Bond Retrospective: "Tomorrow Never Dies"

Released: 1997

Actor: Pierce Brosnan

Villain: Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce)

Henchman: Stamper

Allies: Wade

Bond Girl: Paris Carver (Teri Hatcher), Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh)

First Appearance: none worth reporting

Precredits sequence: Bond stops a terrorist organization's possession of nuclear missiles, and stops a missile sent there by other world forces from tart origins that base and creating a huge nuclear explosion.

Plot: Eliot Carver is controlling the news, destroying a British ship, the Devonshire, and Chinese planes to instigate a conflict. Also mentioned releasing software with bugs to ensure many future upgrades. M notices that one of Carver's satellites sent a signal before the ship attack, which may have caused it took off course. She sends Bond to Hamburg, with a spiffy new car courtesy of Q, to investigate Carver. Bond had a relationship with Carver's wife, Paris, before she was married. Paris helps feed a little information to Bond, and Carver kills her as a results. However, Bond gets the GPS encoder, and sees the Chinese agent there as well. They both escape, and Bond has Wade and his colleagues discover that the encode could've been used to set the Devonshire off course. So, Bond goes to find the actual location of the Devonshire. There, Bond encounter Lin, but they're both captured by Carver, yet manage to escape and team up. Lin says she was investigating Carver before, regarding a stealth vessel, and Bond says it must be a ship, which is how he got close enough to mess with the Devonshire. They search and find the stealth, and are able to warn the British government in time. Lin is captured, and Bond is thought dead. Carver intends to send a missile to Beijing, and wait for Chinese retaliation against the British. And Carver will get Chinese broadcasting rights for a century. As the British ship Bedford starts to destroy the stealth ship, Bond and Lin make their escape, with Stamper eliminated and Carver getting the grind, literally.

Thoughts: Plot: this movie had some good lines, notably, and i paraphrase, "Cunning linguist. Don't ask. Don't tell." Between M and Moneypenny. Overall, the media mogul storyline was rather cool, it was good to see someone in power in a very different way, seeking domination through media, not politics. Carver was actually a good villain. Stamper was a typical henchman, but Lin was a good Bond girl, because like XXX before her, she was a good match for Bond. Overall, a solid Bond film, which I think is the overall theme of the Brosnan films: solid, middle-of-the-road bond. And Wade is back again. Where's Felix? Did he retire after his wife's death?

 

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Bond Retrospective: "Goldeneye"

Released: 1995

Actor: Pierce Brosnan

Villain: Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean)

Henchman: Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen), Boris (Alan Cumming)

Allies: Jack Wade (Joe Don Baker), Zukovsky (Robbie Coltrane)

Bond Girl: Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco)

First Appearance: Samantha Bond as Monneypenny, Dench as M, Brosnan as Bond

Precredits sequence: Bond, working with Trevelyan (006), attempt to infiltrate a Russian base headed by Orulov, but the mission goes wrong, Alec is apparently killed, and Bond barely escapes.

Plot: Bond sees Xenia, who works for the Janus syndicate She steals tiger, goes w general to activate goldeneye and destroy weapons area in severnaya. Inside man involved. Orumov blames it on Siberian terrorists, but he killed 006 and is working with Janus. Natalya survived as did Boris. Bond goes to Russia, finds his contact, and is pointed towards janus's competitor, Zukovsky. Zutovsky will set him up for money. Janus is a Cossack, who worked ginst Russia in WWII. Bond is set up with onatopp, who takes him to Janus, who's 006. 006's parents were Cossack and killed themselves from shame; their orphan son became 006. Bond is captured with Natalya, but is caught by he Russian government, and is interrogated by mishkin, who believes they attacked severnaya. Orumovm comes in to the interrogation, kills mishkin, but Bond and Natalya escape. Orumov captures Natalya and speeds away, but Bond chases him in a tank and sees him take her onto a train. Bond stops the train, but Orumov has Natalya. Bond kills Orumov but Alec and Xenia escape. Bond escapes the train, which Alec left to explode, and Natalya hacks into Boris's account and sees that Alec is likely going to Cuba. In Cuba, Xenia attacks but Bond disposes of her rather quickly. Then, Alec tells Boris to open the satellite, which appears from under a lake. Or rather, the lake drains, revealing it. Bond is captured while Natalya aims to stop the satellite. Alec's plan is to steak funds from England, and use goldeneye to erase the transactions, as its an emp thing. The UK goes into the stone age. Natalya reprograms the launch codes, and as Boris tries to break them, Bond sets a bomb and escapes. Alec goes after him. Bond kills him, and stops the satellite by jamming it with a rod. Boris breaks through the codes too late, and he meets his fate, frozen by a chemical compound. Jack Wade, CIAcontact for this film, rescues Bond and Natalya at the end. We are against promised that James Bond will return.

Thoughts: I think Goldeneye holds a special spot for people my age. I don't think saw it when it came out. But I remember how popular the game was for N64. Immensely popular. Brosnan was also the Bond my age group grew up with. That being said, I think Goldeneye remains a stellar Bond film, one of the best. Due, in no short part, to Alec as 006, makes for an interesting foil to Bond, compared to his typical villains. Xenia was also an interesting henchman. The plot itself was also good, and the right mix between intriguing and non-convoluted. And, the theme for this film is, to me, in the top 3 Bond themes. Excellent opening credits as well, better than time after time of silhouetted men and women that Maurice Binder did for years. Brosnan is a good, but safe Bond. Not as serious as Dalton, not as charming as Moore, not as heartfelt as Lazenby, not as hard*ss as Craig, and not as good a mix of almost all the characteristics as Connery. Sort of the safest, middle of the road Bond, to me. Which isn't bad, to me, just not standout. I guess he's the most suave of them all. The mention of M's predecessor lends belief to different M but same 007. Bond's patents died in climbing accident so he's an orphan. Soundtrack is quite annoying and way too prominent, especially at the start of the film. But this remains, I think, Brosnan's best film, and one of the best of the series.

