Bond movies. Good and bad.

[Svengoolie 3]

Having seen the comprehensive ranking of all 104 bond villains (noting it missed lechiffe's poisonously beautiful blonde femme fatale in casino royale) I decided to see what people here thought were good and bad bond movies.

First off I think the Craig movies were generally very good, with a more humanized bond and less really ridiculous gadgets that earlier bond movies. While there was some gadget creep later on we never got self repairing invisible cars and laser cannon cameras again. Craig's bond was more human than any since Connery or Lazenby. (While George Lazenby gets sh-t on a lot his bond was far more human than Moore's audio animatronic mannequin ever was.)

Another one I liked that some dislike was The man with the golden gun, almost completely due to Christopher Lee's performance. His villain was more charming and menacing than most bond villains and too the movie had an underappreciated but excellent one liner in it. (I'd day there's a very useful 4 letter word and you're full of it.)

As for ones that aren't so great...You'd think being a major SF fan I'd love moonraker. Yeah, no. First off it was a virtual carbon copy of the preceding film with a star wars filter over the lens. It was clearly nothing but a cheap cash in on the awesome popularity of star wars. Richard Kiel's Jaws provided some of the most amusing moments in the movie, which says a lot about it. And, the "he's attempting re entry" line, oh dear lord that was awful. I can still hear the groan from everyone in the theater over 20, punctuated by the snickers and titters of those under 18.

Die another day almost looked like a self parody of bond movies and the utterly fake cgi bond parasailing scene really hurt it. The gadgets in the movie, like a self repairing invisible car, shattered suspension of disbelief. And a guy had diamonds embedded in his face that could not be removed? Really? Seriously? What, were they being transported along with krazy glue and the two got mixed up before they were stuck in his face? Gimme a few minutes and my trusty xacto knife and I'd have those things out and be on my way to a jeweler faster than you can say "This wont hurt a bit..."

As for a korean man able to change his race to an englishman, the less said the better. That "dream machine" thing was just a total WTF that trampled on the fragmented corpse of the audience's disbelief, and the last insult, the take on the laser scene from goldfinger. Way to defecate on one of the best scenes in a bond movie ever.

This was just one long groan of a movie. I wonder how many audience members suffered brain damaged from the repeated face palms this gold plated turkey induced. Was this the worst bond movie ever made? It's sure a contender.

[Alex]

I think I liked the first Pierce Brosnan movie but none of the other ones with him which I thought were increasingly ridiculous the longer he was in the role, including the one scene in any James Bond movie I have been unable to suspend disbelief for.

I grew up on Moore and liked the somewhat comedic take on Bond as a kid, but as I got older came to prefer Connery more. I also think Dalton was somewhat underrated. The Craig movies I have a harder time fitting into the whole Bond idea. It isn't quite a continuation nor a reboot.

[Svengoolie 3]

I think I liked the first Pierce Brosnan movie but none of the other ones with him which I thought were increasingly ridiculous the longer he was in the role, including the one scene in any James Bond movie I have been unable to suspend disbelief for.

I grew up on Moore and liked the somewhat comedic take on Bond as a kid, but as I got older came to prefer Connery more. I also think Dalton was somewhat underrated. The Craig movies I have a harder time fitting into the whole Bond idea. It isn't quite a continuation nor a reboot.

I always saw them as a reboot as they began with bond  being promoted to 00 status, so I think they have to be considered a reboot.

They reintroduce the idea of a  fallible,  mortal bond. In Gioldfinger bond didn't know how to disarm the nuke in fort Knox.  In you only  life twice he didn't know how to pass as an astronaut. Moores's bond  was more like batman than a secret agent.  He had no trouble being an astronaut in moonraker. Plus he could  look at some hexagons and say "It's the chemical formuler (how he pronounced it)  for a plant." He easily dismantled a nuke in the movie before moonraker. He knew everything. Supermen tend to be boring characters.

I will say one thing for  moonraker,  it was  made 2 years before the first actual shuttle lift off, and ghawd DAMN the shuttle lift offs  were  so realistic and believable they looked just like the real shuttle liftoffs years later.

[Svengoolie 3]

While we're talking bond movies, what was your favorite bond song and what was your favorite bond intro sequence?

For  a song it's  probably "a view to a kill" or "you know my name".

My favorite intro was the one from casino royale. I liked the animation,  theme and style. The one from spectre with  the giant octopus kinda creeped me out

[bob]

I have my Bond rankings on a  flash drive

The Elite

Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, The Man with Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Never Say Never Again, The Living Daylights, License to Kill, GoldenEye, The World is Not Enough, Casino Royale (2006), Skyfall, Spectre

OK

Octop***y, Tomorrow Never Dies, Quantum of Solace

Crap

Casino Royale (1954), Casino Royale (1967), On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, A View to a Kill, Die Another Day

[Svengoolie 3]

Well Bob,  I have to say I don't  see anything wrong with your list.

