Connery out. Lazenby in. Let's get into one, O Majesty's Secret Service. 321. Thunder Nerds are go.

Oh my That's almost I

thought that was so funny.

That might be better. Yeah. That might even be better than the original. The music's rad.

Oh, mate.

What were you gonna say? What bit was

Right at the end with the little Pierce Brosnan looking at the

Yeah. Yeah. Like looking Looking at the little flying geomobile thing. He's just, oh, that's good. I'm gonna

It's Sean in the middle.

That's awesome. I was wondering like where Sean was gonna be.

Oh, good. Oh, That's good.

I might even hello Thundernodes, we're here by the way. I'm gonna link that for Thunder Nerds, I'm gonna put that in podcast.

Oh, you recording?

Yeah, was just recording that. So that was can I just catch you all up there? That was a video of like Bond v Bonds that a dude called Passion Fruit on YouTube has made. He's made one called Morning Splash, which was so funny. It's just so well edited.

That was so well edited. I'll link them both. I'll put them both in the in the podcast. Do you think that's better or do you think the original is still better? The original is funny because of like, what do you think of that, captain?

That that's

Alright. That's that always makes me laugh.

When he's in the water, man. It's so good.

That's was it Daniel coming out of the water Yeah. From Casino Royale? Yeah. And then

was it Quarrel? Quarrel Yeah. From Doctor. No. Yeah.

Yeah.

Why do you think of that?

Yeah. And it cuts Daniel. But and then because they had because remember that one ends with Tim and the money, but then they they like That's right. He did like a tenth tenth anniversary edit of it where where I think like after that, Daniel Craig comes along and like in in the chopper from the beginning of Spectre and gets gets rid of Tim in the plane, I think. Because but but what I like about that one, just watching that one there, like, what I like about that is how there's way more of all of them in it.

And then Sean's like a little cameo at the end. That's pretty funny.

Sean at the end.

That's good. That's pretty cool.

That was good.

So we've we've got on on our majesty secret service to do today, and I I don't really have to be honest with you, I don't from when we did You Only Live Twice, I don't really have a lot of Bond stuff to talk about, bar the fact that it does look like Oasis. Doing that, you know, the next Bond song. Yeah. You you were talking to me about that as well offline, like just.

Yeah. Noel Gallagher's solo band, Pipeline Birds, did a a song a few years ago. And it was a really good song, but it was only added as a bonus track

Yep.

In one of their albums, maybe like a I I don't know too much about it. I might be completely wrong, but they added it in as I think maybe a it was definitely a bonus track. It might have been like a special, like, deluxe version of the album or something like that.

Okay.

It's not even on the main album.

Interesting.

It's a really good song.

Yeah.

Right. And he had said that that song is like a Bond song. He said that in the past.

So Noel Gallagher, you think he wasn't a fan of Another Way to Die? Because is Jack was Jack White English or is he American as well?

I think he's American.

So they're both American?

I don't I don't know, but I think he's American.

It is a weird

that was a weird song. It's a weird song.

Yeah.

It's not a bad song. I don't hate it. But Neither do I. It's just

in a movie that's already

I would say if we would've ranked all the Bond songs, the Bond theme song, it would probably be towards the bottom for me.

Yeah. I think I think for me as well, I don't think it'd be like that high up. But again, like you said, it's not a bad song, but for a Bond song, in a film that already is quite not Bond ish. It's like it's just another thing that is a bit but anyway, we'll get to that.

And Noel Gallagher commented on that song in particular, and he he commented on Bond music. And so I feel like he I don't know. He might be a bit of a fan. Mhmm. He he might agree to do it.

And the the hype that Oasis have at the moment coming off their massive reunion tour, I wouldn't be surprised if they were to get Oasis to do it.

That would be pretty sick, to be fair.

That would be cool. If you haven't heard the song, it's called Freaky Teeth by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.

I might link that in the podcast so that people can go check that out. If you I think you sent me the link, didn't you?

Yeah. It reminds me of Chris Cornell's song from Casino Royale.

You know my name. That was good.

You know my name. It reminds me of that.

Yep. That was a great Bond song. Yeah. Okay. Well, is is there anything else that you've got in terms of, I guess, like, Bond?

Because I you know, news per se before we kind of

I saw

Oh, I know what you're gonna say.

There's a new there's a new name that's at the top of the list for the next Bond actor.

Okay. That's not what I thought you were gonna say. Yes. Who who is it?

Steve Bashemi.

Shut up. Honestly.

Genuinely saw an article.

No, you didn't. Thought you I did. I thought you were having me on with that. Steve's not no. He's not gonna be bothered.

Didn't didn't I I send that with you? No. I thought you'd like photoshopped it or something. I didn't I didn't know the article was actually that was serious.

I I feel like it was a joke. It had to have been

a joke. Would have been a joke. You know what I saw though? I and I didn't love it. I really didn't love it.

I saw them, like, announce I think this was at I don't know if it was at the Game Awards or something. They announced like a villain for double o seven First Light. Did you see this?

Oh, no.

Did you see it?

I I I did, and I was like

I thought it was a I thought it was I didn't understand. I was like, oh, is this it no. No. No. No.

That's not a problem.

Which villain are you talking about? Because I saw a character in the trailer. I it recently and I was like, that better not be the villain.

It was some dude with dreadies.

Oh, no.

And and and he's he's like, I don't know where I don't know where in the game, like, that will be, but I know that, like, they put out a thing being like, oh, introducing this guy as this it's Good. Don't think

Lil Jon or something. That's the villain.

Yeah. He's like, he's not a lead villain, I don't think. He might be the opening. I'm not sure, because I know that I think it's o o nine that's the villain, which also separately

Yeah.

Can I say this separately? I'm a bit, like, over this thing of making double o agents villains. Just like, I know it worked with Alec Trevalian, but then like, you know, then they tried to make Silver a villain who was like not a double o agent, but he was meant to be working for what was it? Station h or something like that with them.

Like, Mummy was very

Yeah. Like, he's working with Oh, no. He's working with, like he was working with them, and he's meant to be like what you hear is like a really good agent. And now we're getting like o o nine as a villain in this game. And I'm like, I don't Yeah.

I completely agree.

Bond villains to be double o x rogue agents. It makes it weird that they're all they all went rogue, you know, like

like They're all seriously fucked up individuals.

Yeah. Like, I don't need that. What do you think about that? Do you know what I'm saying with that? Yeah.

Yeah. It's already been done. I think it was a really cool idea, but it's already been done. I'm Don't do it again. Because like you said, now it's this thing like every double o agent's turning bad

Yeah. Aye.

Which ruined the the vibe of them. They're meant to be loyal and willing to die for queen and country or king and king and country.

That's right. That's exactly right. So so, you know, it was cool when you'd see him rock up and then all be, you know, you couldn't see him, but they're all in the chairs in Thunderball or something. Like, that's cool. Yeah.

Okay. But it gets a little bit I don't know. Do you get what I'm saying? Like, it just it just become it may it you know, you see like o o two or something in like the man with the golden gun, but you don't know it's o o two until later when m says that o o two died on a mission. And then you see o o nine in like Octopussy or something, and you see a few of them in on that mission in Gibraltar or whatever, in Living Daylights and stuff like that's cool.

And then you see o o and that that so when o o six turns rogue in in GoldenEye, it lands well because it's the first time it's ever been done. When you start doing it over and over again, it becomes a bit lame. And like, there's only so much you can do with it, really. So anyway, just had to get that off the chest. But this villain, I'm looking at him going, he doesn't look like a Bond villain.

And I'm getting more and more worried about this game as more stuff comes out.

He looks like a oh, man. He looks like some kind of

Well, he just looks like a DJ. He looks like a Yeah. Like some DJ or something. Like, looks like a modern trendy, like he does not look like a James Bond villain. Like, you look at like Everything or Nothing.

You remember how that dude had the little, like, what was it? The what do you call those things? The

Monocle?

Yeah. Little monocle and he had like a metal arm and shit in Everything or Nothing. Yeah. And we had the dude with the big like coat and the crossbow. Like like like, those are cool Bond villains.

Like Willem Dafoe?

Yeah. Willem Dafoe is I can't remember the guy's name now. But, you know, I've actually been thinking I'm gonna play that game soon on my on a PS two emulator or not. I've got it

I've got it right here. Do you? I've been meaning to play it.

Can you play that on have you got a PS five?

I can't play it. I do have a PS five.

But you got your PS can't

play it on the PS five.

What a game, dude. Look at I've

got my I've got my old PS two here still going strong.

Oh my god. You've the PS two. Well, I'm gonna get it I'm gonna get it on the emulator of of the the PC and and play it because it is just what a what a game. What a game, man. Yeah.

One of the best Bond games.

Starring Pierce Brosnan.

It's so cool. It's so cool. And he was the best in my opinion. He was the best Bond actor of Connery, Craig, and, you know, Pierce Brosnan. He was the best to do the video game Bond, I reckon.

Like, he nails

Yeah.

Doing Bond, whereas, like, you Good hear Sean

game.

It's like in From Russia With Love, he sounds old. And Daniel, I just think you can tell it's like a game performance, if that makes sense. Whereas, Pierce and everything on

He doesn't. It's like he doesn't know how to do voice acting.

Yeah. So it's bit more like rigid in a way. Whereas, like, is he's just the same as you always remember. It's like watching a fifth film then. They've really gotta get Will and Defoe as a Bond villain.

They need to in the films. Now I wanna I wanna if you've got nothing else to add, I wanna jump into something that I I I briefly mentioned you before. So if you're ready to go, we're gonna jump into the the double o seven name game. Okay? And I'll explain more as soon

as we get in there.

Okay. Now let me establish the I'll establish the ground rules. Now I I reached out to you and I explained what to everyone what I what I said to you. I said, I want to play a little game where we come up with four titles of Bond films. I don't fully know how we're gonna how we're gonna do this, but we come up with four titles each of James Bond films that do not exist.

We've come up with them of our own accord, and we pit them against each other. So may maybe we both bring one at a time, and then we we we we we have to kind of pick one that stays. And then we go to the next, and we pick one that says, by the end of it, we we decide. We have a little debate. We decide.

We go who came out the victor, who came up with some the better bond titles. Okay? So have you come up with four? I act I should have said come up with five in case we come to a tiebreaker, to be fair. But anyway True.

I have got four.

Okay. Huge. Now do you wanna go first or you want me to go first? We do one at a time.

Okay. I can go first if you'd like.

Okay. Okay. Go for it.

Okay. So this one this one is the second George Lazenby film.

Oh, okay. So you've you've gone for you've actually titled these

I've I've considered the the theme for a couple of them.

Holy shit. Okay. I've gone to town. Okay. Alright.

The that so this is George Lasnby's because I was watching On Her Majesty's Secret Service recently.

Right. Okay.

Of course.

Yes. Of course.

So this one is called Shadow of the Crown.

Double o seven, shadow of the crown. Okay. Okay. Shoot on. Okay.

You I I look. I'm gonna say this on those. I haven't I have not gone to the extent of considering there's only one that I had in mind with an actor, but I've had that for years. The others, haven't. That's good.

So so shadow shadow of the crown. Double o seven shadow of the crown.

Yes.

Okay. Well, I'm I'm I'm gonna say this. I'm giving it to this. I'm giving it a little tick of approval. I say that that one sounds to me like a bond title.

