When rewatching Bond goes flat

Brosnan_fan

I'm certain I am not alone in having some disappointing viewing experiences when I rewatch some Bond films.

I watched TB and TSWLM recently, two films I have long enjoyed, and on both occasions the fun and excitement were no longer there. X-(

What do you think these types of viewings mean to someone (such as myself) who has given a long-standing devotion to the Bond franchise?

Barbel

Personally I've always found that after the twentieth viewing some of the fun and excitement does fade away.

A little.

Unless, of course, it's one of the better titles. The remedy is to put that particular film away for as long as one can bear without a Bond fix, say three weeks or so in extreme cases, and then try again. Repeat as necessary.

Jarvio

I am in the process of re-watching them all.

I've watched about 16 so far, in a random order.

Overall, it's actually been more thrilling than ever!

Here are some of my thoughts:

MR - Don't hate it as much anymore. Still ranks low on my list, but I actually thoroughly enjoyed it before they reach space.

DN - Thoroughly enjoyed it, after previously thinking it was boring. An excellent flick.

TMWTGG - It's not so bad...

However, a few downpoints:

TSWLM - I still love the film, but after re-watching it, it's not one of my favourites. It seemed to have lacked something, I don't know what. Still a decent flick though.

DAD - Used to like it, but after re-watching it, I cannot stand it anymore.

TB - Always thought this was boring. After re-watching it, I was even more bored! And it is the only time I've ever been bored tearless whilst watching Bond.

Loeffelholz

Barbel wrote:

Personally I've always found that after the twentieth viewing some of the fun and excitement does fade away.

A little.

Unless, of course, it's one of the better titles. The remedy is to put that particular film away for as long as one can bear without a Bond fix, say three weeks or so in extreme cases, and then try again. Repeat as necessary.

This is a sound strategy---and the primary reason I only watch films like OP and AVTAK every few years; more than once during any twelve month period can cause gastric distress

I can rewatch the vast majority of these pictures quite frequently without any diminished enjoyment...but the longer I deny myself, the more enjoyable they again become :007)

Dan Same

Brosnan_fan wrote:

What do you think these types of viewings mean to someone (such as myself) who has given a long-standing devotion to the Bond franchise?

Watch them again. You might have a different reaction. Personally I wouldn't worry too much about it. There are 21 official Bond films (plus NSNA) so even if one or two films fall out of favour with you, perhaps one or two other films will rise in your estimation. :007)

Jarvio wrote:

DN - Thoroughly enjoyed it, after previously thinking it was boring. An excellent flick.

{[] It's a magnificent film and it's always good to come across someone who has discovered its joys. -{

Steed

I don't watch them over and over- maybe (say) twice a year at most they get an airing. Sometimes my opinion shifts on rewatches- Moonraker I don't hate as much as I used to; beyond the embarassing comedy there's some good stuff. The Living Daylights gets better on repeated viewings for me, and I hadn't watched TSWLM for a long time then I got the 2 disc version and it became a firm favourite of mine. But Die Another Day, which I can't say I thought too much about after seeing it in the cinema, just got worse when I watched it on DVD...:#

7289

Right now I am having trouble with CR'06, I keep finding it in my DVD player. It's as if that mahine won't play anything else!!!

So far no diminished enjoyement.

I am going to lock the disc up - for its own safety.

James F E

Try taking the summer off all together. You'll find that going out into the fresh air on summer evenings with a cold drink -{, or hitting a bucket of Penfolds at the local range will do you a world of good.

Willie Garvin

Barbel wrote:

Personally I've always found that after the twentieth viewing some of the fun and excitement does fade away.

A little.

Unless, of course, it's one of the better titles. The remedy is to put that particular film away for as long as one can bear without a Bond fix, say three weeks or so in extreme cases, and then try again. Repeat as necessary.

This is what I generally do.I'm a big believer in the chocolate cake theory-i.e.:you can love chocolate cake, but too much of it can make you sick.

I try to watch my 007 DVDs about 2-3 times a year.I like Citizen Kane and Casablanca very much, but I know that my appreciation of these films would greatly diminish if I watched them too frequently.:)

BS_Stash

I recently just watched Goldeneye after breaking out the N64 for some Goldeneye 007. I must say, I had fun watching it again. But there does come a point when you don't want to watch them again because you already know everything =/

Pendragon

agreed. I do like they suggested above all the time though. I deny myself Bond, and then break it out and have a great time watching them again.

~Pen -{

Napoleon Plural

I was in mind to start a thread like this, Brosnan_fan! {[]

Yes, my faves go off from time to time.

Goldfinger My very fave, and imo the first three films are in a different class. So naturally a trilogy of one each week, climaxing with GF?
And yet, after the first two films, GF seems surprisingly cheap and camp, with no real tension for much of it. As a gold standard for the series, a terrific action adventure, it works well. FRWL is grittier and more serious, Dr No more sci-fi, TB more OTT and YOLT more epic. But if any of the others is your fave, GF won't seem that great.

Moonraker I love the cinematography, the lush score, the locations and the witty script.
Yes I saw it once having seen the conspiracy thriller The Parallax View. It seemed similar, sort of eerie and odd. Bond goes around the world running into the same people all the time, like that blonde in the shop in Venice. Bond on his own doing his own thing makes him seem like Warren Beatty in that other film.
And a clip I saw recently showed just how old Moore was even then, gruseomly flirting with Lois Charles.

Other films get the benefit of the doubt even if they're awful or I don't like them. I've enjoyed OHMSS though really I don't care for any of it... and yet chalking it up as a fave, I can be disappointed by its longwinded first hour, and the lack of charisma or chemistry between Lazenby and Rigg.

