The James Bond Thread

[Cool Chris]

I've never done a full, dedicated Bond re-watch, and have seen some films more times than others. Haven't seen the latest.

One thing I have appreciated more and more is how they have upped the ante with the main villain. So many of the earlier Bond villains are so one-dimensional and forgettable. Quick, tell me the name of the villain in Thunderball, and something about him other than his eye patch. They may have been fine actors in their day We got legend Christopher Lee and Oscar winner Christopher Walken, but otherwise only Julian Glover, Yaphet Kotto, and Donald Pleasance had solid acting careers that I am aware of. Move forward to Brosnan and Craig, and we get Sean Bean, Jonathan Pryce, Mads Mikkelson, Javier Bardem, and Christoph Waltz. And with them we get away from Zantera's 'secret base on an island' kinda bad guy. We also get Judi Dench, and then Ralph Fiennes when we once had equally one-dimensional, stuffy old white dudes swapping a couple lines with Bond to give him his assignment (though Bernard Lee was great as M).

I also think the "spying" in these spy films can be lacking. In many films it feels like he sorta stumbles around, gets captured a couple times, ends up in the right place at the right time, and defuses the bomb just in time.

[Kotowboy]

One day I want to get a boxset of all 25 films. During the 1st L*ckd*wn in the UK I watched every MCU film that was on Netflix in order ( No Hulk or Spidey )...

And that was fun - also watched 1 Trek movie a night.

If we ever have to L*ckd*wn again - i'd love to watch 1 Bond Movie a Day.


- Anyways - My family are watching it tonight. I Have to go to work but i'm not that fussed about seeing it. I overheard the ending and at 2:45 i'm not that bothered.

I might see it eventually.

[ErHaO]

I think No Time to Die is a bit of a mess to be honest. But I prefer it over Quantum and especially Spectre because for all of it's flaws, I think it is a memorable film. In short, I loved the beginning and liked the ending sequence. But there were dragging parts in the middle and I thought many action sequences were not nearly as good/inventive as some of the setpieces in Casino and Skyfall. Some characters were also behaving as if they were in another films and the dialouge in general was not really good. I can't quite put my finger on it but the tone of the film just seemed inconsistent to me, mainly due to some of the characters. All in all I enjoyed it, but in the end I deem only Casino Royale and Skyfall to be good films.

[Zantera]

Last night I did #2 on my re-watch and I viewed From Russia With Love (1963).

Still not Sean Connery in the intro but this time we did get a scene before the title sequence. I actually remembered this from the childhood, fake James Bond (revealed to be a mask) sneaking through a hedge/maze area, getting killed, revealed to just be a guy in disguise. The kind of intro that gets you interested right away. We also get the first appearance of Blofeld (though we do not see his face) and I guess to my surprise there was also Robert Shaw as the main henchman - maybe more known as Quint in Jaws. I don't have his name at the top of my head but the gentleman who plays Q in most movies makes his first appearance in this one, and I would also say this introduces the 'gadgets' into the Bond universe as a whole since in Dr. No he was only given a gun. Here you have a briefcase with a teargas cannister, some hidden currency and a hidden knife. Top notch Bond stuff! There's a fairly lengthy train sequence in the second half that I did remember parts of from my childhood, as well as a thrilling helicopter chase sequence.

Overall I think this was a good step up from Dr. No and it felt really good as a whole. I think the only negative that really stood out to me was the dubbing of Tatiana Romanova, because in a few scenes her mouth was moving but nothing was coming out, but also when she was talking it just felt 'off'. A limitation of the time for sure, but also casting someone who wasn't an English speaker. But this movie does offer an interesting opening sequence, you have more of a globetrotter feel to it since it starts in Turkey but then through the train trip goes through other countries. I know a lot of people consider this Sean Connery's best and I think it will be hard to top at least by his other films, but we shall see.

I'll probably wait to assign ratings until I've seen all of them since it makes it easier to put it in context but if Dr. No was a 6 or 7 for me, this would be an 8 or 9. Could see this end up in my top third or so by the end of the re-watch.

[Kotowboy]

So people *generally* think Quantum and Spectre are not great...

Would people still put Dan's 5 movies over Pierce's 4 movies ?

I put GoldenEye at #1 and Casino Royale at #2 - and they're both the same Director.

