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GF, OHMSS, TLD, CR, QOS.
Yeah, I know... but QOS has one of the best endings to a Bond film ever IMHO, and it's a fitting end to the Vesper affair.
The ultimate five, they capture the essence of everything Bond is and should be.
(Yes, I know: the real Fatal Five are Tharok, Mano, Validus, the Emerald Empress and the Persuader. But that's a different fictional universe...)
DN, OHMSS, LTK, CR, SF.
As for that pennywhistle effect ... no, just no. Even John Barry is on record as regretting it For me, it definitely takes away from the moment; too damn silly for a truly authentic, magnificent stunt.
More realistic, and dark and gritty? I'd go with FRWL, CR, QOS, SF, LTK, and possibly Dr. No.
Fan of fun, outlandish tendencies & camp? YOLT, LALD, TMWTGG lead the way, head into MR, OP and careening fullstop at DAD.
Thinking...
All I can come up with is TND...
TLD = smoking. Not cool today.
Oh, good. Send them all over to Mission Impossible. My own Son (now 19) will not watch another Bond movie with me (he has watched DN & TLD & TND & SP with me in times past, and only rated DN & SP as 'pretty good'), but he likes the MI movies....
Brave new world.
Well, is CR extremely dark? It's realistic, gritty, violent, but, but ... oh I'd still recommend it.
So yeah, that's tough. TND, TLD (like ;Mrcoggins said) and maybe CR.
(P.S. I gave up on anything with Cruise in it years ago. Cannot even enjoy the MI films any more. NOT wanting to start chat on Cruise on this thread, though. Just my two cents on that and now I'll shut up about him.)
And what about recommending the novels? I think it depends of course upon if the person, no matter what age (well older than 12, I guess, is best) likes spy/intrigue/adventure stories in a more serious, Cold War vein. They are so different from the films that I think that personally I would recommend the films first - the main core of films, to get those samples done, absorbed, and hopefully enjoyed - then recommend a novel, if this this newcomer likes to read. Especially if they ask about the novels. But I would hesitate to have them reading Fleming for the first time while watching the films. What do you all think?
What's nice is that now people can start anywhere, anytime for films or novels. For me, I was watching Sean play with Jill St. John, then Roger stepping on crocodiles ... while reading Fleming and NO other films to go by. I had not seen the older ones on TV yet (I did later in the 70's). That was my life - waiting on the next Bond film, with no background to judge the earlier ones. That's all I had for several years. Now, it's a piece of cake to become familiar with the series in any order one chooses.
Why would you not start at the beginning? I would imagine he'll find the pace and tone of the older ones very odd now. Should have just lent him one at a time in order!
At this time, I'm open to suggestions for the next few topics to discuss on this thread.
One I just thought of now, is simply based on my observations on this forum: We really care about James Bond, this character, that is such a part of our lives. Bond has given us joy and excitement and we live with much anticipation for each new Bond film.
So my thought is, let's discuss that - Why we care about James Bond
* What is it about this character, these stories?
* What makes this film series/books matter to us more than others?
* AND has that changed over the years? Hmmm.
We could do it as giving our top 5 reasons why we care - or just write a paragraph or two.
So, while we also put our head together as to the next upcoming topics you would enjoy, let's do this as the current topic: Why Do We Care About James Bond?
I'll get some more tea and get back with you. I'll try for my top 5 reasons, but don't feel limited in how you reply. Cheers! (missing having emoticons...)
He represents juxtapositions rarely seen in real life. He lives a very good life style, but he personally makes only decent government money. He's not a health nut, but he can physically rise to any urgent occasion (cue jokes). He's cold and isolated, yet he cares and can be genuinely loving. He can be good, and he can be bad.
In short, he is a character that, from book to book or movie to movie, is not easily characterized. In gaming, I guess he'd be chaotic neutral or something. There's a lot you can do with Bond you absolutely cannot do with Ethan Hunt or Superman... or even Batman for that matter.