I’ve just seen the latest James Bond film, Die Another Day. This isn’t a review, though; there’s already a thread for that. I just thought it was slightly amusing that the members of the family behind me didn’t quite grasp the formula.
After establishing early in the film that the Bad Guy collects exotic cars, two of his cars are shown near the end of the film. The Mother behind me apparently saw the prancing horse on the back of the yellow Ferarri and asked The Father, “Is that a Mustang?”
After the film The Father asked The Son, “How did you like it?” The Son said, “There were too many love scenes.” (The Father pointed out to him that love scenes are integral to the James Bond formula. He said, “That’s what James Bond films are all about!”)
So nothing Earth-shattering here. The Family weren’t morons. I just thought it was funny that a Ferarri was mistaken for a Mustang, and The Son thought there were too many love scenes.
I didn’t notice an overly abundance of “love scenes.” This film moved rapidly for me. Many don’t. Some of the earlier Bond films seemed sluggish in parts. My own perception. I liked this one.
I especially like it when people start whining about how James Bond is a sexist, macho pig who demeans women, is violent, et cetera.
DUH! He’s James freakin’ Bond, working for Her Majesty’s Secret Service! He’s been a badass for 40 years, and he will NEVER change! And we LIKE it that way, dammit!
1 caveat about the movie. Why in hell did osirus(that was the name right? totally forgot already) Stop it’s sun beam when Bond was running away from it in the ice-glider?
Aside from such 50 and 60’s stereotypes such as women drive badly, in the novels Bond is respective of women and more of a knight in ahining armor than a rake.
If I recall, the most violent thing he does in OHMSS is smack a guy with a rolex, but I disremember if the skier turned into pate’ by the snowplow is in the novel. “He had a lot of guts.”
The first love scene was a bit over the top. Classicly, IIRC, the movie shows the brief seduction and the “before” part, and usually the plot-relevant “after” part. We don’t need to see “during.”
Back to the cars, though. I coulda sworn I saw a Lotus in the collection, and (from the movie credits) there might have been an Aston-Martin. Was the car collection a collection of previous Bond movie cars?
After watching “Die Another Day” I was following two young men (about ages 18-20) out of the theatre. One said to the other, “It wasn’t very realistic, was it?” To paraphrase Coldie, “It’s a James Freakin’ Bond movie! It’s not supposed to be realistic, you moron!”
Sounds like a poor marketing choice to me, considering how the mythical Icarus melted, crashed and burned. I’d have chosen “Daedelus” or even “Ra.”
I’m just glad the X-Men movie decided to drop the comic-book name “The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants”. Now THAT’S a marketing nightware.
Anyhoo, the movies were never really about James Bond at all, but the beautiful women, gonzo villians, crazy gadgets, car chases and gun battles. You can see this at the very beginning of Die Another Day. Even 14 months of torture in a North Korean prison doesnt affect him in the least. He’s still making jokes and is still able to escape Secret Service custody with ease. In fact, the only times we ever see Bond rattled are at the climax of Goldfinger and the end of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. There simply isn’t any point subjecting Bond to some heavy-duty emotional trauma and have him shrug it off. THAT’S being unclear on the concept.