Tomorrow Never Dies is not great. " I make the news so people buy my paper ! "

The World Is Not Enough was Ok I think but still no GoldenEye and Die Another Day is pure Parody.


It was a shame Pierce's films were not great as he was a great Bond. He had the look for sure.

[soupytwist]

So people *generally* think Quantum and Spectre are not great...

Would people still put Dan's 5 movies over Pierce's 4 movies ?

I put GoldenEye at #1 and Casino Royale at #2 - and they're both the same Director.

Tomorrow Never Dies is not great. " I make the news so people buy my paper ! "

The World Is Not Enough was Ok I think but still no GoldenEye and Die Another Day is pure Parody.


It was a shame Pierce's films were not great as he was a great Bond. He had the look for sure.

I'd go..

Casino.
Skyfall
Goldeneye.
No Time To Die.
Tomorrow Never Dies.
(At this point the remaining 4 are all pretty shite)
Spectre.
Die Another Day
World is Not Enough
Quantum.

As for actors I much prefer Craig.  Bronsnan is weakest (with Lazenby) for me.

[Phoenix87x]

Would people still put Dan's 5 movies over Pierce's 4 movies ?

Pierce kind of got screwed by the material he was given to work with. He really only had one very decent movie with Goldeneye, which is my favorite Bond film overall.

I love Tomorrow never dies but admit that its whacky. And then that's it, I don't watch or like the other two.

Craig on the other hand has Casino Royale and No time to die which I like a lot and Quantum which is a guilty pleasure. I strongly dislike SPECTRE and don't care for Skyfall.

So its almost a stalemate, although I may have to go with pierce solely for Goldeneye

[DoctorAction]

Saw No Time To Die last night. Fantastic, I thought. They wrapped up the Craig run so well. Terrific action and some  real depth and heart in there.

I thought Spectre was a shame as it started so strong, and Skyfall felt a bit forced but they did really well to carry a thread through all these movies.

A great send off for the best Bond yet.

[Zantera]

Just watched Goldfinger (1964) on my Bond-rewatch.

The opening sequence really sets the tone that this is a lot closer to what we know think of as a typical Bond movie than the previous two. Bond appearing in a scuba suit to blow up some building, then later showing to be sporting a white suit underneath to blend in. (Surely this an inspiration for James Cameron with the opening in True Lies?) He also electrocutes an attacker in a hotel room and even does a pun about how shocking the situation was. This definitely feels more comedic than the first two movies and even though we're not in Moonraker territory yet, it feels like a little bit more of a light hearted tone.

Compared to the first two movies, this was the one I remembered/recognized the most parts from. The intro sequence, that Goldfinger card game at the pool, Bond making him lose and his retaliation by having this woman killed and painted gold. Definitely imagery I remembered from my childhood. There's also the first real Bond car with the Aston Martin DB5 and a memorable chase sequence through a forest area where he uses a lot of its gadgets. Oddjob as a henchman was also one of the more memorable villains as a kid and the finale at Fort Knox with a fight scene within the vault felt vaguely familiar as well. Some cheesy and dated effects at the end onboard the airplane but it was a product of its time and still this felt higher budget (apparently the budget of the first 2 combined).

So far I'm debating whether I'd put From Russia With Love or Goldfinger as my nr1 and the other one as 2, Dr. No while enjoyable is still by default nr3 for me as I just thought it was a step below these ones. I guess it depends if you prefer the slightly more humorous Goldfinger which really is the blueprint for the franchise, or if you prefer the slightly slower, a bit more somber From Russia With Love. Also on a side note, my brain keeps wanting to type out "Golfdinger" for some reason.

I'll keep an updated/ongoing rankings as I go through these, for now I think I'll go with:

From Russia With Love
Goldfinger
--
Dr. No

[soupytwist]

Bond is a total c*nt in Goldfinger,  he's also really incompetent - always getting caught and barely achieves anything of note in the entire plot!
It's a weird one - it looks great and some of the dialog is memorable, but to me it's quite overrated.

[Kotowboy]

The Connery era is fa from my favourite. Too dated I think now.

I grew up with Roger Moore and so that's the 'tone' that i associate with Bond.

The Dalton films were a hint at the more serious tone to come but then GoldenEye got the tone about perfect i'd say.

I think for the most part - the Dan Craig era is mostly gritty and lacking the more tongue in cheek elements.

