#bond reshaken

[timallengrunt]

Bond Reshaken: Octopussy & The Living Daylights by Ian Fleming

As referenced in the review for Thunderball, I am reading the stories in the alleged chronological order put forth by John Griswold in his highly-detailed book (which has a number of lazy typos, but is otherwise essential reading). This means I read the first three stories in this collection, then the beginning of Majesty’s, back to 007 in New York, The Spy Who Loved Me, and then finishing Majesty’s. Sounds confusing, but I managed to read all of these stories quite swiftly and I’m glad I did. To have ended with this short story collection, the last of Fleming’s work published (but not necessarily written), would have been something of a let down. These stories are far less even in quality than those in Fleming’s other short story collection, For Your Eyes Only. To be fair, those 5 stories were published together in Fleming’s lifetime, whereas early editions of O&TLD only included the two stories of the book’s title, with the others not being added until later (007 in New York, originally part of the New York edition of Fleming’s otherwise non-fictional Thrilling Cities, has only been included in this collection since about 2003).

I will judge the stories seperately, but as none of them but the first would stand a chance on their own when compared to any of the novels, I will rate them collectively, even though Fleming might not have desired them to have been published together (or at all in the case of Property of a Lady).

Octopussy

The first story in the set is also the best: Fleming at his most nihilistic in this flashback caper about Nazi gold and a man sorely in need of a comeuppance. Chilling and moody, much like Quantum of Solace, but considerably darker. Fleming’s own views of his own mortality (conscious or otherwise) come more and more into focus as he gets closer to death; the ironic and fatalistic ending is one of his most insightful. The villain is slyly hinted at in the film of the same name, but otherwise this is unlike anything in the film canon, and all the more thrilling for it. Perhaps Fleming's best short story, and enough on which recommend the whole collection.

The Living Daylights

The second best story in the set was adapted for the screen in the film of the same name. But whereas this is a little vignette, the film uses it as its brief opening act. Shades of Goldfinger as Bond reflects on death. The narrative hinges perhaps a little too much on the twist. Granted, the film spoiled it for me, and I do think that, if I had read it totally cold back in the mid-60s, it would have been a good surprise. Not as much substance as Octopussy, but there is great atmosphere in the distinctly specific Cold War setting.

Property of a Lady

Sotheby’s commissioned this from Fleming and it shows. Much of it seems like a bizarre advertisement. The best thing to come out of this story was its interpolation into the plot of Octopussy (my favorite film of the Moore era). In contrast to The Living Daylights, in which the film dulled the impact of reading the story, Property of a Lady is made better by its association to the adaptation. Still as a work of Bond fiction, it is below commonplace, and even Fleming knew that, refusing to be paid for the work after having completed it. The film producers knew there was something great being hatched in the Faberge egg caper, but it needed context and emotional drive, which the film Octopussy brings in spades. Had Fleming started a full-length novel with this scene as a sort of Bond/Goldfinger card game moment, it would have been spectacular. The medium has upset the magic with this one.

007 in New York

No, I spoke too soon. This is the real head-scratcher. This story is really nothing to write home about. Having been born in New York (State) of course I was always excited growing up to finally read about Bond’s great adventures in my nearest metropolis. Now, years later, as a resident of New York (City) I finally get around to reading Fleming’s last piece of published Bond, and it is incredibly disappointing. Under 10 pages, nothing really happens besides a few attempts at humor, unflattering descriptions of the city, and some moments of Bond being Bond. This could have been inserted into the first act of another novel and maybe there would be something to it, but at the end of the day this is just a curio. Fleming had to replace his non-fiction on NY to appease US publishers, and, given how nasty this is, I can’t imagine how unflattering the original non-fiction piece is. I am so glad that I read the books in this order, because if this story were the last piece of Bond fiction that I read, I probably would have cried from disappointment.

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On the whole, the first story is better than anything in Thunderball and is worth the price of admission alone. It’s almost a toss-up as to which of them is better, but I will have to go with Thunderball by a hair. I would rather have consistent and iconic, even though bland than the mix of success and failure in this collection. A harder decision to make is whether or not the next three novels, You Only Live Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me, and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, are going to edge out Casino Royale as my favorite book. I can tell you’re super excited.

