Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by jamesgarvin (A) on June 22, 2006 at 09:08:05

In Reply to: Daniel Craig as James Bond posted by townsend on June 21, 2006 at 17:43:47:

As a long time Bond fan, which I inherited from my parents who like to recount seeing "Dr. No" at the drive-in, a film that nobody knew about, and was the first feature of a double bill:

(1) I am not sure they ran out of novels as opposed to ran out of novels from which they wanted to make movies.
(2) The Bond franchise prided itself on the fact that it used real stuntmen doing real stunts, without the use of special effects. Beginning with Brosnan's appearance, they began to use the "blue screen", and with it, departed, I think, some of the distinctiveness. I suspect that the Producers perceived the Bond franschise as loosing ground to the more flashy, special effects driven films. Rather than leading a genre, it was now following. My favorite scene of the recent films was Brosnan driving on ice. Cool.

(3) Not sure I would agree that Bond was "Sissified." Moore was certainly less physical than Connery, and used quips more, but comparing any Bond to Connery will lead to failure. Moore was my least favorite. But the underappreciated Dalton was certainly physical, and though Brosnan had the looks, he performed many physically demanding acts.

I think that Craig is an intriguing choice, I suspect that many will be pleasantly surprised (if they keep an open mind), but Craig's roles, on the whole, have not been physical, and I do not perceive him as physical. But in the movies, anything is possible.