View Poll Results: Best Bond Film EVER!!

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  • Dr. No

    4 4.08%
  • From Russia With Love

    14 14.29%
  • Goldfinger

    38 38.78%
  • Thunderball

    2 2.04%
  • Live And Let Die

    7 7.14%
  • Man With The Golden Gun

    0 0%
  • The Spy Who Loved Me

    5 5.10%
  • The Living Daylights

    1 1.02%
  • Goldeneye

    8 8.16%
  • Casino Royale

    19 19.39%
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Results 41 to 60 of 60

Thread: Best Bond Film

  1. #41
    Quote Originally Posted by Reisen View Post
    Casino Royale was absolutely fantastic. I'm going to stop by and pick up a copy on the way home from work.

    I'm a lover of pretty much all the Bond films, although I'd have to put out License to Kill as probably the worst, with View to a Kill and whichever one had Denise Richards as the scientist (telling I can't even remember the name) down there too.

    No one has mentioned "You Only Live Twice" and "For Your Eyes Only", which I think are pretty strong contenders for top 5 or top 10. Similarly, I'm a "Thunderball" fan, the underwater fight scene is pretty wild! At the time, the computer warfare game was considered ultra high-tech as well...

    I'd probably move "Living Daylights" off the list (Just can't see a Timothy Dalton movie, who was easily the worst Bond, on the list). I'd also scratch "Man with the Golden Gun", and replace with the two I mentioned above. While I'm not a "Goldeneye" fan, it deserves a place on the list if only for a reason that it spawned the greatest console game ever...
    It's so funny coming across an old thread, reading it, and realizing you had posted in it over 5 years ago! :-).

    It's even funnier when what you posted 5 years ago pretty much matches up with everything you were thinking moments ago. Specifically around "You Only Live Twice", "For Your Eyes Only", and "Thunderball". The only difference is I think now, with 5 more years of experience under my belt, I'd leave Living Daylights on the list. Great cold-war culture, good fight scenes, the Afghanistan part was kind of fun...

    "For Your Eyes Only" actually got more credit as the thread went along, but I think it's top 5. One of the things I love about the Bond movies today, is the cultural artifacts of the 1960's and 1970's. The cars, the planes, views on travel, alcohol, and women. Kind of the original Mad Men, before Mad Men was cool (I realize one is actually from that era while the other is recreating a slightly earlier one).

    Anyway, "For Your Eyes Only" does a great job recreating 60's / 70's Europe, from the Alpine scenes, to the Greek ones. Great climbing and fortress assault scenes, fantastic ski scenes. All stuff that strikes a chord with me.

    "You Only Live Twice" seemed to get very little mention, either good or bad. For me, that's way up there. Similar to my views on Europe above, you get the same thing but with the East (specifically, japan). Helicopter scenes, ninjas, poisoning, prototypical villain, and easily the best evil lair of all (literally, in a fake volcano). Add in the best climax (huge ninja assault on the base), and I think you have a winner. I think it's no coincidence that is the movie so many of the caricatures like Austin Powers draw so heavily from.

    Lest we not forget, Bond gets married (and loses another wife) in that one, too.

    To me, Quantum of Solace was a decent let-down, but I'm hearing great word of mouth for Skyfall. Which leads me to the question, has anyone seen it yet? Evans, I'm thinking of you specifically?

    Lastly, anyone know why the release schedule of this put it out there globally so far before the US? Was it simply a timing thing (to avoid other movies, or hit peak sales around the Thanksgiving holiday?), or could it maybe have something to do with foreign pirating (it seems to me, with so many pirates outside the US, releasing movies in other markets first could dampen that a little)?

  2. #42
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    Quote Originally Posted by Reisen View Post
    I'm hearing great word of mouth for Skyfall. Which leads me to the question, has anyone seen it yet? Evans, I'm thinking of you specifically?

    Lastly, anyone know why the release schedule of this put it out there globally so far before the US? Was it simply a timing thing (to avoid other movies, or hit peak sales around the Thanksgiving holiday?), or could it maybe have something to do with foreign pirating (it seems to me, with so many pirates outside the US, releasing movies in other markets first could dampen that a little)?
    Yes, I have seen it. I'll post a review in a day or so. It was quite good.

    I am not certain why it was released earlier in the UK and elsewhere. Perhaps they wanted to build buzz for the film (knowing it would be huge in the UK, where they love bond even more than they do here). Perhaps it was merely a matter of the US release schedule being more crowded and this date working best for them. It may also have been a calculation to have the film still be relevant and in moviegoer's minds over the Thanksgiving week, which is a big one for movies.

    -Jason "Skyfall is certainly among the 10 best Bond films but I think it comes up a tad short of the top few" Evans
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  3. #43
    I went with From Russia with Love, just barely edging out Casino Royale and Spy who Loved Me. Ask me in a week, and I might put them in a different order, but it would definitely be those three at the top.


