The James Bond Thread

[Zantera]

Since I'm home sick at the moment I managed to get through 2 movies and I thought I'd put my thoughts on both in one post because I don't feel like I have as much to say about them.

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Part of me wants to like this one more because I think the action is pretty good, you have a couple of great sequences like Bond and Michelle Yeoh on a bike doing some nice stunts, as well as a great parking garage sequence. However, the movie as a whole just feels a bit too bland to me. I used to have the video game for this, and considering the time it came out, I feel like I should be more hyped for this but in all honesty this is the most forgettable (that's not to say worst) of the Brosnan movies because it's the one I struggle to remember big parts of in between re-watches. I like Jonathan Pryce as an actor but Elliot Carver as a villain doesn't really feel that strong. Teri Hatcher as the former Bond flame is also pretty 'meh' I think. Would have made it more interesting to bring back one of the Bond girls from previous films (either the actress or the character name). Michelle Yeoh is pretty solid though. All in all I would consider this middle of the pack somewhere. It's not as bad as some of the other movies but I feel like it's trying to be on the level of GoldenEye and it just doesn't reach it.

The World is Not Enough (1999)
This is one I would actually defend slightly and say it's not as bad as some people say. I think that whole opening chase when Bond leaves MI6 in a Q-designed boat to chase the assassin is a very strong set piece, I think Elektra has to be mentioned as one of the best Bond girls (and later revealed as villain) and I actually really like the M and Bond relationship that was established in the Brosnan movies and kinda carried over into the Craig films. Before Brosnan it always felt very much like a "Boss/Employee" relationship but I really like that it feels more personal with Bond as opposed to her other agents and when faced with the possibility that Bond has gone rogue or switched sides, Judi Dench-M always seem to have great trust in Bond which I like. Denise Richards is there for her looks obviously and acting wise she is not good in this, and neither is her as a scientist. With that said, I think the second half does get worse but I would still say this is more enjoyable as a viewing than Tomorrow Never Dies for me personally.

I'll hold off with Die Another Day until next post because that one.. oh boy. 

[soupytwist]

I'll hold off with Die Another Day until next post because that one.. oh boy. 

Embrace the stupidity of it and there is fun to be had, at least it's not boring!

[fadetoblackdude7]

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but TWINE holds a special place in my heart because it was the first Bond film I saw in theaters, my dad took me when I was 10. Seen all of them in theaters since. It’s sentimental values, so this one is a close second to GoldenEye for me when it comes to ranking Pierce’s films.

[Zantera]

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but TWINE holds a special place in my heart because it was the first Bond film I saw in theaters, my dad took me when I was 10. Seen all of them in theaters since. It’s sentimental values, so this one is a close second to GoldenEye for me when it comes to ranking Pierce’s films.

I have similar feelings for sure! It was the first one to come out that I was anticipating and I also played the video game a lot which helped me appreciate that story more I think. It's no GoldenEye but it is my #2 Brosnan movie.

So that takes us to Die Another Day (2002) the final outing of Pierce as Bond.

Now I should start by saying that when this came out, I had a lot of fun with it. I was 11-12 at the time and this was one of those movies I purchased by myself on VHS after I got some birthday money and I went down to the store. "Oh another Bond movie? I need this!". I used to watch this quite a lot at that time because in a day before streaming and downloading really took off, my VHS collection was fairly small and I sort of wanted to get my money's worth by watching this a lot, which I did. I would say this is one of the movies that has aged the worst in the franchise especially having grown older myself. When you're 11-12 watching this movie, you don't necessarily stop to think about just how stupid some of the things happening are. Even the wackiest Bond movies before this had some semblance of being rooted in reality but Bond escaping a giant space laser while windsurfing really has to be the low point of this franchise - and I think the one scene we can look back at and say "This is how we got Daniel Craig Bond". This is kinda your Batman and Robin movie before you get Batman Begins.

