A Date with Desitny - 007

I like to think that our section comes up with some good ideas from time to time. Our latest master plan is that we are working our way through the James Bond movies. LTC Apprich has the Ultimate Bond Collection, and was kind enough to give us the hookup. I thought I would review each movie as we watch them Monday nights. Tonight is week 3, we've already got 2 in the books. The collection doesn't go in chronological order, so I'll review them as we watch them.

Week 1 - Goldfinger (1964). I didn't start watching Bond until the early 80s, so I haven't seen many of the early ones. This is a Connery Bond, and was a definitely a good way to get our weekly movie night started. It was funny how much the Austin Power series borrowed from Bond, this one in particular. The villain (Goldfinger) has a diabolical scheme to pollute the world's gold supply at Fort Knox, thereby increasing the value of the gold that he holds. He has a pretty cool henchman (Odd Job) who throws a hat. Ouch.

This was a really solid film that we all enjoyed. Even though over 40 years old, there are some decent action scenes and Connery is on his game throughout. There are some classic cars, from the Aston Martin DB5 to what I think is a 64 1/2 Mustang convertible. Bond has some sweet tricks, the villain has some good lines, and the movie keeps a pretty good pace throughout. I give this one 4 stars out of 5.

Week 2 - Diamonds are Forever (1971). This one is another Connery, I believe his last. Unfortunately this movie really stunk. If it hadn't of been a Bond, I think we would have turned it off halfway through. The villain is dumb, and he has 2 henchmen that are incredibly annoying, Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd. Believe it or not, they are actually a gay couple, which I was surprised to find in a 70s movie. This one again centers around a smuggling ring, although diamonds this time. Not much to like in this one. Connery mails in his performance, dialogue is forgettable, and the majority of the film takes place in Las Vegas. The fun part of Bond is that he travels all over the world and Vegas in the early 70s isn't all that glamorous, although the villains hotel is pretty cool. Stay away from this one, far away. 1 star out of 5.

Tonight is the Man with the Golden Gun, our first Roger Moore. I'll follow up later this week with my review. We should be able to get through all 20 Bonds before we head out of lovely LSA Anaconda at our pace of one per week.