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Best James Bond Film?

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C

Cheebo

Banned
Derrick01 said:
What does that matter when they don't act like the Bond from the books that everyone tells me about? Just slapping a logo on the front doesn't mean anything by itself.
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I'd agree with you if they continued on the path that started with Brosnan but that is not what happened. After the mess that was Die Another Day they went back to the Ian Fleming source material and followed the Casino Royale book extremely closely (other than updating the time frame it takes place in) and based Craig's Bond on Ian Fleming's to a far larger degree than Brosnan's ever was.

They intentionally took back the franchise to Ian Fleming after it started floundering.
 
O

Owensboro

Member
Wow, I'm legitimately shocked by the number of people who are saying Casino Royale is the best. Like, seriously, I thought it was good but not nearly "Best Bond Movie Ever" good. The first time I saw it I loved it, but on repeat watches the movie got really, really slow. Don't get me wrong though, I still love the parkour scene (although Bond is not a super hero, just a secret agent) and Bond's arc with Vesper. I just prefer the smooth Bond over the brutish one.

My "best" is unfortunately a tie between "From Russia With Love" and "Goldfinger". From Russia With Love (FRWL) because it set the archetype of all future Bond movies: He's suave, a killer, and an actual Spy. The introduction of SPECTRE is great, the gypsy fight is weird but fun, and Daniela Bianchi is freaking gorgeous. Also, it's humorous nowadays to see a movie where Bond is going to get blackmailed for sleeping with a woman. Goldfinger because it's basically FRWL but thrown a little more into a sort of comic book world: A better Villain, more Henchmen (bonus for having a henchwoman!), exotic deaths (laser to the crotch anyone?) and lastly, focuses on the great state of Kentucky at the very end [I know I'm biased :) ]
 
D

Daft_Cat

Member
Casino Royale is the highlight for me. Probably a combined factor of quality plus relevancy. Since I was 16 when it came out, I'll probably always associate Craig with Bond, more than any other actor.

Next would be Goldfinger and On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
 
K

Kentpaul

When keepin it real goes wrong. Very, very wrong.
Secret_Riddle said:
Casino Royale is the highlight for me. Probably a combined factor of quality plus relevancy. Since I was 16 when it came out, I'll probably always associate Craig with Bond, more than any other actor.

Next would be Goldfinger and On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
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Pierce Brosnan was the bond in the new releases when i was a kid so he was sort of the main bond for me. I had the entire set on VHS so i grew up watching my favourites over and over (other kids my aged all loved cartoons but i was always more a movie kid)
 
C

Cheebo

Banned
Interesting note, Pierce Brosnan was the only Bond to be fired from the role.

Connery quite despite the fact EON wanted him back for more films. Lazenby was offered a contract for more films but insanely turned it down thinking he was bigger than the role. Even Roger Moore quit on his own accord (and kept threating to with every movie after Moonraker). GoldenEye was written for Dalton in mind and was offered the film but turned it down.

Pierce Brosnan on the other hand wanted to do a 5th (he wanted to do 6 in total he said) but they turned him down to instead reboot the franchise with Craig.
 
D

Daft_Cat

Member
Appleman said:
I'm genuinely curious as to how many of the pre-Brosnan movies the majority of the people in this thread have seen
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Since the majority of posters are including 1 or 2 pre-Brosnan film's in their lists, I'd say it's likely they've at least seen a handful. My dad's a huge Bond nut, so I saw all of them growing up. Preferred the newer ones as a kid, but that reversed when I was a teenager. I still think Casino Royale is at the top of the pile, though.

Kentpaul said:
Pierce Brosnan was the bond in the new releases when i was a kid so he was sort of the main bond for me. I had the entire set on VHS so i grew up watching my favourites over and over (other kids my aged all loved cartoons but i was always more a movie kid)
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Yah, I was big on Brosnan growing up as well. Combined with the effects of Goldeneye (video game), he made a pretty big impact on the younger generation. I still think his first three films are fun; especially Goldeneye.
 
S

Solo

Member
It's funny that people are complaining abut Craig aging. To me, the lines on his face just make him look all the more rugged and believable. And he's still in better shape than anyone in this thread will ever be. Such a ridiculous non-issue.

Now, you want to talk about real, illusion-shattering aging? Look no further than Connery, Moore and Brosnan. Connery stopped giving a fuck post Thunderball and gained a ton of weight which showed in YOLT and especially DAF. Moore went from a baby face in LALD to a cryptkeeper in AVTAK, not the least bit threatening or believable. And Brosnan seemed to age 10 years between GE and TND, and then another 10 years between TWINE and DAD. The latter of which he is FAT in. Seeing him in PJs with that silly beard and a huge beer gut hanging out is one of the low points of the franchise.

