The James Bond Thread

[El Barto]

Coming off two films I always highly enjoyed, I have so little recollection of this one. I know the awesome parachute scene at the beginning, leading in to the great opening theme, Jaws, the beautiful Barbara Bach, and very little else. I have no idea what Stromberg's(?) evil plan was. I remember last time I watched it years ago, I came away at the end thinking how it felt like so little happened throughout that ~2 hours.

I do remember it blew my mind with the gal addressed Q as Major Boothroyd. HOW DID SHE KNOW HIS NAME?!

It's been a while, but I believe Stromberg was going to raise the sea levels to create his own island and reboot humanity. Shame that it's been so long because it's one of my top three, as well. The locations were great. The stunts were great. Barbara Bach looked great. Definitely a winner.

The mistake the Daniel Craig films made was trying to make everything personal. We learn about his childhood, the main villain is his step-brother (eye-roll), his motivation is to save his family, he has TWO serious relationships throughout the series. It was an interesting take on the character, but it didn’t work for me

Bond has an appeal because he’s (usually) OUTSIDE of the plot. He’s a fly in the “bad guy’s” ointment, a monkey in the wrench, the foil for the evil international organization. He places himself into a situation way bigger than him but somehow saves the world and gets the girl in the end. You can dress it up anyway you want, with varying levels of seriousness/comedy but THAT’S the Bond formula.

Excellent take. I've always had a different problem with the Craig movies, which is that he's so utterly depressing and joyless. True to the original character, I know, but not what I want to see in a movie. That does tie right in with what you're saying, though. He's never really the outsider. Detachment is a key thing with the early Bonds. Connery never seemed to honestly care if the diabolical plan succeeded or not. He just wanted to have a good time and thwarting it was how he got his kicks.

[Phoenix87x]

I'm not really into the Craig ones either for those same reasons mentioned above. 

[Volante99]

With all of that said…Casino Royale is still in my top 5 Bond movies (maybe top 3 on a good day). While the whole Daniel Craig series as a whole could have used more humor/joy- his first movie was a much needed course correction after Die Another Day, which is not only the worst Bond film in the series, I actually rank it amongst one of the worst major studio films I’ve ever seen.

[soupytwist]

In gaming terms : I love Casino Royale but always think of Quantum as a really shitty and rushed out expansion/DLC for it. 

Spy is a good Bond film, but the actual character of Bond is really annoying in it - Roger normally walked just on the right side of smug, obnoxious prick, but here he crosses the line.  The scene where Triple X is trying to drive the van, while Jaws is ripping it apart is so cringe as Bond delivers about 10 awful quips in a row.  It used to be my favourite Roger Bond film, but I think For Your Eyes Only has surpassed it on recent rewatches.

[Volante99]

Quantum isn’t good but I think it’s a bit unfairly maligned- it’s a middle to middle bottom of the series- there are some good moments- like the Opera scene where Bond exposes all the Quantum group. QoS SHOULD have been the introduction to Spectre though. Basically, Bond should have slowly moved his way to the top of the organization with the ending culminating with the introduction of Blofeld as the puppet master then you lead into the final confrontation/showdown in the next movie (I would have combined the Silva and Blofeld characters)- Blofeld could have been a disgruntled former MI6 agent bent on world domination (rather than him being Bond’s bitter step-brother, ugh). BOOM- there you have a good 3 story trilogy arc.

[Phoenix87x]

Outside of the underwhelming villain Dominik Green, I have always enjoyed QoS. But I will fully admit it has its flaws.

I know they didn't have the SPECTRE rights at first, but switching gears mid race from Quantum to SPECTRE was very sloppily done and didn't do the Craig saga any favors.

[soupytwist]

Quantum is by far my worst.
Crap villain with a crap evil plan (stealing water...), Crap theme song, crappy quick cut action sequences that completely remove any sense of geography and even for a Craig bond it lacks any humour or fun. 

[Zantera]

As I'm going through the older ones, I definitely feel my overall opinion on the Craig era getting a bit lukewarm. That's not to say there's not great movies (Casino Royale and Skyfall are up there) but the overall serious portrayal of the character and them pushing a 'everything is connected' storyline that carries over are some negatives for me as well. Craig did give us a more Jason Bourne-style Bond and he is a fit with the more brutish Bond who can pack a punch but I do feel he lacks a bit in the charm area and I think he'll end up in my bottom 3 when I finalize my thoughts after re-watching all of them.

