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On a side note, when I first saw OHMSS as a kid in '69, I thought the "other fella" line was in reference to Cinderella and the forgotten glass slipper. It works better if you read it that way.
To rank the best in any kind of semblance is impossible, there are too many great ones to contemplate. I will say, I think TLD is a very good one, so is MR despite the slapstick ending. Of course GF needs to be up there, too. The worst I'll reserve for DAD, as it's a total travesty from beginning to end. There's nothing, absolutely nothing I like about that movie.
I know that's a pretty lightweight, silly pre-title sequence but I think it's fun.
TB, however, is at least original. And it does have the superior Spectre meeting out of all the Bonds. Much better than Craig's Bond infiltrating it with a "Mickey Mouse" password. I also like the fact in TB that Bond isn't there on their clandestine meeting, as he has his very own meeting with the other 00 section agents to attend. Great scene, and it all works so much better. Sure, the underwater sequences can drag a little, but the story is infinitely better than DAD's regurgitated DAF come GF plot. Plus, TB has one ingredient DAD does not.... Connery. Oh, and the title song is way better than Madonna's tripe. If one movie that deserved to be lost in the old MGM fire (yeah, I know wrong decade) it was DAD. Tried to watch it a few weeks ago on TV. Boy, it's BAD.
To bring this topic back on track, I'd say TMWTGG greatly missed Ken Adams. Scaramanga's Fun House just didn't look convincing enough to me back in 74. Maybe Peter Murton just wasn't up to the job, originally he was Art Director on some of the previous Bonds, but the end result just looked cheap, especially for a Bond extravaganza and one that relied heavily on this set-up for its climax. Just imagine how different a Ken Adam's designed Fun House would've looked. It would've changed the dynamics entirely. I don't mind LALD, as it has that great funeral scene ("whose funeral is it?" --- "Yours!") set in New Orleans and that otherworldly voodoo sacrifice just before the brilliant McCartney song.
22. DAF
21. FYEO
20. TMWTGG
19. FRWL
18. YOLT
17. AVTAK
16. OP
15. TSWLM
14. SP
13. DAD
12. LTK
11. TB
10. SF
9. TLD
8. MR
7. QOS
6. CR
5. GF
4. TND
3. OHMSS
2. GE
1. TWINE
#'s 1-11 are pretty much perfection; assigning them each a ranking is almost a formality, so slight are my preferences from one to the next (though admittedly GE and TWINE take the PTS to unheard of levels of amazingness).
LTK at 12 is just about perfect too: a mini-movie that hits all the right marks and introduces many of our core cast. Small points make this PTS just slightly less perfect than 1-11.
13-16 all have great moments. They all have weaker moments, too.
AVTAK at 17 is helped greatly by John Barry's "Snow Job" and romantic iceberg sub cue as well as that killer snow-surfing to the Beach Boys bit (how do people seriously not like this?), but strip those pluses away and you're left with a pretty rough PTS. Still gets me fired up for the awesomeness to come every time though.
YOLT at 18 has the great swallowing space capsule opening and Bond's assassination. No problems here whatsoever apart from being less action-oriented and feeling all too brief. A perfectly fine PTS that perhaps doesn't jazz the viewer up as much as most others.
FRWL at 19 is nice. It's short, it's clever, it introduces us to Red Grant and his garroting, but it really does nothing to get me pumped for the movie. It's way too brief and the segue into the main titles, with everyone just walking to the building for a few inconsequential seconds, is poorly handled. Not much to write home about here.
20-23 are just rough, but at least TMWTGG is well shot, nicely sets up the villain, and provides some good tension before we kick into the main titles.
22. L&LD
21. DAD
20. TND
19. QOS
18. LTK
17. SP
16. FYEO
15. TB
14. TSWLM
13. OHMSS
12. FRWL
11. YOLT
10. AVTAK
09. CR
08. OP
07. SF
06. MR
05. TMWTGG
04. GF
03. TWINE
02. GE
01. TLD
I love OHMSS (top 10 for me) but that's going a bit too far. Mendes' silhouette fight alone puts Hunt to utter shame. Although, Hunt still manages to get some pretty decent visuals in the final film, in the end, whether it was the lack of patience - or limited tech to work with at the time - he didn't do any better than Hamilton or Young.
Furthermore any underlying themes in OHMSS are... well... non-existent compared to the complexity of Skyfall. You have childhood trauma, the resulting mother/son relationship between Bond and M, old vs new "sometimes the old ways are the best", modern society's hurdles, Britain (pride/false pride), trust, guilt etc. There is an entire thread dedicated to this over on the Skyfall pages, I believe.
