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Rank the Finales
As the title says, are you up to the challenge of ranking the grand Bond finales one through twenty-three? If so, join in!
23. Diamonds Are Forever- Talk about disappointment. Tiffany falls off an oil rig as a result of her own incompetence, Blofeld gets slapped around in a Bath-o-Sub, and Bond does hardly anything at all. After reading the possibilities that the DAF script had in store for the ending, I began to hate this finale even more. Why in heaven's name was the salt mine showdown between Bond and Blofeld scrapped? What a waste of perfect potential.
22. Moonraker- Did you expect a nice hand-to-hand duel aboard the space station between Bond and Jaws? Did you expect the battle between the space Marines and Drax's thugs to last longer than two minutes? I did, but alas, we got nothing of the kind. The only truly awesome part of this finale is the showdown between Drax and 007 in the airlock chamber. That was actually pretty epic, but everything else is lackluster.
21. Casino Royale- Truthfully, I just don't get excited about this one. And once again, much like GF and FYEO, the little battle inside the sinking house feels quite hurried and tacked on as a last minute excuse to kill off Vesper and Gettler. I've never really "felt" this one.
20. Dr. No- I realize that the production values for the very first James Bond movie weren't nearly what they would come to be, but in terms of strict ranking, there's just not much here. Still though, the duel between Bond and Dr. No is always a fun watch, and the escape from Crab Key, however chaotic it may be, is fairly thrilling as well.
19. Die Another Day- The problem here is the time split between two separate fights: Bond vs. Graves and Jinx vs. Frost. Our focus is shifted from one to the next so quickly that we don't have adequate time to enjoy either of them. And of course, Gustav Graves' cheesy, scripted lines don't make this one any better.
18. Quantum of Solace- I like the idea of a final battle inside a desert hotel, but Marc Forster didn't fully utilize the potential this had in store. However, I do love the duel between Bond and Greene- it's very well done, I've always thought.
17. From Russia with Love- The boat "chase" with Morzeny and the SPECTRE agents is not thrilling by any means, but the final showdown with Rosa Klebb is definitely exciting. Thank goodness the movie did not end with that horrible boat sequence!
16. Live and Let Die- The true pay-off here is Bond's confrontation with Tee Hee aboard the train; what precedes this incredible fight is rather drab and uneventful, especially the ludicrous death of Dr. Kananga. Why couldn't the sharks have eaten him? That would have been both more sensible and more dramatic.
15. For Your Eyes Only- I thought about placing this one above TB, but frankly, once the rock climbing sequence is over, there's really not much else to enjoy, except for the brief tussle between Bond and Kriegler, which is over all too soon. Much like Goldfinger's death, I've always felt like the confrontation between Columbo and Kristatos was quite brief and hurried, as if FYEO was trying to meet some time cut-off point and couldn't give their battle its proper length. Then again, Bond throwing the ATAC off the cliff in front of Gogol is a nice compensation! Stickin' it to the Commies!
14. Thunderball- Technically, this one should probably be placed higher up, but in all honesty, the whole underwater battle is a bit tedious and dull in many places; I mean come on, if you've seen one SPECTRE scuba diver get harpooned, you've seen them all. The saving grace here is the awesome duel aboard the Disco Volante between Bond and Largo!
13. The World is not Enough- Aside from the awful, disappointing duel between Bond and Renard, I rather enjoy the rest of that submarine sequence, and of course, Bond shooting Elektra at point blank range is always a very gripping moment.
12. Goldfinger- Much like OHMSS, this is essentially one of the only good parts of the movie, which makes it a huge relief once you get to it; my only gripe with this one is that the whole President's jet sequence feels very rushed and tacked on as a last minute excuse to get rid of Auric Goldfinger, as if Guy Hamilton forgot he hadn't killed him off yet or something.
11. On Her Majesty's Secret Service- If only the rest of the movie were as good as the finale; maybe then it would be higher up in my rankings. At least Peter Hunt got this part right! I love the shot of the helicopters approaching Piz Gloria with the sunrise behind the mountains.
10. SkyFall- There is something highly satisfying about the simplicity of this finale; it might seem dull to casual fans, due to the lack of anything particularly larger-than-life, but to me, it's quite enjoyable.
9. The Living Daylights- A fabulous payoff to a very solid Bond movie; plus, I love endings where Bond goes back to "tie up loose ends" following a large-scale battle!
8. The Man with the Golden Gun- I really love how this one plays out- Bond goes to rescue Goodnight, battles to the death with Scaramanga, retrieves the Solex as the island goes up in flames, and then has to finish off Nick Nack to conclude the mission- epic!!
7. Octopussy- I've read many a comment of praise for this exhilarating Bond finale! John Glen does a very good job setting this one up for us- Bond boards Octopussy's train, follows it to the circus after battling Kamal's goons, defuses the device, and returns to the Monsoon Palace for a showdown that ends up on the wing of a jet- ahh yeayuh!
6. A View to a Kill- Flooded mine? Seismic bomb countdown? May Day's sacrifice? Max Zorin vs. 007 on the Golden Gate Bridge? Count me in!