 

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Bond Retrospective: "License To Kill"

Released: 1989

Actor: Timothy Dalton

Villain: Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi)

Henchman: Krest, Dario

Allies: Felix Leiter, Sharkey

Bond Girl: Pam Bouvier (Carey Lowell), Lupe Lamora (Talisa Soto)

First Appearance: Q as a field agent

Precredits sequence: Enroute to Felix's wedding, a drug kingpin named Sanchez is located in the US. With Bond's assistance, Felix captures the man in time to parachute to his wedding.

Plot: Sanchez is captured, and Felix gets married. However, the cop Felix trusted betrays him, freeing Sanchez for $2 million, and Sanchez takes revenge, killing Felix's wife and feeding Felix's leg to a shark. Bond wants revenge, but M strips away his license to kill. Bond goes rogue, and tracks Sanchez to the island of isthmus. There, he infiltrates inside, and meets with former army pilot Pam, who assists him in taking down Sanchez at the end.

Thoughts: Much, much better than I remember it. I wrote of the dalton films before as boring and bland, but they're pretty good. They're more plot oriented, this one w a bit more character-driven, showing Bond's need to avenge his friend. It's is what we needed after OHMSS, not that short precredits revenge sequence in DAF. Benicia del Toro was rather standout as an evil henchman. And it's a bit atypical, Bond going rogue, and dealing with the drug trade. Although, the drug thing was covered in LALD. Overall, good movie, and it would've been interesting to see more of Dalton in the role. It took six years for the next film, Goldeneye.

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Bond Retrospective: "The Living Daylights"

Released: 1987

Actor: Timothy Dalton

Villain: Brad Whitaker (Joe Don Baker)

Henchman: General Koskov (Jeroen Krabbe), Necrosis

Allies: Felix Leiter, Kamran Shah, Pushkin

Bond Girl: Kara Milovy (Maryam d'Abo)

First Appearance: Dalton as Bond. Caroline Bliss as Moneypenny.

Frequent reappearance: Gogol yet again!

Precredits sequence: A 00 agent training mission goes wrong as multiple agents die, only to be stopped by Bond.

Plot: Bond helps a fellow agent bring a supposed KGB defector, Koskov, over to the UK, but Bond first has to stop a KGB sniper from killing him. When he sees the sniper is a girl, Kara, he hesitates and misses the shot. Koskov escapes, and states he defected because Pushkin in Russia is trying to kill US and UK agents and set them against each other. The KGB eventually comes and frees Koskov, but in reality, it wasn't the KGB but Necros. Whitaker, an arms dealer, is trying to have Pushkin killed, and is aiming to trade diamonds for weapons for opium, more or less. Along the way, Bond finds himself in Afghanistan, helping the local resistance against the Russians, destroying the opium, and in the end, stopping Whitaker and Koskov, and saving Kara from punishment as a defector.

Thoughts: A much more serious tone than the recent Moore outings, TLD has a plot-centered story that admittedly makes sense when watching, but in hindsight becomes a bit foggy. A lot of stuff happens in this film, making it perhaps one of the most involved but interesting Bond plot lines. Dalton is a good Bond, playing the character much more serious. Even the one-liners sound serious. Apparently Dalton tried to play it closer to Fleming's style. Overall, a very good film, much better than I remembered it, and especially after the silliness of AVTAK.

 

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Bond Retrospective: "A View To A Kill"

Released: 1985

Actor: Roger Moore

Villain: Max Zorin (Christopher Walken)

Henchman: May Day

Allies: Chuck Lee

Bond Girl: Stacey Sutton (Tanya Roberts)

First Appearance: none worth mentioning

Notable Reappearance: Gogol

Precredits sequence: Bond obtains a microchip from a fallen 00 agent, and skies down to safety to an icicle ship.

Plot: In short, Zorin wants to destroy Silicon Valley by blowing up two fault lines, and sinking the area. Then, he will likely retain a greater control of the market. Bond catches wind when he realizes the captured microchip is designed to withstand an EMP. Bond learns more about Zorin during his horse auction, and learns that he's using steroids to amp up his horses. Bond survives an assassination attempt, and with the help of Stacey Sutton, tries to find out more about Zorin's plans, when he attempts to kill them in a building. Bond saves them both, and travels to the mines, where with May Day's sacrifice, he destroys the bomb set to sink Silicon Valley, and disposes of Zorin and his henchmen.

Thoughts: Too long a movie. What happened to the brief, solid running times of the Connery era? This film is too long and bloated. The plot itself was interesting enough, but the movie felt too long for what the plot itself was. That being said, I fell asleep near the end, and missed a bunch of action scenes that probably didn't add much to the overall picture. Zorin was a good enemy, as Walken is a good actor. More looks entirely too old. The camp is still there. It's a good thing the Moore era ended, and a shame he didn't have consistently good material like TSWLM.

 

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Bond Retrospective: "Octopussy"

Released: 1983

Actor: Roger Moore

Villain: Orlov (Steven Berkoff)

Henchman: Kamal Khan, Gobinda

Allies: none of significance

Bond Girl: Octopussy (Maud Adams)

First Appearance: Moneypenny's assistant, Penelope Smallbone. Robert Brown as M.

Frequent Reappearance Alert: Russian spy leader Gogol

Precredits sequence: Bond tries to infiltrate into a place as a foreign officer, is caught, and escapes in a plane, having to stop for gas.

