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Title Credits: OHMSS
Main Villain: OHMSS
Main Bond Girl: OHMSS
Henchman: OHMSS
Overall Plot: OHMSS
Dialogue: OHMSS
Score: OHMSS
Settings: OHMSS
Action: OHMSS
Humour: OHMSS
Cinematography: OHMSS
Benign Bizarre: OHMSS
Suspense: OHMSS
Minor Characters: OHMSS
Glamour: OHMSS
Bond Performance: DN
DN- 1
OHMSS- 16
About right,as OHMSS currently sits at #1 on my rankings.
Title Credits: OHMSS
Main Villain: OHMSS
Main Bond Girl: OHMSS
Henchman: OHMSS
Overall Plot: OHMSS
Dialogue: DN
Score: OHMSS
Settings: OHMSS
Action: DN
Humour: DN
Cinematography: OHMSS
Benign Bizarre: DN
Suspense: OHMSS
Minor Characters: OHMSS
Glamour: OHMSS
Bond Performance: DN
DN- 5
OHMSS- 12
Title Credits: DN
Main Villain: OHMSS
Main Bond Girl: OHMSS
Henchman: OHMSS
Overall Plot: OHMSS
Dialogue: OHMSS
Score: OHMSS
Settings: OHMSS
Action: OHMSS
Humour: OHMSS
Cinematography: OHMSS
Benign Bizarre: OHMSS
Suspense: OHMSS
Minor Characters: DN
Glamour: OHMSS
Bond Performance: DN
DN -3
OHMSS - 14
Title Credits: OHMSS
Main Villain: OHMSS
Main Bond Girl: OHMSS
Henchman: OHMSS
Overall Plot: OHMSS
Dialogue: OHMSS
Score: OHMSS
Settings: OHMSS
Action: OHMSS
Humour: OHMSS
Cinematography: OHMSS
Benign Bizarre: OHMSS
Suspense: OHMSS
Minor Characters: OHMSS
Glamour: OHMSS
Bond Performance: DN
DN - 1
OHMSS - 16
Me, too. Always has.
Title Credits: OHMSS - Still quite innovative and certainly Binder's mojo still intact before he started to stagnate in the 80s. Beats the dots of DN.
Main Villain: Tie - The quintessential Bond villain that set the template v the best Blofeld. Again I can't split them.
Main Bond Girl: OHMSS - Honey a nice bit of eye can candy but Tracy got so much more going on.
Henchman: OHMSS - I'm assuming the henchman is Bunt here? She certainly beats Dent but if it's Grunther then I'd give it Dent.
Overall Plot: OHMSS - Faithful to Fleming and got the lot.
Dialogue: OHMSS - Probably the best M/Bond scenes of the series (although DN pretty good) and some excellent banter between Bond and Blofeld and Bond and Tracy.
Score: OHMSS - Barry at his best. Unsurpassable.
Settings: OHMSS - Close, as DN is a definitive Bond villain hideout, but it doesn't get much better than a lair at the top of an alp.
Action: OHMSS - Skiing on one ski with whole of SPECTRE after him and Barry's OHMSS theme roaring him on. Epic.
Humour: OHMSS - 'Hmm Royal Beluga, north of the Caspian.' Love it. Also love 'He had lots of guts' - sue me.
Cinematography: OHMSS - The beach fight, chopper assault plus Johnny Jordan and Willy Bogner's feats of derring do. Probably not bettered till SF.
Benign Bizarre: DN - Blind assassins, tarantulas, dragon tanks and metal hands. I'm afraid that trumps chicken hypnosis.
Suspense: OHMSS - Exhibit A: The Gumbold scene.
Minor Characters: OHMSS - Draco one of the best allies (although I do love Quarrel almost equally) and the various angels of death do enough to beat Pleydell Smith and co.
Glamour: OHMSS - Apart from the casino scene DN doesn't have a lot. OHMSS has almost as good a casino scene plus Astons, caviar, skiing and travelling everywhere by helicopter.
Bond Performance: Tie - I know that objectively Sean smashes it out of the park in DN but I can't bear to come down against Laz. Ok maybe he's not Olivier in some of the dialogue scenes but when it really matters - swaggering into the casino, in a ruck, piling caviar on a piece of toast, strangling a man while scared for his life, feeling beaten on the ice rink, sliding across the ice while firing a machine gun, watching his bride die - he absolutely owns it.
