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For Bond directors and their non-bond films, probably Sam Mendes, I'm a big fan of American Beauty and Road to Perdition.
It's a tie between John Glen and Martin Campbell for me, with Terence Young coming a close third.
1. Terrence Young
2. Peter Hunt
3. Guy Hamilton
4. Lewis Gilbert
5. John Glen
6. Martin Campbell
7. Sam Mendes
8. Michael Apted
9. Marc Forster
10. Roger Spottiswood
11. Lee Tamahori
The top 4 are the cream of the crop. Terrence Young is the creator, and Peter Hunt was the apprentice who went on to carry on the tradition set by Young with OHMSS--while bringing the action to another level altogether (pity the poor fellow who finds this film overrated). Hamilton brought the cinematic, iconic Bond as we've come to know it over the years with GF and DAF. Lewis Gilbert brought in the element of grand spectacle with YOLT, TSWLM and MR.
John Glen carried on the Young-Hunt lineage but lacked the flaire and dazzle that the other two brought--but still brought out solid, workmanship Bond films in FYEO, OP and TLD. Campbell revived the Bond 'feel' with Goldeneye (and CR for many fans [not this one though--but kudos for the noir PTS at least]). Mendes was pretty solid with SF, but perhaps more credit goes to Roger Deakins, for producing one of the best looking Bond films in years. The rest of the lot kind all blend in together with bringing average results. I have Apted a bit higher because I think he took some risks with TWINE by going more character driven, even though the results didn't quite play out successfully. Forster still has a good eye, but lacked the execution and grasp of the franchise. Spottiswood deserves a mention for some impressive action sequences, but that's about it. Lee Tamahori actually did bring some strong moments in DAD but some really shabby ones too...mostly shabby ones.
1. Terrence Young- Good director, arranges scenes & dialogue well, imperfect overall film structure.
2. Peter Hunt- Really good director, understands directing AND editing, solid.
5. John Glen- solid film director, good sense of pace & flow, deceptive simplicity, trouble in the gag area.
6. Martin Campbell- Excellent all around director. Not many better.
2. John Glen
3. Terrence Young
4. Peter Hunt
5. Sam Mendes
6. Lewis Gilbert
8.Guy Hamilton
9. Roger Spottiswode
10. Marc Forster
11. Michael Apted
12. Tamahori
redid my list today
And if so, reset everyone back to zero of course.
1: Glen
2: Campbell
3: Hunt
4: Mendes
5: Young
6: Gilbert
7: Apted
8: Hamilton
9: Spottiswoode
10: Forster
11: Tamahori
Well, apologies that I'm not about to put him above Hamilton and Gilbert for the sake of putting him above Hamilton and Gilbert. While I'm not the biggest fan of H&G, Gilbert delivered one of my all-time favourite Bond films and Hamilton delivered Goldfinger which, while I am not a fan of, is probably the most influential of all the movies. TND is a mess and I actually think the start-to-finish Bond-as-Rambo, explosions galore to rival a Michael Bay film nonsense is very poor. The cinematography and shots are fine, but a director has control over his film and Spottiswoode thought that it was fine the way it was. People can knock Apted all they want but Spottiswoode is no better.
For the record, I don't even dislike Spottiswoode a whole lot. I think he's extremely enthusiastic about Bond, he's one of the most entertaining of the directors to see in interviews, and he's certainly not as bad as my bottom two. But at the same time he very much just made a pedestrian Bond film (for all the people who give this title to Glen, when he really made five films that, in their own right each, are five of the most unique in the series, I say shame on you) that had a terrible henchman, a stealth boat, arguably the worst Bond performance in the series and a horrible script. Teri Hatcher on top of that. Disagree as you like - and I'll at least concede that Spottiswoode was given a shit deal - but that's my viewpoint.
Completely disagree with TND having the worst Bond performance though. Brosnan was at his best in TND (although I think his best performance is either TWINE or DAD). Funny, cool and charming with a hidden more lethal side beneath the one liners. To say that this is the worst Bond performance of the series (worse than wooden Lazenby? worse than bored Connery?) is ridiculous imo.
