The Spy Who Loved Me



Starring Roger Moore, Barbara Bach, Curt Jurgens, Richard Kiel, Shane rimmer, Caroline Munro, and Walter Gotell.

Released in July 1977, and seen by those who couldn't get into Star Wars.

British and Soviet missile submarines have been swallowed up by a massive supertanker, unbeknownst to their government. James Bond and KGB Agent XXX, Maj Anya Amasova, have been tasked by their bosses to report for briefings. Amasova says goodbye to her lover, who has his own mission. he is actually trying to ambush and kill Bond; but fails and dies in the attempt. Bond returns to England with a document that proves someone has been tracking british sub movements. he is sent to Egypt, where the tracking system details have been offered for sale. he runs across Amasova nad a killer, called Jaws. BAmasova double crosses Bond and steals documents; but, Gen Gogol, head of the KGB has offered them to M, to pool their resources. They identify the Stromberg research lab, in Sardinia, as the source of where the documents were microfilmed. They go there, under the guise of being marine biologists and secure an appointment with Stromberg, on his aquatic facility, Atlantis. Amasova and bond notice something odd about the model for a new supertanker, in Stromberg's fleet. While they are driving, an attampt is made to kill them. They escape and kill their attackers, then diver their Lotus into the water, where it converts to a submarine. They scout under Atlantis; but are attacked and forced to escape. Later, Amasova discovers that Bond was the one who killed her lover. She promises to kill him when their mission is over. Bond and Amasova are brought on board an American missile sub, to track the tanker and are captured by it. Amasova is discovered and taken away, while Bond gets free and frees the crews of the captured submarines, who grab weapons and fight a running battle with Stromberg's men. The use the detonator from a nuclear missile to blow their way into the command center and reprogram a computer targeting system to get the captured subs, sent by Stromberg to start WW3, to fire on each other. Stromberg has taken Amasova to Atlantis and the US sub has orders to destroy it. bond begs an hour to rescue her. He uses a wet bike to get aboard Atlantis, where he runs into Jaws and dumps him in a shark tank. he kills Stromberg, rescues Amasova and they escape in a pod. She gives up her vengeance and they are discovered by their bosses, while engaging in a bit of Anglo-Soviet relations.

So, what do you do when you have been contractually barred from using the content of a novel? You make s@#$ up. This went through several scripts; and, at one point was going to have a new generation of SPECTRE kill off the old. However, Kevin mcClory owned screen rights to Blofeld and SPECTRE and Eon's use had expired. So, that was dumped. Director Lewis Gilbert (who did YOLT) brought in novelist Christopher Wood and the Frankensteined a story out of the plots for Thunderball and YOLT, This was the result.

All in all, it's a pretty good film, with plenty of action, a decent villain, good actors, and the best henchman since Oddjob. Jaws became a huge favorite and was allowed to survive, as a result of screen tests. Richard Liel played him with great menace. Barbara Bach made a good love interest and agent, though not quite a great actress. She's no Diana Rigg, but gets the job done. Gerry Anderson favorite Shane Rimmer (also seen in YOLT, as a NASA tech) plays the US submarine skipper (Thank heavens it wasn't named the USS Houston). The opening teaser includes a ski jump off a clip, into a freefall parachute jump, that they finally pulled off, after days of waiting for the right weather. the chute opens, revealing a Union Jack, to great applause.

The original novel was an experiment by Fleming, where the story is told from the point of view of a woman, who eventually encounters Bond, and some crooks, in Canada. Even Fleming hated it and banned anything but the title from being used.

The title song, "Nobody Does It Better," was sung by Carly Simon, which became a Top 20 hit, on the Pop Charts. The film also features some very disco-esque music, which would further infiltrate Bond over the next couple of films.

The Lotus car was the main gadget, as is features the usual weaponry, as did the Aston martin, then converts to a submarine. Publicity at the time said it was a real conversion; but, didn't exactly elaborate. The car was not amphibious and did not convert to a submarine. they used 6 cars, for different stages, one of which was converted into a submersible, which required the pilots to be using scuba gear (a submarine is a self-contained environment, while a submersible is open to the elements and requires breathing gear). It looks great, on screen and Lotus became synonymous with Bond, for the next 5 years r so, as Aston martin had, in the 60s. In the novels, Bond drove a Bentley.

