Re: What Did You Watch? 2025-01-18 (Saturday)

On 1/22/2025 7:16 AM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:

Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

On 1/21/2025 6:27 PM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:

On 1/21/2025 10:34 AM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:

Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

On 1/19/2025 12:14 PM, anim8rfsk wrote:

Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

 

'The Spy Who Loved Me'. Did you know that Roger Moore was Eon's first
choice for Bond back before 'Dr. No'? But he was unavailable until
'Live and Let Die'.

 

Lucky thing or they probably wouldn’t have had a franchise.

 

Dunno. Personally I prefer the Moore Bonds to Connery Bonds.

 

You need to re-watch Dr. No, then. Connery is playing James Bond the
cold-hearted bastard created by Ian Fleming.

 

Already watched 'Dr. No' a few weeks ago when I started working thru the
box set. I still say that _I_ prefer Moore to Connery as Bond. What
you like is up to you.

 

I think a lot of it depends on which Bond someone grew up watching
first.  I grew up with Roger Moore as Bond so he's my favorite.  At
least between Moore and Connery, I prefer Moore.  But I suspect for
people who grew up with Connery as their first Bond, they prefer him.
And I imagine something similar with the later Bonds as well.

 Dr. No  was released before I was born. Diamonds Are Forever was the
first movie I saw in theater, and I don't think I saw On Her Majesty's
Secret Service till it cam out on DVD.
 James Bond movies, for me, were on ABC, which for decades had airing rights.
 But I didn't truly appreciate the character till I read Fleming's
novels. Starting with Goldfinger, the movies changed. I don't include
Thunderball which, of course, began as a movie script and we got what we
were going to get. I really enjoy the underwater stunts but a lot of
people think the action scenes drag.
 In any event, Connery is playing Bond as Fleming wrote the character in
Dr. No more than any other movie. For a small budget movie, the Ken Adam
sets for the villain's lair look great although the technical room left
something to be desired.
 Ursula arising from Crab Key is just iconic.

My Bond experience was sort of similar to yours, but just later.  My youngest Bond memories are of watching the opening sequence where Blofeld remote controlled a helicopter and Bond was able to take control and kill Blofeld.  That Bond opening was constantly on TV when I was a kid.  I couldn't tell you the plot of the movie, but I remember that.
I think my next Bond memory was "Octopussy" being on TV all the time. That and I distinctly remember a TV host showing a Connery Bond ("Never Say Never Again") and "Octopussy" showing them back to back for a Connery vs. Moore comparison.  I think that was probably the first time there was more than one Bond entered my consciousness.
Then "A View to A Kill" was announced as being filmed in San Francisco. I lived in San Francisco at the time.  And I remember it being a *huge* deal.
But the first Bond movie I actually saw in the theater was "Goldeneye." I was in college at the time and some buddies and I all got together to see Bond on the big screen.  It was all we could talk about.
But I never read any of the books.  So my idea of who and what James Bond is was mostly shaped by Roger Moore.  It was many years before I got around to watching all of the movies, especially the older ones.  To this day, I've only ever watched From "Russia With Love," once or twice.   Same goes for "Thunderball."  I'm sure there are others I've only ever watched a couple of times.  Growing up The Roger Moore Bonds were what was new and popular, while the Connery Bonds were just old movies that you wouldn't waste your time with.  And that was coming from someone who liked watching old movies.  Of course as I got older I did start to watch and appreciate the Connery Bonds, but for the most part, I don't think I ever really enjoyed them the way I enjoyed the Moore Bond movies.  Connery's original run ended before I was born, so he was always in the distant past, while Moore was contemporary.
Today, I have a slightly different perspective.  It's no longer the current movie vs the old movie, it's now the franchise I've spent my entire life watching.  I love the franchise and I'm really looking forward to revisiting all of them.