HELP fellow James Bond fans

[RaymondJames]

Well, I went with Goldeneye since it was fairly recent and it went well. Later on We started The Living Daylights but only got about an hour into it. Thank you for all the suggestions, there will be more Bond nights with him for sure

[Smiley]

My intro was Tomorrow Never Dies, and it hooked me.

[RandyS]

Starkers wrote:

---

What's wrong with a Live and Let Die?

I would agree that Bond's tend to go out on less than stellar entries (except Lazenby who went out on a high, and maybe Dalton)

I just hate stories revolving around weird voodoo shit.

But since you mention Dalton, I gotta say, unlike Moore, he didn't make a bad movie. The Living Daylights was his best (and the best Bond movie in creation), but Licence to Kill was good too.

[Starkers]

RandyS wrote:

---

I just hate stories revolving around weird voodoo shit.

But since you mention Dalton, I gotta say, unlike Moore, he didn't make a bad movie. The Living Daylights was his best (and the best Bond movie in creation), but Licence to Kill was good too.

Can't really disagree with you there, The Living Daylights is probably my favourite after OHMSS, and while Licence is flawed, I still like it.

[KB24]

Glad to see the Dalton love. Although I hate Moonraker!

http://ithinkthereforeireview.blogsp...l/James%20Bond

[Skywalker]

I definitely agree that if you're going to go with five movies, you should go with the top ones (well, IMO) from each of the multi-picture Bonds' catalogues.

Connery: Goldfinger (not my favorite of his, but it's the definitive Bond movie)
Moore: For Your Eyes Only
Dalton: The Living Daylights
Brosnan: GoldenEye

Then I'd go with CR over OHMSS since it's designed to bring in new people, free of past Bond continuity.

EDIT: Oh, you already started. Bah, I'm slow. Good choice with GoldenEye, though.

[KB24]

I agree with Skywalker ^. My question now that they had the Casino Royale reboot is where do you put it in the viewing canon? No offence, but I would never introduce anyone to Star Wars with Episode 1. You start there with the first film, albiet it's now Number 4 chronologically.

With Bond however, you can't exactly Start someone with CR, because one you have QofS continuing it in some ways, but also, you can't really show CR-made in 2006- and then 1962's Dr. No. Unless you educate the viewer and show CR, Dr No, FRWL, etc...but then you still end up with QofS. Oiy, I think too much about this stuff!

[Maestro]

Since all of Fleming's novels have been adapted for the screen (except for The Spy Who Saved My Ass From Goofy-Shit Mobsters And Then Shagged Me Silly After We Killed Them), it would be an interesting experiment to watch the movies in the order of the novels.

That means Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Diamonds are Forever, and From Russia With Love would be the first four.

[KB24]

Wow that's bizarre! ^ 2006 Bourneish, then the blaxplotation. Not what Fleming had in mind! I hate to say, I've never even seen a Bond book much less read one and I am a very avid reader. I feel bad for fans who started with the books and see how misconstrued the literature has become. It's like Starship Troopers-the book and movie are two very different enities!

[LutherSloan]

Goldfinger, GoldenEye, Casino Royale, The Man With The Golden Gun, and either From Russia With Love or The Spy Who Loved Me.

[Maestro]

KB24 wrote:

---

Wow that's bizarre! ^ 2006 Bourneish, then the blaxplotation. Not what Fleming had in mind! I hate to say, I've never even seen a Bond book much less read one and I am a very avid reader. I feel bad for fans who started with the books and see how misconstrued the literature has become. It's like Starship Troopers-the book and movie are two very different enities!

I haven't done it yet, mainly because I'm waiting for them all to be available on Blu-Ray. However, it promises to be fascinating.

As for the books, or perhaps Bond himself...

There are several distinct "Bonds."

The Original (Nobody Does it Better) -- Bond of the Fleming novels (including Amis's Colonel Sun and Faulks's Devil May Care). He's written pretty consistently throughout as the same guy.

The First Movie Bond -- Connery and Lazeby's portrayal. Closer to the novels, but still distinct. Lazenby is probably the closest of all the Bonds to the novels.

The 70's Bond -- Roger Moore

The 80's pseudo-reboot books -- John Gardner's official continuation took the classic 50's-60's character and transported him to the 1980s. While Gardner's intent was to use the character as he appears in the Fleming novels, he's too heavily influenced by the camp and action extravaganza of the 70's Bond, so we get a whole 'nuther character.

The Return to the Roots -- Timothy Dalton's portrayal. Although Robert Brown's M is not the definative Admiral Sir Miles that we got from Bernard Lee (and there's some thought that he's still playing Admiral Hargreaves from The Spy Who Loved Me (movie) ), this is the classic Bond from the novels in the end of the Cold War. Dalton nails it in both outings.

Special Effects, Ignoring Physics, and Mustache Twirling Villains: The Brosnan Years -- It's kind of like taking Fleming's original, making him a "pretty boy," and then reliving the 70's Bond with better clothes and better Sci-Fi.

The Raymond Benson Novels -- His books take the Brosnan Bond, Judi Dench's M and tries to write Fleming's character in the 21st Century. "Thank you! Next, please!"

As much as Bernard Lee didn't care for how cranky Fleming wrote M, and didn't want to play him to that extreme, Lee's M is exceptionally close to what Fleming wrote, and is certainly the definitive M.

No one quite knows if Robert Brown played the same man or a new M in his tenure, but he doesn't strike me as Fleming's Admiral Sir Miles Messervy.

Judi Dench, the third M, is clearly a new character.

Any movie Bond fan should read the original novels. You can find more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bond_(novels)

[KB24]

I've thought about searching for the books, but I'm only half way through Sharpe right now. You mention you're waiting for all the blu ray, me too! I've written several times about how TPTB really screw Bond collectors with all the releases. Of course, I've got about four different sets of Star Wars and LOTR-can't wait for those on blu ray! But you figure 24 films on blu ray is going to be very expensive-especially to an audience that already paid out for the original vhs, the first dvds, the special dvds, the collector sets and the ultimate collections. And from what I've seen thus far, bluray makes these films look mighty good!

http://ithinkthereforeireview.blogsp...l/James%20Bond

[Maestro]

The original novels were just rereleased in a nice trade paperback format about two years ago as part of the Ian Fleming 100th Birthday Celebration. You can still get them from Amazon.

[Broccoli]

OdoWanKenobi wrote:

---

Nah, either The Spy Who Loved Me, or For Your Eyes Only would be my recommendation for a Moore Bond.

Those two are probably the best of Moore's films, although I have to admit that my personal favorite of Moore's is Octopussy.

[KB24]

I don't hate Octopussy, but it's definately got a lot going against it. If Moore ended with For Your Eyes Only, his tenure wouldn't have been as dreaded. Or maybe if the best of Octopussy and Never Say Never Again were somehow combined for one superfilm under Moore. A View to a Kill would have been awesome if Dalton came on one picture sooner.

I suppose You take 4 from Connery, 2 from Moore, Dalton's 2, then 1 each of Brosnan and Craig and you've got some great stuff.

Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, The Living Daylights, License to Kill, Goldeneye, and Casino Royale.