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Self- Analyze Your Top Five Bond Movies
chrisisall
Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
Is there a distinct pattern? Do you lean toward a type or style? Big or small? OTT or relatively serious? A particular actor? Or no pattern whatsoever- a smattering of everything?
Here's mine:
1 & 2- TLD & LTK. Kind of interchangeable.
3- TND.
4- SP.
5- DN.
Dalton is my favourite Bond, my most literary Bond. This should indicate a preference towards smaller more serious Bonds, but then 3 & 4 are OTT entries (especially 3 which is near YOLT level) with humour & crazy villains. Then 5 is arguable the 'smallest' Bond with nearly none of the gadgets or extended action. No Moore, no Lazenby... the other four are here... there's no patter of strong villains since Whitaker & Blofeld are low key, no music pattern as they each have different composers. There is no objective quality pattern since most of them generally could not be considered 'classics' in the stricter sense of the word.
The only pattern I can conjure is that in each of these movies I am riveted and/or endlessly entertained by each actor's interpretation of Bond himself.
If anyone else can see a pattern here I'm not, I'd be interested to hear it.
Anyone else want to do theirs?
Here's mine:
1 & 2- TLD & LTK. Kind of interchangeable.
3- TND.
4- SP.
5- DN.
Dalton is my favourite Bond, my most literary Bond. This should indicate a preference towards smaller more serious Bonds, but then 3 & 4 are OTT entries (especially 3 which is near YOLT level) with humour & crazy villains. Then 5 is arguable the 'smallest' Bond with nearly none of the gadgets or extended action. No Moore, no Lazenby... the other four are here... there's no patter of strong villains since Whitaker & Blofeld are low key, no music pattern as they each have different composers. There is no objective quality pattern since most of them generally could not be considered 'classics' in the stricter sense of the word.
The only pattern I can conjure is that in each of these movies I am riveted and/or endlessly entertained by each actor's interpretation of Bond himself.
If anyone else can see a pattern here I'm not, I'd be interested to hear it.
Anyone else want to do theirs?
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Comments
1. GE
2. CR
3. SP
4. SF
5. FRWL.
Well my pattern is that 3 of the 4 Craig films are in my top 5, but none are #1, which is held by GE by a thread. Only because of the fact that is was what got me into the series. With the exception of SP, the rest really aren't OTT. But as my rankings move on, the OTT ones start to show up. Oddly, MR and DAF are 6 and 7
2. LTK
3. QOS
4. OP
5. AVTAK
Trends I see: 3 of them are 2nd outings of a tenure (TMWTGG, LTK, QOS). I don't see Connery, Brosnan outings here (yet I love them as Bond). The 1980's dominate with 3 of my top 5 films. 3 of them were made in a 6 year period (1983-1989).
If I had to do a top 5 of my most rewatchable Bond's:
1. QOS
2. TND
3. GE
4. TLD
5. OP
Here, Brosnan appears with 2 outings. QOS and OP are the only 2 to be on both top 5's of this post.
Compelling stories, beautiful visuals, quite romantic (settings, girls, dialogue), suspenseful (music, settings, action), very attractive female leads, great characterizations, and a Bond firing on all cylinders.
I do perhaps lean more towards the mystery/suspense Bonds over the action driven ones, but I make an exception for TB & TSWLM because they do have more than their share of suspenseful moments, and they are superbly executed larger than life Bond films. A key element for me is romance. The film must have a romantic aspect to the visuals or characters. That's what differentiates Bond from the pretenders for me. An element of glamour, class and finesse.
My #6 (moved up after recent rewatch) is SF, which also veers into mystery/suspense territory over action.
1. FRWL
2. TB
3. CR
4. TSWLM
5. DN
2. OHMSS
3. GF
4. GE
5. SF
1 and 2 indicate I like an emotional edge and a genuine love in Bond movies. This could be easy to take too far, but I think each did it well. GF and GE indicate I like gold. Lame joke I know; for me those two were the highest points for Connery and Brosnan, and they are both very entertaining. I also love Martin Campbell's direction for Bond, having included both his films here. SF kind of goes back to a reasonable emotional edge, and I always liked Judi Dench's M so it was cool to see her get a lot more screen time.
Hmm never looked at it like that. The director isn't something that I focus on.
2. From Russia With Love
3. The Living Daylights
4. Dr. No
5. For Your Eyes Only
The trend with my top 5 is that they're all from the more serious end of the Bond spectrum. It's also mostly Dalton (his entire tenure) and Connery films, with the exception of the sole Moore entry.
