Most Overrated "Recent" Bond Movie.

[The Old Mixer]

I grew up on the Moore years, and A View To A Kill was the first Bond movie I ever saw. While in retrospect it's not that great (but c'mon, it's way better than Die Another Day!)

We'll have to agree to disagree on that one (and I'm no big fan of DAD, it would be my next least favorite)...but as it was your first, I can see where you'd be fonder of it.

That swaggering, smoking, quippy, sexist, kitschy, man-whore Bond is the one I will always love.

I don't know if I'd describe Moore's Bond as "swaggering" compared to a few of the others...he was definitely the most suave and charming of the lot. And he rarely smoked. He was doing cigars for his first couple films, then dropped the smoking entirely. As a fan of the books, one of the many little things that I liked about Dalton's back-to-Fleming approach was that Bond was smoking cigarettes again.

but Roger Moore is James Bond to me.

I find that sentiment to not be uncommon in TRW amongst people close to my age who got into Bond during Moore's era. But it definitely seems to be the minority view around here.

Bond fans may well be the most fickle group there ever are, people seem to have their own interpretation of what James Bond should be.

You do realize that you're posting on a Trek board, right? Yeah, there's some consensus about the high and low points of the movie series...but that's ignoring the 28 or 29 seasons of five or six different Trek series, and how much fans disagree about their relative merits. And have you ever been in a Star Wars OT vs. PT thread in SF&F...?

And honestly when was the last time most folks sat and watched an entire Sean Connery Bond flick?

Sometime last Spring, I think, when I was poring through the Ultimate James Bond Collection DVD set. Clearly you're not very fond of Connery, but many are, and I'm sure there are many here who have plenty of occasion to enjoy his Bond films. IIRC, Goldfinger and FRWL were the top two finalists in the Bond Films Hurt/Heal game a few months back.

 

[TedShatner10]

I don't understand why Moore's Bond movies were pure parodies when Octopussy was no more farfetched than Goldfinger, while You Only Live Twice was nearly as far out as Moonraker (even had the same director).

 

[Siwilliams]

Casino Royale and the new one Quantum Of Solace...overrated and do not seem like Bond movies, they are Bourne 2.5 and 3.5 if anything

 

[Siwilliams]

I don't understand why Moore's Bond movies were pure parodies when Octopussy was no more farfetched than Goldfinger, while You Only Live Twice was nearly as far out as Moonraker (even had the same director).

Moore's Bond is good, I like his comedic take on the character. Moonraker and The Spy Who Loved Me are some of my favorite Bond films

 

[TedShatner10]

Roger Moore in a sense saved the franchise and dragged it through the gawdy 70s and 80s, in addition he was a infinitely better choice for playing Bond than Burt fucking Reynolds.

 

[amdmiami]

By accedent I read "underrated" and I picked World is not Enough, but for over rated I would pick Casino Royale. Its a good bond flick but I think WINE and GE are better.

 

[Good Will Riker]

Roger Moore in a sense saved the franchise and dragged it through the gawdy 70s and 80s, in addition he was a infinitely better choice for playing Bond than Burt fucking Reynolds.

or, Adam West who Cubby Broccoli would have chosen had West said "Yes" to Diamonds Are Forever.

It was Sean Connery's longevity in the role and his agreement to return when George Lazenby vacated it, as well as Roger Moore's longevity in the role that saved the 007 franchise. Had EON changed 007 actors every few films after Lazenby or if we had "a musical chairs" of 3 Bond actors in between Moore and Dalton, this franchise would not have survived in its current A-list studio tentpole form today.

I also want to take back Goldeneye as being the most over-rated, because I actually consider that to be quite good in terms of direction and performance. My vote for over-rated goes to Quantum of Solace with its bad direction and plot-thin script. Sure, Goldeneye is style over substance built around action sequences, but it is Campbell's excellent use of the camera as well as Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, and Famke Janssen's "A" performances which gives that film the reputation it holds today. When you add up every single 007 film out there, we have had only a few original Bond films that have not followed the "later-Connery" and "Moore Bond film" formulas so closely in terms of plotting:

Dr. No
From Russia with Love
Goldfinger
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Licence to Kill
Goldeneye
Casino Royale

All of the other 007 films, IMHO, just aped off of each other in terms of plotting and formula, and really did not shake up the franchise. I would have put For Your Eyes Only up there had it been someone new in the role like Timothy Dalton or James Brolin, and if the movie actually had a decent director...but, alas that one was campy in spots for what was purportedly Moore's one-off "darker Bond."

 

[Siwilliams]

I think WINE and GE are better.

totally agree

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

I don't understand why Moore's Bond movies were pure parodies when Octopussy was no more farfetched than Goldfinger, while You Only Live Twice was nearly as far out as Moonraker (even had the same director).

