There are a couple of people who are really going to enjoy some of my changes in tone since posting on similiar subjects a long time ago.
I would say that my top-8 would be what I consider to be my "favourite" Bond films. This would correspond to the top-25 percentile (since I view films 5-8 as essentially in a tie for 5th place), which would correspond to the A to A- range in most college grading distributions. (I'm a nerd, I know. But then again, that's why I'm posting on this board)
At the very top of the list, I hold Casino Royale, From Russia With Love, Dr. No, and GoldenEye, in that order. In my view, these are the picture perfect representations of Fleming's Bond, both in the performance of the actors (the work of Craig, Connery, and Brosnan over the three films is the gold standard for Bond performances, in my view) and in capturing the essence of Fleming's stories and world, which is the Bond that I truly enjoy. They are also by far the two most faithful films to the plots and tones of their literary counterparts. These are all my absolute favorites in the entire history of Bond film, and they're the standard by which I judge everything else.
In the tier below them, I would put Goldfinger, The Living Daylights, Thunderball, and Licence to Kill. These films have a lot of the things that the films in the top-tier have, and they have particularly great stories. But they have areas of akwardness that make me a little bit uncomfortable at times. (Temporary moments of silliness that are unneeded, slight slip ups in acting at times, maybe a miscasting, etc.) Connery and Dalton are both terrific in these films, but in my view, Dalton isn't quite up to the standard set by the first four films. Granted, I still cherish Dalton's interpretation, and I love what he was doing in going closer to Fleming's darker character. However, upon further viewins, I feel like Dalton portrayed Bond a little out of control and unhinged at times, and I don't think that this is what Fleming necessarily intended. Sure, Bond is world-weary and choleric in the novels, and he definitely gets angry. But you always get the impression that he's at least composed, if not internalizing. Dalton was certainly capable of doing this, judging by his other body of work, and if he had gotten another film, I'm sure he would have been able to pull it off.
I just love the Roger Moore films (still hate Moonraker though).
The top 6 on my list are now all Roger Moore films... Call me crazy if you must!
AVTAK still at number one. LALD everso slightly behind at number two. OP at number three. TMWTGG I feel is really underrated, so that's promoted to number four. FYEO at 5, TSWLM at 6. Now what about MR?.....That crap stays at number 21! lol
Roger Moore rules! It's fun having opinions that are against the norm
Ah Jarvio, while you were absent, I was known as the one who had the nutty opinions, now I'm glad to have a partner in crime!
Roger is underappreciated, not only was he great in his role as Bond, portraying him as a lighthearted hero with a movie star attitude and dark moments, but he was a great man, perhaps the best person of all the Bonds. The black sheep of his films for me is TMWTGG, I find Moonraker somewhat enjoyable to tell you the truth!
But I'm glad that you love AVTAK.
And Klaus, I'm glad we at least agree that Goldeneye is great.
Roger is underappreciated, not only was he great in his role as Bond, portraying him as a lighthearted hero with a movie star attitude and dark moments, but he was a great man, perhaps the best person of all the Bonds.
{[] Moore was brilliant. IMO he was in three masterpieces (TSWLM, FYEO and LALD), one very good film (OP), two fun films (MR and TMWTGG) plus AVTAK which did have a wonderful moment with Mayday.
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
To answer Dan Same about TSWLM. Well, I haven't seen it in a while anyway, so once I re-watch it, it may move up the list anyway. Another thing is, I am not keen on Jaws at all as a villain. Still love the film though.
Another thing is, I am not keen on Jaws at all as a villain. Still love the film though.
Out of curiosity, what is it about Jaws that you don't like? I personally think he's a brillaint villain but what don't you like about him?
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
Well, about Jaws, I just think he was a bit overly unrealistic. I always got the impression that not even Bond could kill him. I saw little point in having a villain that nobody could kill. He just seemed invincible. (Even more invincible than Boris Grishenko) I mean, he fell out of a plane, landed on a circus, and still survived? )
Having said that though, he was not that bad in TSWLM. It was just when they brought him back in Moonraker. And I hated those love scenes, kind of ruined it for me.
And I hated those love scenes, kind of ruined it for me.
You're not the only one. )
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
And I hated those love scenes, kind of ruined it for me.
