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What James Bond movie captures the spirit of the books the best?

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  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,804
    jetsetwilly wrote:
    LTK is the one which encapsulates Fleming best for me in terms of characters and mood.

    Dr. No and FRWL best capture the period Fleming based the books around, mainly because of when they were filmed, and the settings seem fairly accurate to the books.

    CR captures the more violent essence of Fleming's Bond (closely followed by LTK).
    Could not say it any better than this.
  • BentleyBentley
    Posts: 267
    Fellow Agents,
    I'm afraid FRWL is the one & only.
    Dalton was a great Bond but the movies can't be said to capture the spirit when they involve snowboarding in a cello case or lorries balanced in bizarre finales.
    The spirit or essence of Fleming was to push the boundaries whilst keeping it real enough that just maybe..... this could happen.
    Only FRWL does this and it's probably no coincidence that the best movie is also the best book!
    Regards,
    Bentley.
  • blerblesblerbles
    Posts: 2
    Timothy Dalton; The Living Daylights. End of discussion. :)

    The Fleming books contain a lot of internal monologue that the screen actors logically cannot convey. Connery made Bond filmic. Moore made Bond the screen icon. Dalton has been (to date) the truest to the literary Bond. Craig is (while working with the material he's given) the best of both worlds. We'll wait. We'll see... :)
  • emilbertilloemilbertillo
    edited October 2012 Posts: 153
    When it comes to capturing the stories and settings of the novels, well, From Russia With Love, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and The Living Daylights' screenplays all look like Ian Fleming himself penned it. Capturing THE James Bond of the novels however, is a feat achieved by only two actors, IMHO: Tim and Dan.
  • bondsumbondsum
    Posts: 3,333
    I'd say Dr No and FRWL capture the spirit of Fleming the most, with OHMSS coming a close third. TB is an odd one as it's not really a complete Fleming story considering Jack Whittingham wrote the original screenplay in which the book was based. Funnily enough it would be Jack Whittingham's Q Planes screenplay that would influence the movie version TSWLM and not Fleming's book.
  • RogueAgentRogueAgent
    Posts: 12,526
    From what i hear having not read any of the novels? Would it not be OHMSS?
  • dkwookiedkwookie
    Posts: 31
    Who cares, I love Bond but never read any of the books. Do we have to read the books to be a true Bond fan? My favourites are TSWLM and MR, does this mean I have no taste or that I enjoyed them more than any other film as a kid?
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,978
    It's got to be The Living Daylights that best captures the feel of Bonds world for me.
    Bentley wrote:
    Dalton was a great Bond but the movies can't be said to capture the spirit when they involve snowboarding in a cello case or lorries balanced in bizarre finales.

    That, to me, shows Bonds ingenuity, just like when Bond uses his watch as a knuckle duster in OHMSS (book). His options are limited and he's thinking on his feet. We need more of this side of Bond
  • bondsumbondsum
    Posts: 3,333
    dkwookie wrote:
    Who cares, I love Bond but never read any of the books. Do we have to read the books to be a true Bond fan? My favourites are TSWLM and MR, does this mean I have no taste or that I enjoyed them more than any other film as a kid?
    No, it just means you can't answer the question that was posed in the first place and therefore have nothing to bring to the party.
  • Goldeneye95Goldeneye95
    Posts: 546
    From Russia With Love.
  • DRush76DRush76
    Posts: 533


    I'm not a big fan of the novels, so I guess it wouldn't matter to me about which movies carried the spirit of the novels.
  • identigraphidentigraph
    Posts: 1,052
    Well the first three films are close to the source novels and obviously closer in age to the books, so probably those three.

    While not particulary close to the actual novels of the same name I can't help feeling that LALD and the MWTGG have a very Fleming feel to them (obviously not JW Pepper).
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    edited December 2012 Posts: 11,189
    jetsetwilly wrote:
    LTK is the one which encapsulates Fleming best for me in terms of characters and mood.

    Dr. No and FRWL best capture the period Fleming based the books around, mainly because of when they were filmed, and the settings seem fairly accurate to the books.

    CR captures the more violent essence of Fleming's Bond (closely followed by LTK).

    In terms of the actual story I agree but I think the tone of LTK feels too American and bitter. There's a "playfullness" to Fleming's writing which Kill doesn't really have.

    I'd say FRWL (having listened to the audio book recently Kerim Bay is perfectly translated to the film - though somewhat toned down - and Pedro Armendáriz plays him beautifully), OHMSS and (to a lesser extent) CR and SF.