I'm okay. I'm gonna go for my form. I'm gonna give you one. Okay. This you actually named I'll I'll go I'll go this one first.

You actually named dropped this one earlier, almost word for word. I think it'll make an awesome Bond title for King and Country.

I like

that. And I think it's in the vein of On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Like in the title, that's kind of what it's homaging. Do you like that?

I do. That's see, my my mind for my one was the same. It's Yeah. Yeah. Painting On Her Majesty Secret Service.

Oh, shit.

King and country. I like that.

That's a hard one to to to nail down to just one of those two to be fair. Maybe we need to just go through the four each and then we start to we're gonna have to eliminate four. Alright? Yeah. Okay.

Dense. Dense. Okay. Number two for yourself.

Alright. Number two. This one is a Roger Moore film.

Oh my god. Okay. Yep.

Yep. This one's very it's very over the top. Okay. It's similar to, say, like, Moonraker or Spy Who Loved Me with, like, Atlantis and

It's a bombastic. Bond film. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

It's it's very over the top.

Gotcha. Okay.

So this one is James Bond, double o seven, a deal with death.

Sounds like a Bond film. A deal with death. I can't knock that. It's it would be the second Bond film ever to have the title starting with ah, if I'm not mistaken. It would join a view to a kill, A deal with death.

I was thinking of a view to a kill

It's got it.

And live and let die. Yeah.

Look, it's it's it's it works. It works. It's getting a tick as well. It works. It's the seal of approval.

Alright. Okay. What am I gonna go for here? I'm gonna say I've actually got a list. I'll be I'll be transparent with you.

My list was was eight, but I'm choosing four from this list. So I I wrote down extras, I'm gonna try and call that here. Okay. I'm going to say that my next title is James Bond double o seven. Alright?

Or or yeah. I don't know who would be in it. I haven't I haven't thought about that. You've gone to that extra extent. James Bond double o seven, Order to Die For.

Order to Die For. That's good.

Do you like that?

I like that, mate. That gets my gets my tick of approval.

Okay. That gets mister Saint John Smythe's tick of approval. Okay. So what have we got so far?

Who would who do you think would be in that one? Water to die for. Sounds almost like a Pierce Brosnan to me.

Yeah. It all it does sound

a bit dying of the day. Yeah. Kinda. Lauren ever dies.

Yeah. It does sound a bit of a Brosnan title, doesn't it? I think Brosnan's titles holistically are the most James Bond ish sounding titles of all of them. When you look at them, Golden Eye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World's Not Enough Time, they just sound like out and out, like James Bond film titles. Okay.

So okay. What's your next one? Okay. What have you got for us?

The next one that I have. This one is a Sean Connery film.

Huge. Okay. Yep.

Okay. And it is based around I'd say it'd be based around the Cold War, maybe.

Okay. Yeah. Very interesting.

And it is called James Bond double o seven in Winter Veil.

Shit. That's a pretty good title.

And I you could have m being like, Operation

Winter Veil. You know what's crazy? I'm I'm giving it a tick by the way. It's getting a tick from me. Can I tell you what's insane about that?

Is it one the only one that I've come up with that I would say is a bond, like, that I that I thought about the time I thought about the plot, it's the only one I've fleshed out, and it's exactly the same. It's a Connery idea in the vein of a From Russia With Love where Russia is the enemy. It's an idea where the title of the film would be the title of mission. It's exactly the same as what you've just said. That the the title of the film would in in the film, it would be heard as the then as what they call like, you know, he's like code name Thunderball in like

Well, that's what I was thinking. I thought From Rush With Love mixed with Thunderball kind of thing.

That's so huge. And I actually I actually did write, if I can find it, I wrote a briefing on what the film would be. I'm just gonna go see if I can find it. I made I made a very small where was it? I'm not gonna find it now, but I did I did write a small briefing on what it would be, but I'm gonna I'll I'll read it.

I'll I'll give it to you now. James Bond double o seven in Red Moon.

Red Moon. Yeah. That is definitely definitely a cold war

Yeah. I I was going red, to like Russia kind of Soviet color. And if I could find it, if I could just find it, I had a whole thing for it.

I think you sent this to me. This was a while ago, wasn't it?

Yeah. This was a while ago. I actually made, like I think I got got ChatGPT to do a mock up with, like, poster for it. But and it was it was, yeah, the Cold War spy thriller, and I had a whole synopsis that I had written for it. This is it.

I've got it. I found it. I'll just I'll just briefly read this to you, and if I ever actually make go ahead with anything like this, I'll just cut this podcast out. When a defector from a secret Russian weapons program dies mysteriously on British soil leaving behind only the words red moon is awake, m I six calls in bond from out of the shadows, the trail leads to a brutal string of political assassinations across Europe, yada yada, it goes on. But it would have been a female villain, like a like a a bit of a stir type, you know, yeah, mother Russia type type woman.

Oh, that's that's kind of

what I was talking about. Irina Stbalco from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull kind of thing.

Yeah. Kind of like that. Like a bit of a just a bit of an iron lady type thing. But anyway, so that that was it. So that's interesting that both of us have come up with a that's interesting.

And Winter Veil, that's a that's a Bondish title as well, double o seven. It's like it's it's almost like a skyfall, like one of those short, sharp Yeah.

Times. Well, that's what I was going

for for

that one. Winter being like cold cold,

like the cold war. Cold war.

Yep. Veil being like

Oh, hell good.

Hidden behind something Yep. You know, something secret or undercover. Something like that. Finished. Oh,

yeah. What were gonna say?

Was blood not blood. Red moon. Was that your next next one?

That was it. That was that was my third. So we've both done we're we're we're more each.

That's a good one. Red Moon.

Red Moon. So we've got let's let's recap. So what do we got so far? What do we got?

Okay. My first one was Shadow of the Crown

Shadow of the Crown.

George Lazenby.

Gotcha. Shadow of the Crown, mine was for King and Country. So we were both we were both pretty aligned with that. That's good. She's interesting.

The next one for yourself?

It was a deal with death.

Of the crown. Yep. I'm just writing down yours. Crown deal with death. Double o seven, deal with death.

Okay. Sounds like a sixties tie. Like, it sounds like a double o seven, deal with death. Yeah. It it sounds like a

Yeah. I was thinking kind of like A View to a Kill with that one, something similar to that. Deal with death and and deal kinda like a

Deal. That's right. I deal.

I feel like the the promotion old the old posters

could have

been like Bond playing blackjack with the Grim Reaper.

That would be sick. That would be sick.

Deal with death.

Deal with death.

Like the Grim Reaper's dealing cards or something like that. The Bond.

And then we got Winter Veil. Okay. Hit me with your hit me with your last one.

My last one was going to be This one was going to be I think this one was gonna be a Daniel Craig one. I didn't I didn't put too much thought into this one

Yep.

As much. James Bond, double o, seven in coldest hour.

Coldest hour. Okay. I like that. It sounds like a Bond title. Coldest hour.

Double James Bond, double o, seven. Coldest hour. Do you know what? Can I tell you something? Can I I think I'm gonna write that down, coldest hour?

I think out of all the titles you've said, that one sounds like it would suit a James Bond, a new James Bond novel. That's what it sounds like to me. It sound it sounds like a title that would fit there there's a few new range novels they do. It almost sounds like a perfect Bond novel title. I can't tell you why.

It's just it that's the vibe it's giving to me when you when I hear it. When I see it in my mind's eye, I see it on a novel color.

This one was I was still thinking Coldest. Along the lines of Cold War. Yep. Yep. Yep.

Did you say thinking like Daniel Craig in the Cold War kind of thing.

Shit. That'd be pretty So

not really time specific for Daniel Craig. But

That would be

was I was thinking similar to Casino Royale.

Yep. Okay. Coldest hour. Yeah. It's got yeah.

That's that's the vibe. It's got

a bit of that in Casino Royale kind

of thing. It's almost it's almost like it's almost got a bit of, you know, had Daniel Craig's Casino Royale pre title sequence been a whole film, it could have been called double o seven coldest hour. Like that black and white kind of, you know Yeah. Noir vibe that they went for in that opening sequence is what that would suit. Yeah.

Now look, I did come up with a few. So I'm gonna I'm gonna just read I'm gonna give some runners up, but they're not gonna be included in the the eight that we're talking about. I've got a few that just I I didn't they didn't make the cut. You might think some of them maybe you might think they might be better than some of the chosen, but I've gone with so far, I've gone with For King and Country, Order to Die For, and Red Moon. Right?

Red Moon is more out of sentimentality, I'll be honest with you, because I've just had that one for so long up the back pocket that I Yeah. Included it. Runners up, I'm gonna say I've got double James Bond double o seven, farewell to arms, which is a line that I just I always really liked in License to Kill when Bond says it's, you know, it's a Farewell to Arms to him, and then he like proceeds to like kick him and run off kind of thing before he like goes rogue. So I've I've got that as a bit of a reference to to that film, double o seven Farewell to Arms. I had one James Bond double o seven by any other name.

I like that one. I think that's a good Bond title, but I just couldn't conclude it. And then I had another one, double o James Bond double o seven deceased with honor. Not as mad on that one, personally. Like I I couldn't make couldn't make the rest of the list for me.

I'm gonna give you this one. This is I think this is a a Ripper Bond title. James Bond double o This is this is the one I'm going for.

This is This is the one you're

going for. This is my fourth.

Okay.

James Bond double o seven, knight has no witness.

Oh. I like that. That's cool.

Yeah. I think that's a goodie. That one's like I could see that. And it and it's not I don't know who it would be, but I think it it would be solid it would fit amongst some of those classic Bond titles. Night Has No Witness.

That's cool. That's mysterious.

Yeah. I don't even know what it would be.

Oh, cool.

It's one of those ones where it's like you don't even you haven't even thought of anything about it. It just sounds like a classic Bond ish title. You know what I mean? Alright. Now I like that.

We've got our we've got our aid. How are we going to narrow this down? We're gonna have to we're gonna have to get cruel here. Yeah. We're gonna have to get cruel.

Okay. Okay. Should we just go from worst to best, maybe?

Of the eight?

Or should we do

I think yeah. Actually, I don't know. I don't know how we do it.

Yeah. Should we do that?

Well, I'm gonna write down all of them. Here's what I think is in there. I think I think that for mine Order to Die For. I think there's a couple I reckon Winter Veil is a is a is a lock for me. Yep.

Order to die for. I think I think two that are a lock for me, Order to Die For sounds like a Bond title to me. Yeah. And Winter Veil sounds like a Bond title to me. Like like a bit more of a Skyfall esque title where you're not quite sure what the title is referring to until you see the film.

I say, we lock those two in. Now this is gonna be the hard part. Where do we go from here? Shadow of the Crown and for King and Country are almost the same type of title. Yeah.

We're gonna have to eliminate one of them.

I personally, I think yours is better.

Shadow of the Crown for King and Country. I think I think for King and Country, what works well with it is that it's something that you could very easily place into the film to say. Yeah. And that those are always a good Bond title where you can just throw it into the title in the film. There's all it it's said in the film.

For sure. Yeah.

I reckon we lock that. So we got so this is what we got. We got Order to Die For. We've got Winter Veil. Winter Veil.

What did I just say? For king for for king and country. Now here's what we've got left over. Coldest hour, red moon, a deal with death, and I'm missing something.

Coldest hour.

Coldest hour? Red moon? Which one am I missing? Red moon, coldest hour, a deal with death. Oh, Night Has No Witness.

