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
Diamond tier:
GOLDFINGER
ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE
THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS
GOLDENEYE
Gold tier:
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
OCTOPUSSY
LICENCE TO KILL
CASINO ROYALE
SKYFALL
Silver tier:
DR. NO
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
LIVE AND LET DIE
A VIEW TO A KILL
TOMORROW NEVER DIES
QUANTUM OF SOLACE
Bronze tier:
THUNDERBALL
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN
MOONRAKER
THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
The wooden spoons:
DIE ANOTHER DAY
SPECTRE
Nice to see such an honest list! Love the LTK and MR appreciation too!
2. GOLDFINGER
3. DR NO
4. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
5. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
6. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS
7. ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE
8. LIVE AND LET DIE
9. OCTOPUSSY/NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN
10. LICENCE TO KILL
11. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
12. MOONRAKER
13. A VIEW TO A KILL
14. SKYFALL
15. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
16. CASINO ROYALE 06/CR 54
17. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
18. GOLDENEYE
19. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN/ CR67
20. TOMORROW NEVER DIES
21. QUANTUM OF SOLACE
22. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
23. SPECTRE
24. DIE ANOTHER DAY
@Daniel316 So you might be pleased to know you have the highest MI6Community ranking of Die Another Day at number 2.
7/175 have it in the top 10
35/175 have it in the top 19.
There are 2/250 people on non-Bond forums who have it at number two
Between the releases of Skyfall the highest rank is 2nd (3/505) and 27/505 have it in the top 10
Why's that? Where do you have it?
I can list many reasons why it's at the bottom AND why the ones above it are higher
A man of culture, I see.
edit: @matt_u I understand why people are so shocked, because the film has the appearance of such polish and sheen. It has gorgeous cinematography and strong production design, but I think many of its issues come down to it doesn't feel like it has a soul. It feels like they so badly wanted to make a "by the numbers" Bond film but they forgot to actually make a film, instead it's just a collection of box-checks.
Beyond that, the screenplay, particularly the nonsense with Blofeld and Bond and how the film tries to haphazardly connect Craig's films into a sort of quadrilogy is just god awful. The Madeline-as-soulmate angle is beyond offensive and underdeveloped, and the whole thing just plays tired.
It reminds me a bit in that aspect of A View to a Kill, which carried with it a slight sense of fatigue I think, but that film was elevated by very committed performances from (an admittedly older) Moore and Walken (who is fantastic). By comparison, Craig's performance, while I don't hate it, is probably his weakest of his four films as he doesn't seem quite sure where he wants the performance to land. Similarly, Waltz's performance as Blofeld is just a lite version of other villains he's been forced to play in bigger productions. A really weak performance.
I don't hate Spectre by any means, but it just doesn't have "it."
Good summary of the common criticisms.
Sorry for the late response, @ThighsOfXenia.
Look, all those years I read all the possibile criticism against SP imaginable, inhere. I get your points, but I think that regarding SP people usually put too much weight on the flaws than considering all the great aspects that make the movie so unique. Some kind of harshness, so to speak, that you don't see with all SF flaws or QoS gigantic problems. But I don't care, honestly. I hate to judge movies like a doctor. Blade Runner at the time of its release was a massive flop and the movie itself has tons of flaws, errors, with sometimes even nonsense movie grammatic but it is still one of the greatest movies ever made. So I don't judge movies like this.
Regarding SP I spoke sometimes about it's merits but I don't want to repeat myself for too long. Just a few thoughts I feel important to share.
First, the extraordinary look of the movie. I know a lot of people dislike HvH's work because of being too yellowish and other nonsenses, but SP is a prime representation of how a big action blockbuster for the masses can be injected with a strong and unusual visual palette for the sake of an artistic and thematic purpose, which is something quite remarkable since we're talking movies and not some Marvel Studios telenovelas. In SP every movie location is treated like a character itself. Mexico City looks like a dusty Purgatory were the air is fire and all those bodies are running to the gates of Hell. Rome looks like a metaphysical monument of corrupted power, where the water of the Tevere river looks like oil and the overall imagery seems taken from a De Chirico painting. Austria is gloomy and dark, like the prelude of a storm. Morocco looks taken from an Alfred Hitchcock movie and Mendes brings his panoramic retro vibe intentions at the highest level. London is also unusually dark and "victorian".