    Quote Originally Posted by Icarus09 View Post
    Does Craig behave like the bond in the novels or in the movies of old? No.
    He may not act like Brosnan or Moore's Bond, but I think he's closer to Connery than either of them. And though I haven't read any of the novels, my understanding was that NovelBond has more in common with Craig than the usual suave-and-sophisticated protrayal.

  4. #44
    Quote Originally Posted by Dukeface88 View Post
    He [Daniel Craig] may not act like Brosnan or Moore's Bond, but I think he's closer to Connery than either of them. And though I haven't read any of the novels, my understanding was that NovelBond has more in common with Craig than the usual suave-and-sophisticated protrayal.
    I thought Brosnan was closest to Connery. I think he came closer to the devil may care in the face of death that Connery always had. Craig is more serious with a more sarcastic spit in the face of danger attitude. Craig's smile is just too stiff and forced to me. He's much better than Dalton in my opinion, but his style as 007 is more like Dalton's than Connery's to me.

    None of the other Bonds have really played it like Connery. Moore had the kind of fun attitude, but it tended to get a little overly silly with him.

    Just my $0.02.

  5. #45
    Quote Originally Posted by bjornolf View Post
    I thought Brosnan was closest to Connery. I think he came closer to the devil may care in the face of death that Connery always had. Craig is more serious with a more sarcastic spit in the face of danger attitude. Craig's smile is just too stiff and forced to me. He's much better than Dalton in my opinion, but his style as 007 is more like Dalton's than Connery's to me.

    None of the other Bonds have really played it like Connery. Moore had the kind of fun attitude, but it tended to get a little overly silly with him.

    Just my $0.02.
    I think the Craig-Dalton comparison is spot on, and Craig is much better.

    I'd actually liken Brosnan to Moore rather than Connery. I think the spectrum going from "fun" to "serious" for the main Bond actors is Moore ---> Brosnan ---> Connery ---> Dalton ---> Craig.

    Lest we forget, a number of those Brosnan movies were absurdly silly, especially in characters and action scenes (the afore-mentioned riding a motorcycle off the cliff, climbing into the plane, and flying it). Not that we hadn't seen some of that in Bond movies before, but the whole tone of those movies played to the humor side, where as now we're in a much darker Christopher-Nolan's-take-on-Batman phase, which I love.

    Craig kind of takes everything Dalton did well and improves on it. Connery played both sides very well, but he gets a huge advantage as the original.

  6. #46
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    Quote Originally Posted by Reisen View Post
    I think the Craig-Dalton comparison is spot on, and Craig is much better.

    I'd actually liken Brosnan to Moore rather than Connery. I think the spectrum going from "fun" to "serious" for the main Bond actors is Moore ---> Brosnan ---> Connery ---> Dalton ---> Craig.

    Lest we forget, a number of those Brosnan movies were absurdly silly, especially in characters and action scenes (the afore-mentioned riding a motorcycle off the cliff, climbing into the plane, and flying it). Not that we hadn't seen some of that in Bond movies before, but the whole tone of those movies played to the humor side, where as now we're in a much darker Christopher-Nolan's-take-on-Batman phase, which I love.

    Craig kind of takes everything Dalton did well and improves on it. Connery played both sides very well, but he gets a huge advantage as the original.
    I think Craig comes closest to the way the Bond character is written in the Ian Fleming novels - suave and sophisticated, but also brutal and borderline psychotic at times. Humor is more prevalent in the movies than the books. Not saying Craig is the best movie Bond (my vote still goes to Connery, by a fairly wide margin), just the most faithful to the written character.

  7. #47
    Quote Originally Posted by Chance the Gardener View Post

    A Bond-related trivia question: What actor, who appeared in a relatively minor role in a Bond film, later went on to win an Oscar for Best-Supporting Actor?

    I don't think anyone ever answered this trivia question from March of 2007. I think the answer is Benicio del Toro. He was the villain's henchman in License to Kill.

    Of course, Christopher Walken had already won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar several years before he played the villain in A View to a Kill.

    And the original Bond himself would later win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in The Untouchables.

  8. #48
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom B. View Post
    I don't think anyone ever answered this trivia question from March of 2007. I think the answer is Benicio del Toro. He was the villain's henchman in License to Kill.

    Of course, Christopher Walken had already won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar several years before he played the villain in A View to a Kill.

    And the original Bond himself would later win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in The Untouchables.
    Woody Allen, William Holden, John Huston, Orson Wells, and David Niven all won Oscars and appeared in a Bond film.

    Wait, does Casino Royale (the 1967 version) count?

