46 replies to this topic

[the villain's architect]

Here's my list (The main reason for the rank is bold)
1. Lewis Gilbert (YOLT, TSWLM, MR)
2. Terence Young (DN, FRWL, TB)
3. Martin Campbell (GE, CR)
4. Peter Hunt (OHMSS)
5. John Glen (FYEO, OP, AVTAK, TLD, LTK)
6. Roger Spottiswoode (TND)
7. Michael Apted (TWINE)
8. Guy Hamilton (GF, DAF, LALD, TMWGG)
9. Irvin Kershner (NSNA)
10. Lee Tamahori (DAD)
11. Ken Hughes, John Huston, Joseph McGrath, Robert Parrish, Val Guest (CR 1967)

I love the three outlandish Bond movies of Gilbert. But Young is a close second. Somehow I don't forgive Hamilton the mess at the end of DAF.

[sharpshooter]

My favourite director is Martin Campbell. He made my two favourite Bond films, GoldenEye and Casino Royale respectively.

[Judo chop]

1. Young.
2. Hunt.

Then, Gilbert and Campbell side by side.

Then the rest, with Apted bringing up the rear.







Then Glen.

[Mr. Blofeld]

1. Hunt
2. Campbell
3. Young
4. Kershner
5. Spottiswoode
6. Glen
7. Apted
8. Hamilton
9. Gilbert
10. Tamahori

[LadySylvia]

1. Peter Hunt - Although he had only directed one . . . it was OHMSS. Enough said.

2. John Glen - Although most Bond fans dislike his work, he has directed three of my favorite Bond films.

3. Martin Campbell - I decided to name him number 3, because I like his gritty style in both GE and CR.

4. Terrence Young - He is a close 4th. If it were not for DN, he would have tied with Campbell.

5. Lewis Gilbert - YOLT wasn't bad, but I really liked how he had directed TSWLM.

6. Michael Apted - He handled TWINE very well and I don't blame him for the last thirty minutes. I blame Purvis and Wade.

7. Lee Tamahori - The reason he is not last is because I liked the way he had handled the first half of DAD and the fight between Jinx and Miranda. Besides, again I blame Purvis and Wade for screwing up their story with that Ice Palace crap.

8. Guy Hamilton - The only reason he is not last is because he managed to inject a bit of flare in both GF and LALD. Other than that, I have never been that impressed by him.

9. Roger Spottiswoode - Not only was the script for TND uninspired and cliched, so was the direction.

[tdalton]

Updated List:

1. John Glen: directed 3 of my Top 5 Bond films (TLD, FYEO, & LTK), and all of his films are fairly solid entries in the series.

2. Terence Young: directed the other 2 films in my Top 5 (FRWL, TB), and DN is fantastic as well.

3. Peter Hunt: although he only did one film, it was one of the better ones.

4. Guy Hamilton: I rank him above Lewis Gilbert only because his best film (LALD) is better than Gilbert's (TSWLM). The rest of his films are forgettable Bond entries.

5. Lewis Gilbert: TSWLM is the only entry that can be considered a solid entry in the series.

6. Roger Spottiswoode: TND is easily the best of the Brosnan Era films, but it's still one of the lesser entries in the series.

7. Michael Apted: a decent effort on TWINE, but I think that the writing let this movie down more than the directing.

8. Martin Campbell: neither GE or CR are particularly strong entries in the series, and both are probably the most overrated entries in the entire series.

9. Lee Tamahori

[Fiona Volpe lover]

Terence Young [because of DN,FRWL and TB]
Lewis Gilbert [because of YOLT and MR,less fond of TSWLM]
Peter Hunt [because of OHMSS]
Guy Hamilton [becuase of DAF and LALD,less fond of GF and TMWTGG]
John Glen [because of O and TLD,less fond of FYEO,AVTAK and LTK]
Martin Campbell [becuase of CR,less fond of GE]
Lee Tamohori [because of DAD,I think it's a bit underrated]
Roger Spottiswoode [because of TND]
Irvin Kershner [becuase of NSNA]

Edited by Fiona Volpe lover, 01 December 2007 - 10:39 PM.

[DaveBond21]

Young (because of FRWL)

Hunt (his work on OHMSS is fantastic)

Campbell

Glen

Gilbert (love TSWLM)

Hamilton (GF is his stand-out)

Spottiswoode

Apted

Tamahori

[Judo chop]

I came back here hoping to find more data to ease my mind, for I am totally confounded by the people’s apparent tolerance (and dare I say even ‘love’???) for John Glen direction.

CONFOUNDED, I tell you!!

Is there something to be said about the substance and potential quality of a film outside of its director, or is it perfectly logical to equate the two? No doubt they are hard to separate, but the latter cannot be the truth, can it?

It would be very interesting indeed to view alternate realities where the Bond directors were given control over other Bond films with all other things being equal. How would OHMSS look had it been directed by John Glen? And how would FYEO look had it been directed by Young or Hunt?

Gah! I can’t see Glen as anything but a hack, and can’t feel that all of his films wouldn’t have been VASTLY improved by either Young, Hunt, Gilbert, Hamilton or Campbell behind the camera. I could even imagine Spottiswoode providing a cleaner product.

