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Bond movie ranking (Simple list, no details)

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  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited February 2016 Posts: 23,883
    I agree with most of your assessment @ThighsOfXenia. I'm coming around to parts of it slowly too, but it will always be a middle of the road film for me, and I likely will always just tune out the big finale.

    You're right about that indefensible line being in the screenplay, as is the other one: "I've really put you through a lot, haven't I? Well, that's brothers for you: they always know which buttons to press!". This is also where Waltz channels Hans Landa with that laugh of his, making it doubly annoying.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,789
    ThighsOfXenia wrote: »
    "fisher price my first action score"
    HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH!!!!
    =))

    That was great...
  • ThighsOfXeniaThighsOfXenia
    Posts: 1,596
    Haha yeah you're right @bondjames. Lots of Landa in that bit. I do love, visually, how the two are mirrored (and there is a lot of imagery with Bond and mirrors throughout the film) right before that, even if it is just emphasizing that brotherly angle.

    Oh well.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited February 2016 Posts: 23,883
    Yes, I agree. I don't think Bond has ever really been on the ropes. As long as EON puts out a good film which resonates with the majority of audiences, they do well enough.

    The Bond brand name is completely bullet proof. It's the 'idea of Bond' that is untouchable. 'Nobody does it better' and all that jazz. The respective film just needs to capture the essence of that (which is primarily 'excellence' in all things relating to this genre, including screenplay, song, music, acting, stunts, action, tone etc. etc.), and some do it better than others.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,789
    I'd love to produce a motion picture that was as big a financial failure as LTK... :D
  • ThighsOfXeniaThighsOfXenia
    Posts: 1,596
    @Birdleson Yeah I might not have worded it right. I just meant I think GE brought the series back into a bit "bigger" territory. Revitalized, regardless of the quality of LTK
  • ForYourEyesOnlyForYourEyesOnly In the untained cradle of the heavens
    Posts: 1,984
    GE definitely saved the franchise. It was the only reason that Bond made a successful resurgence in the 90's and is perhaps the only reason as to why it's still relevant today. Otherwise, Bond would indeed be a relic of the Cold War.
  • Mendes4LyfeMendes4Lyfe The long road ahead
    edited February 2016 Posts: 8,395
    I have finally decided where SPECTRE should go...

    1. SPECTRE
    2. Goldfinger
    3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    4. Diamonds Are Forever
    5. Octopussy
  • ThighsOfXeniaThighsOfXenia
    Posts: 1,596
    Nice. I'm assuming that's the better cut of the film in which it stops right after Bond says, "Hello, pussy" and the credits roll as the theme blares, all of us blissfully unaware that a final act even exists.
  • Mendes4LyfeMendes4Lyfe The long road ahead
    Posts: 8,395
    ThighsOfXenia wrote: »
    Nice. I'm assuming that's the better cut of the film in which it stops right after Bond says, "Hello, pussy" and the credits roll as the theme blares, all of us blissfully unaware that a final act even exists.

    What is wrong with act 3
  • ThighsOfXeniaThighsOfXenia
    edited February 2016 Posts: 1,596
    Aside from the pretty spectacular explosion (not what caused it, mind you) and Madelaine's dress, I'd say everything.

    I'm just having a bit of fun, btw. I'm glad you love it. Nothing wrong with that.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,715
    While the 3rd act of SP is less good than the previous 2/3rd of the films, I didn't mind it and was entertained. However it does contain something that grates me to the very core - the never ending 'Moors' track played over and over again as Bond goes through the old MI6 building. If anyone dropped the ball there, it was Thomas Newman. Its like he had completely given up caring about the film.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited February 2016 Posts: 23,883
    DaltonCraig007 wrote: »
    While the 3rd act of SP is less good than the previous 2/3rd of the films, I didn't mind it and was entertained. However it does contain something that grates me to the very core - the never ending 'Moors' track played over and over again as Bond goes through the old MI6 building. If anyone dropped the ball there, it was Thomas Newman. Its like he had completely given up caring about the film.
    I didn't like the 3rd act @DaltonCraig007 (I actually prefer the ridiculous notion, contemplated by a member here a few months back, that Bond was unconscious on Blofeld's torture chair and just dreamt the whole thing up).

