Part two of Upodcast’s Bond retrospective sees us tackle the inimitable incarnation of Roger Moore’s James Bond. Very much the “difficult second album” syndrome at play here and that’s not to forget the unfortunate stab at Bond by George Lazenby.
But before that we start of with a little catch up what we’ve been watching. We talk about Go On the new Matthew Perry show, The Mindy Project, LillyHammer and Rian Johnson’s Sci Fi Time travel movie Looper.
Then we finally don our safari suits and flared trousers before taking a look at the highs and lows of the most Bonded actor; kicking off with Live and let Die and completing the series with A View to a Kill. One of the many joys of re-watching so many James Bonds is that we get a good sense of the overall direction these movies took. And with Roger in command (he also designed a lot of his wardrobe) it was surely a safe bet by the studio. So why the fat frown when it comes to Moore? We talk about the movies that influenced James Bond in this era and also consider that aesthetically, the 70s and 80s weren’t the best place to be – either in fashion or in movies (certainly the 80s).
So is it really Moore’s fault? Not really no, but it is human nature to compare present with past and throughout the 90s, to compare the past to the past (Moore to Connery). The jokes are more cheesy and the one-liners come at us faster than our girlfriends can groan “ooohh James”, BUT the stunts are bigger and better and the Brocollis certainly raked in a lot more cash. Should we really blame Roger for having an uncanny ability to raise an eyebrow or deliver the comedy with more elan than Sean Connery?
Well, you can probably get the direction Upod heads on this one, but listen for more insight and controversy: we’re off to drive our Lotus into the river Thames.
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