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Yes, unashamedly. I gave my reasoning on the last page:
There's nothing wrong with FRWL, apart perhaps from a somewhat underwhelming quadruple climax. And there is in fact a lot right with the film, beginning with Shaw's Red Grant and Armendáriz's Kerim Bey. I just find there are so many more Bonds that deliver just what I'm looking for, be it fantastical sci-fi Bond or more grounded, story-and-character-driven Bond. I rarely feel the inclination to just throw the film on outside of marathons, the way I might be in the mood to see Sir Roger wooing Kristina Wayborn poolside or Craig shooting fools up to opera and giant dilating eyeballs. The film is well executed and a cherished part of Bond history for me, but not one I would go to bat for with the same vigor as any number of others. It therefore falls into a strange place in my rankings—a kind of, hey nothing wrong with it, but what kind of passion does it stir within me zone. How's that for "(Simple list, no details)"?
1. GOLDFINGER
2. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
3. DR NO
4. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
5. THUNDERBALL
6. ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE
7. LICENCE TO KILL
8. OCTOPUSSY/NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN
9. CASINO ROYALE 06
10. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS
11. GOLDENEYE
12. SKYFALL
13. A VIEW TO A KILL
14. LIVE AND LET DIE
15. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
16. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
17. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
18. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN
19. MOONRAKER/ CR '54
20. SPECTRE
21. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
22 TOMORROW NEVER DIES
23. DIE ANOTHER DAY
24. QUANTUM OF SOLACE/CR 67
Not a fan of dear Daniel then..?!!!
1. ON HER MAJESTY S SECRET SERVICE
2. GOLDFINGER
3. CASINO ROYALE
4. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
5. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
6. SKYFALL
7. DR. NO
8. SPECTRE
9. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
10. QUANTUM OF SOLACE
11. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS
12. LICENCE TO KILL
13. THUNDERBALL
14. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
15. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
16. LIVE AND LET DIE
17. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN
18. NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN
19. OCTOPUSSY
20. MOONRAKER
21. A VIEW TO A KILL
22. GOLDENEYE
23. TOMORROW NEVER DIES
24, THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
25. DIE ANOTHER DAY.
@Thunderfinger, I think you accidentally placed SP in GE's spot. Other than that, an excellent top ten!
royale65, TWINE could easily go up a spot or two, but then others would go ballistic on me.
I pretty much always have. FRWL is a great Bond film no doubt, but of this site's Big 3 (CR, OHMSS, FRWL), it is definitely my personal third favorite of those. Still makes my top 10, but for me, CR and OHMSS are the best Bond films.
They are both among the very best.
Actually I do love YOLT, just when fitting some of the later films in YOLT tends to get pushed down. I often flip between it and DAF.
I love Daniel, too, but I'm finding SF not as easy to watch as repeatedly. Same with SP. Perhaps their running times might have something to do with it? So SF ends up in the middle, and SP fit in after I've ranked the rest.
1) Goldfinger
2) Thunderball
3) Casino Royale 06'
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Nice top 3, @CASINOROYALE . Love to see the rest when you get to it.
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RE: THE CR/OHMSS/FRWL debate, Connery's sophomore effort is tops for me. It is far and away my favourite Bond film.
Thanks ;)
Spectre was in my top 5, but I do re watch the entire series every six months so my list changes quite a bit.
Yeah Spectre will always be in my top 8. If I could only pick 8 Bond films to watch for the rest of my life Spectre would be in there.
I think when Bond takes on contemporary cultural cues like YOLT with the space race, LALD with blaxpoitation, TMWTGG with martial arts, MR with space etc. it can look ridiculous when viewed 40 or 50 years later, as I know many people have problems with this. Granted, most of us, as Bond fans, are more tolerant of this stuff, but I still think it makes the other films feel more dated.
In short, I can appreciate that MR, LALD etc. are products of their times, but FRWL is one of the classic Bonds with a more timeless feel to it, and so are OHMSS and TSWLM (apart from a few things like the disco soundtrack). I've noticed that these films make it very high on my lists, so it seems this is just how I prefer my Bonds. The ones that too obviously steal from contemporary culture rather than influence it tend to be on the middle-lower range of my list.
