Favourite Bond films....
- Thread starter Warped9
- Start date
I am pretty much the only person in the world who likes QoS though
Not quite. I liked it. So, at least there's two of us.
As for the Daniel Craig films:
I like Casino Royale but I think it's way overrated. It's excellent whenever it's doing its own thing but grinds to a halt every time it goes back to the poker table. Still, every director in the business needs to watch the opening chase sequence to see how to do a chase sequence that's exciting AND completely comprehensible. (I'm looking at YOU, Paul Greengrass & Peter Berg!)
But I hate Quantum of Solace. To me, Daniel Craig isn't James Bond. He's a dour, joyless thug and I have no desire to watch him. I'm sure it's not his fault. I think he's being intentionally directed that way. Still... ugh! Plus, Quantum is filled with all of these contemporary references to the shitty current world situation. It can't go more than 5 minutes without reminding us that we're running out of oil or that our governments are in league with unsavory dictators or that global warming will destroy everything! I prefer my Bond movies, even at their grittiest, to be escapism, not An Inconvenient Truth.
Yes but it isn't like Bond hasn't reflected the world situation at the time, just off the top of my head:
the man with the golden gun talks a lot about the energy crisis, relating to the OPEC stuff going on at the time.
A View to a Kill with the whole silicon chip nonsense!
The Living Daylights featuring the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan/the opium trade.
I am pretty much the only person in the world who likes QoS though
While contemporary world crises may have provided a thin backdrop for earlier 007 movies, they didn't talk about them a lot and they never bogged things down. But it seems like Quantum of Solace just can't ease up enough to make it fun. A lot of that comes from the Bourne influence I think. The Bourne films have this ponderous, liberal-guilt emphasis on constantly pointing out how shitty things are.
While that's not exactly my list, it's a list I can get behind. I can't say enough good things about Goldeneye & The World Is Not Enough. And I even think the 1st half of Die Another Day had the makings of one of the greatest Bond films ever (until it overloaded things with invisible cars, rocket cars, killer space lasers, & that weird cyborg suit that the bad guy was wearing
).OK, my three:
Casino Royale, Living Daylights and For Your Eyes Only.
BTW, it's interesting how many people commenting in this thread are pro-Daylights, even though it's currently coming in 7th-ish. (Siomilarly FYEO, which is a bit further back).
If there were more than three choices, then I'd probably have gone for Goldfinger, OHMSS (I'm in the 'If only Connery had done it' camp, though that's assuming it's good Connery not bored Connery) and Spy Who Loved Loved Me (it's a production line Bond vehicle, but it's a production line vehicle where all the parts fit, the paintwork's perfect, it starts on the first turn of the ignition key, and you don't even need to adjust the seat).
After that, probably From Russia, Goldeneye and World is Not Enough. Plus Moonraker, which is rubbish but so rubbish that it's fun.
The duds? Thunderball - bad editing in the final version. Octopussy and View are both dull. And Quantum of Solace feels as if they shot a better, longer film, and then edited out everything except the action sequences.
Casino Royale, Living Daylights and For Your Eyes Only.
BTW, it's interesting how many people commenting in this thread are pro-Daylights, even though it's currently coming in 7th-ish. (Siomilarly FYEO, which is a bit further back).
If there were more than three choices, then I'd probably have gone for Goldfinger, OHMSS (I'm in the 'If only Connery had done it' camp, though that's assuming it's good Connery not bored Connery) and Spy Who Loved Loved Me (it's a production line Bond vehicle, but it's a production line vehicle where all the parts fit, the paintwork's perfect, it starts on the first turn of the ignition key, and you don't even need to adjust the seat).
After that, probably From Russia, Goldeneye and World is Not Enough. Plus Moonraker, which is rubbish but so rubbish that it's fun.
The duds? Thunderball - bad editing in the final version. Octopussy and View are both dull. And Quantum of Solace feels as if they shot a better, longer film, and then edited out everything except the action sequences.
Tomorrow Never Dies is definitely my favorite.