You're not the only one. )
Jaws was indeed unrealistic, then again so is Oddjob, but not as much. However, in TSWLM, Jaws is an actual threat and a pretty serious killer. You can tell from when he just gets up and brushes himself off by being "defeated" only to go at it again.
However in MR, he became a comic book character and a pretty unenjoyable one at that. While I generally like MR, he's definitely one of its lowpoints.
I'm glad though that Dan is now almost willing to admit that he likes something about AVTAK.
I'm glad though that Dan is now almost willing to admit that he likes something about AVTAK.
Absolutely. The truth is, I might loath AVTAK, but that's only in comparison to other Bond films. I have a (small) list of my all time least-favourite films and AVTAK is nowhere to be seen. I would much rather watch AVTAK than some of the films on the list (such as, for example, Predator 2.) Plus, that scene is pretty good. )
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
Oh my! This is rather groundbreaking! It would be somewhat hypocritical to berate Jarvio about this because AVTAK isn't even my number one film . Still it's a close call between GE and AVTAK, with OHMSS just behind them both.
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
By faves, it depends on how much you last enjoyed the film of late.
For some reason I didn't enjoy FRWL as much, as I previously had, the last time I saw it. It might not have helped that I saw it together on the big screen with DN (which looks awesome on the big screen) but it did surprise and disappoint me that I didn't leave the cinema in awe of FRWL like I would have hoped. The reason it's second on my list is partly because I'm hoping it was a one-off but also because of the times in which FRWL was a joy to watch.
Don't get me wrong; I did enjoy it and there were a few scenes which were really delightful to watch, but I wasn't as involved during the film as I was during DN, and I didn't leave feeling as excited about it as I would have liked. I might need to see it again at the cinemas.
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
Sweepy the CatHalifax, West Yorkshire, EnglaPosts: 986MI6 Agent
I'm sick of messing around with mine so I've cut it down to a top ten
By faves, it depends on how much you last enjoyed the film of late.
For some reason I didn't enjoy FRWL as much, as I previously had, the last time I saw it. It might not have helped that I saw it together on the big screen with DN (which looks awesome on the big screen) but it did surprise and disappoint me that I didn't leave the cinema in awe of FRWL like I would have hoped. The reason it's second on my list is partly because I'm hoping it was a one-off but also because of the times in which FRWL was a joy to watch.
Don't get me wrong; I did enjoy it and there were a few scenes which were really delightful to watch, but I wasn't as involved during the film as I was during DN, and I didn't leave feeling as excited about it as I would have liked. I might need to see it again at the cinemas.
Dan, I feel the same way with FRWL. I always go back to it as one of my top two and watch it as often as I can...however, as of late it has lost some of its flavor too me. Too much of a good thing I guess. I am waiting on my Bond movies to get to me from my last home (international shipping...bleh X-() and when they arrive I am going to watch all of them. I think after that my top ten might change. I am sure that FRWL will drop a little bit, and maybe my number one will change. Being on this site has made me revisit some past convictions and change my mind about a couple of films, but still, I am in the end a Flemingist through and through (I also am waiting on my books and will re-read them when they come ). Well, here's to the arrival of all my Bond things and watching all the movies in the coming months!!! {[]
I recently got an evil eye :v (like that) from Loeffs because I dissed Never Say Never Again. It's on the Indiana Jones thread if you don't believe me. I checked on his faves, and it comes in at no 10! Ahead of The Spy Who Loved Me, with its stunning opening stunt, terrific Ken Adam climax and terrifically cool car! It's also ahead of The Living Daylights and Octopussy!
What gives, Loeffs? What charms am I overlooking for NSNA? ?:)
Mine's at fifteen, but yeah I could easily live without the bottom five of it, just being nice and all to include them. {:)
Your bottom six (which you must really hate as you didn't even rank them) are the five John Glen films (no surprises there ) and TWINE. Now, I get you are not the world's biggest Brosnan fan, and I am fully aware from previous threads of your dislike for TWINE. But do you really dislike TWINE more than DAD?