Those are the I ones think Red Moon, I'm a bit sentimental about that one. I'm I'm cutting that. I don't think it's I don't even know if I if it would actually make my top four if it wasn't if I wasn't sentimental about it. I'm cutting that.

It's very similar to the movie Red Dawn.

Is that what what's that?

It's a movie about

Red Dawn.

Red Dawn. I'm pretty sure it's like a Russia invade.

Okay. There you go. So it's It's like

Russia invades The US or something like that. Okay.

So it's it's a similar type play on on that thing then, if that's the case. Alright. We cut that

Wreck of Korea?

Yeah. Cut that Korea

Invades or something like that. Yeah.

Or if we cut that

I haven't actually seen it.

I reckon reckon The Coldest Hour, I see I'm seeing it. I'm seeing it as a Bond novel. I'm just seeing it as a Bond novel. I don't know why. I think I think that goes I think we got a we got it's it's a deal with death.

Has death ever been in a Bond title?

It's for another Dies.

I don't think death is in a No Bond

Bond to Die. Yeah. Live and let die. There's a lot of dies.

You know what's interesting about these two titles is that is that they've both got so knight has no witness and a deal with death both have two keywords of their full of their titles. I know this is getting really niche, Thunder Nerds, so you can skip through chapter points if you're getting bored of this. Just wanna hear on emergency secret service. They've both got words that have never been used in Bond titles. Deal and death have never been in a title.

Night and witness have never been in an official Bond film title. Nightfire is obviously a game, but two keywords in the title that are not there are is in a view to a kill with is or Knight has no, no is in like No Time to Die, Doctor. No. But so they've both got a couple of repetitive words, but also they've got words that have never been used. Where are you landing with this one?

I'm not sure. See, who would who who do you think would be in Night Has No Witness?

See, that sounds like a Brosnan film to me. Because his films all sound to me like they are classic Bond titles. That to me sounds like a classic Bond title. Do you know what I'm saying? I could see Brosnan.

And I reckon that it would be said, it would be like the Living Daylights or something where, you know, how like in the Living Daylights, he's like, you know, I don't know who she was, but I scared the Living Daylights out of her or Or die another day. But he's like, so you live to die another day, colonel. Like, it'd be that would be in the same vein of how you'd slip the title in. No. Nate has no witness.

I don't

know. Mister Bond, you want to make a deal with death. Yeah. Yes.

Oh, shit. That's so funny, bro. Yeah. No. It'd probably be the villain actually that'd say it.

Bond did say something, and then the villain on the other end would also be like, Nate has no witness, mister Bond. It'd be that type of thing for both titles. Where are we landing? This is a tough one. Where are we going with this?

Should have come up with more. We should I should have got you to come up with a fifth for a tiebreaker.

But no, I like them though.

Yeah. Look, maybe maybe we just say, they both stay. After all that time waddling on, they both stay.

I like it. Have you got a have you got a sound effect for it being shit?

Just didn't use it. Oh, shit. I think look, listen. I think we I think we have to press on. We have to get to the main feature.

We've done it. We we've we've we've ended up with after all that, we've ended up with Winter Veil. We've ended up with Order to Die For. We've ordered a Knight has no witness and The Deal with Death, I can't even remember what the other one was. We ended up with something.

Oh, for King and Country. So there we go. Shall we press on to the main feature?

Yeah. Let's do it. Let's do it. This department is not concerned with your personal problems. Operation Bedlam is dead.

Do want a stem? Yes, sir. I understand.

Do you always arm yourself for a rendezvous?

Occasionally, I seem to be excellent prone. Do not kill me, mister Bond. A martini for our guest, shaken, not stirred. Where is Ernst Stavro Blofeld? Blofeld?

I don't know where he is. Can you find out? If I could, I wouldn't tell her majesty's secret service. But I might tell my future son-in-law. Merry Christmas, double o, seven.

If my demands are not met, I shall proceed with a systematic extinction of all species of cereals and livestock all over the world. There's no hurry, you see. We have all the time in the world.

Alright. Let's get into this.

Right.

I'm not cutting together something for every Bond film, but I do it on this special occasion when I reach one where I'm particularly fond of it. And this one I've reached and I'm particularly fond of So this at a high level, I wanna know when was the last time you saw this, like, how long ago was it before you've done your rewatch recently? And and at a high level, how did you find it rewatching it?

Years ago. And originally when I watched it as a kid, as a as a young man, I didn't enjoy it as much because I I had this notion in my head that George only had one Bond film, so he mustn't be very good.

Yep.

Otherwise, they would have brought him back. Yep. And so it must be a bad Bond film. I went into the movie with that in my head as a kid, which is

I think I did the same thing, to be fair.

Which is pretty dumb.

Yeah.

Now going into it, now knowing what I know, knowing that George, you know, he he chose not to come back, I'm pretty sure.

Look, we're gonna get into that we're gonna get into that soon, but continue.

He well, I actually really liked George Lasnby in this movie.

Mhmm.

Couple little like things here and there

Yep.

Which we'll talk about. But I enjoyed it a lot more than what I did when I was younger. And I really enjoyed it when I was younger. I thought the plot was really good. Yep.

And, yeah. Again, watching it this time, I enjoyed it a lot more.

Memory of this film when I was a kid, I actually reckoned that I didn't like it. I I I could be wrong, maybe I'm wrong, but I I feel like I thought it was a fucking snooze fest when I was a kid. And and and I guess it doesn't have it's it's interesting. It's like this film doesn't have action sequences in the same way that other Bond films do, because it doesn't I'll tell you what it doesn't do. It doesn't feel the need to spend every second showing us a little moment of like, you know, Bond doing something interesting, Bond doing something cool.

It doesn't and and I'm gonna I'll I'm gonna use what I'll use as an example is You Only Live Twice, and I'll use Diamonds Are Forever. And I'll and the other reason I'm using these two as examples are because they bookend this film on each side. Right? When you look at You Only Live Twice, we get Bond apparently getting killed at the start, then he, you know, they have his funeral service. He drops in the water.

He's on the, you know, the ship or whatever with M, and then he goes to the shore, then he goes to see, you know, Henderson. And then all a sudden, an assassin gets Henderson, and then he runs to follow him and he ends up at Azado's, like, you know, place and he has that fight with the Rock's grandfather. And then and then it's all of a sudden, you know, he's being tackled by dudes out on the docks and and it all it just goes from action scene to action scene with little moment little moment. Diamonds are forever. It does things similarly.

It's it opens well, we'll get we'll get into that film, but, like, it's even got things where it just doesn't take a rest and bonds all of a sudden, like, a coffin or something, and he's getting burnt in a coffin. And then, like, you cut around and all and amongst the the dune buggy sequences and all that, there's these random little sequences where Bond wakes up and he's, like, getting chased by a little thing that's, like, building the pipeline or something. It's really weird. Right? There's so many small two minute lasting little action moments to almost just make you not have anything to, you know, lose your attention with.

But in on Her Majesty's Secret Service, they're more than happy to spend some time with Bond going in to find the documents of Blofeld and building the tension through, you know, the lawyer going downstairs, Gumbald or whatever his name is going downstairs, Bond going up, and then this espionage stuff of like the the Draco's, like, construction workers sending the thing up and then Bond opening the that scene. Yeah. I love it. It's like slow.

It's cool. I just love it because you see the lawyer leave the building, and then he looks at his watch or no. He he puts his hand in his pocket, I think, and he realized he's left something upstairs. Yep. So he goes to you presume he's going back to go into the room to grab it.

Yep. Bond sets his watch up on the desk, so he's conscious of the time. And we keep seeing the big clock tower. And the music, it just builds a lot of tension. Like, as he's cracking the safe Yep.

When's this guy gonna walk into the room and catch Bond?

Yep.

And Bond, obviously, he pulls it off. He gets the info out of the safe. And I love the idea with the the crane bringing up the the safe cracker Yep. Up onto the balcony.

I think. That's that's good. So what I think about, like and we'll we'll we'll go back in a second. We'll and we'll we'll talk about the star. We'll we'll get through some of these plots.

It's a good plot, this one. I think that it's the reason I didn't like it as much as a kid, I didn't understand what was going on. So so what I understood when I was a kid was Bond kicking ass, Bond in a June buggy, Bond like, you know, fighting Jaws in Egypt. I I all that shit was really obvious and cool set piece stuff. I didn't get nuanced plot points.

So I didn't know, for instance, that when I was a kid, I didn't know that, you know, Bond was working with this mafia dude suddenly, like, who is not even really clean himself. Like, Draco's got his own thing going on. He he has legitimate business, but he also is like a mafia type head honcho. And now Bond's just working with him, and he's working with Draco's construction company. I didn't know who the dude was that was, like, lifting the thing up with the safe.

Like, didn't none of that shit made sense. It all went over my head when I was a kid. So I think all that plays a reasoning to why I didn't like it as much when I was younger.

I'm the same. I didn't understand why why Theresa was walking into the ocean

Yeah. Just Either.

With her breasts still on and Bond chases after her. I thought she was going for a swim.

Yeah. So did I.

Growing up near the beach as a kid, I thought she was just going in for a swim. I didn't get that. And I was wondering why Bond would drive his car down onto the sand, and he runs in and pulls her out of the water. I was, yeah, I was very confused by all that. I had no idea why Bond was hanging around this woman.

Yeah. Neither did I.

Now why is he constantly trying to bail her out?

Yeah. I didn't get

Why is Bond now, you know, interested in dating her and potentially marrying her? I didn't understand any of that. Whereas watching it back now, it all makes sense. Like, her father has info on Blofeld, which is why Bond is why Bond is there. He's trying to get in earn his trust so that he can get this info of where Blofeld is.

Yeah. I think that going back to that style, I agree with you. I didn't know that, you know, I thought like you said, she was just going for a swim. That didn't make sense to me either when I was a kid. I think that it's a great stark opening and a very different opening.

I wouldn't say it's one of my favorite pre title sequences because I've got an idea of what I like in a pre title sequence, and for me, a pre title sequence that I love are things like The Spy Who Loved Me, Golden Eye, The World Is Not Enough, those Goldfinger. Yeah. Those those big kind of bombastic openings, but I like that they stripped this back, and it is more of a character piece. It is more of a

Yeah.

Love story. And so the cinematography reflects it, like, especially when you get to scenes, like, when they're in the cabin later in the film, they put on some lenses that give a shallow kind of depth of field and and and a really kind of glossy look on Diana Rigg. And and it framed more like, I would say, a love story. Like, even just shot for shot all through the film, it looks it's a beautiful looking film. It's one of the best looking James Bond films, cinematography There's

this sequence that you would not see in any other Bond film, where it's it's just Bond and Theresa just going on dates and just enjoying each other's company.

Yeah. The montage. And playing

yeah. The montage. Beautiful scenery. There's one where they're walking through this garden and there's this water fountain and there's flowers everywhere. And it's playing the song, we have all the time in the world.

Yeah. It is. Which is a classic bonton. Was that written that was written for this year? It was written for this.

I'm pretty sure it was. It's, man, it's just it's such it's a just awesome, like, that like and it's got some of my favorite it's just so well written. It's got some of my favorite m and money penny scenes throughout the film, like getting to see m

So good.

It's just so good. Like, it's so well written. It's not that other

films Absolutely. Yeah. Love the scene where Bond gets, you know, removed from the operation.

Yeah.