I do wanna start with some positives and I think the opening sequence is actually really great. Bond getting captured after his mission fails was very refreshing because in most of these movies we never see him fail a mission, despite all the risks and 'cutting it close' moments. I think him being tortured and held prisoner and later rescued is really good stuff. I like the relationship with M again and if you're just watching the first 15 minutes or so in a vacuum you wouldn't think this movie is that low in the franchise. I would say the movie starts to go off the rails in Cuba though. Halle Berry has been great in many movies but I don't like her performance here and the introduction to the plot of face-swapping is a big bump in the road for me - and we're not even at the place yet where we start to consider an asian man changing his face to one of a Caucasian man yet.

The fencing scene is pretty good and the ice palace setting in itself is also cool but I don't like the invisible car (it just feels TOO much) and even someone like Rosamund Pike who has been great in other movies like Gone Girl just gives a pretty bad performance in this IMO. We soon get to the space laser sequence which is the low point of the movie and I don't think the movie really recovers. The final act just feels very forgettable and quite bad. The fact this movie also has maybe the worst Bond song doesn't necessarily make the movie worse but it sort of adds insult to injury. I do kinda get what Soupytwist said because if you can turn your brain off this does have entertainment in it, but for me it's not enough to really save it. Never Say Never Again is still my bottom pick but if I'm comparing this to Diamonds are Forever and A View to a Kill that I have next on my list, I don't know if this one beats any of them.

Only the Craig ones to go now.

GoldenEye (PB)
License to Kill (TD)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (GL)
From Russia With Love (SC)
The Living Daylights (TD)
The Spy Who Loved Me (RM)
You Only Live Twice (SC)
Live and Let Die (RM)
Goldfinger (SC)
The World is Not Enough (PB)
For Your Eyes Only (RM)
The Man With the Golden Gun (RM)
Tomorrow Never Dies (PB)
Thunderball (SC)
Moonraker (RM)
Octopussy (RM)
Dr. No (SC)
A View to a Kill (RM)
Diamonds Are Forever (SC)
Die Another Day (PB)
Never Say Never Again (SC)

[soupytwist]

Also John Cleese is dreadful.

[Phoenix87x]

Tomorrow never dies - Absolutely love it and am always entertained every time I see it. If handled in a better and more realistic way, I think its an incredible plot for a villain. Its not some whacko in a hallowed out volcano holding the world for ransom. Its news media manipulating society into supporting wars and take overs and all this shady shit. I'd argue its the most realistic James Bond plot of all of them, since people have had to deal with propaganda and yellow journalism since the dawn of media.

Regardless, I love the movie.

The world is not enough- I've always found it very dry and boring. Can't remember the last time I watched it.

Die another day -Thought is was shit then and think its shit now. Nothing more to say about that one.

[Cool Chris]

Tomorrow Never Dies was the most hyped I'd ever been for a Bond film. Coming off a classic as I viewed Goldeneye, with Brosnan more comfortable in the role, and Johnathan Price billed as the villain, I was pumped. So yeah it was a letdown. How can you misuse Johnathan Pryce? Still better than many other one-dimensional Bond villains. But when I saw it a second time, I liked it more. Teri Hatcher contributed nothing to my enjoyment of the film.

There was a bit of a rebound for me with The World is Not Enough. I liked the villain gal and M being incorporated in to her story arc, and was ecstatic to see Robbie Coltrain back. Denise Richards' character is beyond awful, but it doesn't drag down the film much for me. I was ultimately disappointed in Robert Carlyle's character, just thought it fell a bit flat. I rank this one higher than most.

I saw Die Another Day once, thought it was.... ok, and have never felt like watching it again.

[Zantera]

Getting into the ones I've watched more recently than the classic ones, starting with Casino Royale (2006).

This is one that's been floating around the nr1 spot for me ever since I first saw it, definitely in that conversation. Upon revisiting it, I do still hold it very high. I think the decision to bring the franchise back to basics after Die Another Day was smart, I like the approach of focusing on Bond as a fresh 00-agent. Upon going through the franchise from the start I've actually come to realize that perhaps Daniel Craig wouldn't rank that highly among my personal favorite Bonds - not because I find him bad or anything, it's just tough competition, but I love what he brought in this particular movie. He really hits the nail on the head as a more hotheaded Bond who hasn't quite found his way yet. He makes mistakes and he feels more human and I enjoy that considering this is like a 'first mission' type movie.

