Ok, I have finally just re-watched every bond film again. And here is my new list.
NOTE: I love most bond films. So just because something is low doesn't mean I don't like it. It is extremely difficult for me to rank different bond films (especially with different bond actors), because I enjoy many bond films for different reasons.
My opinion is different from the masses. But that's just what it is - an opinion. And I have given reasons for all my choices.
This wasn't easy.
So here we go:
1. Live And Let DieI admit that much of this is to do with nostalgia as it was my first bond film. But the bottom line is, LALD is so very enjoyable to me, from start to finish. I feel that it is an all-rounder, and I love the whole voodoo theme to it. Baron Samedi is my favourite henchman and I love the scene where he comes out of the ground – very memorable and iconic. Also a fine introduction to Moore. And Solitaire was a great bond girl. Kanaga was a good enough villain, but his death was stupid. The crocodile escape was obviously a great scene, and this film also has my favourite incarnation of Felix Leiter.
2. A View To A KillSeriously, why all the hate? People probably think I’m stupid for ranking this so high. This saddens me, because every time I see this film, I dearly love it. To me, it is just pure entertainment from start to finish. Sure, bond is old. And sure, Stacey Sutton leaves a lot to be desired. But in place of those, IMO tiny flaws, we have excellent action sequences, such as the city hall fire, fire engine chase, the whole mine sequence, and of course, the golden gate bridge fight. This is one of the most memorable bond films there have been. And Max Zorin is simply a brilliant villain. So slate DAD and MR all you want. Criticise TMWTGG and DAF as you please. But AVTAK? It’s better than these. (Although California girls was obviously not needed whatsoever). But brilliant film nonetheless. I hope it will get more praise one day...
3. Licence To KillA great, great bond film, and a fine performance from Dalton. He was great in both of his movies, and I only wish he had done more. LTK may be a little different from the norm, but I just love what it has to offer – great action, different story, and a SUPERB main villain in Sanchez. The road chase is the icing on the cake in this great, entertaining movie. Dario was a great henchman also. I love how Sanchez valued loyalty, and the whole bond framing krest thing was excellent. Haters gonna hate, but to me this film is entertainment from start to finish.
4. OctopussyOP is pure fun. And I love it for it. Roger moore trying to disarm the bomb as a clown is one of my favourite bond scenes ever. Yes, it may be seen as silly, but I still like it. I actually see it as tense, which is ironic seeing as the clown suit makes it seem like comedy. Kamal Khan was a decent enough villain. Orlov not so much. The knife throwing twins – brilliant. The train scene – brilliant. This sure is a film that keeps me entertained. (The tarzan yell was stupid though).
5. Dr NoThis is my favourite Connery film. Is that controversial? I don’t know. But considering this was the first ever in the series, it’s bloody good. The action isn’t exactly in your face in this one, but I love the way the film flows and I think the build-up to the main villain is terrific. Honey Rider is hands down my favourite bond girl, who IMO, has yet to be matched. I love to just chill out to this film, and it is a fine introduction to both Connery and the bond franchise in general.
6. You Only Live TwiceI really can’t see why YOLT is not that popular. To me, it’s very entertaining, and the opening of the volcano is one of the most memorable and iconic moments in the bond universe, not to mention Blofeld’s face finally being revealed. The little Nellie sequence was cool, and I thought Tiger Tanaka was a very good ally to bond. Loved Tokyo. Connery, unlike what others say, did a great performance in this film for me – I really can’t see why people criticise it. The only shortcoming in this film is the bond girls. But Helga Brandt makes up for that in that she was a pretty good villainess. Overall a great, memorable, and fun bond film.
7. The Living DaylightsThis is a very strong entry in the bond franchise. As I said earlier, Timothy Dalton performed very well as bond in both of his films. TLD was a fine introduction to Dalton. This film was a big change in the franchise at the time, and it pulled it off really well. It is very strong storywise, and I particularly enjoyed the explosive milk bottles, saunder’s death, and bond fighting necros on the net hanging from the plane. Some great moments here. (Not the Cello chase though!) The villains were not strong – but Koskov’s weakness worked well for his character. He had to be like a cowardly weasel in order to make MI6 believe in his defection. Brad Whittaker on the other hand was kind of poor. Kara was ok but not great, and at times annoying. Overall a very good film, with just a couple of shortcomings.