Nobody does it better


Nobody does it better
Makes me feel sad for the rest
Nobody does it half as good as you
Baby, you're the best

I wasn't lookin' but somehow you found me
It tried to hide from your love light
But like heaven above me
The spy who loved me
Is keepin' all my secrets safe tonight

And nobody does it better
Though sometimes I wish someone could
Nobody does it quite the way you do
Why'd you have to be so good?
The way that you hold me
Whenever you hold me
There's some kind of magic inside you
That keeps me from runnin'
But just keep it comin'
How'd you learn to do the things you do?

Oh, and nobody does it better
Makes me feel sad for the rest
Nobody does it half as good as you
Baby, baby, darlin', you're the best

Baby you're the best
Darlin', you're the best
Baby you're the best





My favorite Bond Song


I listen to this about once a week ... sometimes more.

Moonraker was the first one I saw at the theatre rather than on tv, so I feel some nostalgia for it, while recognising that it isn't a great film and perhaps not even one of the best of the Roger Moore Bonds, though from one POV I think it kind of distils the essence of their silly, fantastical charm. Still, a lot of fun in its own way. Also a very exciting opening sequences, with the parachute stunt.

I'm not sure how I missed seeing The Spy Who Loved Me at cinema, since I would have been old enough, but I think I just hadn't yet gotten into the habit of going to movies on my own at that point in my life. Anyway, I did finally get to see it just a few years ago, and on the big screen to boot, and thought for the first 2/3 or so it fully lived up to its rep as one of the best of the Moores. Surprisingly to me, the weakest part of the film was the climactic assault on the villains big hide-out complex, which I found wasn't nearly as exciting as similar sequences in other Bond films. Also, Barbara Bach's Russian agent, who had been such a great character up to then, holding her own with Bond in every way, was suddenly relegated to the traditionally passive damsel in distress role, a great let-down, as that character was a large part of what had made the film up to then.

Seeing the film recently, and for the first time, I was struck by the actor who played the Russian agent who was Amasova's lover and who was killed in the opening sequence: I thought he had the right look and screen presence to have played Bond himself. Looking him up later on, his name was Michael Billington and he was in fact auditioned for the part several times and according to wiki, came very close to getting it. I'm sorry he never got the chance.

For Your Eyes Only



Starring Roger Moore, Julian Glover, Topol, Carole Bouquet, Lynn-Holly Johnston, Michael Gotthard, Cassandra Harris, Jill Bennett, John Wyman, Walter Gotell, and Charles Dance.

A British spy ship, the St Georges, is sunk by a mine, caught in it's tow net (it is disguised as a fishing trawler). The ship carried the top secret ATAC communication system, which, if found by the Soviets, would allow them to track and transmit false orders to British ships. Bond is sent to reclaim it, after surviving an attempt on his life by a man who is presumed to be Blofeld (more below). The wreck of the ship was eing tracked by Sir Timothy havelock, a marine archeologist, whos is murdered by Hector Gonzalez, a Cuban hit man, after he delivered the Havelocks' daughter, melina, to their ship, in a small float plane. The Havelocks are gunned down, from the air, while Melina was below deck.

Bond tracks Gonzalez and witnesses a payoff by an unknown European, with octagonal-frame eyeglasses. Before Bond can get to Gonzalez, he is killed by a crossbolt, fired by melina. Bond and melina escape Gonzalez's men and Bond returns to London to identify the mysterious payoff man. he is Emile Leopold Locque,a Belgian hood, working in the Balkans, for Greek smugglers. Bond goes to Cortina, Italy, to track Locque. A local agent puts him in touch with Ari Kristatos, a shipping magnate who worked with the Greek Resistance and a former smuggler. He says Locque is employed by Milos Columbo, a rival, who he says was a german double-agent, in the war. Bond also meets Kristatos' figure skating protege, Bibi Dahl, and her coach, Jacoba Brink, a former Olympic medalist. bond survives an attempt on his life by eric Kriegler, an east German defector, who is actually a KGB agent, masquerading as a biathlon athlete (cross-country skiing, mixed with rifle target shooting). His contact, ferrar, is murdered and a dove pin, symbol of Columbo is left behind. Bond and Kristatos observe Columbo and his mistress at his casino and Bond works his way into going home with the lover, Lisl. After a bit of rumpy-pumpy, her accent slips, revealing she is from Liverpool, not Austria. She is murdered, by Locque and his men, on the beach, the next morning. Bond is saved by scuba divers, who wear Columbo's emblem. he is knocked out and wakes up on board Columbo's ship, where Columbo sets him straight and takes him to Albania, to see Kristatos' heroin smuggling operation, overseen by Locque. A gun battle ensues and Locque tries to flee, only for a shot from Bond to cause his car to spin out and end up on the edge of a cliff. Bond kicks the car loose and Locque plummets to his death.

