102 replies to this topic

[B5Erik]

So, what would YOUR pick be for most overrated Bond movie?

For me, it has to be Goldfinger.

Now, put away the knives and hear me out. It is the first Bond movie that adds the occasionally silly humor. Felix Leiter is ALL wrong in GF. There is a long stretch at Goldfinger's estate where nothing much happens. It is a slow movie compared to the rest of Connery's Bond movies.

On the other hand it IS a really good movie overall - but I consider it the most OVERrated because so many people have rated it so highly for so long and I don't think it deserves THAT level of praise.

My second choice would be Casino Royale - it's a really, really good movie, but from what you read on Bond boards you'd think it should be put up there with Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Seven Samurai, From Russia With Love, Goodfellas, The Shawshank Redemption, etc, as one of the greatest films of all time. It's good, but not THAT good!

So, again, what would YOUR pick be for most overrated Bond movie?

[doublenoughtspy]

Casino Royale.

I keep expecting someone to start a thread asking "Would the last supper have been better with Daniel Craig instead of Jesus?"

[Righty007]

I'd have to pick either From Russia With Love or Thunderball. I can only watch them once a year because they're too boring and slow for my taste.

Casino Royale.

I keep expecting someone to start a thread asking "Would the last supper have been better with Daniel Craig instead of Jesus?"

I'd go to church more if Daniel Craig were Jesus.

[Publius]

GoldenEye.

It's good, but the more I watch it and other Bond films, the more this one sticks out as being different in the wrong ways and playing it safe in even worse ways. Granted, it's got some great characters and solid performances from everyone involved (at worst, Brosnan is no more than uncomfortable) and a few classic moments to spare, but it just doesn't click as the definitive Bond movie it could've or should've been or that some people say it was.

Maybe if Daniel Craig had starred in it and played all the major parts...

[ChronoBreak]

I've got to go with Thunderball - While parts of the film are some of the best, most Bondian stuff ever, there are long stretches (particularly in the first half) that are excruciatingly dull and unnecessarily protracted. It's like Terence Young forgot the camera was running in some scenes.

Edited by ChronoBreak, 08 February 2007 - 03:31 AM.

[Nimsworth]

Thunderball... It's the only Connery film I dislike with a passion. NSNA included.

[DaveBond21]

None really. I think a few are under-rated.


But if I had to pick one or two, I would say Thunderball and YOLT are over-rated.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

Definitely For Your Eyes Only. Yes, I know it was the most faithful to Fleming Bond film in over a decade at that point and I do not think it's a bad film by any means. And I do consider myself a fan that can appreciate the more serious down-to-earth Bonds as well as the OTT/sci-fi/fantasy ones. However, I constanly see FYEO getting almost no bad notices and constantly called "the best Bond film of all time" or the "definitive" Bond film. Please. That's a little much, folks. It's not even the best 1980s Bond film. The Living Daylights easily trumps FYEO as a more serious, down-to-earth Bond film.

GoldenEye.

It's good, but the more I watch it and other Bond films, the more this one sticks out as being different in the wrong ways and playing it safe in even worse ways. Granted, it's got some great characters and solid performances from everyone involved (at worst, Brosnan is no more than uncomfortable) and a few classic moments to spare, but it just doesn't click as the definitive Bond movie it could've or should've been or that some people say it was.

Good points. GoldenEye is my vote for 2nd most overrated Bond film but I have read enough bad reviews of it to keep it my getting top honors. What's frustrating is there's a great Bond film in GE struggling to get out. It certainly has the best story and best supporting cast of any Brosnan Bond film. Perhaps if Dalton had played Bond in it or Barry or Arnold scored it instead of Serra it might've been one of the series' best films but not as it stands.

BTW, Moonraker and The Living Daylights get my votes for most underrated Bond films.

[FullMetalJacket]

Licence to Kill is overrated. Overall I like the film and I always enjoyed Dalton's tenure as Bond, but the film just isn't "Bondian" enough for me. The villain, instead of a power-crazed megalomaniac, is an all-too-believable drug baron, and with the minimized emphasis on both gadgetry and overall "spying," it really feels more like a straightforward action-adventure film to me. The bar fight in particular always seemed out of place to me.

Also, I think the badness of Die Another Day is overrated. I can understand why all the Bond "purists" would hate it, but apart from the invisible car, by and large, I don't think there's anything in it that's more offensive than anything in Moonraker. It certainly doesn't hold a candle to the great classics like DN, FRWL and OHMSS, but I think it's an entertaining film in its own right.

[Mamadou]

Thunderball for me too. The bits that lag actually detract from the extraordinarily Bondian elements of the rest of the film, which is why, if I had to rank the first four films, TB goes last. The whole bit with Claudine Auger's brother gets way too complicated.

