If Bond weren't a franchise, which movies would be classics?
Absolutely_Cart
NJ/NYC, United StatesPosts: 1,740MI6 Agent
Let's say each of the movies in the series were just individual movies. Not part of any one series or intellectual properties.
And were only to be judged in their own right, or compared to other movies at their time - and not based on other movies in the series. With none of them having the over-arching aura of being part of a major franchise, which of the films could really stand on their own two feet.
The first few could, no doubt, because the series didn't become a franchise yet until they showed up. Some of the other movies in the series would probably be cult-classic comedies had they not been advertised as Bond films.
And were only to be judged in their own right, or compared to other movies at their time - and not based on other movies in the series. With none of them having the over-arching aura of being part of a major franchise, which of the films could really stand on their own two feet.
The first few could, no doubt, because the series didn't become a franchise yet until they showed up. Some of the other movies in the series would probably be cult-classic comedies had they not been advertised as Bond films.
Comments
LALD, TB and TLD as well.
It's not a fluke that it is also Fleming's masterpiece as a novel.
GoldenEye and Casino Royale got many people into James Bond who didn't previously care about Bond films. It was like something brand new. I think those films were almost like Bond hadn't existed before because both reinvented the series, and they were treated as new things, not as a continuation. Kind of like how the new Mad Max movie is attracting people who never even heard of the old movies.
FRWL, GF, OHMSS, and CR.
I'd throw in Dr No as well. Yes, *really*. It's very brilliant: Joseph Wiseman's performance, the sets, beautiful photography, as well as new screen language being written for the first time (Bond reveal and Honey Rider on the beach).
I'm not so sure about DAD. If it wasn't connected to Bond in any Way, it would probably be seen as another early 00's Action Film in the Vein of XXX.
I agree. DAD was an anniversary film. It was all about the previous Bond films, and so much of it wouldn't make sense without being in the context of 19 other Bond films. People would think it was even more nonsense if it wasn't part of the series.
I think it would have been something like XXX, that people accepted it as ridiculous and would never really be as popular as they may have thought. I could have seen it as a rival to XXX. Now I have read that it's which ones would be classics, no, DAD would not be near this list. My list was more of just movies that could have happened without the Bond franchise.
Maybe DAD would have been a better movie without putting all of its effort into making it an anniversary movie. There's no way that movie would have been made the way it was if it was a standalone movie since half the things in it exist (including some of the plot) only because 19 Bond films came before it.
Dr. No
From Russia with Love
Goldfinger
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Casino Royale
The rest, while good, rely too much on formula or previous films.
-{ My feelings, exactly. {[]
In all honesty, this is pretty much the truth. Maybe YOLT too, but overall, those are the main 5.
That doesn't mean other entries aren't superbly entertaining. But if they didn't have the Bond moniker attached to them, they'd sell half as much.
AJB007 Favorite Film Rankings
Pros and Cons Compendium (50 Years)
I actually found DAD really unique in a colorful funny way much like CR67, but I agree, if people didn't know who Bond was, they'd be lost.
To some extent, you could say the same of Goldeneye. The constant commentary on Bond being a reckless, outdated misogynist wouldn't make sense if it were its first entry.
Truth be told, if the majority of the Bond movies were made outside of Eon, but given a new title and a different actor to play Bond (but otherwise, it's the same exact film), they'd be seen as really derivative. People say other spy movies copy Bond but lets say another company put out Live and Let Die, people would say "Hey, it's nice, but it totally rips off of the 60's Bond films"
AJB007 Favorite Film Rankings
Pros and Cons Compendium (50 Years)
:007)
AJB007 Favorite Film Rankings
Pros and Cons Compendium (50 Years)
I agree. It might have the best cast of all of Roger Moore's Bond films, with the brilliant Julian Glover and Topol, plus the model Carole Bouquet.
That would never happen. Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone would have trouble with their long words..
It would be like The Eiger Sanction - which is a classic of sorts.
Horrible prospect
And by classic, I don't necessarily mean whether it's good or not. Citizen Kane is THE classic, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's one of the best movies of all time (from a content perspective).
AJB007 Favorite Film Rankings
Pros and Cons Compendium (50 Years)
I can't imagine FYEO starring Willis or Stallone because it's not an action movie. It's a spy movie with a little action. The first Bond film I could picture those guys in is LTK, which was a reaction to Die Hard and movies like that.
LTK was essentially a Miami Vice episode. Had it been made before that TV series, I might feel differently about it. But it's an uneven episode at that.
All of those action sequences are nothing like what you find in action films of Stallone or Willis. They're not nearly as intense as what you find in films those two men make. If the film had a different actor it could have been thought of differently, but not those two actors.