DN - 1
OHMSS - 13
Tie - 3
Title Credits: OHMSS
Main Villain: OHMSS
Main Bond Girl: OHMSS
Henchman: OHMSS
Overall Plot: OHMSS
Dialogue: OHMSS
Score: OHMSS
Settings: DN
Action: OHMSS
Humour: DN
Cinematography: DN
Benign Bizarre: DN
Suspense: OHMSS
Minor Characters: DN
Glamour: DN
Bond Performance: DN
DN - 7
OHMSS - 10
Title Credits: OHMSS
Main Villain: DN
Main Bond Girl: OHMSS
Henchman: OHMSS
Overall Plot: DN
Dialogue: OHMSS
Score: OHMSS
Settings: OHMSS
Action: OHMSS
Humour: DN ("Make sure he doesn't get away" will always win)
Cinematography: OHMSS
Benign Bizarre: DN
Suspense: OHMSS (just imagining listening to Barry's track "Gumbold's Safe" gets me on edge)
Minor Characters: OHMSS
Glamour: OHMSS
Bond Performance: DN
DN - 5
OHMSS - 12
There is no shame in losing this match up DN.
Johnny Jordan is one of the unsung heroes of Bondom.
Title Credits: OHMSS
Main Villain: OHMSS
Main Bond Girl: OHMSS
Henchman: OHMSS
Overall Plot: DN
Dialogue: DN
Score: OHMSS
Settings: OHMSS
Action: OHMSS
Humour: DN
Cinematography: OHMSS
Benign Bizarre: OHMSS
Suspense: OHMSS
Minor Characters: DN
Glamour: OHMSS
Bond Performance: DN
DN - 5
OHMSS - 12
Title Credits: OHMSS (love the theme of time passing and seeing all the old clips mixed with the title track.)
Main Villain: DN (I enjoy Savalas's Blofeld but Dr No is menacing in a cold, enigmatic way, sets the standards and I love his scene with Bond. Connery and Wiseman are great together.)
Main Bond Girl: OHMSS (Tracy wins this one. EON did a terrific job in casting the characters surrounding Bond in this - no better highlighted than in selecting Rigg. Her appearance at the skating rink and following through with the car chase is perfect. I also love her distraction of Blofeld and the fight with henchman is protracted and tough.)
Henchman: OHMSS (Irma Bunt is memorably creepy.)
Overall Plot: OHMSS (Faithfully Fleming.)
Dialogue: OHMSS
Score: OHMSS (One of the finest soundtracks ever.)
Settings: OHMSS (Piz Gloria is iconic)
Action: OHMSS (The assault on Piz Gloria alone is awesome.)
Humour: DN (I like the dry witticisms and dark humour of DN)
Cinematography: OHMSS (Stunning.)
Benign Bizarre: DN (dragons, spiders, three blind mice, metal hands.)
Suspense: OHMSS (Both have terrific suspense. But OHMSS's second half is killer in suspense stakes - nearly everything from Bond's escape from Piz Gloria until the end)
Minor Characters: DN (Quarrel, Felix and the sisters Lily and Rose. Marc Ange Draco is fantastic but DN wins it on numbers)
Glamour: OHMSS (I adore the casino scene in DN and the beach settings but OHMSS has casinos, skiing, Piz Gloria and Portugal - presented beautifully)
Bond Performance: DN (No contest)
DN - 5
OHMSS - 12
OHMSS is my third favourite Bond film. DN would be around sixth for me. Two great films.
OHMSS - despite its shaggy first half has an absolutely killer, near flawless second half. Score, title track, cinematography, settings, main bond girl and plot - many of these individual elements are at the pinnacle of the series.
