It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
September 2-8: DN and OHMSS
September 9-15: LALD and TLD
September 16-22: GE and CR
September 23-29: FRWL and TMWTGG
September 30-October 6: LTK and TND
October 7-13: QOS and GF
October 14-20: TSWLM and TWINE
October 21-27: SF and TB
October 28-November 3: MR and DAD
November 4-10: SP and YOLT
November 11-17: FYEO and DAF
November 18-24: OP and AVTAK
The idea is to have a fairly spaced out Bondathon with a pattern I haven’t tried before. I’ve only done it chronologically forwards, backwards, and completely random before.
It also stands out to me, in a very positive way, how light on action DN is. The film doesn't need many action scenes to be extremely intriguing, which is accomplished by the story and characters. Being sparing with those action scenes also helps heighten their impact! Honestly, it's a shame we won't ever get to see a Bond film so light on the action again; it was done magnificently here, and in FRWL as well. Not saying action in Bond is bad (of course!), but the way they handled it here by not using a lot of it never left me unsatisfied! It's a unique trait of the film in the context of the series that would become largely known for large, epic action sequences.
There's so many awesome, memorable moments in this film for me, including: the series' very first gunbarrel and opening titles, Bond's introduction at the casino, the very first Moneypenny and M scenes, Bond meeting Quarrel and Felix Leiter, Dr. No and Dent's tense moment, Bond killing Dent, Bond meeting Honey, Quarrel's last stand, and the entire final segment at Dr. No's lair. So much good stuff. Most of the love for Connery's era goes toward FRWL and GF, which are amazing films as well, but DN is equally worthy of high praise.
I think almost everything in DN just works - and works extremely well. Yes, you could complain about a couple choppy editing moments or the somewhat average soundtrack (barring the 007 theme, of course!), but to me anything wrong with the film is just nitpicks. For a long time it's been one of my favorite Bond films, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. It may even have a chance at cracking my Top 5 for the first time - we'll have to wait and see until the marathon is over! At the very least though I would guess still a Top 7.
The supporting cast of OHMSS is absolutely awesome: Diana Rigg as Tracy, Telly Savalas as Blofeld, Gabriele Ferzetti as Draco, Ilse Steppat as Bunt, and of course all the classic MI6 regulars. It's one of the best casts any Bond film ever had. Tracy is the most important and best Bond girl of the franchise, and Savalas's Blofeld is quite possibly my favorite main villain in the series - if not #1, at least Top 5, and certainly the best Blofeld we ever got. One complaint I've heard and tend to agree with is that whenever Blofeld is the main villain, the way it's handled is underwhelming - with the one big exception that is OHMSS. He is both a serious intellectual and physical challenger for Bond, and it's shown better here than in any other instance. Bunt is one of the best minor villains of the series as well.
John Barry hammered out many amazing soundtracks for this series, but I believe OHMSS must be his crowning achievement. It's simply superb. The title song, despite the lack of lyrics, is one of my absolute favorites. Very catchy and works perfectly throughout the movie. The action throughout is some of the best the series ever got, including Lazenby's fistfights with Draco's goons, the intense ski chase, the raid on Piz Gloria, and Bond and Blofeld's one-on-one. Many other non-action scenes are standouts as well, such as Bond meeting Draco, Bond at Gumbold's office, Bond's journey to Piz Gloria, Bond's reunion with Tracy at the village + later proposal, and of course the entire ending of Bond and Tracy's short-lived marriage. I'm a big fan of the snowy settings; I'm a sucker for that in movies. As awesome as the first half of this movie is, from the rock-solid PTS to the first few scenes at Piz Gloria, the second half is even better; I think the last hour or so of the film may just be the best long stretch any Bond film has ever had.
