740 replies to this topic

[Humphrey Bogart]

What "unpopular" opinions do have about the highly successful James Bond franchise with it's myriad films, original novels and countless multi-media spin-offs? Here's my rundown:

1) You Only Live Twice was a superior Connery outing to Goldfinger and Thunderball.

2) Roger Moore is a better actor than Sean Connery.

3) The Living Daylights was the weakest Bond film in the last two decades, with a so-so Cold War plot and weak baddies.

4) License to Kill was (outside of Casino Royale) the strongest Bond film in the last two decades, with a excellent revenge plot and charismatic baddies.

5) Science fiction and fantasy themes have always both been integral with James Bond from almost the onset.

6) The Soviet Russians being the arch baddies has always been a Bond brainbug (perpetrated by the overrated GoldenEye).

7) Moonraker was the strongest Bond movie of the 1970s.

8) Tomorrow Never Dies was a better Brosnan outing than GoldenEye.

9) Jaws getting a girlfriend and turning "good" in MR never bothered me, since Jaws was the ridiculous (but fun) character that he always was.

10) Die Another Day was not ruined by sci-fi gadgets or ice palaces, but a weak and needlessly convoluted plot.

[Zorin Industries]

What "unpopular" opinions do have about the highly successful James Bond franchise with it's myriad films, original novels and countless multi-media spin-offs? Here's my rundown:

1) You Only Live Twice was a superior Connery outing to Goldfinger and Thunderball.

2) Roger Moore is a better actor than Sean Connery.

6) The Soviet Russians being the arch baddies has always been a Bond brainbug (perpetrated by the overrated GoldenEye).

8) Tomorrow Never Dies was a better Brosnan outing than GoldenEye.

9) Jaws getting a girlfriend and turning "good" in MR never bothered me, since Jaws was the ridiculous (but fun) character that he always was.

Agreed!

And here's mine...

A VIEW TO A KILL is one of the coolest Bond entries.

TOMORROW NEVER DIES is Brosnan's best Bond (by a long stretch).

GOLDENEYE plays like a TV movie Bond film.

THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH is the weakest Bond film since...NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN.

Roger Spottiswoode needs to return.

David Arnold should have a break for a bit.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

What "unpopular" opinions do have about the highly successful James Bond franchise with it's myriad films, original novels and countless multi-media spin-offs? Here's my rundown:

1) You Only Live Twice was a superior Connery outing to Goldfinger and Thunderball.

Half Disagree there although I love YOLT and YOLT was my favorite Connery Bond film as a child. My current rankings of these 3 are 1)TB, 2)YOLT and 3)GF.

2) Roger Moore is a better actor than Sean Connery.

Replace Sean Connery's name there with Pierce Brosnan and I'd agree with you.

3) The Living Daylights was the weakest Bond film in the last two decades, with a so-so Cold War plot and weak baddies.

Disagree. I adore The Living Daylights and consider it the best Bond film made after 1970(with Casino Royale strongly competing).Replace The Living Daylights with For Your Eyes Only in your sentence and I'd agree more with you.

4) License to Kill was (outside of Casino Royale) the strongest Bond film in the last two decades, with a excellent revenge plot and charismatic baddies.

Agree to an extent. LTK is a generally good and underrated Bond film with one of the very best villains ever in Sanchez though maybe not quite the strongest one in the last 2 decades(I rank OP, TLD and CR higher).

5) Science fiction and fantasy themes have always both been integral with James Bond from almost the onset.

Definitely agree. People complain about YOLT, DAF, DAD and especially MR bringing "an overemphasis on sci/fi into the series. Hello? Have these folks seen Dr. No?

6) The Soviet Russians being the arch baddies has always been a Bond brainbug (perpetrated by the overrated GoldenEye).

Disagree. I love the Russians as villains(especially in OP and TLD, my 2 favorite 1980s Bond films) but I do find GE overrated.

7) Moonraker was the strongest Bond movie of the 1970s.

Agree. Definitely the most unfairly maligned film in the series. A tough Ian Fleming thriller it's not but then again none of the 1970s Bond films were. As a fun, escapist, action comedy in the tradition of James Coburn's In Like Flint, MR works.

8) Tomorrow Never Dies was a better Brosnan outing than GoldenEye.

Agreed. Even though GE had a better story, villain and main girl, Brosnan's a lot more confident in the role the 2nd around(GE would have been better with Dalton IMHO) and the TND as a film has a more superconfident feel even though I wish they used the original plot(villain plans to destroy Hong Kong prior to the UK returning it to Red China) instead of recycling the YOLT/TSWLM "bad guy trying to start WWIII" plot.