As for the Daniel Craig films:
I like Casino Royale but I think it's way overrated. It's excellent whenever it's doing its own thing but grinds to a halt every time it goes back to the poker table. Still, every director in the business needs to watch the opening chase sequence to see how to do a chase sequence that's exciting AND completely comprehensible. (I'm looking at YOU, Paul Greengrass & Peter Berg!
But I hate Quantum of Solace. To me, Daniel Craig isn't James Bond. He's a dour, joyless thug and I have no desire to watch him. I'm sure it's not his fault. I think he's being intentionally directed that way. Still... ugh! Plus, Quantum is filled with all of these contemporary references to the shitty current world situation. It can't go more than 5 minutes without reminding us that we're running out of oil or that our governments are in league with unsavory dictators or that global warming will destroy everything! I prefer my Bond movies, even at their grittiest, to be escapism, not An Inconvenient Truth.
Yes but it isn't like Bond hasn't reflected the world situation at the time, just off the top of my head:
the man with the golden gun talks a lot about the energy crisis, relating to the OPEC stuff going on at the time.
A View to a Kill with the whole silicon chip nonsense!
The Living Daylights featuring the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan/the opium trade.
I am pretty much the only person in the world who likes QoS though
While contemporary world crises may have provided a thin backdrop for earlier 007 movies, they didn't talk about them a lot and they never bogged things down. But it seems like Quantum of Solace just can't ease up enough to make it fun. A lot of that comes from the Bourne influence I think. The Bourne films have this ponderous, liberal-guilt emphasis on constantly pointing out how shitty things are.
While that's not exactly my list, it's a list I can get behind. I can't say enough good things about Goldeneye & The World Is Not Enough. And I even think the 1st half of Die Another Day had the makings of one of the greatest Bond films ever (until it overloaded things with invisible cars, rocket cars, killer space lasers, & that weird cyborg suit that the bad guy was wearing
But things are shitty
Goldeneye is a very good film, TWINE for some reason I really dislike. I just find it very bland and colourless, with a non too great Bond girl and a lame henchman (Renaud isn't the badguy, Elektra is, she's great but he's rubbish) And don't even get me started at the pre title sequence. Seriously you go to all that trouble planting a bomb to cleverly kill King, then you station a woman on a speedboat bristling with guns outside MI6 HQ. Why exactly? I think that hit me stright away and the film just never recovers.
Die Another Day is a seriously underated film, for me it only loses it on the Antanov at the end. Invisible car I can live with, but Toby Stephens (who is a magnificent villain) in a robot suit is lousy. Plus tired of the American Bond girls, I really wanted Rosamund Pike to kill Halle Berry
7th is pretty good for a film not usually regarded as a classic. Sometimes I wonder if my view is coloured by the fact it was the first Bond I saw at the cinema but if you break it down it has most everything, the only real flaw for me is that Whittiker is a poor bad guy (oh and Leiter sucks!) but that aside...great Bond, great girl, great characters; Koskov, Necros, Pushkin, lovely score by John Barry and ace stunts.
But things are shitty
...Yes, I know. But I'm going to a James Bond movie to escape & ignore that.
Die Another Day is a seriously underated film, for me it only loses it on the Antanov at the end. Invisible car I can live with, but Toby Stephens (who is a magnificent villain) in a robot suit is lousy. Plus tired of the American Bond girls, I really wanted Rosamund Pike to kill Halle Berry
Agreed. Most of these gadgets, including the invisible car, would have been fine in isolation. The problem is there's just too many of everything.
And I'd heard somewhere that Pierce Brosnan was seriously lobbying for the rival agent to be the return of Michelle Yeoh's Chinese spy from Tomorrow Never Dies. Instead, we got Halle Berry's disdainful performance.
But things are shitty
...Yes, I know. But I'm going to a James Bond movie to escape & ignore that.
Die Another Day is a seriously underated film, for me it only loses it on the Antanov at the end. Invisible car I can live with, but Toby Stephens (who is a magnificent villain) in a robot suit is lousy. Plus tired of the American Bond girls, I really wanted Rosamund Pike to kill Halle Berry
Agreed. Most of these gadgets, including the invisible car, would have been fine in isolation. The problem is there's just too many of everything.