The opening chase in Uganda is great and I love how physical it feels. Daniel Craig and the man he is chasing are doing jumps, taking hits and they look tired which makes it feel believable. We take a bit of a slow detour in Bahamas before getting to the next great action sequence which takes place at the airport with Bond trying to prevent a bomb from destroying a plane. I know other people have made this comparison but this all feels very Jason Bourne to me, you can definitely tell those movies had at least some influence on this film. Le Chiffre is a great villain played really well by Mads Mikkelsen and it does feel refreshing to have a bad guy who is under some pressure himself. You get his motivation and desperation. Eva Green gives a good performance as Vesper but if I'm perfectly honest I don't fully buy that Bond falls head over heels for her in what feels like 2 days together. At least not to the point where he is writing his letter of resignation. Just a small pet peeve, I think Eva Green is still great in that role. I also think every second of the poker game is exciting to watch and that whole portion of the movie might just be the best. Really like the small pauses too like when Bond gets poisoned and he has to go to his car.

Before starting this I did think it would come down to this or GoldenEye for my favorite but this time around there were a couple of minor negatives I felt with Casino Royale that didn't necessarily ruin it for me, but just things that stood out slightly. The way Le Chiffre goes out feels just a bit anti climactic but I also felt the movie dragged just a little bit at the end. The last 10-15 minutes or so when it becomes evident that Vesper has gone behind Bond's back and you get that sequence at the house falling apart with Vesper drowning, it almost felt like an epilogue that I didn't need. It is emotional to see her die but then you also have the added scene later when Bond goes after Mr. White at the very end. I didn't dislike the last 15 minutes but for comparison it's like listening to a 75 minute album where 65 minutes are fantastic but there's 1-2 songs that just drop off the quality just slightly and they could have possibly trimmed it.

Casino Royale still makes my top3 though it's a struggle in my head if I like it more or less than License to Kill considering how much I like Dalton. However I do think Casino Royale is still a very good film.

GoldenEye (PB)
Casino Royale (DC)
License to Kill (TD)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (GL)
From Russia With Love (SC)
The Living Daylights (TD)
The Spy Who Loved Me (RM)
You Only Live Twice (SC)
Live and Let Die (RM)
Goldfinger (SC)
The World is Not Enough (PB)
Tomorrow Never Dies (PB)
For Your Eyes Only (RM)
The Man With the Golden Gun (RM)
Thunderball (SC)
Moonraker (RM)
Octopussy (RM)
Dr. No (SC)
A View to a Kill (RM)
Diamonds Are Forever (SC)
Die Another Day (PB)
Never Say Never Again (SC)

[The Curious Orange]

I broadly agree with your rankings, but you're being way too harsh on Never Say Never Again. It's not going to rank in the top half, sure, but it's nowhere near that bad. Otherwise, keep up the good work!

My rating would be:

Goldeneye
The Spy Who Loved Me
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
The Living Daylights
Casino Royale
From Russia With Love
For Your Eyes Only
Live And Let Die
No Time To Die
Licence to Kill
Goldfinger
You Only Live Twice
Dr. No
View to A Kill
Tomorrow Never Dies
Skyfall
The World Is Not Enough
The Man With The Golden Gun
Thunderball
Diamonds Are Forever
Never Say Never Again
Moonraker
Spectre
Octopussy
Die Another Day
Quantum of Solace

[Phoenix87x]

Casino Royale is a great movie for sure, but I've never really loved. Liked it a lot, but not loved it.

I find DC very stiff in this film. I remember thinking Terminator bond when I first saw it, but he does a decent enough job none the less.

Then there's the Vesper thing. I've never found her super interesting or attractive, but yet after barely spending 2 days with her, DC's bond wants to quit his entire career as a spy and can't stop thinking about her over the course of 5 films. When he was still thinking about her in No Time to Die, I was like is this for real?