From Russia With Love
These two are more connected to each other than the other three on my top five for certain. They're both closer to genuine spy thrillers (in fact, they are) than almost any other Bond movie, they both have romantic undertones but darker, mysterious overtones, and both have brutal action scenes (especially hand-to-hand fights). When there's action in these movies, it's for a good reason, and it always gets your heart pumping. Of course, they feature brilliant characterization, some seriously suspenseful moments, and a main villain who is really operating under the orders of someone else.
The Spy Who Loved Me
Goldfinger
GoldenEye
These ones are more of "traditional" Bond films - they have gadgets, they have humor, they have Bond at his best as the general public knows it. TSWLM and GF share more in common than GE, which is closer to CR because of Martin Campbell's hand in directing it. TSWLM and GF are very similar, though. They both featured significantly larger-scale sets and atmosphere than their predecessors, had similarly suspenseful moments (Fort Knox and the pyramids), had goliaths as henchmen, had beautiful new cars and chases involving all their cars' gadgets, Bond overcoming allegiance issues to get his girl, and they both have some of the most well-known PTS endings (for different reasons, of course). They're also considered Connery and Moore's respective best outings, and I think it features them at their coolest and most suave and effortless.
Most Bond films have at least a little something like that. For instance, in your favorites, Mrs. Carver's death in TND, the revenge driven story/emotion behind LTK, and SP speaks for itself.
2. OP
3. CR
4. FRWL
5. OHMSS
6. GE
1 measure action and stunts, 1 measure thriller, 1 measure script and humour. Shake over a luscious Barry score then add a well rounded cast of characters
If I had one criticism of the above films it would be respectively
1. Villains (except Necros)
2. Poor use of locations
3. Clunky dialogue in places
4. None
5. Editing
6. Score
My top five...
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
From Russia With Love
Dr.No
Octopussy
The Living Daylights
A sort of 60's and 80's medley. Well, three of the films are debut films for the actors.
Three of them have a very nostalgic memory for me, or stood out from the crowd -OHMSS, OP,TLD. (Appreciation for FRWL and DN came later, action and stunts ruled the day in the 80's and early 90's)
Three of them could be regarded as bona fide classics (by fans) - OHMSS, FRWL, DN.
2. GF
3. CR
4. TLD
5. TSWLM
Basically, film must be paced well, be exciting, and hold up logically enough. The film also must know how to have a good amount of fun! (Looking at SF)
There must also be no bad editing!
No one actor appears twice in my top 5, so I guess I like all the actors. (OHMSS is #8 for me. And I don't hate Lazenby, I just think all the other actors do the job a bit better. Even Brosnan.)
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (2) and The LIVING DAYLIGHTS (5): the best of the 007 Cold War spy thrillers.
ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (3) and LICENCE TO KILL (1): intimate, character driven and spectacular without the political correctness of recent outings.
2. Licence To Kill
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
4. From Russia With Love
5. Tomorrow Never Dies
I don't have a straight flush with my top 5. The Living Daylights & Licence To Kill are Dalton films, my favourite Bond era. The Living Daylights, Licence To Kill & On Her Majesty's Secret Service feature the most human Bond(s) of the series. The Living Daylights and From Russia With Love are the classy cold war spy thrillers. And Tomorrow Never Dies is a glossy slick action film.
Common denominator-Fleming.
:))
A lot of this goes for me as well actually. Not all, but a lot. And we have some overlap. From the gut I think my top 5 would be...
1. TB
2. GF
So here we've got two Bond films influenced by Fleming - I'd argue there's a bit more of Fleming's Bond (literally, in terms of Connery and the palpable sense of danger) in TB, although it is more epic in scale - BUT both of these films have a huge "cinematic Bond" factor. The flair, style, humor, escapism factor etc. glamour.
3. DN
4. FRWL
Fleming Bond. Terence Young is also a connector (3/4 so far) Obviously 4/4 have been top of his game Connery. He is James Bond. Even in the more humorous moments (which he does handle better than anyone) he brings an element of danger, like a panther ready to strike, that I just find endlessly fascinating. HIs level of charisma, swagger, and sexual energy is unmatched in these 4 films. He is the best Bond.
5. GE
6. CR
Martin Campbell.
the order on these is rough (I might prefer 5 and 6 to 3 and 4 on any given day for example) I just paired them like that because of the directors. But, regardless of the order, this is my Top 6. Right on the outside looking in are TSWLM, OP, TLD, and SF. Not as many similarities there I don't think aside from all of them (aside from maybe TSWLM) having that mix of "cinematic Bond and Fleming Bond" that I'm often drawn to, especially OP and SF.