Bondathon Podcast Part 3

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So here we are Day Two and here's Podcast Part 3 - the first 4 Roger More films!!! Onwards we go......

Moonraker (1979)

 

The space shuttle Moonraker is stolen. Suspicions lead Bond to the company that built the shuttle, owned by billionaire Hugo Drax, who has an idea – to move new ‘Adam snd Eves’ to a space base and then eradicate all other human life below and start a new civilisation. But, of course you are, Mr Drax!           

At the end of The Spy Who Loved Me we see the usual message to us fans, ‘James Bond will Return’. However, it said ‘…in For Your Eyes Only’! Well this obviously was the plan in 1977 when The Spy Who Loved Me was released – but then something happened in that same year. Star Wars. Science Fiction was not taken seriously in cinema before George Lucas’ groundbreaking tour de force. So when that film broke all box office records and made a pile of cash, every other studio was looking to make their science fiction projects, indeed SCI-FI was in vogue. Projects before Star Wars that were green lit for release in 1979 probably would never have been made – films such as Ridley Scott’s Alien and definitely we would not of seen a return to the cinema for Star Trek. With Sci-fi being the ‘in thing’ and Broccoli not one to never see an opportunity, we have Moonraker instead. Based on Ian Fleming’s novel of the same name, the film is of course very different but what we basically have here is Bond in Space for a filmgoing audience of 1979, who had an appetite for Sci-Fi space adventure fun, and Bond delivers just that.

Moonraker is one of my personal favourite Bond movies for the Sci-Fi angle, but also because of Hugo Drax played by Michael Lonsdale. His villain is sinister, stoic, slick and just simply a sociopath. There’s a scene early on that best sums up this man: a member of his staff helps Bond, he fires her then literally sets the dogs on her! In Drax’s employ we now find Jaws, again played by the mighty Richard Kiel. Bringing Jaws back is in my opinion a stroke of genius. Familiarity with a villain can be a good thing. Jaws is a scary henchman, his brute strength and intimidating stature all go in to making a now truly iconic villain. It is then such a shame what they do with him in this (and his final appearance) film; they do two things wrong: 1) they made him become a ‘good guy’ and 2) he falls in love!

With the Moore films we do definately notice the productions are upping the tongue-in-cheek, cheap laughs. Not just in dialogue and quick references – the cheekiness is spreading into the set pieces and action sequences. The Spy Who Loved Me had a submarine car, Moonraker has a boat chase in Venice, but with a gondola that transforms into a hovercraft. It’s this kind of thing that actual clashes with the more sincere elements, like a truly villainous villain, chemical weapons or even if Moore brings more of Bonds psyche forward rather than raising an eyebrow. The films by now are definitely being made with the family in mind – something for everyone.

Moonraker has its flaws, but for me it’s a guilty Bond pleasure. The battle in space at the end makes up for every small discrepancy it makes up forgetting to the finale (well for this fan). It’s probably the best example of ‘give the fans what they want’ and they wanted Bond in Space and well, we got it!

3 out of 5

Rhys

Countdown: The Watchers' Top 10 Bond Villains

The villain is one of the core elements within a Bond film. The threat that Bond has to face can make or break the movie. So, after some deliberation, we came up with The Watchers' Top 10 Bond Villains. 

1. ERNST STAVRO BLOFELD
(played by Donald Pleasence in You Only Live Twice) 

The most iconic and most parodied of Bond villains, the facial scar and bald head (along with the volcano base and deadly fish) is instantly recognisable the world over- and Pleasance's truly brilliant performance has cemented the legend. The original and best Blofeld. 





2. FRANCISCO SCARAMANGA 
(played by Christopher Lee in The Man With The Golden Gun)

Suave, debonair and deadly, Scaramanga is the dark side of Bond, the flip-side to 007's coin. The fact that this most gentlemanly of assassins is played by the legend that is Christopher Lee is probably one of the best casting choices ever made in the entire Bond franchise. 

3. FRANZ SANCHEZ
(played by Robert Davi in License To Kill)

A thoroughly nasty piece of work, Sanchez is a ruthless and vicious drug lord responsible for the attack on Felix Leiter. Gone are the exotically-named megalomaniacs with convoluted plans of world domination, here we have an all-too-real villain played with a steely edge by Davi. 

