Rank the Bond movies between 1971 & 1985

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Comments

  • edited May 2023 Posts: 2,296
    Jill Masterson wasn’t really a character but a visual iconography. I would have loved it if the movie make me care about her enough that when she’s found dead it should make me feel furious the same way Severine’s death was. But I never do. I only really get it through Connery’s boiling anger in the M scene, which doesn’t last too long.

    I agree. It also serves to bring Tilly into the story too and provide a motive for her, but that’s really just about it. She’s virtually forgotten by all characters by the time the film ends.

    Both Melina, and Anya are actually written with a bit more complexity when compared to Jill Masterson, and actually have more significance on the plots of their respective films than Jill does, regardless of how some may feel of the performances.
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    edited May 2023 Posts: 3,800
    Regardless of the performances.

    Still, the 60's Bond Girls were far better than those of Moore ones, you have Tatiana, Domino, Pussy, and even Honey, and of course, the best of them all, Tracy, all of them were interesting characters that's all credible to their roles.

    Tatiana killed Rosa Klebb
    Domino killed Largo
    Both of them killed the main villains in the end, did any of the Moore Era Bond Girls did that?

    Pussy Galore was so tough, she can kick Bond's ass.
    Honey was independent, she doesn't need to be always on Bond's side or to escort him.
    Kissy at least participated in the Volcano Lair Attack, she's one of those whose shooting and the fact that she swam back to Tiger's camp and climbed back to Volcano Lair.
    And Tracy, oh! She's the Bond Girl who can do all things!

    The Moore Era Bond Girls tend to recycle those Bond Girls from the Connery Era but (in my opinion) failed, they're more regressive, they're just eye candies whom Bond will seduce in the end, they're not the independent type of Bond Girls, I don't know but those Bond Girls in the Moore Era were always at Bond's side and never leave him.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,221
    I never disliked any of Moore's Bond girls, but Barbara Bach is the only one who the script forces to do something
    she might not be all that good at: acting. It does take TSWLM a bit down for me.

    On the other hand, Maud Adams might not be Katherine Hepburn, but she did have the best chemistry with Moore and that's what makes her the best Bond girl of the Moore era for me.

    Still though, the best actress is Carole Bouquet. Maybe not the one with the best chemistry with Rog, but looking at her in other, predominantly European, films, I'd say she's definitely a solid actress.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    edited May 2023 Posts: 6,393
    007HallY wrote: »
    Benny wrote: »
    007HallY wrote: »
    The Good

    TSWLM
    OP
    LALD

    The 'enjoyable but flawed'

    MR
    TMWTGG
    AVTAK

    The 'not bad per say, just different'

    DAF

    The Bad

    FYEO

    The Ugly

    NSNA

    Just my personal opinion of course....

    What's so bad about FYEO @007HallY
    Each to their own of course, but I've always found it to be a fairly solid entry.

    A few reasons. It’s a film that I’ve always found all over the place in the sense that it’s very muddled. Bond kills ‘Blofeld’ at the start of the film - reference to Tracy and all- and even kicks Loque’s car off the cliff under the suggestion it’s due to Luigi’s killing. Despite this he constantly wags his finger at Melina and tells her not to seek revenge. It’d be one thing (and even very interesting) if it were framed from the perspective of Bond being jaded/not wanting to get Melina involved in his line of work but it’s not. It’s just empty drama without reason.

    Despite it being labelled as one of Moore’s more ‘serious’ Bond films the PTS and the end with ‘Thatcher’ are the sort of thing that wouldn’t be out of place in a spoof. Personally I think they’re embarrassing. I also find the scenes with Bibi throwing herself at Bond strange, unfunny and a bit weird.

    I personally hate the score.

    Some of the most forgettable villains of the series.

    There are many more reasons why I don’t like it (again completely on preference) but overall it’s not a film I enjoy at all despite its popularity amongst fans. It’s similar to TB in that sense - well regarded, but a film I just don’t find enjoyable.

    FYEO is a strange one. Like you said, the beginning and ending seem completely tacked on, as if they were added at the last minute for "fun."

    I vaguely recall Maibaum's interview where the whole plot was that Melina wouldn't sleep with Bond because she was fixated on revenge? Kind of what eventually happened with QoS.

    If you scrapped Blofeld at the beginning--or made the revenge not comedic--and tweaked the ending so it's not so--I don't know--lecherous, you'd have a stronger film. And of course scrap the Thatcher stuff.

    MR took the "Bond is in bed while MI6 is embarrassed" trope to its logical ending point. It should have stopped right there.

    These bad elements of FYEO are just as bad as the maligned elements (Tarzan yell, etc.) of OP. They just didn't know how to turn off the excess.
  • Posts: 4,310
    echo wrote: »
    007HallY wrote: »
    Benny wrote: »
    007HallY wrote: »
    The Good

    TSWLM
    OP
    LALD

    The 'enjoyable but flawed'

    MR
    TMWTGG
    AVTAK

    The 'not bad per say, just different'

    DAF

    The Bad

    FYEO

    The Ugly

    NSNA

    Just my personal opinion of course....

    What's so bad about FYEO @007HallY
    Each to their own of course, but I've always found it to be a fairly solid entry.

