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| Today's selection: |
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| (Las Vegas, 1971) |
One of the things I try to do when choosing my Scenic Route locales is pick somewhere not just noticeably different in different eras but also somewhere filmed often enough where there are real points of comparison. Other times, the backdrop (much of New York City, for example) is surprisingly the same, and the difference in automobiles or fashions gets the foreground. Tonight we fall somewhere in between these two approaches. Vegas itself has changed - dramatically - since Diamonds Are Forever was (mostly) filmed there, and many of its locations like the Landmark Hotel and Riviera are no longer around. Yet the essential backdrop of "Vegas" is still instantly familiar, which brings out the other stuff.
As always when taking the Scenic Route, it's not my intent to analyze the film in any way except visually. I will say it's not my favorite Bond film and re-watching it for tonight's festivities didn't improve my take on it any, except that buzz I get from revisiting anything I imprinted on my pre-pubescent mind dozens of times. It has its passionate defenders, and more power to them.
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| I also didn't concentrate on the early scenes of the film that aren't set in Vegas. |
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| Let us begin. |
CARS
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| A memorable Ford Thunderbird and Mustang among the herd. |
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| As for... uh... well. |
GADGETS AND FX AND SUCH
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| Not the most stellar rep in this category for Bond films, but there's still lots of fun. |
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| Depending on your definition of fun, of course. Me? It meets it. |
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| No one has ever confused this helicopter assault with being on par with the one on Piz Gloria in OHMSS. |
ONE BAD KITTY
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| "Good...bye... mist-er Bond." |
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| I guess we've gotten away from Vegas, haven't we? |
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| ... |
The Scenic Route celebrates the fashions, landscapes, cars, and vibes of a bygone age via the cinematic record.
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Some great-looking screencaps here, unsurprisingly. I love all the shots of Bond driving through Vegas. I'm not a fan of the movie, either (except in exactly the way you mention), but it is unquestionably written into my mental landscape. It's never coming out of there, and that's okay; I dig enough of it that I don't begrudge it being present there.
ReplyDeleteI also don't begrudge you those screencaps of Jill St. John. Not one of my favorite Bond girls, but boy oh boy, what a knockout.
Neither Lana Wood nor Jill St. John are good characters (or even give good performances.) But yeah, two of the most photogenic Bond ladies for sure. I'm just happy I managed to get other screencaps besides them - it was a struggle.
DeleteA struggle I know well. You did good! I'm stealing all of these.
DeleteI haven't really been back to this film in quite a while, which makes the fact that certain scenes and sequences are still knocking around inside my skull all the more remarkable.
ReplyDeleteFor better or worse, this was the film that introduced me to James Bond. It came about as most of these things do, when it happened to be on during one weekend afternoon.
If nothing else, I can say Connery was the first Bond I had the chance to watch.
ChrisC
That puts you in select company!
DeleteI'm pretty sure the first Bond I ever saw was MOONRAKER, although it might have actually been FOR YOUR EYES ONLY. But I watched DR. NO more than those films back in '82-'84 - for some reason, I just really took to DR. NO and watched it all the time on VHS. So, while Moore was my first Bond, I have a similarly-weighted appreciation for Connery as my "first" Bond.