Bond meets up with melina to search for the St georges. they locate the wreck and remove the ATAC transmitter; but, find Kristatos and his men aboard the Havelock yacht. They are taken prisoner and dragged behind a power boat, to be shark bait. They are able to cut the tow rope, when the boat turns for another run and grab a nearby scuba tank to stay under, fooling kristatos into believing they are dead. They then track Kristatos to a monastery, in Greece, where he intends to sell the ATAC to gen. Gogol, of the KGB. Bond enlists Columbo and his men to infiltrate the monastery and Bond battles and kills Krieger, while Columbo intercepts Kristatos. Bond prevents Gogol from getting the ATAC transmitter and throws it off the mountain, where it is shattered into pieces. Gogol accepts the result with grace and departs. Bond and Melina go skinny dipping, as the parrot Max talks to Margaret Thatcher.

This is, by far, the best of the Roger Moore Bond films. It has a serious story, with minimal gadgets, exciting action scenes, good characters, and a great cast. The women are the weak elements, apart from bennett and Harris. Carole Bouquet was a model, who appeared in Chanel 5 ads. Lynn-Holly Johnston was a figure skater, who finished second in novice category, at the US Figure Skating Championships, in 1974. She never rose to the international competition level and left figure skating to joining the Ice Capades touring company, before moving into acting. her biggest role was starring in the film Ice Castles, with Robby benson, where she portrays a figure skater, blinded by a blood clot. She never really became a major figure in Hollywood, with this and Ice castles as her biggest films. She portrays the cute young skater, who has a thing for Bond, but he turns her down. Even Moore though the age difference was too great (Moore was older than Sean Connery, and was 46 when he took over as Bond). Her line delivery isn't great, though she makes up for it with a cute charisma. Boucquet is better than lois Chiles and has a few moments; but nothing consistent. She was beautiful and her eyes helped sell the film title.

Casandra Harris was an Australian actress, who had appeared in the Greek Tycoon and Rough Cut. She plays the sacrificial lamb, Lisl, who is killed by being run down by a dune buggy. Visiting on set was her young husband, an Irish actor, by the name of Pierce Brosnan. rosnan had appeared to great reviews, in the West End, in Tennessee Williams' The Red Devil Battery Sign, cast by Williams, himself. He had appeared in the films The Long Good friday and the Mirror Crack'd. The producers took note of him as a potential Bond, as Moore was talking about retiring from the role (which led to large amounts of money to come back for octopussy and View to a Kill). Sadly, Harris passed away from ovarian cancer, in 1987.

Julian Glover and Topol were well known character actors, with Topol having been a star on Broadway, with Fiddler on the Roof, as well as the film version. He also played Dr Zarkov, in Dino De Laurentis' Flash Gordon. Glover was a veteran of british theater and tv, with roles in The Avengers, as well as the tv movie Ivanhoe, with Anthony Andrews and James Mason (as King Richard). Glover would go on to appear in Indiana Jones and the Last crusade and The Empire Strikes Back, among others.

Charles Dance, of Game of Thrones, had one of his earliest roles as one of Locque's crew, in the ski hit attempt, in the middle of the film. His face can be seen briefly as he and Locque enter a ski lift elevator, where Bond is trapped. His character follows Bond onto a ski jump, but gets knocked off. Dance would later portray Ian Fleming, in the telefilm, The Secret Life of Ian Fleming. Michael Gotthard was a veteran of British film and television, having appeared in The Four Musketeers (as Felton, the jailer who falls under Faye Dunaway's spell) and the horror films Scream And Scream Again and The Devils. Sadly, Gotthard suffered from clinical depression and took his own life, in 1992.

