Special Movie Debate: James Bond

[Reed Rothchild | 9,549]

Made up rankings off the top of my head even though I haven't seen some of these in 20 years:

1. Casino Royale (2006)
2. Goldfinger
3. For Your Eyes Only
4. Skyfall
5. Thunderball/Never Say Never Again
6. The Living Daylights 
7. The Spy Who Loved Me
8. Goldeneye
9. From Russia With Love
10. No Time to Die
11. License to Kill
12. A View to a Kill
13. Octopussy
14. Diamonds Are Forever
15. Dr. No
16. Spectre
17. Quantum of Solace
18. Tomorrow Never Dies
19. You Only Live Twice
20. On Her Majesty's Secret Secret
21. Live and Let Die
22. The World Is Not Enough
23. Moonraker
24. The Man with the Golden Gun
25. Die Another Day

Never seen: old Casino Royale

[Tulpa | 3,516]

49 minutes ago, Kguillemette said:

Strange Goldeneye seems to be running away with it.

It is arguably the best of the Brosnan films, and Sean Bean is a great villain. Famke Jannsen is one of the more memorable femme fatales that Bond faces, too.

As Reed said, there was a six year hiatus in a film franchise that was up until then reliably putting out films every two or three years. And while Dalton's films have been more favorably accepted nowadays, back in the late 80s they were kind of savaged. There was actually a lot of talk that the Bond films had run their course.

Goldeneye kind of marked a Bond renaissance, similar to how Casino Royale did a decade later. So I can see how it dwells in people's minds more than some of the others. N64 game didn't hurt, either.

[Tulpa | 3,516]

36 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Never seen: old Casino Royale

You should, just for the sheer insanity.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,549]

13 minutes ago, Tulpa said:

You should, just for the sheer insanity.

I'll (re)add it to the list.  Right now I'm trying to get to some horror films before I do this whole October thing

[Tulpa | 3,516]

It's a very disorienting film to watch. Characters come and go at random, no one seems to be the protagonist, and the whole thing feels rushed and stitched together (because it was.)

It's got a jawdropping cast of 60s A-listers, though, and a great Burt Bacharach score, and Dusty Springfield sings what is probably the definitive version of "The Look of Love."

[G-type | 2,483]

1 hour ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Our general demographic + the N64 game.

It didn't hurt that there had been a pretty long layoff since the Dalton films too.  So Goldeneye was pretty hyped at the time.

unless you or your dad was a big Bond-head, people generally start watching with whatever Bond comes out when you are in the 10-15 year age range. Which for a lot of the people around here would be Goldeneye. I would have been 18 when Goldeneye came out, so I had already seen the Dalton Bond films by that point. 

[RH | 4,921]

Bond for me started with an occasional film that would pop up on TBS.  Before GoldenEye, I enjoyed watching those films but I wouldn't consider myself a fan.

I completely admit that in my case, I picked up GoldenEye 007 for the N64 because everyone was saying it was awesome.  I feel in love with the game and then a friend let me borrow the VHS tape.  It was then that I decided to try and watch more Bond films.  I think you just can't beat that film when it's your first real memorable experience, especially if you played the game first.  For how the game was made with progressive stages, it followed the story well enough and I really enjoyed watching the movie, scene for scene and noticing how Rare interpreted the film for each stage.

[nrslam | 476]

Seen em all, and most of them more than once. Had to go with Goldfinger as my top. Best song (Shirley Bassey rocks!), first use of the famous opening gambit sequence, best henchman (Oddjob), best bondgirl name (Pussy Galore), best Bond car (Aston Martin), best villain death (fat guy sucked out a tiny jet window). What's not to love?