Mad's kills it as le chiffre, and is for sure a top 5 favorite villain of mine.

[The Curious Orange]

Orson Wells was a much better Le Chiffre.

[fadetoblackdude7]

While I grew up with Pierce as my Bond, I think Daniel is superior in the role. Casino and GoldenEye are probably tied as my favorite film, with Casino most likely getting the extra point.

One thing I love about Casino in particular is that the Bond theme is not heard the entire film until that glorious, final scene. When Bond becomes fully-formed. 👌

[soupytwist]

Casino is awesome, but I do agree the final action scene in the sinking house is a bit unnecessary (a bit like the underground train sequence at the end of Speed).  But everything before that is glorious - and although Craig isn't my favorite Bond, he's huge improvement over Brosnan.

Quantum next, which is in my opinion the worst Bond film.

[ZirconBlue]

I broadly agree with your rankings, but you're being way too harsh on Never Say Never Again. It's not going to rank in the top half, sure, but it's nowhere near that bad.

What I like about NSNA was how it acknowledges Bond's age (unlike the later Moore films) and shows how Bond's behavior in the 60s films was out of step with the "modern day" 80s setting. 

[Zantera]

I might be too harsh on Never Say Never Again (I will definitely ponder the final rankings a bit more once I'm done with all) but I think the placement has a lot to do with the fact it's basically Thunderball again but worse. I do think something like Die Another Day is arguably worse but Never Say Never Again has that sort of "this didn't need to be made" attached to it. But it could possibly climb a spot or two before we're all done and dusted.

Speaking of bad... let's talk about Quantum of Solace (2008).

I think there's a lot of things not working here but the biggest difference for me is just how the movie was helmed, filmed and edited. You go from Martin Campbell who made 2 of the best Bond movies (GoldenEye and Casino Royale) to Marc Forster and it feels like a big step down. The action that was so well shot and edited in Casino Royale is like a jumbled mess in this one. It's like if the worst of the handheld Bourne action scenes had a baby with the worst edited scenes of the Taken sequels. I also think Quantum of Solace starts the negative trend and one issue I have with the Craig movies is focusing too much on connecting the movies together with an overarching plot. I don't mind some continuity but it was always part of the charm of previous films that they stood on their own feet and could be viewed as separate entities.

While this film starts at a high pace I don't particularly enjoy the opening car chase because of the fast editing. Compared to Casino Royale which was kinda purposefully slow through big chunks - because they had faith that the scenes and story would be good enough to keep you engaged, with this movie it feels like they're going at it at twice the speed so you won't get bored. I don't particularly care for the villain in this, he feels very generic and his motivation and plan is just so boring compared to Le Chiffre just the movie before this. Another issue I have with the Craig films that isn't necessarily a big negative is they all feel kinda joyless. They went for a more serious Bond and while there are a few humorous moments, I don't think any of them really have the lighthearted feel of the any previous Bond actors. And if the movies are good, it's not a big negative but for Quantum of Solace which isn't particularly good in my opinion, the fact that it also is fairly humorless, takes itself a bit too seriously, it all makes it a bit of a bore to sit through. Even at 106 minutes, this felt like more of a drag to sit through than Octopussy or Moonraker.

Kinda wanted to like this one more because it is fairly action packed but nothing about it really stands out IMO. I'll semi-spoil my thoughts on the remainder of the films but the Craig era to me is at least consistent that it has 2 great ones, 1 good/decent one and 2 of the worst ones. 

GoldenEye (PB)
Casino Royale (DC)
License to Kill (TD)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (GL)
From Russia With Love (SC)
The Living Daylights (TD)
The Spy Who Loved Me (RM)
You Only Live Twice (SC)
Live and Let Die (RM)
Goldfinger (SC)
The World is Not Enough (PB)
Tomorrow Never Dies (PB)
For Your Eyes Only (RM)
The Man With the Golden Gun (RM)
Thunderball (SC)
Moonraker (RM)
Octopussy (RM)
Dr. No (SC)
A View to a Kill (RM)
Diamonds Are Forever (SC)
Never Say Never Again (SC)
Quantum of Solace (DC)
Die Another Day (PB)

[Phoenix87x]

Sure QoS is bad in a lot of ways. I would never deny that, but I've always enjoyed it. Guilty pleasure I guess.