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
Mine's at fifteen, but yeah I could easily live without the bottom five of it, just being nice and all to include them. {:)
Your bottom six (which you must really hate as you didn't even rank them) are the five John Glen films (no surprises there ) and TWINE. Now, I get you are not the world's biggest Brosnan fan, and I am fully aware from previous threads of your dislike for TWINE. But do you really dislike TWINE more than DAD?
I was actually referring to #s 11 through 15, but yeah the unranked ones don't even exist for me really, only thing worthwhile in the lot of them is Dalton's take on Bond... when he's not mugging annoyingly at the women. Both of his films are too bad overall to rank them, unfortunately. DAD sneaks in at the bottom the ranked films at #15, but only for all the references to much better Bond films. Even that is recent, dan, I'll likely delete it from the list, like tomorrow.
TWINE is like a Glen Bond film with a patina of consternation glossed over it... not very convincing regardless and a really bad movie IMO. At least TMWTGG - another failed Bond film IMO, but only partly so - has some real Bond enjoyment to it along the way IMO. TWINE is just painful in all aspects. Again, IMHO. I see what they were gong for, amazing to me how overwhelmingly they bungled it, Apted had as much Bond sense as Tamahori IMO. TWINE made me mad watching it, like all the Glens did, and most of DAD (really should delete that, huh? ). Something like DAF or GE or MR I can make it through, usually, with a beer or three. {:) I wouldn't miss any of those if they had never been made (well, maybe Barry's superlative score for DAF, yeah, I'd miss that...).
Are we having fun yet? -{
Sweepy the CatHalifax, West Yorkshire, EnglaPosts: 986MI6 Agent
DAD sneaks in at the bottom the ranked films at #15, but only for all the references to much better Bond films. Even that is recent, dan, I'll likely delete it from the list, like tomorrow.
I have no problem with that. ) DAD is my third-least favourite Bond film, so if you want to delete it and perhaps pretend that it doesn't exist, that is fine with me. ) Although, for accuracy sake, wouldn't it make more sense to rank all of the films?
I always have fun reading your posts. :v I was just quite surprised as I knew that you hated TWINE, but to rank it below DAD is rather astonishing IMO.
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
Comments
I would say that my top-8 would be what I consider to be my "favourite" Bond films. This would correspond to the top-25 percentile (since I view films 5-8 as essentially in a tie for 5th place), which would correspond to the A to A- range in most college grading distributions. (I'm a nerd, I know. But then again, that's why I'm posting on this board)
At the very top of the list, I hold Casino Royale, From Russia With Love, Dr. No, and GoldenEye, in that order. In my view, these are the picture perfect representations of Fleming's Bond, both in the performance of the actors (the work of Craig, Connery, and Brosnan over the three films is the gold standard for Bond performances, in my view) and in capturing the essence of Fleming's stories and world, which is the Bond that I truly enjoy. They are also by far the two most faithful films to the plots and tones of their literary counterparts. These are all my absolute favorites in the entire history of Bond film, and they're the standard by which I judge everything else.
In the tier below them, I would put Goldfinger, The Living Daylights, Thunderball, and Licence to Kill. These films have a lot of the things that the films in the top-tier have, and they have particularly great stories. But they have areas of akwardness that make me a little bit uncomfortable at times. (Temporary moments of silliness that are unneeded, slight slip ups in acting at times, maybe a miscasting, etc.) Connery and Dalton are both terrific in these films, but in my view, Dalton isn't quite up to the standard set by the first four films. Granted, I still cherish Dalton's interpretation, and I love what he was doing in going closer to Fleming's darker character. However, upon further viewins, I feel like Dalton portrayed Bond a little out of control and unhinged at times, and I don't think that this is what Fleming necessarily intended. Sure, Bond is world-weary and choleric in the novels, and he definitely gets angry. But you always get the impression that he's at least composed, if not internalizing. Dalton was certainly capable of doing this, judging by his other body of work, and if he had gotten another film, I'm sure he would have been able to pull it off.
Someone take the mick out of my list
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
Jarvio, my friend, with A View To A Kill at no 1, and LTK soon after and DAD at no 6, you're fishing for insults...
Roger Moore 1927-2017
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
I just love the Roger Moore films (still hate Moonraker though).
The top 6 on my list are now all Roger Moore films... Call me crazy if you must!