    A few reasons. It’s a film that I’ve always found all over the place in the sense that it’s very muddled. Bond kills ‘Blofeld’ at the start of the film - reference to Tracy and all- and even kicks Loque’s car off the cliff under the suggestion it’s due to Luigi’s killing. Despite this he constantly wags his finger at Melina and tells her not to seek revenge. It’d be one thing (and even very interesting) if it were framed from the perspective of Bond being jaded/not wanting to get Melina involved in his line of work but it’s not. It’s just empty drama without reason.

    Despite it being labelled as one of Moore’s more ‘serious’ Bond films the PTS and the end with ‘Thatcher’ are the sort of thing that wouldn’t be out of place in a spoof. Personally I think they’re embarrassing. I also find the scenes with Bibi throwing herself at Bond strange, unfunny and a bit weird.

    I personally hate the score.

    Some of the most forgettable villains of the series.

    There are many more reasons why I don’t like it (again completely on preference) but overall it’s not a film I enjoy at all despite its popularity amongst fans. It’s similar to TB in that sense - well regarded, but a film I just don’t find enjoyable.

    FYEO is a strange one. Like you said, the beginning and ending seem completely tacked on, as if they were added at the last minute for "fun."

    I vaguely recall Maibaum's interview where the whole plot was that Melina wouldn't sleep with Bond because she was fixated on revenge? Kind of what eventually happened with QoS.

    If you scrapped Blofeld at the beginning--or made the revenge not comedic--and tweaked the ending so it's not so--I don't know--lecherous, you'd have a stronger film. And of course scrap the Thatcher stuff.

    MR took the "Bond is in bed while MI6 is embarrassed" trope to its logical ending point. It should have stopped right there.

    These bad elements of FYEO are just as bad as the maligned elements (Tarzan yell, etc.) of OP. They just didn't know how to turn off the excess.

    It is indeed a weird film. It always baffles me when fans claim it’s Moore’s more ‘down to earth’ Bond film. Perhaps literally when compared to MR, but it has a strange dynamic where there’s all this humour and outlandish moments within a film that should be a little more grounded. I always find it’s one of the things that undermines the film. It’s something I’ve noticed happens when it comes to action scenes especially (just the score alone over the ski chase is enough to spoil what is essentially a very tense scene).

    OP kinda suffers from these sort of silly moments too, but it’s a film which takes itself far more seriously and runs with even its more ‘out there’ concepts.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,236
    LALD
    OP
    TSWLM

    Good films.

    The rest are all pretty poor and interchangeable. I will have to have a think about them.
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 9,511
    LALD
    OP
    TSWLM



    AVTAK

    TMWTGG
    FYEO
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,233
    peter wrote: »
    LALD
    OP
    TSWLM



    AVTAK

    TMWTGG
    FYEO

    pigeon-double-take.gif
  • Posts: 618
    1. The Spy Who Loved Me
    2. For Your Eyes Only
    3. Live and Let Die
    4. The Man With the Golden Gun
    5. Diamonds Are Forever
    6. Octopussy
    7. A View to a Kill
    8. Moonraker
    9. Never Say Never Again
  • Posts: 2,161
    1. Live and Let Die
    2. The Spy Who Loved Me
    3. For Your Eyes Only
    4. The Man With the Golden Gun
    5. Diamonds Are Forever
    6. Octopussy
    7. Never Say Never Again
    8. Moonraker
    9. A View To A Kill
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 9,511
    peter wrote: »
    LALD
    OP
    TSWLM



    AVTAK

    TMWTGG
    FYEO

    pigeon-double-take.gif

    Dammit— hope no one would notice!

    Actually, I was having such a debate about TMWTGG AND FYEO, I forgot all about Moonraker… but I have to say, I watched it a few months ago and had an utter blast (in the past 30 years, that’s probably the third time I watched it!

    So where does it land?….

    LALD
    OP
    TSWLM



    AVTAK
    MR

    TMWTGG
    FYEO
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,835
    Birdleson wrote: »
    1. Live and Let Die
    2. The Spy Who Loved Me
    3. For Your Eyes Only
    4. The Man With the Golden Gun
    5. Diamonds Are Forever
    6. Octopussy
    7. Never Say Never Again
    8. Moonraker
    9. A View To A Kill

    TSWLM is a bit high up for me, but I like your list.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    edited May 2023 Posts: 6,393
    peter wrote: »
    LALD
    OP
    TSWLM



    AVTAK

    TMWTGG
    FYEO

    pigeon-double-take.gif

    Ha ha ha ha ha!

    AVTAK is straight up terrible, but the bizarro duo of Walken and Jones (plus the lived-in one of Moore and Macnee) give it a leg up on MR and TMWTGG for me.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,233
    I love Walken, Jones, and Macnee, but they’re not enough to redeem it.

    I put TMWTGG right at the bottom (between 71-85) because the script is that big of a mess. I think that came down to Cubby having Mankiewicz and Maibaum write over each other. They’re very different writers with a whole different set of sensibilities from each other that aren’t compatible.
  • Posts: 463
    1. Octopussy
    2. The Spy Who Loved Me
    3. Live and Let Die
    4. For Your Eyes Only
    5. The Man With The Golden Gun
    6. Moonraker
    7. A View To A Kill
    8. Diamonds are Forever
    9. Never Say Never Again

    Connery is easily my favorite Bond, yet his two outings during this period are definitely my least favorite out of the bunch.
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