And he tells Moneypenny to sort out his resignation.

Yeah.

And then he storms off, he slams the door, and then he gets called to come back in to see M. He comes back in and M's like, yep, your request has been granted. And Bond is like He's a bit jaded, He's isn't

like he's almost like surprised. He's like, not even like, wow.

Yeah. He not even like a a thank you. Not even like a please don't go. You just tell

him yeah.

Press granted. And he's like and so he walks out and then realizes Moneypenny's just put in two weeks leave.

Oh, it's such good writing.

Instead of his resignation. And It's exactly what Moneypenny really do. After him there.

Yeah. And it's it's such a it's such a good it's just exactly what that character would do though. Moneypenny would do that. Like, it's so well written. And then and then and then Em's like, after he after he leaves the room, he's like, what would I do without you, miss Moneypenny?

Thank you. And then comes over the cop. That's good. And I like seeing

like Everyone relies on her.

It's so good, man. And I love seeing Ed, like, in his house. We've never seen that before, and he's got his little fascination with butterflies and all that. And then Bond Bond does

that insect.

Yeah. And Bond does that thing where he does it in a few films. He does it in like Man With The Gut. Like Roger Moore's Bond has a tendency to like do this thing where but but Connery does it as well. Connery's done it with vintage kind of wines and that kind of thing.

He'll come out with his his knowledge of like certain wines, and then like, you know, Roger Moore had a tendency. It became a bit of a a running thing where whatever the topic of the mission was, you know, it would be like, you know, what do you know about this double o seven? And then Roger Moore would go into a little monologue about that thing and and it would be like, you know it all. Like and I love that

Yeah.

He can't when he comes in the room, he's almost a bit of a know it all on the butterflies. And and Em's like, I didn't know you knew about this type of thing double o seven. Like, I just I love the vibe Yeah. Between these characters and I love how he okay. I'm I'm he's he's relieving me of Operation Bedlam.

And he he is interested. I I guess what the film leaves Gray is it doesn't quite tell you it it seems to be the way the film frames it, unless I'm mistaken. It seems to be that the way it frames it to the audience is that Bond comes across Tracy. He's almost captivated by it's a woman that he can't quite work out. Like, she was walking into the ocean.

She's obviously got some mental health issues, and he's almost drawn to her because he can't quite work her out, and she's not she's not particularly she doesn't succumb to to Bond's charm in the way that other other women do that he's used to. So it's almost a bit of a challenge and something interesting and different for him. So it it in in in the way that I see this film, it frames it as he's just interested in her, and then he comes to learn that she is Draco's daughter. And then and then Draco kind of informs him that, you know, here's what I want you to I I would love you to do this, like she needs someone and all that. And then he's like, I'm not interested in in any of this.

You've got the wrong dude for it. And it's it's them when he's like, hang on a second. You're in the mark. Like, you'd have you'd you'd have some information I wouldn't have in my role in the MI six. And that's where Draco strikes that deal up and goes, you know, well, I wouldn't I wouldn't tell my I wouldn't tell her majesty's name I at

thought it was Bond trying to find a way to get in to the the family, basically, to get that information. I thought it was like a preplanned thing.

No. I'll tell you I'll tell you I'll tell you what debunks that is is that he knows of Draco. And he in the scene where he's meeting Draco, he he knows of him as like being in in this criminal kind of underworld, but also having legitimate business. And he's naming a few of the things that he knows of Draco. And Draco says, your dossier is not entirely complete.

I'm also Theresa's father. And that's where Bond learns of that. So he only learns of it there. Yes. You're right.

And so and so it's only when he comes up with the idea ad hoc of like, oh, hang on. Hang on. I could actually and that's where Draco also ad hocly says, well, I'm not I wouldn't do that, but I would for my for my son. So you understand what I'm saying?

So Yeah.

So it starts off at that point as a, okay, I'll do this for you and you give me the information I need to go and seek out Ernst Stavro Blofeld, but then it it very quickly becomes a lot more than that. But Bond very clearly, I think. He he could and I I think that that's that's where we get to that point, and I think they're in Spain or Italy, whether at the the bull thing, the bullfrog the and and, you know Yeah. Theresa Tracy kinda works out that her father's done something here, and she gets the information from someone. She goes, you know, what has what's he got arranged here?

And then as soon as she puts him in in this precarious position of going, tell tell James what he needs to know, you're never gonna see me again, and he gets the info. That's where you would think normally Bond would go, cool. I've got the information I need and I'm going to, you know, go. But he chooses to stay, and then we get that whole montage you talked about earlier. And it is different, but it's it's it's it happens fast within that first half an hour of the film, but it doesn't feel it's it's interesting.

It doesn't feel it it's really well paced. It it's hard to explain because it does happen fast, but it's just really well cut together.

Yeah.

Do you know what I mean?

Yeah. Yeah. I I think the I I was a bit surprised at first. I was when he got the information, I was thinking surely this is where Bond then goes to Switzerland. Yep.

But no, that's when he has that montage. And so, yeah, he's he's actually legitimately interested in this woman.

Yeah. Falls for Yeah.

Has always made Tracy a very special character in my mind.

Yep.

Like, she's the one that Bond actually falls for.

Yeah. It's different to, like, being on a mission and and and having someone that is on the mission with, but knowing that by the end of it, that was probably all just part of the mission. Or or even if it's not just part of the

mission For queen and country.

Yeah. It's for queen and or or even if it's not just that, it's it's something that's gonna fade out fast, if you know what I mean. But but then this is different in the way that he's acting with her. It even insinuates possibly a ring because part of the end of the montage is them looking in the window at rings. So it's already hinting at that type of thing, and it's it's in at the end of the film Bond goes back there.

It also does something interesting which is and I I really like this, and I don't I guess we just haven't had an opportunity to do this type of thing, and and the reason is because we haven't had a scenario before this and really after it, we don't really see it much. Right? Where Bond has a woman that he's entirely focused on. And and and what I'm getting at here is you have this interesting thing where a couple of things happen that don't usually happen in Bond films to my recollection. Firstly, we get Bond undercover for a substantial bit of time, which I don't feel like happens in a lot of Bond films, but it seems like such an obvious thing to try.

It does it a little bit and you only live twice terribly when when they try and, you know, convince you that you've almost got to suspend your disbelief Yeah. In canon to to think that that in in head canon, imagine that Bond looks so so much like a Japanese dude that Blofeld doesn't instantly recognize him when he's Yeah. In this film.

That's what I was telling myself in my head. Yeah. I was like

That's the headcanon.

He doesn't recognize him because he was in such good disguise last time.

Much better than what the film realized. Exactly. So that that's what Yeah. That's what the headcanon is, and the headcanon for Bond and for for us as Bond is that Blofeld has again had plastic surgery, and he's done his face, but he's also done his earlobes. And that's why he doesn't recognize him, and so he's going there to try and go, I've gotta play my role.

I'm here to, you know and I love that his his family arms or whatever is the world is not enough. That's pretty sick. Little reference. Right?

I thought that was awesome.

I thought that was sick. There's a lot of cool references like that that obviously gets used as a title for a film later. There's a little that the little dude whistling Goldfinger.

Whistled Goldfinger.

He's awesome. And then like Bond going through his like previous stuff in his office while he waits for the resignation.

Play the music.

And it plays the music and shows you like the knife from Honey, it's sick. It's awesome. The the wristwatch

from Honey knife, Rhett Grant's watch, the rebreather.

Yeah. From Thunderball. It's so sick.

Thunderball. What was from Goldfinger?

Was there one?

Was there one?

I know. I think I

think that's the one. Dan and a whistling.

Yeah. Well, that that gets Goldfinger there. So I think all all four get referenced. First four films get referenced there. Do you think

they added those in because of the fact that it was a new a new actor?

Yeah. Look, I think I think that's definitely plays a a factor into it because that's one thing we probably gotta talk about as well. Right? We gotta talk about the fact that should we get into that later? I might I might I'll finish my point and then we'll go back because that's one massive point we're gonna have to get to.

Oh, yeah.

But I think you're right. I think they've they've tried to make you they've actively gone, let's make you know that these films because it it it's even in the the pre title scene, like the the the music where in the actual images, you can see images of previous Bond films show up during the music, which by the way, again, just something else that's that's unique about this film. The only film and I'm not counting Doctor No, which opens with the James Bond theme music. It's the only film that has a music point where it doesn't have lyrics.

Yeah.

So it's it's it's a unique

Great piece of music though.

And it's and it's for for mine, it's the best it's the best bit of music John Barry ever came up with for James Bond. It's my favorite. I love it. I just think it sounds

I agree.

So good. It's amazing. God, it's good, man. So and and I've got I made a little intro here for on a majesty secret service when we dived into all this. I will send you I'm not sure if you've heard of it.

David Arnold who did like Tomorrow Never Dies, World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day soundtracks. He's he's my second favorite Bond composer behind John Barry. David Arnold did a his own version of the On Her Majesty's Secret Service, which I played at the just before. It is turn that shit up to a 100 in your headphones. Holy shit.

It's awesome. I'll send it to you after this.

I'll I'll have to give it away.

I've never heard it until today.

Phenomenal.

It's amazing. So what I was saying is so we get Bond undercover for a significant amount of time. I recall You Only Live Twice briefly. Am I missing like, what am I missing? What other films does he go

to? Die Another Day with mister Van Bierk.

Mister Van Bierk? That's actually mister Van Bierk. Our new tank buster.

Mister St. John's

mate. That's oh, mister St. John's he's actually undercover for a little bit in a view to a kill to be fair. Like that one, he actually is undercover for a little bit. But it's never more than him just saying a new name.

Whereas, you know, a majesty secret service, he when I was a kid, I used to wonder why Bond was wearing a skirt.

I that was I was gonna bring that up. That's part of the whole reason why I didn't like it when I was a kid. I I used to be like, why is Bond wearing a skirt? And why are all the women saying, I didn't think you liked women. I didn't think you were interested.

See, when I was a kid, I didn't get this. I I I did exactly the same. I didn't know what a kilt was, and I and I thought I was like, why is Bond wearing that? Like, Sean Connery would never do that, even though ironically Sean Connery is actually Scottish. But like the point is like, I just never it it was but when you when you get older and you realize, you go, oh, he's oh, he's Sir Hilary I

really appreciate.

Yeah. He's he's playing the role of Sir Hilary Bray. He's going there in disguise, and he he holds the disguise up for a while. Now, I've heard that let's get on to well, actually, hang on. Sorry.

I'm I'm jumping all over the place here. I'm so sorry. I've got to get my other point out just before I get on to George. The other thing that's unique about this is that it gets the chance to explore because let's look at I'll look at Men With The Golden Gun, for instance, or know where Bond, like, sleeps around with people, like, every film? Like, every film.

Right? And he Yeah. And it's, like, he's with one chick for the start of it, and then he, changes to another chick, and she's the bond chick or whatever. And Men with the Golden Gun's notorious for like that scene where he goes back and forth between them for a bit because he's like, during the mission. But what I like about this is that it's a clear distinction of he's doing it for a mission when he gets to Pisgloria.

He's he knows what his mission is, and he needs to get information on what's going on here at this clinic Yeah. And he uses the women to do so, and to such an extent that he's actually giving them the same the same lines when he's in bed with them. He's like, you know, twice as lovely in the firelight. Like, he's he's it's verbatim the same thing he said to the last person, but it's because he's got down what he's gonna say, and he's just doing it for the information. And as soon as Tracy rocks back up, it's not this thing of, oh, you know, I did oh, god.