And I'd heard somewhere that Pierce Brosnan was seriously lobbying for the rival agent to be the return of Michelle Yeoh's Chinese spy from Tomorrow Never Dies. Instead, we got Halle Berry's disdainful performance.
Yeah I wish we'd got Michelle Yeoh again, although Wai Lin isn't that high on my Bond girl list she'd have been preferable to Halle Berry. Jinx wasn't as bad as I feared she'd be, but had far too much emphasis (and is why I'm glad they didn't get Jolie for Casino Royale!)
I think part of the problem with DAD is that they were trying to go over the top, afrer all in context it was supposed to be a bit of a celebratory pic as the 20th Bond film. They did overdo it though, especially on the Cgi some of which wasn't up to spec.
Then again people are so wedded to the idea of CG that they see it when it's not there. Someone remarked to me that he thought the cgi of the Aston rolling in CR was very good.
I had to point out that they'd really rolled the car!!
My favorites in order are Casino Royale, and Goldeneye.
I'm watching bits and bobs of On Her Majesty's Secret Service now and I actually am enjoying old George's divisive performance. The good thing about him is he actually played James Bond, he didn't just ape Connery. If he had, he might have been more accepted at the time.
The world's greatest actor he may not have been, but he looked the part, handled the action sequences credibly and gave Bond a convincing vulnerability that never really re-surfaced until the Brosnan era. In fact, in many ways, he reminds me of Daniel Craig.
The world's greatest actor he may not have been, but he looked the part, handled the action sequences credibly and gave Bond a convincing vulnerability that never really re-surfaced until the Brosnan era. In fact, in many ways, he reminds me of Daniel Craig.
While I grew up with a lot of the Bonds, I like Craig's Bond better... though QOS was really dumb.
It's interesting that the voting is broadly consistent and people seem to prefer the lower key Bond films that had more emotional content to the empty flash bang of some of the franchise. Goldfinger was pretty shallow but it had so many iconic Bond sequences I can see why it ranks highly.
I watched OHMSS again last night and I would certainly place it in my top 5, even if I placed From Russia with Love, Goldeneye, and Casino Royale ahead of it. It needed a touch more pacing in places and Lazenby needed to relax a lot more - it was only in his final scene that I started to think he was obviously capable of emoting when given the chance. Even so, he looked good in a kilt!
The real revelation was Tracy. I'd forgotten that she was so complex and cool, especially for a sixties heroine, and even manage to get a few licks in here and there. As a modern character you could even see her suriving through a couple of sequels before biting the dust. It's a shame the films view the heroines as such disposable commodities.
The ski chase scenes were brilliantly handled too, and the music really came into its own - the soundtrack of this movie is pretty much synonimous with Bond now.
I watched OHMSS again last night and I would certainly place it in my top 5, even if I placed From Russia with Love, Goldeneye, and Casino Royale ahead of it. It needed a touch more pacing in places and Lazenby needed to relax a lot more - it was only in his final scene that I started to think he was obviously capable of emoting when given the chance. Even so, he looked good in a kilt!
The real revelation was Tracy. I'd forgotten that she was so complex and cool, especially for a sixties heroine, and even manage to get a few licks in here and there. As a modern character you could even see her suriving through a couple of sequels before biting the dust. It's a shame the films view the heroines as such disposable commodities.
The ski chase scenes were brilliantly handled too, and the music really came into its own - the soundtrack of this movie is pretty much synonimous with Bond now.
My top three are Goldfinger, From Russia with Love, and Casino Royale (although Dr. No comes very close to taking that third spot).
My complete rankings:
1. Goldfinger
2. From Russia with Love
3. Casino Royale
4. Dr. No
5. GoldenEye
6. You Only Live Twice
7. Thunderball
8. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
9. The Living Daylights
10. The Spy Who Loved Me
11. Octopussy
12. For Your Eyes Only
13. Diamonds Are Forever
14. Quantum of Solace
15. Moonraker
16. The Man with the Golden Gun
17. Tomorrow Never Dies
18. The World Is Not Enough
19. Die Another Day
20. Live and Let Die
21. Licence to Kill
22. A View to a Kill
As for Lazenby, he's good in the action scenes and surprisingly effective in some of the quiet tender moments with Diana Rigg, but awful with the witty banter part of the role. And anytime your lead actor has to be dubbed by someone else for a lengthy sequence it's not a good sign. The film has so many strong elements that it's a shame it didn't have Connery in the lead. It would likely be one of the top three if it had, and might have even taken the #1 spot.
