Dialogue can make or break a film. However beautifully photographed the picture might be, however stimulating, thought-provoking or thrilling the story is, however captivating the score, if what the characters say is poorly conceived, that movie is operating on a significant handicap. The Roger Moore tenure in the 007 film franchise is indeed often criticized …
The Living Daylights Directed by John Glen Written by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson 1987, USA It wasn’t guaranteed that the Daniel Craig films would successfully reboot James Bond, in part because such a restart had already been tried before. After 1985’s A View To a Kill, in which age had begun to show …
A View To Kill Directed by John Glen Screenplay by Michael G. Wilson and Richard Maibaum 1985, USA As soon as Roger Moore took over the role of James Bond, the franchise quickly devolved into a state of ridiculousness that rendered the entire series beyond parody. A View To a Kill, Moore’s final film as …
Octopussy Directed by John Glen Written by George Macdonald Fraser, Richard Maibaum, and Michael G. Wilson United Kingdom, 1983 1983 presented a unique challenge for the Bond franchise. For the first time since Ursula Andress strolled out of the water, there were going to be two Bond films in theatres in the same year. As …
Following James Bond’s out of this world experience in the financially successful (665 million, adjusted for inflation) if artistically vapid Moonraker, the series’ sole producer, Albert Broccoli, thought it best to venture in a different direction, one that would feel slightly more grounded, all the while still playing on the strengths of his star: cool …
It is no secret that Roger Moore holds the record as the actor who played James Bond the most, his tally an impressing 7. There are a bevy of reasons why this was the case, the most obvious being that each one of his films were massive financial successes, the only bump in the road …
For Your Eyes Only Written by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson, based on Ian Fleming’s short stories “For Your Eyes only” and “Risico” Directed by John Glen UK, 1981, You probably have never heard this before, but my favourite James Bond film of all time, For Your Eyes Only, was the first 007 film …
Moonraker Directed by Lewis Gilbert Screenplay by Christopher Wood UK, 1979 Moonraker has the unique distinction of being the most absurd and over-the-top Bond film produced in 50 years of the series. Spy films exist in a genre unto themselves, but the Bond films sometimes like to crossover into other popular genres as well. The …
The Spy Who Loved Me Directed by Lewis Gilbert Screenplay by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum UK, 1977 There’s an undeniable lasting appeal to Bond. Lasting 50 years is certainly proof of that, but there’s something deeper. After all, one can point to Star Trek and Doctor Who as cultural icons that have stood the …
‘The Man with the Golden Gun’ is Bond at his most uncertain.
Live and Let Die Written by Tom Mankiewicz Directed by Guy Hamilton UK, 1973 1973’s Live and Let Die unleashed a new kind of Bond upon the world, a Bond whose bland propriety and vacuous quips would dominate the screen for another twelve years. Roger Moore, taking over for Sean Connery, the third different Bond …
Sure, there have been countless articles detailing the debonair men that portrayed the world’s most famous superspy in Ian Fleming’s creation of Agent 007 (a.k.a James Bond). And of course there have been many debates arguing who is considered the best Bond of them all (yes…I concur with the majority of the Sean Connery census …
Public confession time: I am a bit of a geek. I obsess over punctuation and fuss over math. In fact, in the part of my job that pays the bills (because acting as Festival Director for the YoungCuts Film Festival is more a labor of love) I just celebrated the 2 year anniversary of a …