Grade: B-

Rank:

1. Casino Royale

2. From Russia With Love

3. For Your Eyes Only

4. Goldfinger

5. Diamonds Are Forever

6. Moonraker

7. Doctor No

8. Live and Let Die

9. Thunderball

10. Octopussy & The Living Daylights

Next: The Spy Who Loved Me

[timallengrunt]

Bond Reshaken: Thunderball by Ian Fleming

Now, we arrive at the first book in the series that I never finished. The first time I attempted to read the series, some 8 years ago (or more?), I ended up stopping in the middle of Thunderball. For whatever reason, it didn’t hold my attention. I never really enjoyed the film adaptation (I learned how to snap my fingers over the length of a particularly dull screening), which I found to be rather dull and one-note, with very little in the way of memorable action or plot. I’ll be revisiting this film shortly, so stay tuned for that review, but I will say that the things I find boring in Bond usually stay pretty constant. One of the things I get most bored of is nautical Bond. As Bond/Fleming was a naval officer and given Fleming’s life in Jamaica, extensive material involving diving, marine biology, and all other things aquatic appears throughout the series. Nothing is more boring than an underwater fight scene. It’s true in the films (Thunderballand For Your Eyes Only, to name two) and it’s true in novels.

But is Thunderball a novel? Books and documentaries have been made detailing the history behind the legal disputes between either Fleming or EON Productions and Kevin McClory, one of Fleming’s collaborators. The long and short of it is that Kevin was one of five writers, including Fleming, that contributed to the story of an original James Bond screen treatment. The film, pre-dating Dr. No by a couple of years, didn’t materialize, and Fleming decided to adapt this screen treatment into his next novel (McClory, Fleming, and one of the other writers receive credit for the source material on the copyright page). Legal disputes ensued and the resultant endpoints thereof include Kevin McClory’s producer credit on Thunderball (the film) and the eventual McClory-produced remake, the entirely uninteresting “unofficial Bond film, ”Never Say Never Again (1983), starring Sean Connery.

More importantly (for our purpose), the complicated history of the novel’s development leads to a book far unlike any that preceded it. At times it reads like a novelization of a film. Description is slightly more literal than stylized, and, despite the overall lack of action, it conjures up images in one’s mind of a Thunderball film with Connery, but with the budget of Dr. No. The novel shows a constraint and self-awareness, with the hint that they were considering keeping the film simultaneously high-concept and low-budget. The globe trekking is minimal, there is only one real action set-piece (or maybe, two… but they are both underwater and involve spearguns and deadly fish; both are also relatively brief). There is a lot of dialogue and character development, and a fair deal of meandering about. But I guess we’re supposed to be looking at the pretty location photography that would have been.

The opening act at Shrublands, the health clinic Bond is required to stay at, is a lot of fun. I am always a sucker for more casual Bond material that shows him at home and being rather relatable. This chunk of the book would have made for a pretty decent short story. Next comes the introduction of SPECTRE, Bond’s new adversaries. It’s remarkable, in hindsight, how understated the organization’s presentation feels. It does obviously have a lot of the over-the-top dramatics you’d expect, but they are couched in as much realism as possible. The plot is obviously the biggest in Bond so far: theft of nuclear missles with the world held for ransom. But as these things don’t actually happen, the budget can be kept down.

The book makes the Fleming mistake of putting us way ahead of Bond in knowing the plot. Fleming must not be particularly interested in the suspense of who/what/where/when/why that compels Bond to engage in his duties, but instead he builds his stories around the “how” of “How is Bond going to figure it out and beat the baddie?” Bond and Leiter (whose presence in the story is larger than ever) bumming around for the whole middle of the book, trying to find out information that we already know, doesn’t make for the most compelling read. Fortunately, Domino and Largo are colorful figures, and the scenes of villainous exposition are engaging, so that makes up for something. I will admit that the Domino’s brother connection is never fully explained, and it’s not entirely clear of how the Domino/Largo/Giuseppe triangle developed, nor who knew what and when. This element is stronger in the film, as far as I can recall.

By the way, every time Leiter appears, it’s always a surprise for the reader and for Bond, and it makes me the giddiest young man on the subway whenever it happens. He is the Gene Parmasan to my Lucille Bluth whenever I read Bond.

The novel’s lopsided structure (my usual grievance with any Fleming) can be felt by noticing the fact that act III (or is it act IV?) begins with about 10% of the book left. The book’s finale is predictable but thankful after the water treaded by Bond & Co. in the chapters leading up to it. The coda is sweet, and maybe a bit hokey, but I’m sure it would have been a hit with the cinemagoers.

This book, which I never finished a decade ago, took me the longest to finish out of any book so far in this go-round. Hopefully, the future battles with SPECTRE bring Fleming back to form. It will be a surprise I look forward to, as I haven’t read any of the remaining novels before.

In keeping with my attempt at following Griswold’s chronology for the series, I will be reading the three main stories in Octopussy & The Living Daylights next, then the first few chapters of OHMSS, then 007 in New York, followed by The Spy Who Loved Me, and finally the remainder of OHMSS. After this little tango, I will finish the series with the final two Fleming novels, back-to-back.

