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@GoldenGun Nice to see TLD, TB, and MR in a top 005! They're in my top 005 also. And to see OP in a top 0010. 007 of your top 0010 are in my top 0010. I'd replace LTK, TND and GE with CR '06, YOLT and DN but in a different order. LTK, TND and GE would probably be somewhere in my 0014-0018 range.
Refreshing to see FYEO at 0023. I don't dislike it but I've never found it one of the all time greatest Bond films as many fans do. Possibly because I never disliked its immediate predecessor MR as many FYEO defenders do. For me it tends to play like an expensive two-part episode of The Saint.
It's a bit like that, I agree. It has some fine moments here and there, but overall I always find myself looking for that special sparkle that it seems to miss. Maybe FYEO is a bit vanilla for me because I think this sort of film was done much better with TLD, or because I am such a fan of its predecessor as well as its successor.
I do like the things you mentioned, though they're still not too exceptional for me. There is really not much about it that I actively dislike. There just also doesn't happen to be many things about it that I would consider 'best of Bond'. It's all a bit middle-of-the-road in my book.
In the end I always find myself longing for TLD while watching this one. They have so much in common and I think TLD does it all so much better.
Well, yes, its no where near the excellence of TLD,
But i still find it entertaining. Due for re-appraisal i reckon, maybe with its 40th anniversary next year, it might get more attention!
I will definitely revisit it then ;)
@GoldenGun +1
In retrospect, FYEO seems like a precursor to the Tim Dalton era only I think the Dalton era films worked better for me also. I believe Dalton was considered for the role around that time as the PTS scene where Bond visits Tracy's grave was originally written to introduce a new lead actor. However, going immediately from MR to Dalton without Moore's FYEO-OP-AVTAK happening in-between might've been too much of a change for general movie audiences. Either way it makes for an interesting "what if?" scenario among fans.
The late movie critic Roger Ebert said this about it in his 1981 review: "For Your Eyes Only is a competent James Bond thriller, well-crafted, a respectable product from the 007 production line. But it's no more than that."
That's kind of how I've always felt about it. You can read his review in full here:
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/for-your-eyes-only-1981
I note that LALD is a favourite (and why not) though it's not always as high on others lists. On the flip side TLD ranks quite a lot lower than many Bond fans. Any comment as too why these two films ranks high and low.
Of course I understand our rankings not only change, but as fans we all have reasons for our rankings. I'll never say a ranking is wrong unless OP is last. ;)
Just interested in how some ranking's are put together. We have a lot of similarities in many respects.
Brosnan visited on set For Your Eyes Only...
2. THUNDERBALL
3. ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE
4. DR NO
5. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
6. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
7. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS
8. LIVE AND LET DIE
9. OCTOPUSSY/NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN
10. SKYFALL
11. MOONRAKER
12. LICENCE TO KILL
13. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
14. GOLDENEYE
15. CASINO ROYALE 06
16. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
17. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE/ CR 54
18. A VIEW TO A KILL
19. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN
20. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
21. TOMORROW NEVER DIES
22. SPECTRE
23. QUANTUM OF SOLACE
24. DIE ANOTHER DAY/CR 67
2. Casino Royale 06
3. GoldenEye
4. From Russia With Love
5. The Living Daylights
6. Skyfall
7. Licence To Kill
8. Dr. No
9. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
10. The Spy Who Loved Me
11. Thunderball
12. Live and Let Die
13. For Your Eyes Only
14. Tomorrow Never Dies
15. You Only Live Twice
16. Quantum of Solace
17. The Man With The Golden Gun
18. Spectre
19. The World Is Not Enough
20. Octopussy
21. A View To A Kill
22. Diamonds Are Forever
23. Moonraker
24. Die Another Day
Excellent list! Quite close to mine, except I’ve really come to dislike LALD recently. Bravo!
Thanks 🙂 LALD is not that bad. It’s just Kananga’s death and JW Pepper that keep it low on my ranking.
Kananga had a somewhat realistic plot to distribute heroin freely and drive his competition out of business. It’s just his death that I don’t like. Alas, to each his own 🙂
Besides, on the Ultimate Bond Timeline thread, there’s NO JW in my timeline, and Kananga dies like he did in the novel 😉
I’ll be honest - he was tolerable in LALD, but grating in TMWTGG.
2. Dr. No
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
4. Thunderball
5. Casino Royale 06
6. Goldfinger
7. The Spy Who Loved Me
8. SPECTRE
9. GoldenEye
10. The Man With The Golden Gun
11. Skyfall
12. Moonraker
13. Octopussy
14. For Your Eyes Only
15. You Only Live Twice
16. Quantum Of Solace
17. The Living Daylights
18. The World Is Not Enough
19. A View To A Kill
20. Never Say Never Again
21. Tomorrow Never Dies
22. License To Kill
23. Die Another Day
24. Live And Let Die
25. Diamonds Are Forever
Updating from 3 years ago. Notably for me FRWL moves up 6, replacing DN. The top three could almost be interchangeable as my #1. Just saw OP and that moves up 5. My sentimental favorite FYEO falls 5. And LALD is no longer last, though not much of a change.
