BEFORE: Perhaps I've been a little harsh on the early Bond films, not only are they a by-product of their time, but they represent a fantasy. What red-blooded American male wouldn't live the Bond love-em-and-leave-em lifestyle if he could? It was the swinging Sixties, after all - free love and all that. I'm on to Bond #2 (or #3 in my improvised chronology). Switching Bond actors, but the actors who played his support staff (M, Q) all carry over.
THE PLOT: James Bond woos a mob boss's daughter and goes undercover to uncover the true reason for Blofeld's allergy research in the Swiss Alps.
AFTER: Lazenby only made one appearance as Bond, he was convinced that there wasn't much life left in the franchise - well, they only made 17 more films after this one, so can you blame the guy? This turned out to be the equivalent of the record companies who turned down The Beatles, convinced that guitar groups would never catch on.
It's a little surprising that "Lazenby" didn't enter our vocabulary as a word, meaning "to be a poor substitute for" or "to fail to meet expectations". In fact, this whole film seems like a step backwards, as we're back to the low production values and cheezy effects seen prior to "You Only Live Twice".
Bond is still not a one-woman man, at least not until the end of this film, when he decides to settle down. But again, it's a fantasy film, and for the women in the audience, Bond needs to be seen as available.
Blofeld appears again, and "meets" James Bond again, after being introduced to him in the last film. But hey, what do you expect, Bond looks totally different now. Matter of fact, they both do...
Allergy research? Blofeld is an allergist now? It seems like maybe that's just a ruse to get a bunch of beautiful women with allergies to come stay at his Swiss chalet. Actually, he uses them to create a bunch of super-viruses, but don't worry. Once Bond and his associates blow up the place, and the viruses get released into the atmosphere, I'm sure there couldn't be any negative implications from that. It's probably fine.
LOCATIONS: Portugal, Switzerland
VILLAINS: Blofeld, Irma Bunt
BABES: Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo, 12 "Angels of Death"
ALLIES: M, Q, Miss Moneypenny, Marc-Ange Draco
PASTIMES: Curling, ice skating, ice car racing, bobsledding
CARS: dark green 1969 Aston Martin DBS
GADGETS: None, I think - which is very un-Bond like.
THEME SONG: "We Have All the Time in the World" by Louis Armstrong. Strange direction.
Also starring Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, Desmond Llewelyn (all carrying over from "Thunderball"), Diana Rigg (last seen in "The Great Muppet Caper"), Telly Savalas (last seen in "Birdman of Alcatraz"), Gabriele Ferzetti, Ilse Steppat.
RATING: 3 out of 10 ski-suits
No comments:
Post a Comment