[Taro Todoroki]

Goldeneye. Not what I was expecting after a 6+ year wait.

[Shadow Syndicate]

TSWLM. Too outlandish. a bit on the cheesy side

[ChronoBreak]

TSWLM. Too outlandish. a bit on the cheesy side

Now that you mention it, I may have to swing my vote from Thunderball to TSWLM. I've never liked the Jaws character at all and I find the film to be generally lacking in most areas. Of all the Bond films, TSWLM seems to be the one that's the most rabidly protected by the fans - a fact that makes it hard to criticize the film without being attacked outright for it.

Edited by ChronoBreak, 08 February 2007 - 06:22 AM.

[freemo]

GoldenEye by a street.

Partly because how crummy it is, but mostly because how damn highly it seems to be rated. I loathe the "sexist, mynogonist dinosaur" line, and can't understand why so many have taken to it so (it's sort of become the unoffical Bond mantra).

For Your Eyes Only a distant second.

[SilencedPPK]

you only live twice is my choice for most overrated bond film. I can't sit through the entire film, I just get bored really easy.

[dee-bee-five]

Casino Royale.

I keep expecting someone to start a thread asking "Would the last supper have been better with Daniel Craig instead of Jesus?"

Actually, I rather think it would. I might even start to believe the silly fairy stories in the bible myself if it were Craig...

Back on topic...

...it's Thunderball for me, I'm afraid. I find it so dreary in places. It only comes to life when Fiona's on-screen and just dies with her. Connery looks good in those trunks, though (although nowhere near as hot as Craig in his)

Edited by dee-bee-five, 08 February 2007 - 07:44 AM.

[Blabbermouth]

People have already mentioned them, but my vote goes for The Spy Who Loved Me, You Only Live Twice and Goldfinger in that order.

TSWLM is just plain silly, and so unrealistic it hurts just to watch it. Many say that it is Moore's best performance as Bond but I disagree. The villain is shallow and the less said about Jaws the better. Only Barbara Bach as Amasova and the Lotus (before converting to a sub) comes out with any credit.

YOLT is much like TSWLM and to much over the top. Tanaka comes out with some credit though - would have loved to see Toshiro Mifune in that role however.

Goldfinger, a good movie but Bond is not really doing anything that works. Everytime he acts he either gets caught, is trapped and for a spy basically draws to much attention to himself. Has some classic moments and villains though.

[Zorin Industries]

GOLDENEYE. It aged before it was released. It doesn't know what sort of Bond film it wants to be, the direction is Saturday night ITV at best, Brosnan looks like he's auditioning throughout and Sean Bean is just embarrassing.

GOLDENEYE is like a cheap wine. As time goes by, no-one minds and some start supporting the idea of it - but it's still a cheap wine.

[Safari Suit]

Goldeneye

First of all, I think it was the wrong direction to go in after LTK. Second of all, when CR came out some reviews said that "Goldeneye" had shown a possible direction for the series with a psychological edge. Why exactly? Because of "It's what keeps me sane" or whatever? Do me a favour. Another thing is it seems to be held by a lot of people as an example of a more serious Bond, and often used as an example of what other Bonds should have been. I don't think so; I would say it's as silly as all but maybe two Moore films, intentionally or not.

[SecretAgentFan]

Casino Royale.

I keep expecting someone to start a thread asking "Would the last supper have been better with Daniel Craig instead of Jesus?"

I agree. Although I liked CR very much and consider it a great Bond film, right now it is absolutely overrated. For me, it doesn

[RazorBlade]

I agree with the the anti-GOLDENEYE crowd here. Following GE for most overrated are FYEO and TSWLM.

Anyone who didn't like THUNDERBALL, step outside. Them's ah-fightin' words.

[Zorin Industries]

I agree with the the anti-GOLDENEYE crowd here. Following GE for most overrated are FYEO and TSWLM.

Anyone who didn't like THUNDERBALL, step outside. Them's ah-fightin' words.

I used to not like THUNDERBALL, but as you're standing over me with your beer glass in your hand I like it SO much now that it is probably my favourite, without doubt, ever....

Please stop staring at me like that.

[Loomis]

I'm being careful not to use the word "overrated" when what I really mean is "I personally don't like it all that much", but I'd say that THE SPY WHO LOVED ME is hands down the most overrated Bond flick.

It seems to be considered a solid gold classic both within and without Bond fandom. I'd say it's enormously entertaining, with a handful of great, memorable aspects, but it's dull and dated in parts, as well as overlong and spectacularly stupid. I don't even think it's the best of the Moore outings.

Of more recent films, I find TOMORROW NEVER DIES overrated. It seems the "cool" choice for best Brosnan effort. While there are certainly some good things about it, there are plenty of howlingly awful things, too, and it's every bit as daft as TSWLM (while trying to come across as an "intelligent" 007 adventure).