Grade: B-

Rank:

1. Casino Royale

2. From Russia With Love

3. For Your Eyes Only

4. Goldfinger

5. Diamonds Are Forever

6. Moonraker

7. Doctor No

8. Live and Let Die

9. Thunderball

Next: The Spy Who Loved Me/Octopussy & The Living Daylights/OHMSS

[timallengrunt]

Bond Reshaken: For Your Eyes Only by Ian Fleming

After 7 novels, we arrive at the first book in the series that consists exclusively of short stories. Five stories with a wide variance in style and substance but a unity of theme and character. The five stories in the book aren't printed in the order in which they take place according to Bond experts/chronologists John Griswald and Henry Chancellor. Both of them agree that the stories happen in the following order: Risico, Quantum of Solace, The Hildebrand Rarity, From A View To A Kill, and From A View To A Kill. There's no real reason why it matters, or connective tissue that is affected by the chronology. This is the last Bond novel in the series that I had already read going into this, so I figured I would try something interesting and read them in the order Bond experienced them. Unfortunately, I think Fleming got it right when he ordered the stories the way he did; a fact which I slowly realized when getting to the 4th and 5th stories. I'm not sure I'll try this experiment again with the later books that allegedly occur outside of the published order, but we'll see. For now, I'll review the 5 stories individually in the order they appear in the collection, and give my opinions about why I think this order makes for a more affecting collection than reading them in any other.

From A View To A Kill

The first story in the collection is a perfect "pre-titles sequence." It's not overly long, and it jumps right into the action. On film, you could tell an only slightly abbreviated version of it in under 10 minutes. The last lines would perfectly segue into the title song (I imaged it being "For Your Eyes Only"). The story is not quite as compelling or mysterious as the other four, but it has great action, and is a wonderful mood setter. The audience finds out a lot of information before Bond does, which makes some of the more expository parts slightly slow and repetitious, but, at just about 30 pages, Fleming uses the economy of the short format to his advantage. This story still reads like long Fleming, it's just shorter.

For Your Eyes Only

The opening titles are over, and we get the Havelock's murder scene, feeling much like how it felt in the film, despite the differences. M's briefing with Bond comes here, just where it would if the entire collection were one big film. It's really refreshing to see M open up to Bond, and the brief exploration of their relationship reveals a lot about both of them. The story is only slightly draggy as Bond makes his way to the climax of the story. Fleming keeps it gritty in the final portions, and delivers thrills, but not too much mystery or suspense.

Quantum of Solace

This is the most unusual story in the set, consisting almost entirely of a conversation between Bond and an official at a party; someone he is bound never to meet ever again. An intriguing tale of deception and heartbreak is relayed to Bond, which interests him more than his current assignments. In it's way this story is the emotional heart of the book, and comes dead center within it.

Risico

Probably my favorite story in the collection, giving us the book's big action climax. Kristatos and Columbo are fleshed out and fun to live with, even if for just a short amount of time. The scenes in For Your Eyes Only (the film) adapted from this novel were very accurately represented, in my eyes, and I think it certainly made me experience the imagery more vividly. Would be a great end to the story, but all Bond films should have a good coda.

The Hildebrand Rarity

An unusual tale of trouble and confusion at sea, both of the maritime and marital varieties. Gives the smallest amount of resolution out of any Bond story yet, and it leaves a surprisingly unpleasant taste in your mouth. Something that is so much more interesting without a pallet cleanser. Much like the endings of Casino Royale, and From Russia With Love, it leaves is hanging and on edge as the last sentence ends. The Fleming Sweep usually refers to the movement from chapter to chapter, but he also has a great way of getting us to want to start the next book.

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Fleming's first foray into the short form is on the whole successful. Even though the stories are in miniature, they still have as many ideas as some of his novels. The themes of deception, secrets, and false identity seem to be at work here more than ever, proving that the title is not a coincidence. An array of great villains, allies, and love interests keep us wondering when Fleming will run out of fascinating creations. Sometimes we only get a slice of one of his supporting characters, but each detail he leaves us leads to a million more in the imagination, creating vivid pictures as he takes us on five days in the life of a secret agent.

Grade: A

Rank:

1. Casino Royale

2. From Russia With Love

3. For Your Eyes Only

4. Goldfinger

5. Diamonds Are Forever

6. Moonraker

7. Doctor No

8. Live and Let Die

Next: Thunderball

[timallengrunt]

Bond Reshaken: Goldfinger by Ian Fleming

Goldfinger follows an important tradition established in FRWL and Doctor No: having a bizarre and lopsided structure. Fleming's issue with pacing seems to come to a head here. He splits the book into three parts (first time since Moonraker) and in the setup ("Happenstance," "Coincidence," "Enemy Action") it's got a built in and tremendous set-up. Not until the final third of the book do we actual have clear conflict with our villain. The film of Goldfinger reaches this point (Goldfinger capturing Bond snooping around) at around the beginning of act II. In the book, two acts worth of conflict and resolution are crammed into the all too swift final chapters. 