Speaking of the re-watching, I'm probably doing Moonraker today or tomorrow and then I'm hopeful I might be able to get 2 or 3 more out of the way this week - gotta take advantage of the extra time off from work, because once work starts again it's back to limited time. 

[Zantera]

Alright let's get silly and talk about Moonraker (1979).

Usually when a franchise goes to space whether it's James Bond, Friday the 13th or Hellraiser - it's usually the moment they jump the shark and have completely ran out of ideas. This was one I remembered pretty decently from my childhood, but then again just the fact you can say "It's the Bond movie where he goes to space" kinda separates it from all the rest of them. I can totally understand why some might have this close to the bottom of their rankings if they prefer a more grounded Bond movie, but I can also see why some have it fairly high because it is very entertaining and as skeptical I was about the silliness of the space part, that actually ended up being the strongest part of the movie to me.

But if we go back to the start I think the opening is fairly decent with Bond escaping out of a plane and acquiring a parachute mid air. It's a fairly thrilling sequence and we get to see Jaws again - I'll get back to him. The main story itself feels slightly weak but we're soon introduced to Drax who for some reason reminded me a bit of Peter Dinklage - both the look of him but also the way he spoke. I will say that the first half of the movie or so feels a bit by-the-numbers and we get a few set pieces almost out of obligation at this point. A chase in the canals of Venice, another chase in Rio where Bond escapes with a glider and you get some hilarious greenscreen shots. But I do think the final chunk of the movie actually does a lot to redeem it. While Jaws is portrayed as more comedic and silly in this movie (even getting his own love interest) I actually liked the 'twist' of him helping Bond at the end and changing sides. And while the plot itself isn't super interesting, I do think everything on the Space Station at the end is enjoyable to watch. I'm not a 100% sure on how to rank this with the rest because it comes down to enjoyment vs quality but I think at least the last portion brought enjoyment and that alone bumps it up a bit for me.

Current ranking would look something like:

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (GL)
From Russia With Love (SC)
The Spy Who Loved Me (RM)
You Only Live Twice (SC)
Live and Let Die (RM)
Goldfinger (SC)
The Man With the Golden Gun (RM)
Thunderball (SC)
Moonraker (RM)
Dr. No (SC)
Diamonds Are Forever (SC)

But a few of these I do consider in contention - like I probably enjoyed Moonraker more than Thunderball but the latter felt like a better made film, I'm still very undecided on the Spy Who Loved Me/You Only Live Twice/Live and Let Die/Goldfinger portion of my list as I consider all 4 of those pretty equal.

Next up (probably tomorrow) I'll do For Your Eyes Only which should be interesting because it's a title that doesn't evoke any memories at all, unlike Moonraker, Octopussy or A View to a Kill (where I can remember scenes/actors from the movie without thinking) so I'm kinda curious to revisit this one to see if there's anything I remember and also if I like it or not.

[El Barto]

Next up (probably tomorrow) I'll do For Your Eyes Only which should be interesting because it's a title that doesn't evoke any memories at all, unlike Moonraker, Octopussy or A View to a Kill (where I can remember scenes/actors from the movie without thinking) so I'm kinda curious to revisit this one to see if there's anything I remember and also if I like it or not.

For Your Eyes Only is highly underrated. After Moonraker they toned things way down and made a somewhat more serious movie, just when it was needed. I always hated Moonraker, and unfortunately it came at entirely the wrong time. Moore was really hitting his stride, and Golden Gun, Spy, and FYEO was a great run save for a turd stuck right in the middle of it.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (GL)
From Russia With Love (SC)
The Spy Who Loved Me (RM)
You Only Live Twice (SC)
Live and Let Die (RM)
Goldfinger (SC)
The Man With the Golden Gun (RM)
Thunderball (SC)
Moonraker (RM)
Dr. No (SC)
Diamonds Are Forever (SC)

That's actually a pretty good ranking, though I didn't care for OHMSS, mostly because I didn't like TS's Blofeld.

[Phoenix87x]

Sure, Moonraker went off the rails but I've always loved it. I've certainly never been bored watching it.

