Bond movie ranking (Simple list, no details)

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  • edited January 2014 Posts: 2,341
    The notion that DN, FRWL and GF are the quintessential Bonds is one that I think is shared by the critics. Heck, the Criterion Collection of Bond films is limited to those three. But among serious Bond fans this is a much more controversial opinion. Indeed, I daresay that among this cohort TB is quite possibly rated a bit higher than GF. I know I consider TB much the superior film.

    TB is the first most "epic" of the Bonds and gave the series that "bigger than life" feel. It was also the highest grossing film (until SF) but personally, and speaking for myself only, I was actually disappointed when I saw TB. When you remove the layers of skin in the form of extravagant spending and sets and stunts, the movie actually pales when compared to its two predecessors.

    The plot is cool and all but so much of the early scenes (like the health spa sequences) are too full of coincidences to be believable. When Fiona blows up Count Lippe's car on a quiet English road, Bond doesn't even bother to mention it at Mi6 (?)
    The hijacking of the Vulcan is kinda ho hum and there are many parts of the film that are just undenieably boring. Bond foils the SPECTRE plot mostly due to dumb luck, and no real spy work involved. Think about it.

    I will bet you that Richard Maibaum did not think this was one of his better scripts.
  • edited January 2014 Posts: 2,483
    OHMSS69 wrote:
    The notion that DN, FRWL and GF are the quintessential Bonds is one that I think is shared by the critics. Heck, the Criterion Collection of Bond films is limited to those three. But among serious Bond fans this is a much more controversial opinion. Indeed, I daresay that among this cohort TB is quite possibly rated a bit higher than GF. I know I consider TB much the superior film.

    TB is the first most "epic" of the Bonds and gave the series that "bigger than life" feel. It was also the highest grossing film (until SF) but personally, and speaking for myself only, I was actually disappointed when I saw TB. When you remove the layers of skin in the form of extravagant spending and sets and stunts, the movie actually pales when compared to its two predecessors.

    The plot is cool and all but so much of the early scenes (like the health spa sequences) are too full of coincidences to be believable. When Fiona blows up Count Lippe's car on a quiet English road, Bond doesn't even bother to mention it at Mi6 (?)
    The hijacking of the Vulcan is kinda ho hum and there are many parts of the film that are just undenieably boring. Bond foils the SPECTRE plot mostly due to dumb luck, and no real spy work involved. Think about it.

    I will bet you that Richard Maibaum did not think this was one of his better scripts.

    Very few Bond plots, actually, very few thriller plots, can survive close scrutiny. As such, I'm rarely fussed over plotholes. My enjoyment of Bond films derives primarily from their aesthetics and ambiance, and indeed, that, not crystalline plots is what defines Bond in the public imagination. By that criterion, TB bests GF. What's more, I find GF to be quite dull, and TB, by virtue of its air of mystery, to be much more riveting.

  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    edited January 2014 Posts: 45,489
    I spent the weekend going over this thread all the way back to October 2012, just to see what films are generally well regarded and what films are not so well regarded. I used a system where I gave each no. 1 seven points, no. 2 six points and so on with no. 7 earning one point. To counter for the dislikes, I gave no. 23 on each list minus seven points, no. 22 minus six and so on all the way to minus one point for no. 17.I have disregarded mentions of non EON films and uncomplete lists.

    Adding up all films was too time consuming, but this way you get to see what films in the end got a positive score and what films were mostly in the lower ranks, The films closest to the zero mark are the most divisive. You have collectively chosen an excellent top five, and the bottom place is no surprise either. Here it is.

    1.FRWL 524p
    2.CR 519p
    3.OHMSS 389p
    4.SF 353p
    5.GF 270p
    6.TLD 217p
    7.TSWLM 164p
    8.TB 163p
    9.GE 155p
    10.DN 146p
    11.LTK 108p
    12.FYEO 7p
    13.LALD -28p
    14.OP -56p
    15.YOLT -90p
    16.TWINE -125p
    17.QOS -192p
    18.TND -215p
    19.TMWTGG -306p
    20.MR -341p
    21.DAF -350p
    22.AVTAK -479p
    23.DAD -721p

    Too much flak for QOS imo, and GE is way too high, but as expected. Notice that all Bond actors are in the top ten.
  • Thanks for doing this, Thunderfinger. And as you say, there are few surprises here. Personally, I'd swap GF and DAF, but that's obviously my own eccentricity.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    edited January 2014 Posts: 45,489
    Thanks for doing this, Thunderfinger. And as you say, there are few surprises here. Personally, I'd swap GF and DAF, but that's obviously my own eccentricity.