I've gushed over OHMSS many times before, and today of course is no different. Some lament that Connery did not star, and some still haven't warmed up to the film despite the reappraisals, but I personally love just about everything OHMSS delivered. I sort of wish Lazenby had gotten a second film before Moore took over with LALD, but then again I think to myself that's probably a big part of why OHMSS is so special. I'm very glad it's commonly seen as one of the best in the series now, even though it wasn't always. It's hard to compare OHMSS to DN, other than that they were the first Bond films from the first two EON Bond actors. What I can say though, for as much as I think DN is also amazing, is that OHMSS remains my preference. Both are absolutely two of the best in the series though; it's too bad they're already both over in my newest marathon! I could talk about OHMSS all day, but I had better stop here for this post! This concludes the two films in the first week of my Bondathon; next week's features are LALD and TLD.
Ranking:
1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2. Dr. No
There's a lot of scenes I love in LALD, some of them being: Bond meeting Solitaire, Bond's wild night at the hotel, Kananga revealing himself as Mr. Big, Bond escaping the crocodile farm, the whole climax sequence with Bond rescuing Solitaire and fighting off all the baddies + Bond vs. Kananga, and of course Bond's fight with Tee Hee on the train. I also love a lot of individual moments throughout the film, like Bond vs. the snake, Bond's initial attack on Rosie, the silly scarecrow zoom-ins, Bond playing around with the cards which annoys Solitaire, Bond's brief stint as a flying instructor, Kananga's crazy death, etc. Just a lot of interesting little moments that make the film so memorable. The whole black magic theme is a really unique and fun idea for the Bond series. I think one gets a lot of cool, unique stuff with LALD that can't be found in most other Bond films - many times just the neat little things about it I suppose. To me, it's one of the most different in the franchise, but never to a point where it feels non-Bondian; I only say "different" in the most complimentary way!
Of course, LALD has one of the best title songs in the whole series, and George Martin's soundtrack is also pretty darn good. Sure, John Barry may be the best Bond composer, but Martin still does a remarkable job in Barry's place here. The only nitpicks I really have with the film are the bus chase, which I just find to be sort of meh, and that the boat chase sequence drags on a little too long. For the most part though, the other action bits are all pretty good and exciting. Like DN and OHMSS, there are no serious flaws with this one that really hinder its great quality. Yet again, we have a top-notch debut film for a Bond actor. Something about the first try really seems to work out well for a Bond actor IMO.
LALD is one of the most purely fun entries of the series, and always gets the most laughs out of me. That's a big reason why I hate to rank LALD last right now, but the competition is just so stiff - and I know it won't last forever. Comparing this quirky and often funny Bond adventure to the likes of DN and OHMSS just proves how much range the series has, and how it can successfully tackle multiple tones and ideas. TLD is next up on the list, which will likely be coming on Wednesday or Thursday.
Ranking:
1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2. Dr. No
3. Live and Let Die
Why did we end one month earlier than planned? One friend said that we had to watch two movies in April 17 (TDL and LTK) , because he wouldn't have time in may. I believed it and was happy to watch two of them. Of course, they tricked me. My wife made a surprise party in May (my birthday): she booked a whole cinema for a special screening of GE (she knew that I would prefer it to LTK), where all my friends and some familiy members were already sitting there when I arrived. That was amazing!
I watched all movies with two buddies and most of the time, the girlfriend of one of them was there, too. One friend loved or at least liked every film but asked many questions during the film. The other didn't like all but was excited about at least some of them. He was a bit more tired and fell asleep sometimes...especially during scenes filmed under water: he slept the complete second have of TB!...
They really loved the first two entries, but found GF a bit less compelling. Another surprise for me was, that they didn't like LALD as much as I do (they said, that the first hour was a bit boring, can understand it in a way...)
They really loved OHMSS (like me), what made the film even better for me.
Best Connery film in my book.
The film kicks off with a particularly great PTS (one of the series' best!) and then a nice title song. The momentum carries over up until the third act, where the film loses its footing a little. IMO, there are two significant weaknesses with TLD that keep it from reaching my upper echelon: 1. A somewhat mediocre third act without many highlights, and 2. Some of the weakest villains of the series. Koskov and Whitaker, while not terrible, are two of the least interesting main villains the Bond series got. Necros is the best of the bunch, and while I do enjoy his moments, he still isn't quite one of the series' finest villains either. The third act of the movie, from about the jail escape up until Bond's fight on the plane with Necros (which I've come to enjoy quite a bit), is a bit of a drag. I'm thoroughly invested in the film up until then, but then the good pace and intrigue just fizzle out once Bond and Kara escape from the jail.
