SEAN CONNERY LEADS PETER HYAM'S SCI-FI THRILLER 'OUTLAND'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTvRhG4IvVt2VIthUQHw8Diq0oZQDK0YPykskeRlEIcQRhooM9tOfhCufnkRKFtMGpZVIyEbWJeYxMwWUGUJccUl-LgVLKH50oj0Bd-Zoui8ihBmf4iiNCHpOmzBQr6bueGOVFEzAmk_-8-JHs5dOg46fu64JJDWHA84KF9hRDOU3HAkomLBeXGoiWBvNn/s1898/Screen%20Shot%202025-11-05%20at%204.06.40%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="982" data-original-width="1898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTvRhG4IvVt2VIthUQHw8Diq0oZQDK0YPykskeRlEIcQRhooM9tOfhCufnkRKFtMGpZVIyEbWJeYxMwWUGUJccUl-LgVLKH50oj0Bd-Zoui8ihBmf4iiNCHpOmzBQr6bueGOVFEzAmk_-8-JHs5dOg46fu64JJDWHA84KF9hRDOU3HAkomLBeXGoiWBvNn/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-11-05%20at%204.06.40%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: OUTLAND Year: 1981 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Known as a science-fiction version of HIGH NOON, Peter Hyam's OUTLAND... bringing the CAPRICORN ONE director from conspiracy-contrived outer-space into the real thing... is more like the galactic working-class origins of ALIEN, looking straight from the same universe with claustrophobic corridors and steely space-station interiors where a matte-painted planet... in this case Jupiter's moon Ion... looms formidably outside...<br><br>Where you could imagine disgruntled ALIEN union-types Yaphet Kotto and Harry Dean Stanton working... as random likewise miners are mysteriously/violently dying like in a body-count horror flick: either by an unknown head-exploding factor or apparent suicides having to do with possible stir-craziness within the crowded off-white bunkhouse interiors, or the raunchy and pulsating, proto-BLADE RUNNER neon nightclubs...</p><p><span></span></p>

drugs, eighties, frances sternhagen, james b. sikking, john ratzenberger, peter boyle, science-fiction, sean connery, steven berkoff, thriller

SEAN CONNERY LEADS PETER HYAM'S SCI-FI THRILLER 'OUTLAND'

Title: OUTLAND Year: 1981 Rating: ***1/2 Known as a science-fiction version of HIGH NOON, Peter Hyam's OUTLAND... bringing the CAPRICORN...

GORDON SCOTT VS SEAN CONNERY 'TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyeiUtXKTKFmFBPTwU6F7uYIvgEuKPv3zEi0wwhAhS9OU6l8MAG_y2JBkogvZUG9tOJXzvvLgFTey91KgkZss1Uet37fDbuhkIK_5Wpg4Ucy1EYHCYJ1n-FG9bWB_h7Vkllo6o0LCcwBBCnsSxivJU7qLt3J3preaxEczFL40fEzFpKEepSdS7rLxvkVsH/s2438/Screen%20Shot%202025-07-27%20at%205.00.19%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1212" data-original-width="2438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyeiUtXKTKFmFBPTwU6F7uYIvgEuKPv3zEi0wwhAhS9OU6l8MAG_y2JBkogvZUG9tOJXzvvLgFTey91KgkZss1Uet37fDbuhkIK_5Wpg4Ucy1EYHCYJ1n-FG9bWB_h7Vkllo6o0LCcwBBCnsSxivJU7qLt3J3preaxEczFL40fEzFpKEepSdS7rLxvkVsH/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-07-27%20at%205.00.19%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sean Connery in TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE Year: 1959 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>John Guillerman's TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE has a grainy aesthetic so that, unlike so many of producer Sy Weintraub's 1950's/1960's Tarzan flicks, it seamlessly matches the inserted shots of wildlife stock footage... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>From Gordon Scott's Tarzan nodding at crocodiles to pointing out a random predator/prey chase to beautiful (crash landed) pilot Sara Shane... then lecturing on how nature only kills for itself while humans kill for other reasons...  </p><span></span>

action, adventure, al mulock, anthony quayle, franchise, john guillermin, niall macginnis, scott tarzan, sean connery, sixties, tarzan

GORDON SCOTT VS SEAN CONNERY 'TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE'

Sean Connery in TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE Year: 1959 Rating: **** John Guillerman's TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE has a grainy a...

