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In which film were they at their best? [CONCLUSION]

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  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,157
    I love the faces he makes in MR and the juicy "Your man should be taken off the assignment", spat out with contempt.

    ERGO: Moonraker

    Well folks, closing this entry down soon. Some more votes for Geoffrey Keen?
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,157
    So MR it is then! Keen's slightly comedic appearance in the film has been found charming by our members.
    Bernard Lee as M: OHMSS
    Walter Gotell as General Anatol Alexis Gogol: OP
    Desmond Llewelyn as Q: LTK
    Geoffrey Keen as Sir Frederick Gray: MR


    Entry #5: Dame Judy Dench as M

    Since I'll be out for a day, it might take a little longer before the next entry. But go ahead!
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,713
    GE, is the least bad Dench performance as M... I'd even call it good.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,978
    TND. By being the only one where she trusts Bond 100% and there's no psychobabble or calling Bond a sexist dinosaur etc... it's the only film I am ok with her take on M.
  • 007JamesBond007JamesBond
    Posts: 321
    Tough one really but I'll go for TWINE as we kind of see a vulnerability about M that hasn't been seen before.
  • SJK91SJK91
    Posts: 1,310
    I'll go with Tomorrow Never Dies...like Smythe said, there is no trust talk and stuff like that. It actually seems like they are working together in that film!
  • PrinceKamalKhanPrinceKamalKhan Monsoon Palace, Udaipur
    edited July 2011 Posts: 3,262
    I vote for CR. I like her missing the Cold War rather than dismissing it as in GE. Plus, she has a much stronger Bond actor to play opposite. However, I will admit the last time I watched GE, I did appreciate the fact that her screen time was limited to just the usual obligatory office scene. This "James Bond and his mother" adventures they've started turning into since TWINE is getting a little out of hand. Just limit M to a scene in the MI6 office, please EON.
  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    edited July 2011 Posts: 13,355
    Tomorrow Never Dies. Really the only time other than GoldenEye that she has been used well.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    I liked the Brosnan era M better than the current incarnation. She seemed more in control of events and had A LOT more faith in Bond, despite calling him a "dinosaur".

    As for which is her best performance I'd go for either GE (let's face it Bond IS a "sexist, mysoganist dinosaur") or TND (Geoffrey Palmer: "sometimes I don't think you have the balls for this job. M: Maybe, but the advantage is I don't have to think with them all the time").
  • TrueMiracle85TrueMiracle85
    Posts: 300
    I'm gonna go against the trend here and say QOS. There's something about her performance in this movie that makes me really believe her. I love that dialogue she has when her and Bond walk in that room to reveal Ms. Fields lying on the bed covered in oil.

    "She was just supposed to send you home. She worked in an office, collecting reports. Look how well your charm works, James. They'll do anything for you, won't they? How many is that now?"
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    QoS for me by far. The scenes in the film with Bond and M are Craig and Dench's strongest in my opinion. Dench's portrayal shows M's fear of fighting a secret organization that has in its ranks high echelon personalities. She damns Bond for the death of Fields, and you see Bond completely shocked at what to say. Even with a capture or kill order on Bond, M still trusts him, and knows he will remain loyal. She allows him to escape arrest to get Greene and finish his mission. At the films end the pair finally trust each other 100%. M wanted him back, but he never left her.
  • YtterbiumYtterbium
    edited July 2011 Posts: 269
    TWINE, where Judi Dench becomes human, and more than just Bond's boss, a real character to the story. Didn't appear enough before, appeared too much afterwards.
  • 00Beast00Beast
    Posts: 4,762
    Definately GoldenEye, hands down! I absolutely love her briefing with Bond before he heads off to St. Petersburg. Such a great scene, made even better when Bond is being put in his place. Sure it's humiliating for him, but it's hilarious to watch. There is also some suspense in the scene, because you don't know how the new M will use 007. At first, it seems as if she wants him dead, but then her last line reassures us.
    "Come back alive."
    I also love the moment before the briefing when Tanner insults M, not realizing she is right behind him. Great moment!
  • DoubleOhhSevenDoubleOhhSeven
    Posts: 1,778
    Casino Royale. Her scene with Craig in M's apartment really showed off both actor's streangths. She really dresses him down (no pun intended) and he just sort of sits there cool as ice and doesn't seem to care much. Loved it.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,959
    CR is great, as is QoS, but GE for me.
  • JBFan626JBFan626
    Posts: 1,497
    QOS: contrary to majority opinion on this site, I admire her presence in the films. She's believable and acts accordingly to what the chief of MI6 would be like. I think she's good in the opening interrogation scenes.
  • KerimKerim Istanbul Not Constantinople
    edited July 2011 Posts: 2,629
    Judy is the most tolerable in TND, however, she was at her best in CR. She plays much better off the young and raw Craig than she did off the seasoned Brosnan.

