Thursday, May 21, 2015

Bondlets: The Spy Who Loved Me



1977





This one is somewhat known as the Goldfinger of the Roger Moore years.  It’s both where the series figured out its tone, and increased the quality of story and characters.

The problem with higher quality films is that they tend to have more exposition and dialogue; and less goofiness and ridiculous happenings.  Therefore, my daughter found this one kind of dull compared to the previous entries.

She panicked a little with the introduction of scuba scenes, but it never reached the disinterest levels that Thunderball did.

The opening scene with Anya Amasova fooled her - as it was supposed to. 
“Of course he’s Jamesbonding he…oh! That’s not him.”

Discovering 007and his pre credits lovely in a nearby cottage closed the loop on that pretty quickly:
“Aaaaand there it is.”

The ski chase impressed her, and everyone else who’s seen it I suppose.  The ugly ski suit and obvious blue screen were distractions at first, until the reveal of the rocket launcher ski pole:
“COOL!”
This was the same way she responded to the Lotus blowing up a helicopter later on.

That’s my girl.

Maurice Binder’s title sequences remained puzzling to her:
“Naked ladies and a kangaroo man?”

Some things I noticed this time through:
Anya Amasova is reluctant to engage in Jamesbonding with 007 only after she learns Bond killed her lover…a mere three weeks prior.  She bounces back fast. 

Roger Moore is criticized sometimes for playing a 007 who avoids getting dirty or emotional.  However, his reactions connected with the loss of Tracy are far stronger than Sean Connery’s were only one film after it happened.

Jaws dental method of execution solicited some loud, “EWWWWWWWWWW!” noises. And she found him scary even without the metal teeth.  (And she hasn’t even seen him as a human eating space alien.)  Still she found his crashing a car into a house, and his multiple frustrated reactions with events that would be lethal to anyone else highly entertaining. That didn’t stop her from greeting his every survival with, “Really?”

Being my daughter, Q’s arrival was greeted with a happy cheer, followed by a reaction to 70’s fashion esthetics:
“That is an ugly suit.”

Having his lab inside of Abu Simbel added a coolness factor that overwhelmed any amounts of plaid clothing.

My daughter is getting seasoned at what to expect in the Bondverse.

She predicted both the Lotus submarine conversion, and “something” hidden in Agent XXX’s cigarette.   

Still, as always with these movies, there are opportunities for education.

Some are cultural:
Such as explaining what a whirling dervish was, after she spent a while repeating, “What the heck?”

Some connect things she’d learned in other places:
As they walked through the dessert, and 007 was loosening his tux and accessories she said, “That’s a bow tie?”

She knows bow ties (and that they are always cool) and had seen them untied in many a rumba on Dancing with the Stars. However, she never saw the transition phase.  She thought the “dance of love” costume included a small scarf.

She also thought wandering off through the Sahara was a terrible idea. When I asked what they should do when the car broke down, she quickly replied:
“Wait for a camel.”

Yes, even bored, those smart aleck genes are powerful.

Another case was when she pointed out how little sense it makes that everyone knows not only what a spy’s favorite drink is, but that he likes it, “Shaken not stirred.”

Her best comments came at the end though.

As the tradition of 007 being caught Jamesbonding in the final scene continued, she said:

“Aaaaaaaand everybody’s looking! 
Nothing to see here folks, it’s just casual Friday!”




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