    We all have our eccentricities when it comes to Bond preferences, and that is just fine.
  • 1. TLD
    2. CR
    3. LTK
    4. FRWL
    5. OHMSS
    6. SF
    7. GE
    8. GF
    9. DN
    10. TND
    11. YOLT
    12. TSWLM
    13. AVTAK
    14. FYEO
    15. MR
    16. QOS
    17. TWINE
    18. TB
    19. OP
    20. LALD
    21. DAF
    22. DAD
    23. TMWTGG
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    Posts: 5,080
    1. TLD
    2. CR
    3. LTK
    4. FRWL
    5. OHMSS
    6. SF
    7. GE
    8. GF
    9. DN
    10. TND
    11. YOLT
    12. TSWLM
    13. AVTAK
    14. FYEO
    15. MR
    16. QOS
    17. TWINE
    18. TB
    19. OP
    20. LALD
    21. DAF
    22. DAD
    23. TMWTGG

    Both Dalton's high, AVTAK not too low, great list overall!
  • 1. TLD
    2. CR
    3. LTK
    4. FRWL
    5. OHMSS
    6. SF
    7. GE
    8. GF
    9. DN
    10. TND
    11. YOLT
    12. TSWLM
    13. AVTAK
    14. FYEO
    15. MR
    16. QOS
    17. TWINE
    18. TB
    19. OP
    20. LALD
    21. DAF
    22. DAD
    23. TMWTGG

    Both Dalton's high, AVTAK not too low, great list overall!

    AVTAK has never been that low on my list, as it has some pretty memorable villains. Roger is too old but that at least means he doesn't have sex with Stacey until the absolute end. To be honest, if you cut out the Grace Jones bed scene *cringe* and the end, you get a pretty decent fim.

    As for your first point, I'm a Dalton fan, what can I say.
  • edited January 2014 Posts: 1,596
    This past November I worked through all the films again and ranked them as I watched. Completely subjective and blah blah blah. Keep in mind, I love basically every Bond film, so my rankings change often simply based on what I saw that specific day.

    Since I'm bound to catch fire or crucifixion for my OHMSS placement: it's no doubt an excellent film, I just can't "get into" Lazenby personally and it kills the movie for me.

    #23: The World Is Not Enough
    #22: The Man with the Golden Gun
    #21: On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    #20: You Only Live Twice
    #19: For Your Eyes Only
    #18: Die Another Day
    #17: Licence to Kill
    #16: Moonraker
    #15: Quantum of Solace
    #14: A View to a Kill
    #13: Octopussy
    #12: Tomorrow Never Dies
    #11: Live and Let Die
    #10: Diamonds Are Forever
    #9: The Living Daylights
    #8: Skyfall
    #7: Goldfinger
    #6: The Spy Who Loved Me
    #5: From Russia With Love
    #4: GoldenEye
    #3: Thunderball
    #2: Dr. No
    #1: Casino Royale
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    edited January 2014 Posts: 13,978
    I don't know when my last ranking was...

    1. The Living Daylights
    2. Licence To Kill
    3. From Russia With Love
    4. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    5. Dr No
    6. You Only Live Twice
    7. Tomorrow Never Dies
    8. For Your Eyes Only
    9. The Spy Who Loved Me
    10. GoldenEye
    11. The World Is Not Enough
    12. Live And Let Die
    13. Octopussy
    14. Thunderball
    15. The Man With The Golden Gun
    16. Goldfinger
    17. Die Another Day
    18. Moonraker
    19. Diamonds Are Forever
    20. A View To A Kill
    21. Skyfall
    22. Casino Royale
    23. Quantum Of Solace
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    Posts: 5,080
    I don't know when my last ranking was...