Title Credits: OHMSS
Main Villain: OHMSS
Main Bond Girl: OHMSS
Henchman: OHMSS
Overall Plot: OHMSS
Dialogue: DN
Score: OHMSS
Settings: OHMSS
Action: OHMSS
Humour: DN
Cinematography: OHMSS
Benign Bizarre: DN
Suspense: OHMSS
Minor Characters: DN
Glamour: OHMSS
Bond Performance: DN
DN - 5
OHMSS - 12
Title Credits: On Her Majestys Secret Service
Main Villain: On Her Majestys Secret Service
Main Bond Girl: On Her Majestys Secret Service
Henchman: On Her Majestys Secret Service
Overall Plot: On Her Majestys Secret Service
Dialogue: On Her Majestys Secret Service
Score: On Her Majestys Secret Service
Settings: On Her Majestys Secret Service
Action: On Her Majestys Secret Service
Humour: On Her Majestys Secret Service
Cinematography: On Her Majestys Secret Service
Benign Bizarre: On Her Majestys Secret Service
Suspense: On Her Majestys Secret Service
Minor Characters: On Her Majestys Secret Service
Glamour: On Her Majestys Secret Service
Bond Performance: On Her Majestys Secret Service
Dr No: 0
On Her Majestys Secret Service: 17
Margin out of 100: (DN-OHMSS)
Title Track: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (40-60)
Title Credits: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (40-60)
Main Villain: Dr. No (75-25)
Main Bond Girl: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (40-60)
Henchman: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (25-75)
Overall Plot: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (30-70)
Dialogue: Dr. No (60-40)
Score: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (5-95)
Settings: Dr. No (75-25)
Action: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (30-70)
Humor: Dr. No (75-25)
Cinematography: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (25-75)
Benign Bizarre: Dr. No (70-30)
Suspense: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (40-60)
Minor Characters: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (40-60)
Glamor: Dr. No (80-20)
Bond Performance: Dr. No (90-10)
Dr. No (7) (49-51) (10) On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Title Credits: DN
Main Villain: DN
Main Bond Girl: OHMSS
Henchman: DN
Overall Plot: OHMSS
Dialogue: DN
Score: OHMSS
Settings: OHMSS
Action: OHMSS
Humour: OHMSS
Cinematography: OHMSS
Benign Bizarre: OHMSS
Suspense: DN
Minor Characters: DN
Glamour: OHMSS
Bond Performance: DN
Dr No: 7
OHMSS: 10
Title Track: DAF (I am quite fond of this song, and it was sampled in Kanye's Diamonds From Sierra Leone)
Title Credits: DAF
Main Villain: DN
Main Bond Girl: DN (it's closer than you'd think though, at least through the final third)
Henchman: DN
Overall Plot: DN
Dialogue: DN (These last three have been blowouts)
Score: DAF
Settings: DN (I have an odd soft spot for the Vegas sleaze, especially given the soundtrack, but it can't compete.)
Action: DAF (The final battle is pretty good)
Humour: DN
Cinematography: DN
Benign Bizarre: DAF (Tough to beat ambiguously gay henchmen and cross-dressing Blofeld)
Suspense: DN
Minor Characters: DN
Glamour: Tie (Perhaps this is heretical, but I've established my affection for Vegas)
Bond Performance: DN (Closer than you'd think, Sean is much more animated here than in YOLT)
That comes out to 11-5-1 in favor of Dr. No. A decent showing from Diamonds are Forever, but I've always thought that its greatest sin was coming right after OHMSS. Anyway, let's see your scores!
Title Credits: DAF
Main Villain: DN
Main Bond Girl: DN
Henchman: DAF
Overall Plot: DN
Dialogue: DAF
Score: DAF
Settings: DAF
Action: DN
Humour: DAF
Cinematography: DAF
Benign Bizarre: DAF
Suspense: DN
Minor Characters: DAF
Glamour: DN
Bond Performance: DN
DN: 7
DAF: 10
Title Credits: DAF
Main Villain: DN
Main Bond Girl: DN
Henchman: DN
Overall Plot: DN
Dialogue: DN
Score: DAF
Settings: DN
Action: DN
Humour: DN
Cinematography: DN
Benign Bizarre: DAF
Suspense: DN
Minor Characters: DN
Glamour: DN
Bond Performance: DN
14-3 to DN
Title Credits: DAF (The glitter fits the tone and theme of the film, very glamorous)
Main Villain: DN (I do like Charles Gray, but DN wins here)
Main Bond Girl: DAF (Tiffany is definitely not consistent in tone, but a much better actress and has many good scenes)
Henchman: DAF (Wint and Kidd are a great innovative duo for the franchise)
Overall Plot: DN (DAF is pretty tight in the smuggling storyline, but once we get to diamond satellite, it unravels completely for me)
Dialogue: DN (DAF has some great one-liners, but DN is tight, has iconic lines and humor)
Score: DAF (Great Barry track, Vegas cues, Wint & Kidd theme, fantastic all around)
Settings: DN (Love Vegas, but Jamaica kills it here)
Action: DN (DAF apart from the elevator scene has some of the weakest action in the series. The moon-buggy bit will always be so dull for me)
Humour: DAF (Again, fantastic one-liners abound)
Cinematography: DN (Both are good, but DN gets the most out of its scenery)
Benign Bizarre: DAF (Moon buggy scene, Blofeld clones)
Suspense: DAF (Coffin cremation is one of he most claustrophobic, how is Bond going to escape this moments.)
