> # The web pages for the list are at http://www.vex.net/~buff/rara-avis/.
#
# To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to
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