Bond...James Bond

[staffslad]

Who is your favourite actor to play James Bond and what is your favourite Bond film? Also, your favourite Bond girl, Bond villan, film scene and title song.

I will start the ball rolling. My favourite Bond is Timothy Dalton, and he beats Sean Connery by a whisker for me. I like his harder-edged portrayal of Bond after the far lighter Roger Moore era.

The Living Daylights is overall my favourite Bond film. It has some great action scenes and a plot that is far more grounded than we had seen in a long time.

Favourite Bond girl is Daniela Bianchi, who played Tatiana Romanova in From Russia with Love. She's beautiful and sensual, but has an innocence and naivity about her that I find very appealing.

Favourite Bond villan is probably Donald Pleasence as Blofeld in You Only Live Twice. That guy has quiet menace down to a 'T'. Definitely the best portrayal of Blofeld imo.

Favourite scene. The pre-credits sequence from The Living Daylights, where Bond is on the roof of the Land Rover and it goes over a cliff.

Best Bond song...I have two: Diamonds are Forever and The Living Daylights. Dame Shirley belts out the former as only she can, and A-Ha really rock it in the latter.

[tex]

Re: Bond...James Bond

Fave bond has to be connery although i would of liked to have seen Lazenby appear again in diamonds are forever, the franchise became a parody when Moore took over and the series should never have been taken in the direction it was.

Fave film would be OHMSS for several reasons, i thought Lazenby in spite of being panned by most of the critics was outstanding in the role and anybody who dismisses this film on those grounds really should give it a second chance, great action,great locations,great casting,

Fave bond girl is Daniela bianchi she has class as Tatiana and in real life, followed closely by Jill st john as Tiffany case the complete opposite of tatiana, airhead, bit trashy but great fun

Fave villain is Emilio largo in Thunderball, sinister and merciless brilliantly portrayed by Adolfo celli

Fave scene is the opening of Tomorrow never dies, great action here but the rest of the film does not live up IE worst story, worst villain.

Fave song Goldfinger and Diamonds....theres only one Shirley bassey

[tex]

Re: Bond...James Bond

Great thread Staffslad!...massive bond fan right here

[staffslad]

Re: Bond...James Bond

Apparently, Eon wanted to sign Lazenby on a 7 picture deal, but his agent persuaded him that the Bond series would be old hat in the 70s, so he quit after just the one. If Lazenby had stayed, that would have taken him up to For your Eyes Only in 1981. Lazenby was better than some give him credit for, and I am sure he would have grown into the role. Of course, that would have removed Roger Moore from the scene and probably the silliness of some of the films in that era would have been at least toned down--the double-take pigeon for instance.

Dalton would have been 007 in Goldeneye, but there was a 6 year hiatus after Licence to Kill, and he got fed up of waiting.

[tex]

Re: Bond...James Bond

Dalton quit Much to the relief of Brosnan who had been up for the role before Dalton was hired but was contracted to do another remmington steele, Lazenby had not endeared himself to the producers and i suspect if he had not quit that he would likely have been fired. What a wasted opportunity for Lazenby who could of become a big star instead of a big head. He got very little work after Bond due to a reputation for being difficult to work with by crew and cast members. He must kick himself every night before going to sleep.

[staffslad]

Re: Bond...James Bond

My understanding vis-a-vis Brosnan and Bond is that when Remington Steele was cancelled after 4 series, Brosnan got the role of Bond. However, Brosnan's Remington Steele contract was still in effect, despite the show being axed. His selection as the next Bond generated renewed interest in Remington Steele and the makers decided to make another series, choosing to do that on the last day of the contract, after which Brosnan would have been free to walk away. In the end, only 6 episodes were transmitted in series 5, and Brosnan had to wait nearly a decade to play 007.

[Richard1978]

Re: Bond...James Bond

I've heard George Lazenby insisted on doing his own stunts until he hurt himself, just the sort of thing film makers don't like! Also OHMSS was a demanding film for a relatively inexperienced actor, but at least they were willing to give him another chance.

Part of the problems with Roger Moore's time as 007 were the producers wanted to made them different in tone to Connery's but ended up making them too self parodying.

Timothy Dalton was originally considered for For your Eyes Only as Moore was slow signing a new contract, & they wanted someone in case they needed a new actor.

[tex]

Re: Bond...James Bond

I've heard George Lazenby insisted on doing his own stunts until he hurt himself, just the sort of thing film makers don't like! Also OHMSS was a demanding film for a relatively inexperienced actor, but at least they were willing to give him another chance.

Part of the problems with Roger Moore's time as 007 were the producers wanted to made them different in tone to Connery's but ended up making them too self parodying.

Timothy Dalton was originally considered for For your Eyes Only as Moore was slow signing a new contract, & they wanted someone in case they needed a new actor.

What second chance did Lazenby get? he had become so obnoxious i dont think Brocolli and Saltzman would have given him a second movie (imo)
strange also that Moore went on to make a view to a kill after for your eyes only

[Richard1978]

Re: Bond...James Bond

What second chance did Lazenby get? he had become so obnoxious i dont think Brocolli and Saltzman would have given him a second movie (imo)
strange also that Moore went on to make a view to a kill after for your eyes only

As Staffslad mentioned above George Lazenby was offered a multifilm deal, but turned it down after his agent reckoned the series would fade away in the 1970s.