Only Lazenby and Dalton escaped aging, and only because of short tenures. Craig is aging like a silver fox boss.
 
D

Daft_Cat

Member
Solo said:
=(
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I think you're understating it just a bit, Solo.

He's gone from this:

daniel_craig_300x400.jpg


To this:

Daniel-Craig--47441.jpg
 
B

BeesEight

Member
Spotless Mind said:
There's silly and then there's just plain stupid. Most of Golden Gun falls into the latter category.

Lets ruin a perfectly good car stunt with a childish slide whistle sound effect!

It also brought back Sheriff J.W. Pepper. The worst character in the franchise. Fuck that movie.
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This pretty much sums up Moore's stint in the series however. To date, he's the only Bond that went undercover as a clown (and let's keep it that way). It was an incredibly campy time for the Bond series.

Martian said:
I'm surprised that so many people choose Casino Royale as their favourite. Don't get me wrong, it's a good movie, but in my opinion it's not really a 'Bond' movie. It's like they traded Q, the gadgets and most of the humour, for some sort of Bourne clone, with dark humour and lots of death. That just does not feel very Bond-ish to me.
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The thing about the Bond series, though, is that they change with the times. Each actor practically represents a different cultural outlook and the flavour of the films really reflect these different perspectives. Craig's rendition of Bond is no more inaccurate than the brooding and dark Dalton or the slapstick Moore.

Cheebo said:
They intentionally took back the franchise to Ian Fleming after it started floundering.
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And then they completely bungled it up with Quantum of Solace.

Appleman said:
I'm genuinely curious as to how many of the pre-Brosnan movies the majority of the people in this thread have seen
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I've watched all of them and it's the reason I can't say one film is the best since comparing them is almost like comparing different genres. Thus, people will generally pick the best one in the style they like and since Royale is the most recent and relevant to us it's coming out as the favourite. Personally, I've enjoyed all the different takes on Bond to one degree or another and would really only say Dalton had the most consistent underperformance.
 
T

Toby

Member
Martian said:
I'm surprised that so many people choose Casino Royale as their favourite. Don't get me wrong, it's a good movie, but in my opinion it's not really a 'Bond' movie. It's like they traded Q, the gadgets and most of the humour, for some sort of Bourne clone, with dark humour and lots of death. That just does not feel very Bond-ish to me.
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I've never enjoyed the humor and gadgets in the older bond films. The humor is always tacky and lame, while the gadgets are, nowadays, unimpressive and show just how old the movie is.
I don't really enjoy watching any bond film before the living daylights for this reason. The worst are the ones moore starred in though. Moore always managed to make the movie uninteresting and dull for me.
 
M

Mar

Member
1. Live and Let Die
2. The Man with the Golden Gun
3. Casino Royale
4. On Her Majesties Secret Service

I've seen them all far too many times, and I have to admit to being a product of my time (the 70s). Roger Moore was and always will be Bond to me, though Craig did a fantastic job in CR (shame the next movie was god awful).

I can't stand Dalton, and any film with him or Brosnan never really grabbed me. I was beginning to think Bond films were going to become irrelevant but luckily CR gave the needed reboot. Skyfall needs to wash away any lingering taste of QoS.
 
J

Jokergrin

Member
Solo said:
It's funny that people are complaining abut Craig aging. To me, the lines on his face just make him look all the more rugged and believable. And he's still in better shape than anyone in this thread will ever be. Such a ridiculous non-issue.

Now, you want to talk about real, illusion-shattering aging? Look no further than Connery, Moore and Brosnan. Connery stopped giving a fuck post Thunderball and gained a ton of weight which showed in YOLT and especially DAF. Moore went from a baby face in LALD to a cryptkeeper in AVTAK, not the least bit threatening or believable. And Brosnan seemed to age 10 years between GE and TND, and then another 10 years between TWINE and DAD. The latter of which he is FAT in. Seeing him in PJs with that silly beard and a huge beer gut hanging out is one of the low points of the franchise.

Only Lazenby and Dalton escaped aging, and only because of short tenures. Craig is aging like a silver fox boss.
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PIERCE-BROSNAN-IN-DIE-ANOTHER-DAY-pierce-brosnan-20861076-185-264.gif
 
L

Large Professor

Member
The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill are my two favorite bond movies. Dalton is such a boss.
Then comes Goldeneye because Xenia is incredibly hot. And finally Casino Royale.
 