Plot: General Orlov of Russia is against Russia joining NATO disarmament, and feels it will weaken Russian power. This, he plans to have a bomb blow up in American space in Germany, causing Europe to disarm, and allowing him to conquer with ease. To do this, he uses Kamal Khan, a foreign prince, to get in ties with Octopussy, a circus owner, under the guise of smuggling jewelry. Which is how Bond was involved, after 009 is killed with a fake faberge egg in hand. Bond travels to India, eventually uncovers the plot, and is able to stop the bomb, all while dressed as a clown. Then, he recuses Octopussy from Khan, as he and the turbaned Gobinda meet their doom. And we are promised a return in AVTAK.

Thoughts: One of the weakest Moore films to date. I still think DAF was a weaker film, but this isn't far off. The plot itself, with the bomb and disarmament, was fine. But there's also a lot of wasted time, and overall the execution wasn't great. Moore also is showing his age as Bond. It's not the worst, but definitely not the best. And the sad part is, the Moore era campiness is getting commonplace, basically, so this almost feels right at home in this Bond era.

 

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Bond Retrospective: "For Your Eyes Only"

Released: 1981

Actor: Roger Moore

Villain: Kristatos (Julian Glover)

Henchman: Locque

Allies: Colombo (Topol)

Bond Girl: Melina (Carole Bouquet)

First Appearance: none worth reporting

Precredits sequence: Bye bye, Blofeld! While visiting his late wife's grave, a plane comes for Bond, but is remote controlled by a quippy, never-directly-named Blofeld. Blofeld's plan fails as Bond regains control of the plane and throws Blofeld down a chimney, seemingly to his doom.

Plot: The ATAC, a submarine transmitter, is lost along with a US sub. Someone involved with the ATAC is killed on a boat with his wife, as his daughter, Melina, watches. Bond is sent to find the assassin, but is met by the daughter. The assassin dies, and Bond escapes. Bond sees a payment exchange for the murder, however, and using Q's facial identity software, tracks the guy to Italy, site of a former Winter Olympics. The octagon-glassed guy, Locque, is said to be working for the dove, a smuggler. Bond connects with Kristatos, a key informant against the dove, aka Colombo. Unfortunately, he's captured by the dove, only to find that the dove is the good guy here, and Kristatos is setting him up. Bond and Melina retrieve the ATAC from the downed sub, but Kristatos captures it. Bond, Melina, and Colombo head to the drop off point, where Kristatos plans to sell the ATAC to the Russians, and stops him. Colombo kills him, the Russians leave empty handed, and in a recent Bond tradition, M tries to reach him only to find him playing games as he makes love to someone. This time, he has a parrot talk to Margaret Thatcher. We're promised a return in Octopussy.

Thoughts: The camp is mostly gone in this more serious Moore installment. And it does the series good. No Pepper, no slightly goofy henchman. It feels very real, and the double cross twist in the middle was cool. Melina is also a bit of a headstrong Bond girl, which was nice. And the plot was a medium level severity, no stopping huge missiles or anything. A good change of pace for Moore.

 

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Bond Retrospective: "Moonraker"

 

 

Released: 1979

Actor: Roger Moore

Villain: Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale)

Henchman: Jaws (Richard Kiel)

Allies: Jaws

Bond Girl: Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles)

First Appearance: none of significance

Precredits sequence: A moonraker space shuttle is commandeered, causing the plane it's attached to to crash. M inquires where Bond is, and Moneypenny says he's on the last leg of an African mission. On the plane, Bond is betrayed by his flight crew and left for dead, with Jaws pushing him out the plane, but he captures one of the villain's parachute and saves himself, as Jaws tumbles into a circus.

Plot: Bond is sent to California to investigate Drax, who owns the moonraker. There, he finds that Drax was receiving glass from a place in Venice, where he heads to next. There, he encounters Dr. Goodhead, who he met at Drax's mansion. Goodhead is trying to stop Drax as well. During some spying, 007 notes something about Rio di Janiero, so he heads there next, along the way discovering a lab where two scientists die by some gas, while lab rats survived. Bond shows M the lab the next day, but it's no longer a lab. Drax works fast. Jaws tries to attack them again, and now teaming with Goodhead, they stop him. Bond gives Q a sample of the poison from the lab, an he traces it to a specific location. When Bond heads there, he's captured by Drax, as is Goodhead who got lost along the way, and are left for dead as Drax sends his moonrakers to his space station. Bond escapes, gets on board the station with Goodhead, and they are able to warn the world, who sends a space astronaut army. Bond destroys Drax's plans to destroy humanity with the poison and repopulate it with his own people, and kills Drax in the process. Jaws turns good, having fallen in love. Bond and Goodhead do what Bond usually does, when M phones in to congratulate him.

Thoughts: Terrible Bond movie, and such a blatant response to the popularity of Star Wars. The story itself was decent, but two major things ruined it for me. First, Jaws becoming less of a threat as he was in TSWLM, and more of comic relief. And second, armies in space with space lasers. Really? The plot of Drax was a bit far-fetched but interesting enough. Goodhead was rather bland, though. Overall, a very weak entry to the Bond series. At least the next movie lived up to the promise, and actually was FYEO.

 

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Bond Retrospective: "The Spy Who Loved Me"

Released: 1977

Actor: Roger Moore

Villain: Stromberg (Curt Jurgens)

Henchman: Jaws (Richard Kiel)

Allies: XXX, Captain Benson

Bond Girl: XXX aka Major Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach)

First Appearance: car turning into a submarine

Precredits sequence: A nuclear sub from the UK and USSR are stolen. General Gogol contacts his best agent, XXX, and M contacts Bond. Bond skies down the Alps, with USSR agents in pursuit, and he survives via a Union Jack parachute, unbeknownst to him, having killed XXX's lover.