9) Jaws getting a girlfriend and turning "good" in MR never bothered me, since Jaws was the ridiculous (but fun) character that he always was.

Agreed. Jaws, like MR, was meant to be a Bond film for kids unlike FRWL, CR, LTK and OHMSS which were more meant for adults, and it never really bothered me.

10) Die Another Day was not ruined by sci-fi gadgets or ice palaces, but a weak and needlessly convoluted plot.

Disagree. I thought DAD up till the parasurf tsunami was generally entertaining but the CGI effects and the film's abruptly switching from a movie to a videogame in the final act was its greatest failing.

I would add:

1) For Your Eyes Only is the most overrated film in the series. I guess Fleming fans were so thrilled to see a Bond film containing Fleming source material for the 1st time since OHMSS that caused them to rank FYEO so highly. However, I highly suspect that if the 1970s Bond films had been more faithful to their Fleming source novels, FYEO would probably be considered only an average entry in the canon. I tried to rewatch FYEO recently and couldn't get through it. What really struck me is how much of a poor man's OHMSS it is just as AVTAK is a poor man's GF.

2) Roger Moore is a better Bond actor than Pierce Brosnan.

3) Timothy Dalton is a better Bond actor than either Pierce Brosnan or even Daniel Craig.

4) George Lazenby is a better Bond actor than Pierce Brosnan(I'm sure this will really raise some ruckus)

5) The Living Daylights is THE 1980s Flemingeseque Cold War spy thriller that For Your Eyes Only attempted but only dreamed of being.

6) Britt Ekland's Mary Goodnight is actually a fun, comedy relief change of pace Bond girl.

7) I vastly prefer Paris Carver to Wai Lin in Tomorrow Never Dies and wish Paris had been the main girl in that film instead.

8) TWINE should have had a tragic ending where Bond executes Elektra with no 2nd girl waiting in the wings to give him a happy ending.

9) Jill St. John's Tiffany Case is a very underrated Bond girl who generated wonderful byplay and chemistry with Sean Connery.

10) Carey Lowell's Pam Bouvier alias "Miss Kennedy" is a very overrated Bond girl.

11) J.W. Pepper is a lot of fun and a perfect character to appear in a Roger Moore Bond film.

12) Karin Dor's Helga Brandt is the most underrated villainess in the series and deserves more credit than she gets.

13) The slide whistle in the car jump in TMWTGG didn't bother me. It somehow seemed appropriate to its era(1970s) and the particular Bond film.

[MillesGloriosus]

8) Tomorrow Never Dies was a better Brosnan outing than GoldenEye.

I thought I was the only person who even entertained this thought. Tomorrow Never Dies is arguably the best film of the Brosnan Era.

[Safari Suit]

Not sure which of these qualify as unpopular, but here you go:

. Realistic Bond (in any media) is still not realistic
. "Thunderball" is one of the best Theme songs
. Connery is not bad in YOLT
. I'm not bothered we never got to see Bond avenge Tracy's death
. DAF is quite fun
. JW is better in TMWTGG than in LALD
. The funhouse in TMWTGG is fantastic
. FYEO is not necessarily better than MR. Octopussy is better than both.
. Octopussy is also better than NSNA.
. I sort of like the Barbara Woodhouse gag
. I really like AVTAK
. Some of Rog's clothes are actually quite cool
. LTK is Dalton's best film
. Goldeneye is as silly as most Moore films
. Xenia Onatopp is a ridiculous character
. Pryce hamming it up is perhaps the best thing about TND
. Eva Green was a bit iffy

Edited by Safari Suit, 21 April 2007 - 04:38 PM.

[bebopfoot]

Just read my sig, all unopular opinions, and by all of Die Another Day I mean I liked both halves, as opposed to just the first. Also to the initial post, I agree with some but not quite all, and although there is always room for opinions on these boards, I think you do often need posts like these because sometimes the one, "popular" opinion does tend to overwhelm all others to the point of suffocation.

[00Twelve]

There's already a thread for this topic...

Unorthodox Bond Opinions

Perhaps a merge?

[Mike00spy]

ok then.



TWINE was the best Brosnan movie.

I would have prefered Roger Moore in DAF

Goldfinger is weaker than Thunderball, Dr No, and FRWL

Edited by Mike00spy, 21 April 2007 - 09:17 PM.

[Publius]

Define unpopular.

