What do you think is the weirdest Bond film?

Revolver66

I've been thinking about this a little lately. The series has thrown up a few films with some very strange and quirky moments! So I was wondering what people had as their strangest Bond film? I would have to say that I find Diamonds Are Forever and Moonraker to be the two weirdest, with Diamonds nudging for the top spot. I quite like it, but I just think its bizarre!

What do you guys think?

Number24

I would have to agree - Moonraker and DAD.

Oddjoblofeldraxorin

I always thought Live And Let Die was the strangest because it dealt with supernatural powers, and the scene were Kananga blew up was silly, but fun. I can see where you're coming from with DAF and Moonraker though. Moonraker and Spy are both weird because Jaws is so powerful; like a comic book character. I also thought OHMSS (of all movies) was weird for breaking the fourth wall a couple times; "This never happened to the other fellow", and the little guy whistling the Goldfinger theme.

Sir Hillary Bray

I'll go with DAF, because it's overall tone is so blatantly and relentlessly comedic. In this case, "weird" doesn't equal "poor", however -- I think DAF is a lot of fun.

DutchJamesBondFan

Although I like it, DAD without thinking about it.

Ornithologist

Definitely DAF (and then also NSNA, if it counts).

chrisisall

LALD for me. But weird in a mostly good way. That last shot says it all. )

heartbroken_mr_drax

I think LALD.

DAF is very comedic, but it isn't really as weird because many of the standard elements are there.

LALD deals with as Oddjoblofeldraxorin says, the supernatural. It also deals with the whole african-american element which at the time in some places was taboo. This shows in the film and it almost comes across like a blaxploitation Bond film. Roger Moore also plays Bond very differently - for the obvious reasons of differentiation from the previous. The soundtrack is quite odd too.

My GF loves LALD because of how odd it is.

Miles Messervy

I vote for YOLT. The film starts with Bond getting "killed," and the he ends up "becoming" Japanese, including a completely ridiculous makeover and sham marriage. The massive battle inside the volcano lair(!) between SPECTRE's private army and Tanaka's ninjas is also ludicrous.

Gassy Man

The Man with the Golden Gun. It's strange from the get go -- the psychedelic opening, the odd score, the unusual (for the time) physical qualities for people (third nipple, "midget" servant), the Solex McGuffin (mostly off screen, but it never quite makes sense to me that Scaramanga, an assassin, apparently built his power station with one other person but still has to steal the Solex to empower it), the dusty, swampy Southeast Asian locales, and so forth. It plays more like some strange, trippy nightmare than a Bond film. The rest are fairly conventional by comparison, though Live and Let Die probably takes second place.

eric7064

TMWTGG definitely for reasons stated above

Revolver66

Good call on LALD AND Golden Gun. They're both pretty farout. I love LALD, it's one of my favourites, and yes it is pretty left of field. It seems like the 70s was probably the weirdest period for Bond. Maybe because they were experimenting a little and trying to take the series in all of these different directions. I always found Diamonds quite strange because of the characters and the imagery. Blofeld is the campiest villain, the two gay henchmen are great but bizarre. Then there are strange characters like Shady Tree and Willard Whyte. And I always found the circus scene with the ape-woman absolutely bonkers. So random. Also the moon buggy chase and the pre-titles with that strange mud lake. Crazy times

heartbroken_mr_drax

Revolver66 wrote:

Good call on LALD AND Golden Gun. They're both pretty farout. I love LALD, it's one of my favourites, and yes it is pretty left of field. It seems like the 70s was probably the weirdest period for Bond. Maybe because they were experimenting a little and trying to take the series in all of these different directions. I always found Diamonds quite strange because of the characters and the imagery. Blofeld is the campiest villain, the two gay henchmen are great but bizarre. Then there are strange characters like Shady Tree and Willard Whyte. And I always found the circus scene with the ape-woman absolutely bonkers. So random. Also the moon buggy chase and the pre-titles with that strange mud lake. Crazy times

That's probably why TSWLM and MR (camp or not) were a return to form, scale and fantasy of the earlier films...

chrisisall

Ah, let's just call the entire Hamilton 70's trilogy a weird bunch! {[]

Firemass

eric7064 wrote:

TMWTGG definitely for reasons stated above

Agreed. I also vote for TMWTGG.

Weird and quirky in a cool way though IMO. Also like the odd angles of the RMS Queen Elizabeth and the bizarre Grisly Land. It's almost like some early german expressionism Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

ThunderRaker

DAD, AVTAK, TMWTGG, MR, OP are some of the weirdest. -{

Though my vote goes for DAF, it's just so strange, fat and tired Connery, Charles Gray as Blofeld? Blofeld in drag? An unappealing color palette, and a plot that goes all over the place makes DAF feel very un-bond like. Also, is it just me, or does Bond seem less of a main character in this film? By that I mean he seems to get less screen time, and more focus on things going on around him.

Matt S

For me it's definitely one of the 1970s Guy Hamilton films, as others have mentioned. Before reading what others had to say, DAF came to mind first, so I'll go with that one.

Revolver66

Yes the Hamilton trilogy is definitely quite pulpy and left field. The three films have some strange elements and imagery. As I said before I think it works best with Live and Let Die, as it fits the voodoo elements of the story. However I think Diamonds and Golden Gun could have definitely been told in a much more conventional way, like a regular spy film. Diamonds could have been a more straight forward smuggling caper, and Golden Gun could have been a more assassin vs assassin story, but they both end up being a little on the strange side. That's not to say I don't like them, I do

Revolver66

Moonraker is just bonkers )

Jarvio

DAF definitely.

Honorable mentions: AVTAK and TMWTGG

Dutchfinger

Agree with everyone on DAF.

Bond's arch nemesis in drag! 'nuff said...

Silhouette Man

Yes, I'd say DAF and LALD are the weirdest of the lot and certainly not your conventional Bond film (or even spy film).

Thunderpussy

I agree with DAF, it has some wonderfully weird characters in it.

Silhouette Man

Thunderpussy wrote:

I agree with DAF, it has some wonderfully weird characters in it.

Agreed, it surely must be a Hamilton-Mankiewicz thing. That even sounds like some deadly disease! )

Revolver66

Reading through "Some Kind of Hero" I think it's safe to say that if the original treatments for The Spy Who Love Me had of been filmed then that easily would have been the wackiest. Full of evil hippies and killer robots )

jamesm123

When I was a kid (not Kidd) I def thought DAF the weirdest. The gorilla transformation bit, space set scene, and yes, tranny Blofeld. I love the surreal aspects of MWTGG though, especially M's office in the ship and Scaramangas fun house.

MarcAngeDraco

At least half of the Bond films are bizarre, but that's the point I imagine. Fleming himself had written Bond novels that had a touch of bizarre so it's only fitting the Bond films carried suit - the psychedelic lights in OHMSS, the characters of Oddjob, Goldfinger, Horror (Jaws?), the bald henchmen with moustaches, Sluggsy, Dr. No, Shatterhand and Irma Bunt - all exude a weirdness.

MilleniumForce

The weirdest for me is also my favourite: AVTAK. Walken as a Bond villain, with Grace Jones as his henchwoman/love interest, with all MI6 regulars aged over 50.....topped off with a title song by Duran Duran. I mean, that's pretty weird.

Charmed & Dangerous

Has to be Casino Royale '67....

Matt S

Charmed & Dangerous wrote:

Has to be Casino Royale '67....

That's cheating

jamesm123

While we're on the topic of non-Eon-Bonds I would say the weirdest bit of NSNA is Rowan Atkinson