I think one of my favorite moments in the entire series is when Jaws is chasing them in the carnival parade, can't get to them since he's caught in the crowd. Just says fuck it and starts partying and dancing 

Another interesting aspect of this movie is it has a supposed Mandela effect and I swear to god that I thought Jaw's girlfriend had braces, lol. And it would have worked nice since it compliments Jaw's teeth. I definitely prefer the reality/universe/dimension where she had them, lol.

[Zantera]

Getting through these quite fast with time off, just finished For Your Eyes Only (1981).

Right off the bat I definitely remembered/recognized the intro sequence where you think "Blofeld" has the upper hand on Bond only for him to turn the tables and drop "Blofeld" into a chimney. I would say as far as openings go, this is probably one of the most memorable out of the bunch but I would also say it feels slightly controversial. I know there were some rights issues with the use of Blofeld and Spectre and I guess that's why they didn't use any of that in the Roger Moore films, however this feels almost like a wink-wink "these kind of villains of the franchise are silly so lets kill him in a funny way". And I think having finished the movie and seen the rather generic/forgettable villain they did end up with, having some fun at Blofeld's expense feels maybe a bit silly. Sure you can poke fun of the bald guy in his wheelchair with a white cat being a silly villain, but Blofeld is very memorable at least.

This is a pretty entertaining movie though and unlike some other films where I've criticized them for dragging in the first half, I think this one actually has a decent amount of steam through most of its runtime. If there's any negative though I feel the plot itself is very forgettable to the point where 45 minutes into the movie, I had completely forgotten about the sunk submarine from the start of the movie considering the great fun set pieces of the car chase in Italy and the Ski chase had very little to do with that plot (it felt like). But those sequences were quite thrilling and they also brought back Bond playing cards at a casino table which feels like it had been absent for a while in these films. There's still some silly things like Bond fighting some hockey players and the little love thing between him and the young ice skater (mostly from her side) kinda feels awkward because Roger Moore looks a lot older.

The underwater sequence was when I started to feel slightly bored and was worried that the ending would be a let down but I think it picks up again when Bond and the Bond-girl are dragged behind the villain's boat on a rope and I quite liked the setting for the end with the fort up on the big hill and Bond scaling it to infiltrate. Overall this might not beat out Live and Let Die or The Spy Who Loved Me in terms of Roger Moore movies, however I do think it's very entertaining and quality-wise I would put it on the level of The Man With the Golden Gun. I think that movie has a stronger villain who delivers a more memorable performance, and the climax is possibly stronger, but this one felt more enjoyable all the way through. Not top tier Bond, but you could have this on in the background and get a lot of enjoyment from the multiple set pieces IMO.

Next up I will do Octopussy before taking a quick break from Roger Moore to do Never Say Never Again with Connery (I had to double check which one came out first in 83) before finishing the Moore run with A View to a Kill. I remember a decent amount from Octopussy actually, I think it was one of those I watched the most as a kid (I think my dad had taped it on VHS) and I remember Roger Moore as a clown, something about faberge eggs, I think there's a train, set in India and Maud Addams returning. Never Say Never Again isn't part of the official run but I know a lot of people include it, and a lot of people strongly dislike it so I can't say my hopes are that big there.  I remember some stuff from A View to a Kill as well, Roger Moore looking VERY old, Christopher Walken, Grace Jones, and I think this was also one I saw a lot as a kid.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (GL)
From Russia With Love (SC)
The Spy Who Loved Me (RM)
You Only Live Twice (SC)
Live and Let Die (RM)
Goldfinger (SC)
For Your Eyes Only (RM)
The Man With the Golden Gun (RM)
Thunderball (SC)
Moonraker (RM)
Dr. No (SC)
Diamonds Are Forever (SC)

[soupytwist]

Octopussy is bad with a seriously confused plot, I still have no idea what's going on with those eggs!  It's a toss up for me if this or Golden Gun for Rogers weakest outing.

[Zantera]

Octopussy is bad with a seriously confused plot, I still have no idea what's going on with those eggs!  It's a toss up for me if this or Golden Gun for Rogers weakest outing.

Haha your thoughts on the plot lines up with what I was thinking last night when I watched Octopussy (1983). 