STANLEY BAKER TRUCKS WITH PEGGY CUMMINS IN 'HELL DRIVERS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8N6sx3lBySCRJll6wj47bkTMR8Nps5QxkLJs3OeRK8Fvuf9o-ufrLfw-oW3Fz7g3zShCLS-9Jd77cPa0i6hylzhCG4B3BW-jOmPRPkeqH3zGBFbJ0tIElupFswoysdHOJZJLLJv0zMrER95YvIp59do0UCOzIJzsdlTH0NLd7v0-gnLWXCLeUxipzksXK/s1502/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-25%20at%204.21.31%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="1502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8N6sx3lBySCRJll6wj47bkTMR8Nps5QxkLJs3OeRK8Fvuf9o-ufrLfw-oW3Fz7g3zShCLS-9Jd77cPa0i6hylzhCG4B3BW-jOmPRPkeqH3zGBFbJ0tIElupFswoysdHOJZJLLJv0zMrER95YvIp59do0UCOzIJzsdlTH0NLd7v0-gnLWXCLeUxipzksXK/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-25%20at%204.21.31%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: HELL DRIVERS Year: 1957 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Cheating with the sped-up effect ala Keystone Cops, the hauling-trucks for HELL DRIVERS picks up granite and races it back to the factory as quickly as possible... at breakneck speed taking neck-breaking curves... and newly hired honest ex-con Stanley Baker catches on that he's not very wanted... that is, the boss wants him driving fast, but not <i>too</i> fast... <br> <br> And if you like breathing, you can NEVER beat the high score of antagonist Patrick McGoohan, looking like a severe, battered, modern-day pirate with a cocky grin behind the dangerous, risk-taking wheel... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

action, british film noir, british new wave, cy endfield, david mccallum, fifties, herbert lom, jerry stovin, jill ireland, patrick mcgoohan, peggy cummins, sean connery, sidney james, stanley baker, vera day

STANLEY BAKER TRUCKS WITH PEGGY CUMMINS IN 'HELL DRIVERS'

Title: HELL DRIVERS Year: 1957 Rating: **** Cheating with the sped-up effect ala Keystone Cops, the hauling-trucks for HELL DRIVERS picks up...

DIRECTOR SIDNEY LUMET'S 'MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS'

<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2WzOmNDyK-f8MUHa5bc97Ay84EkFKQl84_BdS47IxjPMK5LVc-GIvB4ccsvrWjZEQMLylD6VHOhHfXx0u1buQkhY66UXLLgyD6YHmf-MleW_DGbaOS9E2xMz_9VJ4h-kcoaWCDY5aKML1ZxFORwVCbkNTavrwB9saSoasxM0SpM5fLZYj9PkVFHfQHA=s1814" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1017" data-original-width="1814" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2WzOmNDyK-f8MUHa5bc97Ay84EkFKQl84_BdS47IxjPMK5LVc-GIvB4ccsvrWjZEQMLylD6VHOhHfXx0u1buQkhY66UXLLgyD6YHmf-MleW_DGbaOS9E2xMz_9VJ4h-kcoaWCDY5aKML1ZxFORwVCbkNTavrwB9saSoasxM0SpM5fLZYj9PkVFHfQHA=w400-h224" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: Murder on the Orient Express Year: 1974 Rating: *1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Finishing up reviews of the EMI-backed British productions of <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/agatha%20christie">Agatha Christie adaptations</a> is the first, and somehow most popular, in Sidney Lumet's MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS starring the otherwise splendid actor Albert Finney... </p><p>Who, as quirky/offbeat Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot, looks as if Charlie Chaplin gained weight after eating pies thrown on a stiff face caked with so much distracting makeup he's hardly able to speak... and with a horribly fake-sounding accent...<br></p><p></p><p>Meanwhile the 1970's all-star-cast.. ranging from murdered enigmatic "businessman" Richard Widmark with humble aid Anthony Perkins, two veteran actresses Lauren Bacall and Ingrid Bergman, token muscular-handsome fella Sean Connery paired with beautiful young Jacqueline Bissett and Poirot's right-hand-man Martin Balsam... merely fill space within an otherwise stylishly antique setting but the plot, like the titular train, is all dressed up with nowhere to go, slowly. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

agatha christie, albert finney, anthony perkins, british, ensemble, ingrid bergman, jacqueline bisset, lauren bacall, martin balsam, mystery, sean connery, train

DIRECTOR SIDNEY LUMET'S 'MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS'

Title: Murder on the Orient Express Year: 1974 Rating: *1/2 Finishing up reviews of the EMI-backed British productions of Agatha Christie ad...

