Time For Bond to Retire?

[M.A.C.O.]

Yeah, Guy Ritchie's The Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie was basically what I had wished the new Bond movies had been. Unfortunately, sequels to TMFU don't look very likely.

I like early Connery Bond the most. IMO, the Bond franchise went downhill after From Russia With Love. I have quite enjoyed the contemporary take of the Craig films, though.

Kor

Put me down as another fan of TMFU.

Of the several spy films from last year:
Kingsman
The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Spy
Mission Impossible 5
Bridge of Spies
Spectre

I felt everyone brought their A game and a new flavor to the genre, except Spectre. I felt Spectre was a "lick stamp, mailed in" film. You can tell they were hoping the hype of Spectre and Blofeld were going to carry the film, but things fell short. I still don't see how Spectre reading people's emails will help them control the world. They had so many talented actors in the film and none of them are given anything to do. Which is a shame.

 

[JeffinOakland]

Spectre was mostly boring. It had a great opening and a few nice moments here and there but the villains were awful and Craig seemed utterly disinterested. Casino Royale is my favorite Craig Bond. Easily the best, IMO, since Goldeneye. Quantum of Solace was a good action flick but a crummy Bond flick. I really liked Skyfall, even though it borrowed a lot from other movies. At least Craig made two good Bond movies.

 

[STEPhon IT]

IMO most of Craig's OO7 films were "lick stamp, mailed in", with the exception of Casino Royale. SkyFall was the worse of the outing where heavily borrowed the plot from The Dark Knight, and Tom Cruise's first Mission: Impossible. Also SkyFall went out of the way to make the MI-6 heroes into complete idiots.
M and I guess the secret service witnessed the explosion of M's office and a portion of the MI-6 building in flames, but no one had the smarts to have M secured in a war room or a secure place with armed guards protecting the place? Nope. The idiots just dropped her off at her place just have Bond break into her house.

Bond seduces a whore to take him to Bardem's lair island; he and Bond had a tit for tat killing the whore, but then Bond had the opportunity to kill Bardem but instead arrested him??? This lapse in character lead to London being under siege, and Q tampering in a program which he had no clue what he was dealing which lead to Bardem's escape.
Bond again doing something really stupid by taking M to Scotland in attempt to bring Bardem to an old house. Again, OO7 should've taken her to a place secure with armed personnel. Bardem was obsessed with her he would take the risk to find her and do something sadistic to her. Bond playing "Home Alone" with the bad guys felt like a waste to me, especially when he didn't even save M.
I'd rather be watching an enjoyably decent film like Spectre than seeing a completely f^cked up film like SkyFall.

 

[M.A.C.O.]

For me the best Bond films for each respective actor goes like this.

Connery:
From Russia With Love
Goldfinger
You Only Live Twice

Lazenby: Yeah, he only has one but it's solid.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Moore:
The Spy Who Loved Me
For Your Eyes Only
Octopussy

Dalton:
The Living Daylights
License To Kill

Brosnan:
Goldeneye
Tomorrow Never Dies

Craig:
Casino Royale
Skyfall

 

[Relayer1]

I'd rather be watching an enjoyably decent film like Spectre than seeing a completely f^cked up film like SkyFall.

 

[Relayer1]

I don't like Spectre that much, but I'm glad someone else thinks Skyfall's crud. It's a shame, because Craig is fantastic in Casino Royale, which is still head and shoulders better than most of the Bond movies.

 

[marillion]

I don't know if Hiddleston would be the best choice but I'd have no objections on the face of it if he is the next Bond (whether now or subsequent to another Craig movie, if that's still a possibility). I disagree, though, that only Connery and Craig could project dangerousness--Timothy Dalton did a good job of that in his films, especially in the first outing. But "dangerousness" is not sacrosanct for Bond. I just revisited my favourite Bond film story (though not my favourite Bond film--that would be Goldfinger): On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Lazenby does a much better job than he's generally given credit for and he presents a vulnerability that is A) essential to the story and B) might not have been possible for Connery to pull off at that stage, given the general direction of his performances as Bond (he might have managed it before You Only Live Twice or Thunderball). A Connery who wasn't becoming bored with the character, Dalton, or Craig (his interaction with Vesper Lynd is the most analogous to Lazenby's Bond and Tracy) would catapult OHMSS to the top of my personal Bond list, but Lazenby's portrayal is still good enough to keep the film in my top five. While I enjoyed Moore and Brosnan as well in the role, I don't think either had the range to pull off OHMSS as well as the others.

