Another great review from Tom.
I'm a big Bond fan but I enjoy reading Tom's take on these films.
I actually like this movie. It is the last of the "serious" Bond flicks. It's all slapstick silliness after this.
There's actually a real love story here as per Ian Flemings novel. It follows the book pretty closely and I think it's a pretty fun film overall.
Although I have gotten accustomed to Lazenby's portrayal, it is a shame Connery wasn't in this. Lazenby doesn't do a bad job considering his lack of acting experience.
This was supposed to be made after Thunderball as Fleming had written it. The book You Only Live Twice was written after this. In it Bond is trying to avenge the murder of his wife and follows Blofeld to his "garden of death." No rockets eating rockets or hollowed out volcanoes.
The producers felt it would be viewed as"Thunderball with skies". It would have been a much better movie with Connery. There wouldn't have been all these awkward moments that fill this film because of the need to introduce Lazenby. It would have also taken care of the problem Tom points out, that Blofeld doesn't recognize Bond after seeing him face to face in the previous film.
In order to intrduce Lazenby to the audience the producers toyed with the idea of first showing Bond having bandages removed from his face after receiving face changing plastic surgery. That was dropped.
It would have been nice to see what Connery would have done with this somewhat serious script, especially with that ending.
This was the lowest grossing Bond film in the series. Oh well, it could have been great.
Can't wait for Tom's take on Diamond Are Forever and the Moore years.
This movie , Goldfinger. From Russia With Love, Dr.No, and The Spy Who Loved Me will be playing this month at the Ziegfeld theater in NYC. If you like old Bonds and have never seen them on the big screen this will be a real treat.