SEAN CONNERY IN JOHN BOORMAN'S EXPERIMENTAL 'ZARDOZ'

<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGmxhloCYF9hH1QoeGTuT9xwL32GaAgkQ3Xe2efzLjTmfUME4fqVfBxLr3LV8s1hdDf55mxDNlt126RLbmD-M8msshl4CL1C66avHDrUSxjBjMtAFWiQQJFKsnULg_ZSiMR7NpZfXVlO6n/s1088/zardoz-pic-7.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="1088" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGmxhloCYF9hH1QoeGTuT9xwL32GaAgkQ3Xe2efzLjTmfUME4fqVfBxLr3LV8s1hdDf55mxDNlt126RLbmD-M8msshl4CL1C66avHDrUSxjBjMtAFWiQQJFKsnULg_ZSiMR7NpZfXVlO6n/w400-h283/zardoz-pic-7.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sean Connery as Zed in ZARDOZ Year: 1974 Rating: ***1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>After scoring big with DELIVERANCE, adventurous and intrepid director John Boorman wound up with the bizarre futuristic fable ZARDOZ, a picture that could never be made today...</p><p>About a raping and pillaging (and raping) barbarian, part of a raping and pillaging barbarian race, violently riding horseback along the beachy outskirts of a world run within a hidden wilderness Utopia of sexless intellectuals, that never (really) age... </p><p></p><p>And the coolest sequence has Sean Connery's resilient muscular/shirtless title character discovering his way there, stowed inside a giant floating god-head statue; and then becoming an experimental neanderthal that these flaky neo-hippies can study — in particular the gorgeous and stubborn Charlotte Rampling and scene-stealing arthouse beauty Sara Kestelman, both shrewder than passive male counterpart John Alderton, who <i>all</i> share scenes with Connery's Zed when he isn't alone, investigating what makes this strange land tick, dating back to the 20th Century — with a twist <i>literally</i> built into the title: A cerebral STAR TREK meets TWILIGHT ZONE that needs far more pockets of action throughout endless philosophizing so heavy-handed, it's nearly impossible for an audience to fully grasp... at least the first time around. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, charlotte rampling, fantasy, future, john alderton, john boorman, memorial, sara kestelman, science-fiction, sean connery, tribute

SEAN CONNERY IN JOHN BOORMAN'S EXPERIMENTAL 'ZARDOZ'

Sean Connery as Zed in ZARDOZ Year: 1974 Rating: ***1/2 After scoring big with DELIVERANCE, adventurous and intrepid director John Boorman w...

SEAN CONNERY BOND SIX 'DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER' FOR SID HAIG