Should I tell her that I slept with those women? That thought doesn't even cross his mind, I'd imagine, because when he's in work mode, everything he does as we know is for queen and country, and he will do whatever he need to even even put his own body on the line. If it means that he's gonna he's gonna serve his country. And I I just think that is such a sick thing because that is something that and I don't know if agents still do that. I think I think eastern agents still do that, but I don't know if western agents still think like The US stopped agents from doing that.

I could be wrong about that. I think they stopped it because they were like, it gets too it's too complicated with the people like switching sides because of emotions that come with with doing that type of stuff.

I think they still do it.

But I think I think Eastern definitely still does it. I'm pretty sure like Russia and German agents still do it. But Yeah. It's it's so sick though that

I can confirm that it it

still It still happens. There we go. There we go. Yep. We've heard it here.

So I think that it's such a cool thing though to see it here to the extent where it's like heaps of women. It's insinuating that he's he's almost betting them all. It's insin I think it's insinuating.

The way that they're like, I need to see you tonight. And he's like, 08:00.

Yeah. And he's like And then

literally the next woman walks past, I need to see you tonight.

Then and then someone's like someone's like, trust the work's going I think it's like blow for it. He's like, I trust the work's going well, sir Hillary. And he's like, you have no idea how it's all piling up.

It's good shit. It's so good.

It's so good. Think

Oh, mate.

I think I think George do we need to talk about George? Can we can we can we we talk about this?

I yeah. See, I liked him a lot more this time Yeah. Than the first time I watched it. I've always hated his his Bond James Bond. Yep.

When you take that one on the beach and compare it to Sean Connery's

Yep.

Pretty much all of Sean Connery's. They I think I feel like they did him a bit dirty. He's on the beach and he's kind of got the wind going and he's kinda gotta raise his voice a bit. He almost shouts it at her.

That's true.

Good morning. My name's Bon. You know? Yeah. Fucking stop yelling.

You

are a 100% right. It's not an easy watch when when he rocks up there and you're and you're right. They kinda did him a bit dirty when you think about it. It's like, he is on a beach, he would be speaking louder, but it's not a great it's just not a great delivery of the line. It's very simple.

It's not a great delivery

It could have been better if he was at the casino the first time he or not the first time he meets Tracy, the second time he meets Tracy at the casino.

Yeah.

And I feel like that would've been that would've been a much better Here's

I think we need to address a couple of things. Firstly Yeah. Is George Lazenby a good actor? No. I don't I don't think so.

And and I and I haven't seen anything outside of this film, but what I do know is this. He was an Australian model who was doing commercial work. He had never done a film. This is his film, Daebo, as James Bond double o seven. He I don't know how much you know about this.

I know that they were looking to recast Bond, and he was like, I wanna play it. And so he went to the same hairdresser, the same barber as like Albert R Broccoli, I believe. I think it was Albert R Broccoli, not Harry Salisman. He goes to the barber and he's like, give me a haircut like James Bond, like Sean Connery. And Albert just happened to be there and was like, that you are James Bond, and they pretty much cast him on that.

Right? Now I heard that through the shoot, he became increasingly more of a diva in how he acted Yeah. On set, and that he was not in the end invited back to play Bond, but the original plan was to have him sign on for a seven film deal before he

Yeah.

Became jaded in in the way that, like, before they became jaded to the way he was acting and and took that deal off the cards. Now

I think Yeah.

Yeah. Well, you go. I also

heard that he'd planned to be at that bar bar at the exact time that Albert was gonna be there.

Yeah. I think he did. I think I heard that that they that he that he really, like so look, props to the dude for getting himself a job. At the time, it was a massive job. That's pretty cool.

Pretty smooth.

Yeah. It's audacious. It's audacious. Yeah. And look, he's got

Too bold.

He's got things that go for him. In my opinion, he fights well in this in the choreographed scenes of Bon Fanny. He looks like he can handle himself. He looks fit. I actually think and look, the cinematography, I'm gonna get into that soon.

It's it's already a really well shot film, but I just think his look, he looks fucking cool. Like, when I look at him on screen I

always used to love that shot of him when he first enters Draco's office

With the knife.

And he's got that knife. He's holding the knife up Yeah. And then he stands up.

Yeah. It's sick. He he's got

I always loved that shot. I always thought he looked so fucking badass in that one. And I thought he looked really good towards the end of the film when he's in the blue Yes.

Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yep.

In this

Blue outfit, and he's going through was it the Pis Floria?

Pis Floria. Yeah. Where he's like sliding down and shit and then in the caves And

he got the submachine gun

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. And he's just gunning down. Some guy throws a beaker of acid Yeah. At him.

And he just like yeah.

Burned the whole thought I was like, okay. He looks like Bond.

And I don't know what order they shot the film in. Like, I don't know if the beach stuff was more close to the start of the filming schedule and he was still warming in it. Because I feel like through the film, and maybe it's just because I'm watching it sequentially and I'm staying with that performance for a longer period of time, I feel like as I get through the film, he gets in my mind, he gets better and better, but at the start, he feels a bit may maybe that's because you're starkly just coming off You Only Live Twice in Connery's performance, maybe. So the the you you Yeah. Seeing a a non actor who's only done commercial work immediately after Sean sticks out.

But I feel like the longer you watch the film, the performance in that isolation in that, it it become it's not it's not terrible. It's just not he's just clearly not a great actor is what I would say. And, you know, you'd be dancing around it if you were to say that the film, it wouldn't be better if it didn't have Sean Connery or a younger Roger Moore in there. It probably would have been a better film because having a better actor would

have The delivery of some of these lines is

It's just wooden. It's it's really wooden. That's it.

It's like when old mate goes through the wood chipper and

He had a lot of guts.

Out all the Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's like midway through skiing and he goes he's like, he had a lot of guts.

Yeah. It's it's it's just wouldn't I I don't think there's any way to to get around the fact that the performance just feels. And and I've seen people be like, oh, you know, Connery wasn't vulnerable, and to have him vulnerable at the end wouldn't have worked. And to that, I actually say, I disagree. I think that it it's a it would be a fallacy to say that a better actor wouldn't make the film better.

It just would. And I and maybe it's not a film for Roger Moore, even though I think he probably could have done it really well as well. Maybe it it it probably would have been if you if if we're if we're being honest, it would have been the ideal scenario would have been that Connery saw this through, and this was Connery's final James Bond film. Because it would have been the first time where we see Connery's Bond properly vulnerable and fall for someone, and it would have kept things off nicely. It also doesn't help that Diamonds Are Forever does fuck all to be a revenge film for And essentially almost just ignores that this film ever happened in a way, which I've I've always I've loathed that, but, you know, I don't mind Diamonds Are forever in in just because I don't mind it even though some people hate it.

Like, I I actually don't mind it. I grew up watching it, but I hate that it's not I just hate that we lost that revenge film that I can see in my mind's eye of how this film could have gone with another one if George had even just come back for two even, and done like a proper because if if George came back that's the truth of it. If George comes back for Diamonds Are Forever, that whole film is a revenge film. It's it's because Yeah. They bought back Connery and they couldn't be That would make

would make On Her Majesties better, and that would make Diamonds Are Forever better, in my opinion.

100%. If that a 100%. If if the pre title sequence of Diamonds was the actual whole film and that that idea of him finding Blofeld and going, I'm gonna kick your ass, it would be so much better. Because it it anyway, I'll I'll get into some of that. Like, it looks beautiful.

Like, George George looks great as James Bond. He doesn't act amazing. Again, I feel like his performance gets better as it goes, but there are some serious moments where he he's better in the quieter moments. That's what I would say. He's better in the moments when he's with Tracy in the cabin and he's like talking to her going, I've never met another girl like you.

That's all great. But when he starts to get into stuff where he's meant to have a bit of charisma like the the one liners and all that, he falls short. And it only ever works when he's being dubbed over by the actor who played Sir Hilary Bray when he's undercover, and they dub him over to give him a bit more charisma by getting an actor to actually do the voice.

What? Who dubbed wait. George was dubbed?

So I think so as far as I understand it, they didn't feel like they could kinda tell they weren't getting a great performance. And so what they did was they for a part of the reason he's undercover for a substantial bit of the film is because they they used the actor that you see earlier in the film who is Sir Hilary Bray, the the guy that he's been posing as, they used him as the dub over voice of George Lazenby and the entire time he's in disguise doing the accent. That's not George Lazenby talking.

I thought I noticed that. I just thought George was putting on a voice?

No. That's the other actor.

Oh my god.

And and if you notice, a lot of his one liners in his stuff that is going on in those areas of the film sound a bit more they've got a bit more behind them, and it's because there's an actual actor saying the lines, not George. Whereas as soon as it gets back to George doing his normal accent, you get, he had lots of guts kind of shit. Do know what I mean?

And Oh my god.

And look, I'll say this. He actually does have a great delivery of Bond James Bond in the film, but you just don't see it because it's it's not it's it's really late in the film. What happens is Bond goes into M's office and he's going, you know, we've got to go after Tracy, like Blofeld's got her hostage, you know, we can't just leave her all that and and Em's going, Bedlam's dead. We're done. You know, we're not concerning your vendetta's Bond.

And so Bond calls up Draco, and he's and he and he he says something along the lines of, Draco, it's Bond, James Bond here. I wanna talk to you about a demolition job that's gonna and but but when you watch it, that delivery is so much more nonchalant and less actory and cool. It's not like he's trying to say the line, he just says it. He just needs to get it out because he needs to tell him about this demolition job he needs to do. Whereas when you watch the other one at the start of the movie, it just doesn't land.

There's no way around it.

Good morning.

My name's My name's Bond. James Bond.

James James Bond.

Yeah. Fucking No. It just doesn't work. No.

But Yeah.

Look, what what the film again, I've gotta I keep saying it. It's beautifully shot. I love some of the shots of this film. The shot of when he's in the car at the beginning, and it shows his like little like it's close-up on the cigarette before you see Bond's face, and he's in the car smoking at the very start. I love the shot of, like, casino written backwards in the water on the pool as it transitions I to

was about to say that. I love that that shot.

I'll oh, it's so good, man.

The reflection in the water.

The purple in the casino when he's walking in in the tux. The walls.

The walls. The gold and the purple on the walls and

the Man, it is awesome. What about, like, even the shots of Pis Gloria, like Pis Gloria. Ski chase and the the the the helicopter 's over the sunrise arriving as they all go to attack it again. Oh, man.

What a good villain lair, Pisgoria. Like, it's up. It's so high up. It's you can't get to it.

It's one of my favorite.

My mate tries to climb up to it and

Yeah. It it's one of my favorite, Les, and it's got one of my that the ski chase is unbeaten for mine. Like, they've they've done probably faster ski chases with the Spy Lummy. They've done faster ones with Fiori's Only. For mine, there's something about the scale of how they capture Pizz Glory and the ski chases, like the way that Tracy and Bond are going down the thing, and then you see the music comes in, John Barry's theme comes in, and you see, like, you know, more of them traveling in behind him.

Yeah. And it just there's something about this that the scale is so big in On O Majesty's Secret Service, and there's this whole sequence.

The chase sequence goes for so long. It's it's Like, they're they're so dedicated. Yeah. They're so dedicated to getting Bond here. Is it go they go all the way down the mountain, they go into the town below

Yeah. They're after him, aren't they?

