32 replies to this topic

[ChickenStu]

The movie series has had it's highs and lows over the years. Some of the movies are quite serious and those tend to be our favourites, but they can be quite silly aswell (especially if you are looking at the Roger Moore era)

 

Now my favourites are the likes of From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Licence To Kill, Goldeneye, Skyfall stuff like that. However, I do greatly enjoy SOME of the silly ones too. The ones I do like I consider as guilty pleasures.

 

My ultimate guilty pleasure Bond? Man, it has to be Moonraker. 

 

OK, now it is a very, very silly movie. It jettisons almost any serious element of the previous films. But I find it so much damn FUN!! The opening action sequence with the parachute, the chase in the motorised gondola, it's all completely stupid - but dammit - every time I load this film up I really find myself swept along for the ride! 

 

And to this day - I still find the third act of the film set in outer space to be utterly awe inspiring, largely to John Barry's amazing score. The fact that no one in it seems to be taking it seriously actually helps! This really is a fun breeze of a movie. 

 

Moonraker to me is an absolute winner. And classic Bond. 

[Iceskater101]

I swear there was a thread for this?

 

Oh well.

 

I guess it depends on what is a "guilty pleasure bond movie" because of all the hate with License to Kill does that count as a guilty pleasure movie? How about the World is not Enough?

 

My guilty pleasure James Bond movie would have to be a toss up to The World is Not Enough and The Man with the Golden Gun.

 

World is Not Enough:

 

I think this is a great Bond film because of the action in it, the romance and the Bond women. I loved the opening with the chase with the black boat to ultimately the women blowing herself up in an air balloon. James Bond is hanging from a wire and boom, the Bond song starts. This bond song happens to be one of my favorites, I never heard of Garbage before this Bond song but it was sung beautifully, it tied back to the Bond film. It was very well done. Then we find out about Electra and how she is King's daughter, she is in danger from Renard. I loved Electra. I thought she was absolutely gorgeous! She also had a nice presence on the screen and I thought that her and Brosnan had really good chemistry. Now later in we find out that she is really bad. That she set up everything because of how much she hated her father. That makes Renard to be a different kind of villain. He was able to take this girl and totally and completely change her into someone else. That's really psychologically messed up. He made her feel that if her father didn't come get her, he didn't love her. 

Now along with the positives come the negatives. I dislike Denise Richards, I thought she was unbelievable in her role, even though she was nice to look at. I also thought Renard was a forgettable Bond villain. 

 

 

The Man with the Golden Gun:

 

I love the opening act with that psychedelic maze and Christopher Lee killing him. I thought it was really interesting and compelling to see on the screen. I also enjoyed Maud Adams, I thought she was beautiful and I was sad to see what happened to her. Roger Moore is well dressed in this film. Though there are a couple dull scenes and don't even get me started on J W Pepper because he is one of the most annoying movie characters of all time.. I still enjoy watching this Bond movie.

[dtuba]

Easy...LALD for me.

 

I know it's considered quite dated and not one of the critical favorites of the series, but it never fails to entertain me. Roger is a lower-tier bond for me, but he's young and bad-a** in this film. Love the theme song and the score by Sir Paul and Sir George,  Love the villains (especially Adam and Baron Samedi). The action is well staged, and even JW pepper is not as annoying as he is in TMWTGG.

Not a good film really, but I can't help but enjoy it.

[SecretAgentFan]

Guilty? Well, obviously it has to be DAD then, followed by MR.

 

Although I don´t feel guilty loving them at all.

[glidrose]

I've never understood the concept of guilty pleasure. If I enjoy something it must be good. I've never said to myself this is awful but I have a soft spot for it.

 

Of course on the other hand, I could argue that the entire film & book franchise is a guilty pleasure.

[Gothamite]

I've always loved 'A View to a Kill' and I will apologise about it forever. It's great fun, it has an interesting plot and intriguing characters and beautiful music. I always, always enjoy watching it which is something I can't say about every Bond film. 

 

'Die Another Day' is exactly what it says on the tin and given the triumph of 'Casino Royale', it's become a lot easier to look back and enjoy the former film for what it is, wrought by atrocious dialogue and CGI though it may be. I absolutely love the 'car battle' between Bond and Zao and I think that scene is an example of how the film outdoes every other 'Bond and Beyond' film in terms of sheer spectacle. 

 

Even though 'The Spy Who Loved Me' is generally regarded as one of the better Bonds, I still regard it as the ultimate guilty pleasure, simply because it's nothing like a Fleming story, it's loaded with stupid jokes and campy humour and ridiculous characters...but I love it to pieces. It's far and away the most fun Bond film ever made and it's Rog's one masterpiece. 