The film's teaser sequence has Bond visiting the grave of Tracy, which, for some reason, is in England, rather than in her home country. Bond places roses on her grave, then is interrupted by a priest who says there is a message for him and that a helicopter has been dispatched to pick him up. The pilot is electrocuted, while in the air and the chopper is remotely controlled by a bald man, in a wheel chair. Bond regains control of the chopper and scoops up the bald man and dumps him into a smokestack, killing him. It is implied that the man is Blofeld, and the actor is voiced by Robert Rietti, who dubbed Aldolfo Celi, in Thunderball, and tetsuro Tamba, in YOLT. The character of Blofeld could not be used, as it was owned in the Thunderball rights, by Kevin McClory, who was attempting to make his own Bond film, with the title Warhead. The scene loses any sense of drama when Moore starts making jokes and he treats the revenge killing of the man who murdered his only wife as a comedy moment, which is not how Bond should be. It is really the only misstep in the production, as the comedy is used where it is appropriate, for the rest of the film.

The title song is done by pop star Sheena Easton, who had a Top 40 hit, with "Morning Train." This song also became a Top 40 hit, where it rose to Number 4. Easton became the first singer to appear in the title sequence, as she appears to be topless (implied, though there are a few shots with her arms covering her apparently bare chest). The music was done by Bill Conti, who had done the soundtrack for Rocky. However, this was a mixture of jazz and disco, with the bond theme done in a disco style, which sounded terrible. Originally, Blondie was supposed to fd the song; but, their song, with the same title, was rejected. They turned down the offer to record the Conti song and Sheena Easton got the part. Imagine that opener with Debbie Harry! The song won the Oscar for best song. Easton's career would stagnate, until the late 80s, she she hooked up with Prince.

The script is adapted from two short stories: "For Your Eyes Only," and "Risico." For Your Eyes Only has the Havelocks killed by an ex Gestapo officer, working with the Cubans, who tried to buy their estate, in Jamaica. The were friends of M and he asks Bond to voluntarily track down the killer. he runs into Judy Havelock, who tries to kill Von Hammerstein, with a crossbow. That part was transferred to Melina, avenging the deaths of her parents, by Gonzales. Risico features Kristatos and Columbo and the smuggling, for the Russians. The pierside gun battle is the center piece. The rest of the book features three more short stories: "A View to a Kill,: "Quantum of Solace, " and "The Hildebrand Rarity." The titles of the first two were used in subsequent films; but none of the plots.

There is one rather interesting piece of trivia with the film. One of the beautiful women senn poolside, at Gonzales' Spanish villa, was a fashion model, known as Tula. tula had appeared in Harper's Bazaar and the Australian Vogue, and later appeared in Playboy, in 1991. Tula was the professional name of Caroline Cossey, who was born with XXXY chromosomes, in a variation of Klinefelter's Syndrome, where a person is born with XXY chromosomes. She identified as female and hade very feminine features and played dress up games with her sister. She left school at 15 and went to London, where she began transitioning, picking up work as a showgirl, topless dancer and model. She was set to appear in a tv show, in 1978, when a tabloid journalist revealed he was preparing an expose of her past and she withdrew from the show. When she was cast in For Your Eyes only, News of the World ran an expose, with photos. Cossey would go on to campaign in the UK and Europe for transgendered rights.

The ski stunt sequences were directed by Willy Bogner, who had worked with the series since OHMSS. They include a ski jump, chases with motorcycles and skiers, and a sequence where Bond is on a bobsled run, behind the sled, while being chased by a motorcycle. That sequence was particularly dangerous, due to speeds on the ice of the run.

Climbing sequences tested Roger Moore's fear of heights, which featured a bit of Dutch Courage, via alcohol. The actual climbing stunts were doubled, and included a freefall, that had to be carefully counterbalanced to prevent a sudden jerk at the bottom.