    1. The Living Daylights
    2. Licence To Kill
    3. From Russia With Love
    4. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    5. Dr No
    6. You Only Live Twice
    7. Tomorrow Never Dies
    8. For Your Eyes Only
    9. The Spy Who Loved Me
    10. GoldenEye
    11. The World Is Not Enough
    12. Live And Let Die
    13. Octopussy
    14. Thunderball
    15. The Man With The Golden Gun
    16. Goldfinger
    17. Die Another Day
    18. Moonraker
    19. Diamonds Are Forever
    20. A View To A Kill
    21. Skyfall
    22. Casino Royale
    23. Quantum Of Solace

    Wow, all of Craig's in the bottom three? Worse than DAD? We'll, at least AVTAK is not last...
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    21. Skyfall
    22. Casino Royale
    23. Quantum Of Solace
    You could have at least had the decency to put Casino Royale above Skyfall :-<
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,978
    As much as I dislike the 3 Craig films, Skyfall is the better of the 3.

    As for DAD, it might not be an example of the series at it best, but it still feels like a Bond film. When I watch DAD, I don't get the impression that the film makers are ashamed to be making Bond films. Also, up until Cuba, it's fairly decent. It's what follows afterwards that drags the film down.
  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,423
    I don't know when my last ranking was...

    1. The Living Daylights
    2. Licence To Kill
    3. From Russia With Love
    4. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    5. Dr No

    Pretty damn good top 5 there Major. I know I'm in the minority, but I find Craig to have not so much charm.

  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,801
    QOS and SF should be flipped in most lists. ;)
  • my ranking as of 12/26 after completing my month-long marathon
    1. OHMSS
    2. Casino Royale
    3. Thunderball
    4. Dr. No
    5. Licence to Kill
    6. The World is Not Enough
    7. The Spy Who Loved Me
    8. Goldeneye
    9. From Russia with Love
    10. The Living Daylights
    11. Skyfall
    12. Goldfinger
    13. For Your Eyes Only
    14. Tomorrow Never Dies
    15. Octopussy
    16. Quantum of Solace
    17. A View to a Kill
    18. You Only Live Twice
    19. Live and Let Die
    20. Moonraker
    21. Diamonds Are Forever
    22. Die Another Day
    23. The Man with the Golden Gun

    After revisiting a few, I'm going to make a few changes.
    1. OHMSS
    2. Casino Royale
    3. Thunderball
    4. Dr. No
    5. Licence to Kill
    6. The World Is Not Enough
    7. From Russia With Love
    8. The Living Daylights
    9. The Spy Who Loved Me
    10. Goldeneye
    11. Quantum of Solace
    12. Goldfinger
    13. For Your Eyes Only
    14. Skyfall
    15. You Only Live Twice
    16. Tomorrow Never Dies
    17. A View To A Kill
    18. Live and Let Die
    19. Octopussy
    20. Diamonds Are Forever
    21. Die Another Day
    22. Moonraker
    23. The Man With The Golden Gun
  • Posts: 2,402
    I don't see any sense in putting an entire actor's era as the bottom, especially if it's based solely on the actor. IMO all six Bond actors have delivered at least one objectively great Bond film (my breakdown is 3 for Connery with 1 good one as well, 1 for Lazenby, 2 for Moore with 1 good one as well, 2 for Dalton, 2 for Brosnan and 2 for Craig).
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    I have too much time on my hands, so I have spent some of it adding up a score for all the films, based on all rankings posted the last fifteen months. Interesting to compare it to the average in the Originals thread. This can also serve as a reference point if someone wants to update the average score when a couple more pages are added.

    1 FRWL
    2 OHMSS
    3 CR
    4 SF
    5 GF
    6 DN
    7 TLD
    8 TB
    9 GE
    10TSWLM
    11LTK
    12FYEO
    13LALD
    14YOLT
    15OP
    16TWINE
    17QOS
    18TND
    19TMWTGG
    20DAF
    21MR
    22AVTAK
    23DAD

    The bottom five are ranked among the worst by most, and there is no contest between FRWL and OHMSS, but OHMSS and CR are very tight.
  • edited February 2014 Posts: 381
    Too hard to rank-order all of the films.

