Eps 5: James Bond Just Danced Into a Fire
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Arthur Taylor
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You do not need to see Spectre to know the song Sam Smith wrote for it taps into the singular pathos of Daniel Craig; the writing was always on the wall when it comes to James Bond themes. The Living Daylights starts out well enough, but only insofar as a bit of genuine grammar-head-scratching gives this opening pairt some meaning.
For your eyes only also features Sheena Easton, the only Bond-song artist ever featured in a title sequence. For our money, the best Bond-franchise title sequence from the 80s is The Living Daylights, which features the A-ha song. Interestingly, Tomorrow Never Dies is the first Bond franchise title sequence to not include 007, dating back to Dr. No.
Goldfinger, however, is one of Bonds more referential sequences, reflecting a sense of closure that is pervasive in the movie. While still a classic Bond, this movie lacks its trademarks, lacking the euphoria that characterised Connerys first three Bonds. It is a slick, audacious attempt to re-invent the Bond film franchise after having fallen so far down the depths, and while it succeeds in doing so, the movie does not possess either the class of Connerys original Bond films, nor the earthy gritty of its present-day counterparts.
Daltons last appearance as Bond, with the gore-soaked revenge story, makes it one of the bleakest Bond movies, but it is still a good, sharp action film. Timothy Daltons first outing as James Bond, and following on from the Daniel Craig era, Daltons brought in a more serious approach to the character, making the Bond movie franchise seem more grounded and less ludicrous, but this is too humourless.
Daniel Craigs entrance to playing James Bond and marked the start of the series starting to raise the campiness tiers a further notch. Sir Roger Moores lengthy tenure as James Bond provided a needed stabilisation for the franchise following the two Sean Connery exits; George Lazenbys perceived failings as 007 on the Secret Service; and the decades shifting attitudes towards race, gender, and Cold War politics. A View to a Kill has been described as the worst James Bond mission, partly because of Sir Roger Moores age at the time.
In contrast with the majority of Bond films, lacked a sense of cunning which was so integral to the success of 007. A View to a Kill is a movie in which everybody is working too fast, where the intrinsic tone of the Bond films is scarce, a Bond film that feels like an expensive TV movie at its worst.
Written and recorded as a theme to the James Bond movie of the same name, this became one of the bands biggest hits. Duran Duran were chosen to make the track after bassist John Taylor approached producer Cubby Broccoli at a party and asked, somewhat drunkenly, If you will give me fiver, could I write a theme song, please. To me, Duran Durans Bond theme... is possibly one of the best songs of all time, because I like Duran Duran.
It is the kind of thing that they created. s latest is a Death Another Day motif, in which Bonds retinue is surrounded by women made from fire and ice, who dance around a campfire used both to torment him and provide comfort.
This is only the latest in a growing string of Bond themes which in fact, in a funny way, mirror the performances of their actors -- and it is no accident these are all by Daniel Craig, whose own delicate vulnerabilities are lovingly captured by the lyrics and performances of James Bond. Also impressive is how these words are not only Bond-esque, but fit somewhat particularly in Daniel Craigs time, with all its sleek Beatnik rhymes and fatalistic paranoia. Some of the Bond themes are ideally appropriate to the films in which they are introduced, deftly picking up on the ethos of adventure.
Lazenby has some powerful shoes to fill, and while he does the best job, the movie does lacked some charm, but makes up for that with its plot, and for the first time, we see James Bond emotionally vulnerable. Unlike any of the actors that followed , Sean Connery got to revel in the character of 007 in an age where Bond did not feel he was outside of the zeitgeist, nor did he have to justify his own existence.