[Guy Haines]

Probably Octopussy. As a self confessed "Wing-nut" I liked the PTC featuring the Acrostar mini-jet aircraft being put through its paces. The film veers between old fashioned "boys-own" adventure - the scenes in India could have been easily set in any other era, with any other hero such as Indiana Jones - and the frankly ludicrous, such as Bond disguised as an ape, a crocodile (!) and later as a clown. "Q" in a hot air balloon wearing a leather pilot's helmet seems more like an eccentric boffin than a resourceful quartermaster. And an island full of beautiful women in exotic outfits who row boats and smuggle jewels? Not exactly classic cold war espionage.

 

And yet...... when I went to see it at the "flicks" I found myself enjoying it. It's a romp, and doesn't pretend to be anything else, although the serious, tense moments in it seem genuinely serious and tense - I'm thinking of General Orlov's rant in the Russian war room, his confrontation with Bond on the train, and 007's desperate race to get to the US airbase before the Russian atom bomb planted there goes off, when he has to overcome one everyday obstacle after another (Such as being refused a lift in a car.). When I heard that Bond would disguise himself as a clown, I was apprehensive to put it mildly. However, the scene turned out to be one of the most fraught and tense in the Bond series, imho.

 

I thought AVTAK was probably one Bond film too many for Roger Moore. (On reflection, I feel the same about NSNA and Sean Connery.) He was finally beginning to look his age in his last movie - at least, that's how it seemed to me.  Had he quit the role in OP then the final scene, as Bond seduces Octopussy and the boat rows off into the sunset - "in, out, in, out" - would have been a pretty good send off for him, ending a great run as Bond.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Janus Assassin]

Easily its Moonraker for me, followed closely by Diamonds Are Forever.

[The Krynoid man]

It's difficult to pick one spacific film because I enjoy all of them, but if I had to pick one it would probably be Moonraker.

[sharpshooter]

I would have to say Diamonds Are Forever. I know people detest the movie, but I find it really enjoyable. Therefore it qualifies. Same thing with Moonraker, which I also have a lot of time for.

[elizabeth]

NSNA, I think. 

[sharpshooter]

NSNA, I think. 

I would include that one as well. The dialogue alone gets it across the line. I mean, "I made you all wet - "yes, but my martini is still dry." Golden.

[glidrose]

I've always loved 'A View to a Kill' and I will apologise about it forever. It's great fun, it has an interesting plot and intriguing characters and beautiful music. I always, always enjoy watching it which is something I can't say about every Bond film.

Nothing to apologise for! It's a great Bond film. If you can overlook the geriatric home team.

[Otis Fairplay]

Octopussy would have been a fine choice, but in the end I find it more of bridled pleasure than a guilty one. Charles K. Feldman’s Casino Royale would also fit the bill, but that’s another story.

 

No, I will stick with The Man with the Golden Gun on this one. Once upon a time, as a know-it-all 12-year old, I would tell anyone who cared to listen (preciously few did) that this was the worst Bond film, which in retrospect seems strange since I was prone to gush enthusiastically about Diamonds are Forever as well as Live and Let Die at the time.

 

Nowadays I find The Man with the Golden Gun a fairly entertaining entry in the series, and certainly the highlight of Guy Hamilton’s 70’s trilogy.  But while enjoying it, there’s no denying I also find it quite shabby. Set design, action and jokes alike seem pretty cheap and while the script sprinkles interesting ideas among generous helpings of silliness it fails to gel in a rather lazy if not careless fashion. There is also a somewhat nasty undercurrent at times as well as moments of sheer sleaze. Chew Me in Grisly Land, indeed. Even John Barry’s admittedly intriguing score add colours of somewhat sloppy seediness to the proceedings.

 

Much like many of the other surviving icons of the 60’s, Bond seemed to be running on fumes and complacency at the time. On the other hand, it did get him to a wacky, slightly trashy, unpolished, whimsical, derivative, sporadically smutty and somewhat surreal but nonetheless oddly alluring place more streamlined later entries of the series would steer clear of, but that I’m happy to revisit from time to time. It’s Only The Man with the Golden Gun (But I Like It).

[glidrose]

re: Otis's comments about TMWTGG. That film is definitely seedy and cheap and has a nasty edge to it, like no other film in the series.

Oddly, Roger Moore says it's a good entry and his third favorite Bond film (behind TSWLM and LALD).

[Agent 76]

I guess The World is not Enough.

 

 

almost everybody brands this one as garbage but I enjoy it a lot. 

[00 Brosnan]

Just for context I'll list my Top 5 films: From Russia with Love, Casino Royale, GoldenEye, SkyFall, and The Living Daylights.

 

Guilty Pleasures:

Die Another Day - I find the first 2/3 of the film to be action-packed, light-hearted Bond entertainment (perfect for a rainy day off), but the final act of the film (post-Iceland) is so downright terrible (and cheesy) in every aspect and almost un-watchable for me. Not to mention Jinx...

