Bond movie ranking (Simple list, no details)

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  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,801
    Anthrax wrote: »
    I thought I would get a lot of criticism for putting DAD ahead of every one of Connery's films. I guess we are all different.

    What is your favourite band? You should send them a letter.

    A scare?
  • AnthraxAnthrax Sweden
    Posts: 77

    What is your favourite band? You should send them a letter.

    Tbh, I don't listen to music from popular music bands or artists, just video game music.
  • Here's my rankings by actor:

    Connery
    Craig (consistent, tough Bond)
    Lazenby (would be higher if he had done more, and his film is my favorite)
    Dalton (like his films but not enough fight chops IMHO)
    Brosnan (GE is impressive, then the rest fall flat for me)
    Moore
  • ForYourEyesOnlyForYourEyesOnly In the untained cradle of the heavens
    Posts: 1,984
    Birdleson wrote: »
    Slight change:

    1. GOLDFINGER (1964)
    2. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963)
    3. CASINO ROYALE (2006)
    4. ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (1969)
    5. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (1977)
    6. DR. NO (1962)
    7. LIVE AND LET DIE (1973)
    8. SKYFALL (2012)
    9. THUNDERBALL (1965)
    10. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967)
    11. QUANTUM OF SOLACE (2008)
    12. GOLDENEYE (1995)
    13. LICENCE TO KILL (1989)
    14. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (1974)
    15. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY (1981)
    16. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (1971)
    17. OCTOPUSSY (1983)
    18. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (1987)
    19. DIE ANOTHER DAY (2002)
    20. TOMORROW NEVER DIES (1997)
    21. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH (1999)
    22. A VIEW TO A KILL (1985)
    23. MOONRAKER (1979)
    24. SPECTRE (2015)

    Quite a good list (I'm sure you can justify every one of your rankings). Personally, though, I don't understand seeing Live And Let Die in the top ten. The Living Daylights also seems pretty low, as does Tomorrow Never Dies. What's your stance on those?
  • ForYourEyesOnlyForYourEyesOnly In the untained cradle of the heavens
    edited February 2016 Posts: 1,984
    @Birdleson - Interesting.

    Live and Let Die is an interesting movie because it has some great scenes and stunts, some pretty good one-liners, and the chemistry between the actors is actually rather evident. The problem is that it has one of the weakest pretitles for me (the titles wouldn't impress either were it not for the theme song), and the final act with Kananga being blown up verges on farce. I'm able to get by the failed blaxpoitation, but if I didn't, it would've been a run-of-the-mill Bond flick, IMO.

    I agree with you on The Living Daylights - my opinion of it has actually fallen upon rewatching it. It's good until they go to Afghanistan, and after that, the only resurgence is the plane fight because of the stuntwork - otherwise, the movie just goes nosedives like the plane in the GE PTS. There's also a good score from Barry, but the villains in the movie are easily some of the weakest in the franchise, and their demises are also unimpressive.

    For Tomorrow Never Dies, I also agree. The final act is just a machine gun party - it's one of the most unfulfilling final acts ever. I enjoyed the remote car chase, though, just because it felt fitting for Brosnan.
  • ForYourEyesOnlyForYourEyesOnly In the untained cradle of the heavens
    Posts: 1,984
    Birdleson wrote: »
    Everything you dislike about LIVE AND LET DIE I love.

    I guess it's because you've seen all the Bonds in cinema and you've had the experience of the 70's? I was born a full decade after Live And Let Die, so maybe I just didn't have the cultural experience to appreciate it in the same way that you do.
  • edited March 2016 Posts: 1,386
    *Just had another Bondathon--am re-evaluating my list.
  • Posts: 7,430
    NSNA ahead of OP! Interesting! I would of thought most would have put OP way ahead!
    Mind you, on this site, anything could happen!
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    NSNA ahead of OP! Interesting! I would of thought most would have put OP way ahead!
    Mind you, on this site, anything could happen!

    Its got Sean in it. So 'win' for me.
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131
    Good taste.
  • Yeah, TND is very much "cinematic Bond" in overdrive. There's very little Fleming, aside from the bits and pieces that Brosnan brings to it every now and then.

    I enjoy it because it is a pure, head down, full speed ahead action movie and Arnold's music really amplifies things even more. There are no frills and there are few, if any, misconceptions about its aspirations. It doesn't try to be something it isnt'

    Not top tier Bond, but I have a great time with it.
  • edited February 2016 Posts: 1,596
    Birdleson wrote: »
    I guess that's my problem. I'm not into mindless action.

    I think the end with all of the machine guns firing wildly is pretty mindless, for sure. I know you hate the sequence, but I always have fun with the parking garage chase. It's pretty silly, sure, but I'm not sure I'd call it mindless. It's pretty competently put together, and thought clearly went into it. The shooting at the end just was just chaos and likely a huge hole in the script.

    Same thing with the motorcycle chase. I think that's a fantastic set piece. All of Michelle Yeoh's stuff, too, is great in the film.

    Arnold's music is pure "if this is the only Bond film I can do I'm throwing everything I've got at it" fan-territory, and in a way that's sort of how the movie feels for me. I think Pryce absolutely destroying every piece of scenery around him works well also. It's a movie, in a tenure full of tonal inconsistencies, that feels very consistent (for better or worse) start to finish.

    Definitely would never scoff at anyone who dislikes it, or even hates it, because every time I view it, especially as an adult, I can always see why some might not rate it so highly.

  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    It's a little too much action for me. If they had balanced it out with a little more slower moments, better dialogue, and some romance, then I would have ranked it much higher.

    Also, I wasn't a fan of Yeoh either. Too much of an action girl. If Belluci had been cast instead of Hatcher (as had been rumoured at the time) then undoubtedly the necessary classic style would have existed in the female dept.