Plot: Bond and XXX are sent to Cairo independently, to find out who has plans to the microfilm submarine tracking system, which Stromberg has. They eventually find the man with the microfilm, who's killed by Jaws. They confront Jaws, barely surviving with the microfilm, but Anya seduces Bond and gets the microfilm. Bond goes to field HQ, to find Gogol and M working together. Q's investigation of the film leads them to Stromberg, who plays nice when they visit his undersea station, but then tries to kill them. Bond and Anya survive via the submarine car. Anya soon learns Bond killed her lover, and vows to kill him after the mission is done. They seek help from a US submarine, only to be all captured by Stromberg's ship. Anya is captured, but Bond eventually finds out that Stromberg's plan is to destroy Moscow and the US, causing war, leading to his own vision of an undersea utopia for the remainder of humanity. Bond recalculates the missiles to destroy each other, and saves Anya and kills Stromberg before the US submarine destroys the undersea base. XXX decides not to kill Bond, and he's caught keeping the British end up by M and Gogol. Jaws survives the explosion too, swimming away. We are erringly promised FYEO next.

Thoughts: This was my favorite Bond film before Casino Royale came out, mostly because Anya was such a good match for Bond compared to what he's had so far in terms of Bond girls. Although, if that's really Russia' best, I'd expect better. I'm not sure if its now my second favorite, as I really liked FRWL and OHMSS. It's better, I think, than OHMSS as a Bond film, though. The plot was good, and more world saving than Moore's last two outings. But really, it was Anya and her match with Bond that made the film.

 

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Bond Retrospective: "The Man With The Golden Gun"

Released: 1974

Actor: Roger Moore

Villain: Scaramanga (Christopher Lee)

Henchman: Nick Nack (Herve Villechaize)

Allies: Goodnight, Hip

Bond Girl: Mary Goodnight (Britt Ekland), Andrea (Maud Adams)

First Appearance: None worth reporting

Precredits sequence: Nick Nack sets a challenge for Scaramanga to dispose of, which he does, ending with a statue of his next target, 007.

Plot: M receives a golden bullet with "007" on it, the bullet being a trademark of a million-dollar-per-hit assassin, Scaramanga. Bond is removed from all missions, and takes it upon himself to find Scaramanga. The search first leads to where he killed 002 in Beirut, Lebanon, where he finds the golden bullet used to kill him. Then, he's off to Macau to find the man who makes the guns. While there, he witnesses an energy specialist being killed by Scaramanga, and for his safety, a local MI-6 officer, Mary Goodnight, is sent to accompany him. The search leads to Scaramanga's assistant, Andrea, who offers him what MI-6 wants, a solar generator, in return for freedom. Se sent the 007 bullet to M as a sign of help. Scaramanga finds out, kills her, and kidnaps Goodnight. Bond finds his way to Scaramanga's island, eventually killing him, getting the plexus, destroying the island, and bedding Goodnight. And we are promised a return in TSWLM.

Thoughts: Much better a film that I remember it being, but JW Pepper is extremely annoying. It had the classic henchman attacks at the end, with Nick Nack, who I'm guessing inspired mini me from Austin Powers. Scaramanga was a good villain, and the mission to stop him before he kills 007 was good. Goodnight wasn't a fantastic bond girl, though. Overall decent, with still some camp, which detracts from it.

 

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Bond Retrospective: "Live And Let Die"

Released: 1973

Actor: Roger Moore

Villain: Dr. Kananga/Mr. Big (Yaphet Kotto)

Henchman: Tee Hee, Baron Samedi, Whisper

Allies: Felix Leiter, Quarrel jr, JW Pepper

Bond Girl: Rosie Carver (Gloria Hendry), Solitaire (Jane Seymour)

First Appearance: Roger Moore

Notable Absence: Q

Precredits sequence: Three secret agents investigating the ruler of a small island, Dr. Kananga, are killed at the UN, on an island, and in New Orleans.

Plot: Bond is sent to investigate the deaths of the aforementioned agents. First, he goes to Harlem, but is caught tailing Kananga's men and is to be shots, when he's saved by Strutter, a fellow CIA agent with Felix. Bond goes to Kananga's island, San Monique, and encounters Carver, who works for Kananga, and when confronted by Bond, is killed by Kananga. Bond then goes and seduces Solitaire, and they go to New Orleans, where Bond and Solitaire are captured, and Solitarie "loses" her "ability" to "read" those cards. Kananga reveals he is growing heroin, and will give two million tons for free as his alter ego gangster Mr. Big, to gain a customer base and drop everyone else out of the business, and then he would sell his product and make lots of cash. Bond is left to die with crocodiles, but he escapes. Then, he goes and saves Solitaire from death on San Monique, and saves them from death at Kananga's hands, instead blowing him up, literally. Tee Hee tries to fight him at the end, but is thrown out a window. We are promised a return in TMWTGG.

Thoughts: There's probably a lot of criticism regarding the depiction of black people in this film. That's a wholly reasonable point. However, it does make for a very different but very entertaining Bond film. We have something relatively low key: drug trafficking. We have elements of fake supernatural beliefs: tarots, voodoo. We a have a villain who's not out for domination or nuclear war, but just a heroin monopoly. It's a very different type of Bond film and sharp contrast to the Connery era. Moore fits the part well, his greatest strength being the more suave, comedic aspects. And Solitaire is to me the most attractive Bond girl probably in the entire series, very feminine and played well by Seymour. And, the song rocks. Overall, an interesting way to introduce Moore as Bond. And notably funny use of words like "pimpmobile."

 

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Bond Retrospective: "Diamonds Are Forever"

Diamonds Are Forever

 

Released: 1971

 

Actor: Sean Connery

 

Villain: Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Charles Gray)

 

Henchman: Mr. Wint, Mr. Kidd

 

Allies: Felix Leiter

 

Bond Girl: Tiffany Case (Jill St. John)

 

First Appearance: none of significance

 

Precredits sequence: Bond tracks Blofeld down, and seemingly kills him in revenge while uncovering his cloning facility.