No, seriously, it's all a matter of perspective, and I see far too many people proclaiming their love of an "underrated" this or their contempt for an "overrated" that, when I personally doubt it honestly qualifies. I wish there was a way we could truly know...

[Qwerty]

Tomorrow Never Dies is a more enjoyable Bond film than GoldenEye.

Madonna's Die Another Day is not a bad Bond song.

Moonraker and excellent can exist in the same sentence together.

[jaguar007]

As many others have admitted, I also think TND is Brosnan's best Bond movie. I think the scene with Dr. Kauffman is the single best scene out of Brosnan's 4 Bond movies.
I also think that David Arnold's score for TND is the best of all the non-Barry scores (I guess after GE hardly using the Bond theme, the overplaying of it in TND was a warm welcome).

TLD ranks as one of the top 5 Bond movies of all time(may not be odd on this board, but is among casual fans). The opening scene in in TLD (The defection in the Czheck Republic)is one of the single best scenes in the entire series.

[Andrew]

I would've liked to have seen Roger Moore in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

[mrsbonds_ppk]

- I don't really think David Arnold is all that great
- I think DAD was really good
- I like Wai Lin she was cool
- I liked Mary Goodnight she amused me
- California Girls playind during AVTAK chase didn't bother me
- I liked the bullet coming out the gunbarrel in DAD
- I liked Jinx she didn't irritate me
- Roger Moore is the coolest guy to play James Bond
- LeChiffre was a weak villian
- I thought Scaramanga's funhouse was great too
- TND is PB best Bond Film
- LTK is better than TLD
- I like Lulu's TMWTGG it's not the best but I like it
- I think Roger's Safari Suit is cool
- I liked John Cleese as Q

[Colossus]

1) You Only Live Twice was a superior Connery outing to Goldfinger and Thunderball.

Always agreed with this over Drearyball, and everyday it looks more favorably to me than GF.

8) Tomorrow Never Dies was a better Brosnan outing than GoldenEye.

I could see the reasoning behind that, though i still find GE more satisfying to watch, of the flack it gets and the general tiring over its "best Broz" mantle, it has stood the test of time! I think its direction is seen in a newer light with MC doing CR.

2) Roger Moore is a better actor than Sean Connery.

The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970) is a great example of Roger's true acting prowess, what a performance, and i would certainly have no qualms about agreeing with that just from that.

5) Science fiction and fantasy themes have always both been integral with James Bond from almost the onset.

Amen brotha. Casino Royale and FRWL are just a drop in the bucket to what otherwise is an 'improbable, but not impossible' creation paraphrased from the creator himself. Even the down-to-earth Bonds are merely less outlandish.

6) The Soviet Russians being the arch baddies has always been a Bond brainbug (perpetrated by the overrated GoldenEye).

Actually it's been lightly used, only becoming full-on enemies in the 80s when the cold war saw renewed tensions. The bulk of villainy has been either SPECTRE or un-affiliated lonesharks. And as the first post-Cold war Bond, GE pretty much had to be an answer to all of that.

7) Moonraker was the strongest Bond movie of the 1970s.

Agreed

9) Jaws getting a girlfriend and turning "good" in MR never bothered me, since Jaws was the ridiculous (but fun) character that he always was.

Yep. It should've been a realization from the outset when he dropped that block on his feet in the Egypt ruins.

10) Die Another Day was not ruined by sci-fi gadgets or ice palaces, but a weak and needlessly convoluted plot.

Agreed. YOLT showed how to do this type of Bond right.

Edited by Colossus, 22 April 2007 - 01:12 AM.

[LadySylvia]

- I think that Lazenby worked better for "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" than Connery would ever have.

- I think that "Goldfinger" is an overrated film.

- I have no favorite Bond actor, nor do I think there is a "best Bond" actor.

- Aside from the last 30 minutes of the film, I think that "Moonraker" is underrated as a film.

- Although I consider it to be the worst Bond film ever, "Diamonds Are Forever" is a personal favorite of mine.

- I think that the Miami airport sequence in "Casino Royale" is overrated.

- I don't have a high regard for the Brosnan/Pike love scene in "Die Another Day".

Agreed. YOLT showed how to do this type of Bond right.

Huh?

Edited by LadySylvia, 22 April 2007 - 02:16 AM.

[Santa]

Unorthodox?

OK, I've never found Timothy Dalton dark, cold, cruel or menacing by any stretch of my very flexible imagination. In fact, it confuses the hell out of me when people here praise that side of him - he's about as dark and cruel as a cotton wool ball. To me he comes across as kindly and avuncular.

