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For me, "Platinum" is the best of the best of the best, sir! With honors! Bond simply does not get any better than this.
"Gold" is still a fantastic Bond film. Well above average for Bond, which is by nature way, way above average for general action-adventure cinema. A few weak points maybe, but great, solid Bond fun.
"Silver" is average. Average for Bond, that is. Some strong points, some weak points. Wish I could get myself to enjoy these ones more, but alas they are for me average 007. Which of course still makes for great entertainment.
"Bronze" is the bottom of the 007 barrel. Whoo boy. Still love 'em. But whoo boy. Got some issues here.
Platinum:
Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, A View to a Kill, Licence to Kill, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough
Gold:
Dr. No, Octopussy, The Living Daylights, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace
Silver:
From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Live and Let Die, For Your Eyes Only, Skyfall, SPECTRE
Bronze:
Diamonds Are Forever, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, Die Another Day
Casino Royale, From Russia with Love, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Dr. No, Spectre, Skyfall
Gold:
Goldfinger, The Living Daylights, Thunderball, Licence to Kill, For Your Eyes Only, GoldenEye. The Spy Who Loved Me, Octopussy
Silver:
You Only Live Twice, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, A View to a Kill, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, Quantum of Solace
Bronze:
Diamonds Are Forever, Moonraker, Die Another Day
DN
FRWL
OHMSS
TLD
LTK
GE
CR
SP
Gold:
TB
MR
FYEO
OP
QOS
SF
Silver:
GF
LALD
TSWLM
TND
Bronze:
YOLT
CR67
DAF
TMWTGG
NSNA
AVTAK
TWINE
DAD
And if there were a Pizza department, meaning simple but delicious in its own way, it'd include
DAF
MR
CR67
It is a crime not to include all the first 4 Connerys in the top tier. All brilliant and iconic. All fairly faithful to Fleming.
Everyone too must have a beer or spirit they loved and overdid things with in the past and can't even stomach the smell now!?
Well I'm there with a lot of SC's films I've viewed over the past 30+ years 100's probably 1000's of times. Heresy I hear many say? I can't just say I MUST like them still just because they're viewed by many as iconic. Yes I respect them and will defend every one against criticism but I measured my 'vote' earlier by a key criteria - which I enjoy sitting down and watching right through the most - the watch ability which after all to me is what a film is about. Not which I must be seen to support or ridicule / play down / criticise. I've seen this a lot lately with the love / hate of SP and I find I'm NOT very comfortable being so downbeat, destructive and negative.
I can understand precisely where you are coming from. GF is iconic and a gloriously entertaining romp but I've seen it so many times now that I struggle to focus on anything other than its flaws. But the first few times you watch it it's sublime.
Words of sense for all those claiming TB is platinum. Take Fiona out of it and it's utterly lifeless apart from Sean having a whale of a time in Shrublands.
Anyway enough wittering:
Dom Perignon 53
DN (gets so much better with age)
FRWL
OHMSS
OP (bit of a guilty pleasure - empirically probably should be Gold as some of the India scenes are a bit hit and miss but I couldn't resist putting in Rog at the peak of his powers)
CR
SF
Bollinger Grand Annee
GF
TSWLM
FYEO
TLD
GE
SP (this needs time to settle - I feel it has the potential to nick SF's slot in the premium section)
Unnamed red 'slightly reminiscent of a 34 Mouton'
YOLT
MR
TND
QOS
Red Chianti with fish
TB
DAF
LALD
TMWTGG
AVTAK
LTK
TWINE
Phuyuck
DAD
After re-watching a number of borderline cases I have downgraded AVTAK one tier. Just too much of a snooze fest.
LALD has gone up one, to 'average', as it isn't as poor as the bottom tier regulars.
Top Tier:
FRWL, OHMSS, CR, TLD, GF
Good Tier
DN, TB, TSWLM, FYEO, SP
Average Tier
YOLT, LALD, MR, OP, LTK, TND, GE, QOS, SF, TWINE
Bottom Tier:
DAF, TMWTGG, AVTAK, DAD
TB = It's iconic, Connery at his best, great villain in Largo, great Bond women, epic script, one liners, set pieces, locations, compelling story, great score and close to Flemings novel. It's top tier all the way.
TB is the one film I have the most trouble 'rating'. Sometimes it feels like a world-class entry, at other times merely average... can't put my finger on why, exactly.
It is indeed very close to Fleming's story. Only I find that the relationship with Domino could have been more fleshed out, as it is in the novel. But I guess that sort of thing doesn't sell cinema tickets...
