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No From Russia With Love on your list of classics? Interesting. It's way up there for me, in fact, this is the only title on which our lists do not agree.
If we're talking classic Bond then that makes me think of classic Bond moments rather than just great Bond movies. Moments that make Bond.
Bond takes off his wetsuit to reveal a perfect white tuxedo.
Bond is going to meet Blofeld in his lair, and he has brought a kilt.
Bond doesn't show up for the first 15 minutes of the movie (let alone spend a 10 minute PTS holding a mini war) and he has a mission. It may be a trap, but he knows what to do - check the room for bugs and then order yoghurt for breakfast.
Classic Bond has that sort of style and swagger for me.
As lovely, beautifully filmed as OHMSS is, with great music, too, it cannot be my own personal classic as it falls short by having Lazenby as Bond - I never bought him for a second in the role, and it hurt the film beyond repair for me.
Just for the record I am a fan of 'old Bond' (up to & including Dalton) but CR aside am luke warm about the subsequent films.
I had the luck to see this without knowing much about the franchise. I just thought, oh ok, another actor that played Bond and I even didn't know how many Bond movies existed back then.
OHMSS blew me away, like no other Bond movie ever had. I certainly thought it to be the best Bond by far and I was devastated when realising it was the only Bond movie with Lazenby.
It never left my Top 3, only GE and TLD went higher. (I don't count Spectre yet)
Objectively (I try) I'd even say it's the best Bond movie together with FRWL.
If Lazenby had made more Bond movies it's entirely possible he would be my favourite actor after Dalton.
Gun barrel, with an exciting PTS leading in to some spectacular titles, with a big,
bold, brassy, Bond song. Some wordplay with Moneypenny
A meeting at M's office for the mission, a visit to Q for some equipment and a joke
or two.
A larger than life villain with an equally evil plan for world domination with a big,
nasty henchman.
A sexy leading lady, and a big finish, with loads of action and the villain's HQ getting
blown to pieces. :)
I would say the first three: DN, FRWL and GF and I toss in OHMSS
The first three came out at a time when Bond and his world was new and fresh... they almost recall a "innocent time" in filmmaking.
DN is a true "man's Film" and should be listed beside such films as "The Dirty Dozen", "The Great Escape" and "Bullitt"
FRWL is the one true espionage spy thriller in the EON stable
GF as the one that made Bond his own genre.
OHMSS has attained a kind of "cult status' among the Bond films (the only one to do so)
Classic :-B
So by those means id say the classic Bond movies are.
Dr No
From Russia with Love
Goldfinger
On her Majesty's secret Service
The spy who loved me
Licence to kill
Goldeneye
Casino Royale
I would add CR to my list. Craigs first film is instant classic and ranks with the four I mentioned earlier as Bond films that will be "Classics:.
In place of LTK I'd put The Living Daylights. Great use of a Fleming short story fleshed out nicely by the screenwriters. And Dalton really needs to make an appearance for our mythical newbie!
A nonchalant, calm, collected, natural Bond. A Bond who is on top of his game and in his prime. Someone who is clever and on top of his game. Well informed and excellent at what he does while occasionally being a smartass for the fun of it.
Unique and interesting locales. I like it when Bond movies take us to new places we've never really gotten a chance to see and spending a good chunk of the movie there. Bond can globe trot but I'd prefer he stay at one place for a good amount of time each instead of being at multiple places in a very short time span.
Beautiful ladies. This one speaks for itself, though I'll put a little more thought into it. I prefer Bond girls who, are intelligent and able to handle themselves. Now that doesn't mean female agents who are meant to be "Bond's equal." I think most of those characters are just caricature of Bond anyway, but not all I think Aki pulls that off the best. I mean someone like Natalya, the everyday person or Tracy even. someone like them. Those are my ideal Bond girls.
A Bond villain who is very much Bond like. I enjoy villains who are very cool and sophisticated like Bond himself. Dr. No, Kamal Khan and Sanchez come to mind for this. Each of them have different goals and ways they conduct themselves but they live their lives with such charm and style that you like to know more about them.
A good, memorable music score. For me personally, one of the biggest ingredients that make a Bond film, a classic Bond film is it's score. The Bond sound is legendary with how great and stylish it is. John Barry is 100% responsible for it and the music he contributed for the Bond franchise has been phenomenal. Though he wasn't the only composer to bring greatness to Bond music. A Bond score that uses the Bond theme to maximum perfection along with bringing in new and unique themes to the film is also important. And I don't me using the Bond theme over and over for the sake of it, but for when it's necessary and needed when Bond is at the top of his game or during an intense action scene. In a score where the Bond theme is barely used or just exclusively used for the end credits, then I consider that a failure. The music of Bond is a character in itself that movies along with Bond during his adventure and should always be treated as such. When it's treated as just background decoration or wallpaper, then the point is lost and so is the impact. Bond music needs to be as Bold and Brash as Bond himself. It shouldn't be anything less than him.
And lastly. Unique set design, a good splash of humor and something that doesn't take itself too seriously. Those are the best kinds of Bond films and the ones I find to be classic.
That's exactly why I included Dalton hehe.
Any new person who would get into Bond needs to know the 6 actors with the film which succeded the most or Represents him the best.
I think Licence to kill represents Dalton much better than The living daylights Licence to kill its much more his acting style.
Yes, I don't know why I forgot Mathis. He's so excellent. And I think many Bond fans would have liked him to return.
I included TLD for those reasons, @BeatlesSansEarmuffs. :) And the way they introduced Dalton, on that cliff, with the follow up - just excellent.
The music indeed is very important. I remember driving with my then girlfriend past a lake in Italy with a drowned town it it, only the church tower rises above the water. I had the CD-player on but, as it was one with 5 CD's, wasn't quite sure which would come up next. It was 'The best of Bond', with the Bond-rendition from Dr. No as the first track. Just for a moment we both just looked around to see where the action was. As if you can actually drive into a Bond-adventure! Perhaps that's why SPECTRE isn't working that well: the music is more background, it's not part of the narrative. Where it should've made the car chase exciting it makes it artistic instead. At the same time, even though it's got a rotten title track QoS has sublime moments also due to the music. The Tosca scene beeing the most obvious.
In the Roger Moore era the plots became more outlandish. Stromberg starting anew under the sea (basically destroying and then taking over the world), whereas Drax had the same idea, but then from space. Those two are, I think, the only ones that really fall into the 'take over the world' category. Or maybe Carver, who's power as media mogul would come very close to that.
But I guess Austin Powers had more to do with that idea then Bondfilms themselves.