Roger Moore | the m0vie blog

The Six Faces of 007: Timothy Dalton

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Darren

To celebrate James Bond’s 50th birthday on screen (and the release of Skyfall), we’re going to take a look at the character and his films. We’ve already reviewed all the classic movies, so we’ll be looking at his iconic baddies, and even at the character himself.

Timothy Dalton’s tenure as Bond is almost as divisive as that of George Lazenby, the only actor to serve a shorter term in the iconic role. However, in the years since Dalton departed the franchise, I’ll admit that I’ve grown quite fond of his interpretation of the British secret agent. Between The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill, I think that Dalton portrayed the most human and most tangible of the character’s screen personas, and I think that he suffers from being cast twenty years too early in the part. Certainly, one can see a lot of Daniel Craig’s whittled-down take on the character in Dalton’s two outings as 007.

Dalton’s taken quite a beating…

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Albert R. Broccoli, bond, Dalton, George Lazenby, GoldenEye, ian fleming, james bond, James Bond in film, Living Daylights, pierce brosnan, Roger Moore, sean connery, timothy dalton | 8 Comments »

A View to a Bond Baddie: Max Zorin

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Darren

To celebrate James Bond’s 50th birthday on screen, we’re going to take a look at the character and his films. We’ve already reviewed all the classic movies, so we’ll be looking at his iconic baddies, and even at the character himself.

An interesting thing about Roger Moore’s Bond films is the fact that the best baddies tended to pop up in the worst films. Okay, I have a soft spot for Julian Glover in For Your Eyes Only, arguably the best of Moore’s outings as James Bond, but I’m thinking of Christopher Lee in The Man With the Golden Gun and Christopher Walken in A View to a Kill. In particular, Walken’s Max Zorin stands out – in my opinion – as one of the best villains of the entire franchise. He’s a character who really stands at the half-way point between the classical Bond villains and the characters we’ve seen since, positioned half-way between Auric Goldfinger and Franz Sanchez. It also helps that Walken is having a whale of a time, and that fun is contagious.

Hang on in there…

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: A View to a Kill, bond, christopher walken, Cold War, Dresden, East Germany, entertainment, Goldfinger, ian fleming, james bond, James Bond in film, List of James Bond villains, Man With The Golden Gun, Max Zorin, Moore, paris, Roger Moore, Russian, Russians, san francisco | 6 Comments »

The Six Faces of 007: George Lazenby

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Darren

George Lazenby stands out as perhaps the strangest on-screen Bond. He only appeared in a single film before retiring from the role, shortly before the premiere, causing such a crisis that the studio paying a huge amount of money to re-hire Sean Connery for Diamonds Are Forever. His one film, however, stands out as one of the very few movies in the series to give the character Bond a logical character arc, and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service remains one of the most polarising films in the series. I actually think that Lazenby’s tenure is perhaps the one that lends itself best to the “multiple Bonds” theory, as he plays the version of the character harder to reconcile with the other portrayals.

And not just because of that awkward line that closes the opening sequence. There’s a lot here that never happened to the other fellas.

Washed up?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: bond, George Lazenby, james bond, James Bond in film, Lazenby, Movie, on her majesty's secret service, pierce brosnan, Roger Moore, sean connery, timothy dalton | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Quantum of Solace

Posted on January 29, 2011 by Darren

Note: I have another review of the film here, but this was written as part of “James Bond January”, after watching all 22 films in quick succession. This post is part of James Bond January, being organised by the wonderful Paragraph Films. I will have reviews of all twenty-two official Bond films going on-line over the next month, and a treat or two every once in a while.

Quantum of Solace is a strange film. In many ways, it feels more like a return to the Bond formula than its direct predecessor, and yet it feels like less of a Bond film. It isn’t a case that film takes the franchise in a new direction while retaining its core identity (as Licence to Kill did, for example), but the feeling that there’s been a fundamental shift in the series, occurring under the radar. It feels as if, though the movie can talk the talk, there’s something different in the step – it can’t quite walk the walk, unfortunately.

Don’t leave us dangling…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: bond girls, British Empire, casino royale, daniel craig, films, james bond, jason bourne, Movies, non-review review, quantum, quantum of solace, review, Roger Moore, sean connery, sex, villains | 3 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Casino Royale

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Darren

This post is part of James Bond January, being organised by the wonderful Paragraph Films. I will have reviews of all twenty-two official Bond films going on-line over the next month, and a treat or two every once in a while.

Casino Royale was breath of fresh air for the Bond franchise. The twenty-first film in the series, it represented something akin to a “back to basics” philosophy, pulling back from the camp excesses of Die Another Day to offer us a version of Bond which was a thriller rather than an action comedy. It’s a familiar pattern for low-key entries to follow over-the-top instalments (after all, the producers followed Moonraker with For Your Eyes Only), but arguably not to the same extent. While other movies made the pretense of operating within the same continuity (with numerous references, for example, to Bond’s marriage from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service), Casino Royale was an attempt to completely start from scratch, with a new actor playing a James Bond who was new to his 00-agent status.

