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Which Bond films are most reflective of their respective eras?
jake24
Sitting at your desk, kissing your lover, eating supper with your familyModerator
This thread idea came to me upon watching Tomorrow Never Dies recently, where I came to realize just how 90s the movie feels, most of which is reflected through its score and wardrobe.
So, my question to you is this: Which Bond films do you see as the most reflective of the era of which they were released, and why?
60s
70s
80s
90s
00s
10s
So, my question to you is this: Which Bond films do you see as the most reflective of the era of which they were released, and why?
60s
70s
80s
90s
00s
10s
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Comments
60s: OHMSS, a compendium of 60s swingin' aestethics just before the 70s changed the trends (the synth arrangement of the Bond theme is a symbol of the new decade about to start). I'll leave CR'67 alone because it was meant to be a caricature of these same aestethics.
70s: LALD, just between funky blaxplotation culture and the disco era. Colourful pimped-oud dresses and cars, bell-bottoms, afros and sideburns. George Martin going funky for the occasion helps to set the tone.
80s: NSNA hands down. No movie represents the 80s like this one: shoulder pads, leg-warmers, aerobic, the last hurrahs of Atari before the 1983 American video game crash, all the TV movie-like feeling starting with the main credits sequence... Even Michel Legrand tries to follow the trend with the rocking guitars and post-disco rhythms of Jelaousy, but fails. Epically.
90s: TND is a perfect bridge between the two eras of the 90s: the fancy design era and the Internet/Gen-X era. David Arnold creates a techno-symphonic soundtrack that blends with its time.
00s: CR, Bond trying to be tougher in a pessimistic but prosperous era.
10s: SP, yet another bridge between eras, between the global sadness of the worldwide recession and the failed efforts to make people be more optimistic. I think this quite sums up the general idea I have about the tone of the film and why I think Mendes took the correct path.
I'm going with TSWLM for the 70s: the score, the vehicles, the aesthetic of the sets. I'm thinking especially of the escape capsule from Atlantis.
80s, probably TLD just for the damn whistle keyring. (Yes, I had one. I didn't have a car, or even any keys, because I was nine.) Perhaps the most 80s in terms of plot, too.
90s, maybe TWINE, with the references to the upcoming Millennium and a character nicked from Tomb Raider.
I feel I am still too close to the 00s and 10s to make a call here. I wonder which I'll pick in 20 years?
Wow, great post. I would add that OP really captures the gloom-and-doom of the '80s Cold War. How could it not, being set in Berlin and with the nuclear subplot?
70s: - LALD - Blaxploitation to the fore, and very groovy 70s-esque soundtrack from Beatles' producer George Martin - although the kung fu in TMWTGG and Roger's flares in TSWLM and Moonraker, as well as Moonraker's disco vibe all deserve honourable mentions
80s: TLD - one woman man Bond in the light of the AIDS epidemic - or at least that's they way some commentators looked on it - and the war in Afghanistan - Honourable mention to LTK capturing the vibe of late 80s American action films
90s: TND - very 90s costume design, use of mobile phone (a brick) a precursor to the next decade's advancement in this area
00s - CR - captures the 00s action film vibe to go gritty and serious and terrorist themed in the post-9/11 world a la Jason Bourne and Jack Bauer - what is with these guys and the JB initials?
10s - Spectre - Snowden and surveillance etc.
Clearly, they copied James Bond.
70s - The Spy Who Loved Me - This is a little more difficult - independent cinema was so strong - particularly in early seventies and it went well with the cynical times of Vietnam and while LALD and MWTGG took 70s genre influences overall I'd say TSWLM - because the film Jaws in 75 changed all the rules - essentially inventing blockbusters. But TSWLM embraced the challenge and nailed it. While MR is a total reaction to Star Wars, TSWLM was made at the same time and still delivers iconic moments like no other Bond film since Goldfinger. It is as if EON has been set free by the success of its rivals and shows just what it is capable of.
80s - A View To A Kill - of course there's Duran Duran - but more importantly there is a casual violence that signals a new style of villain. A grotesque, new-money yuppie embracing Neo-capitalism and striking at its heart - Silicon Valley. Bond, the gentleman spy never more out of his time than 1985 San Francisco. The goofy cop car chases, Uzi massacres and sinister May Day. This feels the most 80s - including a seemingly impotent KGB themselves incapable of dealing with or comprehending their own creation. There is a real cynicism and nastiness underlining the events in the film with Bond being a beacon of restraint in a sea of excess.
LTK - would also be the obvious 80s choice but I feel that is very much a post 87 development - (lethal weapon, die hard etc being late 80s films)
90s - Tomorrow Never Dies - for better or worse. And as others have stated here - the perfect amalgam of 90s action. Double gunning, motorcycle stunts, Teri hatcher, john woo inspired martial arts and non-stop action set pieces often unaided by a lack of narrative drama. GE is also close but TND cannot be denied.
00s - Quantum of Solace - influenced by Bourne and Nolan's Batman series. A lone agent on a mission to bring down insidious corruption without the backing of authorities. Striving for a lean authenticity. Shot through with controlled rage, a laconic hero covers his emotions and begrudgingly gets on with the job because he is driven by hidden psychological trauma. Filmed with shakey cam, edited to within an inch of its life and aiming for aspirations above its genre.
10s - Skyfall - so far it has to be SF. Unlike many insane, megalomaniac ambitions the villain of Skyfall has no desire for money, power or fame. Merely revenge on his former employer and a learnt mistrust of government agencies and desire to spread black op secrets to the public. In Bond and M it posesses two characters questioning and then justifying their existence which of course bleeds into Britain as a whole finding direction. A well earned mistrust of their own political leaders and the dawning realisation that they alone are responsible for their fate. When the bell tolls as it does for M in the hearing room - there is nothing the bureaucratic system can do to defend itself or its people and there is only one man who saw it coming and can alter the course of events. This politically is a representation of the current world but cinematically also it is keeping with blockbuster's thematic preoccupations - especially something like The Hobbit. It is also long and grandiose and continues to have ambitions above its station (qualities the DC universe movies seem to have embraced too)
70s - The Spy Who Loved Me - A Beegies style soundtrack, bad chest hair and bad clothing.
80s - The Living Daylights - The aids scare causes 007 to be practically monogamous.
90s - Tomorrow Never Dies - Some great scenes but generally a film that tries to be classic but turns out as a mediocure parody. Much like the 90's in general....no identity.
00s - Casino Royale - Style improves and we get a near perfect Bond film with CR. Back to the books.
10s - Skyfall - Unlike many insane, megalomaniac ambitions the villain of Skyfall has no desire for money, power or fame much like the pointless Islam extremist terrorists of today.......We don't really have a clue why they are all so mental or why they bother to be so hateful.
70's- The Spy Who Loved Me- Disco fashions, Russia and the West working together (detente), and a vaguely sci-fi plot.
80's- The Living Daylights- Drugs, a Clancy-esq twist filled spy plot, a more monogamous Bond in the wake of AIDS, and a moodier Bond for Generation X
90's- GoldenEye- Post Cold-War blues, a techno-thriller plot, and the filmmaking/clothes/music are all plenty 90's, despite TND being the most popular choice in the thread.
2000's- Casino Royale- Darker, post-9/11 tone (and even a reference to it in the dialogue) a reboot, a more sensitive/romantic Bond, and grittier violence
2010's- Spectre- It's hard to say when you're in the decade and there's only two films, but the lighter tone and abundance of blatant callbacks to past films all fit with the celebratory mood of franchise movies today.