    Overall though, I think it's a good effort. Much better than what was to come. I like Elliot Carver as the whiney multi-billionaire.
  • Posts: 1,386
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    NSNA ahead of OP! Interesting! I would of thought most would have put OP way ahead!
    Mind you, on this site, anything could happen!

    I wouldn't say mine is a "best to worst" list--just favorite to lesser favorites.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    NSNA and OP are pretty much the same for me. Not very good, not very bad either.
  • I know @Birdleson disagrees with me, but I think NSNA is pretty dire. Looks cheap, feels cheap.
  • Posts: 1,386
    I read somewhere that Barbera Carrera was offered the role of Octopussy but turned it down because she wanted to work with Connery. If that's true, Louis Jordan, Steven Berkoff, & Barbera Carrera would have been the villain lineup in Octopussy. Strange how the casting of one character causes such a dramatic shift in tone.
  • Posts: 7,430
    Douglas Slocombe was the cinematographer on NSNA. Normally highly regarded, he shot Raiders of the Lost Ark for Spielberg. In fact I think a lot of the personnel from Raiders were involved behind the scenes. I think Irvin kershner was just a bad choice as Director, and it didn't help him bragging before production that as far as he was concerned there never was a Bond movie before! Silly man!
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Pat Roach had an excellent turn in both films, if my memory serves me.
  • Yeah, I listened to the commentary track awhile back and Kershner just didn't seem to have a lot of enthusiasm, and there were tons of script rewrites and doctoring.
  • w2bondw2bond is indeed a very rare breed
    edited February 2016 Posts: 2,252
    Slight amendment. I really do not feel anything for Mendes films. There's moments of brilliance, the highlights being the Bond/M Bond/Q scenes in both films but the rest of it is a snorefest...not helped by Newman's terrible unBondian score. It's unfortunate because the acting talent has improved significantly since the 90's culminating in Mendes' two films which are also stunningly shot.

    1. The Living Daylights
    2. Octopussy
    3. Casino Royale
    4. From Russia with Love
    5. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    6. Goldeneye

    7. For Your Eyes Only
    8. The Spy Who Loved Me
    9. Tomorrow Never Dies
    10. Dr No
    11. Moonraker
    12. Diamonds Are Forever
    13. Licence To Kill

    14. You Only Live Twice
    15. A View To A Kill
    16. Goldfinger

    17. The Man with the Golden Gun
    18. Thunderball
    19. Live and Let Die
    20. Die Another Day
    21. The World Is Not Enough

    22. Skyfall
    23. Spectre
    24. Quantum of Solace

    Damn shame about the bottom three, but I don't find joy watching them in their entireties. Their placement has nothing to do with Craig as Bond.

  • ForYourEyesOnlyForYourEyesOnly In the untained cradle of the heavens
    Posts: 1,984
    Interesting list @w2bond. Not many people would agree with that ranking, but diversity is good, especially on a forum like this.
  • Yeah I'm always accepting of odd rankings. Interested to hear why you rank CR so far above the other 3.
  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,423
    Anyone who has Octopussy at no. 2 is all right by me
  • jake24jake24 Sitting at your desk, kissing your lover, eating supper with your familyModerator
    Posts: 10,591
    Octopussy is definitely an underrated Bond flick.
  • w2bondw2bond is indeed a very rare breed
    Posts: 2,252
    Yeah I'm always accepting of odd rankings. Interested to hear why you rank CR so far above the other 3.

    Couple of reasons....Martin Campbell knows how to direct Bond. It's not entirely a coincidence that Goldeneye is up there despite the subpar score. There's a certain Bondian style to CR that's lacking from his other 3.

    For real - stunts in CR were mostly (all??) done for real, unlike the horrendous skyfall in QOS, Komodo dragons in Skyfall, etc. This is what impresses me about the 80's Bonds in particular, and the PTS of the latter two Gilberts

    Score - I can't listen to Newman's score

    I can't engage in the pacing or action direction of the Mendes films - Spectre's car chase is very underwhelming. QoS has the opposite problem, the action is too quick....it's unfortunate because I can see it is shot well.

    Ultimately Craig's last 3 films in my eyes are missed opportunities because with a few tweaks they will improve dramatically. It's unfortunate because the talent has never been better
  • Thanks. I don't mind the ranking at all I was just curious. I agree about CR being a cut above.
  • w2bondw2bond is indeed a very rare breed
    edited February 2016 Posts: 2,252
    Thanks. I don't mind the ranking at all I was just curious. I agree about CR being a cut above.

    You got a pretty interesting ranking yourself...OHMSS being so low and OP way above average.

    Is it Lazenby that puts you off? Ignoring him, the rest of the film is excellent, except the sound editing in places
  • GBFGBF
    Posts: 3,197
    I'm new here. And think it is time for a somewhat different ranking:

    01. A View to a Kill
    02. The Living Daylights
    03. From Russia with Love
    04. Casino Royal
    05. For Your Eyes Only
    06. Goldfinger
    07. Golden Eye
    08. The World is not Enough
    09. Skyfall
    10. Live and Let Die
    11. Octopussy
    12. On her Majesty's Secret Service
    13. Thunderball
    14. The Spy who loved me
    15. You only live twice
    16. Dr. No
    17. The Man with the Golden Gun
    18. Licence to kill
    19. Diamonds are Forever
    20. Moonraker
    21. Tomorrow never dies
    22. Spectre
    23. Quantum of Solace
    24. Die another day
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,976
    @GBF, AVTAK in first place? That's somewhat different, indeed, but I'm one of the few that loves the movie. Definitely not first place material to me, though.
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