I agree with this 100%. The scene where Bond is being hunted in the little swiss village was gripping. Perfect pace and perfect music captured the fear Bond was experiencing. For once in his life, he was in a situation where he felt no control. As much as I love Connery, at that stage, he would not have been able to pull it off as well.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I didn't really like Brosnan as Bond. Well, actually, he did an OK job with what he was given with, but I felt they mostly had a generic action movie feel to them, even GoldenEye, almost like they were trying to appeal more to Hollywood sensibilities and lost part of its style as a result. I'm glad they found their groove with Casino Royale.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Crud encrusted crud?

 

[USS Triumphant]

RETIRE?! No, Mr. Bond - I expect you to DIE.

I wouldn't be vexed if the Bond series stopped, but I'm saving my one franchise-killing wish for Transformers.

I suspect you know what I want to say here, and that it isn't board-appropriate, you Transformers hater, you. You're despicable.

Eh, everyone gets "franchise fatigue" once in a while. I'm currently bored with Dr. Who.

Yeah.... not sure that's franchise fatigue. I think I feel what you feel and it has less to do with being tired of Doctor Who and more to do with being tired of *crappy* Doctor Who. I'm hoping things may pick up with Clare gone.

I still don't see how Spectre reading people's emails will help them control the world.

I suspect Hillary knows. (Sorry, couldn't resist. )

 

[Relayer1]

If SKYFALL is crud, what is QUANTUM OF SOLACE?

Whilst admitting it isn't fantastic, I prefer Quantum to Skyfall. I probably prefer Spectre to Skyfall.

In addition to STEPhon IT's list of Skyfall related stupidity, nothing beats 'let's escape across a darkened moor and wave this torch around'. Would it really have been that hard to have written in the bad guy scanning the moor with night vision glasses ?

 

[sojourner]

Yeah.... not sure that's franchise fatigue. I think I feel what you feel and it has less to do with being tired of Doctor Who and more to do with being tired of *crappy* Doctor Who. I'm hoping things may pick up with Clare gone.

No, I currently have no interest in any Dr. Who. It's fatigue.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

It provides a lot of people like me an escape from reality for a few hours.

Exactly. Bond doesn't need to be updated to fit with the times, but rather to be a relief from those same times.

 

[Commander Richard]

In addition to STEPhon IT's list of Skyfall related stupidity, nothing beats 'let's escape across a darkened moor and wave this torch around'. Would it really have been that hard to have written in the bad guy scanning the moor with night vision glasses ?

I agree. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

 

[Cyrus]

I like Craig as Bond though I think Skyfall (aka James Bond into Darkness) is overrated. Haven't seen Spectre yet, so I guess my interest in Bond is not what it used to be (when I used to see Bond movies regularly in theaters). I wouldn't be heartbroken if he retires.

 

[CorporalClegg]

I think Craig's tenure has been really overrated. The films range form terrible to just okay. They take themselves way too seriously and manged to completely suck out the fun--even Royale.

I tried to watch it a few months back and got bored and turned it off barely through the first act. And I'm pretty sure I could watch any of the previous Bonds' outings (even the lesser Brosnan/Moore) and watch front to end without even getting up to take a piss.

And I don't like his Bond either. He's just a bully--Trump if had pecks. It's not dark or whatever. It's banal. It drives me nuts when people say "He's just like the books." Whenever I hear someone say that, the first thing I think to myself is they haven't actually read the books. They just read that on the internet somewhere.

That's what I've always liked about Brosnan; under the pretty-boy exterior and the silly camp, the guy could really be a serious cold hearted sonofabitch.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Part of the appeal of Bond, IMHO, is the UN-realism. The reason Bond is so cool is that he's a tuxedo-wearing suave secret agent who gets into fights with the bad guys, beds all the women, and still never harms a hair on his head. In the end, Bond is not supposed to be realistic.

 

[Ovation]

Part of the appeal of Bond, IMHO, is the UN-realism. The reason Bond is so cool is that he's a tuxedo-wearing suave secret agent who gets into fights with the bad guys, beds all the women, and still never harms a hair on his head. In the end, Bond is not supposed to be realistic.

By that measure, the greatest Bond film of them all is North by Northwest. (My favourite Hitchcock film, incidentally, and allegedly among the reasons he turned down an offer to do a Bond film. When asked, he is said to have responded something like: I've already made that movie--North by Northwest.)

 

[BillJ]

If they feel they have a story to tell, by all means I think they should keep going, but yeah, the end of the 'cold war' era, pretty much closed a lot of story avenues.

Just do what Archer did, set the movies in an alternate universe where the Soviet Union still exists.

 

[DonIago]

Bond is not supposed to be realistic.

Citation needed.

For the record, I enjoy both realistic and unrealistic portrayals of Bond, perhaps not entirely for the same sets of reasons.