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The Living Daylights (1987) 7.5/10

Has more of an edge but the Moore era goofy jokes remain. Scenes like the Gas / power station and the cello sled ride plus over the top (yet still boring) villains bring it down. Dalton is a good Bond, but you can tell he was rushed into the role with some of his disingenuous line readings. John Glen’s tepid play it safe directing style just does not do Bond justice. The way the henchman gets into the British “safe” house is such a joke. It’s a stretch even in the world of James Bond. The film displays that a major overhaul in style was in great need.

Yes, the villains are definitely the lowest part of the Living Daylights.

Too many 70’s-80’s era 007 post to quote.

Firstly, I think Moonraker is better than the sum of its parts, despite having many cringe-worthy bits and needing an overhaul before going into the second remake of a single story. (YOLT, TSWLM). It is very much the bloated Thunderball to TSWLM’s Goldfinger, but there are many great elements there, and if you look past the silliness there is some serious material which Roger handles beautifully. This is evident in Christopher Wood’s writing which actually leans more toward the Fleming style in his novelization-yet at the time the film team wanted the lighter approach. (Plus some added uncredited Mankiewicz revisions on at least TSWLM)
The effects are top notch, and for realism in pre-CG space effects it’s about as good as you can get outside 2001-yes I made that comparison. Other than the stupid laser beams, poor wire performances of some actors, and instant launch of the US shuttle it’s damn impressive.
And then the score…this is where Barry goes into epic mode and furthers his string orientation. Only issue is that the music film mix isn’t very good and the recordings in France were not in the best of halls-let alone that the master tapes have been lost and the music album master isn’t good. But all that aside, this is an epic score and the 'Flight into Space" is one of the great movie music cues that can give goosebumps.

AVTAK is a weird beast. Part nostalgic, part long in the tooth, part darker 80’s edge in the villain’s bloodlust, part silly, part underwhelming. Most will give it a cursory glance and write it off like MR. But that does what it gets right a disservice, and there are many great elements here, covered beautifully in the book “A Closer Look at A View To A Kill”. My favorite is the constant hammering of Bond’s older age, and his character convictions-primarily in his confrontations with Zorin, Roger’s angrier closeups, and Barry’s score which is again a masterpiece. The smaller bits are lovely such as Bond cooking and putting Stacey to bed alone. Zorin is Walken’s finest hour and cannot be praised enough. Again, there is much to be praised here but you have to look beneath the surface of the bad to really enjoy the what could have beens.
Also: Bond+Steed wins all arguments.

TLD is a masterpiece. It is the last great entry in the series, and the ONLY time since the 60’s both film Bond and book Bond were married perfectly. Dalton is perfection I feel, and gives one of the great lead performances. Even the lackluster seeming villains are grounded in such a reality that they are actually believable in spite of their plans. This is the key to the film’s success. In grounding the storyline in such a realistic Cold War based enviroment, the more ludicrous 007 film elements can be slotted in to provide audience entertainment without insulting intelligence. Thus you get to eat the cake too.
My only criticisms are that I feel Kara is portrayed as a bit too thick headed, and Glen’s desire to do the cello case sequence starts to break the credibility rule.
Barry’s score is arguably his finest and certainly his most musically accomplished; featuring multiple themes for the three songs, beautiful balance between his old and new style, good use of both synth and strings, and a wonderful romance motif interposed with music perfect for the revival of 007 as assassin.

But admittedly I cannot really criticize the holy 16. Only nitpick, and point out production troubles etc.

Lost Horizon (1937)
Capra’s epic that doesn’t really work. Beautiful, incomplete, haunting, yet eternally frustrating in that the story just doesn’t quite work. Too long for it’s own good most likely, but undeniably beautiful.

The More The Merrier
Wonderful George Stevens romantic comedy with elements of screwball, later remade as Walk Don’t Run. Funny, yet human and lovely.

The Talk of The Town
Probably the best picture Stevens ever made alongside Gunga Din. A beautiful Capra-esque clashing of wills between Cary Grant and Ronald Colman with elements of screwball layered in to teeter wonderfully between drama and farce. Moves wonderfully, and has a striking opening sequence where Grant is made out to be a murderer and escapes from prison. One of those gems, mostly forgotten from a bygone era.