I saw a fave, DAF, on the big screen. On TV as a family film it's great thanks to the witty script and score, but as an event it's a bit poxy, and looks like a poor movie. A bit tacky, Vegas.

Others can seem poor once you're used to another type of film. Seeing AVTAK after TLD, the former seems a silly sort of film, and Moore's senile chat up in the ice flow is quite painful, though it never occurred to me before.

Dan Same

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Goldfinger My very fave

You're lucky that it's your favourite as I would have your head for what you said below about GF. X-( (Just as JFF considers it his duty to hunt down and eliminate all AVTAK critics, I feel the same way about GF critics. ))

Napoleon Plural wrote:

And yet, after the first two films, GF seems surprisingly cheap and camp, with no real tension for much of it. As a gold standard for the series, a terrific action adventure, it works well. FRWL is grittier and more serious, Dr No more sci-fi, TB more OTT and YOLT more epic. But if any of the others is your fave, GF won't seem that great.

Obviously I disagree with everything you said since IMO GF was not simply the greatest Bond film of all time but the greatest film which happened to be a Bond film; however there are two comments which I would like to address.

Now obviously some people, for some absurd reason, think that GF lacks tension and that it is camp (I can understand it although I disagree) but how you can say it looks cheap? Especially in comparison to DN? Even FRWL, which IMO was a much more luscious than DN, arguably looked cheaper than GF (although FRWL's apparent budget was perfectly appropiate for the type of film it was.)

Also, what do you mean that if someone prefers one of the other films, then GF won't seem all that great? Afterall, TB and was arguably inspired by GF in terms of the bigger budget, the relaxed feel, the increased gadgets and older male villains. I would go so far as to describe TB as a companion piece to GF. Or is it that although GF is your favourite, you consider it to be the weakest of the 60's films?

Is that true? That although GF is your favourite, you don't consider it to be the best-ever Bond film? You can be honest; you won't be introduced to a private session with Oddjob. :v You might not be allowed to join my 'GF was the greatest Bond film and all deniers should be dealt with by Oddjob' club, but I would be interested in knowing if it's true.

Napoleon Plural

Calm yourself, Monsieur Same.

By 'cheap' I don't mean the special effects or look of the film. Rather Auric as a villain, he is simply after the bling... There seems no East/West mystery or ideological slant going on in comparison to the other films.

Again, I only mean this when watched as part of a third of the trilogy. I prefer GF as a standalone film, much like MR in that respect. I love them, but they not quite the same as the other films of that time.

No, GF is my fave and the gold standard. However, I meant that for those who have another film as a gold standard, eg OHMSS, then it would be different. They're going by another criteria and GF's good points (the wit, charismatic leading man, smooth and natural plot) won't count for much, seeing as OHMSS has none of that.

Dan Same

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Calm yourself, Monsieur Same.

By 'cheap' I don't mean the special effects or look of the film. Rather Auric as a villain, he is simply after the bling... There seems no East/West mystery or ideological slant going on in comparison to the other films.

Again, I only mean this when watched as part of a third of the trilogy. I prefer GF as a standalone film, much like MR in that respect. I love them, but they not quite the same as the other films of that time.

No, GF is my fave and the gold standard. However, I meant that for those who have another film as a gold standard, eg OHMSS, then it would be different. They're going by another criteria and GF's good points (the wit, charismatic leading man, smooth and natural plot) won't count for much, seeing as OHMSS has none of that.

{[] Thank god. You almost gave me a heart attack. ) That definitely makes sense. Although, couldn't one argue that MR should be paired with TSWLM? Both feature megalomaniacal villains, both feature Jaws and both feature female companions who are women in a man's world (spy and scientist.) Anyway NP, it's good to know that you haven't gone onto the dark side and joined those GF attackers.

Barry Nelson

I love the Bond films, but you can't watch them all the time. It has been a long time since I have seen some of the Moore Bonds, maybe 5 years since I have seen LALD. Seems like evrythime they have a Bond marathon I see OP. Watching anything all the time is bound to get boring.

TonyDP

Barry Nelson wrote:

I love the Bond films, but you can't watch them all the time. It has been a long time since I have seen some of the Moore Bonds, maybe 5 years since I have seen LALD. Seems like evrythime they have a Bond marathon I see OP. Watching anything all the time is bound to get boring.

Good points Barry. I had burned out on Goldfinger after watching it dozens of times, so much so that it started to affect my opinion of the film. I avoided it for a couple of years finally put it in the DVD player a few days ago while breaking in a new TV. The long hiatus was well worth it as I enjoyed the film tremendously - I also caught a lot of little things I hadn't noticed before and it was like watching the movie for the first time to a certain extent.

Jamesbondjr

When I first got really into the Bond films aged about 15 I used to watch them continuously in order, perhaps 3 films a week. I must have cycled through them 4 or 5 times and then got a little tired of watching the same films over and over. I didn't watch any for about 6 months and them watched a few again which rekindled my interest in Bond again.

Now I watch one perhaps every few months and love them as if I am watching them for the first time.

I am working away from home for 9 months at the moment in France and don't have them with me, I was going to try ang go the whole time without watching one. However, about 3 weeks ago I relented and bought Goldeneye.

I am thinking of trying a marathon when I get back, all 22 in order back to back

John Drake

I don't watch them too much anymore. I'd seen them so many times when I was younger that they became very familiar. However, with the release of the UE DVD's I've most of them over the last year. I have TWINE, but haven't found the time to watch it yet. My opinion of some films changes each time I see them. MR being a case in point. I can remember thinking that this was the worst Bond of all time, but recently when I saw it again I quite enjoyed it. I think if you find yourself becoming jaded with certain movies, then the best thing to do is put them away for a bit. Then come back to them and see how you feel.