As was true with Doctor No, the second act (or lack thereof) becomes the weak part. The first act of this book operates as a fantastic short story (in fact Fleming originally developed it as such), and I wouldn't change a thing about it. Bond gets to ponder murder and mortality, we have a repeat character from Casino Royale, and the clever comeuppance of Goldfinger. Our second act isn't meandering, and is full of fun details. I think the very long description of Bond and Goldfinger's golf game would totally lose the uninitiated. In fact, I found myself confused with some of Fleming's terminology and I am a golfer. I appreciate Fleming's effort to challenge his audience (or maybe he assumes we know too much), but the gold game simply runs too long with too much specific (especially when the stakes are relatively low). It has been a long while since I have posted any reviews and I blame the few weeks I spent stuck in this section of the book, too tired to continue. 

But I said "fun details," didn't I? Bond's visit to Goldfinger's house, his continued pursuit, encounters with Tilly, all keep the reader engaged, but because hero barely catches up to villain, we're still asking ourselves the same questions that M asked Bond to answer in his original briefing. The plot doesn't really move until the end of the penultimate chapter of Part II when Bond's contact helps Bond put together pieces of the puzzle, discovering Goldfinger's plot. Soon enough he is captured and now that the tension between Bond and Goldfinger has exploded, we get that classic Fleming Bond/Villain dialogue. We also get a pretty classic torture scene. It's Fleming, what did you expect?

After the torture, we have a wonderful scene where Bond believes he is passing into the afterlife and it takes the form of an airline flight. Any one who has been paying attention to the series so far will know that Bond has had contemplations of life and mortality almost every time he flies or thinks about flying. Bond hears, "This is your captain speaking" and comments parenthetically "Well, well. Who was this? Saint Peter?" He asks himself what it would be like when his girlfriends met each other, and dryly discusses the practicality and geography of the afterlife. Eventually it is discovered that he was just flirting with consciousness as Goldfinger transported him back to America, but it is so wonderfully poignant and consistent with the character that the catatonic Bond latched on to the sounds of commercial aviation and associated it with death. 

The final chapters are of course the meat of the story and are exciting (though I think they move much too fast...or maybe I read it too quickly). The Hoods Congress feels like the alternate version of the SMERSH conference in FRWL, and is all the better for it. We are introduced to Pussy Galore, allegedly Goldfinger's leading lady, far too late, unfortunately. Her offensive transition from homosexuality to heterosexuality in the film is actually more believable than in here, and Fleming's chauvinism here ("Bond/Fleming/Men can be so manly as to turn lesbians") makes me uneasy. I can buy Pussy joining Bond, especially after Goldfinger offs all of the other bosses, but I don't buy them getting together. On the other hand, Fleming makes it clear that Tilly is a lesbian, too, and is unflappable as such. On the other hand, he derides her for it. On the other hand. Ugh, I hate Fleming sometimes. I can't remove his sexism or racism, but I do have something else to look forward to. Our next book, For Your Eyes Only, will find Fleming working in short form. We can hope that this will focus his energy and avoid the sometimes lopsided structure of the novels.

In a lot of ways, he's matured as a writer in just a few years. I still long for the economy of Casino Royale and I could do without so much dry golf exposition, but Goldfinger mostly works. It more than mostly works. It's a really good read, and on the whole, more of a page turner than Doctor No was. Like Doctor No, the film is similar in a lot of ways and has a more formal structure, and I'm sure that has something to do with why I feel like parts of it take so long to develop. All of the dialogue is good and the characters are very memorable. I've made my grievances but they don't even get close to ruining this book. It feels similar to Moonraker in many ways. The wealthy industrialist who inexplicably cheats for seemingly menial amounts of money, and the way Bond works it all out from the inside. And in those respects, Goldfinger is an improvement. Its characters and villains are more memorable and iconic and fleshed out as those in Diamonds Are Forever (except I think Tiffany has more going for her than Pussy does). It's a lot like the film for me. For some reason, I don't feel totally jazzed about it, from a subjective standpoint. But in an objective evaluation, it's obviously a superior creature to many of the others. I may change my mind later in my ranking of this one, but we may have to wait until Bond Re-reshaken to see if anything changes. If anything, I can take a quantum of solace in the fact that Flemings books are far more consistent than the film series ever was or ever will be. 