 

Plot: Bond, with operation bedlam thought to be complete, is assigned to track down a diamond smuggling ring. Bond fakes himself as one of the smugglers, and gets invoked with a girl, Tiffany Case. The real smuggler tracks him down, but Bond kills him and smuggles the diamonds inside the smuggler's corpse. At the funeral home, the next chain in the ring finds that the diamonds are fake, as Felix Leiter has the real diamonds. Bond then goes to Vegas, to meet the next part of the chain, involving a guy called Wllard Whyte. Case gives the diamonds to the next chain, Saxby, and Bond follows him into a laboratory, where a space laser is being built. Bond escapes in a ridiculous moon buggy chase, and later Bond climbs into Whyte's room to find that he's Blofeld. Bond realizes the diamonds are used for the laser, goes to the sea area where the laser is, and eventually destroys it with Tiffany's help. Blofeld's goons, try to get him at the end, but Bond disposes of them, and we are promised LALD.

 

Thoughts: Terrible Bond movie. Unnecessarily complicated plot, Blofeld was different yet again, the henchman were a joke, some scenes (car tipping?) were just ridiculous. And Bond just lost his wife. All we got was a precredits revenge sequence, and now he's good? I think when younger, I didn't get the plots to any Bonds, so this seemed fun. Now, seeing how good the earlier Connery films were, this one is like nonsense. A sign of things to come, I guess, with the Moore era. Oh well.

 

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Bond Retrospective: "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"

Released: 1969

 

Actor: George Lazenby

 

Villain: Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Terry Savalas)

 

Henchman: Irma Bunt

 

Allies: None of significance

 

Bond Girl: Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo aka Tracy (Diana Rigg)

 

First Appearance: George Lazenby

 

Precredits sequence: Bond saves a girl, Tracy, from drowning herself, only to have her run off. Reference is made to this not happening to the "other guy."

 

Plot: After the precredits sequence, Bond follows Tracy to a fancy club, where he bails her out of making a card game move she couldn't afford. Then, he's kidnapped by some goons, who take her to meet Tracy's father. The father states that Tract is a bit hard to handle, and he wants Bond to marry her in exchange for information on Blofeld. At a subsequent meeting, Tracy is aware vaguely of this deal, and forces her dad tontell Bond that there's a lawyer in Sweden linked with Blofeld. On a two week leave, Bond and Tracy become very close. Meanwhile, he investigates the lawyer, and finds he's dealing with a count in the alps. Bond heads there, finding Bunt, many women, and a count with a strong research focus on allergies. Eventually, the count reveals himself as Blofeld, and his plan is to stop growth of all crops unless his ransom is accepted: complete amnesty. Fortunately, Bond and company are able to destroy the compound, stopping Blofeld's plan, which involves mind controlling several "patients." Blofeld and Bunt escape. Bond and Tracy marry, but on their first drive as a married couple, Blofeld passes by, and kills Tracy. Bond, saddened, cries into a lifeless Tracy's body. And we are promised Diamonds Are Forever.

 

Thoughts: Lazenby is a underrated Bond. I don't think he pulls of the macho Bond as well, and his one liners don't come out as slick as Connery's. However, he brings a certain humanity and emotion to the role that Connery lacked. Lazenby portrays Bond as more caring. Still a womanizer, but it's not as convincing. But a gentler Bond. I couldn't really see Connery convincingly falling in love with Tracy enough to marry her, but Lazenby pulled it off. The movie itself is a mixed bag. I liked the romantic parts, actually, and usually I'm not a fan of that in movies. But it helped Bond grow as a character. But the plot was just decent. I know the volcano was destroyed in YOLT, but what happened to the rest of SPECTRE? Why is Blofeld alone with Bunt? Here are his right eye scars? And how did he not recognize Bond at first? These loose ends something detract from the story. The emotional core Lazenby brings to the role really carries this movie, and makes him a standout Bond, despite being in only one film. But, for revenge, Connery's your guy, and he's returning in DAF.

 

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Bond Retrospective: "You Only Live Twice"

Released: 1967



Actor: Sean Connery



Villain: Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Donald Pleasence)



Henchman: Mr. Osato, Ms. Brandt



Allies: "Tiger" Tanaka



Bond Girl: Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi), Kissy (Mie)



First Appearance: Blofeld in the flesh



Precredits sequence: A US spacecraft is captured by an unknown opponent ship, and the US blames the Russians, but evidence shows that it was launched from Japan. MI-6 has Bond in Hong Kong, who's suddenly killed.



Plot: Bond's funeral was a ploy, and his death was faked. Bond is sent to Japan to investigate the rocket, and is sent to find a Mr. Henderson, who dies shortly into their meeting. Aki, an ally, eventually leads him to the head of Japan's secret service, Tiger. Bond shows him a picture of a suspicious boat, likely obtained from briefing with M, and they discover an island which is suspicious. Q arrives with little helicopter Little Nellie, and Bond surveys the islands to no avail. Later, leads point again to the island, so with his cover and agent fake wife intact, he finds the volcano is a SPECTRE base, with Blofeld inside aiming to turn the US against Russia to obtain world domination. Tiger and his ninjas come to the rescue, and Bond stops Blofeld from destroying the recently launched second American spacecraft; Blofeld escapes. We are promised Bond's return in OHMSS.



Thoughts: Finally, the big reveal of Blofeld! Good makeup, and good character design. It's obviously where Dr. Evil came from. Shame that his appearance keeps changing over the next couple of films, rather inexplicably if I remember right. A bit of a less convoluted plot than Thunderball, and a nice change of scenery, with aspects of Japanese culture. A bit chauvinistic, too, with men coming first in Japan, supposedly. Overall, a nice way to temporarily end Connery's bond career.

