James Bond: The Ultimate Collection (1962-2012) + Volume Collections

[drush9999]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

GoldenEye is AWESOME. Love the action, love the music, love the 'have their cake and eating it too' by pointing out how much a "sexist, misogynist dinosaur" Bond was but still having him shag loads of birds, fight off the threat of a rogue Russian satellite etc etc. It's almost like the best of all worlds when it comes to Bond and I adores it, precious.

I love GoldenEye, it caught the zeitgeist of the mid-90s, Cool Britannia and all that. Shame Brosnan veered too much into self-parody in the later Bonds.

[koberulz]

Originally Posted by Tom Sharky

I will admit that the camp and silliness sometimes got to be a bit much with the Roger Moore movies but I actually think the best non-Craig Bond movies that I have seen are Roger Moore's first two: Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun. I thought both of them were excellent films and were better than any of the Connery films.

The door is that way.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

GoldenEye is AWESOME. Love the action, love the music, love the 'have their cake and eating it too' by pointing out how much a "sexist, misogynist dinosaur" Bond was but still having him shag loads of birds, fight off the threat of a rogue Russian satellite etc etc. It's almost like the best of all worlds when it comes to Bond and I adores it, precious.

Enjoy GoldenEye - HATE the music (with a passion), hate the cheesy sound effects. First Bond in native 5.1 digital and the sound library is straight out of the late '60s for gunfire and ricochets. BOOOOO.

That said, the 4K version shown on HULU was very nice looking. Too bad you don't do streaming, there's a gem or two out there when it isn't available physically.

[Geoff D]

Knew that was coming from Pete

But that really is why I love it, it's this mish-mash of things & techniques that date back decades (the wonderful miniature work by Derek Meddings, the classically cheesy sound library) with more modern effects (a few CG bits here and there, that stonking Eurotrash score) and it shouldn't work but it goes over like gangbusters with me.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

miniature work by Derek Meddings

[Tom Sharky]

Originally Posted by koberulz

The door is that way.

LOL. I assume that you still hold onto Connery as the clear-cut best Bond?

[koberulz]

No, but the first two Moore films are easily the worst two in the entire series.

[Stanis]

Originally Posted by koberulz

No, but the first two Moore films are easily the worst two in the entire series.

Agree on Live and Let Die, great theme song though.

[Tom Sharky]

Originally Posted by koberulz

No, but the first two Moore films are easily the worst two in the entire series.

Well, I am curious as to why you think they are. What in particular did you not like about them?

[chas speed]

Originally Posted by koberulz

No, but the first two Moore films are easily the worst two in the entire series.

The last two or three (if you count "Never Say Never Again") Connery films were nothing to write home about either.

[stvn1974]

Live And Let Die is awesome. Janey Seymour is also the best Bond girl.

[Cherokee Jack]

Goldeneye is kind of like FRWL for me. Both are less than the sum of their parts IMO and I think it's because they drag at the end. I wish FRWL would cut straight from the train to the final hotel scene (and perhaps trim some of the earlier gypsy stuff) and Goldeneye screeches to a halt when they head off to Cuba. The beach scenes look good and have some nice character moments but that stretch always feels like a slog between the incredible tank/train sequence and antenna conclusion. And while I actually like much of the Goldeneye score, the end credits song is a drag.

Still love both and would put them near the top of my Bond rankings though.

Originally Posted by koberulz

No, but the first two Moore films are easily the worst two in the entire series.

I've always considered Mankiewicz's ridiculous DAF a guilty pleasure and have recently come around on his Moore films. In some ways they feel more like generic seventies exploitation films than proper Bond films but the less serious tone suits Moore's strengths and they're the first entries that break free from the stale look the franchise fell into starting with YOLT. Moore also still looks relatively young and vigorous in his first two films and that matters quite a bit when trying to sell him as an action hero and sex symbol. But then I'm kind of weird as I consider fan favorite TSWLM to be a beautiful chore and much prefer the silly Moonraker.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by koberulz

No, but the first two Moore films are easily the worst two in the entire series.

Arguably, maybe. But easily? Not a chance. The previously discussed A View To A Kill could also be considered to be the worst, and I've read good cases for Diamonds Are Forever, Moonraker, Die Another Day or Spectre, or several other titles people don't take a liking to. Frankly, I'd rather watch those first two Moore films any day of the week and twice on Sunday before reaching for most of the Brosnan output.

[koberulz]

I grew up with Brosnan as Bond, so those films work for me on that level (even though I never saw them at the time, I was aware of the character).

Live and Let Die has that awful voodoo-is-real bullshit, and sets up all the white people on one side and all the black people on the other side, along with a whole lot of other more minor casual racism. Golden Gun is just atrocious, most notably that damn slide whistle ruining what would otherwise have been its one redeeming moment.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by koberulz

Live and Let Die has that awful voodoo-is-real bullshit, and sets up all the white people on one side and all the black people on the other side, along with a whole lot of other more minor casual racism.

It doesn't depict voodoo as "real"... it depicts it as ambiguous.

Strutter and Quarrel Jr. aren't white and they are on the same side as Bond & Felix, etc.

The only overtly racist character in the film is depicted as a complete buffoon.

Originally Posted by koberulz

Golden Gun is just atrocious, most notably that damn slide whistle ruining what would otherwise have been its one redeeming moment.

Imaginative production design (Scaramanga's hideout, the half-sunken Queen Elizabeth), gorgeous location work particularly in Thailand, a more nuanced-less jokey performance from Moore including the scene with Andrea in Hong Kong, Christopher Lee's performance as Scaramanga, a line regarded as one of the wittiest in the entire series (Forever hold your piece)... yeah, the spiral jump was its one redeeming moment And that stunt is still good enough to overcome the slide whistle anyway.

[Ruemorgue10]

Originally Posted by koberulz

Golden Gun is just atrocious, most notably that damn slide whistle ruining what would otherwise have been its one redeeming moment.

I've lightened up on TMWTGG over the years a bit, but I would be lying if I said it wasn't a disappointment considering it had the potential to be so much more.

[drush9999]

I'd take Golden Gun over Diamonds or View to a Kill any day of the week.

[captainsolo]

I will defend the Mankiewicz trilogy until the end of time.

Goldeneye still has one of my all time favorite mixes and the sound design is an incredible ride for a series just stepping into modern digital sound. I even love the heavy bass Dolby track from all the early releases. The DTS Laserdisc is best overall but the sad truth is that the Laserdisc is so good (it’s my suggestion for overall best release on the format across the board) that it is arguably still the best way to watch the film due to the consistent screwups of MGM, Lowry and others.

The Serra score is marvelous but they shouldn’t have mixed it down so much. I don’t know what they expected when hiring the guy who scored Leon-but they apparently didn’t want Barry for some strange reason and again rejected him on TND in favor of Arnold.

[CHASLS2]

Originally Posted by drush9999

I'd take Golden Gun over Diamonds or View to a Kill any day of the week.

I will take Moonraker over all the others brother.

[BenjaminG]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Enjoy GoldenEye - HATE the music (with a passion), hate the cheesy sound effects. First Bond in native 5.1 digital and the sound library is straight out of the late '60s for gunfire and ricochets. BOOOOO.

That said, the 4K version shown on HULU was very nice looking. Too bad you don't do streaming, there's a gem or two out there when it isn't available physically.

I too really struggle with the audio mix. The same explosion sound effect is heard throughout the film. It's so obvious.

Can you please elaborate on the 4K version? I have been eagerly awaiting feedback on it for what seems like ages!