How often do references to things relating to James Bond films or Star Wars films crop up in every day life? The answer always seems to me to be 'quite frequently'. There can be few people in any country where this blog is read who have not heard of James Bond and at least some of the characters who appear in Star Wars.
I, for example, know that Ursula Andress walked out of the sea dressed in a white bikini (who does not know that?) and that Darth Vader, R2D2 and C3PO appear in Start Wars as do Light Sabres. I might dredge up other morsels if questioned more specifically on James Bond but, on the whole, my ignorance of these topics is astonishing. "So what?" you may well ask and, until recently I would have taken the view that not being able to complete Trivial Pursuits games nor half the quizes The Family play was a small price to pay for not having to endure those films.
Generally speaking I don't like science fiction nor fantasy and Bond and Start Wars seem to fit those categories rather well in my mind. So how come I am, and have been since I first read it in the early '70s, addicted to The Lord of The Rings? Why did I think Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy was superb and compelling? Why do I admire the ideas behind Anne McCaffrey's 'Ship' books? The answer, it occurred to me a few months ago, is blind prejudice. As that is a trait I find absolutely unacceptable in most walks of life I decided that I had better think again about James Bond and Star Wars.
So last week I hired the DVDs of Dr No (the first Bond Film from 1962) and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (Episode 1 of the Star Wars Trilogy from 1999 - the sequence in which the six films should be viewed is, I discovered, the subject matter of many articles on the internet).
By the standards of modern film making and even TV series The Bond film seemed amateur and silly - but then it was made half a century ago. The Star Wars movie did nothing for me but it was interesting to see some of the characters of whom I have heard (although not Alec Guiness's character).
Will I watch some more? Yes. I have the second of each series waiting by the television and when I have some ironing or a quiet evening then I may well educate myself further. Never again will I be able to claim that I have never seen a Bond or Start Wars film right through.
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My problem is staying awake. I've slept through some wonderful films.
ReplyDeleteI'm not very good at sleeping other than in my bed Adrian. I never used to be a big film watcher but a friend on Lewis used to make me (he'd pause it if I switched off) watch films he thought were 'good for me' like The Shawshank Redemption which took me three goes. Now with NZ TV which has The News and two other watchable programmes a week if you are lucky I watch more films.
DeleteI'm not good at sleeping. It is strange but I can sleep through a film with little trouble. Crocodile Dundee is Benzedrine so is Kill Bill..Who could go to sleep whilst Uma Thurman is about? Manhattan was a good one...didn't nod off during that.
DeleteI prefer books, all the heroines can be Umas.
Kill Bill? ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
DeleteYou should jump to the last three Bond films instead.... Much better. And sorry. The best Star Wars was the first set. First watched in Paris on New Years Eve 1976/7 with subtitles I struggled to watch the last or latest three. In fact I haven't watched the third.
ReplyDeleteNow the Ship series was brilliant... And the Pern world. But only managed to finish LOTR after seeing the movies... Seems my fantasy choice is selective too:)
Fiona, I have seen a bit of one of the recent Bond films (it had a boat sequence on The Thames) and it certainly had more action in it than Dr No! My real intention was education rather than just entertainment but perhaps I'll start at the end and work backwards. That way I may enjoy them but never get very far whilst still having good intentions.
DeleteYou're challenging me. I've just decided to treat Godfather II (200 min long) as a TV-series and watch it in instalments.
ReplyDeletePS. I love the [assumed] typo in your last sentence. Start Wars. Please let stand! :)
Monica, I watched The Godfather last year although I had seen part of it when it first came out on video years ago. OK. Start Wars it shall be!
DeleteYou can't be prejudiced, because I share your views - well, almost. Bond died when Connery left. I watched (sorry, tried to watch) Piers Brosnan as Bond, or maybe it was that other chap - you know, whatsisname.. I assumed it was a spoof, but anyway, I did an Adrian and fell asleep. I haven't bothered since.
ReplyDeleteAs for Star Wars....there's a trilogy?
LOTR? Now you're talking. It makes me feel at home. My hairy feet might give a clue as to where my loyalties lie.
Ah that's okay then, Marcel. That's the sort of logic I can live with. The young Sean Connery just looks like the young wheveritwas who played The Saint who just looks like everyone else of that era who wore a smart suit on film. They are all spoofs aren't they?
DeleteApart from the LOTR of course - that's real.
DeleteOf course LOTR is real. Silly boy.
DeleteI don't much care for sci fi or fantasy either. Never could get into the Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, either movies or books, though I tried, I really did, and my daughter and her students absolutely love them.
ReplyDeleteBut there is one sci fi writer whose books I found quite compelling: Connie Willis. Her novel, The Doomsday Book, about time travel back and forth from the future to the mid-1300's in England in the time of the plague was riveting. Or at least I thought so when I read it about ten or twelve years ago. Maybe I wouldn't now, because tastes do change.
Rob loves all the Bond movies. Some of them leave me cold, though Daniel Craig in Skyfall was much better than I expected. (Damning with faint praise?)
But I think you're on the right track, watching DVD's while ironing. I do that too, though I usually choose some sort of comedy. Or I watch football on TV. If something good happens, they always replay it, and if nothing good happens, it's a sort of innocuous background noise!
I'd forgotten about Harry Potter. I watched the first. It was OK. Tried another - far too long, by about 2 weeks. Never read the books.