It does have probably the worst villain of the series outside of stolen valor boy in The living daylights. I find absolutely nothing threatening about domink green

[Cool Chris]

Long story, kinda relevant... so when my current wife and I were dating, we got stuck in PDX while flying to DEN for the holidays. We were there for 4 days, as snow shut down the area. We spent the first couple days at the airport from morning till night, tying to get a flight somewhere, anywhere, other than there (along with everyone else stuck there). On the 3rd day we finally accepted our fate and decided to make the most of it. We gave up on the airport, found a mall with a theater we could walk to, and watched Quantum of Solace. It was the first time that whole trip we both felt wholly relaxed, and we ended up sleeping through the entire movie.

[Zantera]

Time to talk about Skyfall (2012), a beloved favorite for many and I'll try to dodge the mines in the field as best as I can 

This is one that ever since it came out, I've always heard a lot of people say it's the best one, or top3 material. And I know some might disagree with that of course, since Bond rankings are quite subjective (everyone has their favorite Bond and such) but it still seems to be one that most hold in quite high regard. But don't worry, I think this one is great. I just don't quite agree with the highest of praise, and to me this doesn't make my top5 but it still makes the top10.

The opening is great, love that chase and fight on the train, "Moneypenny take the shot", hitting Bond instead and sending him into an early retirement after falling off a bridge. I do like Bond coming into MI6 after months out, failing his tests yet still M vouches for him to get back in the field. Just something I like about Judi Dench as M that I didn't get from the previous two M's to that extent. They never felt 'personal' with Bond but Judi Dench has that "I'm still your boss but I think you're a good agent" demeanor. I think the Shanghai portion is pretty good with some great cinematography, I like the look of the island that Raoul Silva has as his base (I believe this is some Japanese island? I read about it and the history is quite cool). Raoul Silva himself is.. fine? He never was in my top tier Bond villains but if you look at the Craig run he's still second best out of the 5 we got, in my opinion.

I don't like the trope of 'the bad guy got caught on purpose' which does happen in this. I think at this point we'd already have it in The Dark Knight, the first Avengers and it's a move in the script I'm not necessarily a huge fan of. I do like the underground chase that comes out of it though. I don't think the movie falls apart but I do consider the 'Home Alone' section of the movie to be maybe just a notch or so below the other big set pieces. I do think Skyfall has the same issue as most the other Craig films where it feels maybe just 10 minutes too long. I think around 2 hours (maybe 2:10) is the sweet spot for a Bond movie and when you're starting to hit 2:20 or above it does start to feel its length just slightly to me. However, even though the final sequence isn't the highlight of the movie for me, I do think Judi Dench taking her final bow is emotional and what she did with the role in her 7 movies was great.

So overall I do think this is a great one but I guess what's missing is that personal 'this is one of my personal favorites' connection with it. I know many people love it, for me I would rate it around the same level of a Spy Who Loved Me (my current #7) where it has a lot of very memorable scenes, it is a very well made film and a standout for the franchise, BUT it doesn't quite break into the top5 or so of personal favorites. I'm still considering my final rankings as some movies might shift when I look at them compared to everything else.

Next up we have Spectre which I remember to be one of my least favorites (let's see if that changes) and then finally the most recent one, No Time to Die.

[The Curious Orange]

While this film starts at a high pace I don't particularly enjoy the opening car chase because of the fast editing.

I actually felt physically ill sitting in the theatre watching that - I very nearly walked out, and boy, do I wish I had. Not even Gemma Arterton could save this one.

[ErHaO]

To me QoS is of inoffensive quality. Not good but I don't understand the hate. I think Spectre is significantly worse and dumber. For older Bond films it helps that they are less serious in tone, but let's be real there are some real dumb villain plots in the series that are in no way better.

