Bond, Part 2

It's time for me to continue my account of watching all the James Bond movies. For those who missed the first part, in which I looked at the Sean Connery films, you can take a look back here. But this installment is all about Roger Moore.

As I mentioned last time, Moore was really the Bond of my generation. I'd seen several of his Bond movies long before I ever saw my first Connery film. Moore's Bond started out fairly similar to Connery's, actually. There seemed to be a few lines in the scripts designed solely to set him apart in the role (ordering a bourbon in Live and Let Die, for example, rather than a martini), but really they just seemed like window dressing.

Soon, though, Roger Moore's take on the character would develop, for better or (and?) worse, into a more relaxed and at times comedic take on the character. Moore Bond films were more fanciful and more elaborate than Connery's, and not just for the far larger budgets. They simply didn't take themselves as seriously. And in my opinion, this worked very well in some films, and failed miserably in others. Here's how I chart Moore's career as 007, film by film.

Live and Let Die - The first Roger Moore Bond film was a strong debut. The action really moved in a way that the last couple Bond movies did not. The villain's "heist" to establish dominance over drug distribution in the U.S. wasn't that great a caper in the grand scheme of the series, but he was nevertheless a compelling screen presence, thanks to actor Yaphet Kotto. He also had some great henchmen in Tee Hee and Baron Samedi. And of course there was Jane Seymour as Solitaire. Other women may have created more iconic moments in their roles as Bond women, but to this day, I don't think there's been as skilled an actress cast as one -- and she manages to do quite a lot with it, too. There are several comedic moments in the film. Some work (Bond's escape from a den of crocodiles), and some don't (everything with the bumbling Louisiana sheriff J.W. Pepper). Bonus points for a theme song that I personally think kicks ass. I give it a B- overall.

The Man With the Golden Gun - Christopher Lee as the villain, Hervé Villechaize as his henchman? This movie starts well ahead of the game. The plot is primarily about an alleged death threat against Bond by Lee's character, Scaramanga. But it gets a little muddy with a stop off at a karate dojo, and muddier still when solar-powered lasers and other nonsense appears that probably seemed way cool in 1974. Oh, and the reappearance of that God-awful J.W. Pepper character from the last film? Dumb, dumb, dumb. But once again, it all comes out to a B-.

The Spy Who Loved Me - Most film buffs will tell you this was the best of the Roger Moore Bond films. I have to agree. The pre-credit sequence is one of the best in the entire series, ending in a stunt that's arguably the most iconic image in any Bond film. Carly Simon's title song is unforgettable. Jaws is a great thug, though they do let him get just a touch too comical at times, robbing him of some of his menace. The main villain, Stromberg, touches a lot of the buttons that made Blofeld such a good nemesis in the earlier Bond films. But the middle chunk of the movie does drag a bit. The Russian spy Amasova doesn't seem quite strong and credible enough by today's standards, which means the whole "Bond's equal" idea seems a bit dated today. And speaking of things that don't hold up, there's the entire musical score -- James Bond's themes rendered as disco music. Ugh. Still, much more of this movie holds up with the passage of time than does not. I give it a B.

Moonraker - Roger Moore was having a great track record as Bond, until this movie came along. And it all seems to start so well. The pre-credits sequence of Bond falling out of an airplane without a parachute is just great. Bond then begins his investigation of the villain Drax, who seems intriguing and dangerous. But sadly, this movie was all about the producers wanting a piece of that "Star Wars" movie that had appeared two years earlier. Completely ridiculous notions of space flight soon intrude, and in the climax of the film, Bond actually goes to outer space, where he and a bunch of space marines get involved in a laser gun fight with Drax's army. I've seen it, and I don't believe it. They also bring back Jaws from the previous film, which ought to be great, but they turn him into a completely comical character, putting him in a romance with a pig-tailed blonde (whose shiny gold spacesuit has matching hair ribbons). The first 20 minutes of this movie are great, but the rest comes across like a parody of a James Bond movie, rather than the genuine article. I give it a D+.

For Your Eyes Only - This movie is crammed full to bursting with random ideas, like nobody really knew quite what they wanted here. And sadly, most of the ideas are boring. There's scuba diving (even more boring than the material from Thunderball), lots of skiing (not as compelling as the material from The Spy Who Love Me), and an opening sequence that sees the return of Blofeld (yes!) only for the purpose of getting rid of him in less than six minutes of screen time (why bother?). There's a bait-and-switch surrounding the bad guy that feels rather pointless. The ending of the film seems to render the entire proceedings moot. And inexplicably, disco is back, even though this movie was released in 1981. The musical score is simply terrible. There is a fairly good sequence that involves Bond being dragged by a boat, a car chase of a little interest because Bond is deprived of his super car, and a rock climbing sequence near the end that is pretty exciting (mainly because one can tell it was actually done for real, and not through visual effects). But ultimately, this is a boring movie. I rate it a D+.

Octopussy - Somehow, this title character of this movie is involved both in jewel smuggling and running a traveling circus. That ought to give you a sense of how at odds with itself the plot is. Really, it all just seems like a way to connect specific action sequences the writers had in mind. Fortunately, most of those sequences are good: a small aircraft fight before the opening credits, a fight through the streets of a city in India (engaging, though at times almost offensively cliché), and a foot chase on top of a train. Louis Jourdan is a pretty good villain, oily and slick. And the way he pronounces the name of the title character ("OCK-toe-pooo-see") is great every time. Still, the wait between the "good parts" of this movie feel pretty long. I give it a C-.

A View to a Kill - Moore's final turn as Bond was also the first Bond movie I ever saw. I worried it wouldn't hold up when I saw it again, but for the most part it did. Christopher Walken and Grace Jones?! How could that not be awesome? There's also Patrick Macnee (of The Avengers) in a small role, and that famous Duran Duran title song. Still, things get a bit camp at times -- setting the "snowboard" chase to the song "California Girls," and well, like I said, Christopher Walken and Grace Jones. (They're awesome, but campy at times.) There's an unneeded side trip in the plot, involving the fixing of horse races. Then there's Bond girl Stacey Sutton. She's supposed to be a strong, independent career woman (see how progressive Bond is being?), but she's really quite unintelligent most of the time to facilitate her becoming the damsel in distress. And she'd have a scream to shatter glass, except that it sounds like she's smoked three packs a day for her entire life. For my money, there was never a Bond girl so annoying until she came around. But hey, back to Christopher Walken and Grace Jones rocking! And an awesome heist: destroy all of Silicon Valley to seize control of the world microchip market. In all, there's a lot of good here, and I give it a B-.

And there you have it. In my opinion, there were more "good" Moore Bond films than Connery films. But man, the ones that were bad really did stink up the joint. In fact, if you average it all together, these seven movies only get a C+ from me, which is only one notch higher than the Connery films got. Again, it's a matter of picking and choosing the right movies.

That's it on Bond for now. Next time it comes around, it's Timothy Dalton's turn at bat.