8. For Your Eyes OnlyAnother fine entry from Moore. Nothing wrong with this one (well except Bibi). Not much to say except it’s a solid entry, a strong performance from Moore, a decent bond girl in Melina, and an average villain. The highlight of the film for me was bond scaling the cliff – great stuff.
9. The Spy Who Loved MeDare I say it? This film (whilst still a great bond film) is kind of overrated. Yes I like it. But so many people cite it as Moore’s best. For me it’s really not. To be honest, Jaws is an example of a henchman that I don’t particularly like. I mean, nothing hurts him – it’s too far. And also, for me the film started to get boring as soon as they entered the Liparus, and the whole Liparus/Atlantis climax seemed to go on a bit long. And Stromberg? Not the strongest villain (although it was cool how he killed the woman and the 2 professors). Despite my slight criticisms though, the Egypt scenes were brilliant, as was the underwater car. And the PTS is probably the best in the series. A great bond film, but slightly overrated.
10. GoldeneyeBy far Brosnan’s best. Not my favourite bond film, but a great introduction to Brosnan, and had some great moments. Particularly the PTS. 006 was a fine villain portrayed by a fine actor. Perhaps my favourite scene from the film is when Boris keeps clicking the grenade pen – I love the anticipation.
11. On Her Majesty’s Secret ServiceOverrated, but only because so many fans cite it as the best. IMO it really isn’t. Some of the camera work on some action sequences are quite bad – even for their time. But I'll forgive it. My main gripe is, dare I say it, Tracy. She seems to be in love with bond much too soon, and I find it a bit unbelievable. Ruby is an awful, awful bond girl. Ok, so now I’ve got the negative out the way, I will say that this is a very memorable film, unique story, probably the best Blofeld, and fine locations in the alps with great skiing sequences. Lazenby wasn’t great, but not terrible either. A strong bond film overall.
12. From Russia With LoveI’ve always liked this one, and one of the main reasons is that I think it’s a really good introduction to SPECTRE. Yes I know they’re mentioned in Dr No, and that Dr No himself is a member, but it’s not until FRWL that we get a real glimpse of SPECTRE, and ‘see’ Blofeld for the first time. The interaction and co-operation between the 4 villains (Blofeld, Klebb, Kronsteen, Grant) is really good. I also enjoyed the sniper scene with Kerim and Krilencu. But my favourite part of the entire film is the whole train sequence with red grant, which I thought was executed brilliantly. The poison shoes were pretty damn cool too.
13. Diamonds Are ForeverNot a very liked bond film by many. But I like it. Why? Because not only is it fun, but it also has some truly great moments. The moon buggy chase is just brilliant. As is bond climbing to the top of Willard Whyte’s building. And Wint and Kidd made for some entertaining viewing. The oil rig was ok, but Blofeld was a little weak I thought. I thought he was a good villain, but just didn’t suit the role of Blofeld. The one thing I don’t like about this film is the Blofeld clone – a bit silly. But otherwise, this is a very enjoyable film for me, and somewhat of a guilty pleasure.
14. The Man With The Golden GunAgain, another guilty pleasure. But I must admit, I see more flaws in TMWTGG than DAF. The plot just seems a little slow and doesn’t seem to go anywhere. But having said that, the villain is excellent, the funhouse scenes are great, the island is cool, and the car chase (minus that stupid slide whistle) is brilliant. Admittedly though, a lot of my enjoyment of this film is due to nostalgia, as I believe it was the second one I ever saw.
15. GoldfingerA great bond film, don’t get me wrong. But I just don’t think it’s one of the best like so many do. The story is great and the villain is strong. There’s lots to like. There’s also some great moments, such as the woman painted in gold, and the actual fort knox operation sequence with the planes and the gas. Brilliant stuff. And let’s not forget the golf scene. Oddjob I don’t much like though. He was ok, and I understand that he inspired the ‘larger than life’ henchmen. But I just hate the fact that he feels nothing when bond wacks him in the face with a metal pole. IMO that is just stupid. And that is why I think Oddjob (and Jaws too) are a bit silly. Good film though nonetheless.
