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His work:
Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, Live And Let Die, The Man With The Golden Gun
3 of those are in my Top 10, the other in the middle.
A close second is Gilbert Lewis.
His work:
You Only Live Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker
2 of those are in my Top 10, the other in the middle.
I guess third has to be Martin Campbell if I judge by numbers in my ranking.
Both, GoldenEye and Casino Royale are in my Top 10.
But actually I feel Terence Young is my number 3. His Dr. No, From Russia With Love and Thunderball are all great and DN and TB are in my Top 10, the other in the middle.
Peter Hunt of course is responsible for the best Bond film ever. But ranking one film against three or four is difficult.
For context my Top 10:
1 On Her Majesty's Secret Service Peter Hunt
2 Dr. No Terence Young
3 Casino Royale Martin Campbell
4 Goldfinger Guy Hamilton
5 You Only Live Twice Lewis Gilbert
6 The Spy Who Loved Me Lewis Gilbert
7 GoldenEye Martin Campbell
8 Diamonds Are Forever Guy Hamilton
9 The Man With The Golden Gun Guy Hamilton
10 Thunderball Terence Young
1. Terence Young - two from his trilogy are in my top two and all three are in my top five. He deserves all my respect for putting Fleming's creation on screen and starting the James Bond phenomenon. I truly appreciate the efforts he took to prep Connery and mold him into the smooth, stylish and confident cinematic character.
2. Martin Campbell - two in my top ten. Both are truly awe inspiring experiences.
3. Lewis Gilbert - one in my top four and the other two are guilty pleasures. Some of the most iconic and oft imitated moments in the series are from his films. I really appreciate his larger than life style, which I associate with cinematic Bond just as much as I do Young's spy & Hamilton's colourful quirky approaches.
4. Guy Hamilton - although I don't rank his films very high (only one in the top ten) I really enjoy all of them and like his eccentric loud style. Very charismatic films.
5. John Glen - a bit pedestrian certainly, but an excellent action director and I really enjoy the plots and pace of all his films. He has my respect for the prolific nature of his output.
6. Sam Mendes - one of his films is a top ten of mine and truly is an excellent Bond film with superb characterizations. He should have listened to his instincts (rather than Craig) and left after the first. If he had, I would have rated him in the top three.
7. Peter Hunt - one classic. It all came together beautifully. If he'd have done more, I'd have him higher.
8. Roger Spottiswoode - handles the action quite well but he should have tried to be a bit more inventive so as not to come across as a poor man's Gilbert.
9. Marc Forster - I like what he did by making the film brisk and speedy, but I deduct several points for the blatant Bourne Supremacy plot and fight choreography rip offs. It tainted a film that could have been much better.
10. Lee Tamahori - I thought he did a decent job. The P&W script was a joke.
11. Michael Apted - oh dear. Not much I like here at all I'm afraid. Not right for Bond in my humble view.
One of the greatest cinematic achievements of the 60s and in Bond anyway compared to SF and SP....ahem...