[Zantera]

Let's start with Spectre (2015)

This is one that on surface level I feel should be a lot better than it is. It almost feels like the type of movie that benefits a lot from trailers - you can cut together a 2 ½ minute trailer showing the different cool sceneries, some action scenes and you could make this look like something pretty great. However, when watching it I mostly felt bored and couldn't really get into it much. We finally get Spectre back in a Bond movie, and another Blofeld, however the decision to make Blofeld 'Brofeld' and have a personal connection to Bond was such a poor decision in my opinion. You also cast Christoph Waltz - one of the great villains of the screen in the last decade, yet I feel he's both poorly used and just very unmemorable. I remember when he was cast, a lot of people (myself included) thought he could be one of the best Bond villains on the screen and it didn't really pan out that way.

Again I think Spectre continues the mistake of just trying too hard to connect these films and this is probably the movie where it feels the most forced and contrived out of all of them. A lot of scenes look good but unlike Skyfall I don't get that same 'passion' from any of the scenes and it almost feels like everyone is doing this out of contractual obligation rather than being passionate about telling this story. We finally get Monica Bellucci in a Bond movie (though this probably should have happened in the 90s) yet her character feels really miniscule and pointless to the overall movie. Never cared much about Madeleine Swan and trying to make her Vesper 2.0 (this carries a bit into NTTD). Dave Bautista is a good choice for a henchman to fight Bond though. For me it's really a toss up if this or QoS is the worst Bond film. I think this one looks better, is shot more competently and it doesn't have the shaky cam of a cinematographer with parkinsons syndrome like QoS, but QoS is maybe 40 minutes shorter and it doesn't drag AS much.

And to finish off I'll put some thoughts on No Time to Die (2021) but this will be shorter since this just came out and I feel we already discussed this back when it dropped:

I think No Time to Die sits comfortably in between the 2 great Craig films and the 2.. not-so-great ones. I still don't like how they try to connect the story together between all these movies, I'm still lukewarm on Madeleine Swan, and honestly I was disappointed with Rami Malek's character. I like that he's out to kill Spectre agents but it feels like as soon as he accomplishes that goal, he just takes a step back to become 'generic Bond villain from the Connery movies' who wants to do bad things to the world because he can. However, I think the opening scene is good and has some tension when he meets a young Madeleine. I think the Italy scene with Bond at the start when he thinks Madeleine has betrayed him is a great start. The whole Cuba sequence and Ana De Armas is just wonderful and the chase in Norway and the following forest sequence in the fog is really good stuff. The final action sequence isn't up to the same level IMO and I don't like the decision to kill Bond off, but overall I think this is a pretty solid movie with more good than bad. If you compare this to everyone else's final outing as Bond, this is one of the better ones. (Certainly better than Die Another Day, A View to a Kill and Never Say Never Again).


I will ponder my final rankings list a bit, but still curious to hear what you guys think too. Part of me really wants to bump Living Daylights into my top5 but I would also feel bad bumping From Russia With Love or On Her Majesty's Secret Service out of it (oh decisions), I'm still considering some of the rankings further down as well.

Might also do a ranking of the Bond actors for fun. I guess potentially for another post could do a ranking of the theme songs too.

[soupytwist]

Your reviews have been great to read and your list actually isn't going to end up much different to mine, the only major differences are I don't rank Majesty's as high as you and I rank For Your Eyes Only as the best Moore movie these days, so that sits comfortably in the top 10.

Your Skyfall review is pretty much spot on how I feel, after coming out the cinema I loved it and would have put it 3rd.....but that films really starts to show it's flaws on rewatches and it's dropped to somewhere around 10th now.

Part of me really wants to bump Living Daylights into my top5

Do it.  Daylights is awesome!

[Phoenix87x]

Skyfall

Always felt divided on this one. Everybody loves it, so I figured I would love it but I don't. I certainly don't hate it though. I just think it has its flaws. First of all, it feels too long. By the point where M and Bond go off their own, I've pretty much checked out.