What’s on the cards for Bond?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: casino royale, daniel craig, eva green, GoldenEye, james bond, james bond january, mads mikkelson, Movies, non-review review, pierce brosnan, quantum of solace, quentin tarantino, review, Roger Moore, vesper, vesper lynd | 7 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Die Another Day

Posted on January 27, 2011 by Darren

A new watch. Your twentieth, I believe.

How time flies.

– Q and Bond go all meta on us

I next joined Pierce and co at the premiere of Die Another Day in 2002, which marked the 40th anniversary of the series. When asked later what I thought of the film, I merely said “interesting”. In truth I thought it just went too far – and that’s from me, the first Bond in space! Invisible cars and dodgy CGI footage? Please! They gave the public what they wanted, though maybe they too realised there was only so far they could push it before Bond became a caricature of himself, and the funeral directors were called in.

– Sir Roger Moore, who seems like a lovely guy

Truth be told, Die Another Day doesn’t quite deserve the reputation that it has earned over the years. But, then again, I can appreciate A View to a Kill, so what do I know?

Close, but no cigar...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: British Empire, diamonds, Die Another Day, Elliot Carver, film, gustav graves, history, homage, james bond, james bond january, Movie, non-review review, pierce brosnan, reference, review, Roger Moore, toby stephens, United States | 11 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The World Is Not Enough

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Darren

The World is Not Enough is a mess of a film, even by the standards of the Bond films. It proposes some interesting ideas and has some neat concepts, but there’s also some really stupid moments thrown in as well. If Tomorrow Never Dies was Pierce Brosnan doing tribute to later Sean Connery films, this him stuck in homage to Roger Moore – a few smart and emotional moments scattered over a large serving of camp, like vanilla pods mixed into the most bland vanilla ice cream you could imagine. It’s not a terrible film, but it’s so wildly inconsistent that it’s far less satisfying than generally weaker instalments.

That's the crushing weight of expectation, right there...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, Christopher Nolan, Elektra King, GoldenEye, james bond, james bond january, judi dench, m, Movie, non-review review, pierce brosnan, renard, review, robert carlyle, Roger Moore, sean connery, sophie marceau, The World Is Not Enough, tomorrow never dies | 7 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Knight & Day

Posted on January 23, 2011 by Darren

Much like Mission: Impossible, while I was watching Knight & Day I couldn’t help but get the impression that Tom Cruise really wanted to be James Bond. And, at the risk of being controversial, if an American actor were ever chosen, I think Cruise would fit the bill nicely. Indeed, Knight & Day feels more like a sort of traditional Bond film than Casino Royale or Quantum of Solace have, and its that sense of endearing nostalgia which really makes the film worthwhile. In a film season packed with disappointing films, Knight & Day is an entertaining and engaging romp which might make you smile as you spend two hours with it.

It's a romantic action comedy, and it has the big guns attached...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, james bond, James Mangold, Knight and Day, Marc Blucas, mission: impossible, non-review review, Paul Dano, Peter Sarsgaard, review, Roger Moore, tom cruise, tomorrow never dies | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Licence to Kill

Posted on January 21, 2011 by Darren

This post is part of James Bond January, being organised by the wonderful Paragraph Films. I will have reviews of all twenty-two official Bond films going on-line over the next month, and a treat or two every once in a while.

Licence to Kill is the Bond movie that almost killed the franchise. The gap between the release of this movie in 1989 and GoldenEye in 1995 is the longest period that the film series has been left dormant. Although the legal issues surrounding the series hardly helped ensure the British secret agent’s return to the big screen, there’s also the fact that this movie was something of a box office dud in the States. (Although it was quite successful elsewhere.) Licence to Kill is perhaps the most divisive of the Bond movies – even more so than On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Detractors see it as a poor attempt to emulate Miami Vice, indulging in ridiculously over-the-top violence and darkness for the sake of darkness. Fans argue that the movie is a lot closer to Ian Fleming’s original novels, and feels more like the recent relaunch of the franchise – it’s a perfect bedfellow with Casino Royale or Quantum of Solace. My opinion is somewhere in the middle.

Bond always uses protection in bed…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: casino royale, film, GoldenEye, ian fleming, james bond, james bond january, Licence to Kill, Movie, non-review review, pierce brosnan, review, robert davi, Roger Moore, timothy dalton, United States | 9 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Living Daylights

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Darren

The Living Daylights is a forgotten Bond film, sitting as it does between the twin “duds” of A View to a Kill and Licence to Kill (although I am not quite as critical of those films as most). It’s the first of the Bond films to feature Timothy Dalton, taking over from Roger Moore – who by this stage seemed as likely to be getting a free bus pass as he was to foil enemy spies. Although the word didn’t quite exist in media circles when the movie originally came out, there’s a strong smell of “reboot” about the film, as if the powers behind the scenes are attempting to consciously remodel the franchise in the wake of a disappointing previous film. Though not quite as obvious (or as far-reaching) as subsequent reboots in GoldenEye and Casino Royale, The Living Daylights isn’t a bad Bond film – it’s just a really poorly dated one.