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Bond Retrospective: "Thunderball"

Released: 1965

Actor: Sean Connery

Villain: Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi)

Henchman: Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi)

Allies: Felix Leiter, Paula Caplan, Pinder

Bond Girl: Domino Derval (Claudine Auger)

First Appearance: Q in the field, jetpack, SPECTRE meeting

Precredits sequence: Bond attends the funeral for Colonel J. Bouvar, and deduces that Bouvar is alive, kills him, and escapes via jetpack.

Plot: Bond recuperates at a clinic, where he meets Colonel Lippe. The colonel is working for SPECTRE. Largo, aka number two, attends a big meeting, where a hidden Blofeld disposes of a disloyal member, and informs everyone of Largo's plan to hold two nuclear bombs hostage. Back at the recovery home, Bond encounters a bandaged man, Angelo, who turns out to be a SPECTRE hire who trained for two years to look like NATO pilot Derval, who's seduced by Fiona Volpe, a SPECTRE agent who's working with Lippe. Derval is killed, and replaced by his doppelgänger, who commandeers the NATO plane and delivers it into Largo's hands before being killed by Largo. Blofeld then makes an offer to the US and UK for £100 million, or a city will be destroyed. Bond is deployed to Nassau, Bahamas, where he finds the late Derval's sister, Domino, who's in a relationship with Largo. Bond also encounters Volpe, who seduces and tries to capture him, but dies in the process. Bond uses Domino's help to find out where Largo is holding the bombs, and with the help of Leiter and their Nassau ally Pinder, they are able to get help to stop the bombs. Domino kills Largo in revenge, and they are rescued to safety.

Thoughts: I definitely feel that I enjoyed the film much more this time than the first time around. The underwater battle was actually rather cool. I kinda wish I could've seen it on the big screen, to feel as if I were there. I liked the plot this time, too. A little more saving the world than Goldfinger, although the mix of different levels of severity in plots is important. Largo was a decent villain, but I really like how SPECTRE is such a prominent factor. It's something that went missing, that sort of continuity, in the Moore films and beyond, until they reintroduced it in Casino Royale. I hear Skyfall isn't part of that threat, but neither was Goldfinger. Overall, a very good entry. Connery comes across as a good balance between the serious and comedic Bond.

 

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Bond Retrospective: "Goldfinger"

Released: 1965

 

Actor: Sean Connery

 

Villain: Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe)

 

Henchman: Oddjob

 

Allies: Felix Leiter

 

Bond Girl: Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman)

 

First Appearance: Aston Martin, "I never joke about my work" - Q

 

Precredits sequence: Bond destroys a building, and then is almost killed while making love, stopping his opponent in a positively shocking manner.

 

Plot: After the precredits sequence, Bond is relaxing in Miami, when M sends Felix Leiter with a message: track Auric Goldfinger. The CIA has nothing on him, but they and MI-6 know that he is amassing large amounts of money offshore. Bond stops him fom cheating at cards, and beds his assistant, Jane Masterson, only to find her very golden and very dead a bit later. Bond makes a quick stop in England, where Q gives him a decked out Aston Martin. Bond travels back to the US, where he plays golf with Auric, and sees Oddjob's hat trick. Then he encounters Tilly, the sister of Jane, who's on a personal vendetta to kill Goldfinger, and they have a car chase, but she eventually falls for the aforementioned hat trick. Bond is captured, almost demasculinized by a laser, and then is sent to Kentucky on a plane piloted by Goldfinger's partner, the not-so-subtly named Pussy Galore. Bond is strapped to the bomb at Fort Knox, but eventually frees himself, disposes of Oddjob, and Felix arrives just in time to stop the bomb. Thus stops Goldfinger's plans for Operation Grand Slam, supposedly to destroy the US gold reserve to instantly increase the value of Goldfinger's offshore holdings. Pussy phones Washington for help. At the end, enroute to visit the POTUS, Auric ambushes Bond's plane, and is sucked out a window. Pilot Pussy and Bond survive, and he appeals to her maternal instincts as the film ends, with the promise of Thunderball.

 

Thoughts: Widely considered the best Bond film, Goldfinger is definitely entertaining. Best film? I don't know. The villain is decent, even a bit charming. The plot is alright, but Bond spends a good chunk of the film captured. Felix aged a lot, Jamaica must've really stressed the poor guy out. Pussy isn't a great Bond girl, and only became a "good guy" at the end. Oddjob probably takes the cake for best henchman, though. Overall, another solid entry, but maybe in the grand scheme of Bond films, slightly overrated.

 

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Bond Retrospective: "From Russia With Love"

Released: 1963

 

Actor: Sean Connery

 

Villain: Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya)

 

Henchman: Donald Grant (Robert Shaw)

 

Allies: Karim Bey (Pedro Armendariz)

 

Bond Girl: Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi)

 

First Appearance: Major Boothroyd aka Q (Desmond Llelywn), pretitles sequence, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (arm and cat only), "James Bond Will Return"

 

Plot: After the demise of Dr. No, Blofeld recruits number three, Rosa Klebb, and number five to devise a plot to steal the Russian coding maching, called the Lektor. The plan involves using Klebb's status as head of Russian intelligence, SMERSH, and the British secret service. Using number five's knowledge that the British would do anything to get their hands on a Lektor, even if it smelled like a trap, he had Klebb choose a good girl to play the Russian role. She sends word to M that this girl is in love with Bond, and will give up the Lektor. They send Bond to Turkey, where he meets with Kerim Bey. Klebb and her henchman, Grant, set the Russians against the Turkish. Eventually, Bond encounters Tatiana, and she gets him the Lektor. Bond and Tatiana and Bey escape on a train. Bey is killed by a Russian policeman. Grant comes on board to fulfill the plan and kill Bond and get the Lektor. Bond uses Q's fancy suitcase to distract Grant, killing him, and escaping with Tatiana. Number five is killed by Klebb's boot for his failure, and Klebb attempts to get the Lektor from Bond's hotel room, but Tatiana saves him, and kills Klebb. Bond and Tatiana enjoy their time in Venice at the end, and we get the promise that Bond will return in Goldfinger.

