Illuminati-R-Us

Died today.

He wasn't my James Bond, but he probably made of the role what could be made of it with the scripts of the 70s and 80s.

My farewells, 007.

We were just saying in the office - not one of the best Bonds, but in some of the best Bond films.

Which ones do you think of? I didn't see all of them, off the top of my head, The Man With the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, Octopussy. Any of these?

Arneb wrote:Which ones do you think of? I didn't see all of them, off the top of my head, The Man With the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, Octopussy. Any of these?

Fond of his 70's ones - Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man With the Golden Gun (saw that on Sunday), The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker.

He wasn't the Bond we deserved but he was the Bond we needed. Or something. We view the Moore Bonds as travelogues, pretty guides to exotic locations and a lifestyle to emulate. I have to admit we have gone places and stayed in hotels simply because they were in Moore/Bond films.

I'm an outlier in that Lazenby is my favourite Bond, then Craig, then Moore. Octopussy is probably my favourite Bond film.

Let's not forget his other work, I was a huge Saint fan as a child/young teenager.

Good shout. I really liked The Saint too.

It's probably a huge cliché, but I liked Sean Connery in Never Says Never Again best. Does Sean have a Scottish accent as an Englis agent as well or does he try to sound English? I can't tell bwecause I only know the dubbed version in perfect Hochdeutsch.

I have a soft spot for The Persuaders too.

Connery hahs a schlight Schcottish acshent at all timesh, even when he playsh Shpaniardsh and Shovietsh. Bond was Scottish, but with a better educated accent than Connery.

Arneb wrote:It's probably a huge cliché, but I liked Sean Connery in Never Says Never Again best. Does Sean have a Scottish accent as an Englis agent as well or does he try to sound English? I can't tell bwecause I only know the dubbed version in perfect Hochdeutsch.

Sean Connery only does one accent, his own. Point of order, I recall that Bond is supposed to be half Scottish and half Swiss or something - but I'll defer to the greater wisdom of our Visiting Professor of Bond Studies.

ETA - a simulpost with our learned colleague, there! The "point of order" bit is a reply to Arneb.

You are quite right, I had forgotten his mother was Swiss. French speaking so no help with explaining his accent.

Bugger.

Lianachan wrote:Good shout. I really liked The Saint too.

Checking back, it was actually a different Saint I enjoyed in my youth.

I used to like the Moore Saint. He also played one of the Mavericks in the old TV western in later seasons. Beau MAverick. I much preferred the James Garner MAverick.

Lazenby? I read he said he went into it hoping to tone down the over the top portrayals of other Bond films. My immediate reaction was then it wouldn't be a Bond film any longer, it would just be some spy movie. The whole point of a Bond movie is to be over the top. Like swimming ashore from the ocean, peeling off the wet suit to reveal he is already dressed in a tuxedo.

Heid the Ba' wrote:Connery hahs a schlight Schcottish acshent at all timesh, even when he playsh Shpaniardsh and Shovietsh. Bond was Scottish, but with a better educated accent than Connery.

Dubbing has its advantages, undoubtedly.

I noted with distaste a tendency in Britsh TV and radio to have furriners (esp. Indians, Pakistanis, French and Germans), when they are portrayed as talking among themselves in their native language, to speak English with a laughable Indian, Pakistani, French, or German accent. Of course, that's what we do: We all speak the one and only real language, English, only badly and laughably.

Our dubbing system avoids that. Everyone speaks squeaky-clean Hochdeutsch. Where the original has them speaking English as a foreign language, they get the approriate accent in the dubbing as well.

Then you miss out on some truly horrible attempts at foreign actors like oh, John Wayne as Genghis Khan, or Kevin Costner in Robin Hood.

What a sad loss!