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From the audiences point of view, which Bondfilm is the least known?
MrBond
Station S
As the title suggests, which one of the 23 Bondfilms is the most unknown over-all?
I think that DAF and TMWTGG is the two most unknown Bondfilms from the general public point of views. What do you think?
I think that DAF and TMWTGG is the two most unknown Bondfilms from the general public point of views. What do you think?
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Comments
TMWTGG is considered as a classic, can't be forgotten that way.
I'd also say Dalton. Whenever I ask someone who knows nothing about Bond about who has played him during the years, they often mention Connery. Maybe Moore. Definitely Craig. Most younger ones I've asked knew Brosnan, not so much the older. Lazenby and Dalton are pretty much forgotten. So I'd say OHMSS, TLD and LTK.
2.License to Kill
3.The Man With The Golden Gun (Very underrated)
4.Die Another Day (It had a lot of flaws, but it was still a good Bond film)
5.OHMSS (I consider OHMSS a masterpiece)
6.A View to a Kill (I don't know why it gets so much hate? I had flaws, but it wasn't that bad)
7.You Only Live Twice
Actually all of the movies that you've quoted except for AVTAK and TLD are very much known...
And i guess that OHMSS is known because of the '1-movie-1-Actor' thing.
I always thought it was You Only Live Twice. It's always easy to forget it's even a part of the series sometimes, and just feels like odd man out I always felt, but after a recent watch, it's not such a bad release. Any other titles I can think of would include Golden Gun, Octopussy and Diamonds are Forever
TMWTGG on the other hand, and probably even FYEO and AVTAK are pretty unknown. Probably because Moore did so many films and all of them like " morphed together ".
I think the rest known for either their titles (OP, MR) or theme songs (LALD, DAF, TSWLM) or both.
Brosnan and Craig era films are both pretty well known as is Connery era - thanks to 60s cool and Austin powers (something like YOLT benefits from Myers enormously)
When Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon showed off their impressive 'James Bond' impressions in their fairly recent TV series, 'The Trip', it was the Scaramanga-Bond dinner table discussion from TMWTGG that they chose to mimic.
Then again, considering the frequent references to Roger Moore in Coogan's work - Rog is Alan Partridge's hero, and Coogan even mentions the yo-yo saw from Octopussy occasionally "MOVE!" - it would seem that he is, as all the finest people generally are, a bit of a Moore fan at heart.
Certainly the Dalton films (or "The Welsh Ones" to continue the Coogan theme) are the least recognised among the casual film-goer, in my experience. Bond fans are different of course.
I think this is true - In Britain they have a more intricate knowledge of Bond. I'd have no doubt that a British non-Bond fan would be significantly more knowledgable than a non-bond fan in most other countries. I think the 80s were a comparatively barren time for universal Bond mania - certainly not like CR, SF or even GE. If not for Octopussy as a provocative title I think many non-bond fans would struggle to name a film from that decade.
By whom exactly?
I take your points but I would say that
a) Coogan is clearly something of a Bond fan with a pretty good knowledge of the Rog era in particular. They never actually say the words ‘The Man With The Golden Gun’ in that scene and I wonder how many people watching knew it was from that?
b) How niche is the Trip anyway? I don’t know many outside my immediate circle who watched it. Its certainly not maintstream. I'd be surprised if it got more than 2 million viewers. Its not My Family or the awful Miranda is it?
Remember this is from the moronic X-Factor watching, Iceland party platter guzzling public’s perspective and not from us as Bond fans so some suggestions here such as DAF or LALD are also somewhat misguided.
Heres a quick brainstorm along with a stab at some actual logical reasoning:
In thinking about this question a few points struck me:
1. As MrBond said above to the public at large Bond films are interchangeable and they are unlikely to be able to match characters or events to a particular title. They may remember stunts or characters but most wouldn’t be able to say which film they are in.
2. As Major_Boothroyd said above having a good song will probably mean people will be able to come up with the film title. DAF and AVTAK far inferior films to OHMSS and TLD but people would certainly name them first if asked to compile a list.
3. Although most people know Dalton played Bond I reckon they would be hard pressed to remember the titles of the films or anything about them. To the public Bond is Sean and Roger, Daniel a bit behind (as hes the one in posession difficult to evaluate until he retires the role) and then Pierce a bit behind that. Then theres a big drop off before people name George and Tim.
4. There are not as many truly iconic moments as I thought. These are the only things I would say with a good degree of confidence that the vast majority of the public at large would definitely be able to say ‘That was from a James Bond film’: The GF laser room, TSWLM ski jump, the GE bungee, Jaws, Oddjob the DB5 and the Lotus.