That's enough of the negative stuff. When TLD is good, it's REALLY, REALLY good. Dalton has some great moments of intensity as Bond, and there's a lot of terrific standout scenes throughout, like: the PTS, the whole sequence with Bond getting Koskov out right after the title credits, Necros fighting the security man, the crazy car chase, Bond at the carnvial/death of Saunders, Bond confronting Pushkin, Bond staging the assassination of Pushkin + escaping, and Bond finishing off Necros. All the bits with Q are great too. While it's a pity it was his final Bond soundtrack, John Barry did an excellent job with the score once again - a worthy sendoff for him. Kara is a decent Bond girl - probably my favorite of the Dalton Bond girls. The best thing though that I can say about TLD is probably just that it has a very good, classic Bond story and it's a lot of fun to watch it play out every time. Despite my few problems with it, TLD powers past its shortcomings to lean far more positive than negative.
I have to give TLD last place for now, but I have a feeling it will finish pretty well in my overall ranking. I particularly enjoyed it this time around, and I think it has some seriously great Bond content in its first two thirds. A very solid Bond film overall.
Ranking:
1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2. Dr. No
3. Live and Let Die
4. The Living Daylights
Watching DN and DAF back to back (actually a few days apart, but you know what I mean) was certainly an eye opening experience. Which is great! That's exactly what I was hoping to get out of watching them out of chronological order. Without exaggerating, there were more than a few times that it was hard to believe they belonged to the same series. The best part? I appreciated them both for what they were.
DN (and the Connery within it) is certainly superior, but I had fun with Diamonds too. For the most part. I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed Gray's Blofeld this time around. Dare I say he just might be the best part of the film (although Wint and Kidd give him a serious run for his money) and I was left wishing I'd seen more of him. As is his forte, Barry's music elevated DAF to greater heights. Norman's score actually detracted from my enjoyment of DN in some moments, but the Jamaican stuff and of course the Bond theme are excellent.
FYEO is definitely my favorite of this bunch. I actually like most of the much derided score, and a lot of the sillier moments don't bother me as much as some other members. Honestly, my biggest complaint was that the whole underwater sequence went on for too long. We probably didn't need two attacks (from the JIM suit diver and the mini-sub guy, respectively) and then the keel haul sequence (although outstanding) is right after. Moore gives a well balanced performance. He wears many hats and wears them all well. The mountain climbing scene is a highlight, but unfortunately the finale seems to fizzle out soon after. Still a top ten adventure for me.
Next up : DAD and SF
The PTS is one of the series' best, brilliantly introducing Brosnan's Bond and giving us an amazing action sequence. There's many other great sequences, like the Severnaya sequence, Bond's meeting with Valentin, Bond discovering Alec is Janus, the archive shootout/tank chase, and the entire epic finale at the satellite (one of the best final acts of the Bond series IMO). The story is great, and like I mentioned all the cast/characters are terrific! The soundtrack by Eric Serra, while not one of the series' best, is a bit overhated I think and has some decent highlights. Can't think of much else to say about the film other than that it has no serious flaws for me and it is a blast! A very slick, classic entry for the Bond series!
GE has been a favorite of mine for a long time, and it remains a lot of fun for me after countless watches. Sadly, Brosnan's tenure never got better than this, but it's still one impressive high point by my standards! CR is coming next!