This was one of the returns to basics for the Bond series and a great comeback, after the silliness of Moonraker. Moore's age was becoming an issue; but, wasn't too prevalent, yet.

Octopussy



Starring Roger Moore, Maud Adams, Louis Jordan, Steven Berkoff, Kristina Wayborn, Kabir Bedi, Walter Gotell, Vijay Amritraj, Robert Brown. Robert Brown debuts as the new M, while Geoffrey Keen returns as Frederick Grey, for continuity. Also, Moneypenny gets a young assistant, since the producers seem to think Lois Maxwell is too old for flirting with Bond, despite being the same age as Roger Moore, who wasn't exactly looking very youthful.

Released in June 1983

A 00 is killed in Berlin, carrying a Faberge Egg, which is a fake. Bond is in an unnamed dictatorship (alluded to be Cuba), where he sabotages a fighter aircraft. He escapes in a small Bede stunt jet and returns to London for a briefing. Someone has been filtering Russian art treasures to the West, and Bond is tasked to try and identify the seller, as they believe it may be the KGB, funding operations. Bond attends an auction, with an expert and sees Kamal Khan, an exile Afghan prince bidding on the item and counter bids, driving up the price (which gives the expert kittens). Bond switches the real egg with the fake and Khan wins the auction. Bond then travels to India to offer he real egg for sale and sniff out the seller. Bond defeats Khan in a crooked backgammon game. He and local contact Vijay, escape an attack by Khan's goons. Kahn's partner from the auction, Magda, seduces Bond and steals the egg (with Bond's complicity, to track the movement, via a homing transmitter. Bond is captured bu Gobinda, Khan's henchman. He overhears Khan with Soviet Gen orlov, who earlier pushes for a pre-emptive strike in Europe, via conventional invasion, stating the West won't use the nuclear option. He is shut down by the Premier. He is the one funneling the art treasures for currency, while putting fakes in their place, in Moscow, which is discovered by Gen. Gogol. They needed the real egg back, to cover things for an inventory, but Bond delayed it.

Bond escapes Khan's palace and infiltrates the floating palace where Khan's boss lives, who turns out to be Octopussy, the daughter of british Maj. Dexter Smythe, a traitor who Bond was sent to arrest, who Bond let take the honorable way out. She thanks him for that. meanwhile, Vijay is murdered by killers hired by Khan. Bond and Octopussy go for a roll in the sheets, when the killers attack. Bond kills them and leaves the palace, where he finds the dead Vijay. Bond learns that Octopussy's circus troupe us smuggling the treasures into the West, for sale. Orlov substitutes a nuclear device, to explode on a US air base, to create an incident to force expulsion of US forces from Germany and potentially other parts of Europe. Bond hides aboard the train to berlin; but is discovered. he kills one of the attackers and, eventually, the other. he catches up to the circus, at the air base and stops the show before the device can explode, defusing it. He then goes after Orlov, who escapes; but, is gunned down by border guards. Bond goes after Khan and Octopussy and her own army of women attack Khan's palace. Khan escapes with Octopussy as prisoner and Bond gives chase, jumping on to their plane, on take off. Gobinda battle Bond on the outside of the plane and Bond knocks him off. Bond and Octopussy jump off the plane to a cliff, before it goes over and crashes, killing khan. Bond and Octopussy convalesce on her galley.

The film was a huge hit and it's a pretty good one. The gadgets aren't too silly, mostly held to the scene with Q, in India (the lab scene, which had become a staple in the Moore films), apart from the horse's back end that flips out of a horse box, to reveal the Bede, and a crocodile submarine. The Bede makes for a great sequence in the opening teaser and is used well, along with some miniatures to sell the stunts. The basic premise, that a rogue Soviet general is trying to start a nuclear incident to force the withdrawal of US forces was timely, as there was a major nuclear disarmament movement in Europe, at the time. The idea also fueled Frederick Forsyth's novel (and the film) The Fourth Protocol. The auction scenes were adapted from the short story, "The Property of a Lady", from the Octopussy collection, as well as an outline of the plot of "Octopussy" as backstory for Maud Adam's character. The rest provides a plot that initiates the auction and the consequences of it.