16. Quantum Of SolaceThis is a decent film but at the same time I’m of two minds with it. It seemed to be, I dunno.... lacking? It seemed more like a Bourne film than a bond film at times, and much of the story required further explanation IMO – seemed rushed. The opera scene was pretty damn cool though, as was the burning building climax. And craig gave it his finest. Bond girl was ok, villain was weak. But my main criticism – The PTS. Perhaps the worst PTS in the series. That camera is just... crap.... But anyway, good film, and I particularly like the fact that the film never drags.
17. Casino RoyaleThis film was very well done. And Daniel Craig is a brilliant bond IMO. Now don’t get me wrong – nothing is wrong with CR in my eyes, nothing. It was very well done. But it is so hard for me to rank amongst the others due to being so different. It almost feels like a different series. Vesper was a great bond girl, and this film seemed very story-orientated, which worked well. The film is a little long, but has some great moments nonetheless, such as the bond being poisoned scene and the torture scene.
18. The World Is Not EnoughWell, there's some good things about this film, but also parts of it seem rather boring. The best thing about this film IMO is Elektra King. She is a fine villainess, and the scene at the maiden's tower where she has pierce strapped down is pretty good. The PTS is ok , although a little long. I liked the bomb in the pipeline scene as well as Valentin's return. And the inflatable jacket/sphere was cool. Renard was fairly weak though. All in all, ok film.
19. Tomorrow Never DiesIt's an ok film by all means. But it just doesn’t keep me as entertained as some other bond films. Elliot Carver is a bit ridiculous. But then again, he is a good homage to those over the top villains, so I liked him in that respect. The stealth boat climax was ok I guess, and the Kaufman scene was pretty good. And what's not to like about the huge poster of Carver being ripped during the fall? Bond's free-fall was good too. But for some reason, overall the film doesn't seem to be as good as the sum of it's parts... Very close with TWINE.
20. ThunderballI like this film more than what I used to. I used to think it was really boring. But I eventually warmed to it a bit, mainly due to some excellent scenes. Just about every scene involving Fiona Volpe was great – she is one fine villainess. Largo was a decent villain. And another great scene is when Angelo hijacks the plane, then is left to drown. Lots of good stuff in this film. It is still overall a low ranker on my list though, just because.... well, I don’t know why... just because I like 19 films better than it. I guess I still find the film slightly boring in places, for example, a lot of the underwater fights near the end of the film, which did get a bit too much for me.
21. Die Another DayNow, I DO enjoy DAD overall. But in terms of bond, it's definitely down there. Obvious reasons really - terrible CGI, matrix-like sequences, Jinx, Jinx's awful dialogue, invisible car, Mr Kil etc etc.... Some of DAD’s very few good points include the PTS, the fencing fight, miranda frost, grave’s death, and graves killing his father. The whole face surgery thing was kind of interesting I guess. And I don't mind Gustav Graves as a villain actually. But many, many problems with this film just cannot save it from being a low ranker in the bond cannon for me. And I know that it's been mentioned before, but... the para-sailing scene is really quite bad.
22. MoonrakerThere are three good things about MR. For instance, the centrifugal scene is absolutely brilliant, and is one of my favourite bond moments ever. The chang fight is pretty good also. And the song was good. But other than that.... no thanks. I was never keen on Jaws in TSWLM, but he is unbearable in MR. Why make him fall in love? How stupid. The love scenes are just unforgivable. They are just shameful and have no place in a bond movie. Drax is very one-dimensional (although at least he's evil, which a bond villain should be). Holly Goodhead I don’t mind, but she really could have acted better. My main problem with this film (other than the jaws love scenes) is the entire space sequence. The whole super-race thing made me wanna cry with embarrassment. It doesn’t belong in a bond film. Sci-fi? Yes. Bond? No. And the laser fight in space? Jesus, don’t get me started on that. How the hell is this film considered better than AVTAK? How?
Edited by Jarvio, 15 October 2012 - 01:22 PM.
