Bond on WGN

[Dr. No]

I caught part of GE on WGN last night. Truth be told I was so out of it yesterday I fell asleep watching it but when I woke up it was on again. Almost exactly last part I remember seeing

TND is on tonight, TWINE tomorrow

[Dr. No]

guess nobody else cough it. Oh, well I tried

[Capt. Sir Dominic Flandry]

I do tend to watch movies on Television that I have on DVD.

[FormerBondFan]

I do tend to watch movies on Television that I have on DVD.

Same here.

[Dr. No]

I do tend to watch movies on Television that I have on DVD.

Same here.

You know......we also tivo movies we have on dvd It has to be becasue it is easier to watch it prerecorded than find the dvd and set up the DVD player. It make no sense except for the ease of used because the dvd has better picture and sound.

Kids movies are the exception it is easier to turn those on and not worry about what is coming on next or the commercials being too racy

[FormerBondFan]

It's a lot better if you any movie on TV.

[Dr. No]

Yeah except for kid movies we watch most of the movies in year on TV. The kids movies are just a matter of being easier to leving ti running and forget about it.

[stockslivevan]

I did see parts of TND on WGN awhile ago. Other than that, I really think it's a by the numbers Bond film.

[Dr. No]

I did see parts of TND on WGN awhile ago. Other than that, I really think it's a by the numbers Bond film.

Yes and no. Sorta.
The intro before the song was by the numbers. Paris Carver was a new addition. A girl we never met before that was supposed to be "serious" with Bond and he left.
A few very cold moments to it too. (Killing Dr. Kaufman)

[stockslivevan]

I did see parts of TND on WGN awhile ago. Other than that, I really think it's a by the numbers Bond film.

Yes and no. Sorta.
The intro before the song was by the numbers. Paris Carver was a new addition. A girl we never met before that was supposed to be "serious" with Bond and he left.
A few very cold moments to it too. (Killing Dr. Kaufman)

For every good scene like the killing of Dr. Kaufman, there's always ten others with Brosnan smiling like a schoolboy. It just throws me off that he mourns for a woman who's supposed to be a past love but in no less than five minutes he's already grinning with his toys. Makes you wonder if Brosnan's Bond is schizophrenic! That's the main problem with the Brosnan era: His characterization was too inconsistent. You could say it's the writing, but it's the actor's responsibility to sell it. Moore had diverse films but the way he played Bond never changed. Ever actor had a plan on how they perform as Bond, how to make it their own. Connery worked with Terence Young to craft his Bond. Lazenby tried to emulate Connery's swagger and Fleming Bond guided by Peter Hunt. Moore's plan was lightening up the character, a more cartoonish characterization, I don't agree with it, but he succeeded in making his own role. Dalton's plan was going pure Fleming, straight up. Craig's is a mix of Connery swagger and Fleming intensity.

So what was Brosnan's plan on crafting his Bond? A lot could say that he did a mix of his predecessors, however he kept changing on each film, even within a film. When I watch Tomorrow Never Dies I barely get the impression that I'm watching the same character I saw in GoldenEye. Same with the rest of the films. I know some are gonna say "but he always wanted to go dark, EON wouldn't let him!" Bull. He was given creative choices. Paris Carver was actually his idea. Check out the TND special shows and in interviews he talks about how he wanted to have "interesting" Bond girls, such as Paris Carver, a former flame he reunites with. Can any of you guess who's idea was it of having the main Bond girl turn out to be the main villain? Brosnan's. This was his contribution, requesting for more three-dimensional Bond girls, that's why there's hardly any bimbos.

So I gotta respect him for contributing to those ideas, it's too bad they were badly written though. All of his films had great ideas (especially the MI6 mole betrayal and him hunting it down, which was ultimately dropped in the middle of the flick) but like the idea of having Bond as a father figure to the Stacey Sutton in AVTAK, it ended up being overtaken by cliches.

[FormerBondFan]

Yeah except for kid movies we watch most of the movies in year on TV. The kids movies are just a matter of being easier to leving ti running and forget about it.

The worst part is that sometimes movies shown on TV have to be edited.

[James]

Tomorrow Never Dies was written on the hoof by Bruce Fierstein after it had begun shooting. It falls apart somewhere around the middle.

[stockslivevan]

Tomorrow Never Dies was written on the hoof by Bruce Fierstein after it had begun shooting. It falls apart somewhere around the middle.

Heh, almost forgot of that. Before or after shooting, I think Bruce Fierstein is just as bad as Purvis and Wade. Funny how he never gets a lot of the heat, but I suppose that's because he was part of the collaborative writing group for GE, and you could easily tell which dialogue in that film was his handy work such as "I hope the third is where your REAL TALENT lies/when one RISES to meet a challenge"

[James]

Brosnan called the original script 's**t' in an interview and wasn't happy at all with the way that film was produced. It was probably the beginning of the end of his relationship with Madam Broccoli and her butler Michael G Wilson. Or the end of the beginning, as Churchill said after Monty had given Rommel a good hiding.

[stockslivevan]

Brosnan called the original script 's**t' in an interview and wasn't happy at all with the way that film was produced. It was probably the beginning of the end of his relationship with Madam Broccoli and her butler Michael G Wilson. Or the end of the beginning, as Churchill said after Monty had given Rommel a good hiding.

When was this? The last interview I read (which was post-Bond) had him say more than generous statements about DAD. Then there's the DVD commentary on DAD, you can hear him have a laugh "ho ho that was great!"

[James]

It was in a British newspaper article by Garth Pearce, I think, just before the film was released. Pearce said it was amazing they got a reasonably entertaining finished film out of the chaos. I've only got the DAD Ultimate Edition where, for reasons best known to Eon, Brosnan's commentary is absent.

[stockslivevan]

It was in a British newspaper article by Garth Pearce, I think, just before the film was released. Pearce said it was amazing they got a reasonably entertaining finished film out of the chaos. I've only got the DAD Ultimate Edition where, for reasons best known to Eon, Brosnan's commentary is absent.

Ultimate Edition? You're Region 2 right? That might explain it. Shame that the R2 people got screwed over. That's why there's plenty of folk there that rely on free-region to avoid PAL speed-ups and of course the lack of material.

As for the commentary, there's an interesting bit at the very end where Brosnan suggests that it's his last film, that he's ready to do something different.

[James]

I think Brozza's commentary was/is available on the Special Editions over here but I bought a few of those and then opted to buy the series in the Ultimate Edition format. I may buy it eventually but there is a limit to how much money I can give to Barbara Broccoli in one lifetime.

[stockslivevan]

Either way, yes, I believe GE is his least favorite, he said something of that sort on an EW interview in 2005 (I believe I posted it here somewhere). Throughout that flick he seems disinterested and stiff, in the next three he seems to be having a blast. This is why I don't believe in his claims at wanting to go darker, especially since GE is the darkest of all four. But once again, it only tells me he never really had a concrete plan on crafting his own characterization.

Anyway, I'm gonna watch DAD with his commentary soon just to refresh my memory while get a better picture at his state of thought at the time.

[stockslivevan]

Just listening to it right now. It's clear GE is his least favorite, he says that he felt he only nailed Bond in one scene (Cuban beach scene with Natalya) and seems to LOVE Die Another Day. I'm only at the bit where's with Raul.

Funny bit: When Bond picks up the Brids of the West Indies book, Brosnan says on the commentary

"...Birds of the West Indies... James Bond. Well known story. Ian Fleming was writing the story, DR. NO, is trying to come up with a name..."