And there's car chases. There's multiple car chases down in this town below. Yeah. It just goes for so long, but it's good.

There's something about it. To me, there's stakes in the film. One, think that it's I love Blofeld's plot. Like, I I love the way he's, like, hypnotizing these girls and he's gonna use them as his angels of death and that, like, it's all about, you know, food and and the way that it's it's it's it's a more grounded idea of how he's going to actually and and the fun and he all he kinda says to Bond, oh, you'll be amused when you realize what I'm after this song. He's actually just after immunity.

He just wants he his whole plan is to put them to ransom to get immunity so that they can't come after him again. He wants everyone's word and deal that no one's gonna come after him because he knows that he's he's done shit and everyone knows who he is now, that and he's a wanted dude with a bounty on his head. I think that Terry Salvalis plays the role so well. He's a tougher Blofeld. He's a more like gangster Blofeld in a way.

He's a bit more like I love the way he holds his cigarette, Like, the actual way he holds it looks fucking sick. He holds it a specific way, and it looks cool.

The way he or the way he behaves throughout the whole film, you just can't really see Donald Pleasance doing that.

No. Not at all. Not at all. He couldn't have stood toe to toe with Lazenby in the way that and and and I think part of that is because and this is what I was gonna get to. Out of out of Charles Gray's performance in Diamonds, Donald Pleasant's, and and Terry's, this is the most physical Blofeld performance.

And so what I mean by that is like, it does something that not just Blofeld. I'm not just talking about Blofeld. I'm talking Goldfinger. I'm talking Kamal Khan. I'm talking Kananga.

A few of them. Right? It does this thing where Stromberg from from from Spy of Lummy, it does this thing where the where even though he has a henchman in Irma Blunt, he does a lot of the heavy lifting himself. So when he when she gets on the phone and goes that he's escaped or whatever, and you see him put that down, and again, John Barry's music comes in, and it's game on because now they know that Bond's going down the the ski slope. He he leads his men down the ski slope.

Yeah. He's out there. He is facing Bond.

Which I thought was fucking sick.

It's not him telling his men to go get Bond.

Go get Bond and bring him back to me. I'll screw up my pussy. No. But you know what I mean? Like.

He's out there facing Bond, and that's what adds to the stakes of the film is that the main villain, which you don't see

No.

The main villain is

Out there doing the damn thing. He's doing the dirty work. He's going, I'm out there bleeding us. And oh, man. It's so sick.

And I love the way that Bond just knocks one of them off, like, off the ledge and you see him go flying and and like you said, how long it is. It's it's genuine. It's about a forty minute. Now look, I know there's a little bit of like, they get into the cabin, they but Yeah. For a good bit there, it's almost a forty five minute stretch.

It's one of the longest action sequences in a Bond film because it goes from the sequence of them going down the thing, car chase ensues as well. There's like a fight in a little cabin, which apparently and I'm not sure if it still holds the record, but at the time held the record for the most bells or something rung in a scene in on on film ever, where where boy they're knocking into these bells. I don't know if it it it held some type of really niche world record for, like, sound design, but I can't remember what it was. And I don't know if it was then broken in in Moonraker where there's a sequence where there's all this loud glass smashing with with the sword fight that happens in Moonraker. But Yeah.

I just love Bond reconvening going, I'm gonna have to quit the service. I love it's one of my I think George is really good in all that stuff. I I even think he's really good in the moment where

I think he was good in that scene.

All that scene is is one of his strongest scenes in the whole film, like, just on his own accord. He's very good in it. Even the part where he's like, you know, that's my New Year's resolution. Like, you know, missus Bond and then he like puts her up and he kinda like like pulls the thing down and it's not New Year's yet. Like, I think all that stuff, that scene is some of the better stuff that George does and he's better in the quieter moments than he is in some of those those bigger moments.

Yeah. I think the scenes of him with Moneypenny and him with M, both at the start of the film and towards the end, I think they're really good scenes. They're great. I I think George acts pretty good in those ones.

I think yeah. I I really love the way he there's a really nice quiet look he kinda gives Moneypenny when he throws her the the is it the flowers or the hat or whatever he throws her? Like, at the end, you know, when he's about to go off in the car, it's just a really nicely acted moment from him. And one of the rare moments, unless I'm mistaken, where we see in a Bond film Bond, the Bond girl, M, Moneypenny, and Q. It probably happens maybe in No Time to Die in in maybe it happens in No Time to Die, one of the Craig films.

It'd be more likely, but we never see the legacy Q, M, Moneypenny, Bond, and a Bond Girl all in one scene together from my memory. And it's the only time it happens is at the wedding in on her majesty's secret service. Could be wrong about that. Fact check me if I am Thunder Nerds. Call me out.

But it's it's it's really well done. The ski chase at the end is well done. It's it's it's a random chase, but it's cool. It's Blofeld I don't know. There's there's so much.

It's it's really interesting. It's it's one that I never thought would be so high up for me, but I just it's so well shot. I think the music's amazing. I think that maybe part of the reason I I come back to it more than other Bond films is because of the directing as well. So Peter Hunt edited the five films before this.

This is his solo directing Bond film.

So you could tell it's signature Peter Hunt with the some scenes are like some shots are like in double speed.

Yeah. I feel like it's noticeable in the in the beach scene. It's really noticeable in the beach scene.

And there was another shot where

And the sledge scene, I think, at the end.

It's as he's putting the ski gear on, and he's about to start doing the skiing.

Oh, I didn't notice that one.

It's very strangely in double speed.

I might need to go back

see that. Interesting. Only for like a second or two, but it was really weird to see.

It is it in the sledge scene as well? I feel like some of the sledge stuff might have a a couple of moments sped up, maybe.

It's because I know they speed it up to make it seem like it's like faster and more I don't know, just a bit more action going on and everything.

But it doesn't need a

bit faster. It doesn't need it. And particularly this one shot of Bond putting he's putting the ski boots, the the skis on his shoes, he's putting the the little goggles on Yep. And it's all in double speed.

Yeah. That's weird. That's very odd. I'm gonna have go back and see

that. Why is that in double speed? That's strange. That's

really bizarre. I didn't didn't notice that.

Yeah.

Peter Hunt And you can see it

in I remember in Thunderball.

Oh, yeah. Thunderball is it. Thunderball is like the whole ending sequence on the boat is like Disco Volante is entirely in double speed. It's bizarre. Yeah.

I think that I like that he came in here and said, like, I've I've edited the first five films. I'm gonna direct this one. This is what's being given to me. And he made that choice of going, I want this to be as close to the novel as possible. Like, he he it's it's one of the better Bond novels I've heard, and he's gone, I want this to be as close as possible, and therefore that's part of the reason out of universe why, you know, Bond doesn't recognize him, Blofeld, and this and that, because they first meet in on majesty in on on her majesty secret service novel.

The sequel to that novel is You Only Live Twice. So it's they've done it in reverse order. On a majesty secret service was meant to be after Thunderball, it wasn't because of the snow and the time of year that they wanted to film it, so they had to do another one. So they did You Only Live Twice as the film. There's ideas in You Only Live Twice as a novel that get used later in Bond films like the Poison Garden of No Time to Die in Saffin's Lair is from the You Only Live Twice novel.

There's things that, yeah, don't get used for a long time in the novel, but the the the novel of You Only Leader Twice is very different too. It's it's it's barely barely anything like the film. It's like the only thing is the name and the fact that it's in Japan. That's pretty much the only two things that are that are similar about the novel and the film of You Only Live Twice, whereas On A Majesty's Secret Service yeah. It's a you could probably that's probably why Bond went in in the novel is like I don't know if he he I'm sure he I I think he probably does go in disguise as a Japanese man.

He probably does that because he's already met him. Whereas in this film, they kinda like don't cover it up as as much, and you you have to just do a lot of your own work to be like, oh, Bond looked really in disguise in You Only Live Twice, and and and Blofeld has had surgery. Even though the film tries to make you think it's just the ear lobes, I'm gonna say that he's had full plastic surgery. And Yeah. What happened to the the eye?

Yeah. It's had he's had plastic surgery. So yeah. And and and I think look, these castings of Bond films we talked about the other day, like, that you just you don't bat an eyelid in these old ones, but there are times where you do wonder why did they do that? And and the answer the only answer is that they just they must have liked the actor.

Like, they must have liked Gogul. So they bought him back from being a villain in From Rush With Love to being another Russian villain that's not a Spectre agent that's General Goggle or Maude Adams in The Man With the Golden Gun has a prominent role as a as a Bond girl and then becomes Octopussy, like in in the same James Bond actor's tenure or Henderson is in You Only Live Twice and then two films later, he's Blofeld? Like it's it's Blofeld

goes, oh, I based my look off. Henderson. A guy that we killed a few years ago that you met briefly.

Yeah. You have to make some serious headroom in these in these Bond films to try and like understand where they're coming up with something. Felix changes god knows how many times and then randomly stays as the same dude, like, after a gap of so big. So it's so random. But look, I love this film.

I think it's really strong. It it it to be fair, are you ready to get to do we wanna talk about the ending? Do we wanna go to maybe Trey what do you think of Tracey as a Bond girl? I think she's awesome.

I think she's awesome. Yeah. I think she's awesome. She's beautiful. Diana Riggs yeah.

She's stunning. Gorgeous in the film,

but she's just so quick witted as well as a and also just sharp and

I like the way that she's not falling for bond straight away.

Yeah. I love that. She's actually kinda not interested, and that's part of why I think in my headcanon, he's interested in her because she's not fawning over him. And I like as well

that she saves his life as well and

Yeah. She does. And I and I like that thing of yeah. She's there when when she needs him. The film does this thing where it gives you a break from her.

And Yeah. When she comes back, it's the perfect time for her to come back into the fold, and then you can see the way she drives the car, the way she's she thinks, the way she's skiing with Bond. You can see why Bond likes her because she's so she's so James Bond coded in the way that she just is, but she's doing it in a really authentic way. She's not trying to do it. She's just kinda like out there skiing as well as Bond can and oh, it's cool, man.

And the way at the end where she's so disinterested in Blofeld, but when she hears her dad on the line and realizes that that's what the helicopter is that's coming. She's like, tell me more about this this scheme. It's like, oh, master of the world, I don't like, she's out there kind of playing it up knowing that they're not far away and she's buying time, like

Yeah.

And it's sad, man. It's a sad ending. It actually George doesn't, you know, he buries his hand in the hatchet a little bit, his head in the hatchet to try and, you know, because he can't act with those crocodile tears, like, so he puts his head down. But but for all intents and purposes, the writing, the execution, the immediacy of it, the way that, you know, oh, Blowfeld, let's get in the car, and then all of a sudden she's dead. It's it all for me, I do when the credits roll, I do go, fuck, that hurts.

Like that that actually lends well as an ending. The only thing that I've got as a reservation, and it's one of my only reservations in the entire film, is that is that you it's like we're there. We're in the moment. It's got this beautiful score playing, and then we get this awesome final shot of, like, you know, the bullet and Tracy in the car. And then seconds later, you know, you get the Bond thief.

Oh, no. And it's like, why did why did that starkly but I've seen some people say some people have said, oh, some some people argue that they really like that. They're like, I like that you hear the Bond thing because it's almost like Bond's revenge is gonna be swift and dangerous type thing. Like, it's it's saying James Bond will be back and he's gonna kick some ass, but and I don't mind the idea of that. The problem is it doesn't happen.