;)
1. GUY HAMILTON
2. TERENCE YOUNG
3. JOHN GLEN
4. LEWIS GILBERT
5. PETER HUNT
6. IRVIN KERSHNER
7. MARTIN CAMPBELL
8. ROGER SPOTTISWOODE
9. MICHAEL APTED
10. LEE TAMOHORI
11.SAM MENDES
12. MARC FORSTER
1)John Glen
2) Terence Young
3) Martin Campbell
4) Peter Hunt
5) Lewis Gilbert
6) Marc Forster
7) Guy hamilton
8)Spottiswoode
9) Mendes
10) Apted
11) tamahori
1 Peter Hunt
2 Sam Mendes
3 Terence Young
4 Marc Forster
5 Martin Campbell
6 Guy Hamilton
7 John Glen
8 Lewis Gilbert
9 Irvin Kershner
10 Roger Spottiswoode
11 Michael Apted
12 Lee Tamahori
Returning directors
1. Martin Campbell 95%
2. John Glen 84%
3. Terence Young 80%
4. Guy Hamilton 72%
5. Lewis Gilbert 66%
6. Sam Mendes 65%
One-time directors
1. Peter Hunt 10/10
2. Michael Apted 8/10
3. Roger Spottiswoode 7/10
4. Irvin Kershner/Marc Forster 6/10
5. Lee Tamahori 5/10
1. Martin Campbell
2. Terence Young
3. Guy Hamilton
4. Sam Mendes (pity he had to return, would be 2nd or even 1st one-timer if he hadn't)
5. John Glen
6. Lewis Gilbert
One-time directors
1. Peter Hunt
2. Roger Spottiswoode
3. Lee Tamahori
4. Michael Apted
5. Marc Forster
2. Martin Campbell
3. John Glen
4. Lewis Gilbert
5. Peter Hunt
6. Guy Hamilton
7. Sam Mendes
-- Irvin Kershner
8. Marc Forster
9. Roger Spottiswoode
10. Michael Apted
11. Lee Tamahori
2. Terence Young
3. John Glen
4. Guy Hamilton
5. Marc Forster
6. Martin Campbell
7. Sam Mendes
8. Lewis Gilbert
9. Michael Apted
10. Irwin Kershner
11. Roger Spottiswoode
12. Lee Tamahori
If we add CR'67 we'd have to add another 5 Directors on!!
1. Terence Young
2. Martin Campbell
3. Lewis Gilbert
4. Peter Hunt
5. Roger Spottiswoode
6. John Glen
7. Guy Hamilton
8. Irwin Kershner
9. Michael Apted
10. Marc Forster
11. Lee Tamahori
12. Sam Mendes
1. John Glen
2. Terence Young
3. Guy Hamilton
4. Martin Campbell
5. Lewis Gilbert
6. Sam Mendes
One-time directors
1. Peter Hunt
2. Michael Apted
3. Roger Spottiswoode
4. Irvin Kershner/Marc Forster
5. Lee Tamahori
John Glen
All the others are fine.
Except for Mendes, who I am averse to.
Kershner as a Bond director had its pros and cons. Pro: Great film, except for running out of steam near the end, but that was not Kershner´s fault. Brandauer! Con: Emphasis on "Look who´s back".
Definitely in the case of Nolan. He would make my top 5, I'm sure.
My ranking:
1. Martin Campbell
2. Peter Hunt
3. Terence Young
4. John Glen
5. Guy H
6. Lewis Gilbert
7. Micheal Apted
8. Lee Tamahori
9. Roger S
10. Sam Mendes
11. Mark Forster
2. Terence Young
3. Peter Hunt
4. Michael Apted
5. Guy Hamilton
6. Roger Spottiswoode
7. Sam Mendes
8. Lewis Gilbert
9. Lee Tamahori
10. John Glen
11. Irvin Kershner
12. Marc Forster
Yep, very happy with my ranking. Although I am sure it will likely give some users on here a stroke.
Awright, returning directors:
1 Sam Mendes
2 Terence Young
3 Martin Campbell
4 Guy Hamilton
5 John Glen
6 Lewis Gilbert
One-off:
1 Peter Hunt
2 Marc Forster
3 Irvin Kershner
4 Roger Spottiswoode
5 Michael Apted
6 Lee Tamahori
He created the "cinema Bond". Stayed faithful to the books and was the best at capturing the atmosphere of his locations. Incredible style. The most brilliant director the franchise has ever had and will ever have.
2. John GLEN
He was overall very consistent yet versatile and delivered the best action scenes in the series.
Glen knows exactly what a James Bond film - and the character that is Bond - is all about. His movies are endlessly rewatchable; the Dalton films are highlights.
3. Martin CAMPBELL
He directed the best outings of two Bond actors - a great accomplishment (with regards to Brosnan's tenure, that's not saying much, though).
While I will never be the biggest fan of "GoldenEye", "Casino Royale" is a masterpiece.