I don't need to go back to Bond's childhood home and play home alone. I respect everybody that likes this part, but its just not for me. And yes its a deep and powerful moment, but I just don't want to watch M die.

And then there's Mallory who comes off as a stuffy dickhead and that's not what I want out of an M. Everytime he's on screen I feel like I've been sent to the principal's office and I'm not into it.

People have made the Joker, Dark Knight comparison. I never really thought of that, but I can see why people say it. My actual gripe was that things just work out too conveniently for Silva. There's a lot of convenience in general in this film. Like it was really convenient that they fork lift crane on the Train in the beginning just happened to have keys in it and that Bond can survive that mental fall off the bridge, with a gunshot in him as a well.

Ok, I've bitched enough, on to the stuff I love about the movie. Bardem as Silva is awesome and I think might be a top 3 villain for me out of the whole series. I just love him.

Love the Adele song and I absolutely love the cinematography. The film is sleek, beautiful and breathtaking in many shots.

So overall, I think there's a really decent movie in here, but its muddied by some of the criticisms mentioned prior.


SPECTRE

There's only 2 Bond films that I outright hate. Die another day and this one.

God where do I even start. First of all, Its soooooo boring....

The plot just sputters along, seemingly directionless. The chase scenes are like taking Ambien. 

Mr. JINX is a real poor man's Jaws. And even though Jaws also didn't talk, his non verbal communication said it all. The SPECTRE organization has cult like vibes here and yeah, never really got that impression from the originals.

It takes true talent to make Christoph Waltz boring, but my god did they do it here. I don't even know what to say. This portrayal of Blofeld is so bizarrely off and shitty.

I am the author of your pain... No your not, you are a half baked joke of a villain that was shoe horned in and never set up at all. Yeah, it sucks they didn't have the SPECTRE rights, but to swerve after 3 movies and be like "yeah it was SPECTRE all along" is dumb. They should have saved SPECTRE for the next bond actor's movies and do it right from the start, because this is a mess.

Always hated that they are now brothers for some reason. Was thrown in there randomly, also with no build up and added nothing really besides just another point of criticism.

Bond's escape from the desert base is hilarious, he just runs in a strait line completely exposed and god mode just shoots like 50 guys. Get real.

A lot of people don't like the opening song. It doesn't really bother me, but It a real tragedy that Radiohead song SPECTRE was rejected. Its my favorite Bond song of all of them and it wasn't even used  .

I was so ready to love SPECTRE, but I walked out the theater so disappointed.

But I'll end on a positive note. The opening day of the dead sequence may be my favorite opening of any James Bond film. Just love it.

[fadetoblackdude7]

I personally think Spectre gets way too much negativity, and IMO, it’s nowhere near the worst Bond film. The only real complaint I have with it is that the plot is very thin, and the whole brother thing with Bond and Blofeld should never have gotten approved. But on every other level, it’s good: the action, acting, cinematography, set pieces, locations are all there. If we compared Spectre with Quantum, I’ll take Spectre any day. Just by the editing alone.

[Zantera]

I personally think Spectre gets way too much negativity, and IMO, it’s nowhere near the worst Bond film. The only real complaint I have with it is that the plot is very thin, and the whole brother thing with Bond and Blofeld should never have gotten approved. But on every other level, it’s good: the action, acting, cinematography, set pieces, locations are all there. If we compared Spectre with Quantum, I’ll take Spectre any day. Just by the editing alone.

Yeah I think you might be right with this vs QoS.

[Zantera]

So my rankings of the movies as of now (this could change with time/re-watches ofc) would look something like this:

GoldenEye (PB)
License to Kill (TD)
Casino Royale (DC)
----
From Russia With Love (SC)
The Living Daylights (TD)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (GL)
The Spy Who Loved Me (RM)
----
You Only Live Twice (SC)
Live and Let Die (RM)
Skyfall (DC)
Goldfinger (SC)
----
The World is Not Enough (PB)
No Time to Die (DC)
Tomorrow Never Dies (PB)
For Your Eyes Only (RM)
The Man With the Golden Gun (RM)
Thunderball (SC)
Moonraker (RM)
Octopussy (RM)
Dr. No (SC)
A View to a Kill (RM)
Diamonds Are Forever (SC)
Never Say Never Again (SC)
----
Spectre (DC)
Quantum of Solace (DC)
Die Another Day (PB)