My complete rankings:
1. Goldfinger
2. From Russia with Love
3. Casino Royale
4. Dr. No
5. GoldenEye
6. You Only Live Twice
7. Thunderball
8. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
9. The Living Daylights
10. The Spy Who Loved Me
11. Octopussy
12. For Your Eyes Only
13. Diamonds Are Forever
14. Quantum of Solace
15. Moonraker
16. The Man with the Golden Gun
17. Tomorrow Never Dies
18. The World Is Not Enough
19. Die Another Day
20. Live and Let Die
21. Licence to Kill
22. A View to a Kill
As for Lazenby, he's good in the action scenes and surprisingly effective in some of the quiet tender moments with Diana Rigg, but awful with the witty banter part of the role. And anytime your lead actor has to be dubbed by someone else for a lengthy sequence it's not a good sign. The film has so many strong elements that it's a shame it didn't have Connery in the lead. It would likely be one of the top three if it had, and might have even taken the #1 spot.
Some of John Barry's finest work, the title track is, in many ways, cooler than the Bond theme itself. As for Diana Rigg...best Bond girl, EVER!
The thing about Lazenby is, he never got the chance to grow into the role and become more at ease in it. Connery was excellent from day one, but he really hits his stride in Goldfinger, his third outing. Moore's best performance is in TSWLM, also his third.
For a former model, Lazenby acquits himself pretty well in his first movie, especially allowing for his being dubbed for much of it. But imagine if he'd gotten to return to the part. Particularly if he'd been cast in a Diamonds Are Forever which was more in keeping with OHMSS instead of the campy outing we did get (probably as a result of negative response to OHMSS, admittedly).
People have speculated that 007's grim hunt for Blofeld at the start of that movie is that he's out to avenge Tracy but that's undermined by a different actor as Bond, different actor as Blofeld and very different portrayals of each character. Now, had it been Lazenby hunting down Savalas ... Oh, the potential.
Lazenby was born in 1939 (as oppose to Moore's 1927 and Connery's 1930) and could quite easily and convincingly have played Bond well into the 1980s (eg Brosnan was 42 in Goldeneye and 49 in DAD, Dalton 43 in TLD). Just such a waste, really.
For a former model, Lazenby acquits himself pretty well in his first movie, especially allowing for his being dubbed for much of it. But imagine if he'd gotten to return to the part. Particularly if he'd been cast in a Diamonds Are Forever which was more in keeping with OHMSS instead of the campy outing we did get (probably as a result of negative response to OHMSS, admittedly).
People have speculated that 007's grim hunt for Blofeld at the start of that movie is that he's out to avenge Tracy but that's undermined by a different actor as Bond, different actor as Blofeld and very different portrayals of each character. Now, had it been Lazenby hunting down Savalas ... Oh, the potential.
Lazenby was born in 1939 (as oppose to Moore's 1927 and Connery's 1930) and could quite easily and convincingly have played Bond well into the 1980s (eg Brosnan was 42 in Goldeneye and 49 in DAD, Dalton 43 in TLD). Just such a waste, really.
OK, I rewatched On Her Majesty's Secret Service again yesterday. I'm still not crazy about the movie overall. (It bores me the way most of Connery's movies do.) However, on 2nd glance, I liked Lazenby's performance a lot better.
Probably the worst part of the film is the long sequence at Blofeld's headquarters on that mountain in Switzerland. That part just drags. And considering the movie already has the transcendant Diana Rigg, all of those other women are completely unneccessary.
Probably the worst part of the film is the long sequence at Blofeld's headquarters on that mountain in Switzerland. That part just drags. And considering the movie already has the transcendant Diana Rigg, all of those other women are completely unneccessary.