But besides the technical achievements, the interesting topic to discuss is that all this artistic approach is driven by themes that serve the narrative. The first, of course, is related to SPECTRE, that it's portrayed not only as an evil crime organization, but a specter from the past that looms for everything Bond stands for. And what Bond stands for? Tradition. The value of tradition, a capital even in British literature. This is a great, and quite unique, Bond movie because while making an entertaining globetrotting adventure Mendes is able to elevate the battle between good and bad - in this case the Blofeld/SPECTRE vs Bond/MI6 plot - on a pure metaphorical level that stands for a manifesto for the franchise itself. Because the incredible legacy of the 50+ years of missions is what makes Bond different from all the other contemporary actions heroes. After QoS - which was a movie clearly influenced by Bourne's kinetic approach, that worked for one episode but put the franchise in an angle, because of the risk of destroying what makes Bond unique and better than all the others with that direction - Mendes made a combo of movies that where based upon the notion of establishing why Bond is still relevant those days and why his "old" ways are still the best. I don't want to dive too much into this but basically SP is a movie about preparing for the future without forgetting where you come from. Embracing and learning from such a strong legacy, while dealing with such cutting edge themes like surveillance back in 2015, was the only possible way to prepare the character for the future after all the "goin back to basic" of SF. So the movie has a soul, indeed. Actually, it is probably the most thematically driven Bond movie ever. It's quite a miracle that a movie filled with such references to prior entries turned out to be so strong with its thematic purposes and unique in its both visual and metaphorical identity. Plus, the narrative is smooth and this Bond driven adventure works quite good from a pure entertaining perspective. Because entertainment doesn't (always) mean "silly fun". SP wouldn't been the 4th Bond movie at the box-office - adjusting with the inflation - if the general public didn't enjoyed the ride in some form (and if someone says again an again that SP success was ALL thanks to SF's boost I will put them in a pool filled with sharks). So the notion of Mendes forgetting about making a "movie" is quite absurd as I see things. Nothing proves this. But let's dive into the most interesting aspect of the movie...
Since I talked about the value of tradition and that being the core of the movie, just look at how they crafted the evil character of the movie. Blofeld stands exactly as an ideal moral counterpart for Bond, an evil man who symbolically stands for denying, mortifying and killing the past, while in the movie Bond stands as a caretaker of the value of tradition, which is his own 50+ years cinematic legacy as I said before. I also liked the fact that Bond was portrayed as a kind of object of desire for young Blofeld, that during the course of two winters became envious of this handsome "blu eyed orphan" incredibly good and skilled at everything he did, while on the other hand he wasn't. I found all this fragile, childish, creepy, vouyeristic elements defining Blofeld's twisted psyche perfectly handled by Waltz, so I disagree regarding his performance being "weak". I found that re-interpretation of the character very interesting to follow, especially once the movie was over while wondering about Blofeld's psyche. SP does a good job showing a Blofeld full of envy and slimy resentment towards Bond - just think of the joke about interchangeable women - which led to a vouyer tipe of evil person made insane by resentment and inevitably poisoned by envy. I found this take to the character very disturbing and interesting, especially because the gradual descent in his crazy intimate and psychological sphere takes place little by little, until the quiet revelation of his new identity in the torture room. Blofeld wasn't perfectly handled, but at least is a villain with a lot of shades that let you wonder about why he does what he does with a dramatic element and yet resonates with a strong thematic meaning. It's also interesting how he consistently tries to punish Bond on an emotional level. Like he's trying to make Bond suffer just like he suffered when he felt Hannes was more attached to James than his "real" son. All Blofeld actions against Bond can be seen like an insane punishment for being "better" than him. His tremendous evilness is defined also by his crazy and creepy methodicalness. Something explained also by his torture methods. Plus, the notion that the was (in some form) behind both Vesper and M's deaths is something that tells you how creepy is this incarnation of Blofeld. Making people suffer for him is also like a crazy cat and mouse game. For example, the way he handles Mr. Guerra execution during the meeting or how he plays with Bond when he trapped Madeleine - giving Bond a choice: die or live with the pain - in the MI6 building. He even used the death of Mr. White as a tool to bring Bond and Madeleine together ("out of horror, beauty"). Bond movies are usually filled with villain characters with cliched identities and few dramatic foundations but as you can see I definitely don't think Blofeld is one of them. Just think about Alec, one of the all time favorites (God knows why). He enters MI6 for avenging his heritage's demise in order to punish the Brits. A very idealistic scheme - yet uber superficial and cliched - too bad in the end he just wants to make tons of money. Come on...
So it's pretty clear why I love SP. There are some flaws, like any other Bond movie has in different forms except maybe, maybe, FRWL. It's a beautifully crafted Bond movie, with a lovely artistic use of incredible locations, with a good score (better than SF), with great actors, an intelligent and poignant evil scheme to deal with, a Bond girl with a brain and a real identity - on a side note, Seydoux has a mix of voluptuousness and innocence that drives me crazy - and a villain with some true interesting characterization. Above all, SP is a Bond movie that stands for something. That represents something, which is something truly unique. A magniloquent monument, with a foot in the past and an eye on the future, to the greatest film franchise in the world.
EDIT: Also, the way they are connecting the movies works good. Bond movies are always influenced by the time of their release and we are living in this era in which sometimes continuity is more important than the film itself. So this attempt by Mendes was quite congenital and actually worked. It was even able to make Silva's plans more plausible while keeping his motivations pure.
I don't doubt it. Since 2015 I've been a huge SP fan. I'm currently rewatching all the entries but in my latest poll a couple of years ago SP was #3.
But yeah, people miss a lot in Spectre.