AVTAK still at number one. LALD everso slightly behind at number two. OP at number three. TMWTGG I feel is really underrated, so that's promoted to number four. FYEO at 5, TSWLM at 6. Now what about MR?.....That crap stays at number 21! lol
Roger Moore rules! It's fun having opinions that are against the norm
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
Roger is underappreciated, not only was he great in his role as Bond, portraying him as a lighthearted hero with a movie star attitude and dark moments, but he was a great man, perhaps the best person of all the Bonds. The black sheep of his films for me is TMWTGG, I find Moonraker somewhat enjoyable to tell you the truth!
But I'm glad that you love AVTAK.
And Klaus, I'm glad we at least agree that Goldeneye is great.
{[] Moore was brilliant. IMO he was in three masterpieces (TSWLM, FYEO and LALD), one very good film (OP), two fun films (MR and TMWTGG) plus AVTAK which did have a wonderful moment with Mayday.
So do most hate Moonraker because it really is that bad, or because it could have been a classic, but failed?
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
Having said that though, he was not that bad in TSWLM. It was just when they brought him back in Moonraker. And I hated those love scenes, kind of ruined it for me.
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
Jaws was indeed unrealistic, then again so is Oddjob, but not as much. However, in TSWLM, Jaws is an actual threat and a pretty serious killer. You can tell from when he just gets up and brushes himself off by being "defeated" only to go at it again.
However in MR, he became a comic book character and a pretty unenjoyable one at that. While I generally like MR, he's definitely one of its lowpoints.
I'm glad though that Dan is now almost willing to admit that he likes something about AVTAK.
AVTAK is no longer my number 1! It's my number 2!
I just re-watched LALD, and well, I love and have always loved it, and decided to make that my number 1.
To be honest though, my top 4 (LALD, AVTAK, OP, and FYEO) are all quite a close call for me.
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
That is something I personally could never understand. I know it's a favorite to many, but I rarely get any enjoyment out of it.
1) DAF 2) Dr No 3) AVTAK 4) OP, but that doesn't count the accumulated enjoyment over the years of GF, MR etc.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Don't get me wrong; I did enjoy it and there were a few scenes which were really delightful to watch, but I wasn't as involved during the film as I was during DN, and I didn't leave feeling as excited about it as I would have liked. I might need to see it again at the cinemas.
Dan, I feel the same way with FRWL. I always go back to it as one of my top two and watch it as often as I can...however, as of late it has lost some of its flavor too me. Too much of a good thing I guess. I am waiting on my Bond movies to get to me from my last home (international shipping...bleh X-() and when they arrive I am going to watch all of them. I think after that my top ten might change. I am sure that FRWL will drop a little bit, and maybe my number one will change. Being on this site has made me revisit some past convictions and change my mind about a couple of films, but still, I am in the end a Flemingist through and through (I also am waiting on my books and will re-read them when they come
What gives, Loeffs? What charms am I overlooking for NSNA? ?:)
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Mine's at fifteen, but yeah I could easily live without the bottom five of it, just being nice and all to include them. {:)
I was actually referring to #s 11 through 15, but yeah the unranked ones don't even exist for me really, only thing worthwhile in the lot of them is Dalton's take on Bond... when he's not mugging annoyingly at the women. Both of his films are too bad overall to rank them, unfortunately. DAD sneaks in at the bottom the ranked films at #15, but only for all the references to much better Bond films.
TWINE is like a Glen Bond film with a patina of consternation glossed over it... not very convincing regardless and a really bad movie IMO. At least TMWTGG - another failed Bond film IMO, but only partly so - has some real Bond enjoyment to it along the way IMO. TWINE is just painful in all aspects. Again, IMHO. I see what they were gong for, amazing to me how overwhelmingly they bungled it, Apted had as much Bond sense as Tamahori IMO. TWINE made me mad watching it, like all the Glens did, and most of DAD (really should delete that, huh?
Are we having fun yet? -{
Well actually I haven't had a top anything for a few weeks now, I'm gonna pick FRWL/TLD as my favourite and then add on a few more though.
I always have fun reading your posts. :v I was just quite surprised as I knew that you hated TWINE, but to rank it below DAD is rather astonishing IMO.