›

Rank the Bond Titles

JamesStockJamesStock
in Bond Movies Posts: 572
Has there been a ranking established for the titles? If so, I couldnt find it and I apologize. With the arrival of the new title, I thought it might be fun to rank it with all of the other Bond film titles (based on the title itself).

When I did this exercise, I realized that I prefer the longer titles that typically have a double meaning or a twist on an idiom. How about you - what types of titles do you prefer? Feel free to be more brief than I and just do a countdown.

1. Live and Let Die - Just an awesome twist on a well know idiom that says James Bond. Definitely the most clever and bad ass title to date.
2. For Your Eyes Only - Love its double use. Very, very Bondian.
3. The World is Not Enough - Such a great motto and definitely Bond. I like the all or nothing mentality it brings. When I read it, I do so with Shirley singing. I may be a bit biased with this one.
4. The Man with the Golden Gun - A very fun title that gives intrigue. I mean, what type of person gets to carry a golden gun around? Who is the (obviously) wealthy hitman bad ass? There have been many following titles that share "The XXXX with the XXXX" so it does something right.
5. From Russia with Love - Love the plot centric title with the sharp British jabbines to it. Also a commonly borrowed phrase, even today.
6. You Only Live Twice - This idiom twist always came across as forceful stretch to me, but I still like it.
7. Casino Royale - Love how this flows out of the mouth, which is why it's my top single-word pick. Classy.
8. Goldfinger - Bold, Innuendo-y, Bond. Although it is the epitome title of mockery.
9. Moonraker - Just an intriguing title. Mysterious.
10. On Her Majesty's Secret Service - A bit long and matter of fact-ish, but very British. Only thing is it could be used for any mission really and it completely ignores the most pertentent plot point, which is Bond falling in love. I know, I know, I'm evaluating the title based on the storyline and not the name itself...
11. The Spy who Loved Me - A little too mushy of a title for my tastes, but it works.
12. Dr No - Just sounds like a bad ass. Nuff said.
13. Diamonds are Forever - I don't have a really good reason why I put the title here. It's good but not great.
14. Spectre - I love the word spectre in itself. The fact that it is the Bond's archnemisis organization that has already been established in older films, helps give it more value (granted I did say I was evaluating the titles on their own). Interestingly enough, it is the only true non-compound single-word title.
15. Goldeneye - Has that spy-esqe ring to it, probably being more relevant today than ever (even though that's not what the story is about).
16. A View to a Kill - I like that this title foreshadows, giving it an urgent feel.
17. No Time to Die - To me this is a very Daltoneque era title. It fits with his style of Bond as well. It's a bit generic, but I like the message it sends (as opposed to A Reason to Die).
18. The Living Daylights - Meh.
19. License to Kill - Generic, but at least it's very Bond.
20. Skyfall - Skyfall is where it's at only because of how it ties into the phrase, "the sky is falling." I don't particularly like how it is the name of Bond's house - which is odd sounding, but at least gives the title more value.
21. Thunderball - Thunderball is ok. It just says "I'm exciting" to me and that's it.
22. Quantum of Solace - Kinda fun to say, but feels a little bit like it forcefully uses lesser know words to attempt to make it clever. Quantum is hard and mathematic sounding word whereas solace is obviously a word of emotion. Clashes in my mind, but maybe that's the point. At least the title relates to the story.
23. Die Another Day - Most generic Bond title ever.
24. Tomorrow Never Dies - Would have been soooo much better as Tomorrow Never Lies. It has the same meaning (and even has more value when you consider the story) but just doesn't sound as stupid. Sorry but tomorrow isn't a thing that can even die.
25. Octopussy - I'm sorry, but this is too overboard for a title and doesn't belong outside a gentleman's club.

Comments

This discussion has been closed.