    --Jason "sadly, amazingly, Peter Sellers never won an Oscar... that is just plain wrong!!" Evans
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  9. #49
    jason, hurry up and write your Skyfall review. I'm getting more and more psyched for this film, and a good review from you will push me over the top.

  10. #50
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    Bond is one of the most iconic film franchises ever. I saw all of the early films as a young boy when they were first released and they took me too far away lands that at the time I could only dream about. It didn’t hurt that the films had awesome action sequences with loads of high-tech gadgets. As a kid I remember getting the 007 briefcase that was featured in, “From Russia with Love.” At the 64 World’s Fair I bought a toy Beretta at the Italian Pavilion. I built a plastic model of the Aston Martin used in Goldfinger, it even had the rotating license plate, as well as the bullet proof shield in the rear. Of course it didn’t hurt that they had some incredibly sexy women in them.
    Picking a top 5 in anything is never easy and it’s no different with the Bond films but here goes:
    1. From Russia With Love: Rosa Kleb, Red Grant, and the Gypsy catfight, what more can you ask for?
    2. Casino Royale: A fantastic opening introduction to the new Bond, brutal and ruthless along with the classic, “Bond, James Bond” at the end when he shoots Mr. White in the ankle.
    3. Live and Let Die: The return of James Bond to the widescreen. A young and nubile Jane Seymour as well as a great chase scene.
    4. Goldfinger: The pinnacle of the franchise. Everything after this seemed to be excessive.
    5. Never Say Never: Some don’t consider this a true Bond film, but how can you lose with this cast.
    Fatima Blush is one of the hottest villains in Bond history.

  11. #51

    Thunderball

    I was 15 when I watched Ursala Andress coming out of the water in Dr. No. I remember watching a double feature of the first two Bond movies and then read a couple of the novels. My favorite is Thunderball and I have seen all the best Bnd movies twice in the past 3 years. It has the best combo of exotic locals, tv type technology that is not outdated, gadgets, Bond girls and the great underwater scenes. Goldfinger gets a little slow once at Ft. Knox.I agree that the new Bond is a little more like Bond in the novels but the Bond in the movies is a different animal and for the movies a more entertaining figure. I really liked Casino Royale with Eva Greene a favorite (Dreamers) but I didn't like the ending. I liked all of the 1st four Bond movies and Die another Day and the Spy Who Loved Me are favorites too. What I am trying to say is that Bond afficianodos like different attributes of these movies. Exotic locales (me) Bond girls (me)plot, who plays Bond, stunts etc
    Skyfall was ok. I really liked the first half. Especially the beginning and the China scenes. I really felt I was looking at the movie as James Bond. But the 2nd half in the London tubes and Scotland didn't do it for me (not exotic locales). And nos ignificant Bond girl presence to lighten the Judi Dench scenes. The brooding Bond is more like the onvels but I prefer the movie Bond that was nailed perfectly in Thunderball.

  12. #52
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    So how do we feel about Skyfall relative to the canon?

    I can't decide.

    A movie is not about what it's about; it's about how it's about it.
    ---Roger Ebert


    Some questions cannot be answered
    Who’s gonna bury who
    We need a love like Johnny, Johnny and June
    ---Over the Rhine

  13. #53
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    Quote Originally Posted by throatybeard View Post
    So how do we feel about Skyfall relative to the canon?

    I can't decide.
    Skyfall, to me, feels like the conclusion of a Bond trilogy that is entirely separate from the canon (and maybe intended to establish a new canon altogether). I like it as a film in general more than as a Bond film; it takes itself too seriously to be compared to escapist pleasures. Within the trilogy, it's better than Quantum of Solace but not as good as Casino Royale.

    Also, it's an unusual film in that the villain accomplishes everything he sets out to do.

  14. #54
    While I thought the Casino Royale/Quantum of Solace/Skyfall were all good movies, I have never been able to sit through a full re-watch of any of them. In this, I would agree with brevity that they represent a departure from or subset of the Bond canon. I grew up during the Brosnan era, but I can re-watch any of the older Bonds as well.

    I can't tell if its my displeasure with the Daniel Craig casting (who I love in other movies, but I thought was a "meh" Bond) or the overly-long and overly-serious production of the films. It's a little bit of everything I fear, Craig doesn't have the charisma of Brosnan or Connery, and this really amplified the bleak and prolonged nature of the trilogy.