[sp1nz | 613]

Casino Royale (1967) is my favorite, because it's a wacky comedy parody of Bond movies and the straight shooters tend to be middling stuff for me. Here are my scores for the ones I've seen:

Wonderful:
Casino Royale (1967) 8.2/10
Moonraker (1979) 7.7/10
GoldenEye (1995) 7.6/10

Strong:
Licence to Kill (1989) 6.9/10
From Russia with Love (1963) 6.7/10
Diamonds Are Forever (1971) 6.5/10
For Your Eyes Only (1981) 6.5/10

Good:
The Living Daylights (1987) 5.9/10
Thunderball (1965) 5.8/10
Never Say Never Again (1983) 5.8/10
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) 5.7/10
Dr. No (1962) 5.6/10

Average:
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) 5.4/10
A View to a Kill (1985) 5.3/10
Live and Let Die (1973) 5.2/10
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) 4.8/10

Dull:
Goldfinger (1964) 3.9/10
Octopussy (1983) 3.7/10
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) 3.6/10

Bad:
You Only Live Twice (1967) 2.8/10

[Link | 2,714]

I never saw any Bond stuff until pretty recently. The opportunity never presented itself when I was a kid and I had little reason to seek them out. It's never been a conversation tooic in my life. I watched 3 of them a few years ago. Whatever Netflix had. All Daniel Craig stuff. Casino Royale was one. I liked them. 

 

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

I really liked the newest Casino Royale movie.. probably one of my favourites. The Goldeneye plane jump is probably my favourite stunt and opening... but the Brosnan movies were ridiculous for the most part. 

Dr. No and Her Majesty's probably stand out the most. I've also seen a View to Kill a lot for whatever reason.. used to be on TBS all the time. 

Spectre was terrible and almost comedic at the end when he's running through the missile plant thing. More unbelievable than a video game. Ready for a new era of Bond. 

[Tulpa | 3,516]

10 hours ago, Andy_Bogomil said:

I've also seen a View to Kill a lot for whatever reason.. used to be on TBS all the time.

Oh yeah, I remember that. For some reason I would always catch it during the scene when Grace Jones blew herself up.

[wongojack | 217]

Voted Casino Royale

Huge Bond fan - I used to ride my bike to the video store when I was a kid to rent them on VHS, so I was going back and discovering the series at an early age.

I usually resist ranking them overall and prefer to rank each actor's best film which would be something like

• Dr No - Connery
• The Spy Who Loved Me - Moore
• The Living Daylights - Dalton
• Die Another Day - Brosnan <- yeah you read that right
• Casino Royale - Craig

In an overall stack rank, I'd put GoldenEye somewhere near the middle.  By the time it came out I'd seen them all, and while GoldenEye was fun, it hit me as a little too campy and Brosnan's bond was somehow a bit more reckless than I wanted him to be.  I also never played the game when it was new, and I just don't really gravitate to the FPS genre anyway.

Skyfall is a perplexing one.  I was surprised at the positive reception of that movie.  I thought it was long and sorta just gave us too much information about the character.  I mean, his REAL NAME is James Bond?  Huh?  The attempt to make him a real person and connect us to his family didn't land with me.

I could comment on every movie, so this could go long, but I'll say that I loved Casino Royal when it was new, and I still love it.  Brillant reboot that reset the expectations for the series and gave us a chance to understand the character's history and motivations all over again.

 

[wongojack | 217]

On 9/21/2023 at 12:24 PM, Reed Rothchild said:

Made up rankings off the top of my head even though I haven't seen some of these in 20 years:

1. Casino Royale (2006)
2. Goldfinger
3. For Your Eyes Only
4. Skyfall
5. Thunderball/Never Say Never Again

I love that there is such a diversity of opinion about these movies.  If you watch ranking videos or even read online, you'll see all kinds of rankings all over the place.  However, I can't remember anyone ranking For Your Eyes Only that high.  You must really like the whole cold war detente thing.  Or maybe a big Sheena Easton fan?  I'd love to hear someone say good things about FYEO.  Maybe I will like it more.

[Scrobins | 1,727]

50 minutes ago, wongojack said:

I love that there is such a diversity of opinion about these movies.  If you watch ranking videos or even read online, you'll see all kinds of rankings all over the place.  However, I can't remember anyone ranking For Your Eyes Only that high.  You must really like the whole cold war detente thing.  Or maybe a big Sheena Easton fan?  I'd love to hear someone say good things about FYEO.  Maybe I will like it more.