[Zantera]

Bond is a total c*nt in Goldfinger,  he's also really incompetent - always getting caught and barely achieves anything of note in the entire plot!
It's a weird one - it looks great and some of the dialog is memorable, but to me it's quite overrated.

Haha I actually forgot to bring that up but it was something I noticed too. He spends like a good 45 minutes or so in the second half basically being a prisoner. 
Also while all of these movies play into the womanizing aspect, this one felt worse than the previous two in that aspect because in the first 10 minutes he has a woman giving him a massage, and then dismissing her with "It's time for the men to talk" and slapping her butt. I know this is a product of its time but made me chuckle. 

I will say as far as Bond getting captured goes, him being strung up with the laser going towards his groin is such a classic scene though. I mean they even did it in the Simpsons. 

[soupytwist]

Bond is a total c*nt in Goldfinger,  he's also really incompetent - always getting caught and barely achieves anything of note in the entire plot!
It's a weird one - it looks great and some of the dialog is memorable, but to me it's quite overrated.

Haha I actually forgot to bring that up but it was something I noticed too. He spends like a good 45 minutes or so in the second half basically being a prisoner. 
Also while all of these movies play into the womanizing aspect, this one felt worse than the previous two in that aspect because in the first 10 minutes he has a woman giving him a massage, and then dismissing her with "It's time for the men to talk" and slapping her butt. I know this is a product of its time but made me chuckle. 

I will say as far as Bond getting captured goes, him being strung up with the laser going towards his groin is such a classic scene though. I mean they even did it in the Simpsons. 

The line...
"My dear girl, there are some things that just aren't done, such as drinking Dom Perignon '53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit. That's just as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs!"
...makes Bond sound like a right pretentious bellend.   

[Kotowboy]

I wonder what music Bond would put on - or what 'pop' music he'd enjoy.

He's only suave cause he's got an unlimited credit card from the government. I assume that's how he can afford everything. You may die on your mission - so here's unlimited

government money so do whatever it takes but also enjoy yourself. I never got the impression Bond was mega wealthy on his own.

I expect his music taste is either he likes classical music - or he likes bands like Oasis.


he may have gone to the opera in a previous film - but only to spy on someone / obtain info.

[Phoenix87x]

Goldfinger was like the Skyfall of its day. It made a crap ton of cash and was widely enjoyed by most viewers. Also, the 3rd film with its Bond, But just Like Skyfall, I'm not really into it.

The whole section on the horse farm after he gets captured feels like it takes ages, and I just check out until the end. But I'll give it props though for introducing a lot of classic Bond elements like the Aston martin, the gadgets and gimmicky (in a good way) villains such as Oddjob.

Theme song is awesome too.

[Kotowboy]

I really liked Chris Cornell's Casino Royale song. Skyfall too - amazing.

The Jack White one was crap. Didn't hate the Sam Smith one. It was alright.

The worst one has got to be the Madonna one.

[soupytwist]

The worst one has got to be the Madonna one.

Yeah that song, dated really badly.

[Kotowboy]

It was crap at the time.

[Cool Chris]

I don't generally care for Cinemasins (the YT channel) but love their Bond videos, especially the Connery ones. Yes, in Goldfinger he is basically a very fortunate and mildly resourceful prisoner for much of the film. He is so inconsequential to everything that transpires, except for getting Pussy to alert the authorities (or whatever she does, I forgot the details). I assume these were big hits because there really wasn't many films like these at the time.

Favorite songs:

A View to a Kill
Nobody Does It Better
Live and Let Die

The Chris Cornell one, Goldeneye, Skyfall, and Spectre are all solid, though I do not know them as well.

[DoctorAction]

Favourite Bond themes:

From Russia With Love (not a huge crooner fan but Matt Munroe nails it)
View To A Kill
The Living Daylights (the mighty a-ha)
Skyfall

I'm not keen on Sam Smith but his strange tone gave his an interesting, spooky quality, I feel.

[Stadler]

FOR ME, nobody does it better than "Nobody Does It Better" by Carly Simon. That's an almost perfect song, both on it's own and as applied to Bond.   

[Kotowboy]

And as for songs that should have been Bond songs :

Noel Gallagher : Freaky Teeth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEx5ZTjZtwc

[Phoenix87x]

Favorites in no particular order:

License to kill
Goldeneye
SPECTRE by Radiohead
Goldfinger
OHMSS main theme (and We have all the time in the world)
A view to a kill
Tomorrow never dies

[Kotowboy]

Obviously I can't remember all 25 or whatever - but Die Another Day and the Jack White one are both terrible.

