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The WhatCulture James Bond Thread #6- 10 Best Bond Opening Titles

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  • DoubleOhhSevenDoubleOhhSeven
    edited January 2014 Posts: 1,778
    Who doesn't love the James Bond title credits? No one. They were music videos before music videos even existed and are a necessary part of the James Bond experience. Whenever someone comes up with a list of greatest title sequences in movies and the Bond films don't dominate the list I get a bit upset. That's another example of people clumping the Bond films into one rather than recognizing their individual achievements. Anyway here's the WhatCulture top 10 James Bond titles credits.

    #6) 10 Greatest Opening Title Sequences

    http://whatculture.com/film/james-bond-10-greatest-opening-title-sequences.php

    10) Meh I've never been crazy about this one. Maybe it's the music. Maybe it's the lack of a theme. Either way it was clearly an early experiement. The wheel hadn't been perfected yet.

    9) This one defiantly deserves a spot on the list. Maurice Binder perfecting his idea.

    8) Defiantly not. This one just felt so bland, uninspired, and redundant. Nothing we haven't seen before. Is there even a theme to TLD's credits? In my opinion AVTAK was Binder's last memorable title sequence. As a matter of fact I think TLD is my least favorite of Binder's work on the Bond series.

    7) I'm kind of on the fence with this one. I love the opening transition but there's something about the tye-dye colors that's so unBondian. Not a bad effort though.

    6) Why isn't this one in the top 3? Everything you could want from a Bond title. Great transition, catchy song, a theme that reflects that story, naked women performing gymnastics on gun barrels, and Bond for the first time showing up in one of his title sequences. These titles never fail to put me in a good mood. Mr. Binder, I salute you.

    5) Definitely a memorable one. There's something so much more visceral and extreme about Binder's work on LALD. It's gets a little repetitive in sections but overall a very good one. Although I'd rank it 9 or 10. Not 5.

    4) Easily my favorite of Brosnan's titles. However I wouldn't rank GE this high. I just think there were better contenders. But like LALD definitely top 10.

    3) Oh yeah Skyfall deserves this spot. Not only do the titles fit in with the themes of the story but we the audience are actually taking a journey into death and into the past with Bond. Great stuff.

    2) My favorite Bond film and maybe my favorite credit sequence. Easily top 3 for me for sure. I've always loved the playing card motif and there's just something about the visuals here that are distinctive and different from the rest. In my opinion Kleinman's most visually interesting work.

    1) I always see this one ranked highly on both Bond lists and film credit sequence lists in general and I have no idea why. I wasn't impressed with either of Brownjohn's efforts as he has nothing on Binder or Kleinman. All this is are scenes from GF (and oddly one from FRWL) projected on a woman wearing gold paint over a black background. Please explain to me how this is better than anything Binder or Kleinman did.
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    You are aware that this WhatCulture list is merely the opinion of a 20 year old aspiring journalist?
  • DoubleOhhSevenDoubleOhhSeven
    Posts: 1,778
    Different articles are written by different people on the site. There are people on this site that are probably younger. I figured the lists are something to talk about.
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    DoubleOhhSeven wrote:
    Different articles are written by different people on the site. There are people on this site that are probably younger. I figured the lists are something to talk about.

    That's kind of the point. Why not just get a member here to compile a master list for a given topic and allow others to compare. In fact, I'm pretty sure these lists already exist in some form.
  • DoubleOhhSevenDoubleOhhSeven
    Posts: 1,778
    I don't feel like going through the trouble. Do these lists bother or offend you in some way? I really don't see what the big deal is.
  • WillyGaloreWillyGalore
    edited January 2014 Posts: 6,396
    So the top four consist of three entries from Kleinman (because his is modern) and one from Brownjohn (just because his is for Goldfinger). Maurice Binder must be spinning.