Minor Characters: DN (Quirrel and the better Leiter of the two. Trench beats Toole as 2nd Bond girl)
Glamour: DN (DAF comes off as more tacky than glamorous. Some of Connery's suits here are really bad)
Bond Performance: DN (With ease)
DN: 9
DAF: 8
Well look at that, a near upset by DAF. DAF use to be last in my rankings, it's definitely out of the bottom 3 now. Not sure how high it is now, I'll have to do a re-ranking soon now that SP has had time to settle in. DN is certainly still above it in the ranking, but by the elements DAF put up a good fight in my viewing.
Title Track: Diamonds Are Forever (40-60)
Title Credits: Dr. No (55-45)
Main Villain: Dr. No (85-15)
My least favorite of the fully portrayed Blofeld, FYEO's uncredited Blofeld notwithstanding.
Main Bond Girl: Dr. No (90-10)
Tiffany is one of my least favorite Bond girls.
Henchman: Diamonds Are Forever (25-75)
Wint and Kidd are among the upper echelon of henchman in the series in terms of efficiency and screen presence.
Overall Plot: Dr. No (75-25)
DAF keeps the pace until midway through Las Vegas.
Dialogue: Dr. No (75-25)
Though witty at times, the script of DAF sags beneath its weight.
Score: Diamonds Are Forever (20-80)
Always one of my favorites, though does not reach the lofty heights Barry set with his last two.
Settings: Dr. No (75-25)
Las Vegas is a great place for Bond, but not much else stands out, "Baja!?"
Action: Dr. No (80-20)
Severely lacking outside of the Peter Franks fight in the elevator.
Humor: Dr. No (55-45)
An absolute humor score would go to DAF, but DN has better pound for pound humor imo.
Cinematography: Dr. No (70-30)
Benign Bizarre: Dr. No (55-45)
Suspense: Dr. No (70-30)
This is one of the stronger areas for DAF despite its meager score, largely due to the ample suspense provided by DN.
Minor Characters: Dr. No (80-20)
Glamor: Dr. No (75-25)
Bond Performance: Dr. No (90-10)
The complete descent of Connery's Bond.
Dr. No (14) (66-34) (3) Diamonds Are Forever
Title Credits: DN
Main Villain: DN
Main Bond Girl: DN
Henchman: DN
Overall Plot: DN
Dialogue: DN
Score: DAF
Settings: DN
Action: DAF
Humour: DN
Cinematography: DN
Benign Bizarre: DN
Suspense: DN
Minor Characters: DN
Glamour: DN
Bond Performance: DN
DN: 14
DAF: 3
Title Credits: DN
Main Villain: DN
Main Bond Girl: DN
Henchman: DN
Overall Plot: DN
Dialogue: DN
Score: DAF
Settings: DN
Action: DAF
Humour: DN
Cinematography: DN
Benign Bizarre: DN
Suspense: DN
Minor Characters: DN
Glamour: DN
Bond Performance: DN
DN: 14
DAF: 3
Title Credits: DAF
Main Villain: DN
Main Bond Girl: DN
Henchman: DAF
Overall Plot: DN
Dialogue: DN
Score: DAF
Settings: DN
Action: DN
Humour: DAF
Cinematography: DN
Benign Bizarre: DAF
Suspense: DN
Minor Characters: DN
Glamour: DN
Bond Performance: DN
DN: 11
DAF: 6
Title Credits: DN
Main Villain: DN
Main Bond Girl: DN
Henchman: DAF
Overall Plot: DN
Dialogue: DN
Score: DAF
Settings: DN
Action: DN
Humour: DAF
Cinematography: DN
Benign Bizarre: DN
Suspense: DN
Minor Characters: DN
Glamour: DN
Bond Performance: DN
DN - 14
DAF - 3
Title Track: DAF — Gonna stop giving DN points for just being the Bond theme. I prefer quite a few of the newer renditions of the Bond theme to the one in DN, actually. And DAF's theme song is just exquisite.
