a review of 007之霹雳弹

This one just didn't do it for me, and I think part of that is because it felt like a comedown after seeing the previous entry, Goldfinger. If that movie was the Bond series finally keying into the iconic elements that kept it alive in the public imagination well past its original cultural milieu, this movie is the series taking a step backward into a more muted version of 007 and his world. I can't help but wonder if a big part of that is the fact that Goldfinger director Guy Hamilton turned this movie down citing exhaustion, forcing EON to hand the reins back to Dr. No/From Russia With Love director Terence Young. I don't think Young's approach was bad, but but it's somewhat less distinctive than the bolder approach that would become synonymous with Bond's later adventures.