 

Octopussy - Like my above choice, this is a more light-hearted and fun Bond film that is pretty enjoyable until the final and once again downright silly act of the film.

 

I see a AVTAK has been mentioned by some users. Just wanted to say AVTAK is the one Bond film I can't stand to watch at all. Everything about the film is ridiculous. It's ranked 23 out of 23 for me, just behind DAF.

[Vauxhall]

MOONRAKER would qualify as a guilty pleasure, but I think the first two-thirds of the movie are genuinely good, so there's no guilt involved for me!

 

I'd probably say DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER fits the bill a bit more closely. A very silly film, but I've increasingly enjoyed it in recent years.

[archer1949]

Easy. Diamonds Are Forever. Especially since I genuinely like other "Universally hated" Bonds like Octopussy and TWINE. 

[AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän]

The Man With The Golden Gun - a perfect film for a lazy weekend afternoon!

[Messervy]

TND for me: weak plot & cheap villain, but somehow very enjoybale as a no-brainer for its sheer entertainment value.

[Double Naught spy]

I've never felt ashamed for watching any of the Eon films (not that some aren't vastly superior to others!), but I do confess having feelings of guilt over watching 1967's Casino Royale more times that any sane person should.   Its like some disturbingly mutated love-child spawned from a brief tryst between What's New Pussycat and a Matt Helm film that you just can't avert your eyes from!   

 

But in my defense - David Niven is always a treat to watch in any film, the soundtrack is awesome, and the women are stunningly beautiful.   

[indy_chic]

My choice would be Die Another Day because it does have its moments.

[hilly]

I don't really see it as a guilty pleasure, but given how frowned upon it seems to be on these forums (fora?), then I guess You Only Live Twice fits the bill.

Yes I know Connery sleepwalks through it. I appreciate that it bears little or no resemblance to the novel. I understand that it is out and out fantasy. However the sheer scale of it, the outlandish nature of the plot, the sets, Donald Pleasance and his pet piranhas, John Barry's score and the cinematography all make it a great couple of hours entertainment

[Major Tallon]

 

I appreciate that it bears little or no resemblance to the novel. I understand that it is out and out fantasy. However the sheer scale of it, the outlandish nature of the plot, the sets, Donald Pleasance and his pet piranhas, John Barry's score and the cinematography all make it a great couple of hours entertainment

My feelings exactly.

[Professor Pi]

"Wo is your floor?"  Las Vegas.  "If you destroy Kansas no one will hear about it for years."  "Right idea, Mr. Bond...." "But wrong pussy."  Even Connery seems to enjoy Diamonds Are Forever as a guilty pleasure.  "Hi. I'm Plenty.  Plenty O'Toole."

 

"Named after your father perhaps."

[AMC Hornet]

Most of my favorites are the mutts:

 

TB (The former all-time grosser, despite younger audiences complaining about the 'boring' underwater scenes)

OHMSS (which has only recently started to get the accolades it deserves)

DAF (my first - good, clean, goofy, dirty fun!)

LALD (racist? have you read the book?)

TMWTGG (Hong Kong, Bangkok, Christopher Lee, the Golden Gun, Britt Eckland in a bikini - you need more?)

OP (those who wanted a return to the 60's style ought to have been happy with this one)

DAD (marked the beginning of the best part of my life so far - I won't say a word against it)

 

No guilt here - I love them all. GG get so little love around here that I've come to regard it as a personal film custom-made for me alone. I wish there were more like it. (Well, I suppose there are - refer back to the list above).

[Hansen]

 

NSNA, I think. 

I would include that one as well. The dialogue alone gets it across the line. I mean, "I made you all wet - "yes, but my martini is still dry." Golden.

 

I entirely second this. I will add LALD for the magnun 44 scene and TMWTGG for the 'questionning' of Miss Anders

[S K Y F A L L]

Tough one. Geez... DAF, TMWTGG, MR, AVTAK, TLD, LTK and DAD all come to mind but I would have to say GE because of all the nostalgia that comes with it to me.

[SPECTRE ASSASSIN]

I don't really see it as a guilty pleasure, but given how frowned upon it seems to be on these forums (fora?), then I guess You Only Live Twice fits the bill.

Yes I know Connery sleepwalks through it. I appreciate that it bears little or no resemblance to the novel. I understand that it is out and out fantasy. However the sheer scale of it, the outlandish nature of the plot, the sets, Donald Pleasance and his pet piranhas, John Barry's score and the cinematography all make it a great couple of hours entertainment

Agreed. Saw the film recently and liked it better since I last saw a few years back. Still a flawed film, but seeing the sight of Kissy Suzuki made me forget how beautiful the actress Mia Hama was. 

 

But I agree with some of the posters here regarding Moonraker as a guilty pleasure. I haven't seen the film in awhile, but I have less of a hatred for it because there are a few fine moments in the film. I'll revisit it soon.