Why the hate for DAF?
MilleniumForce
LondonPosts: 1,214MI6 Agent
I was looking through member's rankings, and I noticed a lot of people had DAF very low. I was wondering, why does it get a lot of hate? I know the obvious ones (Blofeld in drag, Dissapointing end etc) but I would like to know why people dislike it.
I personally like it, it's a fun film and Connery certainly seems more interested here than in YOLT.
I personally like it, it's a fun film and Connery certainly seems more interested here than in YOLT.
1.LTK 2.AVTAK 3.OP 4.FYEO 5.TND 6.LALD 7.GE 8.GF 9.TSWLM 10.SPECTRE 11.SF 12.MR 13.YOLT 14.TLD 15.CR (06) 16.TMWTGG 17.TB 18.FRWL 19.TWINE 20.OHMSS 21.DAF 22.DAD 23.QoS 24.NSNA 25.DN 26.CR (67)
Comments
but the reasons why I rank it so low are:
1) Connery: he looks like a man from the stonage - aged quite a bit, the eyebows are everywhere
2) Locations: none of them are very exciting, LV could have been the best but it's somehow bland-looking
3) Blofeld: I'd prefered it if Savalas did it
4) disappointing climax/ Blofeld send-off
but there are a few things I very much like:
1) Connery's look when he fights the mashed-potato-guy
2) the use of the 007 action theme-wish they'd bring that back...
DAF used to be one of my lower ranked films but now it has climbed in to the top 15 .... If you like SP, there are not too many reasons to dislike DAF .... In fact, I have SP and DAF ranked next to each other
I don't I saw it Christmas day in 1980 and loved it
They take it too literally. As if Diamonds comes off the line after OHMSS. Its not. Its a completely different animal. More like the Moore films of the seventies. According to Lazenby's bad press and far from expectation box office they had to go back in time. They had to go back to classic Bond, to Goldfinger. So they got the screenwriter, director, John Barry....even Bassey came back. Diamonds was reasserting Bond. It was proving that Bond was number one.
And Blofeld in drag? Cant we forgive them the camp?
The PTS appears more like a continuation of YOLT where Blofeld escapes. Since in YOLT, Blofeld wanted to start WW3, both the CIA and KGB would be after him so he would want to hide and even change his looks
The PTS in FYEO is more like a continuation of OHMSS as it shows a) Bond paying his respects, and b) Blofeld in wheel chair may be due to injuries he suffered at the end in OHMSS
So there could be a misunderstanding wrt to its continuation as well. And if it is a continuation of YOLT, there is no point in criticizing it for being different from OHMSS in tone
If GL had continued, may be DAF would have been a continuation of OHMSS .... For SC, it would make sense to continue from YOLT
Yes exactly Diamonds follows on from YOLT - its as if the touchy feely OHMSS never existed. It took until the eighties for OHMSS to be revaluated
I always took Blofeld's injury from FYEO to be from being knocked round in the Bath-o-sub. But we could pretend like DAF never happened and not be lost without it.
There are too many loose ends when it comes to Blofeld
Since Bond is shown paying his respects to his wife, it hints at OHMSS ..... while the relatively lighter PTS is DAF appears more like a continuation from YOLT
There wouldn't be anything like that in a Bond film again until TLD.
DAF follows OHMSS directly; for example when Bond says "welcome to hell, Blofeld" (look at his smile) or when the guy asks him how his holiday was and he says "most satisfying", it makes it clear that it is a reference to Tracy's death, especially the latter.
Well, Bond could be holidaying after his assignment in Japan and also tracking Blofeld ..... And the satisfaction could be related to avenging Aki's death
May be you missed post #9 where I mentioned - "Yes, OHMSS is more like a standalone film .... I have seen people even write that since Blofeld and Bond met in YOLT, how is it that Blofeld did not recognize Bond in OHMSS"
So if you take DAF as a continuation of OHMSS, you are probably taking the lid off a bigger hole to cover a smaller one
or it could be that the producers forgot about that aspect, too.
Not everything's entirely logical, think abou when Lazar in TMWTGG says to Bond, that his reputation proceeds him, not really handy for a secret agen, is it?
I have only read first 4 Fleming books so far but OHMSS was published prior to YOLT:
11. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service - 1963
12. You Only Live Twice - 1964
Not really! Scaramanga, SPECTRE (FRWL), Goldfinger, etc. know about (or heard of) Bond too .... Many of those who are on the other side or doing special services would know about Bond
yes, but they only (with exeption of Scaramanga) had information on Bond after he interfered in their businesses, Lazar was a civilian.