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt1D86iuOR0wcpDpRmixGFQLdJFGF65RKkKRVBIVw1HV_jlNorD3C7BUSmuwKzgETzjBT1lG2hR1eVLfzbBt69djHdKJzlNIwiWCNVSRvL2ox-EZ0LQUXtRIdc9frpscbC61UHVmvGB98n/s1600/70538403_2632128213498109_5159104184695390208_o.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="828" data-original-width="1064" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt1D86iuOR0wcpDpRmixGFQLdJFGF65RKkKRVBIVw1HV_jlNorD3C7BUSmuwKzgETzjBT1lG2hR1eVLfzbBt69djHdKJzlNIwiWCNVSRvL2ox-EZ0LQUXtRIdc9frpscbC61UHVmvGB98n/s400/70538403_2632128213498109_5159104184695390208_o.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Marc Lawrence and Sid Haig bring in the dead for Bond YEAR: 1971</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Far from top shelf Sean Connery/James Bond, it's definitely the weirdest: a comeback after one-timer George Lazenby's ON OUR MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE and an intentional first of two comeback/farewells (NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN later on) for the man still considered the best 007 ever. Only here he seems older than his next replacement, Roger Moore, two years his senior. And he's going through the motions but it's a pretty good time, for a while...<br /> <br /> Bond finales can often drag during the inevitable point of no return, facing off at the main villain's lair where a big bombastic fight ensues and the mysteries have all been revealed. In this case it's old reliable cat-lapped Bloefeld (forever dated by Austin Powers). But the best scenes had occurred during the initial climb with various near-death situations ranging from an edgy elevator fight to a romp throughout Las Vegas in its sparse, seedy, early-1970's heyday...<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSmcY-c-d7r2MsSYK-eMrNbyGMmmrGnX7Maf_HC1ruurKlSGCogFl6srukD92zgY2eLs2NW9C0xrnsFfNq5ezXM7Dxwk2NoS3AFJ3KOTWXIX3Fjj0yWj4Lv2hyphenhyphenOvnJ9d_1WS9-LLJf6zeU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-09-23+at+3.35.13+PM+2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1041" data-original-width="1600" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSmcY-c-d7r2MsSYK-eMrNbyGMmmrGnX7Maf_HC1ruurKlSGCogFl6srukD92zgY2eLs2NW9C0xrnsFfNq5ezXM7Dxwk2NoS3AFJ3KOTWXIX3Fjj0yWj4Lv2hyphenhyphenOvnJ9d_1WS9-LLJf6zeU/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-09-23+at+3.35.13+PM+2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Michael Valente, Sean Connery, Sid Haig and Marc Lawrence</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> And the reason for this DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER review is character-actor Sid Haig's recent death. Here he's one of three thugs along with classic heavy Marc Lawrence, who'd return as another goon in the intro of Moore's second venture, THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN... <br /> <br /> As an employee of a mob funeral outfit, Haig uses a deliberate old school New York gangster voice, saying "Brudda" for "Brother" on the drive to their mortuary where a fan-favorite sequence has Bond almost incinerated in a casket. But what really makes DIAMONDS shine are the lovely Bond girls. The first is Jill St. John, perfectly aged so not to be obnoxiously young, and yet she's one of the cutest/sexiest dames in the franchise. She tags along with Bond like a kissing cousin rather than the dame he yearns to inevitably shag (which he does of course): that's usually left to the secondary Bond girl earlier on...<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRPqOkiLxXMRXZzpRwQ3Yvk-oXgdAGAMjjBK6usrG89f9bYQE1vRKDb7raODdsf1XN8O18gefLLpmd2dRYW7h7f-GPWasMu_cmvEE7DSVD1PKsiT1SNOBsOvVOVTyGIeerPYYzaMKVdS3L/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-09-23+at+3.31.06+PM+3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="1307" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRPqOkiLxXMRXZzpRwQ3Yvk-oXgdAGAMjjBK6usrG89f9bYQE1vRKDb7raODdsf1XN8O18gefLLpmd2dRYW7h7f-GPWasMu_cmvEE7DSVD1PKsiT1SNOBsOvVOVTyGIeerPYYzaMKVdS3L/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-09-23+at+3.31.06+PM+3.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sean Connery and the lightning hardhat men SCORE: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Enter hot, lusty and busty Lana Wood as Plenty O'Toole, who does very little except getting thrown out a Vegas hotel window, safely into the swimming pool, and a little later found cemented under the pool of Jill St. John, whose more respectfully named Tiffany Case winds up predictably kidnapped. But by this time the game's basically over despite thirty minutes left on the clock. And while Connery sleepwalks through this affable, dapper ride, he's more laidback than lazy...<br /> <br /> The latter goes to a pair of bizarre assassins that... while taking part in a genuinely vicious string of murders connected to diamonds stolen from an African mine... are perhaps the lamest killers in Bond cinema history. Joker-faced Bruce Glover would have fared better alone; his character's real life musician "life partner" Putter Smith resembles a sleepy, bald-headed sheepdog whose acting is so atrocious, even his walk is deliberate and awkward. But no matter who surrounds him, it's cool seeing Sean Connery's Bond in the 1970's. And perhaps he's really not trying because he simply didn't need to.<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJizWo00DoGLBRMm4KMc0cWlyrMVz5tXMQm3sMrblkcf6SrpuJB8Q9vFW5UIM4UvbVadU1E7Jb4BJsePnTx7XPxrf35Y2rjLs0Jc_K1lv6rFjGKy7xDCtMd22rMCky73rG_b7oOiy1oqet/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-09-23+at+3.32.14+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="848" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJizWo00DoGLBRMm4KMc0cWlyrMVz5tXMQm3sMrblkcf6SrpuJB8Q9vFW5UIM4UvbVadU1E7Jb4BJsePnTx7XPxrf35Y2rjLs0Jc_K1lv6rFjGKy7xDCtMd22rMCky73rG_b7oOiy1oqet/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-09-23+at+3.32.14+PM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sig Haig as Slumber Inc Attendant/Assassin in Diamonds are Forever</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT-OrVlX0cP15TIbUnCtFucn1YujRPxWR0bSCbg88zXV4Rh-x0W960-sFv4TgDTxty00ltZQC4AYPzh3FafUdWdI5EhSs3aop7FySaK6q6ChkaoOiXdqntWBP6vGXmAHvFTz3BR3PRAEk1/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-09-23+at+3.33.23+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="887" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT-OrVlX0cP15TIbUnCtFucn1YujRPxWR0bSCbg88zXV4Rh-x0W960-sFv4TgDTxty00ltZQC4AYPzh3FafUdWdI5EhSs3aop7FySaK6q6ChkaoOiXdqntWBP6vGXmAHvFTz3BR3PRAEk1/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-09-23+at+3.33.23+PM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sig Haig, Lana Wood and Marc Lawrence in Diamonds are Forever</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu22qLq5Mu6f7Px6fJr-ONLQiuHKYMCTVYG2wRW3JhK3fTrcOL1DEdI3DTUWqKBqwCkFx_kBkWaCeKZ5H-8h22l7TF6EzSupyndBts6VVBjNe7doPM8Iq-fauyc9wbHrTEfIP50u5TBmG-/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-09-23+at+3.33.54+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu22qLq5Mu6f7Px6fJr-ONLQiuHKYMCTVYG2wRW3JhK3fTrcOL1DEdI3DTUWqKBqwCkFx_kBkWaCeKZ5H-8h22l7TF6EzSupyndBts6VVBjNe7doPM8Iq-fauyc9wbHrTEfIP50u5TBmG-/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-09-23+at+3.33.54+PM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>A lovely Jill St. John sees a dead Bond girl in her pool in Diamonds are Forever</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhjfbShdgIkK-UOVctyV-5AqULQ3qyHKOmLjZW-92361mbuGqvv02tX27DXJHWxPxAOE0OrPe_9_V86noqj1EvPTq7zp6mau1NReM6JO57wiFpvkv0H1vJw0XaqAAIF3sklQ0HayJccDxq/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-09-23+at+3.34.08+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="843" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhjfbShdgIkK-UOVctyV-5AqULQ3qyHKOmLjZW-92361mbuGqvv02tX27DXJHWxPxAOE0OrPe_9_V86noqj1EvPTq7zp6mau1NReM6JO57wiFpvkv0H1vJw0XaqAAIF3sklQ0HayJccDxq/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-09-23+at+3.34.08+PM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sean Connery and Jill St. John in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpLfiFxg_81e5OwV0s1lYpwUtGIhPnBTA3wfb1UmAGdH81zipyqn5Lw0kabsd-4tZtye9Iy8GWb60d3GQOkscx-5Q64PDCopq7gRMl6vT-69WnE3gY597-OVRrbLHDRgwgBQxYAE9BO4hD/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-09-23+at+3.34.39+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="676" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpLfiFxg_81e5OwV0s1lYpwUtGIhPnBTA3wfb1UmAGdH81zipyqn5Lw0kabsd-4tZtye9Iy8GWb60d3GQOkscx-5Q64PDCopq7gRMl6vT-69WnE3gY597-OVRrbLHDRgwgBQxYAE9BO4hD/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-09-23+at+3.34.39+PM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Mr. Liberace's body was quickly returned to the morgue for...</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoAxKjdS_q62I1x3Mh5xy0IWj9oGPXVn9XHtHVAEI3Nr6vfKK3xp9alkvWT5C_F9Zm5bE0KhAeF_ijbOKMqK7BZ5Um0HDAdlzCw79AqpJzSfX8u4Ie8UVw5GDcN1hqQhjlNvOFDul6K2mF/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-09-23+at+3.36.12+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="876" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoAxKjdS_q62I1x3Mh5xy0IWj9oGPXVn9XHtHVAEI3Nr6vfKK3xp9alkvWT5C_F9Zm5bE0KhAeF_ijbOKMqK7BZ5Um0HDAdlzCw79AqpJzSfX8u4Ie8UVw5GDcN1hqQhjlNvOFDul6K2mF/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-09-23+at+3.36.12+PM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bruce Glover and Putter Smith make deadly gay henchmen in Diamonds are Forever</u></td></tr> </tbody></table>

