I grew up during thr Roger Moore era but watched all the Sean Connery ones on VHS on a loop too. I think that Pierce Brosnan was “the most Bond” of them all but the goofy/ludicrous Roger Moore ones were the most fun. Watching what was obviously a grandpa trying to be suave and having twenty-something year olds (and even a teen) throw themselves at him was peak cringe absurdity, and they knew it. Everyone was in on the joke (which was the opposite of the Connery ones).
Oof, I’m glad you saw humor in the latter day Moore installments, but I avoid that era of Bond because my interpretation was that noone was in on the joke. If there was any sort of realization that Moore was too old for the role behind the scenes, they didn’t let on with the choices they were making in front of the camera (and I think it’s pretty well acknowledged that Moore, at least, felt like he had aged out of the character towards the end of his run). Idk if a bigger wink would have helped necessarily (that era of Bond already strays dangerously close to self-parody), but no-selling it didn’t work for me either.
I grew up during thr Roger Moore era but watched all the Sean Connery ones on VHS on a loop too. I think that Pierce Brosnan was “the most Bond” of them all but the goofy/ludicrous Roger Moore ones were the most fun. Watching what was obviously a grandpa trying to be suave and having twenty-something year olds (and even a teen) throw themselves at him was peak cringe absurdity, and they knew it. Everyone was in on the joke (which was the opposite of the Connery ones).
Oof, I’m glad you saw humor in the latter day Moore installments, but I avoid that era of Bond because my interpretation was that noone was in on the joke. If there was any sort of realization that Moore was too old for the role behind the scenes, they didn’t let on with the choices they were making in front of the camera (and I think it’s pretty well acknowledged that Moore, at least, felt like he had aged out of the character towards the end of his run). Idk if a bigger wink would have helped necessarily (that era of Bond already strays dangerously close to self-parody), but no-selling it didn’t work for me either.