5. License to Kill- John Glen is a genius for thinking up the whole tanker truck sequence, followed by Bond's gruesome killing of Sanchez.
4. GoldenEye- The fight between 007 and 006 is possibly the one scene in all of Bond that I get the most excited about; what a terrific ending to my favorite Bond movie!
3. Tomorrow Never Dies- Perhaps Roger Spottiswoode set this one up intentionally like Lewis Gilbert would have done, because it's an explosively entertaining end to a great Bond outing!
2. You Only Live Twice- I suppose it's just a Lewis Gilbert thing, but man, what a finale! YOLT's is nearly as epic as TSWLM's, marred only by the fact that Blofeld and Bond never have a proper showdown.
1. The Spy Who Loved Me- The Liparus battle and Bond's rescue mission aboard Atlantis is such a thrill ride! Although TSWLM is not my favorite Bond movie, its finale sure is. Talk about spectacle!
23. Diamonds Are Forever- Talk about disappointment. Tiffany falls off an oil rig as a result of her own incompetence, Blofeld gets slapped around in a Bath-o-Sub, and Bond does hardly anything at all. After reading the possibilities that the DAF script had in store for the ending, I began to hate this finale even more. Why in heaven's name was the salt mine showdown between Bond and Blofeld scrapped? What a waste of perfect potential.
22. Moonraker- Did you expect a nice hand-to-hand duel aboard the space station between Bond and Jaws? Did you expect the battle between the space Marines and Drax's thugs to last longer than two minutes? I did, but alas, we got nothing of the kind. The only truly awesome part of this finale is the showdown between Drax and 007 in the airlock chamber. That was actually pretty epic, but everything else is lackluster.
21. Casino Royale- Truthfully, I just don't get excited about this one. And once again, much like GF and FYEO, the little battle inside the sinking house feels quite hurried and tacked on as a last minute excuse to kill off Vesper and Gettler. I've never really "felt" this one.
20. Dr. No- I realize that the production values for the very first James Bond movie weren't nearly what they would come to be, but in terms of strict ranking, there's just not much here. Still though, the duel between Bond and Dr. No is always a fun watch, and the escape from Crab Key, however chaotic it may be, is fairly thrilling as well.
19. Die Another Day- The problem here is the time split between two separate fights: Bond vs. Graves and Jinx vs. Frost. Our focus is shifted from one to the next so quickly that we don't have adequate time to enjoy either of them. And of course, Gustav Graves' cheesy, scripted lines don't make this one any better.
18. Quantum of Solace- I like the idea of a final battle inside a desert hotel, but Marc Forster didn't fully utilize the potential this had in store. However, I do love the duel between Bond and Greene- it's very well done, I've always thought.
17. From Russia with Love- The boat "chase" with Morzeny and the SPECTRE agents is not thrilling by any means, but the final showdown with Rosa Klebb is definitely exciting. Thank goodness the movie did not end with that horrible boat sequence!
16. Live and Let Die- The true pay-off here is Bond's confrontation with Tee Hee aboard the train; what precedes this incredible fight is rather drab and uneventful, especially the ludicrous death of Dr. Kananga. Why couldn't the sharks have eaten him? That would have been both more sensible and more dramatic.
15. For Your Eyes Only- I thought about placing this one above TB, but frankly, once the rock climbing sequence is over, there's really not much else to enjoy, except for the brief tussle between Bond and Kriegler, which is over all too soon. Much like Goldfinger's death, I've always felt like the confrontation between Columbo and Kristatos was quite brief and hurried, as if FYEO was trying to meet some time cut-off point and couldn't give their battle its proper length. Then again, Bond throwing the ATAC off the cliff in front of Gogol is a nice compensation! Stickin' it to the Commies!
14. Thunderball- Technically, this one should probably be placed higher up, but in all honesty, the whole underwater battle is a bit tedious and dull in many places; I mean come on, if you've seen one SPECTRE scuba diver get harpooned, you've seen them all. The saving grace here is the awesome duel aboard the Disco Volante between Bond and Largo!
13. The World is not Enough- Aside from the awful, disappointing duel between Bond and Renard, I rather enjoy the rest of that submarine sequence, and of course, Bond shooting Elektra at point blank range is always a very gripping moment.
12. Goldfinger- Much like OHMSS, this is essentially one of the only good parts of the movie, which makes it a huge relief once you get to it; my only gripe with this one is that the whole President's jet sequence feels very rushed and tacked on as a last minute excuse to get rid of Auric Goldfinger, as if Guy Hamilton forgot he hadn't killed him off yet or something.
11. On Her Majesty's Secret Service- If only the rest of the movie were as good as the finale; maybe then it would be higher up in my rankings. At least Peter Hunt got this part right! I love the shot of the helicopters approaching Piz Gloria with the sunrise behind the mountains.
10. SkyFall- There is something highly satisfying about the simplicity of this finale; it might seem dull to casual fans, due to the lack of anything particularly larger-than-life, but to me, it's quite enjoyable.