    However, I 100% agree with you on Newman's score at the end. I referred to that in my recent review of the film post-Blu ray watch. I think he did a decent enough job (brilliant in some areas) until that ending sequence, but that part does indeed grate and becomes very distracting.
  • ThighsOfXeniaThighsOfXenia
    edited February 2016 Posts: 1,596
    You heard it here folks, Spectre, The Pussy Cut, available now on Blu-ray and DVD. And yeah, Newman's music at the end sucks.

    I wanna' listen to both of his scores back to back some day while I'm out driving or something to finally assess which one I think is better. I'm guessing SF just off what I remember, but the two do both feel similar in many ways altough the latter is a bit more electronic and has more ambiance and the newest one seems more classical and orchestral.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,715
    @bondjames The 3rd act to me gets better as I become more and more familiar with the whole sequence. When I saw SP for the first time in the cinema I very much liked the film. But when came the occasion for me to watch it a 2nd time, I was unsure about it, due to the lenghty run time. I was sure I'd come across slow parts. But like with SF, SP surprised me, and the film does get better when I was more familiar with the events of the film. However, I believe SF and SP will reach a 'plateau' in my apprecation once I know the films by heart (I havent' seen SF that much yet either), unlike QOS which has gotten better time and time again since I saw it on the big screen in 2008.
  • ThighsOfXeniaThighsOfXenia
    Posts: 1,596
    The best thing about that 3rd act is the nice little image that Mendes creates when Blofeld and Bond are eyeing eachother up on opposite sides of that window and Blofeld appears superimposed over Bond. Sure, it further emphasizes their "connection," but it's a great image. I wish they'd left all the personal shit out of the text of the film, and let that image make the connection for audiences if they wanted one (seeing these two as two sides of the same coin, both troubled, different paths, etc)
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited February 2016 Posts: 23,883
    I think I agree with you on that @DaltonCraig007. SP has improved for me with each rewatch. I actually think it's an excellent film until around the time of that torture chamber. Even that sequence, disturbing as it is, I can live with. After that, though, I just can't enjoy it, even recently. I hope I can, like you, start to enjoy it more with further watches. SF actually was very enjoyable for me on a recent viewing, but I like you haven't really seen that film too many times (perhaps 5-6 now).

    Yes, I agree that QoS somehow always gets better with every viewing for some reason. Perhaps it's because it's so short, so there's no time to get bored.
  • ThighsOfXeniaThighsOfXenia
    Posts: 1,596
    I like the torture scene in the way it is set up and executed, and I even like a lot of the dialogue (particularly the CS rips). I just don't like what happens in terms of character development.

    Also, I feel nearly the opposite about QoS except it no longer gets worse it just stays the same. And I also think there's plenty of time to get bored, as I certainly do now and then.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,715
    @bondjames A major difference however is when SF finished, I was pumped up to the max for Bond 24. This time, even if I enjoyed SP, it's hard for me to get excited for Bond 25, as 1) I have to admit they painted themselves in a corner plot-wise, and 2) there is strictly no news whatsoever about the next film, if Craig is returning or anything, so the film looks far away.