So I guess first thing's first - this movie is by no means a great Bond movie. Heck, I'd even hesitate to say it's good. I did find it watchable but I also think a lot of it is for nostalgic reasons as I found myself remembering a decent chunk of this from my childhood. If we start with the positives I think the opening bit with 009 as a clown being chased and assassinated is fairly memorable and does its best to catch your interest. I think most of the India stuff is fun when it's on screen and I get similar enjoyment as I did from Moonraker's final act where it's not top-tier Bond stuff but the things that are happening are fairly entertaining to watch. I did make a note that this movie felt a bit inspired by Indiana Jones and I noted the dinner scene when Moore is served really disgusting looking food had a striking resemblance to a similar scene in Temple of Doom, but I realized Temple of Doom came out the next year so either they got that from Octopussy or it was just a coincidence. I did enjoy the villains in a 'saturday morning cartoon show' kind of way, you have Kamal Khan who is meant to be this imposing bad guy but every 5 minutes he's like "oh gosh darnit, Bond outsmarted me again" and you also have the big muscular stonefaced indian henchman who I don't even know if his name was revealed?

But like you said, the plot feels really weak this time. I actually looked up some reviews to gain some insight into what I just witnessed and some guy said he had seen it 4 times and still had no idea how the faberge eggs were connected to the nuclear warheads and I must admit I didn't really pick up on that either. With a couple of these Bond movies, I feel maybe especially in the Roger Moore era, it feels like the plot took the backseat and it became more about "getting to the next fun set piece" and never has that felt more clear than with Octopussy. Roger Moore also looks visibly old and tired at this point (though we're not at A View to a Kill yet) and the story is maybe the weakest it has been, however I can't even put this one at the bottom because I did get enjoyment out of some of those action parts. There's a fun little sequence at the start when Bond flies a plane, there's a pretty good little chase through the streets of India and I enjoyed the train sequence. This doesn't belong that high up my list, but if I had to put on a movie just for entertainment I do think this one would beat out a few of my other bottom picks. But I'm also willing to admit that a huge part of that is probably nostalgia, and I remember this being one of the Bond movies I watched the most as a kid as we had it on VHS.

Today I will do Never Say Never Again and depending on time, A View to a Kill (if I don't find time for both I'll do the latter tomorrow) 

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (GL)
From Russia With Love (SC)
The Spy Who Loved Me (RM)
You Only Live Twice (SC)
Live and Let Die (RM)
Goldfinger (SC)
For Your Eyes Only (RM)
The Man With the Golden Gun (RM)
Thunderball (SC)
Moonraker (RM)
Octopussy (RM)
Dr. No (SC)
Diamonds Are Forever (SC)

[Zantera]

Apologies for spamming but I've really been in the mood for movies so I also did Never Say Never Again (1983).

This might be a shorter write-up because this is the weakest one so far for me. I was lukewarm on Thunderball as you guys might remember, and even though I knew about the script and how this was made and that it was essentially a remake, the sort of note I made after this was "Like Thunderball but worse". If Roger looked tired and old in Octopussy I don't think Sean looks any better in this and even though you have some recognizable faces appearing in this - Kim Basinger, Max Von Sydow and Mr. Bean himself, Rowan Atkinson, it never really amounted to much enjoyment. I think the most fun I had was the first appearance of Q when he and Bond has some banter about 'slashing the budget' (which I thought was a reference to this film but apparently it had a 10 mil higher budget than Octopussy) as well as Q telling Bond that he hopes with him back that we'll get "lots of sex and explosions" (or something to that affect).

Ultimately though this was a very lukewarm viewing experience without any real highpoints to it. And even though I still have plenty of movies left in the series I could say with some confidence that I think this might remain the bottom spot simply because there's no reason to watch this. And it feels like such a shame that the great Irvin Kershner who made The Empire Strikes Back made this film which just feels so bland. I also wanted to mention the scene where Bond plays some sort of Battleship videogame against the bad guy and it just felt so silly. Thunderball is a better version of this story and I didn't even feel that strongly about Thunderball!

[fadetoblackdude7]

The Indian Henchman’s name from Octopussy is Gobinda. They say it once I believe

[Cool Chris]

I said this previously in this thread, but when I saw it as a kid, that video game was one of the most awesome things I had ever seen in a movie. I do not recall anything else from that film but it's probably been 20+ years since I've seen it. 

For Your Eyes Only was a favorite from my youth. I thought the ending rock climbing bit was a bit too slow but maybe I just didn't appreciate the tension it was trying to build at that age. I do remembering also liking how Bond had to keep rebuffing the figure skater, and that Bond tossed the ATAC and declared it "Detente" to General Gogol. A cool Cold War moment, I thought.