In addition, the editing could be classified as "experimental" but that doesn't make it any better. The scenes which are the worst cut are: beach in the PTS, hotel brawl, Draco's goon fight and the bobsled chase at the end. I can't watch these scenes without wondering why Hunt never directed a JB film again...I wonder. Whoever edited the sound should also get a slap on the wrist because it was truly horrible. It sounded like I was watching a 60s tv show with all the archived sound effects being thrown into the mix.
The whole scene has so much atmosphere, pace & class, and introducing Laz in shadow is a nice touch, emulated for Brosnan some years later.
I like the OHMSS PTS a lot. The editing is a bit strange in places but I think it adds to the quirkiness of the scene. The photography is very atmospheric, the music fantastic and the Aston Martin is one of my favourites!
Nonetheless, I agree with most on here who say its a decent scene. Barry's energetic music is great.
Least favourite (by a large margin): Spectre
That's probably the second best Craig PTS after CR. Why do you dislike it?
Thought most people like the SP PTS... !
Why least favourite?
I agree with this,it definitely is not as good as CR,QoS & SF PTS'.
Your misinformed remark about the sound editor is also baseless, especially as the sound effects were not found in 60s tv shows, but were exclusively used by Eon throughout the 60s for their own productions. There might be slight similarities to Gerry Anderson productions, but they were mostly a homage to Bond and not a direct lift from a library source. In fact, not that an aficionado such as yourself would care, but I actually miss those old sound effects. I still stand by my earlier statement that OHMSS is bold, innovative and experimental... and you're no (cough) aficionado. <:-P
(0.59)
Also, it's worth noting that the sound effects have been altered quite a bit from their original cinematic versions, most notably on Blu-ray Discs where there are plenty of critics that complain about: Gunshots sounding different, the addition of chirping birds in the final scene, and that the addition of these new sound mixes have become a distraction. Even the music has been mixed down, lessening the powerful moments. For the record, I still prefer the remastered VHS widescreen version over the DVDS and Blu-ray editions; it's rich colour pallet of mauves was exactly how I remembered seeing it in the cinema, not the washed out versions we've gotten since. So maybe The Aficionado has seen a poor copy with an alternative modern mix?
Oh, and I loved Gerry Anderson productions, also. A bit before your time though, @BAIN.
Yes, I get what you mean @Bondsum about the sound effects being altered/changed on modern dvd copies of old films. I remember first noticing it in the dvd version of The Terminator back in the early 2000s when the gun shot effects were changed and (most significantly) the text in the opening post-apocalyptic scene had been altered to a dvd subtitle format. I don't really get why they do it. In terms of Bond though I can't think of any instances in the subsequent DVDs/Blu Rays where they have made major changes - except perhaps TB where they added the Bond theme over the end credits as Bond and Domino are being whisked into the air.
I loved the Gerry Anderson productions too but I got into them in the 90s when they were repeated on BBC. Although Thunderbirds tends to be the most popular, my favourite was always Captain Scarlet.
Joe 90 was good but I was always Club Scarlet. I even got the dvd set of it.
As is the Skyfall PTs.
Both are pretty magnificent.
You know what ... I simply misread! I was thinking about the titles but not the PTS. Quite embarassing but you are right: The PTS of SP is pretty cool actually! I like the Day Of The Dead, maybe would have spared the couch gag.
Sorry for that. But I hate the titles: Damn song, very strange and disturbing octopus sequences and I can't go on anymore - I always skip it when watching the first 2/3 of the movie (skipping the last third also)
Favourite PTS: Goldfinger
Least favourite: Moonraker
You would rather watch live and Let die pts then moonraker pts?
As for PTS rankings go I do love TLD opening. Great stuff and my preferred over the 2 Daltons.
Picking a number one of them all is difficult and I might just go with Octopussy- especially of the Roger Bonds. Goldfinger for the Sean's and SPECTRE for the Daniel's. Pierce, I think had excellent PTS openings in all four of his films. GE would be my favorite of his. I've always loved OHMSS's PTS as well.
My least favorite might go to either YOLT or QoS.
I actually dont mind that,in the final cut,he says it in a dismissive way as he wants to contact Mission Control..but the next line is woeful,they should have used the way he said it in the trailer.no excuse for that.
He wasnt on stage in a theatre,this is film.
Yes, indeed! I find the Moonraker one quite boring. One I don't like much is the extreme opposite: QoS. But all just because I get angry because I can't follow it due to the insane editing.
CR is still pretty amazing, same with FRWL, YOLT, DAF, LALD ... most of them are just awesome even by today's standands. The titles though ... some of them did not age well (GE for example).