    I'm actually praying to any God that will listen for Martin Campbell to return for one last hurrah.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,715
    SP is a blast from the PTS to the end of the Austria sequence. From the moment Bond/Madeleine arrive in Tangier until the watch exploding is very good, but it's not to the level of the first 3rd, and the movie drops again in the last 3rd but remains quite entertaining. But then, I'd argue that most Bond films reach their peak in the first half, apart a select few like CR where the 2nd half is stronger. And in the rarified atmosphere there are those which peak at the final battle (OHMSS, TSWLM).
  • Mendes4LyfeMendes4Lyfe The long road ahead
    Posts: 8,395
    Birdleson wrote: »
    I think that the first third of SPECTRE is okay, especially in comparison to what comes after. But even that doesn't have contain any stand out moments, for me (aside from Blofeld at the conference table). I've really been trying to appreciate the PTS the way others do. It's hard not to see it as another CGI spectacle piece. I'm trying,

    What about Bond's walk across the buildings to the Bond theme, I love that bit. :x B-)
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited February 2016 Posts: 23,883
    The PTS is cool no doubt, but Craig looks like he's trying too hard during that walk on the rooftops. It's a bit self conscious imho, but cool nevertheless.

    Do people know that the elevator was the exact same one as in LTK (I read that somewhere)?
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,968
    @bondjames, I get that self conscious feeling from him a lot in SP.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    @Creasy47, imho it's when he tries to channel unperturbed, cool as a cucumber Bond from the past. Think SF's 'Circle of Life'. He's not quite as good with this approach.

    He's so much better just with the cool stare, like he does in L'Americaine to Madeline when she's going to sleep, at the rat, and in SF when he's looking around before Silva's big entrance. That's Craig at his coolest imho.
  • Mendes4LyfeMendes4Lyfe The long road ahead
    Posts: 8,395
    I have to say I don't agree about Craig. This is his Thnderball, he is the king of cool in SP B-)

    It's funny I am not a fan of CR or QOS and yet I find myself defending SP. I just think it's Craig's best and he is better for having had time to grow into the role. He has slowly come out of his Bond shell, so to speak. :)>-
  • ThighsOfXeniaThighsOfXenia
    Posts: 1,596
    This is Craig's TB, but I think he does bring more self-consciousness than Connery did (who is like a lethal panther in that film). I love that walk in the PTS, but I do recognize it as pretty self-aware, Craig included. Still, pretty cool in my book.

    The PTS is all in all pretty awesome (minus some of the CGI building stuff, although I do love the couch gag). I also don;t like the filter the cinematography has. Wish the colors popped more.

    Oh, found a really, really cool review of Thunderball on the internet that I'd love to post up here as I think it captures why I love that movie so much for perfectly capturing Bond's danger, darkness, and lethal nature as well as being epic, grand, and cinematic. I'll try to find it. Saw it last night so it should be on my history.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    Connery + Young = "The Gold Standard"

    Never matched.
  • ThighsOfXeniaThighsOfXenia
    Posts: 1,596
    @bondjames - IN my book absolutely. Best of the best.

    Here's that TB quote I mentioned:

    "Young's Bond is no such thing. He's a dark cloud, sweeping over the tropical landscape, foretelling ruin.

    There's an element of mechanism in Young's take, a cold, remorseless calculation in everything he does. Other people don't quite register with him, they're just not equally important. Allies get thumped. Love interests are used up and manipulated, 007 employing sex as a kind of bullying coercion. In Goldfinger Hamilton's Bond was having fun, tripping his enemies up and thwarting their plots. It was all a game to him. Young's version wants, needs, to win. He's a shark. Even his kiss-off lines are delivered with spite, a victor pouring hate on top of murder instead of the usual levity."

    There's a bit more also that is interesting as well. Mash all that with this cinematic, grandiose epic and I think it's the pinnacle of "film Bond" - warts and all (editing problems, etc). Perfection is overrated.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited February 2016 Posts: 23,883
    @ThighsOfXenia that about sums it up perfectly, especially the comparisons to Connery in GF. He doesn't come across as dangerous and lethal in that film to me. Young's Connery Bond is, as you said, a panther, deadly & not to be messed with, in any of the 3 films they did together. He even moves differently.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,715
    @bondjames and @ThighsOfXenia you make me want to rewatch the Young/Connery films. These 3 films are absolutely magnificent. Connery is a force to be reckoned with, and I always believed that Connery in TB is the most self confident and masculine performance in cinematic history.
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