    It's a fairly generic list with very little imagination. What about OHMSS? It's a quite brilliant title sequence.
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    DoubleOhhSeven wrote:
    I don't feel like going through the trouble. Do these lists bother or offend you in some way? I really don't see what the big deal is.

    I'm not really a fan of lists, I know most people are, but I'm sure there's a much better way of compiling something more definitive. There are just so many 'list by A.N. Other'. I'd much rather everyone wrote a decent synopsis of three sequences they think best showcase the notion of a title sequence. I'm just moaning because I'm a miserable git and I find list threads as useful as a kick in the balls.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    The one for TLD is pretty weak, Binder sort of lost it with his last four. I would swap it for YOLT or OHMSS myself.
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    My top ten (in no particular order) would include...
    FRWL - I love the Barry instrumental. It works much better than the Monro song.
    YOLT - Love the song and the vibe I get from the visuals.
    DAF - My least favorite of the top ten but it's a great song and the visuals are good enough.
    LALD - They probably could have slapped anything together to go with this song and sometimes it feels like they did. Great song though.
    TSWLM - Highly innovative for the time and a great song to boot.
    MR - I like how different it is. It fits the movie perfectly.
    AVTAK - Nostalgia on my part perhaps but I was blown away by it when I saw it the first time on the big screen at age six.
    GE - The song and the theme and the visuals all tie in together perfectly.
    CR - Very creative and I love the song.
    SF - Absolutely gorgeous.
  • delticminerdelticminer
    Posts: 115
    10 - A bit uninspiring, but it does what it needs to do. The music changes the tone a lot.
    9 - Maybe Maurice Binder's first great piece of work, but it's okay.
    8 - Controversial, but I really like this once. I dunno, maybe it's the music and the film it goes with...
    7 - A bit too abstract for my liking.
    6 - Very overrated. It changes tone too much and seems very very generic.
    5 - Some nice imagery, but nothing more than okay.
    4 - Agree. A very good start for Kleinman.
    3 - Agree. Very very good visuals.
    2 - Definitely agree. My favourite Bond title sequence
    1 - Definitely disagree. Hate this one. Seems very lazy and they end up running out of footage from Goldfinger and use a clip from FRWL! Very basic even compared to the FRWL sequence and it seems like a child's work when compared to Binder work of the time.
  • SuperheroSithSuperheroSith SE London
    edited January 2014 Posts: 578
    WillyGalore wrote:
    So the top four consist of three entries from Kleinman (because his is modern) and one from Brownjohn (just because his is for Goldfinger). Maurice Binder must be spinning.

    It's a fairly generic list with very little imagination. What about OHMSS? It's a quite brilliant title sequence.

    My favourite titles are by Kleinman and I kinda hated the Goldfinger one. I didn't really enjoy the titles of OHMSS for some reason

    My list
    1. CR
    2. TND
    3. GE
    4. SF
    5. TWINE
    6. TSWLM
    7. FRWL
    8. DN
    9. YOLT
    10. AVTAK
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Everything that is unique has an intrinsic value (like Lazenby as Bond) , so I would nominate FYEO as well. The last absolutely brilliant MTS by Binder. The one for DN is unique as well, and I love it.
  • DoubleOhhSevenDoubleOhhSeven
    edited January 2014 Posts: 1,778
    The reason why i wouldn't list OHMSS is that it heavily uses scenes from previous Bond films, which comes off as both a desperate way to convince audiences Lazenby is still the Bond we know and love and lacks imagination. I have the same gripe with Goldfinger.