4. MAX ZORIN

(played by Christopher Walken in A View To A Kill)

Walken brings his trademark intensity to the role of Zorin, an ex-KGB psychopath who plans to destroy Silicon Valley through a tremendous earthquake and thus monopolise the microchip market (a timely suggestion by the writers, as computers were starting to break big in the mid-80s) 

5. ELEKTRA KING
(played by Sophie Marceau in The World Is Not Enough)

It's a masterly stroke of misdirection; Renard looks like the master villain, Elektra the poor abused kidnap victim. The moment when it's revealed that it's actually Elektra pulling the strings is a total gut-punch, helped in no small part by a strong performance by Marceau. 





6. AURIC GOLDFINGER
(played by Gert Frobe in Goldfinger)

The archetypal Bond villain, his grandiose plan to devalue the gold reserves of Fort Knox by detonating a nuclear bomb there sets the bar for those that follow. Even though his lines are all dubbed, he still gets one of the most famous movie lines of all time. What more can you ask for? 

7. HUGO DRAX
(played by Michael Lonsdale in Moonraker) 

Drax's plan to create the 'super-race' in space (by gassing the inhabitants of Earth with nerve gas) is quite insane, but Lonsdale's performance is strong and he resists the cliche of the ranting megalomaniac- his quiet aside of 'Look after Mr. Bond. See that some harm comes to him' is particularly chilling. 





8. ALEC TREVELYAN (006)
(played by Sean Bean in GoldenEye)

A battle-scarred former 00 gone rogue proves a brilliant foil for Pierce Brosnan's first Bond film (much like Scaramanga against Moore's Bond) with the ever-dependable Bean turning in a performance full of simmering rage. 





9. DR. KANANGA (A.K.A. MR. BIG)
(played by Yaphet Kotto in Live And Let Die) 

Kananga is the two-faced Caribbean criminal who plans to flood the American heroin market. The use of voodoo as a cover for these business enterprises is an interesting twist and Kotto makes for a convincing and occasionally unnerving villain.





10. ELLIOT CARVER
(played by Jonathan Pryce in Tomorrow Never Dies)

There's a prescience to the character of Carver- an amoral, manipulative and deceitful media baron willing to start a war for ratings- and Pryce's performance is just top-notch, none more so than the scene where he gleefully dispatches his 'golden retrievers' to destroy a politician's reputation and release bug-filled software.





These are our picks for the best of the Bond villains - what about you? Do you agree with our choices or are we missing someone vital? Let us know in the comments below. Of course, the villains can't take Bond down on their own- they often need help in the form of henchmen (and henchwomen). Next week, we reveal our countdown of our Top 10 Henchmen.

Bond At The Oscars: Part Two - The Movies

Yesterday, we looked at the various Oscar-winning (and Oscar-nominated) actors and actresses that have appeared in the Bond films. Today, we look at which Bond films have been nominated for an Academy Award- and which ones have actually won.

It may surprise you to learn that seven official EON Productions Bond films have been nominated for at least one Academy Award, often giving the lie to the assumption that the Oscars are elitist and only go for worthy dramas. True, none of the films have been nominated for Best Picture but there has been recognition of the technical and musical achievements of the following films:

Goldfinger

Widely seen as the best Bond film, it is entirely fitting that Goldfinger is not only the first Bond film to be nominated for an Oscar, but the first to win: Norman Wanstall picked up the Oscar for Best Sound Effects.

Thunderball

Yep, you read that right. Thunderball was nominated for an Oscar. Not only was it nominated; it also won! John Stears picked up the award for Best Visual Effects.

Diamonds Are Forever

Gordon K. McCallum, John W. Mitchell and Al Overton were nominated for Best Sound for their work on Diamonds Are Forever; McCallum did walk away with a Golden Baldy on the night, however, as he shared Best Sound with David Hildyard for Fiddler On The Roof

Live And Let Die

This was the first time a Bond theme was nominated for Best Original Song but ‘Live And Let Die’ didn't win; that honour went to 'The Way We Were' (I personally think 'Live And Let Die' is twenty times the some 'The Way We Were' is, but there's no accounting for taste)

The Spy Who Loved Me

To date, this is the Bond film with the most Oscar nominations: three nods, for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (for Ken Adam, Peter Lamont and Hugh Scaife). Best Original Song (the epic ‘Nobody Does It Better’) and Best Original Score (Marvin Hamlisch). Unfortunately, nominations would have to be enough- the Oscars were won by Star Wars Episode IV (Best Art Direction-Set Decoration and Best Original Score) and You Light Up My Life (Best Original Song)

Moonraker

This film was recognised for Best Visual Effects (the team of Derek Meddings, Paul Wilson and John Evans) but lost out to Alien. 