A civilian with special contacts and information
A standalone film at that point (YOLT to DAF timeline) unless seen as a prequel to YOLT .... Also OHMSS was supposed to be made earlier but due to unfavorable weather conditions (something like that is mentioned in the special features of OHMSS), the producers decided to continue with YOLT
Because of the confusion and hearsay, it only strengthens the point that OHMSS should be seen as a stand alone film in the YOLT to DAF timeline .... If GL had continued, YOLT would have a had stronger case of being seen as a stand alone film
When OHMSS was being made, the producers also did not know that GL would not continue and that SC would return .... So it would make sense to not worry too much about plastic surgery and see YOLT as a stand alone. However, since things did not go as planned, OHMSS becomes the stand alone film
"Broccoli and Saltzman had originally intended to make On Her Majesty's Secret Service after Goldfinger and Richard Maibaum worked on a script at that time. However, Thunderball was filmed instead after the ongoing rights dispute over the novel were settled between Fleming and Kevin McClory. On Her Majesty's Secret Service was due to follow that, but problems with a warm Swiss winter and inadequate snow cover led to Saltzman and Broccoli postponing the film again, favouring production of You Only Live Twice.
Between the resignation of Sean Connery at the beginning of filming You Only Live Twice and its release, Saltzman had planned to adapt The Man with the Golden Gun in Cambodia and use Roger Moore as the next Bond, but political instability meant the location was ruled out and Moore signed up for another series of The Saint. After You Only Live Twice was released in 1967, the producers once again picked up with On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
Peter Hunt, who had worked on the five preceding films had impressed Broccoli and Saltzman enough to earn his directorial debut as they believed his quick cutting had set the style for the series. Hunt was focused on putting his mark – "I wanted it to be different than any other Bond film would be. It was my film, not anyone else's."
"When George Lazenby departed from the role prior to the film's release, a complete rewrite of Diamonds Are Forever was requested, in addition to Maibaum's script failing to impress Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman. Following this, an original plot had as a villain Auric Goldfinger's twin, seeking revenge for the death of his brother. The plot was later changed after Albert R. Broccoli had a dream, where his close friend Howard Hughes was replaced by an imposter. So the character of Willard Whyte was created, and Tom Mankiewicz was chosen to rework the script"
So the above helps to remove many of the doubts and goes with the suggestion that OHMSS should ideally be seen as a stand alone film in the YOLT to DAF timeline
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And that's why I believe the order is YOLT, DAF and then OHMSS. Blofeld used doubles in YOLT and DAF, without even SPECTRE knowing.
My main problem with DAF might be that I find it to be "camp done wrong". In attempting to be funny, I feel that what it gives is poor comedy.
I feel that the camp was executed much better with L&LD and the 3 Moore films after that.
Plus, I don't like Connery's performance (imo the single worst performance by a Bond actor), or Grey's Blofeld, or Tiffany Case, or Plenty O' Toole.
I won't say that I hate DAF, but it's easily my least fave EON Bond film.
New 2020 ranking (for now DAF and FYEO keep their previous placements)
1. TLD 2. TND 3. GF 4. TSWLM 5. TWINE 6. OHMSS 7. LtK 8. TMWTGG 9. L&LD 10. YOLT 11. DAD 12. QoS 13. DN 14. GE 15. SF 16. OP 17. MR 18. AVTAK 19. TB 20. FRWL 21. CR 22. FYEO 23. DAF (SP to be included later)
Bond actors to be re-ranked later
How can DAF = the "camp" done wrong when "LALD and the 3 Moore films" (your comparison is with RM's films) were released after it .... It would appear to go wrong to you if you watched those films earlier and later compared them with DAF which probably started that trend
Suggesting that DAF = camp done wrong, may be equivalent to suggesting that DN = Bond formula gone wrong after comparing it with GF and TB, and probably ignoring the timeline :007)
I mean, I love Guy Hamilton, he's my 3rd fave Bond director, and I love 3 out of his 4 Bond films. DAF is the only Bond film of his that gives me a headache.
New 2020 ranking (for now DAF and FYEO keep their previous placements)
1. TLD 2. TND 3. GF 4. TSWLM 5. TWINE 6. OHMSS 7. LtK 8. TMWTGG 9. L&LD 10. YOLT 11. DAD 12. QoS 13. DN 14. GE 15. SF 16. OP 17. MR 18. AVTAK 19. TB 20. FRWL 21. CR 22. FYEO 23. DAF (SP to be included later)
Bond actors to be re-ranked later
Now that can be counted as a valid reason
It would also be like - one brother liked dealing in gold and the other in diamonds