    As for me 7 of these 10 would make my list. I'd swap DN, TLD, and GF for YOLT, AVTAK, and either MR or QOS.
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    DoubleOhhSeven wrote:
    The reason why i wouldn't list OHMSS is that it heavily uses scenes from previous Bond films, which comes off as both a desperate way to convince audiences Lazenby is still the Bond we know and love and lacks imagination. I have the same gripe with Goldfinger.
    Agreed. He just said that this never happened to the other fella and then they show us all of the previous films from said other fella. Then they have the scene in Bond's office where he his admiring his souvenirs from the previous missions. But wasn't that from that other fella whose films you showed during the title sequence? Blofeld doesn't recognize Bond from the previous film so this can't be the same Bond can it? Blame OHMSS for the codename theory. Still a brilliant film though.
  • DoubleOhhSevenDoubleOhhSeven
    Posts: 1,778
    pachazo wrote:
    DoubleOhhSeven wrote:
    The reason why i wouldn't list OHMSS is that it heavily uses scenes from previous Bond films, which comes off as both a desperate way to convince audiences Lazenby is still the Bond we know and love and lacks imagination. I have the same gripe with Goldfinger.
    Agreed. He just said that this never happened to the other fella and then they show us all of the previous films from said other fella. Then they have the scene in Bond's office where he his admiring his souvenirs from the previous missions. But wasn't that from that other fella whose films you showed during the title sequence? Blofeld doesn't recognize Bond from the previous film so this can't be the same Bond can it? Blame OHMSS for the codename theory. Still a brilliant film though.

    As much as I love OHMSS I've always found that scene in Bond's office where he goes thru those personal affects annoying. It's both desperate and redundant. The "other fella" line was enough. It calls out the elephant in the room and tells the audience "We know he's not Connery and we're going on anyway. Take it or leave it". But then we have the credit sequence, and then the midget whistling Goldfinger, and then the office scene. Before DAD it was the most self-refrential of all the Bod films. Luckily OHMSS more than makes up for these small gripes.
  • hildebrand_rarityhildebrand_rarity
    Posts: 316
    DoubleOhhSeven wrote:
    As much as I love OHMSS I've always found that scene in Bond's office where he goes thru those personal affects annoying. It's both desperate and redundant. The "other fella" line was enough. It calls out the elephant in the room and tells the audience "We know he's not Connery and we're going on anyway. Take it or leave it". But then we have the credit sequence, and then the midget whistling Goldfinger, and then the office scene. Before DAD it was the most self-refrential of all the Bod films. Luckily OHMSS more than makes up for these small gripes.

    But you forget the context of the office scene. Bond has just requested resignation and is now in his office reminiscing about his life as an MI6 agent, so it makes sense in the context of the film. The other fella line, yeah, it's annoying. The midget whistling Goldfinger is so small I don't see any point in getting worked up over it. as for the titles, ehh, they're okay. I really love the references to "we have all the time in the world" with the hourglass and the backward clock, but I do agree the clips from the past are not great. It's not like they're terrible as many make them out to be.
  • DoubleOhhSevenDoubleOhhSeven
    Posts: 1,778
    hildebrand_rarity wrote:
    DoubleOhhSeven wrote:
    As much as I love OHMSS I've always found that scene in Bond's office where he goes thru those personal affects annoying. It's both desperate and redundant. The "other fella" line was enough. It calls out the elephant in the room and tells the audience "We know he's not Connery and we're going on anyway. Take it or leave it". But then we have the credit sequence, and then the midget whistling Goldfinger, and then the office scene. Before DAD it was the most self-refrential of all the Bod films. Luckily OHMSS more than makes up for these small gripes.

    But you forget the context of the office scene. Bond has just requested resignation and is now in his office reminiscing about his life as an MI6 agent, so it makes sense in the context of the film. The other fella line, yeah, it's annoying. The midget whistling Goldfinger is so small I don't see any point in getting worked up over it. as for the titles, ehh, they're okay. I really love the references to "we have all the time in the world" with the hourglass and the backward clock, but I do agree the clips from the past are not great. It's not like they're terrible as many make them out to be.

    I understand the point of the scene but the homages in it feel very forced. Then accompanying them with their respective musical themes is the icing on the cake. I'm positive that the filmmakers put it in there to yet again remind us that he's still the same James Bond from the previous films.
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