For Your Eyes Only

The last Bond film to be nominated for an Oscar so far, and another nomination for Best Original Song (‘For Your Eyes Only’) but another loss: the Academy Award went to Arthur

Incidentally, the unofficial 1967 version of Casino Royale was nominated for Best Original Song for 'The Look Of Love' but lost to 'Talk To The Animals' from Doctor Dolittle. As you can see, Bond has had an interesting relationship with the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Could Skyfall break a thirty-one year hiatus and get an Oscar nod? We'll have to wait til next January to find out. 

Ian Fleming: The Father Of Bond

There are several people without whom we would not be taking on the Bondathon challenge. We will highlight some of them in the upcoming weeks, but it seems only right to start with the creator of Bond: Ian Fleming

Fleming was born in London on 28 May 1908 and was educated at Eton College, editing a school magazine whilst there. After a failed attempt to join the Foreign Office, Fleming started working for Reuters News Agency in 1931 as a sub-editor and journalist, spending time in Moscow during 1933. He worked as a banker and stockbroker before becoming personal assistant to Rear Admiral John Godfrey, Director of Naval Intelligence in May 1939. He was commissioned into the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in July of 1939, initially as a lieutenant and then as a commander.

During the Second World War, Fleming worked out of Room 39 at The Admiralty, excelling in administration as Godfrey’s personal assistant and writing memoranda that would have an impact on the course of the war. In 1941-42, Godfrey placed Fleming in charge of Operation Golden Eye which would maintain an intelligence framework in Spain in the event of a German takeover. In 1942, Fleming formed a unit of commandos known as No. 30 Commando, 30 Assault Unit or (more informally) his ‘Red Indians’. The unit would be near the front line of advance in order to seize enemy documents from previously targeted headquarters.

Also in 1942, Fleming attended an Anglo-American intelligence summit in Jamaica and liked the place so much, he decided to live there once the war was over. For a sum of £2000, Fleming purchased land on the north shore at Oracabessa and a house was built, which he named… Goldeneye. Upon his demobilisation in May 1945, Fleming became the Foreign Manager in the Kemsley newspaper group, which at the time owned The Sunday Times. His contract allowed him to take three months holiday every winter in Jamaica. He worked full-time for the paper until December 1959, but continued to write articles until at least 1961

Fleming had mentioned to friends during the war that he wished to write a spy novel, and- in 1952- he achieved this, writing Casino Royale within two months in Jamaica. The main character of Casino Royale was an officer in the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and a commander of the Royal Naval Reserve. His name? Bond. James Bond. 

Taking the character’s name from a real-life ornithologist (the author of Birds Of The West Indies), Fleming explained that ‘I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name I could find… Exotic things would happen to and around him but he would be a neutral figure - an anonymous blunt instrument wielded by a Government Department.’ Published by Jonathan Cape in 1953, such was the popularity of Casino Royale that three print runs were needed to cope with the demand.

After Casino Royale, Fleming used his annual three-month sabbatical at Goldeneye to complete another Bond novel. The next novels published were Live And Let Die (1954), Moonraker (1955), Diamonds Are Forever (1956), From Russia With Love (1957), Dr. No (1958) and Goldfinger (1959). For Your Eyes Only (1960) is a collection of five short stories- ‘From A View To A Kill’, ‘For Your Eyes Only’, ‘Quantum Of Solace’, ‘Risico’ and ‘The Hildebrand Rarity’- whilst Thunderball (1961) is a novelisation of a film script written by Fleming along with Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham. 

Further Bond novels included The Spy Who Loved Me (1962), On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1963) and You Only Live Twice (1964). The Man With The Golden Gun was published posthumously, along with a collection of stories: 'Octopussy' and 'The Living Daylights'. Originally comprising these two stories, further paperback editions have also included the short stories ‘The Property Of A Lady’ and ‘007 In New York’.

Aside from the Bond novels and stories, Fleming published two pieces of non-fiction- The Diamond Smugglers (1957) and Thrilling Cities (1963)- and the children’s novel Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, which was also published posthumously. Fleming died on 12 August 1964 at the age of 56 from a heart attack; his final recorded words were an apology to the ambulance drivers for inconveniencing them.

Fleming was ranked fourteenth in The Times' 2008 poll of 'The 50 Greatest British Writers Since 1945' and his Bond novels are amongst the best-selling book series in the world. John F. Kennedy revealed that From Russia With Love was one of his ten favourite books. Whatever you may think of his writing style or manner, his literary achievements are undeniable.