Bond in a sentence
Manxman
Posts: 125MI6 Agent
For my first post here (hello all!), I'd like to survey people's opinions of the films in a slightly different way.
For anyone who wants to play along, the challenge is to sum up each film in a pithy sentence, then award it a score out of five. Will be quite revealing to see what everyone thinks, and I found writing reviews in a sentence really concentrated the mind.
Here's my attempt:
Dr No
“A little rough around the edges, and not as good as the book, but still very good.”
4/5
From Russia With Love
“Classic book becomes a classic film, despite the toned-down Donovan Grant and Rosa Klebb.”
4/5
Goldfinger
“Epitomises the series – Connery at the peak of his powers.”
4/5
Thunderball
“The underwater scenes are slow-moving, but otherwise it’s another brilliant Bond.”
4/5
You Only Live Twice
“It spawned some terrible imitations, but this is blockbusting camp fun at its finest.”
4/5
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
“The very best of Bond – Fleming-esque and virtually flawless.”
5/5
Diamonds Are Forever
“Sean Connery ISN’T James Bond!”
2/5
Live And Let Die
“Bond meets Blaxploitation with a fascinating plot – everybody wins.”
4/5
The Man With The Golden Gun
“It’s a Bond film – but where’s the excitement?”
2/5
The Spy Who Loved Me
“You Only Live Twice remade – even camper, but every bit as good.”
4/5
Moonraker
“Bond meets Star Wars with a laughable plot – everybody loses.”
1/5
For Your Eyes Only
“The OHMSS references are no accident – classic Bond is back.”
5/5
Octopussy
“The most underrated Bond film – even contains some contemporary politics plus some funny jokes.”
5/5
Never Say Never Again
“Oh, please do.”
2/5
A View To A Kill
“Has Goldfinger’s plotline, but none of its panache.”
2/5
The Living Daylights
“A silly car and cello chase aside, this is the serious Bond I love.”
4/5
Licence To Kill
“Just how serious do you like your serious Bond?”
4/5
Goldeneye
“Never liked Diamonds Are Forever the first time around.”
2/5
Tomorrow Never Dies
“The most boring Bond – makes TMWTGG look like a nailbiter.”
1/5
The World Is Not Enough
“As good as the Brosnan era ever got – so only moderately good.”
3/5
Die Another Day
“Special effects 1, genuine thrills 0.”
2/5
Casino Royale
“A first-rate film, but Daniel Craig is totally miscast.”
4/5
Quantum Of Solace
“A fascinating character study – but not a brilliant Bond film.”
2/5
For anyone who wants to play along, the challenge is to sum up each film in a pithy sentence, then award it a score out of five. Will be quite revealing to see what everyone thinks, and I found writing reviews in a sentence really concentrated the mind.
Here's my attempt:
Dr No
“A little rough around the edges, and not as good as the book, but still very good.”
4/5
From Russia With Love
“Classic book becomes a classic film, despite the toned-down Donovan Grant and Rosa Klebb.”
4/5
Goldfinger
“Epitomises the series – Connery at the peak of his powers.”
4/5
Thunderball
“The underwater scenes are slow-moving, but otherwise it’s another brilliant Bond.”
4/5
You Only Live Twice
“It spawned some terrible imitations, but this is blockbusting camp fun at its finest.”
4/5
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
“The very best of Bond – Fleming-esque and virtually flawless.”
5/5
Diamonds Are Forever
“Sean Connery ISN’T James Bond!”
2/5
Live And Let Die
“Bond meets Blaxploitation with a fascinating plot – everybody wins.”
4/5
The Man With The Golden Gun
“It’s a Bond film – but where’s the excitement?”
2/5
The Spy Who Loved Me
“You Only Live Twice remade – even camper, but every bit as good.”
4/5
Moonraker
“Bond meets Star Wars with a laughable plot – everybody loses.”
1/5
For Your Eyes Only
“The OHMSS references are no accident – classic Bond is back.”
5/5
Octopussy
“The most underrated Bond film – even contains some contemporary politics plus some funny jokes.”
5/5
Never Say Never Again
“Oh, please do.”
2/5
A View To A Kill
“Has Goldfinger’s plotline, but none of its panache.”
2/5
The Living Daylights
“A silly car and cello chase aside, this is the serious Bond I love.”
4/5
Licence To Kill
“Just how serious do you like your serious Bond?”
4/5
Goldeneye
“Never liked Diamonds Are Forever the first time around.”
2/5
Tomorrow Never Dies
“The most boring Bond – makes TMWTGG look like a nailbiter.”
1/5
The World Is Not Enough
“As good as the Brosnan era ever got – so only moderately good.”
