Most well made Bond?
DieAnotherDay
Glasgow, ScotlandPosts: 460MI6 Agent
Out of the 23 Bond films made so far which one do you feel is most well made? The one which looks like lot of time and effort went into it in trying to get it as good as possible. It's a hard question to really answer because all of them are good films but you can certainly tell when a Bond film has been rushed
....and the best he ever managed was a sermon on the mount.
Comments
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
I'd agree that Skyfall is high up on my list but I can't help but think that Martin Campbell's 2 films just looked exceptionally classy and well made.
Yeah that's a good point. Both GE and CR were very well made, and reinvented the franchise well. I was never much of a fan of CR though (just not my cup of tea in terms of bond films), but there's no denying that it was very well made, with lots put into it. And GE, I just plain love anyway. But yes, that is very well made too, and handled the end of the cold war very well.
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
Know what you mean. I think of CR more of an outstanding action film rather than a 'Bond' film which is strange because it has all the elements of Bond and yeah GE is just great. I also think that Dr. No is a brilliant looking film all in all considering the budget of approx Just $1m.
OHMSS
TSWLM
MR
GE
CR
But to pick one, I would go with Casino Royale. The locations, choreography, music, cinematography, sound design, and plotting were so lush and thrilling.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
Edit: I just saw that he directed GoldenEye too. Wow bring him back for sure.
Yeah Martin Campbell is my favourite Director behind Terrance Young.
I agree with all but TSWLM, I just don't think that film seems that elegant looking as there are some obvious scenes where you can clearly see that it's not Roger Moore doing the action (The fight at the pyramids), there is some some terrible back projection scenes and sped up shots and NO attempt to try and cover up any of the obvious model shots.
Watch the documentary 'Inside Moonraker' and you'll learn how difficult to produce the
SFX space shots were. They were achieve by photographing each element on the same piece of film! You have to think the first Star Wars was only two years previous and there was no CGI.
The Ken Adam sets are incredible and the scene where numerous actors are wired up and weightlessness would have been a huge undertaking. Even if you don't like the story of Moonraker you have to admit it's technicial achievements are mammoth. It's an incredibly well made film. It was also the highest grossing Bond (not adjusting for inflation) until Goldeneye in 1995.
I forgot that one, but I wasn't really charmed by the space scenes as much as the rest of the film. The French palace in California and the scenes in Venice were all quite excellent to me. Really nice job in several areas of production for that one.
Shame that it has no trace of the original Plot from the Novel, apart from the Names Hugo Drax and Moonraker.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
Movies: The Spy Who Loved Me. Actor: Pierce Brosnan. Theme: You Only Live Twice. :D
CR
Skyfall
TSWLM
MR
YOLT
TLD
MR deserves similar accolades for its spectacular special effects, rivalling even Star Wars (and this is coming from a Star Wars junkie who can tell you the callsigns AND names of Darth Vader's wingmen by heart...). Its editing is solid, and certainly well-above average, but it's not QUITE as tight as TSWLM. Scene-to-scene continuity also isn't as good, though the rear-projection is basically the same high-quality used in TSWLM (though we see less of it and in less challenging spots).
OHMSS comes in third. Any of the skiing sequences or the Piz Gloria sequences, especially when combined with its fantastic musical score, are superbly executed. Editing is also very nicely done, thanks in some measure to Diana Rigg doing a lot of her own stunt driving. However, the sounds for the weapons are VERY poor and remind me a lot of the otherwise-well-done (and unique) war film The Wild Geese. I can see what they were trying for (and the Sterling SMG's sound good...probably because the real gun cycles blanks), but when they get the M16's and FN FAL's firing, you can tell they've dubbed in a sub-caliber training device. This matches the cyclic rate well (especially since we see cartridge cases ejecting), but it deadens the noise created by the guns and sounds like exactly what it is: a fully automatic .22. Likewise, the pistol sounds are fairly obviously .22's. Like I said, I know what they were trying to do and respect it, but there's a reason they reverted back to dubbing in stock sounds again and haven't looked back.
Also in OHMSS, we see nice models of cars in portions of the chase on the ice, but in spots, it's a bit TOO obvious that they are indeed models. Ironically, this doesn't seem to be the case with the smaller cars like the Mini, but with the Cougar and the Mercedes-Benz 220S (W111), you see them start oddly shimmying (as opposed to sliding under the same conditions, as they naturally would even on the kind of ice used in the races depicted) when they try and pass another car. The camerawork is well-done enough that we don't see the drivers' or passengers' faces, but watch the Cougar especially: when the wheels turn, the steering wheel doesn't, and neither do Tracy's arms.
SF was technically extremely well-made, but technology-wise, did it offer only a slight edge (as I think it did), or was it just "blow the rest of the competition out the water" as TSWLM did or "blow the rest of the competition if we don't count Star Wars out the water" like MR? Or maintain a "thinking outside the box for the best special effects we can get" like OHMSS? I definitely think it's WAY up there, but vs. competing movies of its own era, it's not TSWLM, MR, or OHMSS.
It's just wonderful O.O
Movies: The Spy Who Loved Me. Actor: Pierce Brosnan. Theme: You Only Live Twice. :D
Considering when they were made, for me the winner would be Moonraker. It has some lovely vista shots, the space scenes are done well, and aside from the long shot of Jaws and his boat going over the falls, not once did I say, "Oh, that's a model." Yes, the space station ideally would have had its gravitational pull outward (a la 2001) but I can forgive that. TSWLM is also wonderful, but the preponderance of obvious contrivance (projection of Atlantis on the horizon when Bond approaches by boat, model of Liparus when the subs exit, silly landing of Stromberg's speedboat from absurd height) put it one rung below.