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Comments
I'm glad you ranked NSNA as well. I should do that going forward too.
Regarding LALD, I presume it's the overt blaxploitation that impacts your view? Similarly, Dalton's theatrics in LTK?
1. Casino Royale
2. Skyfall
3. From Russia With Love
4. The Spy Who Loved Me
5. GoldenEye
6. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
7. Goldfinger
8. For Your Eyes Only
9. Thunderball
10. Dr No
11. The Living Daylights
12. You Only Live Twice
13. Live and Let Die
14. Octopussy
15. Tomorrow Never Dies
16. Spectre
17. Licence to Kill
18. The Man With The Golden Gun
19. The World Is Not Enough
20. Quantum of Solace
21. A View to a Kill
22. Die Another Day
23. Moonraker
24. Diamonds Are Forever
After recently harping on about how underrated AVTAK is, I've done a backflip, lol. Not that I think any less of its music or villains but I think the above entries simply have more to offer.
DAD, MR and DAF remain entertaining but the bottom of the franchise because of how far they go. CR, SF and FRWL remain my top picks and firmly in a tier of their own — TSWLM is merely the foremost of the second tier Bonds. Also developed a greater sort of tolerance for TMWTGG, but I fear it'll be short-lived.
LTK has been on the uptick for me. Some of you might remember it was my resident dungeon member that I frequently took swings at. The same elements still bother me, but I have grown to appreciate some of it. On the whole, I will say I think LTK is a superior plot to LALD, but most of the ingredients favor LALD despite the fact that I probably enjoy more of LTK's actual running time to LALD.
It definitely makes me appreciate seeing people list some of my favorites on the lower totem of their rankings. However, there are some films I feel just should not be last (you can probably guess which ones I'm talking about). Aside from the obvious ones, I would say Moonraker is one of those films. It has some of the best cinematography and music in the series, not to mention Moore is completely unrestrained and very confident in his character. If it wasn't for a select few killers, I would easily have it in my top half. The two that stand out the most (disregarding the space battle):
- Why does the boat chase look so much worse than the one in LALD? It feels like they must have used up the budget or couldn't get the actors for a few more shots on location. The green screen work there is probably one of the most cringeworthy of the series and it sadly destroys the beauty of the on-location film work cut between. For me it makes the CGI tsunami in DAD look exquisite (only by direct comparison).
- The main plot features an organic substance that is harmless to 'animals' but kills humans. The scientist in me really shrivels up when they segregate humans from the animal kingdom.
Though, my account of what should never be last has changed over time. DAF used to be in my top half because it was a fun experience, but the more views I give it, the harder it is for me to even get through it. It's really taken a nosedive since giving NSNA an honest look because it became apparent just how unengaged Connery was in his characterization for DAF. He gives a much more convincing effort in NSNA. That's also the reason why I rank DAD above last, since Brosnan puts in more than the efforts around him that it's very easy to like stretches of the film.
@ForYourEyesOnly Great list, I had to look closely to find the few differences between our lists. We must value the same particular things in our viewings.
2. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
3. DR. NO
4. THUNDERBALL
5. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
6. LICENCE TO KILL
7. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS
8. ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE
9. OCTOPUSSY/NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN
10. CASINO ROYALE '06
11. GOLDENEYE
12. A VIEW TO A KILL
13. LIVE AND LET DIE
14. SKYFALL
15. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
16. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
17. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
18. TOMORROW NEVER DIES
19. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN/ CR '54
20. MOONRAKER
21. SPECTRE
22. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
23. QUANTUM OF SOLACE
24. DIE ANOTHER DAY/ CR '67
I'm with you on MR. Moore is certainly bursting with confidence and I've regularly maintained that his approach is perfect for the tone of the film, which is pure fun from start to finish. I noticed the offending green screen during the boat chase too. Not only is that annoying, but the chase lacks tension and is too gadget focused. They obviously were trying to recreate the structure of the TSWLM Lotus chase, but it falls flat for me.
I'm not sure I agree on DAF though. While I don't rank it highly, I think Connery is quite engaged in it (YOLT is where I think he's asleep) despite his portly appearance. I'd argue that he plays it just right for the tone of the film, just like Moore in MR. This one wasn't calling for the Connery of DN/FRWL, but rather a more laid back one. I've always contended that Connery and Moore were the only two who nailed the tone perfectly in all their efforts (imho of course).
--
@ToTheRight , nice top 10. Again, it's good to see someone including NSNA in their ranking. I'm a bit surprised by AVTAK, but recognize that the film has its fans.
1. Casino Royale
2. Thunderball
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
4. Dr. No
5. The Spy Who Loved Me
6. Skyfall
7. From Russia with Love
8. You Only Live Twice
9. Quantum of Solace
10. Octopussy
11. Spectre
12. Goldfinger
13. The Man with the Golden Gun
14. Live and Let Die
15. A View to a Kill
16. Diamonds Are Forever
17. For Your Eyes Only
18. The Living Daylights
19. Moonraker
20. GoldenEye
21. Tomorrow Never Dies
22. Licence to Kill
23. Die Another Day
24. The World Is Not Enough
I afford Brosnan generosity as he was my first. In some ways, he is one of the best Bonds, but unfortunately he's dragged down in most of his movies by other nonsense. With TWINE, which I know you rank last, I'm able to rank it out of the bottom 5 due to a couple of redeeming factors.
