Favourite Bond films

[eyeresist]

Goldfinger
Never Say Never Again
Diamonds are Forever

The rest of them tend to blur in my mind.

I like the Craig movies (I recall quite enjoying Quantum), but feel I'm not ready to assess them as part of the canon.

OHMSS is the only one I'd refuse to watch.

 

[Aldo]

^^^You're missing out on a helleva film.

I like to do the one film from each Bond raking as other's like to do too:

Connery: Thunderball
Lazenby: Since there's only one...duh
Moore: Moonraker
Dalton: Licence to Kill
Brosnan: Tomorrow Never Dies
Craig: Spectre

I haven't seen any of the films in a few years now, so the rankings are based on how I felt before. If I ever got around to watching the series again it might change. Also I just saw Spectre today for the first time, so I'm probably a bit biased at that one as I'm still basking in the afterglow. But I'm still going to put it there as I had so much fun with it.

 

[eyeresist]

^^^You're missing out on a helleva film.

Seen it. I dislike the actor, and can't stop staring at his MOLE. I don't like the romance, and I ****ing hate the Christmas Trees song. The action doesn't do much for me either. Great soundtrack though, probably Barry's best Bond.

 

[Aldo]

Fair enough than. At least you watched it, I have a friend who did a Bond marathon when he watched the series for the first time and just skipped it all together for some reason.

 

[lurok]

OHMSS carried baggage for a lot of years as 'the one with the crap/one-off/not Connery Bond'.

I admit I resisted it for years for the same reason. But...Lazenby aside (I don't mind him personally)...it's a technically really well-made Bond film.

 

[Kor]

It is very well-made. If you are into the "Swinging London" 1960s Mod scene, I think OHMSS has more of that on display than the Connery movies. It's also the only one of the classic Bond movies that shows emotional vulnerability on Bond's part, even though Lazenby was a stiff actor (with no real prior acting experience )

Kor

 

[eyeresist]

OHMSS carried baggage for a lot of years as 'the one with the crap/one-off/not Connery Bond'.

I admit I resisted it for years for the same reason. But...Lazenby aside (I don't mind him personally)...it's a technically really well-made Bond film.

I had the opposite experience, as by the time I came to it it's reputation had risen pretty high. I wonder if this is partly due to the music, because I think a lot of soundtrack collectors say it's the best score. Maybe that rep carried over, or maybe it's part compensation for the poor rep OHMSS used to have.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

****
From Russia with Love
Goldfinger
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
For Your Eyes Only
GoldenEye
Casino Royale

***
Dr. No
Thunderball
You Only Live Twice
Octopussy
A View to a Kill
The Living Daylights
License to Kill
Quantum of Solace
Skyfall

Have not yet seen Spectre.

 

[CorporalClegg]

I was going to wait until I saw Spectre before posting. Meant to see it this past weekend and got busy, so it might be a while...

A
From Russia with Love
On Her Majesty's Secret Service

A-
Dr. No
Goldeneye
The Spy Who Loved Me

B+
Casino Royale
Goldfinger
The Living Daylights

B
For Your Eyes Only
Thunderball

B-
Diamonds are Forever
Live and Let Die
You Only Live Twice

C+
License to Kill
Skyfall
A View to a Kill
The World is Not Enough

C
Moonraker
Octopussy
Tomorrow Never Dies

C-
The Man with the Golden Gun
Quantum of Solace

D+
Die Another Day

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I have not seen Spectre yet. Best to worst:

On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Casino Royale
From Russia with Love
Goldfinger
GoldenEye
Dr. No
You Only Live Twice
For Your Eyes Only
Licence to Kill
Quantum of Solace
Skyfall
Thunderball
Octopussy
The Spy Who Loved Me
The Living Daylights
A View to a Kill
Diamonds Are Forever
Moonraker
(Never Say Never Again)
The Man with the Golden Gun
Die Another Day
Live and Let Die
Tomorrow Never Dies
The World Is Not Enough

 

[DigificWriter]

My rankings of the ones I've seen, not counting Tomorrow Never Dies (which I'm still rewatching and therefore can't rank right now):
Old!Bond Continuity
10 - FYEO; TLD; LtK
9.5 - FRWL; TB; OHMSS
9 - TSWLM; Goldeneye
8.5 - AVtaK
8 - DN; YOLT
7 - Goldfinger

New!Bond Continuity
9.5 - QoS
9 - CR
7 - Skyfall

 

[Kor]

^ I'm curious. Why did you rate QoS higher than CR?

Kor

 

[Starkers]

I actually like QoS but even I wouldn't do that!

 

[DigificWriter]

^ I'm curious. Why did you rate QoS higher than CR?

Kor

Because it took everything that was great about CR and improved upon it, while also reintroducing several of the more classic elements of the franchise. It really is the best of the Craig films so far (I haven't seen SPECTRE yet), and very deserving of the ranking I gave it.

Skyfall, on the other hand, could have easily gotten a far lower ranking from me (I was,tempted to give it a 5), but I decided to go high and give it a 7 because of the things that it does do well (namely the character relationships).

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

^ But... But the Bond girls were lame and the villain easily forgettable!

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Silva was definitely the least interesting Bond villain I've seen in awhile. Bond villains are supposed to be evil psychos who try to blow up the world (or, in TND, get the world to blow itself up - one reason why Elliot Carver was so hilarious ), but Silva was just a random thug who'd work for anybody. No ambition!

 

[DigificWriter]

^ But... But the Bond girls were lame and the villain easily forgettable!

You're correct if you're talking about Skyfall, since Silva and Severine both sucked (Silva was far too much of a caricature for the Craig Era/New!Bond Continuity, and Severine was just useless); Dominic Greene, on the other hand, was over-the-top in the classic vein without being ridiculously so, and Camille and Strawberry reminded me of Domino/Tilly/Melina and Aki, respectively. The actresses also played off of Daniel Craig very well, and the banter between James and Strawberry was very much in the classic Bond style without feeling gimmicky and was a great example of how QoS brought humor back to the franchise.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I do like the current Q, though. Des Llewellyn was the perfect First Doctor-like grandfatherish figure (I totally love how he would berate Bond for being careless with all that fancy equipment), but Ben Whishaw playing the techno-geek nerdish Q is perfect for these times. Whoever the next Bond is - personally, I'm hoping it's Idris Elba, but that's another thread - I hope they keep ol' Ben!

Never did care for John Cleese in the role, though. His Q was nothing to write home about. Llewellyn was a great Q, but Cleese's version was just a jerk. (And I hated the "R" joke.)

 

[DigificWriter]

They're not going to race-swap Bond without completely rebooting the franchise again; whoever inevitably replaces Craig is going to be Caucasian.

As an aside, I'm about 65 minutes into TND, and am very seriously leaning towards giving it a 10 because it genuinely deserves one. It's quintessentially Bond in every conceivable way, with great "Bond Girls", insane action sequences that work without feeling silly, and an antagonist in Elliot Carver whom I would honestly consider to be one of the best since Blofeld (chiefly because he's certifiably insane and played with unequivocal relish and gusto by the one and only Jonathan Pryce).

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

They're not going to race-swap Bond without completely rebooting the franchise again

Every time they change Bond actors, that's a reboot anyway. So this would be no different.