[Alex]

I think I liked the first Pierce Brosnan movie but none of the other ones with him which I thought were increasingly ridiculous the longer he was in the role, including the one scene in any James Bond movie I have been unable to suspend disbelief for.

I grew up on Moore and liked the somewhat comedic take on Bond as a kid, but as I got older came to prefer Connery more. I also think Dalton was somewhat underrated. The Craig movies I have a harder time fitting into the whole Bond idea. It isn't quite a continuation nor a reboot.

I always saw them as a reboot as they began with bond  being promoted to 00 status, so I think they have to be considered a reboot.

They reintroduce the idea of a  fallible,  mortal bond. In Gioldfinger bond didn't know how to disarm the nuke in fort Knox.  In you only  life twice he didn't know how to pass as an astronaut. Moores's bond  was more like batman than a secret agent.  He had no trouble being an astronaut in moonraker. Plus he could  look at some hexagons and say "It's the chemical formuler (how he pronounced it)  for a plant." He easily dismantled a nuke in the movie before moonraker. He knew everything. Supermen tend to be boring characters.

I will say one thing for  moonraker,  it was  made 2 years before the first actual shuttle lift off, and ghawd DAMN the shuttle lift offs  were  so realistic and believable they looked just like the real shuttle liftoffs years later.

And then in Skyfall he has a car going waaaay back to (I think) Goldfinger which to me kind of says it wasn't so much of a reboot.

[Trevor]

Trivia note: the cinematographer on most of the early James Bond films was South Africa's first Oscar winner. 

The only Bond films I didn't like were A View To A Kill - nice theme song though - and all the Daniel Craig ones. He's no more Bond than I am.

My favourites: On Her Majesty's Secret Service and License To Kill.

[RCMerchant]

GOLDFNGER is my favorite!
Favorite theme song too!

Any of the Pierce Bronsan ones-ugh!   All I can think of is "Where's Mrs.King?"
Didn't care for the Timothy Dalton ones either. And after seeing this...!
 

http://youtu.be/6J-SH-1VQpY
	Small | Large

[RCMerchant]

As for Daniel Craig. Best Bond since Connery-and I ain't joking.

[FatFreddysCat]

I grew up during the Roger Moore era so he's always kinda been "my" Bond. The first 007 movie I saw was Moonraker, which hit cable TV when I was about 10. At that time I didn't know who James Bond was, I had no idea that the movie was part of a series that went back nearly 20 years at that point --- I was just a "Star Wars" crazed kid who would watch anything with a space theme to it. Since the bad guy in Moonraker had a Death Star and there were guys shootin' at each other with laser guns, I was a happy camper. :D

Over the years I've seen all of the 007's numerous times (I own almost all of them on DVD) and honestly I find something to like in pretty much all of them. Some have aged better than others, of course, but each one is a product of the times they were made in.

It took me a while to warm up to Daniel Craig (I don't think he truly made the role his own till Skyfall), and of course Connery is the O.G., but Pierce Brosnan didn't do a bad job either. Hell, I even liked George Lazenby's one-and-done turn. Timothy Dalton definitely got the short end during his brief Bond tenure, he probably could've been a decent 007 if they'd given him better movie(s) to work with.

[RCMerchant]

I grew up during the Roger Moore era so he's always kinda been "my" Bond. The first 007 movie I saw was Moonraker, which hit cable TV when I was about 10. At that time I didn't know who James Bond was, I had no idea that the movie was part of a series that went back nearly 20 years at that point --- I was just a "Star Wars" crazed kid who would watch anything with a space theme to it. Since the bad guy in Moonraker had a Death Star and there were guys shootin' at each other with laser guns, I was a happy camper. :D

I seen that one at a small theater in Liberty NY back in the day. Me and my brother Mike! I was impressed. Bond and Jaws falling out of the plane knocked my socks off.

[Svengoolie 3]

As for Daniel Craig. Best Bond since Connery-and I ain't joking.

I wasn't laughing. Making bond a little more human helped.

[RCMerchant]

As for Daniel Craig. Best Bond since Connery-and I ain't joking.

I wasn't laughing. Making bond a little more human helped.

Plus they're just well made movies. And it's keeping Bond fresh, and not just a cartoon.
(well, it IS a cartoon, in a way-it always has been a fantastic fantasy.)