Finishing off the Moore Bonds:
For Your Eyes Only was an interesting one for me this time around, because I'd never really paid much attention to it before. This time, I realized I knew the big bad guy from somewhere, but I couldn't think of where it was at all. One Trip to IMDB later and I was kicking myself for not recognizing General Veers. Columbo was a cool guy. This film definitely has a From Russia With Love vibe to it with the Red Grant fellow, the code machine heist, the cool ally guy, et cetera, but it still stands on its own fairly well. I never used to think that Melina was all that attractive, but she's grown on me over the years. RIP M, and as much as I love Q, I don't quite dig his expanded role.
Octopussy is the film I feel Moore really starts to show his age in as he certainly seems a lot creakier in this than even For Your Eyes Only, and you can tell they're running out of Fleming's big material and are starting to amalgamate his shorts and whatnot, but it's still solid. Maud Adams is back again, which always threw me off as a kid, was it the same girl as in The Man With The Golden Gun? What? Kamal Khan feels a lot more sinister than many of the previous villains initially, but he tends to slip as the film goes on. Orlov is a cool idea as well, and it's neat to see a division between "good" and "bad" Soviets, because I always liked Gogol. Vijay is a cool ally, and it's too bad he gets death yo-yo'd (a particularly silly weapon that only works thanks to all the conveniently-placed balconies and catwalks and such. Gobinda is a cool henchman who throws back to Oddjob in a way, which I liked. This is one of the busier films, I feel, and I could go on about it further.
WHAT'S THIS?! A sudden interruption from Sean Connery?!
Never Say Never Again. Oh yes. Connery's final goodbye to Bond. He's old. The times have changed (compared to Thunderball) it all feels very out-of-place, but it's still pretty well Bond. Personally, I prefer Tunderball to Never Say Never Again; it's a cooler film, though we do get some neat video game action with Never Say Never Again, I just can't warm up to its take on Largo who just comes off as "meh" and psychotic compared to Thunderball's more suave and controlled take. SPECTRE isn't as interesting, either, though their bomb plot is slightly more grand than just blowing up Florida or whatever (though the plan to steal it is far more outlandish and silly), and I preferred hiding Blofeld's face and making him more mysterious; from my point of view, he started to get more and more lame as we saw more and more of him. Fatima Blush is an interesting henchwoman, and we'll see her type at least once more later on in a more official film. Domino is just kind of there and doesn't feel as human as Thunderball's version. It's still a good film, though I do wish the had been able to swing the Roger Moore cameo for the ending.
And now back to your regularly-scheduled Roger Moore.
A View To A Kill is pretty good, despite all the supposed behind-the-scenes difficulties between actors and Moore's age. I'm pretty sure that half Moore's Bond films start with a skiing scene, though; seriously. It's got a kickin' Duran Duran theme, which is really the start of more poppy songs being used as openers, which isn't bad, I think. Christopher Walken is brilliant as a villain; he really plays it up and nails the part, I felt, but then I like him in everything (his plot does seem a little out-of-touch with the film, it's somewhat hard to care about it). Grace Jones is also a cool henchwoman, there's just something about her that's neat and different than what we're used to; maybe her humanity? Dolph Lundgren makes a tiny appearance in his silver screen debut as well! Tibbit is an awesome character, as well, and it always makes me sad that he dies; I always feel like he was out of his league unlike with other allies. Also Lois Maxwell's last outing as Moneypenny; I always wondered what it might be like if she had become the first female M, but at the same time, I don't think I could take her as seriously given her past with Bond. Stacey is an okay Bond girl, but does just feel a little like scenery; I still really like the firetruck ladder rescue scene, though. Also I always think of Temple of Doom when I see the mine set. I dunno why.
On to Dalton!