5. ITV screening Bond films at xmas (particularly the Rog era) is a fairly strong influence in terms of memorability for most people of my generation (and that would include Coogan).
Of course nothing about anything I have written is in the least bit scientific and is all based on general impressions of how the public perceive Bond garnered through the usual top 10 lists that roll around every time theres a new film and talking to people who are not bond fans. Also I’m coming at this from a British perception – especially in terms of a Bond a xmas which in the 80s and early 90s was a tradition after the Queen had finished babbling and you let your dinner go down.
DN – The first so people have heard of it.
FRWL – People remember Rosa Klebb and Grant as classic villains but for anyone born post 1990 probably less remembered.
GF – So much classic stuff and always top of lists so apart from the most recent film people will always quote this one if asked to name a Bond film.
TB – Biggest box office at the time but in the modern public of today’s mind I would say its one of the most unmemorable. Jet pack maybe and SPECTRE briefing but other than that theres nothing to lodge in the memory – bland villains (and don’t jump down my throat and say what about Fiona. Yes to us fans she is good but compared to Oddjob and Jaws she is not memorable and the general public are only going to manage to remember a handful of stand out characters or aspects such a long list of films), bland action, plodding underwater scenes, despite being labelled gadget laden apart from the jetpack theres nothing that memorable for an average audience – although personally I’ve always loved the mini-rebreather.
YOLT – Has the volcano and Blofeld which thanks to Austin Powers are lodged in the public’s consciousness as what Bond films are all about but I doubt most people could specifically tell you that they featured in YOLT so ultimately unmemorable.
OHMSS – Georges one off and Tracys death means people have heard of this.
DAF – Although theres not much in the film itself, Shirley Basseys song has a wide exposure and songs are easier to remember than trying to sort out moments from 23 similar films so DAF would be a title most people would name in their top 10 despite the film itself being awful.
LALD – Boat chase, voodoo, crocodiles, double decker decapitation, Mcartney and Wings. Plus being on most boxing days of the 80s on ITV couldn’t have hurt. Joe Public loves this one.
TMWTGG – Apart from maybe Nick Nack because of his appearance the public wont remember this sub par effort. They might remember the Astro Spiral car jump but not many could tell you which film it was from.
TSWLM – Jaws, Lotus, ski jump and again a classic song. Another perennial yuletide favourite of ITV as well so reasonably remembered.
MR – Jaws again, Bond in space and probably the quintessential ITV xmas Bond. I defy anyone over the age of about 28 not to have seen this after the Queens speech at least once.
FYEO – There really is nothing stand out here. Villains totally unmemorable, good action but not the best, no classic villains lairs or gadgets. A nice chunk of Fleming plot for us fans but that counts for bugger all in this list. This has to be a serious contender. Although most people could probably hum the song.
OP – Slightly more memorable than FYEO to the general public but just a good solid slice of classic Rog which in the publics eyes equates to run of the mill.
AVTAK – Anything with Grace Jones will stick in peoples minds and a big song helps immensely but the comments for OP also pretty much apply here.
TLD – I’m afraid in the publics minds Dalton equals dull. This will be slightly better remembered than LTK as it was a new Bond but apart from that not a lot that will lodge in the plebs 15 second attention span.
LTK – See above. This is also a serious contender for this crown. Especially given the box office was down so less people have seen it and it’s a bit too grim for Xmas day fayre. But then it could be argued its grim, violent tone makes it stand out a bit? Not sure about that – I doubt most people could tell you a thing about it.
GE – Two words – bungee jump. For people born after 1980 this was their introduction to Bond. Its got outlandish villains, bombastic set pieces, a new Bond and a bit of a return to Rog-esque style which at the time was what the public craved after dull Dalton.
TND – As by the numbers as it gets. Whilst you are watching it you are entertained but there really isn’t anything that will stick with the public after they stop watching. Fuel to those people who say all Bond films are the same.
TWINE – This would be the same as TND in terms of being very generic but the boat chase probably elevates it to be somewhat more memorable.
DAD – I doubt the public at large particularly care about the invisible car or the parasurfing scene but the question we are debating is whether or not they would remember it and again I would say that in their minds its just another generic Bond banger being churned out by EONs sausage machine.
CR – Such a jarring change of style has to be remembered. Along with a spectacular new Bond in the role and a thrilling opening parkour chase this will be remembered by the proles.
QOS – Already forgotten. Should be fresh in the mind as its only a few years ago but a pretty average film with nothing stand out about it apart from a good performance by Craig and the fact that it is sandwiched between two classics mean that if this is remembered at all by the public it will be as nothing more than a blip in the Daniel Craig era.