Grade: A-

Rank:

1. Casino Royale

2. From Russia With Love

3. Goldfinger

4. Diamonds Are Forever

5. Moonraker

6. Doctor No

7. Live and Let Die

Next: For Your Eyes Only

[timallengrunt]

Bond Reshaken: Doctor No by Ian Fleming

Doctor No is an unquestionably familiar book. The first of the Flemings books to be adapted for the classic EON series, it has been represented rather faithfully in its film version. One of the difficult parts for me in reviewing either comes in remembering which details occurred in which version. I have often said of Kafka and Welles and their dual versions of the Trial, "Both are incomplete. Both need each other and understand each other. They both resound as a complete work of mutual and complementary agreement." This isn't quite the same in that both Doctor No the book and the film work on their own, but their complementary natures make them seem just two versions of the same yarn. One wishes they could cherry pick their favorite patches from each version into their own. For the films after Goldfinger, adherence to the book isn't really of importance. These first three films, which also appear consecutively (but in a shifted order) in Fleming's books, are closest to their sources.

From Russia With Love as a novel is clearly superior to its already masterful film. There is not much missing from the adaptation that one would want to include except for the interpretations of the actors, director, designers, composer, etc., which have proven to be of unsurpassable quality. Fleming considered ending Bond at the end of FRWL, but chose to keep him alive to die another day. After the complexity of the Cold War intrigue in FRWL, a novel which showed our villains retaliating for the devastation caused by bond in the novels previous, Fleming takes something of a step back for Doctor No. The novel is, simply, less big. 

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. The novel is a good palate cleanser, and gets us back to basis. Compared to the incredibly long set-up chapters of FRWL, we get a quick "pre-titles sequence" and brief from M. It feels just like a Bond film. Bond gets his gun swapped and the recap some of the shenanigans from FRWL, and decide to send Bond on an easy mission. Fleming even keeps the airliner material brief (usually a moment to wax philosophical on death) and gets us right to Bond's meeting with Quarrel. Doctor No coming after Live and Let Die makes Quarrel work so much better in the book than he does in the film (the film of LALD fills his shoes with "Quarrel, Jr."). Quarrel is irascible and hilarious, just short of being a caricature, but treated with love from Fleming and Bond all the same. What the book really misses that the film has is a second act. There's a nice cliffhanger involved Miss Taro but it's never picked up again. The second act, before Bond heads to Crab Key, in the film keeps the tension mounting as we prepare to meet Doctor No. Bond's affair with Taro and encounter with Dent were two character defining moments for Connery, so perhaps given that the novel is already using an established protagonist, Fleming can keep going. I have the benefit of hindsight, but even objectively the pacing of the novel seems a little off, in that we arrive at the final location a third of the way into the novel (unusual for any Bond novel or film). The second act mainly consists of the centipede scene, which is one of the most horrifying pieces of prose I've ever read and Fleming gets a prize for making my skin crawl.

Arriving on Crab Key, we meet Honey who is every bit as beautiful as Ursula Andress except with much less clothing and a crooked nose (I can see why a major motion picture would do without both of those elements). Bond's relationship with her is one of the more interesting ones, in that his instinct is to act more as a guardian to her. Much of this must come from condescension but he also feels a loving ability to want to nurture and protect. She is such a thing of nature that he can't tarnish it.

Doctor No's big plan is far less horrifying than the one in the 1962 film. Basically it's all about bird poop. Fortunately, the character is still as grim and his dinner scene with Bond is one of my favorite of its category (verbal showdowns between Bond and the heavies are always one of my favorite sections of any novel). We get a lot of what we're about to see again in Goldfinger, structurally, by way of the torture scenes. Fleming was obsessed with torture, with many explicit scenes of Bond enduring intense pain and managing to resist (usually until he faints). The climax is fun, albeit a little rushed, but the final scenes with Honey and Bond contain a refreshing role reversal: the dominating girl who seduces and overtakes Bond. 

Doctor No has a lot of charms but seems to be missing something. Maybe the spend too much of the middle third of the book in Crab Key. Maybe too much of that middle third is spent doing not much of anything (Doctor No and the Deathly Hallows). There is a bit of a structural imbalance to this book that makes it feel a bit underwhelming after the last three books which were real doozies (especially in terms of scope). A book that could be a classic if it wasn't so underwritten. It's an easy and rewarding read, however, free of needless expository, background, or intense detail in things Fleming knew a lot about. It's closer to something like Live and Let Die than any of the other books so far, but it deals with some great ideas and continues to develop our character, keeping him distinct from his cinematic counterpart, even if the plot remains the same.