9. The Living Daylights- A fabulous payoff to a very solid Bond movie; plus, I love endings where Bond goes back to "tie up loose ends" following a large-scale battle!
8. The Man with the Golden Gun- I really love how this one plays out- Bond goes to rescue Goodnight, battles to the death with Scaramanga, retrieves the Solex as the island goes up in flames, and then has to finish off Nick Nack to conclude the mission- epic!!
7. Octopussy- I've read many a comment of praise for this exhilarating Bond finale! John Glen does a very good job setting this one up for us- Bond boards Octopussy's train, follows it to the circus after battling Kamal's goons, defuses the device, and returns to the Monsoon Palace for a showdown that ends up on the wing of a jet- ahh yeayuh!
6. A View to a Kill- Flooded mine? Seismic bomb countdown? May Day's sacrifice? Max Zorin vs. 007 on the Golden Gate Bridge? Count me in!
5. License to Kill- John Glen is a genius for thinking up the whole tanker truck sequence, followed by Bond's gruesome killing of Sanchez.
4. GoldenEye- The fight between 007 and 006 is possibly the one scene in all of Bond that I get the most excited about; what a terrific ending to my favorite Bond movie!
3. Tomorrow Never Dies- Perhaps Roger Spottiswoode set this one up intentionally like Lewis Gilbert would have done, because it's an explosively entertaining end to a great Bond outing!
2. You Only Live Twice- I suppose it's just a Lewis Gilbert thing, but man, what a finale! YOLT's is nearly as epic as TSWLM's, marred only by the fact that Blofeld and Bond never have a proper showdown.
1. The Spy Who Loved Me- The Liparus battle and Bond's rescue mission aboard Atlantis is such a thrill ride! Although TSWLM is not my favorite Bond movie, its finale sure is. Talk about spectacle!
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Comments
10. You Only Live Twice - A currently underrated Bond film that's lots of fun, and ends spectacularly with the fight at the volcano. Bond finally meets Blofeld, a ton of good guys and bad guys square off, and explosives everywhere! Epic and grand.
9. The Man with the Golden Gun - The final showdown between Bond and Scaramanga is suspenseful and the best part of the film (Chris Lee really gave that film a boost, might I add). That scene, the escape, and taking care of Nick Nack were all memorable and fun scenes that made a great finale.
8. Casino Royale - My favorite Bond film, and I still like its finale pretty well. I knew Vesper was going to die, and they handled it pretty well with the drama but still not lingering on it too badly. The final battle at the Venice building was also really neat, especially with Bond's little fight against Gettler.
7. Goldfinger - My favorite Connery film also has my favorite finale; the fight between Bond and Oddjob is memorable, especially the end result. It's suspenseful with the bomb and action-packed between all the soldiers and Bond himself. Well-done and memorable.
6. On Her Majesty's Secret Service - I knew it was going to break loose once Bond called in Draco and his men to attack Piz Gloria. The product was awesome; the all-out war between Blofeld's men and Draco's, but more importantly Bond and Blofeld's showdown in the bobsled scene. Just awesome action and exciting to watch.
5. Quantum of Solace - Though I don't consider it one of the best Bonds of all, QoS had great beginning and ending scenes. The finale is a full-blown epic battle between Bond and Greene in a fiery setting. It was just so intense and action-packed I can't not put it up here.
4. Licence to Kill - This finale was really unique and awesome. The car truck chase was possibly the best vehicle chase in the whole series (at least for me), especially the wicked stunt where Bond avoids the missile which hits the truck behind him. The battle between Bond and Sanchez is even cooler.
3. GoldenEye - A classic Bond film topped off with a classic ending. Many times the finale is the best part of the Bond film, and this is no exception. The suspense is high, and the battle between Bond and Alec is front and center of it all. Their battle scene together doesn't disappoint, and the "No, for me" gets me every time.
2. The Spy Who Loved Me - A fun-filled Bond film with an epic finale; it's basically YOLT 2.0. The war between Bond's men and Stromberg's men is action-packed and intense, followed up with Bond's confrontations against Stromberg and Jaws. I love it all; a perfect way to cap off Moore's best outing.
1. Skyfall - A lot of people say it's the weakest part of the film, but the finale of Skyfall is my favorite of the entire series. I just love the build-up of Bond and M's waiting for Silva to arrive, and finally the last battle begins. The fire consuming Bond's house, and the final scene between Bond, M, and Silva is all so well-done. I just love everything about it; however, the next Bond film's finale should leave fire out of it.
LTK- brutal mano y mano.
YOLT- big like never before of since.
GE- favourite fistfight in the series.
TND- saving Lin was excellent.
QOS- best closing line ever.
Come to think of it, that's sort of the last "henchman/coworker coming back after main baddie is dead" fight we had. At least the closest since.. Jaws? -Maybe Renard if you don't count him as the main baddie in TWINE.
Don't forget about Dr. Mortner and Scarpine at the end of AVTAK after Zorin falls from the bridge; I've always enjoyed that aspect of the ending, when Mortner whips out the old revolver and tries to take down 007 for the killing of his greatest experiment.