Bond Films...Best 3, Worst 3

Ernest Rister · 01-20-2005, 02:23 AM

THE JAMES BOND OUVRE...
PICK THE WORST THREE AND THE BEST THREE

WORST BOND

3. License to Kill (Yes, I know, it is a leaner meaner Bond without too many silly gadgets, and Dalton never got his due and thank goodness, there is no Giant Villain's Lair that looks like a discarded idea for the Legion of Doom -- however, despite the film's reported budget, this is the cheapest-looking Bond film since #1 below, with tired direction and no creative spark at all. Bond had been eclipsed by modern action films, like Raiders and Die Hard and Lethal Weapon, and nobody bothered to tell the creaking Bond crew. This was pretty much the same ol', same ol', filmed with enormous lethargy. Even the props look tired. Quick! Can you sing the theme song by Aretha Franklin? Can you remember the tune?)

2. From Russia With Love (Naah, just kidding. Just put it here to watch Bond purists lose their minds. This was a hard choice, but I'm going name A View To a Kill my second runner up. Not quite as horrible as I remembered it being, Walken is great, and the flooded mine sequence was actually genuinely exciting. Sort of lacks imagination - I mean, how come everytime Bond goes to a large city, he winds up fighting on top of that city's largest and most famous landmark? Bond is in Paris, he fights on top of the Eiffel Tower. He is in San Fran, he fights on top of the Golden Gate Bridge. He comes to Hollywood, he fights on top of Oprah....I keed! I keed!)

1. Live and Let Die (Maybe the strangest Bond film of all time. Seriously, it's like watching one of those 7-up commercials from the 80's mixed together with The Serpent and the Rainbow and The French Connection..."Voodoo! Crisp and clean and no caffeine! HA HA HA HA!" -- Best thing about it is Yaphet Kotto's performance and the Paul McCartney title track.)

BEST BOND

3. Thunderball (Hey, look at this! A Bond film that actually has a pretty good story. There's also a confidence about this movie that I like. Like every Bond film, it has an oddball scene or two (like Bond's near-death at the hands of a spine-strecthing exercise machine), but overall, the film is aces.)

2. Goldfinger (Bond goofing around in America. How many classic moments does this film contain? From the giant laser to Odd Job's demise to a girl covered in gold, this movie is an icon. Loads of fun, too. "Man talk." *swat* Enough said.)

1. Die Another Day (Isn't the Madonna song just super! Okay, you got me. I'm just trying to annoy the Bond purists again. I'm gonna be boring and say From Russia With Love as #1. Villainous henchmen don't come any cooler than Robert Shaw, and like Thunderball, the best asset of the film is the story. The actual climax isn't the most suprising thing in the world, but the suspense scenes throughout (including the final showdown between Shaw and Connery) make up for the lack of, say, giant hovercraft with flame throwers going over cliffs, or expensive cars racing around inside a giant ice castle while a space heat beam tries to melt them...also the love interest is actually interesting for once in this film. Well done, 007)

CURRENT TALLY (excluding the votes of those who picked ties or more than three titles)

WORST:
Casino Royale (1)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1)
Diamonds Are Forever (4)
Live and Let Die (2)
The Man with the Golden Gun (2)
Moonraker (6)
Never Say Never Again (2)
For Your Eyes Only (1)
Octopussy (2)
A View to a Kill (7)
The Living Daylights (1)
License to Kill (3)
The World is not Enough (1)
Die Another Day (3)

BEST:
Dr. No (1)
From Russia With Love (7)
Goldfinger (9)
Thunderball (2)
You Only Live Twice (1)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (2)
The Spy Who Loved Me (5)
For Your Eyes Only (1)
Octopussy (1)
The Living Daylights (1)
GoldenEye (3)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1)

Tim Glover · 01-20-2005, 02:39 AM

Worst Bond
1. The Man w/ The Golden Gun
2. Die Another Day
3. A View To a Kill

Best Bond (this is harder)
3 Way Tie for Best!
1. From Russia With Love/Octopussy/Tomorrow Never Dies
From Russia With Love is Connery's best & I think Octopussy is Moore's best too. Also feel that Tomorrow Never Dies is Brosnans best as well. These are all different in their own way. I love FRWL for the opposite reasons I love Octopussy. Same for TNDies.