action, body count, bruce glover, james bond, jill st. john, lana wood, marc lawrence, sean connery, sequel franchise, sid haig, spy, thriller

SEAN CONNERY BOND SIX 'DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER' FOR SID HAIG

Marc Lawrence and Sid Haig bring in the dead for Bond YEAR: 1971 Far from top shelf Sean Connery/James Bond, it's definitely the wei...

CONNERY BOND ONE: DR. NO

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7FZqfeob7bvmah05nC8RFeMivJlE8ee2cerpqTwjFmu_lvr7lzJNfOspEwcUHsZhrhClh3YaSLH-_YSsIjtY9ucpAcOBb7Pl3QZz0KuloYCzLf0IQL4zCdkku3lMb-dsf8IAThK8QwdM/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7FZqfeob7bvmah05nC8RFeMivJlE8ee2cerpqTwjFmu_lvr7lzJNfOspEwcUHsZhrhClh3YaSLH-_YSsIjtY9ucpAcOBb7Pl3QZz0KuloYCzLf0IQL4zCdkku3lMb-dsf8IAThK8QwdM/s1600/1.jpg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1962 cast: Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Jack Lord, John Kitzmiller Director: Terence Young</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> Couple things to begin. We first learn that Sean Connery's secret agent James Bond likes his Martini "<i>Mixed </i>not Stirred" as opposed to "Shaken." A very bland individual, never to appear again, plays Q and provides 007 a new gun and no gadgets. Bernard Lee is introduced as M while Lois Maxwell's young-enough Moneypenny is worth more than goading flirtation, and the opening credit sequence doesn't have its own song with lyrics or without, but rather, just as we're setting up the Scottish actor in the lead role, the (soon to be iconic) Bond theme is established from the start...<br>

007, espionage, james bond, joseph wiseman, sean connery, sixties

CONNERY BOND ONE: DR. NO

year: 1962 cast: Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Jack Lord, John Kitzmiller Director: Terence Young Couple things to begin. We first lea...

