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Okay, before anyone reads my picks a disclaimer - the first Bond film I saw all the way through was The World Is Not Enough in 2000 when I was 21. My Dad was never a Bond fan so subsequently I pretty much avoided the series entirely.
After watching TWINE, I rented all the films and watched them for the first time in order over 2-3 weeks. As a result, a lot of the picks I make are gonna be unusual, and are mostly based on my first reaction. Some of my complaints/praises with the series are weird ones: On Her Majesty's Secret Service is 30 minutes too long; the Madonna song in Die Another Day rules (small rant warning - Any song that makes me think the theater sound system was mistakenly turned off is frickin' brilliant. It's an electronic music lover's geek-out dream come true. If you don't like this song, I hate you. :p) ); Moore's tongue-in-cheek style makes the fantastically surreal Moonraker a blast to watch; Dalton's brief stint as Bond is severely underappreciated - YOU try following the "it's all a joke" feel of Moore's 7 films with anything more serious.
Anyway, here we go.
Worst:
3) A View to a Kill - In the end, it's just dull. And Grace Jones is not attractive.
2) For Your Eyes Only - I know they were trying to get away from the zaniness of Moonraker, but aside from the great pre-credits sequence this one left me rather bored.
1) Diamonds Are Forever - Man this movie sucked. Connery came back for one more, and it's just awful. Watching them in order made me really want Connery back, not because Lazenby was that bad, but because he wasn't that good either. And then this horrid mess started playing before me. I tried to like it, but it kept having such idiotic parts that I couldn't. That whole fight (a.k.a. joyful frolick) with Bambi and Thumper was the final straw for me.
Best:
3) Octopussy - The one Moore should have ended with. Perfect combination of Moore's schmalzy style, mindless action, and legitimate intrigue to boot. Besides - who can not love a movie with Bond disguised as a circus clown?
2) You Only Live Twice - The "Think I'm Turning Japanese" segment aside, this film rocked my socks off. Great gadgets, best Blofeld, overall a ton of fun - which is really the bottom line for me with a Bond film.
1) The Living Daylights - Sue me. I enjoyed every frickin' minute it. The fight on the cargo plane; using the cello to slide down the snow; Dalton's intensity. It may not have any of the iconic moments in the series, but I don't care. It's just a wonderfully great ride.
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