    I'd actually say films like FYEO, OP, TLD and maybe even GE (at least in parts) have more of a "Fleming touch" than LTK.
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    edited December 2012 Posts: 2,722
    If by 'spirit' you mean Fleming's character then From Russia With Love by quite a stretch. I think the film is very close to the novel and Connery is closest to the literary Bond in the first two films. FRWL has the cold war spy elements more than any other film and the atmosphere, tension and interactions are very close to Fleming's source. Bond's callousness with women and sadism is more noticeable. From Russia With Love also has the advantage of being in the middle of Fleming's run of bonds where in my opinion - both author and character are at the peak of their powers. Along with Dr No, FRWL is the perfect mix of character and story and the last novels before the author became engulfed in all the variations on adapting Bond for screen - both FYEO and Thunderball are essentially aborted film & tv ideas reworked and OHMSS onwards is influenced by EON and Connery's version of Bond.
  • Agent005Agent005
    Posts: 562
    I'd have to say Licence to Kill, closely followed by OHMSS and Dr No. When I watch those three, I get the same feeling that I do when reading Fleming's novels. Can't really describe it, but those are the films that I believe captured the feel and style of Fleming's work the best.
  • CrabKeyCrabKey
    Posts: 1,999
    Just finished watching FRWL as I am rereading the novel. It suddenly became clear to me why this film is in my top five. Until rereading the novel, I had not realized how faithfully this novel was adapted as a screenplay, right down to much of the dialogue taken word for word from the novel.

    I have always felt this film captured something most of the other films did not, and that's that it felt like a Fleming novel. In the later films one can't even use the word adaptation. YOLT and DAF went horribly astray. As for the Moore series, they were Bond films in name only. The original screenplays don't feel like what Fleming would have written in novel form.

    Of late CR is closest, but FRWL is a true study of what a real Bond film based on a real Bond novel was.

    Even Skyfall, which I like, is a mess; Fleming in good health would have written a much more interesting and creative Skyfall.

  • JakeDelToroJakeDelToro Universal Exports
    Posts: 28
    For me it's Licence To Kill. Most Bond films have a little too much humour to feel truly like the novels, whereas LTK has very little. I think that tonally, LTK is more like Fleming than any other of the films.
  • CraterGunsCraterGuns
    Posts: 618
    From Russia With Love
    OHMSS
    The Living Daylights
    Casino Royale
  • SaintMarkSaintMark
    Posts: 7,653
    DrNO
    FRWL
    GF
    TB
    OHMSS
    FYEO
  • StirredNotShakenStirredNotShaken Toronto
    edited October 2013 Posts: 2,402
    I'd say LTK captures the spirit of Bond as a character better than any other film. The scene where Bond looks down emotionlessly at the shark tank when Kilifer buys the farm is the most Flemingesque moment in a Bond film ever. TLD, CR, OHMSS and FRWL are all contenders for that as well.

    If you wanted the Bond film, however, that overall captures Fleming the best, it has to be The Living Daylights.
  • LicencedToKilt69007LicencedToKilt69007 Belgium, Wallonia
    Posts: 523
    Dr. No and FRWL, in my opinion.
  • ThighsOfXeniaThighsOfXenia
    Posts: 1,596
    Doctor No
    From Russia With Love
    Thunderball

    Terence Young directs in such a way that the films occasionally FEEL like Fleming's prose. Thunderball's intoxicating setting and Istanbul being the biggest standouts.
  • DoubleOhhSevenDoubleOhhSeven
    Posts: 1,778
    In terms of Bond's "character" my vote goes to Dr.No, Casino Royale, and Skyfall. They all convey Bond being a bit of a bastard and a drunk. Also his no non-sense approach to his job.
  • DoubleOhhSevenDoubleOhhSeven
    edited February 2014 Posts: 1,778
    Birdleson wrote:
    DoubleOhhSeven wrote:
    In terms of Bond's "character" my vote goes to Dr.No, Casino Royale, and Skyfall. They all convey Bond being a bit of a bastard and a drunk. Also his no non-sense approach to his job.
    I like Craig as Bond. Very much so, but I don't feel that, despite CASINO ROYALE (2006) encapsulating most of the novel, he is Fleming's Bond. Too much of a brute, at least in his first two outings. Fleming's Bond is more refined from the outset. And as committed to the cause and deadly as the Bond of the novels was portrayed to be, he was also a shining knight. I don't see that Bond sitting idly by and letting Patrice carry out an assassination.

    I guess the true Fleming Bond is hybrid of Dalton, Craig, and Connery in DN and FRWL. It'd be interesting to have a vote on those three choices (pretty please moderators [-O< )

    But as far the choices we have I believe Craig is closer characterization of Fleming's Bond. In that he portrays him as a sociopath who justifies murder with patriotism. The thing with Dalton was in TLD they made him a bit too jokey at times and in LTK they took the brooding aspect too far and stripped him of his class. Despite the complaints towards Craig, I always saw his Bond as classier and more a swinger than Dalton's.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Agree with everyone who mentioned DN,FRWL,GF and OHMSS. True to the source and set in the same time period as well.
  • thelivingroyalethelivingroyale
    edited February 2014 Posts: 12,837
    CR captures the character of Bond well but the film itself differs a lot from the book. The Dalton films get the tone right and use bits of Fleming but Dalton is more ruthless and cold blooded than Fleming's Bond was.

    So I have to give it to OHMSS.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    Birdleson wrote:
    I guess the true Fleming Bond is hybrid of Dalton, Craig, and Connery in DN and FRWL.

    I think that's pretty close to true.

    Add Laz to that list aswell. His Bond was MEANT to be closer to Fleming after all. Moore always came to mind the least when reading the books (Brosnan does kind of look like how Fleming describes Bond).
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