[Zantera]

It's been a rough patch in this franchise with the last couple and it's not getting much better yet with A View to a Kill (1985). 

When the theme song to your Bond movie is the best thing about it, you know that's a warning sign. I'm sure some people don't like it but I've been getting into these 80s bands as I've grown older and while I haven't heard much Duran Duran, I thought the theme song to this was great and one of my favorites so far. If we stick with positives I will say that Christopher Walken is captivating as always and Grace Jones make for a memorable henchman, and when the two of them are on screen - much like Christopher Lee in TMWTGG, the movie is fairly enjoyable. And just from a personal point of view, I remembered a decent amount from this film and recognized most of the first half with all the horse-related stuff but also the sequence at the Eiffel tower.

But Roger Moore looks really old and tired and even though he's in decent shape for 58, you get some distractingly obvious younger stuntmen, and the main romance feels very awkward. I also can't help but shake the feeling of "Been there done that" through most of the movie whether it's the skiing action scene at the start or the firetruck chase later in the movie, nothing about this really feels particularly memorable or interesting. I mentioned Walken and Jones before and I feel like the script lets them down and I can't help but feel that any movie that wastes Walken is just a missed opportunity. I feel quite similar to this as I did with Connery's "real" final outing - Diamonds are Forever, where you can kinda tell their heart isn't in it as much, they look visibly old and nothing about the script really stands out. For me it's a toss up of which one of these I will rank lower than the other, I think A View to Kill does have a fairly memorable first half (mostly cause I saw it a lot as a kid) and the climax at the Golden Gate Bridge, but there's probably a good hour between that which is entirely forgettable.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (GL)
From Russia With Love (SC)
The Spy Who Loved Me (RM)
You Only Live Twice (SC)
Live and Let Die (RM)
Goldfinger (SC)
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)

[Phoenix87x]

For your eyes only - meh (but when he kicks the car off the cliff is cool)

Octapussy -meh

Never say never again- meh

A view to a kill - meh (but Walken is cool)

[Cool Chris]

For your eyes only - meh (but when he kicks the car off the cliff is cool)

Forgot about that scene, always liked that as well. I don't need Bond to be a cold-blooded killer or even Jack Reacher, but sometimes it is a little personal.

A View to a Kill had to have been my first Bond film in a theater. If I had seen Bond movies before that on TV, which knowing my mom's love for them, I am sure I did, this was the first I was able to appreciate as a growing kid able to follow a complex (well, for me at the time) plot and such. I saw bits on TV recently and was surprised how much was familiar. I probably haven't watched it straight through in 20 years. Top notch theme as well. And a great music video.

[soupytwist]

Now onto the best Bond, Dalton.  Both movies are pretty great, but Daltons performance pushes then into top tier category.

[Zantera]

Before sleep yesterday I watched The Living Daylights (1987) and curious how controversial this will be but I think this is my favorite so far out of the re-watch.

Timothy Dalton comes in with a very energetic performance and I'm slightly biased as I remember having a big fondness for him as a kid as well, but to me he just perfectly plays the character of Bond. I think he brings the slightly more serious tone (with a few comedic lines) but he feels like a bit of a tortured soul and someone who has been through the ringer. Right off the bat I think the training mission gone wrong is a good intro and I loved that shot of the agents jumping out of the plane. I would say the first hour or so of this movie is nonstop fantastic top-tier Bond as we get a great proper opening with Bond as a sniper trying to smuggle a Russian defector out of Czechoslovakia. There's a fun scene of the milkman infiltrating the secret service base to bring the Russian back which results in a good kitchen fight scene. But probably the greatest set piece for me was the whole car chase with Bond and Kara escaping the country into Austria. They brought back the Aston Martin and this model looks really good, it has some great gadgets (using a laser to separate a police car from its wheels was fun) and at this point I couldn't believe I never heard that many positives about this movie because I was really loving it.

