If I have to side one way or the other, I'm inclined to agree with you that QOS will be seen by the general public as a better film than LTK in a decade if for no other reason than Daniel Craig is a more popular and well-known 007 than Timothy Dalton and consequently the general public would tend to like his serious, revenge-minded Bond film more than Dalton's. Although, again, I would hope not.
Yes, good point about that. Unfortunately it seems that the more Bond films an actor does, the more popular he is in the role, probably in large part because it increases the likelihood that people will associate that actor with how Bond is "supposed" to be.
And I do not believe one bit that casual fans/general public find or will find QOS to be a better more gripping adventure than TND. TND was well-liked when it was released and remains a positively received adventure, certainly more so than QOS which is beloved by some hardcore fans but far from all and which received a lukewarm response from casual fans.
But TND received no better an initial response from fans or (especially) critics, and to be perfectly honest I have seen no indication it is viewed more favorably nowadays, whether one bases it on personal anecdote or online reviews/ratings.
And I say that as someone who considers it Brosnan's best and regularly defends it as such.
By return to basics I was refering to the elements that made Bond unique rather than just his dispensing with gadgets. I am puzzled as to why QoS is regarded as in any way intellectual, never has a Bond Movie more relentlessly and determinedly relied on pure brute force as a means to every end, Bond's wit, charisma and guile are all redeered redundant by his superhuman physical prowess.
Yes, the Bond of QOS relies on brute force - but also physical agility, "street" smarts, and sheer willpower, and is constantly propelled by a sense of duty and justice. These elements only replace the gadgets, which far too often served as Bond's "brain" (or even deus ex machina) in missions past.
And while QOS is not exactly impenetrably cerebral, it is certainly among the most (if not THE most) intellectual Bond movie yet in how it handles not only Bond's swirling emotions and conflicting moral obligations, but also his dawning battle against a shadowy international crime syndicate -- made sinister by its ruthless pragmatism -- that has its tentacles securely planted in the very government he uses as legal (and perhaps spiritual?) cover for his righteous crusading.
All that, or what plankattack said.
I understand what you are saying and appreciate QoS is indeed different from the rest of the series...although I have to confess the description you use to explain the films purpose/achievement is how I personally regard Casino Royale, all relevent character development and justification seems to stem from that movie. By comparison QoS isn't suitable of being viewed in isolation and is more an epilogue, a straighforward revenege episode with Bond's face set to 'aaarrrd! ^^ (The film Diamonds Are Forever should have been?) Ultimately the place we are led to believe Bond 'is' at the end of QoS is actually where I felt he was at the end of CR.
I think CR only got us started on the adventure that was to be QOS. "The name's Bond, James Bond" wasn't about Bond having fully arrived, it was about a wiser and somehow (considering how he marched around early in CR) more confident Bond ready to get his answers. He still had to experience indirectly causing the death of a complete innocent (Fields), he still had to sort out the personal revenge (for Vesper) from the professional revenge (for M, and what was being done to MI6), he still had to impart his knowledge to a mirror image of himself (Camille) and thereby learn firsthand the dangerous repercussions of the path he was tightrope walking.
Agree with you. QoS in 10 years... It will be at the bottom rank. Moonraker in 10 years will be certainly cult.
What continuously keeps MR from fully vaulting into cult status is not how outlandish it is (that's precisely what would make it a cult classic), it's how frankly embarrassing it gets with the Jaws romance subplot and the laser beam space battle and the "no place for freaks in my new world" turn of events in Bond's favor. It doesn't stumble to the finish line, it flat-out careens off the rails. Some people like that, but far too many are lost by it for MR to get any better a reevaluation than it has after all these years.
IMHO, of course.