The James Bond Thread

[MrBarlow]

James Bond fans will have plenty to feast on if they subscribe to Amazon’s Prime Video.

The streamer announced Thursday that 25 James Bond films — including the most recent installment, No Time to Die — will be available to watch on Oct. 5, along with The Sound of 007, a feature documentary from filmmaker Mat Whitecross about the six-decade history of music in the James Bond franchise. (No Time to Die is already streaming on Prime in certain markets.)

The 25 films coming to Prime Video in the U.S., U.K., Australia, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, Southeast Asia, Mexico and other regions of Latin America, excluding Brazil, for a limited time are Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, Spectre and No Time To Die.

[trebor8273]

Originally Posted by MrBarlow

James Bond fans will have plenty to feast on if they subscribe to Amazon’s Prime Video.

The streamer announced Thursday that 25 James Bond films — including the most recent installment, No Time to Die — will be available to watch on Oct. 5, along with The Sound of 007, a feature documentary from filmmaker Mat Whitecross about the six-decade history of music in the James Bond franchise. (No Time to Die is already streaming on Prime in certain markets.)

The 25 films coming to Prime Video in the U.S., U.K., Australia, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, Southeast Asia, Mexico and other regions of Latin America, excluding Brazil, for a limited time are Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, Spectre and No Time To Die.

They had them on last year or beginning of this after they got rites but we're only on a couple of months wonder if they will stay on longer this time

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Do Amazon not know they are on ITV every single weekend?

[Susan Foreman]

Odds shorten on Matt Smith for next James Bond / Screen OD

"...Former Doctor Who star Matt Smith has had his odds slashed by bookies in the race to become the replacement for Daniel Craig as 007, James Bond himself.

The 39-year-old Brit has seen the odds on him becoming Bond shorten from 40/1 to just 20/1 in a week, with commentators citing his starring performance in Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon as the reason for the rapid shift in the betting market..."

It might work...*IF* James Bond was an alien!

[MacWantsTheFlamethrower]

Hello everyone, haven't been round these parts for awhile amidst a lot going on in my life, but I was reminded of here after spending a lot more time than usual watching films so I figured it was about time I came back.

I was going to post in the What Films Have You Seen Recently thread, but I had the joy of being able to see the 60th Anniversary screenings of most of the series, I thought it might be more appropriate to put my reviews and thoughts here instead if that's alright?

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Yes, post them here – I look forward to reading your reviews.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

Yes, post them here – I look forward to reading your reviews.

Me too!

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

Go for it!

[MacWantsTheFlamethrower]

Thanks everyone, it's good to be back after getting to a point where I'm doing pretty okay, speaking of pretty okay...

The Mid 80’s! Amstrad Era Computers! Duran Duran! Dolph Lundgren cameo! Hey, am I Walken here? Because it’s A VIEW TO A KILL!

Roger Moore’s final Bond outing, this is not really a sendoff or finale however, just the last with Moore, and it reveals itself as a slapdash remake of GOLDFINGER with an amazing villain and some 80’s contemporary elements thrown in along with some proto-Dalton Era moments John Glen is trying out which don’t really gel with the typical Moore comedy.

It was impossible to ignore Moore’s age at this point, but in the films somewhat defence they originally planed for Barbara Bach to return in AVAaK as Amasova from THE SPY WHO LOVED ME. It's a shame Bach never returned, Moore's age could have been leant into a little more with her there as Amasova as a subtle callback so show the years passed, and given the film a subtle nod to the passing years. This is also Lois Maxwell’s final appearance as Moneypenny. She even goes on the field on the race track in a nice scene of the gang together for the last time. With this in mind with the overall gear changing the series would take, I feel there was a missed opportunity to have Bond finally make good on his promise to ask her out. A shot of them walking together at the end or of them sitting down to dinner could have put a nice sign of a somewhat end of the Classic Bond era, sent off the actors on a nice note, and let Moore go out with a bit of class which is what he deserved.

As for the Bond Girl, Sutton, herself, Tanya Roberts feels like she's being told to play two different characters at times. Her appearance at Zorin’s manor and the rocksalt shotgun sets her up as being ready for shit he could throw, but then she becomes a bit of a damsel later despite taking precautions to defend herself. That said, the image of Bond descending the ladder during the city hall fire I can't help but think encapsulates Moore compared to the other Bonds, the one who always saves the girl and never flinches. This is why the attempt at romance is a misstep. It makes Bond look lecherous as opposed to the gentleman knight intervening to assist, that the moment with him sitting guard with the shotgun implies. The film ends with him getting along famously with someone that feels way too young for him. Moore was done a bit of a disservice here if you ask me.

Lets face it though, if you know anything about this film you’re here for three things: Christopher Walken, Grace Jones and the music. Max Zorin as far as individual villains go is among the best the films have to offer, a gloriously massive CEO wanker who guns down dozens while cackling, breeds Super Horses, plots to blow up Silicon Valley and enjoys absolutely every minute of it. Along with his MMA super strength girlfriend and bodyguard they make what was by a now a retread into a romp that’s worth seeing at least once.

If there's an issue with Zorin it is in the odd mixing of two motifs, modern computing and blood doping but the latter falls to the wayside after the horse race sequence aside from the revelation that he’s a KGB backed SUPER NAZI, which doesn’t really effect things. Compare to GOLDFINGER where gold is the singular theme for the titular villain. Who cares about thematic cohesion when you have blimp dynamite and an axe though, eh?

On the music itself, the title song along with LIVE AND LET DIE’s are the yardstick to judge all others that aren’t belted out by a Welsh singer, and the reprise of the melody is a high point of Barry’s work for the series. Another high point is He’s Dangerous, one of the best action themes of the time, who knew ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE needed an electric guitar on top?

I haven’t said too much about Moore himself aside from his age, but he’s as fun as he usually is, and as misplaced as the edgier moments are, he does occasionally give proof he could have handled the tone of the coming films with aplomb if he had the chance back when.

A VIEW TO A KILL is a nostalgic favourite of mine I'll admit. There’s still that Moore charm (“I’m English!”), some fun vehicle sequences and the sense of fun that reminds you why you always end up watching it when it comes on ITV, but I feel it should have let the patterns go (The at the time cliche getting along famously ending for one) and let Moore go out on a classier note, and tightened the narrative a bit more.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Excellent write up, Mac.

Look forward to more.

The thing with Bond being lecherous stands out a bit because only two films back he was rightly spurning the advances of Lynn Holly Johnson.

Then again. It was Tanya Roberts. He'd probably seen Sheena.