I do think the second half loses some steam though and the Afghanistan chunk of the movie isn't AS exciting but I still found myself really interested. For me what really makes this movie is Dalton though and even though I like the other Bonds as well, I think the fact I like him so much probably helps paper over some cracks that I will admit are still there. I like his chemistry with Kara and I like how she is there for the whole ride of this movie and I also like his friendship with Saunders and when the latter is killed, there's a great emotional reaction by Dalton before he pursues the killer. The highlight in the second half for me was probably the cargo plane part with Bond and the bad guy hanging off the back on the net - quite thrilling. If I were to say any negatives though I will say the bad guys in this movie don't really stand out too much but also the way they are taken out in a short scene after the real movie 'ends' feels a bit awkward. Like Bond wraps up the Afghanistan part and then goes to the bad guy's home and takes him out. I also wanted to bring up actors I recognize from other things like John Rhys-Davies (Gimli himself) as General Pushkin, John Terry as Felix Leiter (Christian Shepherd in Lost) and Art Malik who plays Kamran Shah (the main terrorist in True Lies), seeing them kinda brought a smile to my face.

I feel quite conflicted how to rank this though because a part of me is tempted to put this at the top of the movie's I've seen so far, but another part of me is whispering "No but you can't put it over On Her Majesty's Secret Service or From Russia With Love because those are classics". I was pleasantly surprised because from my memory, the Dalton movies had the reputation of "License to Kill is really great and then there's the other one" but I thought this one was really strong. I'm very hyped for License to Kill now. I also quite dug the theme song to this, maybe not as much as A View to a Kill but still a solid one. I know in general people either seem to love Dalton or be quite lukewarm on him so I'm not sure how this opinion will go down here. 

[Phoenix87x]

I'm pretty mixed on Living Daylights.

Starts out incredible and I truly love the beginning half of the film, but the second they step into Afghanistan I just want to turn it off. And because of that, I rarely watch this one.

While I love Dalton in other stuff (like hotfuzz), I just was never too hot on him as Bond. Pierce is more my cup of tea and knowing that this movie was supposed to have him, makes me wish it just was him instead. Dalton does a great job though, its just not my flavor.

Also, I could never take Joe don baker's character seriously as a villain. Just some grown ass guy that likes to play with army men and toys, and who acts goofy. He also wears a military uniform, but is he even in a military or just role playing. That character alone is a big part of why I don't ever watch The Living daylights.

[Cool Chris]

I forgot Joe Don Baker was in this. In fact, reading Zantera's post made me realize how much of this film I've forgotten. Joe Don Baker was so good as CIA agent Wade in the Brosnan films. What's up with this franchise casting the same actor in different roles across multiple films??

[Volante99]

Top 10 Bond films for me

1. Goldfinger
2. Goldeneye
3. Casino Royale
4. From Russia With Love
5. The Spy Who Loved Me
6. You Only Live Twice
7. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
8. The Man with the Golden Gun
9. For Your Eyes Only
10. Diamonds Are Forever (guilty pleasure pick- so bad it’s good)

The rest all hover between meh to mediocre- all are watchable, though, and not the WORST way to spend two hours, with the exception of Die Another Day; the worst of the series, absolutely dreadful- kill it with fire.

Most overrated- Skyfall, OHMSS (sorely missing Connery here, good but not top tier)

Most underrated- Quantum of Solace (not as bad as it’s reputation), Tomorrow Never Dies/World is Not Enough (have their flaws but overall solid entries- lots to like here)

[Zantera]

Coming in with probably a very hot take and my thoughts on License to Kill (1989) - the final outing of Timothy Dalton and what I would consider the last Bond movie of the 'classic' era, as the 6 year gap to GoldenEye and the re-casting of Bond always made me look at those movies forward as more of a 'modern Bond', and before that they seemed to crank these movies out every 2 years or so.

So I really liked this movie. Spoilers. I've looked around and this seems to be a fairly controversial one because people either have it in their top10 or it's fairly low and very rarely do I see it in people's top 5 or so. It doesn't really feel like the other Bond movies that came before it and I think that could be viewed as a positive and a negative, there's not as much humor and the story is fairly dark, the portrayal of Bond is very detached from Roger Moore doing silly faces and Tarzan yells just a couple of years prior. I think back to when Daniel Craig took over and there was a lot of praise for the more dark/serious take on Bond and I kinda feel like this movie had already done that. No disrespect to Craig, but License to Kill in my opinion does a lot of the great things that the Craig movies did, except 15-20 years earlier.