@Mansfield - Indeed, our top and bottom three are identical in choice (just slightly rearranged) and our top ten are comprised of the same films except for one (you chose YOLT and I chose Thunderball).
I think we are looking for similar things, and I can see similarities with your analyses of DAF and MR. I honestly think MR is Roger Moore's best performance, and there's definitely no shortage of praise that can be given to Ken Adam's sets or John Barry's score. Drax is quite a good villain, and I don't actually mind Holly Goodhead. It's the sort of enjoyable, mindless popcorn flick and with different criteria it could rank a lot higher.
I don't even mind Bond going into space that much, but the massacre of Jaws' character is much harder to forgive. Given Jaws is responsible for a substantial amount of my liking for TSWLM, I'm afraid I have to penalize MR quite harshly for it. And apart from production value, there's no real substance behind the film at all. It's just the Gilbert formula, with all the machinery dialled up to the point of breaking.
DAF is lowest on my list because it commits the greater sin of ruining Blofeld (not that I dislike Charles Gray or his villain, but to make any comparison between his Blofeld and prior incarnations hurts my head — I have to treat them as separate characters in my head canon) and the score and set work, whilst still very good, isn't up to par with MR. And otherwise, again, the movie has no real substance behind it. Connery's performance is also weaker than Moore's, and a couple of good action scenes/funny moments are all the movie really has going for it IMO. As a Bond fan, I can enjoy the campiness of it all, but at the same time I can only lament the lost opportunity to work off OHMSS. So in a ranking I'm afraid I have to relegate it to the bottom.
1) OHMSS
2) TLD
3) LTK
4) CR
5) GF
6) FRWL
7) QOS
8) OP
9)SP
10)LALD
11)FYEO
12)TB
13)TMWTGG
14)MR
15)SF
16)DN
17)AVTAK
18)YOLT
19)DAF
20)NSNA
21)TSWLM
22)TWINE
23)GE
24)TND
25)CR 67
26)DAD
I've always enjoyed it. Excellent cast and performances. Solid adaptation of the TB novel, yet different enough it doesn't feel to me like an outright remake of the TB film.
2 Casino Royale
3 On Her Majesty's Secret Service
4 Goldfinger
5 Licence to Kill
6 Dr. No
7 The Spy Who Loved Me
8 Thunderball
9 Skyfall
10 Live and Let Die
11 You Only Live Twice
12 The Living Daylights
13 Goldeneye
14 The Man With the Golden Gun
15 Quantum of Solace
16 Octopussy
17 Diamonds Are Forever
18 For Your Eyes Only
19 A View to a Kill
20 Spectre
21 Moonraker
22 Tomorrow Never Dies
23 The World is Not Enough
24 Die Another Day
Rewatched Spectre and tried to like it more but I just couldn'e see past its flaws and enjoy it for what it is, still needs more time.
If you keep in mind that I love good movies and fun movies alike...
1 Casino & Quantum double feature (just like how Kill Bills & Back to the Future 1/2 should be viewed)
2 Majesty's
3 Diamonds
4 LTK
5 FRWL
6 Octopussy
7 Goldfinger
Here it comes...these are very uneven (except sf) but very watchable for me
8 Spectre
9 DAD
10 Skyfall
11 Daylights
12 FYEO
Kinda burnt out on the next three
13 Goldeneye
14 Spy
15 Thunderball
16 AVTAK (after in LD bond doesn't just wreck a cake when he lands on a boat)
17 Dr No
18 Twine
19 Golden gun
20 Tnd
21 Moonraker (don't like it when dogs tear women apart or are attacked by giant clowns in alleys)
22 Yolt
23 LALD
Your number 1 is great, but your number 3 is a bizarre choice and DAD- a bit high?
A most excellent top nine, old boy!
DAD is inexcusably high. Mr. Kil, horrible dialogue, great first act, sword fight, and strange rocketeer costume are what do it for me. I can watch this turd over and over again just like THE ROOM. I have a feeling Tamahori directed with an interpreter and they were both drunk.
And I'll write it out for those who don't want to decipher all the covers.
I've decided I can pretty much split the films into two rough categories.
Legitimately great:
1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2. The World Is Not Enough
3. Licence to Kill
4. Quantum of Solace
5. Tomorrow Never Dies
6. GoldenEye
7. Casino Royale
8. A View to a Kill
9. You Only Live Twice
10. Thunderball
11. Dr. No
12. Skyfall
13. Live and Let Die
14. The Living Daylights
15. Goldfinger
16. Octopussy
Less so:
17. Die Another Day
18. For Your Eyes Only
19. From Russia With Love
20. The Spy Who Loved Me
21. Moonraker
22. Spectre
23. The Man with the Golden Gun
24. Diamonds Are Forever
So two thirds of the series I'm totally onboard with. A third, I like moments, scenes, stunts, characters, etc., but have some largish reservations about.
And I've realized that a number of these rankings are pretty interchangeable depending on the day and my mood.
OHMSS and TWINE are essentially both my #1s.
LTK, QOS, and TND could all switch places. So too with GE and CR, and YOLT and TB. DN, SF, and LALD could all swap around. Then, any one of the bottom three could hold the same place. It's a fluid list. Films in the 15-19 range tend to jump around. But this is basically my long-held view of the series. (NSNA, I have no idea where it'd fit in, but I like it.)
"NSNA, I have no idea where it'd fit in, but I like it."
Man murdered w/ piss > man lazily strangled w/ phone cord through a window should bump it above TB...top 1/3 maybe?
From Russia With Love at 19? :O