I'd agree. There's a bit where they're all hiding in the water with their snorkels where Bond leaps up and murders one of the passing goons for no obvious reason at all.
He's quite snappy and tense in an almost Dalton-style fashion, and I think they worked out quite quickly that the audience enjoyed more the parts where he's taking everything in his stride.
For FRWL they injected just enough warmth and, as you say, humanity to make him likeable and more empathetic. In DN he's much more distant.
They filmed the Jamaica sequences first and I think both Connery as an actor and Young as a director hadn't quite figured out Bond's characterisations, his behaviours and attitudes at that point. As the production progressed onto the Pinewood stages [Dr. No's enormous hideaway, Miss Taro's villa, the casino] there is a transformation in the style of acting, much more effortless and subversive of our expectations. It is almost as if the two had a chat on the plane and said: "This isn't working, let's try this instead." Connery's aggressive acting in those early filmed scenes don't overall harm the movie for me [Bond is at work in those sequences, so I would expect some brusqueness] but it is a noticeable difference in performance style which makes the movie uneven, as you guys have pointed out.
I think it's enough if Whitaker is more menacing. Koskov can remain a charismatic villain. Kara is a young cello player, I think she is reasonably helpful given her background.
Kara is not that bad really, but I honestly don't see why she's seen as a better bond girl than say Stacey Sutton. Both are pretty much on par with how useful they are to bond. Mary Goodnight is way worse though.
Regarding Koskov, I just found him too comedic. The actor is fine - he should have played his role like he did in The Fugitive.
Brad Whittaker though definitely needed changes. I don't mind the goofiness, but he's just not menacing in the slightest. Keep the goofiness but make him menacing too, then you have a General Orlov kind of character. That would have worked for me.
Some have called Kara slow or even stupid. I don't see that. She tells on Bond to Koskov, but she doesn't know Bond and he lies about being friends with Koskov. Given the circumstances her actions are understandable. She has also been criticized for not being able to fly a large plane, even though she's probably never been in a cockpit before and may not even have been on a plane before. Kara has even been called slow on the uptake because she doesn't immediately understand that Bond wants her to drive the car up the ramp of a moving plane, all while a battle is raging around her!
I love Joe Don Baker, but I do wonder if that role needed someone a bit bigger, especially as it's kind of an extended cameo rather than fully fledged villain. I often think of James Coburn doing it, someone of that kind of stature. I think he'd have made more of an impact.
Comments
I'd agree. There's a bit where they're all hiding in the water with their snorkels where Bond leaps up and murders one of the passing goons for no obvious reason at all.
He's quite snappy and tense in an almost Dalton-style fashion, and I think they worked out quite quickly that the audience enjoyed more the parts where he's taking everything in his stride.
For FRWL they injected just enough warmth and, as you say, humanity to make him likeable and more empathetic. In DN he's much more distant.
They filmed the Jamaica sequences first and I think both Connery as an actor and Young as a director hadn't quite figured out Bond's characterisations, his behaviours and attitudes at that point. As the production progressed onto the Pinewood stages [Dr. No's enormous hideaway, Miss Taro's villa, the casino] there is a transformation in the style of acting, much more effortless and subversive of our expectations. It is almost as if the two had a chat on the plane and said: "This isn't working, let's try this instead." Connery's aggressive acting in those early filmed scenes don't overall harm the movie for me [Bond is at work in those sequences, so I would expect some brusqueness] but it is a noticeable difference in performance style which makes the movie uneven, as you guys have pointed out.
TLD - Koskov more menacing, Whitaker more menacing, Kara more useful
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
I think it's enough if Whitaker is more menacing. Koskov can remain a charismatic villain. Kara is a young cello player, I think she is reasonably helpful given her background.
Kara is not that bad really, but I honestly don't see why she's seen as a better bond girl than say Stacey Sutton. Both are pretty much on par with how useful they are to bond. Mary Goodnight is way worse though.
Regarding Koskov, I just found him too comedic. The actor is fine - he should have played his role like he did in The Fugitive.
Brad Whittaker though definitely needed changes. I don't mind the goofiness, but he's just not menacing in the slightest. Keep the goofiness but make him menacing too, then you have a General Orlov kind of character. That would have worked for me.
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
Some have called Kara slow or even stupid. I don't see that. She tells on Bond to Koskov, but she doesn't know Bond and he lies about being friends with Koskov. Given the circumstances her actions are understandable. She has also been criticized for not being able to fly a large plane, even though she's probably never been in a cockpit before and may not even have been on a plane before. Kara has even been called slow on the uptake because she doesn't immediately understand that Bond wants her to drive the car up the ramp of a moving plane, all while a battle is raging around her!
I love Joe Don Baker, but I do wonder if that role needed someone a bit bigger, especially as it's kind of an extended cameo rather than fully fledged villain. I often think of James Coburn doing it, someone of that kind of stature. I think he'd have made more of an impact.