    Tier I: THE CLASSIC
    FRWL
    GF
    OHMSS
    TSWLM
    TLD
    GoldenEye
    CR (2006)
    Skyfall
    Tier II: THE EXCELLENT
    Dr. No
    YOLT
    DAF
    LALD
    Moonraker
    FYEO
    Octopussy
    LTK
    TND
    TWINE
    DAD
    QOS
    Tier III: THE GOOD
    TB
    TMWTGG
    AVTAK
    Tier IV: THE PASSABLE
    NSNE
    Tier V: THE BAD
    CR (1967)
  • edited February 2014 Posts: 12,837
    Brilliant

    1) Licence To Kill
    2) The Living Daylights
    3) Goldeneye
    4) On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    5) The Spy Who Loved Me
    6) Goldfinger
    7) Skyfall
    8) The World Is Not Enough

    Pretty good

    9) Octopussy
    10) From Russia With Love
    11) Casino Royale
    12) You Only Live Twice
    13) Tomorrow Never Dies

    Alright

    14) Thunderball
    15) Never Say Never Again
    16) Live And Let Die
    17) For Your Eyes Only
    18) Moonraker
    19) Dr No

    Bad

    20) Quantum Of Solace
    21) A View To A Kill
    22) The Man With The Golden Gun
    23) Diamonds Are Forever
    24) Die Another Day
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    edited February 2014 Posts: 5,080
    Rankings as of 9/2/14

    Position- Film- Score
    Obscene, tripe
    23- Die Another Day
    Poor
    22- Moonraker
    21- Tomorrow Never Dies
    Average
    20- The World is Not Enough
    19- The Man With the Golden Gun
    18- Dr. No
    17- Diamonds Are Forever ^
    16- Thunderball V
    15- You Only Live Twice
    14- Quantum of Solace
    13- Octopussy
    12- Live and Let Die
    11- Skyfall
    Excellent
    10- Casino Royale
    9- From Russia With Love
    8- The Spy Who Loved Me
    7- GoldenEye
    6- The Living Daylights
    The top 5 (The elite)
    5- Licence to Kill
    4- For Your Eyes Only
    3- Goldfinger ^
    2- A View to a Kill V
    1- On Her Majesty's Secret Service

    Changes from last ranking are indicated.
  • WalecsWalecs On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    edited February 2014 Posts: 3,157
    Best
    1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    2. GoldenEye
    3. Casino Royale
    5. Skyfall
    6. From Russia with Love
    7. For Your Eyes Only
    8. Licence to Kill
    9. The World is Not Enough
    10. Tomorrow Never Dies
    11. Die Another Day
    12. The Living Daylights

    Average
    13. Quantum of Solace
    14. Goldfinger
    15. The Man with the Golden Gun
    16. The Spy Who Loved Me
    17. Dr. No
    18. Never Say Never Again
    19. Moonraker
    20. Casino Royale '67

    Terrible
    21. A View to a Kill
    22. Live and Let Die
    23. Octopussy
    24. Thunderball
    25. You Only Live Twice
  • Posts: 6,396
    DAD better than DN, GF, TSWLM, TB, TLD and YOLT? :O
  • DAD better than DN, GF, TSWLM, TB, TLD and YOLT? :O

    I welcome all opinions. It's what makes being a Bond fan so fun.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    edited February 2014 Posts: 17,801
    (in no order)
    Amazing
    DN
    FRWL
    GF
    TB
    YOLT
    OHMSS
    TLD
    LTK
    GE
    TND
    TWINE
    CR
    QOS
    Satisfying
    DAF
    LALD
    TMWTGG
    TSWLM
    SF
    FYEO
    Ugghhh
    DAD & MR
  • Posts: 2,402
    Anyone notice that Daltons tend to get put together, low or high? A lot of people have them as their top two; I personally have LTK at 4 and TLD at 2. Just a trend.
  • Posts: 11,189
    Both Dalton's films are mid table for me. Solid movies with their strengths as well as their weaknesses.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Anyone notice that Daltons tend to get put together, low or high? A lot of people have them as their top two; I personally have LTK at 4 and TLD at 2. Just a trend.

    I am guilty of that as well, I ranked them at 9 and 10. I also ranked the Brosnan films together, at 20-23. The Connery, Moore, Craig films are more spread around.
  • I think I'm one of the few with the Dalton films spaced out a bit (TLD sits around 8/9 and LTK sits around 17/18
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    edited February 2014 Posts: 17,801
    We can dis if we want to
    we can leave Dal-ton behind,
    cause if your friends don't really love his Bond
    well, they're no friends of mine


    My Men Without Hats tribute to Mr. D :))
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