PERFECTION OR DAMN NEAR
1. GoldenEye
2. Licence to Kill
3. The Living Daylights
4. Casino Royale
5. Quantum of Solace
6. Thunderball
7. Goldfinger
8. Dr. No
9. From Russia with Love
10. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
11. Live and Let Die
12. For Your Eyes Only
13. The World Is Not Enough
14. Tomorrow Never Dies
NOT MY FAVORITE BUT I STILL LOVE EM
15. Die Another Day
16. Diamonds Are Forever
17. Octopussy
18. A View to a Kill
19. The Spy Who Loved Me
20. Moonraker
GOOD BUT I GOTTA BE IN THE RIGHT MOOD
21. Skyfall
22. The Man with the Golden Gun
23. You Only Live Twice
50% SOLID/50% TERRIBLE
24. Spectre
Happy to see I'm not alone! :)
Thank you, I really appreciate it.
Indeed! QOS seems to be aging quite well.
My UPDATE:
1. Casino Royale
2. From Russia With Love
3. Dr. No
4. Goldfinger
5. Quantum of Solace
6. The Living Daylights
7. Goldeneye
8. Skyfall
9. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
10. The Spy Who Loved Me
11. Thunderball
12. Spectre
13. For Your Eyes Only
14. You Only Live Twice
15. Tomorrow Never Dies
16. License to Kill
17. Live and Let Die
18. Man With The Golden Gun
19. Moonraker
20. Diamonds Are Forever
21. Die Another Day
22. Octopussy
23. A View to a Kill
24. The World Is Not Enough
Halfway through, and it will take a while before we can continue, it looks like this:
10/10
1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2. Thunderball
9/10
3. The Man with the Golden Gun
4. Dr. No
5. From Russia with Love
6. Moonraker
8/10
7. The Spy Who Loved Me
8. Goldfinger
9. You Only Live Twice
10. Live and Let Die
7/10
11. For Your Eyes Only
12. Diamonds Are Forever
No real stinkers yet it appears although some of them have a few less engaging moments. Two absolute crackers in TB and OHMSS. One surprise package too: MR! I guess, with all that gorgeous widescreen spectacle, blu-ray does that film some real favours, surely.
OHMSS and TB are my #2 and #3 overall respectively. Nice list so far overall! I'm 13 films in through my current Bondathon. I'm going in novel order, so once I'm finished with TLD I'll have to do the last few in some random order. My new list is going to be the most different it's been in a long time for sure.
It will be interesting to see in what order you’ll watch the rest. Maybe by how many elements they use/refer to from the books?
Lucky man. I tried with my girlfriend but didn't work out. The things we do for love...
I'm currently rewatching the series in non chronological order... from SP to Dr. No. I'm midway the Moore era and I'd say that the biggest change in my previous poll is AVTAK, a movie I surprisingly super enjoyed.
2. THUNDERBALL
3. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
4. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
5. DR NO
6. LIVE AND LET DIE
7. ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE
8. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS
9. OCTOPUSSY/NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN
10. CASINO ROYALE 06
11. MOONRAKER
12. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
13. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
14. LICENCE TO KILL
15. SKYFALL
16. A VIEW TO A KILL
17. GOLDENEYE
18. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
19. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN/CR 54
20. SPECTRE
21. TOMORROW NEVER DIES
22. QUANTUM OF SOLACE
23. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
24. DIE ANOTHER DAY/CR 67
1. From Russia With Love
2. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
3. Casino Royale
4. Goldfinger
5. Thunderball
6. The Spy Who Loved Me
7. Skyfall
8. For Your Eyes Only
9. Dr. No
10. GoldenEye
11. You Only Live Twice
12. The Living Daylights
13. Quantum of Solace
14. Live and Let Die
15. Licence to Kill
16. Octopussy
17. Spectre
18. Diamonds Are Forever
19. Tomorrow Never Dies
20. Moonraker
21. The World is Not Enough
22. Die Another Day
23. A View to a Kill
24. The Man with the Golden Gun
Again, this is my list. I know that many will disagree with this and that’s ok!
2. Casino Royale
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
4. License to Kill
5. The Living Daylights
6. From Russia With Love
7. Goldeneye
8. Spectre
9. Quantum of Solace
10. Goldfinger
11. Dr. No
12. Live and Let Die
13. For Your Eyes Only
14. You Only Live Twice
15. Thunderball
16. The Spy Who Loved Me
17. A View to a Kill
18. Octopussy
19. The World Is Not Enough
20. Tomorrow Never Dies
21. The Man with the Golden Gun
22. Die Another Day
23. Diamonds are Forever
24. Moonraker
Nice list. If you replace Skyfall with Licence to Kill, then we got the same top 10, although in a different order.
1. Goldfinger
2. The Spy who Loved Me
3. From Russia with Love
4. Thunderball
5. Casino Royale
6. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
7. Dr. No
8. For Your Eyes Only
9. Live and Let Die
10. Octopussy
11. You Only Live Twice
12. Moonraker
13. Diamonds are Forever
14. Golden Eye
15. The Man with the Golden Gun
16. A View to a Kill
17. The Living Daylights
18. Skyfall
19. License to Kill
20. Spectre
21. Tomorrow Never Dies
22. The World is Not Enough
23. Quantum of Solace
24. Die Another Day