Spoilers

Welcome to the DVD list of 2023. Please dont shout at me for not being done with the 2022 write ups, a lot of watching happened in 2022, & im going to get on top of it i promise. But a new year means a new marathon to start with. & this year its the James Bond athon. Ahhhhhhhhhh & this is the first one ive got to that ive not reviewed yet. In fact & im going to be honest, ive never seen this Bond film before, so i am really really really looking forward to this. Lets go James, we have all the time in the world…

Id like to apologise again here… Its almost June 2024 now & this is the first DVD review of 2023 i will be posting. Im ashamed. But its too much watching & writing of films in the cinema, its slowed me down, but now im here i have a new technique so in theory you will be getting more reviews going forward so lets do this.

Id then also like to apologise for never seeing this bond movie before, because damn. I knew it was going to be interesting so many people put it as not just their favourite bond movie, but one of their favourite golden action spy movies from before the 80s. So i was sat here glued to my tv going oh my god wow. It was a breath of fresh air.

I know George had a fall out so didnt come back to do any more bond movies, but ahhh it was nice to see someone else have a go at it & boy did he own it. I love that one of his opening lines of the film when you see him he says, well this wouldnt have happened to the other guy, acknowledging the changing of the guard. I liked that, but he never really does it again. Its like that opening was just there to set it all of & then we get the bond film afterwards.

I love that bond falls for the girl properly & get married to her. So often (& yes still a bit in this one) in the older bind films they are so misogynistic. & yes still its all a bit convoluted, but i love that he loves her & then for it to be a sad ending where she is assassinated instead of him, thats sad. It proves bond did love her. Maybe if he had continued we might have got a more rouge bond bent on revenge like we do with Craigs incarnation with Vespar. Yes he offers him money to get married but the bond grows & it is special.

I mean after all Bond does have a mission to do & hes still after Blofeld & SPECTRE isnt he & as far as SPECTRE hide outs are to have one on top of the alps is cool. You watch it now & you go oh okay then bit dated, but back in the day, people must have been watching it going oooh damn thats cool. that so so cool. & not just for all the women living in it too. It was a very clever way to do it. However im sure more people would have worked out he was Bond than they did, were people really that gullible back then, or was he just so good at his job.

When he resigned i was shocked. I didnt see that coming if im honest. I thought hed work away around it but no M was like off you go. Good for Moneypenny though stopping it from fully going into effect. But M should realise that if Bond is on the case that its for the greater good of the world. Its not just because of a vendetta. Yes i know Blofeld, i do but still, surely Bond would do everything to make sure someone else pulls the trigger not him. M must understand that for sure.

To go from the nice party in Portugal to Switzerland is going from the fire to the ice literally.

What if Bray had turned up at the facility? Seriously? Genuine question. Bond would have been fucked.

Now is this why we are not allowed subliminal messages & flickering photos in films or tv shows unless its an 15 or past 11pm at night? I mean what a clever man Blofeld was to “cure” all the ladies but actually turn them into his secret messengers to spread disease across the world. As weve just come out of the pandemic, i have to applaud them for thinking of that all the way back then. 12 patient zeros, very clever in deed.

Is it an old school bond movie without a skiing chase in the movie. I get that it wanted to show off the luxurious part of bonds job, but it does make you realise which era of bond you are watching for sure. That being said (sits & thinks) yes they all have snow all the Bond including Craig as he had that car chase with Batista didnt he. So yea its a staple of bond for sure. Although there are bits of the green screen that look so bad. But its the late 60s early 70s its not say 2002… (im talking about you die another day). But for this to lead then into the car chase & then avalanche which feels like actual jeopardy in a bond film for the first time in one of the older movies, its bloody special.

Act 3 when they attack the compound is so good. I was sitting here enthralled in it watching it. It might not be what we are used to today & the fights & sieges we have now (bobsleigh hahaha) but it works so well &we wouldnt have most of what we have today without these films showing us the way.

Also got to love some Lumley & Rigg.

We have all the time in the world is a classy classic theme song too. It just works & its so cool that its so often called back to in other bond movies. I know a few other bond film names are too, but considering the film wasnt called that, it proves that it lasted the test of time. I mean can i tell you what the quantum song is called… nope.

This isnt in my top 5 bonds, but its in the top half & for a first time watch it was bloody enjoyable. Considering what ive got to come (as i have now watched all of the & knew what some of what was coming was) i was very impressed by it & loved it didnt give us the Bond happy ever after. This is a proper Bond film though. If youve not seen it please please do.