This is really the last East vs West Bond, as we see the Soviets, even here, dealing with internal matters (this is before Chernobyl). It is clear that Orlov is a rogue and Gogol is at odds with him; so, the KGB is on Bond's side.

The third act attack is a nice return and the all-girl commando force, wit Octopussy's women, is a nice twist and the ladies acquit themselves well. Q actually aids Bond, in the assault, piloting a hot air balloon and he rescues Magda and some of the gals from a tough spot, to a nice reward.

The center part has a wild car chase through Udaipur streets, which are heavily crowded and even caused some issues in filmmaking (a cyclists rides between the two vehicles, in one shot). There is some silliness to take advantage of Vijay Amritraj's background as a world class tennis player (he uses a racket to hit the goons and the crowd watching turn their heads back and forth, with tennis sound effects). There is also a jungle hunt, where Bond does Barbara Wodehouse to a tiger and a Tarzan swing and yell.

Moore and Maud Adams had a nice chemistry and Kristina Wayborn is smoking hot and athletic and makes for great sex appeal and action (plus looks pretty damn sexy in Zatanna's duds)



It is rather galling that Moneypenny is given an assistant for sex appeal and flirtation, while moore is pretty long in the tooth, yet gets the women. It helps to get a boatload of money to continue in the role, because recasting didn't go well, before. It will hurt the next one, as Moore is that much older and it becomes ridiculous.

Title song is done by Rita Coolidge. John Barry is back on music and the Bond theme returns.

The film set did have some tragedy, as stunt man Martin Grace was badly injured during the filming of the train stunt, where Bond is hanging from the side. A concrete pole base was near the tracks and he mis-timed his ducking and collides with it, breaking his hip and leg.

The film did well, but, it had some competition (aside from return of the Jedi). A rival Bond had come to light, once again.

Never Say Never Again



Starring Sean Connery, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Barbara Carrera, Edward Fox, Kim Basinger, Rowan Atkinson, Bernie Casey, Pat Roach, and Max Von Sydow.

Basically, this is the same plot as Thunderball, so I will just talk about the differences. The film opens with Bond in what turns out to be a training scenario, rescuing a hostage. he takes out the kidnappers, but gets knifed by the abductee. His performance is viewed by the new M and is found lacking. He is sent to a clinic to get healthy. From there, it mostly follows Thunderball, though with the hijacking of air-launched cruise missiles, fired from a B-1 Bomber (with nuclear warheads ordered to be inserted, thanks to a retina transplant, matching the retina print of the President). Bond goes to Nassau, where he is met by local rep Nigel Small-Fawcett, a buffoon. Bond meets Fatima Blush, a SPECTRE agent and survives an attempt on his life, after she plants a bomb in his room. The Largo yacht heads to Nice, where Bond meets Domino, in a spa (masquerading as a masseuse), then meets Largo and plays a video game with him, which delivers shocks. Blush makes another attempt on Bond, who flees on a motorcycle, before killing her. Bond gets aboard the Largo yachtand tells Domino about her brother and is seen by Largo, through a two-way mirror. Largo captures Bond and sells Domino to slavers, in North Africa, where he has the warheads hidden, in a well. bond escapes, rescues Domino and figures out that her pendant has a map of where the well is located. he and Felix Leiter use rocket platforms to fly into the well and attack SPECTRE, along with help from the US Navy. Largo escapes and Bond chases; but, Domino is the one who kills him. Later, Bond and Domino are in Nassau, where Small-Fawcett interrupts with an urgent request, which Bond turns down.

Kevin McClory came out of the lawsuits over the novel Thunderball with film rights to the story and spent the next couple of decades trying to get a rival Bond series going. However, he only owned what was in the aborted script. This project took a long time to get off the ground, and was known as Warhead. Lawsuit threats stopped them from being able to diverge from the old script; so we got a remake, with the same plot. The music is a big problem, as we don't have John barry, the Bond theme or anything recognizable; and, instead, get some generic mid-80s film music. The pace is slow and there are long boring stretches. Irvin Kershner, fresh off Empire, is the director; but, action isn't his forte.