2. The Spy Who Loved Me. Moore finally finds his way here and sets the tone for the next few Bonds. His style wore thin but also earned new fans to the series with this one. Critics also began believing too.

3. Goldeneye. Bond was back and in awesome grand style. Onatop was marvelous. Sean Bean was one of the best villains ever and the smartest. Outstanding music here too.

Jim_K · 01-20-2005, 06:11 AM

Best

1. From Russia With Love

2. Goldfinger

3. tie On Her Majesty's Secret Service
tie Thunderball

Worst

Diamonds Are Forever

Moonraker

A View To A Kill

george kaplan · 01-20-2005, 06:26 AM

Worst:

3. Never Say Never Again

2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service

1. A View to a Kill

Best:

3. Tomorrow Never Dies

2. Goldfinger

1. From Russia With Love

I was very tempted to put Live & Let Die in my #3 slot for the best films, just because it's infinitely better than Ernest ranked it. But I honestly can't say it's one of the three best, just an excellent middle-of-the-pack Bond film. Certainly not the worst (hell, the best Bond theme song by itself prevents that from happening).

MatthewLouwrens · 01-20-2005, 07:13 AM

Worst Three

3. Die Another Day - A film that gets so caught up in referencing every other film, it forgets to actually have any reason for existing. Invisible car? Bond surfing? And the revelation of the villain's true identity was just laughable. Add to that Madonna's awful, ghastly song, and you just have a bad film. Although the ice building was a nice idea. And I did like the blonde.

2. Moonraker - I seem to have vague memories (I haven't seen it in years) that the film was enjoyable enough for the majority of the film, a decent average Bond film. But then they went into space, and then the film just turned into Star Wars. Awful. Add to that that silly part where Jaws falls in love and becomes a good guy, and you're left with a truly awful film.

1. The World Is Not Enough - The sole highlight of the film is Desmond Llewelyn, even if he is sidelined by the replacement. Other than that, it is the only Bond film that actually bored me. No matter how awful some of the other films would get, they had their moments that were actually enjoyable to watch. But TWINE? After an astonishing opening, it just became dull.

Best Three

3. The Spy Who Loved Me - Just a really well made film. After a wonderful opening that promises much, the film delivers. It never seems to take a misstep. And it's helped by having the best Bond theme song, full stop.

2. Goldfinger - A great villain (and one that isn't Blofeld, who really was overused). The first Bond film to truly establish the formula, and it does it so well. Plus it has Pussy Galore. Great.

3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service - George Lazenby is the worst Bond actor. End of story. And yet, he is lucky enough to find himself in a Bond film that far exceeds anything that the franchise ever made that the film saves his performance. It has a great romance with Tracy (Look! It's Emma Peel!), and the most memorable ending for a Bond film (Cue Louis Armstrong, "We Have All The Time Time In The World"). The film was the first Bond I ever saw, and it stayed with me.

**HTF Ads**

Brandon Conway · 01-20-2005, 07:20 AM

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.

Sam Favate · 01-20-2005, 07:57 AM

Long-time Bond fan here, so my choices may go to the obvious:

Worst:
1. A View To A Kill - I knew it was going to be bad as soon as they played the Beach Boys tune in the pre-credit sequence. Nothing against the Beach Boys, but the movie went for comedy right off the bat. A terrible self-parody.

2. Die Another Day - So stupid. Stunt-casting never works, and Halle Berry was terrible; her line in the fight sequence at the end to Rosamund Pike made me laugh out loud. It's clear they are going for the lowest common denominator when they make films like this.

3. Toss-up. Licence To Kill or The World Is Not Enough. Too much testosterone, and that's saying a lot for Bond movies. Licence is far too grim; World is too simplistic (and stunt-casting Denise Richards doesn't help).

Best
1. From Russia With Love - exactly what the series should be. Doesn't matter it was 40 years ago, it is still the most stirring film in the series.

