The 4th entry of Sean Connery’s portrayal of James Bond begins to creep into camp territory.
Positives: Technical aspects of the film. Amazon Prime presents the film digitally remastered and it holds up well against B-movies made in the 2010s. Pacing. Unlike Dr. No, there’s a clear 3 act structure followed and this allows for full immersion. The action set pieces are also… pretty amazing. I don’t know how the underwater fight scenes were directed but it’d just be green-screened today. Emilio Largo… classic and recognizable Bond villain.
Negatives: The climax of the film was underwater, thus without audio. It looked cool but… no dialogue or banter between Bond and his prey. Sexism. Bond is in full chauvinist mode here, forcing himself on multiple women in the film. Camp. This is why most people stopped watching Bond as a serious film series. Gadgetry that isn’t used in real life. It’s not subtle but not overboard either (Tomorrow Never Dies).
Overall? Solid entry!
First screening July 4, 2022 on Amazon Prime.