FanFiltration said:

Moonraker (1979) 4/10

Great score! The pre-title sequence is one of the most exciting of the series up to this point. Excellent stunt work! Roger still looks good and is as relaxed in the role of 007 as he was in “The Spy Who Loved Me”. The locations are stunning and the extras as beautiful as ever. The story had a nice flow from location to location even if it is goofy. The actress playing the role of Goodhead was flat and the character generic and uninteresting. Bond and Goodhead have zero sexual chemistry. It’s just a female Felix Leiter and Bond beds her down just because it’s a woman. The Gondola was way over the top and is the kind of humor that soured the series in my opinion. Some people feel that the over the top stuff was what made Moore’s Bond great. Jaws returning was a huge mistake as well. The cable car fight is another over the top goofy set-up. Jaws crashing into the station and meeting the girl with braces is more suited for a spoof of spy films. I feel the same way about everything after the boat chase. Loved the return of John Barry’s “007” theme. Not the worst film in the series, yet far from the “From Russia With Love” or “On He Majesty Secret Service” style of 007 film that I crave.

She doesn’t have braces.

Tyrphanax said:

FanFiltration said:

Moonraker (1979) 4/10

Great score! The pre-title sequence is one of the most exciting of the series up to this point. Excellent stunt work! Roger still looks good and is as relaxed in the role of 007 as he was in “The Spy Who Loved Me”. The locations are stunning and the extras as beautiful as ever. The story had a nice flow from location to location even if it is goofy. The actress playing the role of Goodhead was flat and the character generic and uninteresting. Bond and Goodhead have zero sexual chemistry. It’s just a female Felix Leiter and Bond beds her down just because it’s a woman. The Gondola was way over the top and is the kind of humor that soured the series in my opinion. Some people feel that the over the top stuff was what made Moore’s Bond great. Jaws returning was a huge mistake as well. The cable car fight is another over the top goofy set-up. Jaws crashing into the station and meeting the girl with braces is more suited for a spoof of spy films. I feel the same way about everything after the boat chase. Loved the return of John Barry’s “007” theme. Not the worst film in the series, yet far from the “From Russia With Love” or “On He Majesty Secret Service” style of 007 film that I crave.

She doesn’t have braces.

I was waiting for someone to catch that. Well done!

FanFiltration said:

Tyrphanax said:

FanFiltration said:

Moonraker (1979) 4/10

Great score! The pre-title sequence is one of the most exciting of the series up to this point. Excellent stunt work! Roger still looks good and is as relaxed in the role of 007 as he was in “The Spy Who Loved Me”. The locations are stunning and the extras as beautiful as ever. The story had a nice flow from location to location even if it is goofy. The actress playing the role of Goodhead was flat and the character generic and uninteresting. Bond and Goodhead have zero sexual chemistry. It’s just a female Felix Leiter and Bond beds her down just because it’s a woman. The Gondola was way over the top and is the kind of humor that soured the series in my opinion. Some people feel that the over the top stuff was what made Moore’s Bond great. Jaws returning was a huge mistake as well. The cable car fight is another over the top goofy set-up. Jaws crashing into the station and meeting the girl with braces is more suited for a spoof of spy films. I feel the same way about everything after the boat chase. Loved the return of John Barry’s “007” theme. Not the worst film in the series, yet far from the “From Russia With Love” or “On He Majesty Secret Service” style of 007 film that I crave.

She doesn’t have braces.

I was waiting for someone to catch that. Well done!

You gotta get up pretty early in the morning to sneak braces by me.

Max Dugan Returns (1983)5/10

DominicCobb said:

Popstar was one of the best movies I saw last year and probably the best comedy I’ve seen in a loooong time.

This is the feedback that I have heard the most.

Get Smart (2008)

I enjoyed, despite not having seen the television show.

7/10

Passengers (2016) 7/10

I liked it. It was predictable but the likable cast made up for that.