I like FYEO as a solid back to basics Cold War story after the ridiculousness of Moonraker. My favorite movies are the ones that really let Bond be a spy, plus this one pulled some elements from LALD’s book.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,549]

1 hour ago, wongojack said:

I love that there is such a diversity of opinion about these movies.  If you watch ranking videos or even read online, you'll see all kinds of rankings all over the place.  However, I can't remember anyone ranking For Your Eyes Only that high.  You must really like the whole cold war detente thing.  Or maybe a big Sheena Easton fan?  I'd love to hear someone say good things about FYEO.  Maybe I will like it more.

It's one of about 6 VHS I owned, so I'm sure that bias plays a part.  I do dig that song and the Cold war entries too.

[RH | 4,921]

Anyone ever go to Carowinds and ride th James Bond ride back when it was Paramount’s Carowinds?

That was awesome. 

[twiztor | 851]

seen them all. most of them have their own sort of charm.

voted Goldeneye as my favorite, but that is 100% because of the game. solid enough movie, but i don't objectively think it would be tops.

missed opportunity to not have a poll as to who your favorite Bond is (Dalton, for me).

another missed opportunity to not have your favorite Bond song (would have to give it my thought, but "Diamonds Are Forever" is kind of the quintessential Bond song i think of. "Die Another Day" by Madonna ranks as the worst IMO).

[JamesRobot | 5,806]

11 hours ago, wongojack said:

I love that there is such a diversity of opinion about these movies.  If you watch ranking videos or even read online, you'll see all kinds of rankings all over the place.  However, I can't remember anyone ranking For Your Eyes Only that high.  You must really like the whole cold war detente thing.  Or maybe a big Sheena Easton fan?  I'd love to hear someone say good things about FYEO.  Maybe I will like it more.

I'm big on For Your Eyes Only as well.  Great theme song. Great opening scene  where they kill "Blofeld" which is a pretty funny jab at MGM since EON didn't have rights to use the character at the time.  The downhill ski chase scene is classic.  And the pair of Lotus Esprit Turbos are dope. 

The maroon one with the custom ski rack is sharp, but the white submarine Lotus is over the top Bond gadgetry at its finest. 

 

Edit: Oops!  Got For Your Eyes Only mixed up with The Spy Who Loved Me.  Well, they're both great anyway. 

Edited September 23, 2023 by JamesRobot

[Gentlegamer | 174]

Top Three

From Russia with Love

For Your Eyes Only

Licence to Kill

Top Themes

Live and Let Die (Paul McCartney and Wings)

For Your Eyes Only (Sheena Easton)

A View to a Kill (Duran Duran)

You Know My Name (Chris Cornell)

Best Gun Barrel

Casino Royale

Edited September 23, 2023 by Gentlegamer

[Tulpa | 3,516]

17 minutes ago, JamesRobot said:

The downhill ski chase scene is classic. 

The music in that scene slaps. Both the dissonant piano intro and the rockin' chase music.

 

[a3quit4s | 4,103]

I was a hardcore Brosnan guy, right up till they delivered a gritty, deeper, less cartoony character with Craig. Man the darkness and grit he brought to the role was awesome to watch. 

[wongojack | 217]

12 hours ago, Scrobins said:

I like FYEO as a solid back to basics Cold War story after the ridiculousness of Moonraker. My favorite movies are the ones that really let Bond be a spy, plus this one pulled some elements from LALD’s book.

Yeah, I'll get behind you on all those points, but I usually start fading in that one, and (like @JamesRobot) I wish I was watching The Spy Who Loved Me.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,549]

1 hour ago, Tulpa said:

The music in that scene slaps. Both the dissonant piano intro and the rockin' chase music.

 

Tywin Lannister sighting

[Tulpa | 3,516]

4 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Tywin Lannister sighting

I forgot Dance was in this (very briefly.) HIs film debut, apparently.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dance