CONNERY BOND TWO: FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-i7EWuDhqadg-uQecaIr_aSDbT4dCtZaiQHaFVaXeVsda2wvzumCSkS-nq8yMJHdH5Pw0IyMynXelLJgJlFfCen1OCAgTwMqDNhPdoMgBHgiq6Gm7uYzBo26yG5sNicdue6fpFY6d-Q8/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-i7EWuDhqadg-uQecaIr_aSDbT4dCtZaiQHaFVaXeVsda2wvzumCSkS-nq8yMJHdH5Pw0IyMynXelLJgJlFfCen1OCAgTwMqDNhPdoMgBHgiq6Gm7uYzBo26yG5sNicdue6fpFY6d-Q8/s1600/1.jpg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1963 cast: Sean Connery, Robert Shaw, Lotte Lenya, Daniela Bianchi Director: Terence Young </u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Considered by many as the best Bond film ever made, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE is indeed an extremely fine production with a surprisingly subtle opening credit sequence without any corny lyrics (which began with GOLDFINGER), but the prologue opening the film, involving a guy wearing a perfect Sean Connery Bond mask, is perhaps the weakest catapult in the series. Human masks are always such a banal reach, especially when they're taken off. And yet, what follows is a surprisingly basic story involving Bond hooking up with a Russian beauty to get an important device from the evil SPECTRE, led by a facially-unseen Bloefeld, introduced for the first time in the franchise.<br>

espionage, franchise, james bond, sean connery, sixties, spy

CONNERY BOND TWO: FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

year: 1963 cast: Sean Connery, Robert Shaw, Lotte Lenya, Daniela Bianchi Director: Terence Young  Considered by many as the best Bond fi...

SEAN CONNERY W/ MARTIN LANDAU & NATALIE WOOD IN METEOR

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjayaswQYTCX4cC0Vzd9mVtq49j8W6s26EbOFdIwPK6gTZ9fz6pvbzJjEhdltSe4zjAa04yO1m39G7bENpNiS1cHeWrbQNcfsJRvHsCXPhzFjIqtITUERsbCaxZ8RXcIfu9EmucSgRHvsU/s1600/screen-shot-2015-08-25-at-3-05-16-pm.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjayaswQYTCX4cC0Vzd9mVtq49j8W6s26EbOFdIwPK6gTZ9fz6pvbzJjEhdltSe4zjAa04yO1m39G7bENpNiS1cHeWrbQNcfsJRvHsCXPhzFjIqtITUERsbCaxZ8RXcIfu9EmucSgRHvsU/s1600/screen-shot-2015-08-25-at-3-05-16-pm.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1979</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Sean Connery’s character is so over solving possible catastrophic problems, like how to destroy a METEOR with an outer space vessel that winds up, thanks or actually no thanks to the American government, aiming the missiles at Russia… and vice versa on their secretive end… that he’s gone sailing, literally, and is brought back to backroom meetings with nice guy Karl Malden, cranky Martin Landau, a terrific fellow in Russian leader Brian Keith and ingenue Natalie Wood, whose purpose is to translate for Keith while subtly batting her giant eyes at Connery, the one person who can possibly figure out how to save the planet, with a little help and, added to this somewhat urgent yet not entirely suspenseful plot we get dated glimpses into the meteor soaring and roaring through space, towards Earth, making the original STAR TREK effects seem like 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY… And to perk things up, smaller craters land on random continents, injecting disaster genre elements, from fires to floods, into an otherwise talky thriller. Sure the concept is dated… concerning the Russians… but “modern” blockbusters like ARMAGEDDON and DEEP IMPACT should give thanks to this literally groundbreaking vehicle.<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifMT4m0DciAzAKub_WCVBeu82z-KqIsHpYtaaRJ31MKsVwWGZXgby07tGwEI_oXmLF_Ysl3NqH67YVwUZht5E4Mb80pX-6ha3OpqJYGCcDdwg5N1Ih943sRcE3PaE7Nia41eE_NeWEXmIY/s1600/14947954_224261981336319_4283574485774893710_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifMT4m0DciAzAKub_WCVBeu82z-KqIsHpYtaaRJ31MKsVwWGZXgby07tGwEI_oXmLF_Ysl3NqH67YVwUZht5E4Mb80pX-6ha3OpqJYGCcDdwg5N1Ih943sRcE3PaE7Nia41eE_NeWEXmIY/s1600/14947954_224261981336319_4283574485774893710_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>This Sailboat in Outer Space is a long dissolve from the heavens to the earth's sea where our hero's in a race</u></td></tr> </tbody></table>

disaster, karl malden, martin landau, natalie wood, science-fiction, sean connery, seventies