DeleteI saw the first Harry Potter movie, Carol, with a friend and her daughters. My friend wasn't very taken with it so a daughter asked me to take her and a friend to the next ones. I thought it was a wonderful compliment and thoroughly enjoyed the privilege - can't remember much about the movies though. A friend on Lewis has gone to see Skyfall tonight - the first and, until your post, the only person I'm aware of having seen it. She's not a Bond fan so it'll be interesting to see what she says. It'll probably be on the plane when I return to the UK in four months.
DeleteI too, had a session a year or so back when I decided to watch some 'man movies' (I use the term lightly) to see what the fuss was about. I think some movies should be watched just for this reason. Broadens the mind. However some are not worth the time. The earlier-made Star Wars movies were far better than the last ones which were rubbish.
ReplyDeleteRe. LOTR - I never bothered watching the cinema versions once I had seen the Director's Cuts. Fab.
And recommended 'women's movies' for men to watch? I really can't wait for that list.
DeleteInteresting statement Katherine because I hadn't thought of either as 'man movies' (however lightly used). I've seen the cinema versions ('cos I saw them in the cinema) of all the LOTR movies but whether the DVD versions I have are cinema or DC I'm not sure (they are in Scotland so I can't check).
DeleteOh Geeb, I didn't mean to suggest that THEY were 'man movies'... My mind was off on a tangent of 'reasons for watching movies'.
DeleteMarcel, a list of 'women's movies'. Hmmm. They probably get called 'chick flicks' these days. But if I define them as 'movies my oldest son doesn't watch for preference'; I suggest you start with 'Shirley Valentine', then watch the Erlhe-Firth version of the TV series 'Pride and Predjudice', then 'Remans of the Day', then 'Cold Comfort Farm', then 'Tootsie'. That will keep you going for a while.
Shirley Valentine? Stop there, go no further. If it's a woman's film, I'll go now and put on my dress and lipstick, which I normally keep for the weekend. Utterly wonderful film. I have watched it a zillion times, and I'm not prone to exaggeration. Colin Firth wet didn't fo it for me. OK, I take your point....I'm with your son on the rest.
DeleteThrough my late husband, I know the Star Wars films as well as the Lord of the Rings films, but I am not keen on either of them and have sold the DVDs about a year after he died. I am an old Trekker, though (meaning Star Trek fan); loved it since I saw the first old Enterprise episodes on TV as a kid in the mid-1970s. And I love the Harry Potter books and films.
ReplyDeleteAs for Bond, I couldn't care less. Good job that we all have such a huge choice of books and films, and can develop our own taste and not depend on what is supposed to be "good" :-)
I used to enjoy Star Trek too and Wendy is a Trekkie (as she terms it) and tell the youngsters about sci-fi things like The Communicator (which as the flip-top mobile/cell phone has actually been and gone now). Will we ever see 'Beam me up Scottie' become a reality? I bet someone somewhere is working on it.
DeleteI had my comment already, and I'm going to say it any way in spite of Fiona's comment. You picked the worst Star Wars to watch as your first one. Once was more than enough to see that dud for me. The others I've watched with youngest son multiple times. And Bond? There are good ones, and some terrible actors (Sir Roger Moore; Roger Dalton, the worst) who portrayed him. My favorite is the current actor Daniel Craig, then Pierce Brosnan, and Sean Connery.
ReplyDeleteI just checked your NZ clock. New Year's Eve there, enjoy!
Thanks Norma. My next Star Wars is The Attack of The Clones. I shall try and persevere with my 'education'.
DeleteDalton? That's whatsisname !
DeleteWell I grew up on Star Trek and Lost in Space, and then graduated to Deep Space 9 and Babylon 5.
ReplyDeleteI love sci-fi, but not the silly sci-fi movies with big cinematic created snakes and other creatures killing people, seems quite foolish to me, and I refer to those kinds of sci-fi movies as "low-budget films".
I did read the first two Harry Potter books given to me as a Christmas gift from my daughter on her return from the UK, and then I watched all the movies except for the last one.
As for the Bond movies, I tuned out after Casino Royale.
Since I do not like ironing, I guess I will never get the chance to catch up on my movie watching, and I do have a huge pile to watch....new years resolution on the horizon.
But did you watch Blakes 7 Vitginia? I really enjoyed that as a sort of cult thing despite some of the rather dodgy scenery and so on.
DeleteBlakes 7? Now you're talking. Who was the totally delicious woman baddy again?
DeleteServalan! Wonderful. Can't recall who played her though. And Orac of course!
DeleteServalan was played by Jacqueline Pearce. Not a name that means anything to me. She seems to have had a long but run-of-the-mill career.
DeleteWell Graham, I saw it. I found it great fun. The villians were really bad, the hero (aka Daniel Craig) was delicious and Judy Dench was a triumph as M and died beautifully! I would not recommend it to anyone who wanted a thought provoking film - (I have never thought provoked a film in my life) - I go for escapism and pure entertainment and this film had it in spades. Most people came out of that cinema with a big smile on their faces and to me that says it all. Now I am looking forward to seeing the Scottish Ballet! In my life there is a place for everything - except Harry Potter - now that's another story.
ReplyDeleteSo glad that you enjoyed it Pat. I'm wondering if it will be on the plane on the way home. The ballet? The seats for March and November in Napier are already booked.
DeleteM died? Now you've spoiled it for me.
DeleteReally must check out those Ship books. Perhaps I will now that I find myself reading a bit more.
ReplyDeleteThe concept behind them Jenny is one I found quite fascinating.
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