Grade: B+

Rank (becoming increasingly difficult to try to rank these as I tend to give so many of them a B+, and unlike the films which I've seen so many times, the books still have a freshness to me and it's hard to see them all at eye-level, especially at the rate at which I read them):

1. Casino Royale

2. From Russia With Love

3. Diamonds Are Forever

4. Moonraker

5. Doctor No

6. Live and Let Die

Next: Goldfinger

[timallengrunt]

Bond Reshaken: A Lapsed Bond Fan's Revisitations, Vol. 4

A childhood Bond fanatic grows into adulthood and revisits the James Bond films. Heading in reverse order from Quantum of Solace back through Dr. No, and then revisiting Skyfall, this series (along with reviews of the Ian Fleming Novels as I re-read them) can be found at my tag: Bond Reshaken

Moonraker

Umpteenth viewing. Moonraker is the much-maligned midpoint of the Moore era. I always enjoyed it as a kid, and I think I let the negative opinions about it cloud my vision. I went into it expecting to hate it, and fortunately, I did not. The elephant in the room is obviously the space travel, the anti-gravity, the laser beams, etc. In it's way, I don't think it's as farfetched as people make it seem. Look at this film within its own context, the sci-fi elements actually work. It works more as a final act of Moonraker than the second two acts work of Die Another Day work as the second two acts of Die Another Day. You would think the film would have to be totally silly in order to make it work, but actually it has some strong dramatic moments. Bond's weakness after the centrifuge, Corrine's death, and much of Lonsdale's performance as Drax are devoid of camp (okay, people my disagree with me on the Drax front). I wish there was more of the novel in the film, and perhaps a bit less of Star Wars, but it still has its charm. It's a companion piece to The Spy Who Loved Me, featuring the same henchman, a similar villain and heroine, and macguffins based in military hijackings kicking off the picture (slightly similar to the start of FYEO, as well). Sure this creates fatigue, but a so much of Moonraker works. Most of all John Barry's lucious score in this film surpasses the quality of any other Bond score of its era. We also have Bernard Lee's first appearance as M in my viewings, in that it is his last film. A sorely missed presence that will certainly be welcome in the future viewings of earlier films. On the whole, I find myself less in adoration of the film and more in defense of it. The only thing I could really do without is Lois Chiles as Holly Goodhead who gives an unpleasantly dull, overwhelmingly 1979, and miserably American performance. Not a single of her line deliveries works. Okay, second thing: the unexciting cable car scene. And the boat chase with the slow version of "007." And the unexciting Venice scene. And the stupid circus thing that totally ruins the pre-credits stunt. And the circus themed titles. And the. And. Oof. At least the space shots are gorgeous. The most hated element of the film actually gives us some beautiful images, rendered better than anything in Star Wars. And I want a quick soapbox moment for Shirley Bassey's theme song. Despite the gibberish lyrics, it is the most beautifully performed, sung, and orchestrated song in all of Bond and you can quote me on that. Chills every time. Grade: B

The Spy Who Loved Me

Umpteenth viewing. Moonraker Part I. Let's face it, it does the job better. Generally considered the best of all Moore outings. For whatever reason I never want to rematch it as much Octopussy, but it is surely more iconic. A lot of great things happen in this film. We have the first appearances of Gogol, Jaws, and Fredrick Gray; a truly outrageous Bond villain and escapade (the first of this nature since perhaps Blofeld... in face Stromberg was supposed to be Blofeld, but I believe McClory-related rights issues put a stop to that. Too bad. In my head, he's Blofeld in disguise); a beautiful time bomb of a Bond woman (though a better character than an actress), and a great performance by Moore. There are so many good things about this film. The passing reference to Tracy Bond is human and chilling, the sets are incredible and the effects convincing, and I love when Bond and Anya first meet at the pyramids, and he doesn't even flirt with her. Jaws is genuinely terrifying as a henchman and certainly gets just treatment by the writers in this film. A totally original script (at least this time the used it) that feels more Fleming than either of the earlier three "adaptations." There is a little too much in the realms of the aquatic and naval in this film, two things that had always made me yawn. The climax is so massive and visually impressive with a good cast of naval officers that actually get screen time, but the scene is too long, with too much time spent playing Let's Disarm The Bomb. Despite some of the slower scenes and moments like the horribly unfunny and sexist "Anya Can't Drive" scene, the script works and keeps and audience paying attention. Despite it having my least favorite Bond traits (punny sexism and dudes on ships), it has my favorites too, especially Cold War intrigue. Gogol makes his first appearance and is a fantastic counterpart to M. It's a shame he doesn't get the credit he deserves from fans. Perhaps its because Moore-era Bond seems like a parade of grey-haired men talking about Moscow. There virtually no young and/or reasonably-attractive men during the Moore era. I guess they thought Moore could carry that weight himself, or maybe they knew he was old and wanted to make him look like a heartthrob by comparison. Who knows? Anyway, this is a good one. A little slow in spots (ugh a car chase underwater?), but at least it has a Bond girls who wants to kill Bond until the final scene. That's pretty cool. I can't explain why this one doesn't beat Octopussy for me except by virtue of the fact that I don't want to pop it back in again as soon as its done. It's probably because there is no Steven Berkoff in this one. The pre-titles sequence isn't my favorite. Maybe you had to be there. Grade: A-