It happens in like two seconds in diamonds.

I I feel like when I heard it, it made me think Bond's already moved on

Yeah. To to the next

mission which

is already like

yeah. Like, okay. I have to move on because it's my job.

See see, I think if that had rolled silent credits, it would have been really powerful. If that had Yeah. If that had lingered on the credits and knows so some people like they would have liked, you know, to play again. I don't mind that. I don't mind that.

I was gonna suggest that.

And I like that, but I just there's something about silence over credits on that on that shot would have been so it really would have made you sit with it. But then maybe it would have been really stark. It would have made it even more stark, but in diamonds, they barely follow that up, I suppose, though. So. Yeah.

Either way, I guess you could have gone with that.

Back to George being a bit of a diva and Diana Rigg. Apparently, they hated each other.

Did they?

Apparently, she used to

Shit. Well, she's a she's a professional.

Apparently, she used to eat garlic Right. Before they would do a scene together

Just to

lie. So that

she'd have bad breath

to turn him off.

That's funny. Just to spite him. Yeah.

Apparently, she hated working with him.

That's interesting. I think I may have known that because I think it might be on the behind the scenes of the On Her Majesty Secret Service feature where they talk a bit about, like, how there's stories there of, like, George being like, why is no one inviting me to the to the parties? There was there was something about them having, like, little evening gatherings during the filming type thing after a night of or day of shooting. And George saying to someone, oh, you know, why and and I think some I can't remember who it was. It might have been Cubby or something, Albert Albrocki going because because his argument was, why is no one treating me like a star or something like that.

That's what it was. Was like something like, why is no one treating me like a star? And Albert sat him down and said, George, like, there's a lot that makes a star. Like, it's it's a great featurette, that one, if you can if you can watch it on your on your special features. It's a really interesting one where Albert's wife, I think, talks about that.

Yeah. I've always thought that was quite interesting. I don't think it would have been as much I think George could have grown into the role, and I think he could have gotten better. From where he is in in this film and the performance, I think he he could have gotten a if you if let's say there's a apologies. Let's say there's a what if scenario where George ended up doing seven films including On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Yeah. You can tell that where he ended up in this film, he could've he could've been quite good as an actor by the end of his seventh film. He could've grown into it in a way Daniel Radcliffe grew into Potter. But I don't think Yeah. I would take that over the Roger Moore films at the end of the day.

Yes. I agree with you. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, the I mean, it is a classic Bond film.

Yep. It's definitely you can tell it's definitely around that time era, like bond with all these multiple women.

And exotic fruits of choice and shoes, is what you're talking He

ends up giving Moneypenny a bit of squeeze on the on the bum.

Oh, that's right. He does. He does give them

He's like, woah.

She almost doesn't expect it. She's like, woah. Woah. Woah. A bit bit far apart.

I don't think we see any other Bond do that.

Yeah. I don't think we do. And he gives her a kiss, like, we don't see heaps of cue with him, but what we do see, like, I do love that. It's a great little scene where he says goodbye to Bond at the end of of the wedding Yeah. Where he's like, you know, take care and all that.

And he drives off in the in the d b five, and I I was so sure when they when they homaged that ending in inspector. I was so sure that No Tom Did I would have I thought that no like, the next Bond film should Daniel Craig come back, I imagined that it would start with Leia Sidhu's Madeline Swan getting killed by Blofeld in a way that happens similarly to On Emergency Secret Service ending, and I'm and I imagined that the rest of the film was gonna be a revenge film of Bond going after Blofeld. And I was so sure that that's how No Time to Die like, I'm talking way before they even announced the film or the trailers coming. I'm talking like after I saw that at the cinema inspector, I was like, oh, this is what's gonna happen, and it didn't happen. But anyway, we'll get to those films.

But yeah.

Yeah. The rumor was that Madeleine Swan was getting was basically the the reboot of

Yeah. That's what people thought. They all thought it was gonna be Tracy and there'd be it'd be play out like a modern day On Her Majesty, which to be fair, not dissimilarly. I mean, we did get a death in there.

It's gonna happen except the wrong character.

The wrong character. And also and we did get all the time in the world homaged as a piece of music in the film. So we did get things play out, but yeah, you're right. They kind of role reversed it. Do we do we wanna move on now to giving this film a score for Letterboxd out of five and also an MVP?

MVP?

We're gonna have to give it an MVP. Should we should we move on and

Yeah.

Get Let's that done? Yeah. Okay. I might use okay. I'll tell you.

I thought of something, and I I thought of it after I watched this film. I thought, can we have and I know this is gonna sound a bit selfish. Okay. It's gonna sound a little bit selfish, and it's gonna sound like I I probably should have established this at the start of our retrospectives, but I'm gonna do it now. And and and I'm happy to give it if you disagree with it and you don't like this.

I'm happy to give it the old okay? Here's what it is. I propose that each of us are allowed one film of the 25 official Bond films for Never Say Never Again, we're not counting that shit. For the 25 official, I propose that we have one film that we can choose each, only one, where we can give three MVPs. Where we can give I like I like this.

We can say we can go on I'm activating my special edition MVP, but you cannot each of us

craft card.

Exactly. But we can only each do it for one of the 25 films. Now

I like this.

I wish I had established this earlier. However, I must say I don't think I would have used it on any of them that have been yet, personally. I don't think there's

any I think I'm there with you.

I think I think the ones that I've had, I would have said, no. I'm very steadfast in what I've given so far. So but I'm I'm activating mine now for on her majesty's sacred service. Actually, let me just think. No.

Yeah. I'm gonna activate it. I'm I'm activating it here. So this is the film for me Alright. Where I say, I'm gonna have three for this film.

I'll keep mine up my sleeve

Keep it up your

for future film.

I can't wait to see what you use it on. Okay. So do you wanna go first, or would you like me to roll my three out?

I'll go I'll go first, I think, and then you go your three.

Kick us off. Okay. Okay. Who is your MVP for on Her Majesty's Secrets?

My MVP is Draco's henchman. The one that goes

Even in the fight scene Oh my god. Even in the fight when Bond hits him, he goes Oh, I as I was rewatching this, I forgot that that happened.

Sits in the car with him and he goes

Oh, where are we going? There's a nice place we're going.

It's like, oh, funny we'd funny to see you again or something like that.

He's crazy us seeing each other so soon. That's really what's he say after that? He's like

Put the

I asked him to put the knife away. Yeah. He's like, I think I think we'd all do better without that. I forgot that And that I when I was watching, I was like, oh my god.

He's at the wedding at the end as well. What? He's at the wedding. The

same What? Mhmm. He's at the wedding. Yeah.

He's at the wedding at

notice that. I didn't notice that.

If he's one of Draco's henchmen.

Yeah. I know. Yeah. No. I know who that is.

Yeah. There's a shot of him at the wedding.

Mister and missus James Bond.

So thank you for coming to the wedding. Yeah.

Okay. Who who's your MVP?

My my MVP is it is Tracy Bond.

Holy shit.

I think Diana Rigg. I think she killed it.

That's a great shout. Yep.

Need to think Diana Rigg is my MVP. I think if a Bond girl was to receive an MVP I I do have another another one in mind for a future film. But as far as Bond girls go, I think.

That's a great shout, Diana Brigg.

Tracy Bond gets it for me.

Okay. I'm gonna oh, god. Now you got me thinking.

You've got three?

Yeah. So so one of them for mine is Peter Hunt. Fuck. Actually, I don't think I can fit three in. Hang on.

Hang on. I just gotta think. Shit. This is difficult, man. Okay.

Peter Hunt was on my list. I'll I'll tell you who my nominees are. My nominees are Peter Hunt, which I guess now you know he's one of them. So Peter Hunt for directing, think that he the way he starkly came in and said, I'm going to, you know, do my own version of this. It's not gonna be as bombastic as the others, and I I feel like it's aged really well.

It feels more modern now when you watch it in my mind. There's parts obviously that are dated, but I think that overall it's quite it's quite modern and quite well cut together. Think that's and that leads into another nomination, John Glenn, who is the editor of On Her Majesty's Secret Service and will go on to direct five Roger Moore films and become the the most prestigious in terms of, like, number of films that a director did of James Bond. John Glenn does his first here. He'd work yeah.

So John Glenn is a nomination for me. I think it's really well cut together in the editing. I think that, like, there's some really nice moments where Bond, like, explains just the way it's like, oh, he talks to Em and he's like, here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna talk to see Hillary, and it's already cutting over the top of it, Bond's going there, and he's already arriving at the college, and then it just seamlessly gets to the point where he's now talking to him. Just I just think there's some really nice editing choices in the film.

So John Glenn is up for a nomination for mine. Freddie Young, who is the director of photography, I think it's so beautifully shot. Like, he's a nomination. Diana Rigg is a nomination for me for all the reasons you've already mentioned. She's just phenomenal in this film.

She's amazing. I got another nomination, John Barry. I think it's his best work on on a Bond film in my mind. I think that on a majesty secret service score is

It's it's

amazing. It's honestly amazing. All the time in the world as well that the motifs, the way they return in the film all throughout, I just think it's such a good score from John Barry. So he's a nomination. And I got another one, and that is John Jordan who I'm gonna send you a photo of John Jordan.

He made this himself. I'll send you a photo right now. He made this contraption himself, and this is this is who we can thank for those that what what gives the film its scale in my mind. He made this this rig that he attached to the bottom of a chopper, and he was he was really famous back in the day around this time for for for being the only dude in the world who would strap himself in this contraption that he made on his own accord, and he he died on the next film he did, which is not a Bond film, but the very next film he worked on, he tragically passed away because of an accident to do with this kind of thing. But he he scale that he adds

that looks so dangerous.

So dangerous. So dangerous.

It's hanging from the bottom of a helicopter.

On like a on a rig of his own design.

It's like a parachute without the Yeah.

It's it's almost like yeah. I know. Look

at At the top, it's like the

It's like the paragliders in World Is Not Enough or something.

Like It's like he's hanging from the bottom of a helicopter with a with a camera.

With a camera in actual with the camera in his hand. It's crazy. And he filmed the You Only Live Twice, Little Nelly sequence with it. He filmed

Oh my god.

Like, all the shots that you see of long distance, everyone skiing down the the slopes in on the Majesty's Secret Service. And I kinda think I I really want to give him because knowing that he passes away in the next film that he did in his career, I I'm I find it hard to leave him off giving an MVP, but there's so many people in this one. So here's what I'm gonna lock in. I'm gonna lock in Jon Jordan. Might even just lock in oh, fuck.

I'll just no. I I can't. I just fuck. Okay. I'm gonna be I'm gonna be selfish.

I'm gonna be really really selfie. I'm locking in camera as one, which means that John Jordan for his aerial photography and Freddie Young for his director of photography is is I'm I'm putting them in together. Yeah. Okay?

So the shared

There are shared camera work on the film. There's the aerial, and then there's just the directors. That that that's one. That's a lock. The pill it's Yeah.

For mine You can do that. It's one of the three best Bond films visually ever in my mind in terms of cinematography. That is Moonraker, On Her Majesties, and Skyfall with Roger Deakins are the three visually best looking Bond films IMO, probably. So I'm locking that in. Freddie and John Jordan, they get one.

