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Not to say objectivity exists anyway, but still...
A poll is a poll. But in the end it will give you some interesting insight in the current status of the legacy of each film, how they are being perceived. Favouritism and quality are usually molded into one criterium. That's what you also see in the rankings of professional journalists, entertainment websites and movie critics:
It will be interesting to see if the above average ranking is comparable to ours :-). In any case, I have this motto: "While this whole damn thing will stay quite subjective, at least try to be as objective as possible". That's the best thing you can do ;-).
Even in 2016 GF depressingly top on average by a country mile and OHMSS midtable. Forgive me if I treat those results with the contempt they deserve.
I agree with GF however. BUT this movie simply had an enormous cinematic impact to the Bond franchise.
That critic statistic is interesting. I did the same a couple of years ago after SF but with much more critics, around 80 I think.
The first ten were GF-FRWL-CR-OHMSS-SF-GE-TSWLM-TB-DN-YOLT in that order and I stopped because the gaps were already too high in between to have a different result if adding more critics. Only in the lower regions there could have been a change but that didn't interest me much.
80????? It took me a goddamn 4 hours to actually find media outlets who had a full TOP 24 ranking of all Bond films including "SPECTRE". And then I came at a total of 18. But 80??? Man, those must include sole TOP 5 and TOP 10 rankings as well.
Thanks Gonzalo ;-). How are things by the way? I'm not sure if you have already voted hehe.
Quite, @TheWizardOfIce. I'm far more interested in the thoughts of people who actually watch these films when they're not paid to, and watch them frequently, therefore being wise to their strengths and weaknesses over time. I doubt many of those "professionals" are Bond-obsessives like we are, therefor their views hold little weight, no matter the final results.
But again, this idea of objectivity is bogus. We watch films, we like them because they have something in them we like. Simple, right? We then watch other films, and repeat the same exercise as the first film, judging them by what we like-emphasis put on "we" there. When we're eventually told to rank a set of films, we rank them with the mind we watched them with, numbering them by the ones we liked the most from most effective to least effective.
Ranking things objectively is essentially ranking them for someone else, some incorporeal being we're trying to please with our tastes and feel vindicated by. When we act with futile objectivity, we rank the films to please the people representing the voice of the film culture, the "professional" critics who have affirmed what are the best Bond films and which are not. So instead of thinking with our own hearts and minds, we think with theirs, and put GF in the top spot, with everything else leagues behind.
I'm sorry, but I'll rank these films for myself in mind, and not for anybody else. Objectivity demands you take your emotion and feeling out of the equation, and with something as powerful as film, that's impossible, because movies resonate with us so deeply as humans looking for thrills and stories to follow, especially these Bond films. Cinema does not a science make.
But frankly, we know better, don't we, and that's why we avoid "objectivity" in our rankings. And thank Fleming for it.
You know there is such a thing as actual newspapers and magazines, on paper... even if it is hard to believe.
I happen to collect everything I get on paper about Bond and have a huge collection of several lever-arch files filled with them.
I don't do that anymore hehe. Would be great if you can make a list of those as well Jason.
That s a very good way of putting it.
Nice article by Ben, with some great pictures.
James Bond Norway is to be congratulated for staging such an ambitious event, with not only Laz, but 4 Bond Girls and all from different decades - '60s Martine Beswick, '70s Caroline Munro, '80s Maryam D'Abo, '90s Serena Scott Thomas.
I had the pleasure of watching all of DN TB and OHMSS in massive widescreen 4k presentation in recent years.
The format applied to 007, is the ultimate in Bond cinema presentation. Spectacular.
Laz btw is James Bond. He looks just like the agent in retirement might look, moreso than Connery ever has.
You mean...the 'press' tally I posted? Or our own tally in here :-)?
10 POINTS: "CASINO ROYALE"
08 POINTS: "ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE"
07 POINTS: "FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE"
06 POINTS: "GOLDFINGER"
05 POINTS: "YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE"
04 POINTS: "FOR YOUR EYES ONLY"
03 POINTS: "SKYFALL"
02 POINTS: "THUNDERBALL"
01 POINT: "THE SPY WHO LOVED ME"
Didn't mean to start the long discussion about how to rank them, though thanks for sharing all your thoughts/opinions on that--it helped me and you make expert points! I was just having a heckuva time narrowing it down to the 10 best, even harder than when I did my original 26 list (my ranking has changed since then). One reason I asked about objectivity is that, while I previously ranked Goldfinger #1, the last time I watched it (a few months ago) I didn't connect with it nearly as much, though I know it's really well-made, a classic--hence the question about personal choice. And you might tell from my list there are some personal choices in there too.
Hi, Gert. I can't remember if I voted... :\">
Anyway, it would be very difficult for me. I have seven Bond firmly on my top so I should have to give all of them 12 points...
Let me help you :-P. Which are those seven Bond films @ggl007?
Theatre was about half full. I just assumed all TDot Bond fans were.
The audience did seem knowledgeable.
FRWL - 12 points
GF - 12 points
TB - 12 points
OHMSS - 12 points
TLD - 12 points
CR'06 - 12 points
:D
Just out of curiosity Gonzalo......you really think all of them are....masterpieces? :)]
Godfather or Casablanca size. I'm not joking.
During my decades of film-goer and film-critic, I've learned to love the imperfections that all films have.
The same goes for me! But by putting 7 movies on top, you basically wholeheartedly admit that a few other Bond films have some more imperfections ;-).
Does this mean I 'hate' the Bond films with more imperfections? Absolutely not. I have great respect for all Bond films. Yet some entries are better than others....I think :-).
Makes me curious why FYEO, OP, LTK, GE, SF, SP are not in your list ;-).
GF and DN played on a 4k widescreen double too at Scotiabank. Seeing DN in that format was breathtaking. Like it was brand new. Perfectly digitally restored.
The festival didn't have any Bond films this year.