[Jim]

Never Say Never Again; perhaps not now, but I remember that at the time it was released it was "here's a real Bond adventure with a real Bond and it's like the reunion of The Beatles."

When what "they" really meant was "this is one of the most cheapjack cynical, parasitic enterprises man has ever inflicted on the world and the only justification for the reference to The Beatles is that Connery does look much like John Lennon probably did in 1983, being three years dead."

Second place to Casino Royale. It's an extremely good and very enjoyable film, and certainly one of the best of its kind but it will not cure syphilis nor will it make you more handsome. It is something you sat and watched. Please calm down. Please clam down. Or is it clam up?

[dee-bee-five]

I agree with the the anti-GOLDENEYE crowd here. Following GE for most overrated are FYEO and TSWLM.

Anyone who didn't like THUNDERBALL, step outside. Them's ah-fightin' words.

My gloves are ready. In my book, it's a bore. End of. The only positive thing I can ever find to say about Thunderball is that at least it's better than its remake.

Never Say Never Again...was "one of the most cheapjack cynical, parasitic enterprises man has ever inflicted on the world and the only justification for the reference to The Beatles is that Connery does look much like John Lennon probably did in 1983, being three years dead."

I really couldn't have put it better myself. I doubt anyone could.

[Loomis]

Second place to Casino Royale. It's an extremely good and very enjoyable film, and certainly one of the best of its kind but it will not cure syphilis nor will it make you more handsome.

Is anyone claiming that it will, though?

I'm just happy to settle for the fact that it makes me coffee.

[Jim]

Second place to Casino Royale. It's an extremely good and very enjoyable film, and certainly one of the best of its kind but it will not cure syphilis nor will it make you more handsome.

Is anyone claiming that it will, though?

I'm just happy to settle for the fact that it makes me coffee.

And true, no-one is actually claiming those things.

Yet.

[Dr.Mirakle32]

You would have to pay me to sit throgh Thunderball again. I thought it was just okay. The locations are beautiful, John Barry's score is excellent, as well as Maurice Binder's hypnotic titles, and the visuals are great, but the film is so damn boooooooooooooooring. After rewatching the whole movie last month, I vowed never to watch the whole thing again for at least two years. Why it is so popular is beyond me.

Even when I got the Ultimate Edition I couldn't watch it with out skipping an hour's worth of chapters.

Don't get me wrong, I love long epic movies like BEN-HUR and THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, because they had great pacing and knew how to keep up the action, but Thunderball is only about 2 hours long and feels like 3 and a half.

While a film like OHMSS gets better with each viewing, I always thought Thunderball became more tedious.

Am I the only one who feels this way?

[00Twelve]

So, what would YOUR pick be for most overrated Bond movie?

For me, it has to be Goldfinger.

My second choice would be Casino Royale - it's a really, really good movie, but from what you read on Bond boards you'd think it should be put up there with Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Seven Samurai, From Russia With Love, Goodfellas, The Shawshank Redemption, etc, as one of the greatest films of all time. It's good, but not THAT good!

LOL! I agree with you on Goldfinger. I don't think Casino Royale is up there with Citizen Kane, (though it's the first Bond film I've seen in recent memory that stands up outside the Bond universe) but neither is From Russia With Love! That was totally a game of "Which One's Not Like The Other?" Sorry, I'm not mocking, not at all, but that just struck me in a funny way.

And yeah, Goldfinger. Definitely. Though great, it's the most overrated.

[dodge]

So, what would YOUR pick be for most overrated Bond movie?

For me, it has to be Goldfinger.

My second choice would be Casino Royale - it's a really, really good movie, but from what you read on Bond boards you'd think it should be put up there with Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Seven Samurai, From Russia With Love, Goodfellas, The Shawshank Redemption, etc, as one of the greatest films of all time. It's good, but not THAT good!

LOL! I agree with you on Goldfinger. I don't think Casino Royale is up there with Citizen Kane, (though it's the first Bond film I've seen in recent memory that stands up outside the Bond universe) but neither is From Russia With Love! That was totally a game of "Which One's Not Like The Other?" Sorry, I'm not mocking, not at all, but that just struck me in a funny way.

And yeah, Goldfinger. Definitely. Though great, it's the most overrated.

LOL indeed re CR. The Shawshank Redemption as one of the greatest films of all time? CR, for me, is the Citizen Kane of Bond films...which isn't to say that it's Citizen Kane. A brilliant movie that transcends mere genre is good enough for me.

And GF, fine as it is, marks the point at which the series began to lose its way. Still lots of fun--but compared to FRWL or CR? Not even the ghost of a rose.