Also I unironically love A View To A Kill - film and song. I need to see it again.

It was probably the Bond I watched most as a kid aside from Moonraker.

[Zantera]

Just finished watching Thunderball and I would say after the last few that I feel mildly disappointed.

Being a 'prime Sean Connery' Bond film and being 4th in the order, I was surprised at how little I recognized from this film from back when I was a kid. The 'spinebreaker' machine at the Spa and the jetpack aside, I don't know if there was anything else I really remembered from this. This one kinda takes time to really get going IMO. We spend a decent chunk of time with some story elements happening with the bad guys while James is chilling at the Spa/Health clinic and the first 30 minutes or so felt pretty slow and almost like filler. The plot sounds classic Bond on paper with bad guys stealing atomic bombs and demanding money for them, but a lot of the middle really dragged for me. Maybe the greatest strengths of this film were some nice looking underwater shots and that's my main takeaway from this movie, but by the end of it they're almost overdoing it because none of the action set pieces on land really stood out to me as particularly memorable. The theme song was alright, the Bond girl was fairly forgettable and the bad guy almost felt like a parody with the eye patch and the shark pool. I know that's not this movie's fault that other movies have spoofed those traits after the fact, but looking back at it now with all of that since this movie came out, it was slightly humorous.

In terms of ranking I feel this wasn't as good as From Russia With Love or Goldfinger, though I do think it's debatable whether it's better or worse than Dr. No. Dr. No was perhaps a bit more streamlined but Sean Connery has grown into the role more by Thunderball and I do think the underwater shots were pretty good. I'll have to think about which one I'd place at #3 and #4 for now, but I think I'm leaning towards Thunderball at #3. Curious which one you guys prefer? Next week it's "You Only Live Twice"!

[Phoenix87x]

I'm pretty divided on Thunderball,


Memorable stuff

1. SPECTRE board room scene
2. Number 2 with the eye patch is iconic (although super cliche now a days)
3. I think he got the point, with the spear gun.
4. M's conference with all the 00 agents. If you look close enough 003 is a woman which is very cool.


Stuff that's off

1. Jet pack is kinda cool, kinda whacky
2. Underwater battle between a bunch of dudes (redone even whackier in moonraker)
3. The stretch machine
4. The many parts where it drags and gets boring.


Overall, I rarely have a desire to re-watch it. I think it had a lot of potential, but just fell flat. As flawed as it is though, I'll take this over Never say never again.

[ZirconBlue]

Note that the "non-canon" Bond film, Never Say Never Again is actually a remake of Thunderball.

[fadetoblackdude7]

Note that the "non-canon" Bond film, Never Say Never Again is actually a remake of Thunderball.

Yup. Which is why I never include it.

[Phoenix87x]

In the pre-internet days of my youth, it would confuse the hell out of me that they were basically the same movie, lol.

[Zantera]

I am planning on doing Never Say Never Again on my re-watch as well but hearing that it is essentially a worse Thunderball doesn't get me hyped. 

[Kotowboy]

I get paid tomorrow and it's a nice chunk. So I *might* go and see " No Time to Ever Live and Let Die Another Day " at the cinema this weekend.

[soupytwist]

I am planning on doing Never Say Never Again on my re-watch as well but hearing that it is essentially a worse Thunderball doesn't get me hyped. 

Never Say Never is bad - probably the only Bond movie I'd rank lower is QoS.  It also has Bond playing some really naff video game against the villain, that seems to involve firing nukes and actual physical pain.  Fatima Blush is a good Bond girl though, and the best thing about it.

[Phoenix87x]

Yeah, Never say never again just has an aura about it the whole time of "why bother?"

Same actor playing Bond, same exact story, yet here we go again. It brings nothing new to the table and is just very meh.

[Cool Chris]

When I first saw it as a kid that video game was one of the most awesome things I'd ever seen in a movie.

[ZirconBlue]

Yeah, Never say never again just has an aura about it the whole time of "why bother?"

Same actor playing Bond, same exact story, yet here we go again. It brings nothing new to the table and is just very meh.

Well, it is the only Bond film to really acknowledge an aging Bond and how he fits in with changing times.