I've been rewatching some Bond, and here are some thoughts:
The spy who loved me: the stuff in Egypt is moslty great, Jurgens+Kiel do a great duo of villain, the pre-credit scene is perfect, the car chase in Sardinia is cool, but it makes the Bond girl character almost on the level of Bond in the first two act, and she completely disappears in the third, even turning into the damsel in distress. Diamonds are forever has the same flaw: the Bond girl looks like an intelligent businesswoman dealing diamonds, and in the third act she makes every stupid decision she can.
I prefer how Moonraker handles her. She participates almost as much as Bond in the third act, and shows great skills in action.
I also regret TSWLM not having Barry writing the score.
Moonraker is the first Bond I saw, so it has a special place in my heart. The story makes no sense, it feels written by a child, Jaws' arc is as stupid as it gets. And the fighting scene in space didn't age well. But damn, the rest of the action is so cool. And Moore is having so much fun. And the film has so much to offer: we go from a great location to the next faster than in any other Bond film, way too fast probably. The death of Ms Dufour killed by the dog is a very poetic scene. Barry's score is beautiful as always.
The world is not enough : One of the few I hadn't rewatched since my childhood. It's frustrating. Carlyle and Marceau's characters are very interesting, and their scenes are often very good. But the film wants too much to be an action film despite being at its best in its quietest moments. The only great action scene is the chase on the Thames. The film has a great potential, and it has much more ambition than your usual Bond film, but it has big issue with the rythm and the action sequences are just not as much fun as they usually are. The last sentence ("Christmas only comes once a year") kind of shows why the writing couldn't totally handle its ambition. When you want to be both Licence to kill and Moonraker, it doesn't end well.