We agree on much. Biggest difference is GE, which I have at no. 23.
2. ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE
3. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
4. CASINO ROYALE 06
5. THUNDERBALL
6. DR NO
7. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
8. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS
9. LIVE AND LET DIE
10. OCTOPUSSY/NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN
11. MOONRAKER
12. SKYFALL
13. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
14. TOMORROW NEVER DIES
15. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN
16. GOLDENEYE
17. LICENCE TO KILL/ CR 54
18. A VIEW TO A KILL
19. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
20. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
21. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
22. SPECTRE
23. QUANTUM OF SOLACE
24. DIE ANOTHER DAY/ CR 67
2. The Living Daylights 10+
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service 10+
4. Thunderball 10+
5. The Spy Who Loved Me 10
6. GoldenEye 10
7. Octopussy 10
8. From Russia with Love 10
9. Quantum of Solace 9
10. Dr. No 9
11. Casino Royale 9
12. Goldfinger 9
13. Moonraker 9
14. The World Is Not Enough 8
15. Skyfall 8
16. The Man with the Golden Gun 8
17. Tomorrow Never Dies 8
18. You Only Live Twice 8
19. A View to a Kill 7
20. Live and Let Die 7
Never Say Never Again 7
21. For Your Eyes Only 6
22. Die Another Day 6
Casino Royale (1967) 5
23. Spectre 5
24. Diamonds Are Forever 5
Our biggest difference is TLD, which I have at 22.
Wow that's a long way down. But still, only one big difference must mean we've got a lot in common too. :)
You don t enjoy them, but love them all the same?
Good question, the series are my favorite film series by far, I just find the bottom four in my rankings to be a drop-off in quality compared to the other 20, which are generally all good.
Spectre aside, that’s a solid top ten 🙂
This could change quite a bit, especially once I view the rest of them, and even those with asterisks might shift a bit. My hunch, based on recent viewings, is that generally the Moore films will be getting a bit of a bump, as I grow to love him in the role more and more each passing year. We'll see.
As I've seen others do, I'm marking a cut-off line for where the series drops off considerably (in my estimation) in terms of quality. *So many* films in that 11-18 range could change depending on the day of the week, and I find them really difficult to rank. Generally, though, this represents how I feel fairly accurately.
Alright, without further ado here we go.
1. THUNDERBALL
2. CASINO ROYALE *
3. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
4. GOLDENEYE
5. DR. NO
6. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
7. GOLDFINGER *
8. OCTOPUSSY
9. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS
10. SKYFALL
11. MOONRAKER
12. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY *
13. ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE
14. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
15. LIVE AND LET DIE *
16. TOMORROW NEVER DIES
17. A VIEW TO A KILL
18. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
19. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN
20. QUANTUM OF SOLACE
21. LICENCE TO KILL *
22. DIE ANOTHER DAY
23. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH *
24. NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN
25. SPECTRE *
I only "dislike" the bottom 3, and all of those have elements I like. The difference with the bottom three is that those contain qualities I like, but I find the film as a whole unpleasant or too flawed or poor. In other words, although the four above it (19-22) have many qualities I take issue with, the overall film I can mostly enjoy. That isn't true for the bottom three, and is instead inverted (a few good qualities, mostly unenjoyable).
OHMSS is an odd-ball for me, forever, because it is a top 2-3 Bond film with a lead performance I struggle to "get past" as a viewer, and so I find it almost impossible to judge. As such, I usually either leave it off my rankings, or lately I've been putting it near the middle because I don't know how else to slot it. It's such a difficult film for me. In all honesty, it is a top 3 Bond film. I just don't know how much I should weigh Lazenby's performance when assessing the film subjectively/qualitatively.
edit: Also, with some exceptions, it appears that the longer the film's title the more likely it is to be a weaker installment. This doesn't bode well for NTTD. (In case it isn't obvious, this is extremely baseless and I'm only looking at my list and finding it rather funny that some of the shortest titles rank higher up on my list).
EDIT2: SP keeps dropping for me, and I've basically just begrudgingly accepted that it is slow, unexciting, marred by godawful turns in the script, and feels almost completely lifeless, a few flashes of intrigue and brilliance and splendor and bravura aside (the train sequence, a bit in the desert, parts of the PTS, the Bellucci-estate scenes....... umm.... that's it I think?). Even deeply flawed entries like DAD don't fall asleep at the wheel the way this one does, while somehow still feeling so smug and self-satisfied. The movie sucks and I wish it didn't because there are so many elements of it that could've been great, and Craig is a great Bond (and I actually think he's fine in the film. Not his best, but fine).
1. SF
2. TB
3. CR
4. GF
5. FRWL
6. LALD
7. DN
8. DAF
9. OHMSS
10. SP
11. QoS
12. YOLT
13. TSWLM
14. LTK
15. TMWTGG
16. TWINE
17. FYEO
18. OP
19. GE
20. AVTAK
21. TLD
22. TND
23. DAD
24. MR