11 replies to this topic

[The Krynoid man]

I've realised I hadn't watched any of the Bond films in a while, so today I decided to start going through my Bond 50 set. I'll be watching one or two of the films a day and posting my thoughts on them on the forum afterwards.

 

Dr. No

I have to admit I didn't really like this one when I first saw it. I had seen most of the later films before this so I just found it to be a little dull compared to the others. However it's grown on me on repeated viewings, so while it's still near the bottom end of the list, I find it a lot more enjoyable than I originally did.

I feel that Connery, while his performance was great, did seem like he was still trying to find his footing in the role. I don't think he got it quite right until Goldfinger.

Ursula Andress looks gorgeous, but the character isn't very interesting and I didn't find Doctor No himself particularly memorable. I mean you had all of this great build up of only having him being mentioned by other characters and then only hearing this mysterious voice, and then he turns out to be a bloke in slightly dodgy Asian makeup. I like Quarrel and get upset when he dies, since he and Bond make a great team.

I feel that most of the action scenes are pretty good for the time, the exception being the car chase although Bond's one liner at the end of it did make me chuckle.

The film is dated in some places and, due to the low budget, feels a bit cheap compared to the later films, but it does hold up a lot more than most British films of the era.

 

Overall, a good start to the series, but far from the best (in my opinion at least)

3/5

[ChickenStu]

I've just finished a private Bond marathon. Was gonna post about it but I've taken up a lot of forum space in the past year so it's nice that someone else is having a shot and I can just jump on the back!

 

Yeah, I guess I'd agree with your assessment of Dr. No. It's like a rough first draft version of what is to follow. I wasn't that fond of it on my 2013 marathon, but I actually rather enjoyed it more on this year's one. It has a very much "first try" feeling about it. It has it's moments though and Our Man is more of an anti-hero here than a straightforward good guy. I like him when he's presented like that, I personally find anti-heroes easier to relate too. 

 

This is Bond as a blank slate. It's From Russia With Love and Goldfinger where I think the colour and detail were filled in, 

[The Krynoid man]

From Russia With Love

Now this is more like it. I've always liked this film, there's just something about it that keeps me watching it.

Even though I do love my over the top Bond films, I always love it when one stays true to the original books.

Can I just say right now that Red Grant is not only the best Bond henchman, but also the best henchman in any film ever. Robert Shaw (does anyone else think he looks a bit like Daniel Craig) plays the character as Bond's equal in every way, and the train fight between them is one of the best action scenes in the whole series.

The rest of the characters are great as well, particularly Kerrim Bay and Rosa Klebb. The weakest part of the film is unfortunately Daniela Bianchi as Tatiana. She's pretty but a little wooden. I suspect this may be due to her voice being dubbed. I also don't like the helicopter sequence, not only because it's a blatant rip off of North by Northwest, but also because it's just not very exciting.

 

Aside from that, this is an excellent film and one of the best Bond's

5/5

[ChickenStu]

Agree with your assessment on From Russia With Love. Goldeneye is my favourite Bond film, but From Russia With Love is certainly my favourite of Fleming's novels. Part of me wishes the film used the book's ending - but maybe we'll see that in a future movie.

 

I quite like the idea of a two part Bond adventure being done. In the same vein as the final Harry Potter and Hunger Games epics and with the future Marvel Avengers movie. One long epic story, told in two parts. They could use something akin to the ending of the From Russia With Love book at the end of the first part. A dire cliffhanger. I hope they do that one day. 

 

The greatest joy for me of From Russia With Love is Our Man's friendship with Kerim Bay. Connery and Armendariz had a lot of chemistry and the simple dialogue scenes between them are just full of joy. Provides a real backbone to the film. I love when Our Man says to him "When is a friend ever in debt?".

 

Perfection. 

[The Krynoid man]

Goldfinger

While I agree that it's the quintessential Bond film, I find Goldfinger a tad overrated. It's entertaining enough, but it's probably never going to make my top 10.

Bond really doesn't do that much in the third act other than sit around in a prison cell. I know this is blasphemy for a Bond fan to say, but I just don't like the title track. The song itself isn't that bad, but I just really dislike Shirley Bassey as a singer. Aside from that, the score is really good, as are all of the John Barry scores.

Pussy is probably the first Bond girl that's actually an interesting character and Blackman has good chemistry with Connery. The villains are very memorable, particularly Odd Job. I love the scene where Bond beats Goldfinger at golf, it's just so hilarious to see him get one over such a pompous character.

Also, I've been noticing on this marathon that the early films have some really dodgy dubbing. Could they just not afford a boom-mic or something?

 

So overall, not one of my all time favorites, but it is the one that set the Bond template

3.5/5

[Bond of Steele]

I always like reading these marathon reviews of books and movies.  Chickenstu, you should never worry about taking over the forums.  I can never get enough of the wide array of opinions the series has created in its fanbase.

 

Me and some friends have been getting together each Sunday for a Bond movie.  We started in the summer and just watched Moonraker.

 

After watching some of them now, we've found our opinions of some of them quite surprising.  We all found Dr. No a very good movie, and FRWL a little bit more of a disappointment.  Goldfinger is maybe a tad overrated, but a greatly paced movie. 

 

We have to sometimes put aside some of the technical restrictions they had at the time.  I have always had the thought they originally only meant for these movies to be seen in the cinema, and not played over and over again in High Def.  So I think they thought they could easily get away with things without having to spend time and money to fix/re-shoot/film, etc.

[The Krynoid man]

 

We have to sometimes put aside some of the technical restrictions they had at the time.  I have always had the thought they originally only meant for these movies to be seen in the cinema, and not played over and over again in High Def.  So I think they thought they could easily get away with things without having to spend time and money to fix/re-shoot/film, etc.

 

very true

[Iceskater101]

See what I love about Doctor No is Honey Rider. I like that she took revenge on the man that raped her by planting that spider and letting him die. That's pretty bad ass and during the 60's the idea that a woman would do that is taboo. I do believe that Dr. No himself isn't that good of a villain but I think for the first outing for James Bond it was rather decent.

 

From Russia with Love.. I used to hate that Bond movie. I like it now more that I am older and when I watched it then I was younger.. but I do enjoy it a lot more! I wouldn't say it's in my favorites but I do enjoy it more than Dr. No

 

Goldfinger.. easily the most overrated Bond film. It can be rather boring at parts because James is just sitting imprisoned in Goldfingers camp but I love the Bond car and I love Oddjob. I really hope the Craig era gets a bad ass henchman because that would be great.

[Call Billy Bob]

Goldfinger.. easily the most overrated Bond film.

[ChickenStu]

Goldfinger I personally think is amazing. But each to their own! 

[The Krynoid man]

Thunderball

I have no idea why so many people dislike this one. For me it's one of the most purely enjoyable films in the series.

I can't pin point why, but I've always loved it since I was a boy. Connery was never better as Bond than in this in my opinion. Plus we got 4 of the best looking Bond girls ever.

Sure it has it's flaws, but no more than any other Bond film.

 

5/5

Edited by The Krynoid man, 12 November 2014 - 09:17 PM.

[Bond of Steele]

Thunderball is good, but for me, it's not as good as others.  I find it paced poorly.  Some parts are dragged out a little longer than they should, but I think it's the film-makers.  Making an epic I think they drag out some scenes in an effort to build this huge feature they're filming.

 

Some scenes in this movie must have been quite unbelievable to see back when this movie premiered, so I can understand some of the issue, but it still felt quite long in parts.