The best fictional secret agent in cinema history! Bond, James Bond. With films spanning over 50 years and counting, nobody does it better than 007! Join me in my weekly blogs of the 007 franchise and why it is in no danger of ending.
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Father's Day 007 Special 2012
Timothy Dalton: The Forgotten 007
For most people, the name Timothy Dalton is foreign to fans of James
Bond, or just people in general. Dalton, whom had just made two James
Bond film, was sadly short lived between Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan
but the mark he left behind was a unique one.
In 1987, Tim made his debut as the new James Bond. His immediate
predecessor was Sir Roger Moore, who had made a total of seven films as
007 from 1973 through 1985. During Moore's tenure, the Bond character
turned into a slapstick, pretty boy, play-it-safe kind of Bond. Gone was
the sense of danger, espionage and suspense of what Ian Fleming's
original idea of Bond was. James Bond films turned into family
entertainment for all. This was a 12 year experience.
Now, Timothy Dalton's 1987 film, The Living Daylights took all
this away and brought Bond back to his roots as a ruthless British agent
with a license to kill. Now, mind you audiences were not expecting such
a drastic 360 degree turn after Moore. Gone was the pretty boy style
and the jokes and back was the ruthlessness that Connery brought to the
role, and more! Timothy Dalton gave the world his own interpretation of
Bond and brought the character from the written page of Fleming's books.
A Shakespearean trained actor, Dalton took the role of 007 most
seriously. His first film didn't show Bond as a ladies man, but rather a
"one lady" man. He was badass and you would totally buy him as a
killer. He wasn't one to mess around. Even his tagline for a teaser
poster for The Living Daylights read, "The most dangerous Bond. Ever." It was true!
The Living Daylights was an instant hit and made $191 million at
the box office beating the last two previous Roger Moore outings. It
also beat out Die Hard and Lethal Weapon. Dalton was the new Bond and
despite what some of the critics and fans said, he brought Bond back to
his roots.
Two years later, in 1989, Dalton returned as 007. This time, it was a
mission for Her Majesty's Secret Service, but rather, a revenge story.
The new movie Licence to Kill really brought out Dalton's strong
side as James Bond. Bond was on his own and out to avenge he maiming of
his best friend and death of his wife. Bond this time would anything and
everything to kill the man responsible. Roger Moore, or any other actor
that played Bond would not have been able to sell that film the way Tim
did. This was meant for Timothy Dalton in mind. Any weak spots Dalton
had in The Living Daylights would be eliminated and all his strength
would come to play.
Filming the climax to Licence to Kill |
The reception for Licence to Kill was unfortunately quite poor.
The violence factor in this film was so dark it became the first ever
James Bond filmed with a PG-13 rating. The Bond series was no longer a
family event and the drastic change came too soon for some. Dalton was
and is the most badass 007 in terms of how he portrayed the character
and his style. I think he even out beats Daniel Craig.
Dalton had originally been signed on for three films, but after Licence to Kill,
there was a lawsuit between distributor MGM and 007 production company
EON which lead to a six year hiatus before there next film would come
out. During this long gap (1989 to 1995), Dalton decided to step down
from the character and the role was given to Pierce Brosnan who
continued on the legacy of 007. The film GoldenEye--which was Brosnan's first role as Bond--previously known as The Propery of a Lady,
was written with Timothy in mind since he was still signed onto play
Bond at the time.
Timothy Dalton stands out as the more ruthless James Bond ever, and he
is a precursor to the current James Bond, Daniel Craig. The world today
accepts Craig as an action killer and less of a spy, because it is much
more accepted...well highly praised for that matter these days;
especially after the influence of the Jason Bourne films. Dalton
certainly came before his time and if he were James Bond today, odds are
he would be far more accepted.
Long live 007 #4!
Friday, August 28, 2015
The World Is Not Enough Review/Retrospective
"I could have given you the world."
--"The world is not enough."
"Foolish sentiment."
--"Family motto."
-Elektra King and James Bond
For the 19th James Bond film, Pierce Brosnan had his third turn at bat as the suave and sophisticated agent 007. And now, James is not just on an assignment, but a very personal one at that. I'll be discussion the plot, the characters and the experience I had when watching what is perhaps on of my favorite and most quotable James Bond films in the entire series. This was also the first one that I actually sat down and watched. The first big screen 007 adventure for me would 2002's Die Another Day.
JAMES BOND AIN'T GOT TIME FOR THAT SHIT! |
"You seem to have had a small reversal of fortune." |
He is in that territory for no-nonsense and will stop at nothing to get the job done.
After the shoot-out, one person escapes the office but not before the police are summoned. Bond looks around to find and an exit and once he turns another corner, a gun is aimed right at him. Putting his arms up, there is a shot somewhere out of the window and the man dies instantly freeing Bond to escape. Who the heck was it that shot this person? Was it a fluke? Were they trying to aim for 007? No time to thing, Bond uses his own ingenuity and pulls out the strong for a set of blinds and ties it around his belt, and then goes to one of the bodies on the floor and ties it around his belt. Grabbing the suitcase with the money, Bond jumps out the window and lands perfectly onto the streets of Spain while the police enter into an lifeless room with only once survivor: The man that Bond ties the string to. Quite the getaway!
