We finally reach the end of the Roger Moore era of Bond with A View to a Kill. Many people cite it as a bad Bond movie, but beyond Roger looking like he’s… well, his age, it’s actually a fun film. Close your eyes any time Bond is in bed and you’ve got a fun (and zany) plot with a great villain and so many set pieces that the film never feels like slows down. Let’s take a closer look and wave goodbye to the longest serving Bond while we’re at it…
I always dislike when I get to Octopussy on a Bond watch through, and given I remember that feeling despite this being only the third time I’ve watched them all in a row goes to show how much is sticks in my mind. It’s not terrible like Diamonds are Forever, but it commits possibly an even worse sin: It’s dull as hell… and full of poor Moore-era humour. Anyway, let’s get Octopussy out of the way so I can never watch it again… unless another new format ends up releasing a nice collectors set, then… bollocks.
For Your Eyes Only is a odd Bond film, it begins and ends with extremely Roger Moore-era humour, but has a far more serious, gadget-free core story to it. That being said the story isn’t massively interesting, but hey-ho, can’t win them all, and the main story is better than the bizarre opening sequence… Anyway, let’s take a look!
“Hey, you know what’s really popular right now?” “What?” “Star Wars! Let’s do that!” “But… we’re doing Bond films, do you want to shoot Bond into space and have him firing lasers?” “Why not? It’ll be big!” “Why n… *sigh* fine. Let’s have Bond fire some space lasers.” “Hooray!”
The Spy Who Loved Me is a hard film to sum up. It has some plusses, especially mysteriously invincible henchman Jaws, but it also has one of the most stupid lead villain schemes ever and some pretty lazy writing, leading to scenes that just don’t make sense if you stop and think about them… Still, should be fun to review, if nothing else!
The Man with the Golden Gun is… a hard one to like. It annoyingly has a great lead villain in Christopher Lee’s Scaramanga, but it’s lost in a sea of poorly written and timed gags and martial arts scenes… Welcome to the Roger Moore era proper! Let’s take a closer look, then… because we must.
Live and Let Die sees Roger Moore debut as 007, and arrives right in the middle of the early 70s “blaxpoitation” era, as such it sees Bond deal with Harlem drug lords, voodoo cultists and a New Orleans funky brass band that kills people… Okay, maybe that last one wasn’t a common trope, but still! Harlem, Caribbean islands and New Orleans, that’s three stereotypical locations for the price of one! Let’s take a look and see if this actually works as a film or not in general, let alone in 2018…
Diamonds Are Forever is one of my least favourite Bond films, it has to be said. It has a lot of the silly humour that would later define the Roger Moore era of the franchise, but given it has (an admittedly older, tubbier and un-arsed) Sean Connery it just doesn’t seem to work. It also has a really unsatisfactory ending and two of the most annoying “henchmen” ever… So yeah, this isn’t going to be a pretty review!
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, otherwise known as “the George Lazenby one”, is an odd film. I’ve properly watched this three times now, once on VHS, once on DVD and now once on Blu-ray, and I think I’ve had a different opinion each time. I thought it was boring, thought it was a good spy story with a great ending, and now I’m somewhere in between the two, though leaning towards boring. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look!
You Only Live Twice is an odd one… It has great stuff like the first (and eternally parodied) Blofeld in person, the volcano lair (also parodied into oblivion) and a great set of climax scenes, but it also has the awkward 60s idea of Japan, with ninjas, “in Japan men come first, women come second, Mr. Bond-san”, and James Bond “becoming a Japanese” by being painted slightly yellow, given slightly slanty eyes and a bowl haircut… A mixed bag, but at least it’s a fun mixed bag!