[TheLazenby]

Oh, I have a bunch of these...

* All of Pierce Brosnan's movies (including GoldenEye) were garbage
* "Licence To Kill" is one of the best Bond flicks
* ...and so is "Moonraker"
* Barry Nelson was a great Bond and should've played him again
* "Casino Royale" '67 is a great movie if you're willing to give it a chance
* "The Spy Who Loved Me" is a cheesy, ridiculous load of crap
* Sheriff Pepper is hilarious
* "Thunderball" is long and boring
* "Diamonds Are Forever" is the all-time greatest Connery movie

See? Told ya... :-)

[DaveBond21]

OK, here are mine:-


- I like all the actors who played Bond, and enjoy all the movies and don't hate any of them.

- I like TWINE and love the PTS (it isn't too long)

- I thought Moore and Brosnan were great as Bond

- CR was a little too serious

- I would like to see the return of Q and Moneypenny

- I love continuity in my Bond movies so I really love the references to Bond's marriage in TSWLM, FYEO and LTK.

[Zorin Industries]

8) Tomorrow Never Dies was a better Brosnan outing than GoldenEye.

I thought I was the only person who even entertained this thought. Tomorrow Never Dies is arguably the best film of the Brosnan Era.

Arguably? It IS the best Brosnan by far....!

[ACE]

8) Tomorrow Never Dies was a better Brosnan outing than GoldenEye.

I thought I was the only person who even entertained this thought. Tomorrow Never Dies is arguably the best film of the Brosnan Era.

Arguably? It IS the best Brosnan by far....!

Agreed. Followed by Die Another Day (the cat really is amongst the pigeons).

While we're on unorthodox Bond opinions (and the Bond police will really get me for this)

Thunderbore = overrated
Man With The Golden Gun = underrated
(ducks)

[Judo chop]

The battery of homages tommy-gunned into DAD is a good and pleasant thing

- and

[Bryce (003)]

[quote name='Judo chop' post='730514' date='23 April 2007 - 10:57']The battery of homages tommy-gunned into DAD is a good and pleasant thing

- and

[trumanlodge89]

Here's a few.

While I love OHMSS and place it consistently in my top three, I feel like the series was better served for Laz only doing one film. It gives OHMSS a much more mysterious and "important" quality to it. Along with the plot, seeing Lazenby gives me the feeling that this film is unlike all the others.

Octopussy and A View to a Kill are terrific Bond films, but Moonraker is almost unwatchable.

Moore played ruthless and cold far better than most give him credit. (Watch MWTGG)

Daniel Craig in Casino Royale is the single greatest portrayal of James Bond in any single Bond film.

[ChronoBreak]

- While it has its problems, I like AVTAK and place it in the upper-middle of the pack.

- I'd think that OHMSS is better for having Lazenby over Connery.

- The Man With the Golden Gun is one of my favorite Bond films, and I consider it Moore's best.

- I simply adore Eric Serra's Goldeneye score.

- I find "The Spy Who Loved Me" to be the most overrated Bond film.

- I don't like Jaws.

- Connery's Bond performance in DAF is his best and most engaging since Goldfinger.

[LadySylvia]

Daniel Craig in Casino Royale is the single greatest portrayal of James Bond in any single Bond film.

At first I was about to disagree. But thinking about it, I changed my mind. I agree. His performance in CR was the best in the franchise.

[mrsbonds_ppk]

Roger Moore was a menacing Bond when he'd go cold. He had a stare that would make Timothy Dalton cower.

Haha I like the way you describe that.

I also would like to say that I think Bond in CR wasn't really smooth and suave but a little too raw and animalistic and I didn't really like that.

Edited by mrsbonds_ppk, 23 April 2007 - 08:19 PM.

[Colossus]

Huh?

I mean YOLT is the best of the scifi-Bonds, ones above outlandish ones like GF, TB, GE, reaching the level of TSWLM, MR, and DAD.

[triviachamp]

Daniel Craig in Casino Royale is the single greatest portrayal of James Bond in any single Bond film.

Is that really unorthodox?

[DaveBond21]

Songs in TWINE should have been reversed. k.d. Lang for the title credits. Miss Crow for the ending.

Those were the singers from TLD.


I think this thread shows us once again how different we all are, yet we all love the Bond films.

[zencat]

My # 1 unorthodoxy (and I have several) -- the Saab from the Gardner novels is my favorite Bond vehicle.