Q-Boat |
Meanwhile, back in London, James Bond returns the money and and Sir Robert King is there to pick it up. After having a brief squabble with Moneypenny, Bond is summond into M's office where he meets King himself. It turns out that M and Sir Robert read law in Oxford together and had quite a background. After King leaves and goes to inspect his money, Bond and M have a little drink. When Bond pours himself a drink, he realizes something is not right. He has some kind of chemical reaction taking place and automatically things something is wrong. Bond exclaims, "King! The money!" Rushing through halls and corridors of MI6 HQ, it is too late and the room King is in explodes, along with the money, ripping a gaping whole that is visible outside of HQ! Looking out of the building through the reckage, Bond notices a laser sight on him and then quickly turns out of the way avoiding it. Heading into Q Branch, Bond quickly jumps into a small boat equipped with a ton of weapons and gadgets and goes after the culprit who tried to kill him.
Now, this is perhaps one of the most spectacular stunt chases in the entire series of films! Now only is it a good 14 minutes before the open credits, but it is highly entertaining and non-stop! After chasing her from the River Thames to the streets of London--yes, the boat is able to drive on land as it has boosters on the back--they finally end up at an event featuring hot air balloons. Jumping out of her boat, the secretary holds some of the people at gun point and tell them to release the balloon so she can escape from 007. Bond, managers to ram the boat on the shore and jump and catch one of the ropes hanging from the balloon and is taken mid air. With him trying to avoid bullets from the assassin, he pleads with her to make a deal. "We can make a deal, just tell me who's behind this! Who are you working for?!" As she threatens to blow up the balloon, Bond screams, "Don't do it! Don't blow us up! I can protect you! Do you understand?! I can protect you!" And with them, she simply replies, "Not from him!" She fires the gun at he gas for the balloon and it explodes in a ball of fire, sending Bond falling down only to have his fall broken by the Millennium Dome.
Main Title sequence by Daniel Kleinman in the tradition of the late Maurice Binder |
Now, we enter the story in Scotland. There is a major funeral occurring and it is the death of Sir Robert King. Observing the event in a sling, due to his injury with the hot air balloon, James spots the eye of a young women dressed in black whom is mourning the events: Elektra King, the daughter of Sir Robert.
007's new ride: BMW Z8 |
Meanwhile, as the story continues, Bond, who tries to look deeper into the information on Elektra King is unable to due to there needing to be a clearance level. When Bond confronts M about it, she tells him that there is a personal connection with Elektra and herself. You see, Elektra was kidnapped by a terrorist named Renard and Sir Robert tried everything he could to get her back. He even goes to M and is told not to pay the ransom. They all thought they had time on their side and to use her as bait. But it was to no success. Eventually, Elektra is released by killing two of her captors and heads back home. But, you see...after the death of Sir Robert, there still is an investigation that needs to be fulfilled and Bond needs to stop Renard from getting his hands back on Elektra.
Elektra King played by Sophie Marceau |
Now, here is where the story gets far fetched. He bumps into a nuclear physicist by the name of Christmas Jones played by Denise Richards...of all people, and then has her lead him to Renard. Under the disguise of a Russian scientist, Bond spots Renard and threatens to kill him, only for him to say, "There's not point living if you can't feel alive." Bond is struck at this, because this is the exact same thing Elektra King tells him in a casino. A fight erupts and Renard gets away. How could he have used her exact words? This doesn't make any sense.
The film continues and eventually it is discovered that Elektra King framed her own kidnapping and began to fall in love with her captor. She wanted the oil and all it's conquest for herself and felt that her father didn't care for the family, but only the money. She is responsible for the death of her father. When Renard said he would not do anything to hurt her, she uses radiation on herself and some of her ear is missing! This woman is truly twisted. She ends up doing the entire staging and all the stress her father and M goes through is for nothing. She is the one that turned Renard, not the other way around. It wasn't Stockholm Syndrome after all. She did this to herself and that is what makes this film stand out on so many levels for me. Eventually, James Bond shoots Elektra at point blank range and says, "I never miss." The true secret agent is back and this time we are getting into the Timothy Dalton territory of focus for the mission and not for the jokes.
I personally consider this to be Pierce Brosnan's best effort as James Bond and would find myself watching it countless times back in the day. It would be a long four years before the next adventure would take place. Since this was the first James Bond film I had seen in it's entirety, this film will always have a special place for me and I highly will enjoy watching it over and over again. A high recommend and GoldenEye is a close second!
James Bond will return...
Monday, August 24, 2015
Die Another Day Review/Retrospective
An invisible car? A ring that can cut through glass? A palace made of ice? These are one of the many aspects that made the James Bond film Die Another Day a disaster for so many fans. Well, I'm going to talk about my personal aspect on this film and how I think there are some good and some bad aspects to the final film starring Pierce Brosnan as James Bond.