  15. #55
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    with all due respect to Mr. bear, i feel the opposite...i never thought Pierce was that convincing as Bond...he was dashing and debonair, but he wasn't the killer than Craig is....each to his own, but i like the isolated killer in daniel craig's presentation....

    he does, however, need to find something extra in the character, the freshness of Casino Royale dimmed in Quantum but resurfaced slightly in Skyfall.... he needs a realllllllllllly good villain to be a realllllllly good Bond...
    "One POSSIBLE future. From your point of view... I don't know tech stuff.".... Kyle Reese

  16. #56
    Quote Originally Posted by theAlaskanBear View Post
    I can't tell if its my displeasure with the Daniel Craig casting (who I love in other movies, but I thought was a "meh" Bond) or the overly-long and overly-serious production of the films. It's a little bit of everything I fear, Craig doesn't have the charisma of Brosnan or Connery, and this really amplified the bleak and prolonged nature of the trilogy.
    Quote Originally Posted by moonpie23 View Post
    he does, however, need to find something extra in the character, the freshness of Casino Royale dimmed in Quantum but resurfaced slightly in Skyfall.... he needs a realllllllllllly good villain to be a realllllllly good Bond...
    As someone who grew up after the Connery/Moore films were originally made, Brosnan, IMO, is the best of the "rest"(i.e. Brosnan/Craig/Dalton). I agree that Brosnan was a little too finesse in his delivery, channeling Remington Steele a bit much perhaps. Overall, though, the Brosnan films were all "Fun" to watch and definitely within the satirical, toungue-in-cheek escapism of the Bond canon.

    Craig was striking in his portrayel of Bond in Casino Royale because I thought that his lack of polish and humor was part of the script and in the proceeding films, Craig's Bond would resemble the more "traditional" 007. However, the last 2 films have fallen flat because Craig's portayel of Bond has been flat. His mumbling and moping around have become tiresome to me. So while the overall acting, writing, and production of the latest Bond films has been somewhat solid, the main character has been way off, again IMO.

    The latest Bond's are reacting too much to the Jason Bourne movies - overly realistic and plausible which results in being dull because, well, real-life is kinda dull sometimes. But while I like the Jason Bourne movies/books(no, I'm not ashamed to admit that), I don't want James Bond to be Jason Bourne, too.

    James Bond is about being a caricature of what all "real men" want to be - "suave, funny, handsome, sexy, intelligent, and athletic". Craig's got the athletic and intelligent part down, but not much else.

  17. #57
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    One of the reasons I love the movie threads is the differences is preferences and the difference in what's important to people. While I enjoy the old Bond (particularly the Holy Trinity of Dr. No, From Russia with Love, and Goldfinger), and I enjoyed the camp of Roger Moore's movies as a guilty pleasure, by the time Brosnan came along, I felt like the Bond as Playboy Magazine's Male Ideal was a character for a different time. Bringing in Judi Dench as M was inspired, and she was, IMHO, the best innovation of the Brosnan Bond movies. That, and Goldeneye's addition to the Sean Bean Death Reel. That isn't a criticism of Brosnan, who played Bond as, well, classic Bond. I ranked him right behind Sean Connery until the series did the huge tonal shift with the Daniel Craig movies.

    Skyfall was, to me, the best Bond movie. I liked the tone, the action, the plot, the HUGE increase in Judi Dench's involvement, and LOVED the D.P. work (Roger Deakins...you are a god). I went back and forth ranking it above Casino Royale and Goldfinger, but I think it was Dench's work and Deakin's photography that did it for me.


    PS: for Sean Bean Death Reel go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paP1pU7xmx4

    PPS: Skyfall also gives us a truly classic Everything Wrong With ... video, as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmoIDKqfY44

  18. #58
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    Quote Originally Posted by davekay1971 View Post
    Skyfall was, to me, the best Bond movie. I liked the tone, the action, the plot, the HUGE increase in Judi Dench's involvement, and LOVED the D.P. work (Roger Deakins...you are a god). I went back and forth ranking it above Casino Royale and Goldfinger, but I think it was Dench's work and Deakin's photography that did it for me.
    I was waiting for someone to speak up for Skyfall. Deakins is AMAZING. Dench was amazing. I'm not saying it's my favorite or anything, but I do want credit to go where credit is due.

    A movie is not about what it's about; it's about how it's about it.
    ---Roger Ebert


    Some questions cannot be answered
    Who’s gonna bury who
    We need a love like Johnny, Johnny and June
    ---Over the Rhine

  19. #59
    I unfortunately grew up during the Dalton era. I have to say I like Brosnan a smudge better than Moore. Moore's movies are fun, and I will watch them, but the camp factor knocks them below Brosnan for me, so my ranking in general would go Connery movies, Brosnan movies, Moore and Craig movies very close for different reasons (Moore a little too campy, Craig a little too serious and dark), with the Dalton project bringing up the rear. Of course, my opinion could be colored by how superior Brosnan was to Dalton.

  20. #60
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    Quote Originally Posted by throatybeard View Post
    I was waiting for someone to speak up for Skyfall. Deakins is AMAZING. Dench was amazing. I'm not saying it's my favorite or anything, but I do want credit to go where credit is due.
    Skyfall's plot left much to be desired.

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