Roger Moore made both Octopussy & View To a Kill after For Your Eyes Only. I've heard he considered View To a Kill a film too far, not enjoying making it.

[George 1978]

Re: Bond...James Bond

Do ITV still show James Bond films? I know that they used to do so on Bank Holidays in the 1990s, but as they just show normal programming on those days, I suppose the answer is no to that respect. I am sure that they have been seen on Saturday and Sunday afternoons though.

Regarding favourite bond actors, I cannot make up my mind between Connery or Moore, so I would choose films that they were in. When I last saw Ben Price in Coronation Street, I actually thought that would make an excellent James Bond - he looks like someone who would play him.

Back in the 1990s on the Radio 4 panel game First Impressions, they got someone (Kate Robbins or someone like that) to sing Bond film theme songs at a piano singing it like Victoria Wood which I thought was such a brilliant talent!

[Mulletino]

Re: Bond...James Bond

Roger Moore made both Octopussy & View To a Kill after For Your Eyes Only. I've heard he considered View To a Kill a film too far, not enjoying making it.

An old Moore tonguing Grace Jones is probably one of my least favourite movie kisses also.

[tex]

Re: Bond...James Bond

As Staffslad mentioned above George Lazenby was offered a multifilm deal, but turned it down after his agent reckoned the series would fade away in the 1970s.

Roger Moore made both Octopussy & View To a Kill after For Your Eyes Only. I've heard he considered View To a Kill a film too far, not enjoying making it.

Moore was 58 years old when he filmed avtak which by his own admission was too old, who can say how the series would have panned out had Lazenby done seven films, i know after just one outing that i prefered his portrayal to Moores, i suspect the scriptwriters were influenced by Moores playful acting in the saint and the persuaders when they wrote his parts for bond

[tex]

Re: Bond...James Bond

Do ITV still show James Bond films? I know that they used to do so on Bank Holidays in the 1990s, but as they just show normal programming on those days, I suppose the answer is no to that respect. I am sure that they have been seen on Saturday and Sunday afternoons though.

Regarding favourite bond actors, I cannot make up my mind between Connery or Moore, so I would choose films that they were in. When I last saw Ben Price in Coronation Street, I actually thought that would make an excellent James Bond - he looks like someone who would play him.

Back in the 1990s on the Radio 4 panel game First Impressions, they got someone (Kate Robbins or someone like that) to sing Bond film theme songs at a piano singing it like Victoria Wood which I thought was such a brilliant talent!

The bond movies have been overexposed by itv and the excitement that used to go with watching them has long since disapeared, seeing a new bond film in the cinema is always a thrill but knowing it will be on tv every few months for the next 30 years is not, i am a massive bond fan but would never watch on itv

[staffslad]

Re: Bond...James Bond

The bond movies have been overexposed by itv and the excitement that used to go with watching them has long since disapeared, seeing a new bond film in the cinema is always a thrill but knowing it will be on tv every few months for the next 30 years is not, i am a massive bond fan but would never watch on itv

It used to be a tradition that ITV would show a Bond film on Christmas Day, but I believe that has fallen by the wayside now. I am old enough to remember the excitement when the Bond films first started to be shown on ITV back in the mid 70s. Prior to that, cinemas would show Bond films on re-release years after they were made. I saw From Russia with Love at my local cinema around 1971, 8 years or so after it was first released.

There have been an amazing number of actors considered to play Bond down the years. For me, the hands-down most unlikely was John Bingham in 1967, who turned down a screen test. John Bingham is probably better known as 7th Earl of Lucan--Lord Lucan, who would go on to be prime suspect in the murder of his children's nanny and attempted murder of his estranged wife. He vanished without trace a short time after the murder in 1974.

[tex]

Re: Bond...James Bond

Bond on TV: A brief history

The James Bond movies did not arrive on British TV until 1975, when the very first Bond movie, Dr. No, was screened (on 28th October, 1975), to both great excitement and some pessimism. The excitement, naturally, came from keen Bond fans who, up until that point, could only see James Bond in action if they caught the latest 007 movie released at the cinema, or happened to introduce themselves to Mr. Bond with the regular double-bill screenings that were hugely popular in British cinemas in the early 1970s.

The pessimism came from some film and TV critics, and also some dedicated Bond fans, who feared that James Bond on the small screen could herald the end of the series. Bond on the small screen, they argued (especially in monotone black-and-white), could never capture the over-the-top exotic glamour and larger-than-life action of the big screen, and the James Bond series would suffer as a result. Thankfully, in hindsight, the pessimists were mistaken.

In fact, some film historians have argued that, far from undermining the Bond series, the regular small-screen TV screenings merely whetted the appetite of a whole new generation of Bond fans, who were made even more determined to catch the latest 007 adventure as it appeared in the cinemas. Indeed, ITV themselves skilfully made use of the advent of the latest 007 film releases by creating special ‘premiere’ programmes, often screened live from the World Premiere itself, and EON were more than happy to co-operate.