James Bond escaping in a hovercraft in North Korea |
was amazing! Those things are hard to steer and are exactly made for their ability to float over minefields, rather than escape and getaway. Anyway, by the end of the chase, James Bond manages to fight Colonel Moon and then has him fall to his death...or so we think. After the battle is over, Bond, with his cover blown, is captured and tortured in North Korea for a year and a half! Brilliant story-telling! We've never seen Bond captured let alone tortured brutally ever in the series! He always manages to get away in the skin of his teeth and hurry back to jolly old England. But not this time.
Now, this opening of the movie is utterly entertaining. I loved it! After James Bond is freed in a prisoner exchange with Zao-who was captured in England during Bond's imprisonment-he is taken back to his superiors but not welcomed back. Injected with a sedate he passes out and is then on a ship for an analysis on the condition of his body. M comes in and asks that Bond's status as a secret agent is revoked (nod to Licence to Kill) and that James Bond no longer has his freedom and was only taken out so no more secrets or leaks would be revealed to the Koreans, believing him to have cracked under torture. The way Brosnan portrays the character is so dark and serious and you believe that he is a man who has gone through a lot. This being the forth movie, Pierce has mastered the character and has made it his own. Bond, being Bond of course, managers to slow down his heart rate, which is possible for some people to do, though not entirely sure if that's accurate, and then manages to escape the ship he's on. Not in England, Bond is actually in Hong Kong and he swims to get to the main land. Now, mind you, James Bond has been tortured for quite some time and has a full beard, so when he checks in to his usual Hotel in Hong Kong, he is not recognized at first. But right away, Mr. Chang, the manager of the hotel, knows who he is. Chang comments, "Mr. Bond! It's been a long time!" Now, after this, Bond shaves and is back to his usual self. Now, some say this is when the story begins to slow down, and I can agree with that aspect.
Tracking Zao, Bond discovers he is in a clinic in Havana, Cuba. When he arrives, somehow Zao is undergoing gene therapy to alter his appearance to look like a German. Bond interrupts this procedure and has a fight with him, who still has diamonds stuck to his face after the case exploded back in Korea. Now, Bond meets up with CIA agent Jinx Johnson played by Halle Berry. Her character is very generic and does not bring anything new to this movie. After Zao manages to escape, Jinx then jumps off a cliff in a very poorly done CGI shot to her contact waiting for her on a boat. James Bond then managers to grab one of the diamonds that Zao has onto his face. What was Zao doing in a gene therapy center? Now, there's an awesome character here by the name of Raoul that Bond meets up with and it's a shame we don't see much of him. He tells 007 where those diamonds and upon closer inspection, tells Bond they belong to the Graves Corporation in Iceland.
One of the best fight scenes in the entire series |
James Bond's new ride equipped with all the usual refinements |
Gustav Graves' Ice Palace in Iceland |
After the demonstration, 007 takes a look around and bumps into Miranda Frost, and discovers that she is an MI6 agent after all. Bond comments, "Ah, that's why you tried so hard not to be interested in me." Ensuring that 007 is not screwing up with the mission at hand, Miranda and James go into a bedroom to "keep up the facade of being lovers." Good one, James! After Bond and Frost get it on, he then gets ready to do some more spying and check out the nuts and bolts of this palace and what Graves really has up his sleeve. Returning to a location he was in earlier, Bond is waiting for Graves and discovers that he is indeed Colonel Moon! Bond says, "So you live to die another day, Colonel?" "At last, I was beginning to think you'd never guess." As 007 is about to alert Miranda that Graves is indeed the man he thought he killed a year and a half ago, a twist of events occur. Miranda is not only working for Graves, she was the one that blew Bond's cover a year ago! Now it all makes sense why Zao was getting a gene change and Moon invited Bond for this demonstration.
Bond escaping in Grave's ice-dragster |
CRINGE TIME |
When Bond returns to the Ice Palace to get Jinx, an awesome chase ensues with his Aston and Zao's Jaguar XKR. This is a pretty neat sequence and my second-favorite of the movie. Now, the stunts here are done for real and there really is racing on ice. The producers had several models of the Aston Martin just in case it should sink or fall under the ice. In one case, it almost did and they managed to get it out. The ice had to be just right in order for them to have cars driving on it. It worked and the result for the movie good! Christian Wagner, the editor for the film, chopped it up here and there to make it more "hip" and it really didn't need to be. He sped up some parts of the movie and slowed down others. It was a bit distracting like with the Madonna theme song for this film. Anyway, afterward, Bond and Zao enter the palace and a pretty good death scene happens when Bond shoots one of the chandeliers, killing Zao instantly.
Ice Chase! |
Then, after leaving Iceland, James and Jinx go to a military bunker to meet up with M and the rest of MI6, while she deals with her superior Damien Falco of the NSA. They infiltrate Grave's plane, and find out that the real reason for Icarus is to clear a mine path for his troops in North Korea. It's a bit convoluted but you get the idea. James Bond then manages to kill Graves and then the plane is destroyed, along with Miranda Frost. The films ends with Jinx and James enjoying some vacation time in Korea until they go back to their lives. The End.
Pierce Brosnan's forth and final outing as Agent 007 |
JINX WAS GOING TO HAVE HER OWN SPIN-OFF SERIES BUT LUCKILY THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN... |
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