SF – Well obviously unless you are in the latter stages of Alzheimer’s you cant have forgotten this already. But will it stand the test of time? I don’t really think that there are any iconic action set pieces that will go down in history like the train fight, the ski jump or the bungee (the PTS is good but the action is nothing we haven’t seen before and that’s by some distance the best set piece in the film), the villain is memorable but not at Oddjob or Jaws levels. I think the whole patriotic tone – the London setting, the tube, the Union jack fluttering at the end – when set against the rest of 2012s renewal of pro British fervour will be what people remember. M dying should keep it memorable as that’s never been done before.
Also don’t underestimate the Olympics either. In about 20 years guaranteed you will get people saying ‘Skyfall? Wasn’t that the one where bond and the Queen jump out of the helicopter.’ At this point you will be perfectly within your rights to scream in their face ‘STOP GETTING BOND WRONG.’
In conclusion then I would say TB, TMWTGG, FYEO ,the Dalton films, TND and QOS are the shortlist we should be picking from to answer this question.
But, again, I am reminded of the apocryphal story of the liberal (sometimes named as Barbra Streisand) who could not believe that Walter Mondale could lose to Ronald Reagan in the 1984 US Presidential Election, because, not only did she know nobody who was going to vote for Reagan, but nobody she knew, knew anybody who was going to vote for Reagan. Quite a lot of people did though....
It is entirely possible that I find myself in a Mondale-esque bubble regarding TMWTGG.
I think you are bang-on with the rest of your calls.
I think it's definetly Daltons films.
yep sadly i think Connery's first 5, two of Moore's(LALD and TSWLM) , One of Brosnans (goldeneye) and two of Craig (CR and SF) are probably the only Bond films known by a large mainstream audience.
SF is right now but I didn't want to include that yet because it's only just come out, lets see how remembered and praised it is in a good few years time.
As its looking likely its going to be the biggest grossing Bond ever i think its safe to say
its going to remembered.
Daltons movies forgotten? Take the ice-chase in TLD as an example and many people will remember it.
TB was the highest grossing Bond film ever for years and that's not as remembered as GF. QOS was one of the highest grossing Bonds and that's been fairly forgotten. In a few years Bond 24 and 25 might've beaten SF at the box office for all we know.
i don't know i think skyfall will be pretty much the Goldfinger for the young Bond fans coming up. CR will always be rememberd cause it bought Bond back from the sheer awfulness of Brosnan plus it rebooted the whole series plus its a classic Bond film which we didn't have for a good few years.
Skyfall is a very good film, yes. And it is certainly a very good money maker. But it doesen't have the originality of CR and not one really standout moment.
SF will be remembered by Silva and the death of M. The time will tell the rest i suppose.
Sean is the one everyone knows. Roger is popular for taking a completely different take on the role and giving the most escapism, and that is something that many enjoy. Pierce is recent enough for many people to still remember him, and his films had the escapist element too, a nice inspiration from Moore's era there. And of course, Dan is the current Bond so everyone knows him, especially now that his era is at its most popular yet. George only did one film and was the guy who wasn't Connery, so he poofs into the ether, and Tim was a bad surprise for many accustomed to the more tongue in cheek Bond we had for over a decade. Naturally it was hard to adapt to. Many may have given up on Bond during Tim's reign when they saw that we were getting a grittier Bond than was ever before imagined. And now that kind of Bond seems to be hit. Tim just came at a time when the public wasn't ready for that kind of interpretation, but in a way be saw the future. If Tim was the same age as he was during his era now and those films were released at this point in time, they may have been bigger hits with the public. But maybe people responded so well to Dan's Bond because Tim tested the waters and showed that a dark Bond could work? Alas, who can say for certain?
I'd actually wager that For Your Eyes Only is the least known of the Bond films because it's the odd one out in the Moore era and doesn't really have a major, stand out action set piece. I remember describing it to my housemate saying to him something like "yeah it's amazing Bond has to climb up a mountain cliff whilst a guard his hacking away at his rope and they kill Blofeld at the start!", my housemate was like "...what?" :/
I'm sorry?
Anyone who knows George and his antics on set would say that's one charge that certainly can't be levelled at him!
I am talking about common moviegoers, not us fans or the women he violated on set. Calm down.
Although Lazenby and Dalton are definetly the forgotten two, and it really is a shame.
Plus Christopher Nolan and i think Daniel Craig (i could be wrong on the Craig one) have cited it as there favourite Bond movie which has done it a lot of good for its critical standing. plus it has one of the greatest songs in We have all the time in the world and it has Bond been married as you said.