Barbarrera is great and adds a lot of gusto to things. Max Von Sydow, as Blofeld, is wasted. He basically does exposition, while Brandauer and Carrera handle the plot. It was better with an unseen Blofeld, to keep the spotlight on Largo. Bernie Casey is fine, as Felix, though he doesn't have much to do (as usual). We get a sort of Q, in Algernon, with some great comedic lines. Edward Fox is an adversarial M, who has little use for the 00s, until the nuclear warheads disappear. He is good in that type of role, as he can play unlikeable well. Pro Wrestler/stuntman/actor Pat Roach plays the remake Count Lippe, now just a SPECTRE killer. Roach is famous as the bald German Indiana Jones fights in Raiders and a swordsman/overseer in Temple (and a deleted scene in Last Crusade) as well as General Kael, in Willow). Roach is great at physical acting and is decent with dialogue. he has a great fight with Bond, though his death is a bit silly.

Rowan Atkinson is in his first theatrical role, after doing Not The Nine O' Clock News and the first series of Blackadder, as well as a star making appearance in the Secret Policeman's Ball. he is fine; but, the character is too distracting for an action-thriller. It adds nothing, but suggests they didn't trust Connery to delivery comedy, like Moore. Thing was, the audience didn't want comedy from Connery, they wanted action and the traditional bond stuff.

Connery showed up fit and ready to work, with a better rug than last time and works hard, though they play up his obvious age, early on. They keep calling attention to the past, which makes them look sadder than they already do.

In the end, you have a good cast; but a mixed film, that most of the audience had already seen, in some form and this was just an older Connery revisiting the past, for a boatload of money. It did introduce a young Kim Basinger (after a fw tv roles), who is good and features a good cast, led by a good director for actors; but not a great production for an action-adventure film.

Thankfully, this is the last time a "fake Bond" film would arise, though not for lack of trying and lawsuits. Eventually, Columbia acquired the rights from McClory (and was bought by Sony) who acquired MGM and united the properties (and Casino Royale), so that SPECTRE and Blofeld could return for the Daniel Craig series.

Title song was done by Lani Hall, wife of herb Alpert, who played on the song. Music was done by James Horner, after winning notices for Star Trek II. It is more traditional scoring, not so much a Bond style. no attempt to mimic Maurice Binder's title sequences was done and the credits appear over the opening teaser of Bond's training mission.

To semi quote: Ah, Mr. Bond I expect you to entertain me. Bond movies were a common Sunday ritual in my family during the 70's when ABC would run them regularly. Whenever they came around my mom's grandparents who lived 3 blocks away would come over after church in the morning and spend the rest of the afternoon cooking up a big meal and we would all eat early so we could sit back and relax through the night watching Mr's Connery or Moore in their spy games. These were fun movies no matter if at times they fell into silliness or dumbness or the Bonds becoming a bit long in the tooth. They were pure escapism from reality and the family all had a great time spent together discussing and comparing thoughts while watching.

Myself I was familiar with the Fleming Bond novels as my grandpa had quite a few of them along with his western paperbacks. Gramps loved the macho pulp style stuff found in westerns and spy/action/adventure men's books from the 60's and early 70's. So I was quite familiar with the more adult, gregariously sexual 007 and understood that the movies couldn't and wouldn't go quite full on their own adaptions. Cherry picking the "best" ideas and titles and moments seems to have worked quite well in the long run since Bond movies still have a drawing and staying power here in 2019. I have every Bond movie on DVD and play through them randomly throughout the year. Yes many are dated and quite unintentionally humorous but they also reflect the times in when they were created and having grown up through those times, the movies deliver memories and smiles every single time for me. Call it Nostalgia or the rose colored glasses syndrome, but it is not necessarily a bad thing given the times we live in today. 

Yes John Wick could kill James Bond in approximately 30 seconds but I need and want Bond movies in my life to watch and enjoy for all the same reasons I adore old western movies and my old comic books. They are a part and parcel of the life I spent growing from child to teen to adult and will forever be carried with me. I don't have time or energy to pick the movies apart or single out what I do like or don't like in them through this thread. I simply take them for what they are and were to me and appreciate reading all of the interesting and unique responses and thoughts from my fellow CCF members.