I hope to see this thread gain some momentum, because I desperately need some peace.

[Safari Suit]

Well Young was absolutely useless (and I mean useless) outside of Bond, and had a few sloppy tendencies when working on the films. Bear in mind he was given the franchise at it's start, with the freshest scripts, and the definitive Bond. It's difficult to imagine (to me anyway) he would have made the Glen films any better were he given the same scripts.

[BoogieBond]

Tier 1 = Lewis Gilbert/Terence Young
Tier 2 = Guy Hamilton/Martin Campbell/Peter Hunt

...The rest

John Glen, Spottiswoode, Tamohori, Apted

[PrinceKamalKhan]

I came back here hoping to find more data to ease my mind, for I am totally confounded by the people’s apparent tolerance (and dare I say even ‘love’???) for John Glen direction.

CONFOUNDED, I tell you!!

Is there something to be said about the substance and potential quality of a film outside of its director, or is it perfectly logical to equate the two? No doubt they are hard to separate, but the latter cannot be the truth, can it?

It would be very interesting indeed to view alternate realities where the Bond directors were given control over other Bond films with all other things being equal. How would OHMSS look had it been directed by John Glen? And how would FYEO look had it been directed by Young or Hunt?

Gah! I can’t see Glen as anything but a hack, and can’t feel that all of his films wouldn’t have been VASTLY improved by either Young, Hunt, Gilbert, Hamilton or Campbell behind the camera. I could even imagine Spottiswoode providing a cleaner product.

I hope to see this thread gain some momentum, because I desperately need some peace.

John Glen was a solid, workmanlike director capable of the heights of TLD and the depths of AVTAK. I think in his case, his work was probably as good or bad of the scripts he was given. My main problem with Glen would probably be his pacing, i.e. AVTAK is overly drawn out. Even OP which I love and is very exciting and tense in the Germany scenes tends to drag at points in the India sequence. It's interesting that Lewis Gilbert's films have been criticized a lot for their sci-fi elements, comedy and lack of fidelity to Fleming. However, all 3 of his films move very swiftly and tend to be rather tightly directed. It's interesting to wonder in hindsight how Glen might have directed MR or how Gilbert might have directed TLD.

In the end though, I tend to think of the Bond films more as "producer's films" rather than "director's films"

On the ones that did more than 1 Bond film:

1) Terence Young(classic Bond)
2) Lewis Gilbert(epic Bond)
3) Guy Hamilton(comedy Bond)
4) John Glen(hit(TLD) and miss(AVTAK) Bond)
5) Martin Campbell(reboot/new actor Bond)Love CR but GE is merely OK.

On the one shot guys:

1) Peter Hunt(directed one film better than all 4 Brosnan films put together)

gap

2) Lee Tamahori(mainly for the 1st, not 2nd half of DAD)
3) Roger Spottiswoode
4) Michael Apted

[HH007]

Martin Campbell
Terrence Young
Peter Hunt

(Gap)

John Glen
Guy Hamilton
Lewis Gilbert
Irvin Kershner

(Gap)

Michael Apted
Roger Spottiswoode




(Gap)







Lee Tamahori


(Hopefully I'll be able to slide Marc Forster in somewhere towards the top of the list )

[Safari Suit]

As Bond directors
Hunt
Gilbert
Campbell
Young
Glen
Hamilton
Kershner
Tamahori
Spottiswoode
Apted

But as directors in general, things would be a bit different. Apted would be nearer the top for example

[Conlazmoodalbrocra]

1. John Glen (IMO, didn't get anything wrong, but I know a lot of you will disagree)
2. Martin Campbell (2 stunning Bond movies)
3. Terence Young (2 and a half stunning Bond movies ;D)
4. Peter Hunt (OHMSS was perfection)
5. Lewis Gilbert (3 very good Bond movies, again many will disagree about Moonraker)
6. Michael Apted
7. Roger Spottiswoode
8. Guy Hamilton (ruined his films with the overzealous use of humour)
9. Lee Tamahori (the least said about him the better!)

Edited by Conlazmoodalbrocra, 29 August 2008 - 06:57 PM.

[ChrissBond007]

1. Peter R. Hunt- (Know how to make great movies, OHMSS was perfect)
2. Martin Campbell- (Two fantastic debuts to Pierce and Daniel)
3. Terence Young- (The original and knows how to make real thrillers)
4. John Glen- (Great director of course, love some of is films especially FYEO)
5. Lewis Gilbert - (Bigger movies, with more action and great fun)
6. Micheal Apted - (Has made one of my favorites.)
7. Guy Hamilton - (Did a fantastic job with Goldfinger, but used too much comedy in his later films, but only DAF was a movie that a real dislike.)
8. Roger Spottiswoode: (Don't like TND much)
9. Lee Tamahori: (Over the top DAD of course)

Edited by ChrissBond007, 29 August 2008 - 09:32 PM.

[Mr. Blofeld]

My list has changed a bit since last time; here it is, again:

1. Hunt
2. Campbell
3. Young
4. Kershner
5. Glen
6. Spottiswoode
7. Gilbert
8. Hamilton
9. Apted
10. Tamahori