SEAN CONNERY W/ MARTIN LANDAU & NATALIE WOOD IN METEOR

year: 1979 Sean Connery’s character is so over solving possible catastrophic problems, like how to destroy a METEOR with an outer space ...

CONNERY BOND THREE: GOLDFINGER

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhakOVe80Pr2rlE3ihGLs338soEC4OYl0mPEc06AiOseIRq32Zel52WAnjVNbwc7PHobdPUOSdB4n9lIFL6DJZr68pLTLEqdf9erqPPvCddPbtmH2Cy5kt8o4y7jaN6Y-sDuYnpPpS_9U74/s1600/goldfinger-golf-scene-1024x606.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="794" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhakOVe80Pr2rlE3ihGLs338soEC4OYl0mPEc06AiOseIRq32Zel52WAnjVNbwc7PHobdPUOSdB4n9lIFL6DJZr68pLTLEqdf9erqPPvCddPbtmH2Cy5kt8o4y7jaN6Y-sDuYnpPpS_9U74/s400/goldfinger-golf-scene-1024x606.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sean Connery golfs with the villain in Goldfinger YEAR: 1964</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> For some people... one in particular, pictured below and mentioned later in a very special, personal family tragedy tribute... the main problem with GOLDFINGER is simple enough: James Bond is captured throughout most of the story. But that’s also what sets the third film apart from every other Connery vehicle. Taking a prolonged look inside the villain’s process, we get to see how he really ticks...<br /> <br /> In the title role, Gert Fröbe underplays what would become gloriously fantastical by the likes of Blofeld and other world-dominating, monologue-spouting drama kings. He's surely the most subtle Ian Fleming inspired heavy in the 007 canon. Some of the best sequences occur before Bond goes on his caged sabbatical. The golf match between he and Goldfinger has its own rhythm, purpose and agenda: A beginning, middle and end... And a chance to enjoy our resilient hero as a free man, playing a gentleman's game with mischievous tricks under his sleeve.<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1KFlhQ4aiYIiVKMAeS4y8uzTIdiWot-q1NiFMpeY2ASXG48YeCH3Awirj9jz5kOmxHQQBuf3hTHP2zRkbstyJgN56PuW8mRz_We8GbJjpPk4ZeLxm2JkPH3Szfdo4jzD76qFA5mY-1-o/s1600/1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1KFlhQ4aiYIiVKMAeS4y8uzTIdiWot-q1NiFMpeY2ASXG48YeCH3Awirj9jz5kOmxHQQBuf3hTHP2zRkbstyJgN56PuW8mRz_We8GbJjpPk4ZeLxm2JkPH3Szfdo4jzD76qFA5mY-1-o/s1600/1.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goldfinger Artwork</td></tr> </tbody></table> In many Bond films, the villain’s henchman trumps the big boss himself, and it’s no different here. Odd Job, the killer Korean with his decapitating boomerang hat, provides this meticulous vehicle some fun and pulpy fare. As does the third of three “Bond Girls”, Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman), and her aerial troop of killer blondes...<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> Galore’s connection with Bond injects a tinge of humanity that ruled the entire FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, which was less daring and dashing than the groundbreaking DR. NO, and more realistic than GOLDFINGER – unintentionally comical during the final heist on Fort Knox as a myriad of American troops are rendered unconscious, or pretend to be… Quite badly, either way.<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUr2nk-Goh_0t0L7dfA-iVHX5vZjBFSV2OPehadpsuSZ2JMDJ5FJ7S2FtHYhA6V82nOt4gfOzpq6SL-mWrm4adUfnmu4q7MPnalnyJsQlyGXzuEz6XsSJ2G6icFnb_9HZ93NefvduiKvQ/s1600/Screen+shot+2015-06-15+at+9.46.20+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUr2nk-Goh_0t0L7dfA-iVHX5vZjBFSV2OPehadpsuSZ2JMDJ5FJ7S2FtHYhA6V82nOt4gfOzpq6SL-mWrm4adUfnmu4q7MPnalnyJsQlyGXzuEz6XsSJ2G6icFnb_9HZ93NefvduiKvQ/s320/Screen+shot+2015-06-15+at+9.46.20+PM.png" width="136" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px; text-align: center;">Shared A Bond</td></tr> </tbody></table> So while the potential of the first act… also including Bond thwarting Goldfinger’s gambling ruse in Florida, a nifty chase inside the first-time Aston Martin and Q’s roomful of gadgets… is slightly derailed once the tables turn, we get to experience a sly sense of our dashing hero moving forward by giving in completely.<br /> <b><u><br /></u></b> <b><u>PERSONAL MEMORIAL TRIBUTE:</u></b> <i>This post is dedicated to an awesome nephew, who died recently, at 28-years-old, and while he was not a huge fan of GOLDFINGER for the fact Bond was imprisoned for so long, there was a three-decade debate, particularly endearing for his young age back in the early 1990's, and unceasing as we would sporadically discuss the movie... and just last week, sitting in the Bella Terra, Huntington Beach, California theater we both frequented, we caught a trailer during their Classic Series promotion, and thus planned on catching GOLDFINGER on the big screen, which sadly, never happened... But the 007 franchise was a mere drop in the pop culture bucket, ranging from Orson Welles to Jack Kerouac to Charles Bronson to Led Zeppelin to Judd Nelson to Kurt Cobain to Reservoir Dogs, connecting Nephew with Uncle, and vice versa. So Rest in Peace, Austin Tavolara, you're already missed... and then some. </i><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