It might not be a groundbreaking performance but Brosnan is the perfect cinematic Bond in TND, up there with the best of Sean and Roger.
=)) I need something to eat, so ignore me. Next!
Yeah but irrespective of their quality, they're all very unique films except perhaps for AVTAK which is a more textbook Bond adventure. Glen was perhaps the most expansive of the directors. Of course it helps he has five to his name, but nonetheless, there are distinctly unique qualities about all of his films that set them apart from eachother. Whereas, for example, Gilbert is often accused of making the same film three times, Glen never repeated himself.
Terence Young
Martin Campbell
Lewis Gilbert
John Glen
would be my top five....
Young
Campbell
Outstanding Job For One Film
Hunt
Mendes
Mixed Results
Gilbert
Glen
Hamilton
Peculiarity
Forster
Very Disappointing
Apted
Spottiswoode
Worst By A Mile
Tamahori
#2 Hamilton
#3 Gilbert
#4 Glen
#5 Campbell
#6 Hunt
#7 Mendes
#8 Apted
#9 Spottiswoode
#10 Tamahori
#11 Forster
:-))
1. Mendes and Forster - both have completely different styles, but I love the artistry in the way their shots were composed.. my one dig on Forster is his lack of experience with action.. but beyond that, he crafted a lot of beautiful looking scenes in QOS.....
2. Peter Hunt - loved the editing choices he made in the fighting scenes..
3. Terence Young - DN, FRWL, TB - enough said..
4. Martin Campbell - GE felt a bit average in terms of style at times, but he upped his game with CR.
5. Roger Spottiswoode - as simple as his direction was for TND, it worked - and worked well.
6. Guy Hamilton - i overall enjoyed his directing work, i thought it was well done.. though post GF the scripts he directed were substandard and a bit hokey.
7. Lewis Gilbert - was great at using the wide shots to establish lavish scenery and interesting settings... but beyond that, he's about on par with Hamilton for me in terms of style.
8. John Glenn - the man knew how to handle directing action sequences - but his run of films from FYEO thru LTK just felt dull and lifeless - from an artistry standpoint... the films themselves weren't terrible (well, maybe except for one) but his overall style felt very safe, by the numbers and overall generic.
9. Michael Apted - kind of reminds me a bit of John Glenn in a lot of ways... except Apted knew how to handle the drama and character scenes pretty well - but the man was pretty clueless when it came to action - all the action stuff felt really stiff - and kind of boring.
10. Lee Tamahori - god, what can I say.... not only was he responsible for arguably the worst Bond movie ever made - he also almost ruined the character of James Bond himself... his directing style was all about having a video game / music video feel to it - meaning fast and flashy eye candy with very little substance.... I'm struggling to find anything remotely positive to say about his style or decision making in this film, and there isn't anything i can point to and say "that directed exceptionally well."......... nothing.
THE MASTERS
1. Martin Campbell
2. Peter R. Hunt
3. Terence Young
4. Sam Mendes
(then there is a big gap)
THE REST
5. Marc Forster
6. Lewis Gilbert
7. John Glen
8. Guy Hamilton
9. Lee Tamahori
10. Michael Apted
11. Roger Spottiswoode
If I had to rank the Bond directors I would go:
Terence Young
Peter Hunt
John Glen
Martin Campbell
Sam Mendes
These directors seem to understand Bond. The character, the story etc.
Lewis Gilbert
Michael Apted
These directors had potential, but didn't really get the Bond character right at times. Though gave us entertaining movies, that featured OO7.
Guy Hamilton
Roger Spottiswoode
These directors could've made good Bond films, and given another shot I think Spottiswoode could've bettered TND, though I have no such faith in Guy Hamilton.
A case of thanks, but no thanks.
Marc Forster
Lee Tamahori
These directors have no idea what they're doing, and should not be allowed near the Bond series again.
#-o
This is of course due to the film being a production mess, with the script going through daily re-writes on set.
However at the end of the day, it is the director who has the final word on the film, and therefore, it is he who gets the ultimate blame for the mess.
And the end is a mess? According to whom?
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/tomorrow-never-dies-1997
Disclaimer: Roger Ebert was not my friend and I did not coerce him to write a chrisisall-friendly review.