The Man With The Golden Gun

Umpteenth viewing. Moore vs. Lee. This should be great, right? No, actually a lot of it is a cure for insomnia. Scaramanga and Nick Nack are wonderful, and Maud Adams gives a beautiful, sympathetic performance. Ekland is a terrible actress and her role is miserable. Sheriff J.W. Pepper comes back and loses all of his funny and gets a million more racist. Moore is still clearly unsure of himself in this film, and the writers are not sure of who Bond should be. Sure there are some great stunts, but the plot is virtually non-existent. The one-on-one element is perhaps the film's best aspect, and one wishes that Lee and Moore had a greater amount of shared screen time. Their pre-duel dinner is one of the best sequences in the picture. I have a hard time remembering this one even if I've just watched it. That's probably because I end up watching it through fluttering, half-closed eyelids. I'm being mean. The film has some really great location shooting and a fun MI6 office set aboard the QE. I sort of wish this film was about Scaramanga. Every scene Lee is in is electric and he's got a really cool funhouse. The theme song is probably the song I skip most often. A really pedantic melody with some crummy lyrics. Let's just play Moonraker over the credits, who cares whatever. Grade: C

Live and Let Die

Umpteenth viewing. Roger Moore's first outing gives him a pretty good chance to show his stuff. Bolstered by George Martin's kickass score and Paul McCartney's wonderful title song, the film manages some exciting touches despite a lackluster beginning. The pre-titles sequence is essential dramatically (at least because each of the three vignettes has some amount of payoff), but dull and confusing at first watch. Moore gets an incredibly thankless first scene after the opening credits (he does get to shag Madeline Smith though, one of two women that I track the tag for on Tumblr [the other: Lalla Ward]). All of the other 5 Bonds have great first moments. Moore's is mostly him being asleep, wearing nightclothes, and making coffee. It's at least fun to see where 007 lives. When we hit NYC, the 1973 flavor rams itself down your throat, and it's kind of fun. David Hedison is the best Leiter of all time, obviously (maybe just by virtue of having played him twice) and bromance feels almost like it does in the books. Jane Seymour, Julius Harris, and Yaphet Kotto are great in their roles. Gloria Hendry is the worst in her role, so good thing she dies. I wish Quarrel, Jr. had more to do. J.W. Pepper's whole sequence is exciting and genuinely funny, and Geoffrey Holder's performance is a real treat (he would have been great in a film with Christopher Lee's Scaramanga). The main problem with the plot, if you can call it that, is that without the connection Mr. Big has to SMERSH/The Russians (like he has in the book), the villain and his nasty heroin ring are far less threatening and terrifying. The characters and action set pieces and locations are highly memorable, but the plot of the film doesn't stick and doesn't thrill. The score keeps the string of moments together better than the narrative does, and that's a problem. It's still a fun watch, with the occasional slow patch, but at least there's Geoffrey Holder. In my heart, I can't say it's objectively better than something with the gravitas of For Your Eyes Only, but it's a fantastic start to Moore's tenure. Grade: B+

--

Recap:

1. Goldeneye

2. Casino Royale

3. Licence to Kill

4. Octopussy

5. The World is Not Enough

6. The Spy Who Loved Me

7. For Your Eyes Only

8. Live and Let Die

9. Tomorrow Never Dies

10. Moonraker

11. The Living Daylights

12. Quantum of Solace

13. A View to a Kill

14. The Man With The Golden Gun

15. Die Another Day

Up next: DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER through THUNDERBALL

[timallengrunt]

Bond Reshaken: From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming

From Russia With Love was the first Bond novel I read, back in 5th grade. Back then, there was no in print copy of the book that was easily found, and I had to get a decades old copy through an inter-library loan. It felt like a holy grail. Reading it now, I can't even believe I got through it, understood it, enjoyed it, etc. at that age, though I must have because I started to remember my thoughts as a 10-year-old as the novel's all-too familiar images flew through my mind. At the same time, I remembered the 13-year-old version of myself, reading my own, recently-published, copy of the book. Having left the book dormant for that long, I was pleased to find that it was still as thrilling and intriguing as I remembered.

FRWL is the longest Bond novel and is split into two parts. The entirety of the first part is a masterstroke, slowly revealing the machine engineered to bring about Bond's demise. Grant, Klebb, Kronsteen, and Tania get fleshed out and consistently demand the audience's attention. Fleming takes his time, giving us the darkly hilarious scenes in SMERSH's secret conference room: a tour de force of plot set-up and catty one-upmanship between wonderfully human characters that we do not see again. "Villain conference" scenes in the Bond films never reached this level of realism and detail, and never gave any character who wasn't integral to the story any personality.

