It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
LALD was one of the first Bond LPs I ever owned - my mom got it at a reduced record section at a department store. While I never appreciated it when I was young, I was drawn to it more and more over the years. Before I had a VCR, I tape recorded Bond films off ABC showings and you sometimes pick up the soundtrack more and I loved certain portions that didn't make the album such as the bayou chase and such.
Buying the complete CD score elevated my appreciation for LALD even more. It certainly helps that Martin has simply one of if not the greatest theme song of them all and he does what Barry could masterfully do in weaving it into variations from slow to fast, love scenes to action. I actually prefer it to Barry's AVTAK score, my least favorite of his.
The Living Daylights
Licence to Kill
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Tend to be underrated by the Bond community?
The World Is Not Enough
Quantum of Solace
Octopussy
That's a great list of films. All 6 are in my top 10 ;)
In fact I find most of the Brosnan era to be underrated on these boards.
Agreed. I think all the Brosnans with the exception of GoldenEye are underrated here (especially TND)
For me, if we are talking underrated by the general public then it's far and away OHMSS, but personally my most underrated would be LTK and QoS.
I’m with you on Dr. No! Most have it in their Top 10, but I believe it deserves to be Top 5. Just an iconic spy flick, oozing with style.
TND is pretty underated, I think it might be as good as GE, except the latter had the added hype, thanks to a 6 year hiatus and video game. Also, a cold war setting also helps.
I have Dr. No at #4 at the moment, underrated in my opinion!
Well Goldfinger isn't underrated because it gets the love it deserves
Yeah, I was trying to choose an ironic emoji. I mean, really? "You know what movies are underrated? The early Connerys!" Come on. :))
Don't forget OHMSS as well!! That's probably the most underrated Bond film!
With regard to TND, I agree with that. I feel like too often, the last three Brosnans are bundled together in one underwhelming, sub-par package, but TND is very entertaining.
But for general audiences, GF is anything but underrated. 'Reviewers' wouldn't even dare to put it anywhere outside the top 3, or at the very least top 5.
Same goes for FRWL/CR/SF.
Would any sit still for the golf match and would the lack of spectacular action seen in subsequent films make it underwhelming? A few years back there was also the discussion about the treatment of women in those early films in particular.
Well, I think the golf scene will work for anyone because it was a good scene then, and a good scene now. The really gross barn scene won't play well for anyone, and already doesn't for most people. And the way the whole film's written, with characters doing things solely for the benefit of the audience, may not impress either.
It's not that modern audiences lack patience for slower scenes. I think people just expect tighter storytelling with less irrelevant, gimmicky material included.
Underrated among Bond fans who aren't forum dwellers like us: Probably like OP
With DAF it's less that it's underrated and more that it's misunderstood, or unfair expectations are forced onto it that have next to nothing to do with the quality of the film itself. With MR it's a hilariously arbitrary line that die hard fans draw for an already deeply silly series.
When forced to watch SP, as part of a marathon, this is my go to substitute. I love the song and it compliments the visuals, and the lyrics fit.
This change alone raises my score for SP by 2 points…. to a 5 😉
Exactly. So many modern takes on DAF make it a scapegoat for not being the "proper" revenge follow-up to OHMSS. We got what we got. I always felt Tracy's death was dealt with in the precredits, it wasn't ignored totally.
DAF gets a sentimental nod as the first new Bond film I saw in a cinema and it always stuck with me. I confess it was my favorite for a long time. Just as some people say to just go with the ride to enjoy YOLT, I say the same for DAF.
I have always said - judge the film for how well it does what it is setting out to do. To me, DAF is very clearly the only film in the series whose first aim is to be a comedy. Even MR, which is largely lampooned as silly, is going for spectacle and bombast first and foremost. DAF is razor sharp, sardonic, subversive, and frequently hilarious.
edit: We can lament that we didn't get a proper revenge follow-up. I lament that. I truly do. Same thing with QoS only tangentially following up CR (moreso than DAF, certainly, but still not as well as we'd hoped). But I don't necessarily "blame" DAF for that and then rag on it for not being something it was never trying to be.
Spectre is an underrated Bond film.
…at least among hardcore Bond fans.
I do think it has some serious problems, but to put it dead last as so many do… I don’t get it.
It also helps if you press Stop right after Blofeld’s base explodes and just cut to Bond and Madeline riding off into the sunset 😂
+1
Had it dead last for a while, but a recent re-watch of another entry made it climb a spot higher.
I'd admit there are moments that I quite like, especially in Mexico and Italy, but also the scene with Jepser Christensen and at the hotel.
After that though, it plumits and does so deeply. You did advise to just skip the last part yourself.
For me that's very telling. When the defence admits that it is indeed better to just fast-forward to the final scene at a certain point, I don't think that's a good sign.
Well, Mexico, Italy, Altausee, L'Americain...that's a lot time spent on apparently good scenes!
But I'm happy to be the guy who defends the final act. I mostly love it. At least three great lines: "Now we know what C stands for" and "I've really put you through it, haven't I?" "That's the general idea of a safehouse."
I love the badass way Bond gets out of his bindings and takes out those two thugs.
Seeing the scar come back was a delight.
M getting in a bit on the action was done very well: he's clearly an older guy, and is not exactly kicking ass. He struggles to get away, he can't even beat up C and gets a bit lucky. Also, the whole Scooby gang aspect is not annoying to me because these people are out of a job and are aware of the present danger. If not them, who?
God help me, I like Bond shooting down the helicopter, and I like the score as it's happening. It's deeply unlikely to happen, but I don't find it all that more implausible than the fantastic maneuvers made by Bond in the climax to LTK. II love it when Bond is on a roll.
The Bond series (I think famously?) tends to have weaker third acts, and I'm happy to rank this one in the middle, at least. FRWL overstays its welcome after the fight. GF comes to a bit of a halt in Kentucky. DAF, well we all know. TMWTGG does a bunch of pointless stuff after Scaramanga is dead. TSWLM and TND could have their final action scenes cut severely without losing anything. A lot of people don't care for the Afghanistan stuff in TLD. TWINE and DAD, no need to discuss. CR; post-torture, is fairly weak sauce, with Bond emerging from some kind of coma to find he has a deep mutual love with Vesper, which has to be discussed out loud and at length. I like the SF Home Alone showdown, but it's not extremely popular.
I think tying a bomb to Swann and making Bond choose is not super interesting, and certainly a cliche, but it is at least new to Bond films...
Only bad bit for me is Swann deciding to break up with Bond at the most inappropriate possible time. WTF, Maddie?