Title Credits: DAF — The visuals of DAF's title sequence, actually related to the film title, are more appealing to me than the random polka dots and dancing figures in DN.
Main Villain: DN — Gotta give this to Dr No in a landslide. He was built up well throughout the entire film and was genuinely unsettling when you actually saw him. Charles Gray's Blofeld isn't terrible per se, but he's nowhere near as threatening and his repeated deaths, plus the scene with drag, make this an insurmountable battle for him. Dr No is just far more memorable.
Main Bond Girl: DN — Tiffany Case is one of the worst Bond girls, so this isn't much of a contest either.
Henchman: DAF — No contest. Wint and Kidd are far more memorable than the Three Blind Mice.
Overall Plot: DN — DAF is a steaming hot mess, while DN is a classic spy story. Again, no contest.
Dialogue: DAF — DAF wins on points for the biting, witty lines. "Named after your father, perhaps" and "Tiffany, aren't we showing a bit more cheek than usual, aren't we" are some of my favourites int he Bond mythos. Not that the dialogue in DN is unmemorable by any stretch of the imagination.
Score: DAF — DN's awkward mix of banging loud tunes doesn't compare to Barry's finesse in DAF.
Settings: DN — The first truly close contest. DAF makes good use of Vegas, but the rest of the settings are completely forgettable. DN's locations are solid all the way through.
Action: DAF — DN's a classic but action wasn't one of its fortes, whereas action is one of DAF's redeeming points. It has a better car chase, better fistfight, better stuntwork, etc. so there's really no contest.
Humour: DAF — I've kind of already given DAF points for dialogue on account of this, but as it's the only one here which actually makes me laugh, it wins. It's not just the dialogue; the slapstick (Bond reversing as the police officer tries to talk to him, Tiffany shooting herself off the oil rig, etc) is for some reason not as cringeworthy in this one than in others, and it actually incites giggles.
Cinematography: DN — DAF has a couple of good Vegas shots but the rest of it is completely forgettable as I said above. DN
Benign Bizarre: DAF — The whole movie is so, so weird.
Suspense: DN — Not much suspense in DAF, imho. In DN there's all the buildup of the big baddie, and that especially good scene with Dent and Dr No.
Minor Characters: DN — Felix Leiter's better in this one, and Quarrel and other characters (pretty much everyone) is better as well.
Glamour: DN — The world of DAF is pretty unappealing and never properly constructed. DN is a classic example of good worldbuilding in movies.
Bond Performance: DN — Connery's in his physical prime in DN and gives an ultra-classy, enviable performance. He looks portly in DAF and is practically phoning it in.
That amounts to:
DN - 9
DAF - 8
Remarkably close, when I've got DN as a top ten film and DAF as one of the worst. I guess it goes to show that the areas that DAF wins in have much less weighting towards the quality of the film. They mostly just make it entertaining, not good. And in fairness, DN won most of its rounds by a much greater margin than DAF did in its own rounds.
Title Credits: DN
Main Villain: DN
Main Bond Girl: DN
Henchman: DN
Overall Plot: DN
Dialogue: DN
Score: DN
Settings: DN
Action: DN
Humour: DN
Cinematography: DN
Benign Bizarre: DN
Suspense: DN
Minor Characters: DN
Glamour: DN
Bond Performance: DN
DN - 17
DAF - 0
Title Credits: DAF
Main Villain: DN
Main Bond Girl: DN
Henchman: DN
Overall Plot: DN
Dialogue: DAF
Score: DAF
Settings: DN
Action: DN
Humour: DAF
Cinematography: DAF
Benign Bizarre: DAF
Suspense: DN
Minor Characters: DAF
Glamour: DN
Bond Performance: DN
DN: 9
DAF: 8
Wow that was closer than I thought it would be.
Even the music score?
Yep. There's some great source music playing in DN and the original score creates a uniquely unsettling atmosphere. It's kind of creepy and it fits the film perfectly imho. One must not forget that we get the Bond theme for the 1st time here. I don't like the way it's played ad infinitum, but it's THE James Bond theme, so yeah, no problemo.