These opening chapters are wonderful, but the excitement can't really last. We know the entire plot before Bond does, and Bond spends much of his first chunk of the novel asking questions, many of which the reader knows the answers to. Fortunately, to bid our time, Kerim passes the time with Bond (Fleming using the term "passing time" to head these passages), eating and drinking with him, taking him to a gypsy camp, bringing him along to kill Krilencu (these passages are so close to the film version, which certainly aids in my memory of the novel). Bond, like in Diamonds, is tired of waiting, and right where I started to get bored (we were practically two-thirds into the novel and nothing had happened to/with Bond), Tania shows up in one of my favorite cliffhangers of the novels so far. From here, the novel swiftly moves to the climax and the shocking ending.

After the under-written villains of DAF, it's nice to have such memorable and detailed characters peppered in the adventure. Kerim is a fantastic foil to Bond and Tania, while not being revolutionary in approach, is a fine companion for Bond and an intriguing cog in SMERSH's wheel of death. Bonus points for an appearance by Mathis, now heading the Deuxième. The only real drawback is the intermittent eventfulness in the second third, despite the colorful locales and characters. After taking his time with the first third, the book needs a jolt, and there is just more waiting around from our hero. Fleming heads on his forward trajectory, deeply exploring previously trodden ground. We find a lot more insight into the mind of our hero and more shades of his homelife. We have another philosophical plane ride, and another woman who believes Bond can rescue her from the hand of the enemy (Tiffany and Solitaire worked for the enemy; Vesper did and was a double; Gala was a double who worked for our villain). The repetition of themes doesn't come off as lazy or uncreative if we think about it psychoanalytically. Bond (read: Fleming) is trapped in these cycles, doomed to repeat them. The only escape is death. Fleming almost delivers Bond from his purgatory, but Bond is doomed to face another mission.

Grade: A

Rank:

1. Casino Royale

2. From Russia With Love

3. Diamonds Are Forever

4. Moonraker

5. Live and Let Die

Next: Doctor No

[timallengrunt]

Bond Reshaken: Diamonds Are Forever by Ian Fleming

At face value, Diamonds Are Forever is another page-turning romp from Mr. Fleming, but under the surface, it is another sublime chapter of the ongoing character study of Ian Fleming's mirror image: James Bond. 

Diamonds presents a caper that isn't much of what one would a suspect of a Bond story. Obviously, the novel is a product of Fleming's fascination and concurrent research in Diamond smuggling (he wrote a non-fiction book on the subject). The opening exposition in London takes a while to get going, but the pace comes with Fleming's style, especially in these earlier novels. When Bond meets Tiffany Case, we are instantly reminded of Vesper via "La Vie en Rose," the first of many fine bits of series continuity. Tiffany is a fascinating and realistic character, and Bond's feelings for her are warranted. Tiffany opens new things in Bond and changes him in this novel. Their romance contains moments both bitter and sweet, but always fruitful. Their scenes, some taking up entire chapters, are some of the most enjoyable. The romance in the novels has been, on the whole, the thing I've appreciating most in revisiting them (see the quotes I've been posting on my blog).

Bond also gets to work with Felix again, whose first appearance in the book brought a massive smile to my face (it's been so long since I read this novel, I didn't remember a thing about it; everything is a surprise). Their moments together are very endearing and, like in Live and Let Die, the way Bond describes him or thinks about them is colored with an unprecedented affection. There is true love for Felix coming from Bond.

The locales and flavors of Diamonds are also exciting. From the scene at the Sarasota mud baths, to the moments in London and Manhattan; from to the sweltering deserts of Africa, to the luxury of Las Vegas. Bond's flight from London to NYC is one of my favorite scenes, reminiscent of Bond's midair inner monologue in Live and Let Die. The horse racing episode is a little exhausting and over-detailed, but it doesn't bog down too much. 

Bond does feel lost in this novel. Lost in a sea of minor villains (comparative to, say, Hugo Drax) in constant rotation and pushed and pulled by his author. After the blackjack scene, Bond feels fed up with being pushed and pulled by the Spangs' machinations and decides to take the reigns. The moment felt like Fleming realized he had to get out of this plot: Bond is told what to do by gangsters and he does it in order to gain favor. Fleming needed to take initiative and do something...anything. Bond's inner monologue right before the roulette scene feels like a cry from the author that says "Alright, Ian, let's actually have our protagonist move the plot for a change." It's a fun moment that calls out the books main weakness: Bond doesn't do so much besides what he's told.

The action scenes are fun, especially the darker moments aboard the Queen Elizabeth. None of the villains are particularly fleshed-out enough to have memorable personalities, but they will be memorable to Bond due to the ruthless way in which they were dispatched. Bond even tallies the death count at the end of the novel. These are the coldest kills of the series so far, and they will weigh heavily in Bond's mind. In this story, our hero discovers that, other than diamonds, only death is forever. Love and life are temporary.

Grade: A-

Rank:

1. Casino Royale

2. Diamonds Are Forever

3. Moonraker

4. Live and Let Die

Next: From Russia With Love