Inspired by the recent best and worst Bond villains thread...
Just curious about what people rate as their favorite set pieces/action sequences.
I have a few favorites.
Going back to my youth, would have to say the boat chase from Live and Let Die. It was the first Bond movie I saw in the cinema as a kid, and it left quite an impression.
And trying to analyze now what it is about that sequence that makes it one of my favorites, I guess it's the way it was just so different and unique to anything you had seen before. There had been a few speedboad chases before (Puppet On A Chain and errr...well, that's it), but nothing quite like it.
And it is the mixture of different elements which makes it entertaining - it's not 'just' a speedboat chase...it also has elements of a car chase, it has comedy, it has Sherriff J W Pepper, it has cool, souped-up speedboats, it has that cool, Florida everglades location which at the time looked like absolute paradise to me. It was that juxtaposition of different elements that kept you hooked and entertained. Still does, actually.
The Man With the Golden Gun car chase - I was always in love with the really cool red car that Bond steals...again, as a young kid in the 70's you had never seen anything like it, it was just so...damn cool. And unlike the newer movies, it was all done for real. It impressed you and awed you because you appreciated the artistry and professionalism of how they achieved what they did. Just some reald old-style, awesome stunt driving.
Case in point being the bridge jump and twist. Again, just something that you would have never believed possible up until that point in time (apart from that stupid whistle noise added to the soundtrack, of course).
Only slightly let down for me by the big climax to the sequence of the flying car, which even as a young child was obvious was a model.
And more recently, the boat chase from World Is Not Enough. (It just aired on ITV2 which is what got me thinking about this subject).
This again is that wondefrul assemblage of various elements, which when put together become a textbook example of a classic Bond movie action sequence. So here we have that really cool little black speedboat, of course loaded with lots of lovely gadgets...the iconic and instantly recognisable location, - just the sight of Bond barreling past the houses of parliament and the theme music playing was exhilarating.
Another plus point being the scarcity of CGI to enhance the sequence, a problem that for me severely detracted from the later Bond movies...the 'crowd-pleasing' moment when Bond goes 'off-road' and you get those wonderful double-take moments from the public...is that really a speedboat coming down the high-street?
Plus those lovely little Bond signature moments, in this case the almost blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment when Bond submerges, and yet adjusts his tie while underwater. Not sure these days about the 'iconic' nature of the Millenium Dome, but at the time it seemed pretty cool.
I know...no Connery moments? Well, I would agree with most that Connery was actually my favorite Bond, but the fact is I did not grow up with the Connery BonRAB, I grew up with Moore, Dalton and Brosnan. But I do really like the Connery movies, and with more time could give more analysis on my favorite moments and sequences of that era...but I am just concentrating on the ones that were a big influence on me growing up at the moment.
Just curious about what people rate as their favorite set pieces/action sequences.
I have a few favorites.
Going back to my youth, would have to say the boat chase from Live and Let Die. It was the first Bond movie I saw in the cinema as a kid, and it left quite an impression.
And trying to analyze now what it is about that sequence that makes it one of my favorites, I guess it's the way it was just so different and unique to anything you had seen before. There had been a few speedboad chases before (Puppet On A Chain and errr...well, that's it), but nothing quite like it.
And it is the mixture of different elements which makes it entertaining - it's not 'just' a speedboat chase...it also has elements of a car chase, it has comedy, it has Sherriff J W Pepper, it has cool, souped-up speedboats, it has that cool, Florida everglades location which at the time looked like absolute paradise to me. It was that juxtaposition of different elements that kept you hooked and entertained. Still does, actually.
The Man With the Golden Gun car chase - I was always in love with the really cool red car that Bond steals...again, as a young kid in the 70's you had never seen anything like it, it was just so...damn cool. And unlike the newer movies, it was all done for real. It impressed you and awed you because you appreciated the artistry and professionalism of how they achieved what they did. Just some reald old-style, awesome stunt driving.
Case in point being the bridge jump and twist. Again, just something that you would have never believed possible up until that point in time (apart from that stupid whistle noise added to the soundtrack, of course).
Only slightly let down for me by the big climax to the sequence of the flying car, which even as a young child was obvious was a model.
And more recently, the boat chase from World Is Not Enough. (It just aired on ITV2 which is what got me thinking about this subject).
This again is that wondefrul assemblage of various elements, which when put together become a textbook example of a classic Bond movie action sequence. So here we have that really cool little black speedboat, of course loaded with lots of lovely gadgets...the iconic and instantly recognisable location, - just the sight of Bond barreling past the houses of parliament and the theme music playing was exhilarating.
Another plus point being the scarcity of CGI to enhance the sequence, a problem that for me severely detracted from the later Bond movies...the 'crowd-pleasing' moment when Bond goes 'off-road' and you get those wonderful double-take moments from the public...is that really a speedboat coming down the high-street?
Plus those lovely little Bond signature moments, in this case the almost blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment when Bond submerges, and yet adjusts his tie while underwater. Not sure these days about the 'iconic' nature of the Millenium Dome, but at the time it seemed pretty cool.
I know...no Connery moments? Well, I would agree with most that Connery was actually my favorite Bond, but the fact is I did not grow up with the Connery BonRAB, I grew up with Moore, Dalton and Brosnan. But I do really like the Connery movies, and with more time could give more analysis on my favorite moments and sequences of that era...but I am just concentrating on the ones that were a big influence on me growing up at the moment.
)