4. Guy HAMILTON
Nobody did "camp" like him! "Goldfinger" is legendary, and I love "Live and Let Die".
His direction was colorful, loud, and, while admittedly his action scenes fell a little flat and the second halves of his movies are often problematic, nobody made funnier movies than him.
5. Lewis GILBERT
He shot the same film three times - two versions are good and earn him the fifth place.
He knew what Bond has to look like on the big screen, his films had the best cinematography. I don't think he cared much for Fleming's character, though.
6. Peter HUNT
I may have put him higher had he done more films... I kind of like "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", like many former editors he was great with action scenes.
I'm not sure if he handled Lazenby the right way, or if he should have cast him in the first place. Mixed feelings!
7. Roger SPOTTISWOODE
"Tomorrow Never Dies" is a generic 90s action movie, and not necessarily among the better ones. It's mostly Bruce Feirstein's script though - Spottiswoode's direction is solid if generic. Very superficial, but good action.
8. Sam MENDES
I don't think Mendes knows what a James Bond movie is. Mendes delivers kitchen sink psychoanalysis instead of espionage; his action scenes are terribly dull.
This kind of drama has no place in a Bond picture; the "Home Alone" ending of "Skyfall" has to be one of the worst in Bond history. "Spectre" is altogether rubbish.
His films look beautiful on screen, but they exhaust you and get worse with each viewing.
9. Lee TAMAHORI
The CGI criminal. Responsible for the most embarrassing, artificial Bond film.
10. Marc FORSTER
Hopelessly overstrained with a James Bond film.
11. Michael APTED
Hopelessly overstrained with a James Bond film.
2. Guy Hamilton
3. John Glen
4. Peter Hunt
5. Lewis Gilbert
6. Martin Campbell
7. Roger Spottiswoode
8. Michael Apted
9. Sam Mendes
10. Lee Tamahori
11. Marc Forster
1. Terence Young
2. Martin Campbell
3. John Glen
4. Guy Hamilton
5. Lewis Gilbert
6. Sam Mendes
One-time directors
1. Peter Hunt
2. Marc Forster
3. Michael Apted
4. Roger Spottiswoode
5. Lee Tamahori
1) Campbell: His 2 Bond films stand out as near perfect entries.
2) Young: Both DN and FRWL established the ultimate canvas on which the entire series would be painted.
3) Hunt: Both as an editor and director, Hunt delivered the goods time and again.
4) Glen: The vastly underrated director IMO; he delivered five consecutive films, made them each very different, worked well with an ageing Moore and a newcomer-in-troubled-times, Timothy Dalton.
5) Hamilton: Some laughs, some cringes, but ultimately still the driving force behind GF, the film that secured the future of the cinematic Bond as a pop icon.
6) Mendes: Say what you want, he dragged Bond through these cynical times and got the job done.
7) Gilbert: Why not do a Bond film on video game logic every once in a while? Gilbert is the one who did it well.
8) Forster: His style was a bit challenging at first, but I have learned to appreciate the hell out of his work.
9) Tamahori: This is the one who did the video game thing not so well, except he never allowed boredom into his Bond film, which is good enough to not end in the last spot.
10) Spottiswoode: I guess he went for straight-forward 90s film grammar.
11) Apted: Boredom is perhaps the biggest sin in a film, any film!
12) Half of all directors working in the 1960s: Yes, it's tough to produce cohesion when each guy gets to do a different segment of an already troubled film, but CR67 can be astonishingly pleasant to watch and some of those segments, whether you're stoned or not, work in their own subgenre, un-Bond-ly though it may be.
13) Kershner: Good lord, had he dropped his mojo in the swamps of Degobah or what?
Oh lol, i never even saw that message @Birdleson too many threads to keep track of.
As for Lewis being so low, his 3 movies just never did it for me. I can't exactly explain it, i just feel disconnected with most of whats happening on screen when I watch them, the spectacle always seems to be front and centre. YOLT is my least favorite Connery, but i have grown to like TSWLM a lot. MR is overall entertaining all things considered.