So top 3 I'm fairly happy with - GoldenEye carrying a lot of nostalgia, Casino Royale imo the best of the Craig era and as a huge Dalton fan I need to represent that. The second block are imo movies that are all top5-good quality wise, and From Russia With Love, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and The Spy Who Loved Me bring that 'classic Bond' representation but The Living Daylights is also up there for me.

The third block with You Only Live Twice, Live and Let Die, Skyfall and Goldfinger is another very consistent block of films IMO and while they're not up at the very top for me, I do think they are 'above average' so to speak. Very enjoyable films. The next block has the most amount of films in it and these are the ones that I consider to be a mix of good to guilty-pleasure, the ones I wouldn't really mind to watch again if they are on TV or what not.

Then we get down to the bottom and I would say the bottom 3 are fairly solid though I could go either way on something like Never Say Never Again vs Spectre as I don't feel strongly about either one. I've seen Die Another Day probably a good 15-20 times in my life and even though it's my bottom pick I would still watch it again if I went through the other Brosnan films. I don't have that much positive to say about it but it's still a bit entertaining in a "I can't believe they made this" sort of way.

In terms of the actors, just going on impulse without overanalyzing it, for me I would say something like: Dalton > Connery > Craig > Brosnan > Moore > Lazenby (I love the one film Lazenby made but I find ranking him to be very hard because even though I liked him a fair bit, there's not much to go on)

[fadetoblackdude7]

My ranking would be:

1. Casino Royale
2. GoldenEye
3. The Spy Who Loved Me
4. Goldfinger
5. Skyfall
6. The World Is Not Enough
7. No Time To Die
8. Live And Let Die
9. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
10. Thunderball
11. For Your Eyes Only
12. Spectre
13. Tomorrow Never Dies
14. The Living Daylights
15. Dr. No
16. Licence To Kill
17. The Man With The Golden Gun
18. You Only Live Twice
19. From Russia With Love
20. Octopussy
21. Moonraker
22. A View To A Kill
23. Die Another Day
24. Quantum Of Solace
25. Diamonds Are Forever

[Phoenix87x]

Couldn't rank em all really, but I do know that my top 3 are:

Goldeneye
Spy who loved me
On her majesty's secret service

[Orbert]

Quantum of Solace... we ended up sleeping through the entire movie.

Not to knock on your story, but I've tried twice to watch that movie, and fallen asleep both times, so this struck me as funny.

[Cool Chris]

I have a hard time ranking the Bond films. Die Another Day and Dr. No are so different, from different eras in film making, social norms, and geopolitics, for example. In some ways it barely feels like the same series. There even feels like such a big gap between Live and Let Die and A View to a Kill.

[Zantera]

I have a hard time ranking the Bond films. Die Another Day and Dr. No are so different, from different eras in film making, social norms, and geopolitics, for example. In some ways it barely feels like the same series. There even feels like such a big gap between Live and Let Die and A View to a Kill.

Haha yeah I can definitely agree with that. I was taking notes as I was going through them and looking back, I was mostly positive towards a movie like Dr. No saying that while it didn't quite have the formula down yet, it was a solid movie in its own right. Eventually it ended up quite low on my list. I guess I tried to look at it more from a "how much enjoyment do i get from this?" rather than trying to compare the movies on a quality level.

I do kinda hope the next Bond actor is a bit more tongue-in-cheek though. I don't think we necessarily need Roger Moore in clown makeup doing Tarzan yells while swinging, BUT as much as I like Daniel Craig (not one of my personal favorites but he was good) I do hope we get a slightly lighter tone, at least some more humor infused. I don't know if there are any favorites for the role but someone I think would be good would be Dan Stevens, who I highly enjoyed in The Guest. However there's probably a hundred great actors who could do a good job.