    Now, strictly based on Dench's performance.

    1. CR
    2. QOS
    3. TND
    4. GE
    5. DAD
    6. TWINE
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,157
    Back in the house, folks, and closing this entry down soon. Any last votes for dame Judy?
  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,423
    Yes please:

    TND - just love her and Bond speeding through London.

    :)
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,157
    Guys, we're in trouble. Right now, TND takes the lead with 5 votes, with GE stuck with 4. However, I have yet to vote and my vote goes to GE, handsdown Dench's best performance in my opinion. That means we have a stalemate:

    TND: 5
    GE: 5

    Is anyone, who hasn't voted yet, willing to settle this?
  • NicNacNicNac Administrator, Moderator
    Posts: 7,582
    Well, without re-watching any of these, and dispite some fine early performances I will vote for

    CR

    I do like the scenes in Ms apartment and her utter exasperation with Bond.
  • JamesStockJamesStock
    edited July 2011 Posts: 572
    I'm not gonna be the tiebreaker cause I would have to say that I think that QOS was her best performance. The dialogue in CR and TWINE annoys me a wee bit too much. TND is the most "normal" but I think a bit overrated here. GE and DAD are pretty good as well but it feels like there's a bit of punchline for the sake of punchlines there. So, I would say that Dench's delivery is always strong, but more or less the material she has to work with that makes the scenes better or worse. Dench's delivery in QOS is strong and you really get to see her between Bond and her superiors (like in MR but better). It comes off as a bit of a throwback to a cold(er) M who, at the end of the day, has faith in Bond.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,157
    Very exciting, boys and girls. Who will be the tiebreaker then? ;;)
  • M_BaljeM_Balje Amsterdam, Netherlands
    edited July 2011 Posts: 4,511
    1. Twine
    2. QOS
    3. TMND
    4. GE
    5. DAD
    6. CR

    Since Twine M being closer with Bond. I agree TMND is the moost normal M and Dench growing a lot in to the part. Without Twine she isn't like as she is in QOS count for both actres and chacter. With CR i get it repeat Twine for a big part and i less believe it because i have troubles with the movie and Daniel Craig. GE is the only one where M stick behind her desk. In DAD we see for once M ignore Bond mode for a short whyle and after this it look like Bond and M but also Dench and Brosnan search a way to realy come back. I can't not realy choose between DAD and CR.
  • boldfingerboldfinger
    Posts: 5,767
    Casino Royale.
    The way she unloads at the beginning when she comes out of the meeting room at once establishes that this is not the same person who was superior to Brosnan´s Bond. For the rest of her scenes she is no inch less impressive.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,157
    Now we certainly need a tiebreaker as CR has entered the realm of the fivetimers as well. So, it's between GE, TND and CR now. :)
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,157
    Very well then, we must continue. If in a matter of a few minutes no one addresses the issue, I see no alternative but to remove BAIN123's choice(s) from the list, since that will lead us to one winner: CR. I had previously counted both GE and TND on BAIN's behalf. Sorry, BAIN. I hope you won't hold this one against me. ;;)

  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,157
    Very well. CR it is then.
    Bernard Lee as M: OHMSS
    Walter Gotell as General Anatol Alexis Gogol: OP
    Desmond Llewelyn as Q: LTK
    Geoffrey Keen as Sir Frederick Gray: MR
    Dame Judy Dench as M: CR


    Entry #6: Victor Tourjansky as 'man with bottle'

  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    edited July 2011 Posts: 13,355
    Moonraker. It improved on what was done originally as well as not becoming boring yet or seeming out of place.
  • DoubleOhhSevenDoubleOhhSeven
    Posts: 1,778
    The Spy Who Loved Me. It worked best the first time. By FYEO it was just tired.
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