franchise, james bond, sean connery, sixties, spy

CONNERY BOND THREE: GOLDFINGER

Sean Connery golfs with the villain in Goldfinger YEAR: 1964 For some people... one in particular, pictured below and mentioned later in...

THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ0MpDEPObK_KG3LeVS6xUuGCqYut7KVABGGRj6Ibwm03Iq0W_rl4VZ-2ivnln_qARKA0EYuTdUGKvuDmmsPHqz9Xw3s2meyT1Dy-oz5QGzQyrhkSFGYmlUpky7qyvzSHwncwnumRJgB5P/s1600/league.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ0MpDEPObK_KG3LeVS6xUuGCqYut7KVABGGRj6Ibwm03Iq0W_rl4VZ-2ivnln_qARKA0EYuTdUGKvuDmmsPHqz9Xw3s2meyT1Dy-oz5QGzQyrhkSFGYmlUpky7qyvzSHwncwnumRJgB5P/s640/league.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year:</b> 2003<b> cast:</b> Sean Connery<b> rating:</b> **</td></tr> </tbody></table> <br /><br /> Sean Connery had such a difficult time that he never appeared in another movie again (if you don’t count voice-over work).<br /> <br /> Perhaps it's that his character, Allan Quatermain, the famous pulp journeyman who traipsed throughout Africa in search of fortune and adventure, is all but forgotten once the story’s underway.<br /> <br /> Like THE AVENGERS later on, we have a collection of “superbeings” but from various literary works: these include Oscar Wilde’s never-aging Dorian Grey; Jonathan Harker’s wife Nina from Bram Stoker’s Dracula; the Invisible Man; Dr. Jekyll /Mr. Hyde; and the only American on board, a teenage Tom Sawyer.<br /> <br /> Let’s not forget the bearded/brooding Captain Nemo, whose supercharged submarine provides a much too easy means of transportation from one place to the next. Unfortunately there are only a few locations and the fight scenes are rushed. A few times the camera moves ahead of the action to show what’s in store, deleting any suspense of what our heroes will face. That being the villainous Moriarity from the Sherlock Holmes strata whose goal is to – like any comic book tale – take over the whole damn world.<br /> <br /> The movie begins alright. As the league assembles after a giant war machine – far ahead of its time in 1899 – destroys a warehouse (with splendid special effects) we’re ready for action. Connery’s tough-aged Quartemain has had a life full of trouble and he’s up for more – but other than giving Tom Sawyer lessons on sharpshooting, his input is lost and he never seems in charge.<br /> <br /> Jekyll transformation into Hyde is reminiscent of The Hulk; the Marvel superhero is a duplicate of this double-edged beast. He’s a cool “ringer” and one of the best players; who doesn’t like seeing a monster destroy stuff with ranging ferocity?<br /> <br /> Dorian Grey has dark secrets as does Nina Harker and both have an interesting Gothic attraction to each other. But overall there are too many characters on board and without a real struggle, at least not an intriguing one to make each individual prove their worth.<br /> <br /> And the real question is: if Nemo’s submarine is so amazing, what’s the big deal about the antagonist's war machine? Perhaps these gentleman (and woman) had it a little too easy.

action, comic book, science-fiction, sean connery, zeroes

THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN

year: 2003 cast: Sean Connery rating: ** Sean Connery had such a difficult time that he never appeared in another movie again (if ...