 

Thoughts: A solid follow-up to Dr. No, with a more focused story, smaller in scope. We got a better look at SPECTRE, after the tease in the prior film. We also got our introduction to the gadgets via Q branch, which will become a longstanding tradition henceforth. The villain was interesting, almost like a little witch. And the Bond girl, by her duplicitous initial nature, made for an interesting interaction with Bond. Overall, a solid film, and helping to make Connery arguably one of the best Bonds.

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TV Review: "The Walking Dead" 302

This show is so good, so well done in terms of tone and characterization and character development and acting. And it benefitted so much from the many deaths if had throughout the last season. The core group now are more developed, and I feel the audience is closer to them as a result. This entire episode took place in the prison, immediately after the discovery of the locked prisoners last episode. Turns out this small group of five were trapped in the cafeteria, and were able to survive on whatever rations were available. Rick and company freed them inadvertently after breaking into the area with the injured Hershel. The main prisoner didn't take to these newbies well, and Rick seemed to sense this and made a quick escape. They got back to their cell, but the prisoners followed. Through aggressive negotiations, they cut a deal: half of the rations go to Rick's group, and in return, they'll help them free a cell block for the prisoners. Unfortunately, one prisoner got injured in the scapular area, and the prisoner leader put him down without much though. Red flag. Then, he threw a walker on top of Rick. Lori told Rick to do what he needs to, to keep the prison safe. And so he did, killing th email prisoner in return, trapping another one with some walkers. However, he spared the remaining two, and gave them their cell block. Meanwhile, Hershel eventually woke up after a brief CPR session from Lori. And the other lady (Gloria? Carol?) got a walker of her own to practice a C-section on.

 

I feel we can see Rick's stress and plight as a leader. The burden of all these things are falling to him, such as putting people's lives at risk, killing threats, etc. that has affected their marriage, which basically seems in ruins. Meanwhile, Carl is growing to be just as stubborn and strong as Rick, without the common sense. This was a good episode, but I have a feeling the prison is like a haunted house, with new threats and problems bound to turn up.

 

And next week, it looks like we are back to Michonne and Andrea.... and the governor!

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Bond Retrospective: "Dr. No"

Released: 1962

Actor: Sean Connery

Villain: Dr. No (Robert Wiseman)

Henchman: Three Blind Mice

Allies: Felix Leiter, Quarrel

Bond Girl: Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress)

First Appearance: M, Moneypenny, SPECTRE, Felix Leiter


Plot: A missing operative sets Bond on a mission to discover his whereabouts. The operative was investigating Dr. No, and he and his secretary were killed by the three blind mice. Bond goes to the Caribbean to investigate, finding an ally in CIA operative Felix Leiter and his partner, Quarrel. They deduce that the dead operative was investigate Dr. No's Crab Island. A trip there leads to death for Quarrel, introduction to first Bond girl Honey Ryder, and an encounter with Dr. No, who is investigating a way to destroy American missiles for SPECTRE. Bond destroys the station and Dr. No meets his doom. Bond is rescued from his stranded boat by Leiter.


Thoughts: A good introduction to Bond, and to the underlying theme for the Connery era films, SPECTRE. There's a lot of ballyhoo for the first Bond girl, Honey Ryder. I see the appeal, but there were good Bond girls after her as well. The story itself is straightforward, not too convoluted, and shows the essential characteristics of the Bond: loves women, loves vodka martinis, skilled card player, no nonsense, and good one-liners. We were introduced to his gun, the Walter PPK, after he had to give up his baretta in the beginning. We saw M and Moneypenny, both rather briefly. Overall, a solid Bond movie, a good introduction, and a taste of what's to come.


 

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TV Review: "The Walking Dead" (301)

Season 3, Episode 1

Another one bites the dust. They got Hershel! Most likely, at least, as it's unclear if he really took the bullet at the end. A rather gruesome amputation, though. This series started off with a takeover of the prison. The group survived the winter, but you can see relations are stressed, and stress is high. Especially amongst Rick and Lori, who aren't even on speaking terms, really. A side story involves Michonne and the other girl who's name currently escapes me, along with Michonne's zombie duo. Man, those guys are creepy cool. They also survived the winter, but Andrea (googled it) has taken a bit sick. Michonne fights to get some aspirin for her, but Andrea knows they have to keep moving, and move onwards they do. Onwards to Woodbury, let's see the guvnor! Back at the prison, Rick and company free a prison cell block, but while navigating some dark corridors, Hershel gets himself bit, leading to the aforementioned amputation. As the team supports Rick's newfound surgical skills, a group of likely non-walker prisoners looks on. More people!

Overall, a stellar first episode. This show has been consistently good at capturing the tone and feel of what it's probably like to live there. And it's scary. And probably smelly, their clothes look so stinky and dirty. Wonderful makeup job. And the zombies are as cool as ever, wonderful makeup and design. Hopefully this season isn't as slow paced as the start of the last one (she's in the barn, folks!). And I'm hoping we get a look at the governor next episode! And more Michonne, she's one bad*** chick.