But if we start at the beginning, I really like the opening where they catch our main bad guy Sanchez by hooking his plane to their helicopter in a scene that reminded me a bit of the opening to Dark Knight Rises. I like the set up of Felix getting married and I like what happens to him and his wife that sets the story up for Bond to go rogue. The movie feels very 80s and I could see this going down as a strong negative for people but as a big fan of 80s action, it felt a bit refreshing that this movie changed the mood a bit. There's even a scene later when Q shows up to introduce new classical silly gadgets to Bond and I love the way Timothy Dalton responds to it almost in a "We don't have time for this" way by telling them they should all get some sleep instead. 

I liked the Bond-girl in The Living Daylights and how her innocence felt like a nice compliment to Dalton's portrayal of Bond but for other reasons I really liked Carey Lowell as Pam in this one. She felt like a very capable Bond girl who brought something other than looking pretty, and there's a great first proper meeting between her and Bond at a small bar where she asks him if he is packing - and a funny payoff with him showing his tiny gun and her showing a shotgun. That whole part is great, they escape, she gets shot but it becomes clear that she can carry her own weight and becomes a good sidekick to him.

I like Bond infiltrating the Sanchez organization because for a movie franchise about a secret spy, it feels like infiltrating hasn't always been a big plot point in many of the films. I also really like the bad guys - the main guy Sanchez (Robert Davi) might feel like your typical drug baron, and a young Benicio Del Toro is to some extent the typical 'loose cannon' hotshot henchman who will kinda do crazy things. But they feel like realistic real villains in a more real world and the whole drug plot (while very 80's) feels refreshing after so many movies where a guy wants to rule the world. And finally I need to talk about the tanker chase sequence at the end because that is quite possibly the strongest action set piece so far of the franchise (17 movies in) and parts of it almost felt like a homage to Mad Max. For a movie I had highly enjoyed up to that point, this whole ending was the cherry on top like they say. Just a wonderful thrilling action scene.

License to Kill was a blast to me, but I can see why some people might not like it. It doesn't really have that Bond-feel to it, and you do get less jokes than most of the other ones. I gotta give some props to director John Glen though because while he made some of the weakest entries to the franchise IMO (Octopussy and A View to a Kill), I think that the two Dalton movies more than make up for that. My final controversial take will be that I'm placing this as my nr1 for now - but I have a strong hunch that it will be dethroned because there are 2 more Bond movies to go that I have seen more times that I know are very high for me.


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)
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)

[Phoenix87x]

There's a great movie in License to Kill, but its not my thing. And I've never really enjoyed it since it doesn't feel like a bond movie.

[soupytwist]

Dalton is the best Bond, shame he's replaced by the bland department store model Brosnan.  Could you imagine what Dalton could have done with Goldeneye (they should have cast Sean Bean as Bond, not the villain).
Oh well on to Brosnans bland BMW driving corporate Bond...Goldeneye is a classic.  Tomorrow is decent mainly for Michelle Yeoh (terrible villain though).  World is not Enough is tedious and had the blandest action setpieces of the modern Bonds.  Die Another Day is crap, but it's slightly better than World as it's never boring, it's just utterly stupid.

[Zantera]

Before I get into GoldenEye next I should say I do like Brosnan (partly because he was 'MY' Bond growing up as he was the face of the franchise when I got into it) and he feels like a nice amalgamation of Connery and Moore where he has touches of both and I do think he's fairly solid. He's mostly let down by the movies themselves. As great as I think GoldenEye is (this will be clear soon) I would have almost given anything for a third Dalton movie though!

[Cool Chris]

Brosnan...feels like a nice amalgamation of Connery and Moore where he has touches of both and I do think he's fairly solid. He's mostly let down by the movies themselves.

That's been my feeling for a while. Moore was my "growing" up, and I felt Brosnan was a reasonable extension of the role. It helped I knew him from Remington Steele. I don't think I ever watched it, but maybe my mom did and that gave me some familiarity.

I love me some Sean Bean, and thought he was stellar in Goldeneye, especially after coming off so many forgettable villains. It has never occurred to me what he would have been like in the 007 role.

[Phoenix87x]

I love Sean Bean and wouldn't have minded seeing him given a shot as Bond, but ultimately I think he works better as a villain. Would have been interesting though.

Thoroughly enjoy Brosnan, I just think he had bad material to work with outside of Goldeneye.

[fadetoblackdude7]

GoldenEye features some recycled elements from what was supposed to be Dalton’s third film.