Mostly becuase Octopussy is just so damn silly at so many points (the crocodile, the clown suit, the tarzan yell) and when it's not being completely ridiculous, it's plodding and boring. I had a friend describe the film as "suffering from terminal mediocrity."

 

[Good Will Riker]

^^^

Had Cubby not retained Roger Moore for a 6th outing as Bond for Octopussy to go up against Never Say Never Again, Moore would not have the reputation of being "Old Bond," and would probably have a better standing today because he was badass (In terms of Moore's standards, not Sonny Chiba's or Samuel L. Jackson's...) in Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun (Eventhough the quality of those 2 initial films don't hold a candle to Sean Connery's earlier works), and The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only were his more serious efforts. It is Moonraker along with Octopussy and A View to a Kill that ruined the man's reputation as Bond by the time his films were re-evaluated by a newer generation when Pierce Brosnan arrived with Goldeneye.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

^I would argue about Man with the Golden Gun. It had some moments, but descended into camp very easily. The slide whistle, the sheriff, Knick-Nack, and the bumbling fool of a bond girl. Really the best thing it had going for it was Christopher Lee, whose death was far too anti-climactic for such a cool villain.

 

[ncc74302]

You have to consider with Goldeneye what they were coming off of (the movie prior). Vast improvement.

I agree though, the score was awful. And Boris the oogling Russian was kind of annoying.

 

[Siwilliams]

Enjoy Goldeneye soundtrack, along with Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Moonraker, Goldfinger and The Living Daylights soundtracks

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

You have to consider with Goldeneye what they were coming off of (the movie prior). Vast improvement.

I agree though, the score was awful. And Boris the oogling Russian was kind of annoying.

Once again I have to disagree. I feel License to Kill is the most underrated film in the series.

 

[Siwilliams]

You have to consider with Goldeneye what they were coming off of (the movie prior). Vast improvement.

I agree though, the score was awful. And Boris the oogling Russian was kind of annoying.

Once again I have to disagree. I feel License to Kill is the most underrated film in the series.

I agree....License To Kill is cool, especially the ending

 

[TedShatner10]

I'm sorry, but GoldenEye is one of the most formulaic and disjointed Bond movies there is, I actually prefer License to Kill and Tomorrow Never Dies to it (despite their faults), although I agree Campbell's directing is very solid and elevates a mediocre script and a somewhat wishy-washy Pierce Brosnan (however I think Martin Campbell attracts a similar amount of ridiculous fanwank as Steven Moffat).

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Had Cubby not retained Roger Moore for a 6th outing as Bond for Octopussy to go up against Never Say Never Again, Moore would not have the reputation of being "Old Bond," and would probably have a better standing today because he was badass (In terms of Moore's standards, not Sonny Chiba's or Samuel L. Jackson's...) in Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun (Eventhough the quality of those 2 initial films don't hold a candle to Sean Connery's earlier works), and The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only were his more serious efforts. It is Moonraker along with Octopussy and A View to a Kill that ruined the man's reputation as Bond by the time his films were re-evaluated by a newer generation when Pierce Brosnan arrived with Goldeneye.

I can't argue about Octopussy being the tipping point when Moore became "old." He looked a spry middle aged throughout his movies. He started to seem a little old in For Your Eyes Only but I attribute that to the fact that one of the Bond girls in that one was only 16 or so. But he just started to look a bit too creased when I saw Octopussy. It was still a decent movie but I think few of Moore's films really stand out, except perhaps The Spy Who Loved Me.

And after finally seeing it, I don't think Moonraker is nearly as bad as people say. Turning Jaws into a sympathetic character may have been a bit much. But other than that, I don't see why people don't just accept space as the McGuffin and just enjoy the ride.

 

[Good Will Riker]

^^^

Call it a "bottleneck" or a "log jam" if you will, but Octopussy is the film in my DVD collection that is currently preventing me from viewing A View to a Kill, 2 Daltons, 4 Brosnans, and Casino Royale to finish out a personal Bond marathon that I put off 7 months ago.

Something about Roger Moore dressed as a clown during the film's climax is preventing me from going back and finishing this one and the rest of the films in my 007 collection.

Truly a "jump the shark" moment for James Bond.

 

[Starkers]

It's funny but I actually have a soft spot for Octopussy, it's probably my favourite of the last 3 Moores. It has an interesting story and bad guys, some nice set pieces, it's set in India (not one of the usual Bond suspects when it comes to locations) and it has a Bond girl who's only young enough to be Moore's daughter rather than Grand Daughter!

As for the clown bit, I kinda like that too, a man dressed as a clown trying to defuse a nuclear bomb! I nice play on the ludicrousness of the situation.

 

[JacksonArcher]

Out of the films listed, I'm having a hard time choosing. I love both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace so I don't think either is overrated naturally. I'm an admirable fan of the Brosnan films and I mildly enjoy all of his films. I think I like Tomorrow Never Dies the least, though, however it has been a while since I have seen it, so who knows.