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Comments
It is good to hear my statement has weight to it.
Then hopefully they are compelled to watch the first 7 films in order and get the proper grounding in the classics.
FRWL
GF
TSWLM
FYEO
TLD
GE
TND
CR
SF
The first three are the standard-setters. Dr. No is the obvious choice because it's first. From Russia With Love has a more developed Bond feel, but it's between the originality of Dr. No and the full development of Goldfinger. Goldfinger is the iconic Bond movie. It is the standard. It has the top (or at least first rate) Bond, villain, girl, henchman, pre-title sequence, gadget, cars, gimmicks, song, Q scene, the list is almost endless. The Spy Who Loved Me is another iconic Bond adventure with top flight cars, girls, and henchmen. GoldenEye is an updating story with classic elements, albeit one whose updating has become a bit dated. Casino Royale is first in the timeline, as it's Bond's first mission, and has all the other great stuff. Skyfall is when the modern and classic eras meet up.
Other movies like On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Licence to Kill should be watched soon, but they shouldn't be the first one. They require an understanding of the Bond universe to appreciate (or reject, for that matter).
1960s - On Her Majestys Secret Service
1970s - The Spy Who Loved Me
1980s - The Living Daylights
1990s - The World Is Not Enough
2000 + - Casino Royale
70's Moonraker.
80's Licence to Kill.
90's GoldenEye.
00's Casino Royale.
Really it comes down to the individual; the film that got me into Bond was Goldfinger and I was about 15 years old when I saw it.
If action is what you want to show a newbie, I'd say show them the Moore films. While the Craig era films can be action-packed, the Moore era is more filled over with action in my opinion. They are full of action spectacle.
Dr. No:
Pro: The beginning. It's the foundation of everything we know and love.
Con: It's dated in the sense of music, the action is not very spectacular by later Bond's standard, and it's a bit slow, even I think it's a little bit of a bore at times. X_X
The Spy Who Loved Me:
Pro: It's like a greatest-hits album. big villian, great Bond with tons of humour, locations are beautiful (the Nile boat scene), action is superb (PTS, Lotus, Liparus fight).
Con: It's so stereotypical Bond, that it might give her the impression all the Bond's are as over-the-top as this one is, though in the best way possible.
Tomorrow Never Dies:
Pro: A modern Bond, very big on action, 2 beautiful women, one of which almost classifies as a female Bond, locations are great, it's got stealth elements during the Hamburg scenes, and a big all-out finale as well. And I'm very mutch in love with that E38 BMW :x
Con: It's a very nineties Bond, in a way that it's a generic hollywood blockbuster with no real Bond-plot, and here goes the same as for 'spy': it might give the wrong impression.
Casino Royale:
Pro: Very up-to-date, Bond as a very agressive, but very emotional man underneath.
It benefits from a great cast with superb locations and camerawork, and as a remake of the very first novel written by mr Fleming, it's kind-of Bond 101.
Con: though a very entertaining film, it's quite long, and to be honest, it lacks the "olives" of the Bond-Cocktail: The Gadgets, Bond getting the girl, and the classy, sophisticated Bond-figure.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
A quick edit: as she is more biased towards humour, my current choice would be Sir Roger's finest.
I think your current choice is a good one. Otherwise, with the right disclaimers beforehand, the others are also good. One problem with the older films is that some people see them as corny, slow, or both. I tried to get my wife to watch OHMSS with me but she quit after the first twenty minutes or so. The only Bond films I can get her to watch are the Craigs.
Connery: From Russia With Love
Lazenby: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (duh)
Moore: The Spy Who Loved Me
Dalton: The Living Daylights
Brosnan: Goldeneye
Craig: Casino Royale
I'm not sure OHMSS and LTK would necessarily be the right choice of film on your inital forray into the Bond universe but they're certainly two films which would cement your interest in Bond once you've watched a few of the others first.
Funnily enough, that comment fits here too, mate! :)
No, I meant another comment that I wrote right after, trying to comment on another thread.
But yes, judging a movie by the Bond girls, I'd recommend TB, easily. It remains my favorite Bond, partially because of this.
And it just gets better and better. My favourite Bond film........great way to move from the classic era into the colourful new decade.
Sean is middle-aged Bond brutal awesome.
Thought it was Orbis Non Sufficit.
Anyway, to me, even though it isn't my favorite Bond movie (though definitely in my top 5), From Russia With Love is an excellent choice for first Bond movie for a newbie to watch. It has action, but it's not ridiculously loud and explosive like some of the '90s Bond movies. It has a great, severely attractive Bond girl. It has a gadget or two, nothing over the top, no %$#& invisible cars or laser beam watches. It has the best fight scene (between Bond and Grant) in Bond history, or at least until CR. It has a strong story. And it's Sean Connery, the best of the best. What more could you want?
If the person was someone who maybe had little time for Bond before and you were trying to convince them of Bond's greatness then I'd start with Casino Royale.
If it was someone enthusiastically wanting to see a Bond movie (probably a younger person) then I'd start with an obvious Connery or Moore film. Probably Goldfinger or TSWLM.
That's how it was for me and as far as I can gather, many others on this board.
Any one of the 23 films should give the impressionable adolescent viewer a good sense of the Bond phenomenon and draw him in for life, if he is genetically predisposed to Bond obsessiveness. The first viewing triggers this latent gene.
===Yes young girls too, but the initial Bond experience might resonate differently for femmes. I don't know. I am musing from a male perspective.