[Zantera]

I just finished my re-watch of GoldenEye (1995) and from now on I think the tempo until the end will pick up as I'm more familiar with these movies and have seen all of them fairly recently and I already have a lot of thoughts to compile before even re-watching them again.

So this is one that I went into this whole franchise re-watch expecting to come out as my nr1 or nr2 and having just finished it, I think that will end up being the case. There's only 1 more movie to go that I hold in a similar regard so it might be a neck-and-neck situation. While I think overall the Brosnan era is looked back on with disappointment because of the decline in quality of the films, I do think it's almost universally agreed that this is not only his best but one of the stand out entries of the whole franchise. I do think nostalgia plays a part for me because this was the first movie to come out after I was born and even though I was only 4 years old when this was released, I remember those next couple of years around 97-98 that this movie made the rounds for us kids and also the video game for N64 played a huge part in getting you into this character. I never had a N64 myself, I actually had a PS1 and my first owned Bond game was the Tomorrow Never Dies one, but anywhere I went to see friends, they all seemed to have N64 and this game, and also the movie poster. It was one of the first movies I remember from my childhood that you had to see because everyone around you were talking about it and referencing it.

With that set up out of the way, I think the opening to this is just classic. The bungee jump down the wall, the infiltration of the facility, meeting 006 and that wonderful climax where Bond drives off the cliff on a bike, glides into the falling plane and manages to pull it up just before it hits the mountains - just a fantastic opening. If License to Kill can be faulted for not being enough like a 007 film, this movie almost feels like a "Greatest Hits" movie bringing back so many elements from the franchise and also giving a new fresh 90's update to it. Following that intro you have a light hearted cat and mouse car race in the mountains between Bond and Onatopp which feels like classic Bond and soon after he makes his entrance at the casino to play opposite her. On the villain side I think this movie is very memorable - 006 himself revealed as a traitor feels like someone who can actually match Bond in combat, Onatopp is a memorable henchman (henchwoman?) reminding me of the days of Jaws and Oddjob (with her taking sexual pleasure in killing and also squeezing the life out of men) and you also have the russian general Ourumov who feels like a nod to the older Bond films, and also Boris - the traitorous computer hacker who just has a weird personality.

It's not just the bad guys that stand out/feel solid but also the locations and the set pieces. That middle action sequence where Bond drives a tank through the streets of Russia is a lot of fun to watch and even as the movie reaches its final third you still get some call backs to previous Bond movies with the part on the train, but also the finale with the hidden base under the lake which feels very You Only Live Twice-inspired. That final fight sequence on top of the giant antenna is really exciting to watch and it's one of those locations that just really stand out. There's also some more fun infused into this and even though I loved License to Kill for being different and more serious, GoldenEye really does feel like a "lets take it back to the formula" movie. I mentioned the scene Dalton had with Q in the last movie and how he almost brushed aside the new gadgets with a "We're not doing this anymore" attitude. In GoldenEye you have a really fun scene with Brosnan and Q where they are having a lot of fun with new gadgets and that felt closer to the Moore days, without taking it too far. Also gotta mention Martin Campbell as the director because he is IMO the best director of the franchise.

The only real negative for my money which didn't hurt my enjoyment is that if you really love some of the older movies, this could maybe feel like too much of a rehash of those days. I think the goal was to make an updated modern Bond with a lot of elements of the golden days of Connery and the popularity of the Moore days, and IMO they did a good job doing that.

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)
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)

[Phoenix87x]

Not only is Goldeneye my favorite Bond movie, but its one of my top favorite films of all time. From the beginning to the end, I absolutely love it.

And I played the ever living crap out of the video game as well.

[soupytwist]

Goldeneye is about number 5 for me, but would be 3rd (Daylights and Casino are untouchable in 1 and 2) if it had a better actor as Bond.  As someone said Brosnan incorporates aspects of Moore and Connery - but the bad aspects! Connerys arrogance and Moore's smugness and also like Moore, Brosnan just doesn't look right doing action or running, too stiff/inflexable - whereas you can believe Connery, Dalton and Craig in the action moments.  Also and this isn't Brosnan's fault his era is the era of product placement, ropey 90's CGI and seemingly random no name directors.  But I can't argue against the awesomeness of Goldeneye it's a great script with solid action............and Famke and Sean completely steal the film