Here again, however, what I love about it comes from the qualities I also see in YOLT; its tongue-in-cheek nature, its blast of colors, the modernism of Ken Adam's sets, the technologically focused plot, its larger than life crime story, etc. Feeling the way you do about FRWL, I'm betting that (if you are indeed a fan of it) you enjoy it to a large extent for its more thriller-ish moments?
Absolutely agree that FRWL blends in at large with the spy thriller tradition. As many have noted, it seems a story right up Hitchcock's lane. I suppose it's for this precise same reason why it's a fewer rungs lower in my book. I feel about FRWL in just the same way that you regard lower those Bond films which 'steal' rather than 'influence.'
I guess I see FRWL very much fitting a traditional mold (the equivalent of your 'stealing from contemporary culture'), and I see all the other '60s films as going beyond that mold and doing something different with it. YOLT, to be fair, is probably the one outside of FRWL which comes closest to borrowing (from Eurospy in this case) but ultimately (a) its borrowing from itself, directly from the tradition that Bond created and (b) doing it miles better than Eurospy itself (which can't be said of LALD and blaxploitation nor TMWTGG and kung fu, for example).
Thanks.
I have it in my top ten but usually on the lower end. I think it has its merits, but it might just feel dated because of the score and the lesser budget compared to other Bond movies. It feels like a movie from the late 50's rather than properly from the early 60's, in my opinion. Lots of strong elements, but the Bond formula hasn't been fleshed out at this point so naturally it's not bound together as strongly as some of Connery's later adventures. I prefer the FRWL - TB stretch myself, but I recognize DN as a classic, if a bit of a rawer production.
I find those enjoyable things as well, which is why I also like TSWLM and MR. With YOLT, I think Barry's score can't be forgotten — one of the best to grace the Bond mythos and the title song is just vivid and lush and completely fitting with the eastern theme. That, combined with the things you mentioned (Ken Adam's sets, Roald Dahl's screenplay, etc.) combines to make it the first truly larger-than-life Bond movie. So there's definitely lots to like about it, even if there's more noticeable missteps than the earlier Bonds as well.
As for FRWL, I do like it as a thriller. I think the suspense is built well, both the action and acting is done excellently, and the atmosphere is set up and sustained brilliantly. If any of Connery's movies can beat YOLT in atmosphere, it's FRWL.
All Bond movies are influenced by something, so there's no escaping that. But as I said earlier, I think FRWL just feels more timeless than the other Bonds, which is why I like it so much. I suspect that most people who prefer Goldfinger find that the timeless one out of Connery's lot, but I've found a fair bit in that one which dates the movie for me. All the same, I agree with most that the 60's were the Golden Age of Bond. I wasn't around at that time but even I can feel a magical quality about their storytelling which was diminished when Lazenby took over (not that OHMSS isn't magical in it's own right) and had completely faded by the time of Diamonds Are Forever in 1971.
True. I think Goldfinger and Thunderball, the massive commercial hits, were what turned Bond into the pop culture icon that future films developed. YOLT in turn built off that reputation. I think some people don't like You Only Live Twice as much since it's the most easily parodied and indeed the most parodied (Austin Powers, future Bonds, the whole Blofeld trope etc.) of the Bond movies, but then, YOLT is the original and formed the template for two other Bonds (TSWLM and MR). It's outrageously over-the-top but it works. It's just unfortunate that we didn't have Connery with the energy he had in Thunderball or any of the earlier ones.
Good idea then; Ill take a go
Dr. No
FRWL
GOLDFINGER
OHMSS
TSWLM
OCTOPUSSY
TLD
LICENSE TO KILL
GE
CR
QOS
im not sure about yolt and tnd they almost made the list.
1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2. Licence to Kill
3. From Russia with Love
4. GoldenEye
5. The Living Daylights
6. Thunderball
7. The Man with the Golden Gun
8. The World Is Not Enough
9. Goldfinger
10. Quantum of Solace
11. Casino Royale
12. The Spy Who Loved Me
13. Tomorrow Never Dies
14. Dr. No
15. Moonraker
16. You Only Live Twice
17. Live and Let Die
18. Never Say Never Again
19. A View to a Kill
20. For Your Eyes Only
21. Skyfall
22. Diamonds Are Forever
23. Die Another Day
24. Octopussy
25. Spectre