John Barry, I have to give it to John. I have to. I just think he's so good that he has to get he has to get it for mine. And then the third one, am I gonna replace Peter? I think I'm gonna replace Peter with Diana Rigg because she's so good and so likable and so she just is the Bond girl in my mind of just, like, effortless, cool, sexy, smart, fierce.

No. It that I I think I have to give it to her. Peter has to be removed, which is a damn shame because he is the guy that oversaw this whole thing, this masterpiece, and and he never came back. And for mine, where does this sit with you for writing?

Oh, I see. This one was a tough one to write.

It's gonna be very interesting. I love can't the see what you say here.

Just some things let it down quite a lot. Okay.

Yeah. Where are you going with this? Tough.

This is tough. This is a tough one. I really enjoyed the movie. Yep. It's just George was a bit his acting was a bit lets it down a bit.

Lets it down. Yep. Yep.

I enjoyed it more than You Only Lived Twice.

Interesting. Yep.

Enjoyed it more than Doctor. No.

Mhmm. So it's it's kind of sitting it's not so it's it's above them, but it's not we're saying it's not quite Thunderball or

Not Thunderball Yeah. Or Goldfinger. I think for me, the best one so far, sitting at the top, is Thunderball.

That's so fucking interesting that Thunderball is right. But it is such a sick film. I don't I don't disagree with that. I just think that it's so it's actually a lot of people yeah. A lot of people say, to be fair, a lot of a lot of people I didn't realize how many people have Thunderball near the top of their Bond film lists, which I thought I think is quite interesting.

That's interesting, man.

I mean, Thunderball was very like we were saying the other week, it it reminds me of home. Yeah. It makes me happy every time I watch it.

Yeah. It's so yeah. The location's just like so comforting. Yeah.

Yeah. Look, I'm gonna give this one a 3.5. Okay. I'm gonna give up to 3.5.

0.5. Here's what I'm gonna say. I'm gonna say that this is it's a five for me. It's a straight five. Five.

It's an absolute Five out five. Yeah. It it it's got things in it that Wow. That I agree with, like George's performance, like, just is is lacking in moments. But the writing, the cinematography, the directing, the editing, the music, there's so many things in the film that I think make it stand out.

Like, when I look at the 25 films, there's things in this film that none of the original 20 films ever were able to redo or remake. For mine, it's an example for me of of where just lightning struck, and they had a director who came in with a vision. They got a a cinematographer who'd not worked on James Bond before and never did again. They had John Barry at his peak. Everything just somehow it all just came together, and for mine, I'm gonna go further this.

I'm bumping my rating up.

You're bumping?

At least yep. It'll be at least a four out of five. Alright. Done. It's Because everything you've just mentioned yeah.

Yeah. It's so interesting. It's one that I can I I love the first 20 films? And there's films that I think that are re that are rewatchable. I'll I point to I think I think there are films that are damn good like License to Kill.

I think there are films that are damn rewatchable. In one of my films that I would say, Tomorrow Never Dies is just so rewatchable for some reason. It's like they perfected the watchable Bond film in that film, and it's so I could watch it over and over. I could I could finish it and watch it again, that film. But when I'm talking the first 20 in terms of simply just rewatchable because of the mastery of how they were made, this film is up there.

And the only thing is that it didn't have Sean Connery in it, I think, if it had that in it. But it that doesn't stop it because I'm about to go further. In my opinion, this is the best James Bond film. Now, I'm gonna quickly preface that and say that it's not my favorite James Bond film. But when I think of objectively what I think is the best film and the things that sit up there, this one for me, at least at the moment, is what I consider the benchmark and the best Bond film in terms of in terms of how it was made, the the the actual filmmaking behind it.

I think this is objectively the best Bond film.

That's statement.

So that's my statement on the podcast. And it's Christopher Nolan's favorite as well. Nolan loves it.

See, this from now on, from this point onwards, I think our because our ratings have been very similar. Our views on in the on the films have been quite similar. I feel like things are gonna start changing within the next few movies.

I think I think that what we're gonna see is is when we get into the the depths of the Roger Moore films, we're gonna have differences. Because they are so much more bombastic, and they are what I think we both grew up on as kids, and we've got the nostalgia attachment to them.

Yeah. For sure. For sure.

There's so much and I love them. I love them. But I think I think yeah. Let's let's see. Let's see where we end now.

I I am interested because I'm I'm I'm stipulating favorite verse what I say is the best. I'm saying the best objectively, I think, is on Her Majesty's Secret Service, and I think it's up there with films like Casino Royale, From Rushwood Love. There's a few that I say are in in a tier above that just almost outside of James Bond movies. They're just great spy espionage thriller films, and that's kind of the the tier that I'm putting that. Favorite could be completely different.

My favorite could be something Diamonds Are Forever could be my favorite. Do you know what I'm saying? Favorite's the one that I'm reserving for, like, this is the movie that I love. This is my guilty. This is the guilty.

Like, you know what I'm saying? The

does the movie you love your favorite, is that gonna get a five out of five?

It may not. It genuinely may not. That's the thing. It might get a three. I don't know.

I I don't know. But I I can tell I'll tell you. Yeah.

Love bit of a spoiler for for in the future, I love Die Another Day.

Yes, you do. You do.

The reasons that I love it, though

Yeah.

I love it because of how stupid it is at times.

And it's got all the references on Bond films and stuff like

I'm gonna be like, this is one of my favorite Bond films. It's a two out of five.

Yeah. Yeah. No. I I get you. No.

Favorite definitely doesn't correlate to a five, I don't think. I think that you can they can be different. Yeah. So yeah. But no.

I know that I know that Christopher Nolan was heavily inspired with things like Inception with on Emergency Secret Service. He's on the record of saying that this is his favorite Bond film Yeah. Far and Away. So he we ever got a if yeah. If we ever got one from him, I dare say to be in this type of vein.

The whole snow scene in Inception are very similar.

Yeah. Yeah. I think

But on her majesty.

Yeah. He's he loves it. And I think part of that's in So plot as yeah.

I felt with this movie, it ended really well. I really like the ending of it. Obviously, sad ending. Yep. But it felt satisfying a lot more than You Only Live Twice.

Blofeld gets away and you don't even know he's gotten away. Yep. The movie's finished and you're like, what happened to Blofeld? There there was barely like a like, this is him. He's escaped for the film.

Like, he's

Yeah. He he just he just passes He

drives off on the little the little cart thing and you feel as if you're gonna see him in the next scene. Yep. Bond's gonna catch up to him or and then you just don't see him again, and that's it.

Well, preface Whereas you do see him again, but it's he's driving the car. Right? So Yeah. So but but but it's the same type of thing, like, barely see him. It's second Yeah.

On

On a majesty's secret service, him and Blofeld, they have that showdown. They have that that final fight of the the pinnacle of the film. You know? And Blofeld gets caught up in that tree. You think he's dead.

You think he's snapped his neck or something in that tree. Yep. But it's not it's not it's not that obvious that he's dead or alive. It could go either way.

It go

either It looks like he's he might be uncon knocked unconscious.

Yep.

You don't know. But I yeah. So I really like the fact that they did have that final fight with the little bobsled or skeleton, whatever it was, bobsled. Yep.

Yeah. Little

sled. And then, of course, with Arma Blunt killing Tracy. And

But just to confirm, so I just wanna make sure that you're you're you're on the same page as me with this one. Just in case because so because we see him again after the bobsled. Right? Like, he he's driving the car. Yeah?

Am I missing Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. We're on the same page.

Yeah. I'm just talking at that.

But at at that moment, you're saying at that moment, it's not because you're right. It's like the way they leave it, you don't know Yeah. If he's dead. You kinda just see him hung up in that tree

and you're kinda left going right. Unbeaten him.

And and then it comes as a exactly. And then it comes as a more you stark surprise when all of a sudden the car swings in. Everyone and then you're like, holy shit, he was alive, and it all happened so fast. What what do you think about Irma Blunt? I think she's like freaky.

She scares me. She wakes up, it terrified me.

Oh my god. It was a fucking jump scare. It was. I'd completely forgotten about it. Yeah.

Yeah. And I was I was just relaxing and watching, and, you know, Bond's coming in to see one of the girls. And I was like, oh, here we go. Like, which Which one is it? Which girl is it?

Which one is it? Then all of a sudden, it's fucking Irma Blunt. She jumps out of the bed. It was like a jump scare. It literally made me jump.

Yeah. And I you know what's crazy? I knew it was coming because I've seen this film a few times, and it still made me jump again. It's just it's it's so stark. It's very fucking horror movie.

I was like,

holy shit.

It's freaking me.

Imagine if Bond climbed into bed and was like, oh. You look so beautiful under the under the firelight.

He started getting into his work.

All of a sudden, just falls deep inside the room. Imagine that.

Oh, that's so graphic.

The henchmen are just standing there in the corner watching. Oh. They're about to bash Bond over the head, and then they go, hold on a second. What's this fucking? Yeah.

Good good movie. I really enjoyed it.

Good movie.

Some good lines in it. I love it when he drops the kilt. Girl goes, it's true. Yeah. It's true.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Oh my god. It's a Or when he when he says

Just a slight stiffness coming on.

A slight stiffness coming on.

So good.

In the shoulder. It must be because of the cock.

So good. Such a so good.

And then and then the next time, I'm in Blunt's like, oh, how's the stiffness?

Oh, it's such a it's so funny, man. I love these these like Bon innuendos in these early films.

So good.

I've got a question for you. Unless do you have something else to to add for this, Will?

I was just gonna say, I noticed as well the one of the one of the girls in the in the one of the patients, one of the the angels of the death Yep. Was actually the aunt from Wolf of Wall Street.

I am not gonna lie to you. I've only ever seen Wolf of Wall Street once, so I wouldn't even recognize that. And it was years ago, so I wouldn't even like

Good movie. Really good movie.

Yeah. I remember it being a great movie I haven't seen in so long, but there you go. A little bit of fun trivia. Keep keep your eye on those. We we like those where we're we're picking up on some of these actors in in films.

Because we had The Rock's grandfather last week or in the last edition of the pod with You Only Live Twice. Aunt now from Wolf of Wall Street, so keep him coming. Yeah. She

helps him yeah. She helps him with, I don't remember, something illegal. He's doing something dodgy.

May we now take a moment? What I wanna do is look forward to James Bond will return in Diamonds Are Forever. I want just a slight preview from yourself. Have you watched it yet as part of your rewatch?

Not yet. I haven't watched it yet.

And when when was the last

time you saw Well, I've seen this one pretty recently. Within a couple years.

Okay. And how many times

have you seen it really like.

In general? How many times have you seen it, would you say in general?

Quite a lot.

I've seen it heaps. I've seen it heaps. Yeah. It was like one of the only ones I had recorded on video, so it was like that type of thing when you're a kid, you just rewatch rewatch rewatch rewatch. I I almost know every moment and every line back to front.

So Yeah.

Yeah. I'm the same. I am excited to watch it again. I do really like this movie even though I think it has some issues, but we'll

we'll get to that. We'll get into that. We'll get into that. Anything else to add before we wrap this one up?

I think that's it from me.

I think that's it from me. To you, mister Saint John Smythe, and also to all the Thunder Nerd listeners, wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. This is the last one that we'll do before we jump into the New Year. So hope you have a wonderful time with family and friends, and look forward to reconvening in 2026, and jumping into Sean's last regular appearances as double o seven.

Yeah. Merry Christmas everyone, and again, thanks for having me.

Always a pleasure. Thunder Nerds, over and out.