Love the headings. The last one made me giggle :))
***NOTE: I don't have a poor/bad/negative category. As a fan, I find some thrills in all of the films - yes even DAD, though I struggle with that one. We'll just call DAD a missed opportunity. The films are ranked in their order, though by the time I get to Middle of the Road and Missed Opportunity, the lines become blurred: e.g. AVTAK isn't necessarily better than MR. They are each flawed in a different way. AVTAK feels tired, and there's not much to be done to improve it, though it's still a fun 007 adventure. MR on the other hand has the potential to be a bonafide classic if some of the sillier bits and the action scenes in the second half were trimmed down a bit.
Classic - Gold Standard
OHMSS
FRWL
Dr. No
GF
DAF
TB
Legacy - (Sits side by side with the Classics but slightly misses the mark)
YOLT
TSWLM
OP
TLD
SF
Middle of the Pack - (Still quality 007 entertainment, just not as good as the above)
FYEO
LALD
TMWTGG
GE
LTK
CR
AVTAK
Missed Opportunities - (has it's moments, but there are a few or several moments where things go completely off the rails. With some script editing and/or better direction, the end result could have been greatly improved. MR and SP are extra frustrating because both entries should have been great, but there were a few things that ended up sinking the films)
MR
QOS
SP
TWINE
TND
DAD
Tier 1 My Favs that just get better
OHMSS
CR
LTK
OP
FRWL
SF
Tier 2 Enjoyable and memorable
FYEO
GF
TLD
SP
DN
AVTAK
Tier 3 Take a step back
TB
YOLT
GE
TSWLM
TND
TWINE
Tier 4 Let dogs lie
MR
TMWTGG
DAD
QoS
DAF
Let me say that I am pleased to see OHMSS so highly regarded among aficionados these days. This film got so much hate when it came out but it took close to 3 decades before critics alike began to appreciate it.
GF is badly dated. (though it remains a fan fav) While FRWL and CR will always age so much more gracefully.
Platinum Tier (all films listed alphabetically):
CR, DAF, FRWL, GF, SF, TB
Gold Tier:
LTK, LALD, OHMSS, QoS, SP, TSWLM. YOLT
Silver Tier:
DN, GE, TLD, TMWTGG, OP, AVTAK
Bronze Tier:
DAD, FYEO, MR, TND, TWINE
I did not like the Tarzan scream but the scene ended with him landing in a nasty river and coming out with leeches stuck to his chest. (gross!)
Interesting how Moore just fitted the role like a glove despite the fact that he had been trying to get out of the role since completing MR. Maybe he was just using a ploy to get more $$ out of Cubby, but unlike Sean who was obviously fed up and had a hair up his butt during the filming of YOLT, Moore continued to play Bond with a certain bon vivant.
In defense of Sean, Cubby and Harry did do him wrong. Moore and later Bonds were taken care of and treated better.
That's also probably true, based on what I've read. He was so definitive (not just as far as Bond goes, but in terms of any spy hero for that decade) that he should have been treated better probably.
Absolutely. It's got the absolute lot with the added bonus of Rog on fire.
The bloke really does deliver it all - from lines that only he could get away with 'Fill her up please', 'That'll keep you in curry for a few weeks' and 'Hiss off!' to brilliant tension when the general won't believe him. To all the cretins who can't see beyond it - the clown suit is what makes the scene and if even Rog is starting to panic then you'd better be sure some serious shit is going down.
Top class Moore and who with a pulse can't enjoy that?
Very much agreed.
Casino Royale, From Russia with Love, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Dr. No, Spectre, Skyfall
Gold:
Goldfinger, The Living Daylights, Thunderball, Licence to Kill, For Your Eyes Only, GoldenEye. The Spy Who Loved Me, Octopussy
Silver:
You Only Live Twice, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, A View to a Kill, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, Quantum of Solace
Bronze:
Diamonds Are Forever, Moonraker, Die Another Day
The clown disguise was good stuff. It was a bit surreal, and a precursor to Bond's Dia de los Muertos costume: Bond playing "dress up." Nothing wrong with that, if the circumstances dictate it.
OP had some clever moments. I especially like the "post title" sequence, with the chase through the woods. I'd have to think more about it, but that might be the most compelling scene in a Bond film that doesn't have James Bond anywhere near or in it.
1. FRWL, OHMSS, TMWTGG, OP, GE, CR
2 ,AVTAK TSWLM, FYEO, TND, TLD, LTK
3. TB, LALD, TND, SP, QOS, SF
4. GF, DAD, MR, DN, YOLT, DAF,
Extremely difficult as I love DN and Brosnan but if I rank DN higher, Brosnan's outings go down. And I feel Brozza needs more love so I sadly had to sacrifice DN. I notice that SP, QOS and SF are too low, and if I rank them higher, I sacrifice some Moore outings.