2. Goldfinger - For once, a crowd-pleaser that works. The reason it became the archetype is because it was great.

3. Thunderball - Yes, more Connery, but these three films cemented the Bond legacy. Everything that followed was because of the creative success of these films.

Honorable mention goes to The Spy Who Loved Me (best of the Moore films, even if the plot is an exact copy of You Only Live Twice), The Living Daylights (for a moment it looked like Timothy Dalton would rescue the series), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Lazenby was pretty good, although with Connery in the movie, alongside the great Diana Rigg, this could have been the best in the series), Tomorrow Never Dies (what a Bond film should be in the 21st century; the only good entry in the Brosnan films -- yes, including Goldeneye, which substituted explosions at the end of every scene for sublty of plot).

Joseph Bolus · 01-20-2005, 08:33 AM

OK, OK ... I want to play, too!

My Worst Three Bond Movies:

3. Moonraker ... The tagline was "Outer space now belongs to 007!" Only it takes almost the entire movie for him to get there ... and in the meantime we have to put up with riffs on "Close Encounters" and "2001: A Space Odyssey". And the "sight gags" , oh ... the "sight gags"!! Who needs Austin Powers when you have self-parody??

2. Never Say Never Again - Yeah, I know: This movie wasn't part of the main franchise, but was an "authorized" re-make of Thunderball. Still, Bond without the 007 music? Forgetaboutit!

1. The Living Daylights - I don't know what to say about this film ... It just didn't seem like Bond to me ... Hey, it was a great little spy/action movie, though!

The Best:

3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service - I'm in the camp that believes that Lazenby did a great job with a great Bond script. The movie was unique in that Bond truly falls in love. The movie has everything: Believable, but eye-popping, action sequences; a great villian played by a great actor (Telly Savalas); humor where needed; and human pathos (a rarity for a Bond movie)in spades.

2. From Russia with Love - Bond without gadgets, but depicted as the "pure spy". A great, intelligent script derived from an actual Ian Fleming novel. The unforgettable train fight between Connery and Shaw is still amazing to behold. A winner all the way.

1. Goldfinger - The only movie to give us "pure Bond" with just the right amount of high-tech gadgets mixed-in. The car is great, the villain is great, the henchman is great, the script is great, the women are great, the direction is great. The movie also has one of the most memorable quotes of the series:
Bond: "Do you expect me to talk?"
Goldfinger: "No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die."

Hey, you could lose your head over this movie! It's just ... Golden!

Steve Christou · 01-20-2005, 08:52 AM

As a huge fan of the official Bond movies (not counting Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again) I have to say there isn't a dog among them, each film has it's loyal fans, all are hugely entertaining, yes even A View to a Kill.

The quintessential Bond film is Goldfinger, if only one could be picked and put into a time capsule it would most likely be that. The template for all future Bonds, Ian Fleming fans may have wished it was From Russia With Love instead, but I'm glad it was Goldfinger.

As for personal favorite Bond films, I always group them by decade...

1960's - You Only Live Twice (Always been my favorite of all the Bonds, completely over the top, fantastic photography, great locations, gorgeous gals, one of John Barry's most memorable scores, Blofeld trying to trigger WWIII from his volcano lair, hundreds of ninjas helping Bond thwart Blofelds plans, and Connery's cool bored Bond totally unfazed by it all, perfect!)

1970's - The Spy Who Loved Me (a remake of You Only Live Twice, my favorite Roger Moore Bond, fantastic setpieces, they don't get much better than this one)

1980's - The Living Daylights (Timothy Dalton was underrated as Bond, uncomfortable with the 007 quips, but a very good actor, Tim was the most serious and dangerous Bond of them all, shame he didn't make a couple more)

1990's - Tomorrow Never Dies (Action packed Bond spectacular, Michelle Yeoh the best Bond girl in ages, weak villain as is usual with the Brosnan Bonds, but great action sequences and a fine score by David Arnold)

The weakest Bonds IMO are The Man With The Golden Gun, For Your Eyes Only and The World is Not Enough.