3/5
Die Another Day
“Special effects 1, genuine thrills 0.”
2/5
Casino Royale
“A first-rate film, but Daniel Craig is totally miscast.”
4/5
Quantum Of Solace
“A fascinating character study – but not a brilliant Bond film.”
2/5
Comments
Welcome! I think ChrisNo1 did a similar post two weeks ago mind...
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Welcome aboard manxman, (pretty much guess where you are from).
http://apbateman.com
Rubbish apart from the Connery and Dalton films.
James Bond- Licence To Kill
DN- "A beautiful diamond that is every bit as wild and gorgeous as its Bond girl. :x" 4.5/5
FRWL- "The greatest of the serious Bonds, and a wonderful spy film as well." 5/5
GF- "Two words: pure perfection." 5/5
TB- "Flawed, but still one of the great Bond masterpieces." 4.5/5
YOLT- "By far the weakest of the 60's Bond films, but still has some terrific things going for it." 3.5/5
OHMSS- "A masterpiece which went from being overlooked to being overrated. :v" 4.5/5
I'm not being condicending, but I feel sorry for you missing out on so much of your apparent interest. Out of 22 films, you like 8 of them? Can you really not find anything to like of the other Bond actor's films?
http://apbateman.com
Just shows he's not going accept garbage as a substitute for quality.
Well, to be honest, it's just an expression. I'll not lose sleep over his or your own choices in films...
http://apbateman.com
DAF- "Has some great things in its favour, but is let down by its tone and ignoring of Bondian history." 3/5
LADL- "Continues the tradition of Bond actors having great debut films, and remains a Bond classic." 4/5
TMWTGG- "A fantastic concept, but it featured extremely disappointing execution." 2.5/5
TSWLM- "The best Bond film since TB, and the last great masterpiece." 4.5/5
MR- "A terrific Bond film, until the climax." 3/5
Heck, sometimes a good trash-fest is just what the mind needs. And since I like cinematic junkfood, (it goes down easy and I still respect myself in the morning), I really don't see the point in consistently putting these movies down as garbage. And by consistently, that's exactly what some do. 8-)
there are some quality scenes in the other actors Bond films, even Lazenby's, but Dalton and Connery are very close to being the perfect Bond and Flemings idea of how the character should be portrayed.
James Bond- Licence To Kill
I agree that a good trash-fest is welcome at times. I have plenty of horrible movies that I watch, knowing full well that they are junk. But Bond movies are never supposed to be junk or garbage, and unfortunately, some of them are. And they are bad enough that I will not watch them again. The idea that a peson as to accept all the Bond movies, as some posts have stated, is just nonsense. Accepting garbage as a substitute for quality led to a very dark period of time during the 70s and 80s. Calling movies garbage, if that's the way a person feels, is no more pointless than the extraordinary amount of gushing admiration a second rate actor receives. People can express their opinions, both consistently and constantly, with no problem.
Oh I quite agree about Dalton. He needed better co-stars, scripts and production quality, but he was close to how I picture Bond of literature. I love Connery's Bond, I think he is the best of all, for the first four films. But I heard that Fleming was less than complimentary with Connery as the choice for Bond.
http://apbateman.com
The reason behind rattling off a reply was due to posts in four seperate topics, every blessed one somehow found the time to bitterly gut the heart of any film made during Eon's sophmore period. To me, that borders on psychotic obsession, not merely expressing one's opinion.
At any rate, carrying a deep affection for an actor who headlined your formative years, is a heckuva lot more pleasant to read then an angry energizer rabbit with carving utensils. It's been almost thirty years since AVTAK, can't we simply enjoy what we have now?
I think we are two of three Dalton fans on here by the way.....
James Bond- Licence To Kill
There certainly aren't enough of us.
true mate.
James Bond- Licence To Kill
30 years??
Actually, I think you'll find it's spelt 'condescending'...
Roger Moore 1927-2017
And I had my money on Rick Roberts pointing that one out NP!
http://apbateman.com
"Mathis awry" (NP Puns Inc.)
FYEO- "A more down to earth film than the one that came before to it; this is a classic Bond film." 4/5
OP- "A very divisive Bond film that is sure to delight Moore fans, while non-Moore fans will be advised to stay away." 4/5
AVTAK- "A terrible Bond film, with the formerly great Roger Moore in one film too many, and with the legendary Christopher Walken completely wasted." 1/5
TLD- " A horrible Bond film with a horrible Bond." 1/5
LTK- "Apart from the screenplay and the lead actor, had the makings of a really good Bond film." 1.5/5
"And apart from that, Mr Giuliani, how was your walk downtown?"
Roger Moore 1927-2017