Ranking:
1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2. Dr. No
3. GoldenEye
4. Live and Let Die
5. The Living Daylights
There are no negatives I can think of for this entry - at least for me personally. Some say the poker scenes are boring, it's too serious, too long, or whatever, but I don't have any real problems with CR. I love the poker scenes, I think there is plenty of good low-key humor, and the whole film goes by so fast for me every time. I love the characters, the story, the action, the drama, the humor, the music, the locations - just everything! It's no disrespect to the other great Bond films, but this one simply gives me the most enjoyment and satisfaction of them all. I think the one thing that mainly gives it the edge over OHMSS for me at the top is Craig's brilliant performance. Lazenby is a very good and often underrated Bond, but Craig in CR is just on another level IMO. The other elements in OHMSS, like Bond girl/villain, music, story, are par or even sometimes better than CR, but Craig just elevates CR above it for me personally.
Can CR ever be topped as my favorite Bond film? I suppose it's possible, but not very likely. In all honesty, I don't need it to be topped anyway! Everything clicked so well with CR, and every time I have a Bondathon, it always manages to keep the top spot without too much trouble. That remains the same - CR is the best one for me!
Ranking:
1. Casino Royale
2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3. Dr. No
4. GoldenEye
5. Live and Let Die
6. The Living Daylights
It's interesting, because I've seen FRWL dozens of times, but none hit me like this newest one. I couldn't say why, but it was just an excellent watch, and it now has a decent chance to enter my Top 5 when all is said an done. Everything is riveting about this Bond outing, and everything basically works to perfection. It is nearly a tossup with DN still for me, given how much I've always loved DN, but I'm now giving FRWL the slight edge. I think it's just a little bit more impressive, though both are nothing short of excellent and among the series' very finest. Great stuff. TMWTGG will be next, sometime probably Wednesday or Thursday.
Ranking:
1. Casino Royale
2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3. From Russia with Love
4. Dr. No
5. GoldenEye
6. Live and Let Die
7. The Living Daylights
Despite the good stuff, there are a lot of things that don't click so well for me. The title song is easily one of the series' weakest, the humor is a mixed bag (and generally the film is too humorous; I think with a more serious tone, this one would have been a lot better), there are sections that drag, particularly from the karate sequence (never was a fan of that either) onward for a while, and the action is kind of lackluster until the climax. I think there was a lot of potential for this film to be better than it was. A more serious tone, a little more of Scaramanga, and better action scenes would definitely help. I don't hate TMWTGG, but I do view it as one of the series' weaker entries. I think it lacks particularly strong aspects beyond the main villain, and the general execution isn't always as exciting or intriguing as it should be. As far as the tone goes at least, TMWTGG sort of feels like a weaker LALD to me. The climax is a lot of fun, but the stuff leading up to that is quite a mixed bag for me personally.
I used to like TMWTGG a lot more when I was years younger, but now is different sadly. Not to say I don't get any enjoyment out of the film at all, but collectively it can't keep up with the series' better entries. Not a bad watch though overall, despite having to finish in last for the time being.
Ranking:
1. Casino Royale
2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3. From Russia with Love
4. Dr. No
5. GoldenEye
6. Live and Let Die
7. The Living Daylights
8. The Man with the Golden Gun
The good stuff: The story (back when "this time, it's personal" was still pretty new!), Dalton as Bond (I prefer his performance here over his one in TLD), Franz Sanchez (one of the series' best villains), Dario, Hedison's Felix returning and usage, Q's usage, Sharkey, the title song, and most of the action scenes. The PTS is pretty decent, as is most of the action along the way, but the tanker climax is just awesome. The film has one of the best third acts of the series.
The not-so good stuff? Well, the soundtrack is mostly bland, and I think Lupe is kind of a disappointing Bond girl. Pam I'm somewhat neutral about. Sanchez and Dario are great, but all the other baddies are kind of forgettable. I think with a few tweaks the film would be a sure-fire Top 10 entry, but as it is, it could be just inside or outside my Top 10. The negatives don't hurt LTK too badly, and I've never been disappointed with it. Of Dalton's two films, I think it's more consistent than TLD from start to finish, and certainly has better villains and a stronger finale.
Having decided to give LALD the edge, there's a chance LTK might miss my Top 10 for the first time. Wherever it does end up on my final list though, I still like it quite a lot, and I think it remains one of the most underappreciated Bond films. Great stuff!