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Comics Review: "Batman #13"

The Joker returns in full force to Gotham City, after a year's leave after having his face sliced off by the Dollmaker. The story starts with Jim Gordon talking about some recent superstitions people are having about a murderer, and some kind of competition he's hosting to snuff out spots or something. They go back to GCPD headquarters, to find the joker waiting for them, and he cracks their necks one by one. By the time Batman arrives, the Joker stole his face back, and left most of the cops dead. Jim is bent out of shape, and now has true fear about what's to come. Meanwhile, Joker has a lookalike, a. Italy member of his first victim in Gotham, speak as him on camera, talking about the death of the mayor. GCPD reacts accordingly, bringing a full force there. The mayor remained safe, but the whole force fell victim to a new batch of frown-inducing joker toxin. Batman and his bat family are all aware of the Joker's return, but he turns down their offer for help. Upon analysis of the new toxin, he sees a clue, ACE chemicals. Batman goes there, to find Harley Quinn forcibly impersonating Joker. The real Joker, however, is at Wayne Manor, creeping up on an unsuspecting Alfred.

Good story thus far. Joker is creepy and so violent and gruesome here, it's rather hard to watch. Just the savageness he portrayed in the GCPD HQ, it's something you'd expect TDKR's Bane to do. What Jokers intentions are is anyone's guess. Their artwork was up to the expected quality for this series. Those panels with the TV scenes were reminiscent of Miller's The Dark Knight Returns. I liked the focus in Gordon, and how we see Joker's return change the typically confident character. I'm excited to see where we go from here.

 

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Oscar Watch: "Argo"

Argo is a film detailing a formerly classified CIA mission to extract hostages from Iran during the Iranian Hostage Crisis in the early 1980s. The interesting part of this extraction was that, given the difficulty in other means of cover stories, the best bad story they concocted was that the hostages were a film crew shooting a sci-if Star Wars rip-off called Argo in Iran. Mendez, portrayed by Ben Affleck, was in charge of the operation, and had to go to Hollywood to form this fake movie, getting a producer, press release, and even an article in Variety. Then, he went to Iran to save the hostages, consisting of two married couples and another guy. They each had cover stories, and despite some mishaps along the way, they got home safe.

It was a riveting story. Ben Affleck did a solid job directing it, capturing what I imagine is the feeling of being a hostage in a foreign country. The scene where the Iranian officers pretend to execute the captured hostages was especially tense. I felt he captured the right tone, and had the actors convey the right amount if fear and anxiety going into the mission. Even though many know that the mission succeeded, the actors are so convincing in their hesitation and fear, you forget what the outcome really is. One of the best scenes is during the interrogation, when they really sell the cover story to the interrogating cops, Threepio-style sound effects and all. It's also cool that his son indirectly gave him the idea for the cover story, via watching Battle for the Planet of the Apes.

Overall, solid acting. Good humor, particularly from John Goodman and Alan Arkin as the Hollywood contacts. And a strong job by Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston, whom I didn't even recognize for most of the film. Solid, enjoyable, well-made film. I won't be surprised if it garners some oscars this year.


 

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Blu-Ray Review: "The Avengers"

This is arguably the best superhero film ever made. The strengths of this film so vastly outdo many others in this growing film genre, and it should be an example of how to correctly translate a comic book into a film. Of course, the much lauded Nolan Batman trilogy captured the spirit of Batman and the dark, brooding nature of the source material and graphic novels like Year One. But in terms of taking a long-standing comic book, capturing the light-hearted spirit yet deeper tone behind it, Avengers takes the cake.

What makes this movie so good? It's fun to watch, it's like Star Wars in that it's just a pleasure to watch. Over and over again. This is my fifth time seeing it, and it was so enjoyable. But the strength was the way the narrative was weaved through various action sequences and plot points. Sure, there was geek service, like the battles between the heroes. Who doesn't want to see the various team members face off against each other? But there's a deeper element that Whedon weaved into this. It's all about building the team. This isn't the silver age, where teams just form without any issues. We've had five movies to get to know these characters. They have their own agendas, their own egos, and their own expectations. This film is about how a team of disparate individuals can form a cohesive whole. How they learn to sacrifice and compromise to work together, like a marriage. And that's what forms the core of this film.

Just because we don't have Batman and Gordon sitting and talking about a mind-provoking issue for a few minutes, doesn't mean this movie doesn't bring up some good, philosophical points. The biggest one, I think, was brought up by loki, who came to free people from freedom. And you know what? I think he's right, to an extent. We have freedom in the US, but are we really free? We can go out, do what we want, eat where we want, date who we want. But, then, why are people so bound by society? Why do we care what people think, and let that shape our actions? Why is depression so prevalent, and why do people always complain? Because we aren't really free. We are bound by other forces, whether it be parental expectation, society's rules, or religious obligations.

As a revert, I think I understand how having less freedom makes life easier. I chose to follow the guidance and rules of a religion, and as such, I feel I have more structure in life, and life has a meaning. There's a source for answers, a meaning to life, and a goal to aspire to. I have freedom to do what I want, but your freedom come with a price if it goes against the religion. I don't follow everything, and have a long ways to go, but the parts I do follow really make my life liveable. And maybe that's why everyone should aspire to religion; it gives meaning, structure, and frees you from the confines of "freedom."

See? I took one line, which some may have thrown away, and turned it into a point of discussion. I think there were other lines like this in the film, which I wish I wrote down. Another excuse to watch it again! But this film is so good on so many different levels. Definitely one of my favorite films, maybe in my top 5. I heard some of the commentary, for scenes I wanted some clarification on, like how thor escaped the glass cage. Sadly, no mention of that. Seems like relatively lame commentary, but maybe I'll check it out at some point. Let phase 2 begin!

Seth McFarlane To Host Oscars

I'm not too sure how I feel about that. I used to really like his humor, as expressed in Family Guy. I like the slapstick, ridiculous humorous approach. So, I want to be really excited for this, but I'm not. Why? Because the oscars have a way of making funny people very un-funny. See: Chris Rock, Billy Crystal's most recent outing, and more. Hugh Jackman was a fantastic host, though. I'm curious, but not expecting a fantastic result this year.

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