Ranking:
1. Casino Royale
2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3. From Russia with Love
4. Dr. No
5. GoldenEye
6. Live and Let Die
7. Licence to Kill
8. The Living Daylights
9. The Man with the Golden Gun
Generally I do love almost all of the Bond films, but the ranking would suggest otherwise.
Dr No (1962)
Looking for moments that have always passed me by.
For example, when Bond and Sylvia are flirting at the card table I have never noticed the man sitting to Sylvia's left. He hilariously over-acts throughout. So entertaining it becomes distracting.
Later when Honey is getting ready for dinner in her quarters, Bond enters and Honey asks what it was that knocked them out. Bond says it was the coffee. Of course Honey was the first to pass out so would not have known that both of them were effected.
I will adopt @Birdleson 's idea to watch the first films, then the second etc. Next up OHMSS. As and when
It s a deal!
Brosnan is as cool as ever throughout TND - probably his best Bond performance I think. The action scenes are among the series' greatest; the PTS is a really solid start, and we get great moments like the escape from the printing room, the car chase, and the motorcyle chase. Elliot Carver isn't one of my all-time favorite Bond villains, but he is as relevant as ever in today's world, and that benefits his character a lot. Stamper is kind of a dull henchman I think, but Dr. Kaufman is an awesome henchman and helps deliver one of the film's best scenes. I'm pretty neutral about Paris Carver. I think Wai Lin is a very good Bond girl. Q and M are used pretty well in the film. Moneypenny seemed somewhat out of place often though. David Arnold's soundtrack is terrific. The title song isn't one of the series' best, but it's alright.
If one is after a Bond film with a lot of pure entertainment and action, TND is certainly a great choice. The biggest issue is that the last third suffers from some odd pacing, and feels much duller in comparison to the action that came beforehand. Until that point though, the film is a lot of fun, and overall is certainly a great time. Like I said, it's not quite an elite-level Bond film, but it is still quite good, and it's aged extremely well. It nearly beat out TLD, but for now I have to keep it just below. Looks like a harsh ranking now, but it will keep looking better like several other entries once I get past some of my less favorite Bond films.
Ranking:
1. Casino Royale
2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3. From Russia with Love
4. Dr. No
5. GoldenEye
6. Live and Let Die
7. Licence to Kill
8. The Living Daylights
9. Tomorrow Never Dies
10. The Man with the Golden Gun
I have done the same, in the last few days. It's amazing how good every actor's debut film is. The weakest is probably LALD and that is still pretty damn good.
QOS is very to-the-point, and being the shortest Bond film it’s unique! Of Craig’s 4, I think it handles the emotional moments the best, because it’s more subtle and spends the least time on them. I think CR and SF did well too, but QOS handles it in a unique way, and it feels like it has the least baggage IMO. Craig is terrific in it; not quite as downright impressive as in CR, but still great. I think the film is a lot more Bondian than it gets credit for - the humor, quirks, characters, and action all feel VERY Bondian. It is one of the series’ darkest, but it has some solid humor throughout too. Its value as a standalone is hurt a little bit given the CR references, but it still is far less weighed down than SP.
The cast/characters are very good. Camille is a great unique Bond girl. Dominic Greene isn’t the best villain the series ever got, but he’s still pretty good! Felix, M, and Mathis are all great. I like Strawberry Fields too. David Arnold provides a killer score - my favorite of all his works, and that says a lot! The title song is one of the series’ weakest though. The action is very intense and mostly enjoyable; I particularly like the PTS, Bond vs. Mitchell, Bond vs. Slate, Bond at the Opera, and the whole finale.
QOS is tight, brisk, and quite overhated by the general public. It makes me happy to see it has been getting some reappraisal here on the site though! It was quite an awesome watch.
Ranking:
1. Casino Royale
2. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
3. From Russia with Love
4. Dr. No
5. GoldenEye
6. Live and Let Die
7. Quantum of Solace
8. Licence to Kill
9. The Living Daylights
10. Tomorrow Never Dies
11. The Man with the Golden Gun