A

Appleman

Member
Out of curiosity, am I the only one who kind of liked the first half hour of Die Another Day? (the prisoner thing with the trade, etc) The rest of the movie (and the song) was godawful, but I always thought the opening was redeeming. Then again, I haven't seen it in a little while, so I could be misremembering
 
B

BeesEight

Member
Appleman said:
Out of curiosity, am I the only one who kind of liked the first half hour of Die Another Day? (the prisoner thing with the trade, etc) The rest of the movie (and the song) was godawful, but I always thought the opening was redeeming. Then again, I haven't seen it in a little while, so I could be misremembering
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If I remember correctly, the beginning was not the problem with Die Another Day. But I haven't seen it for awhile either.
 
F

Fry

Member
I like most of Pierce Brosnan's movies mainly because they became great video-games for Nintendo 64. The multiplayer was amazing.
 
D

Daft_Cat

Member
Appleman said:
Out of curiosity, am I the only one who kind of liked the first half hour of Die Another Day? (the prisoner thing with the trade, etc) The rest of the movie (and the song) was godawful, but I always thought the opening was redeeming. Then again, I haven't seen it in a little while, so I could be misremembering
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Yah, I think that's the general consensus. The first act was refreshing and interesting. Film goes south when he hits up Cuba. Falls off a cliff once he gets to the arctic.
 
M

Malvolio

Member
As a Bond fan I really respect the OP's choice. OHMSS is a fantastic movie and one of the ones I usually choose when I'm in the mood for Bond. However, I too was won over by Casino Royale. I love it and I think half the reason is because it brought Bond back from the over the top style that it was becoming, to a more realistic (not really, but in comparison) and grittier Bond. While I still enjoyed the Brosnan movies, they were pushing too far into summer popcorn flick territory.
 
S

Solo

Member
Kabouter said:
So what's the best Bond novel? I've read the first two and am now reading Moonraker, hope the best is yet to come.
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Read the two parter OHMSS/YOLT. Don't let the shitty YOLT movie fool you. A faithful YOLT would have been incredible. It would have been the last Bond movie, but it would have been incredible.
 
K

Kabouter

Member
Solo said:
Read the two parter OHMSS/YOLT. Don't let the shitty YOLT movie fool you. A faithful YOLT would have been incredible. It would have been the last Bond movie, but it would have been incredible.
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I plan to read all, but that's great to hear. I'm also really enjoying Moonraker so far, quite unlike the film.
 
S

Solo

Member
Kabouter said:
I plan to read all, but that's great to hear. I'm also really enjoying Moonraker so far, quite unlike the film.
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Moonraker, Live And Let Die and You Only Live Twice books DESTROY the movies and make me so sad at how horribly they gutted the books.

I'd still kill for a faithful adaptation of any of them.
 
K

Kabouter

Member
Solo said:
Moonraker, Live And Let Die and You Only Live Twice books DESTROY the movies and make me so sad at how horribly they gutted the books.

I'd still kill for a faithful adaptation of any of them.
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Yes, Live and Let Die was also much better than the film, though there were certain elements I disliked, mainly related to it being a novel from the 1950s heavily featuring black people.
 
C

Cheebo

Banned
I'd say it's best to read them all (the Ian Fleming ones that is). Fantastic series that blows the film franchise (and I love love love the films, even the bad ones) out of the water.
 
S

Solo

Member
Audiences would never go for it, but I'd even like to see a faithful The Spy Who Loved Me. ie. a film in which Bond isn't the protagonist and doesn't even show up until halfway through the film.
 
M

Martian

Member
Toby said:
I've never enjoyed the humor and gadgets in the older bond films. The humor is always tacky and lame, while the gadgets are, nowadays, unimpressive and show just how old the movie is.
I don't really enjoy watching any bond film before the living daylights for this reason. The worst are the ones moore starred in though. Moore always managed to make the movie uninteresting and dull for me.
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Hmm, to each their own I guess. For me, Bond was more a comedy/action movie, than a pure action movie. The goofy-ness of the gadgets were the best part of it.
 
J

JoJoShabadoo

Member
From Russia With Love, definitely. The suspense, the atmosphere, the villains, and not just one villain bent on destroying the world, but rather a group of villains who each get a scene developing them in the first 15 minutes of the movie before Bond even shows up. The story is simple, easy to follow. Bond is unsuspecting of the threat while the audience is aware from the beginning. The gadgets are low-key, and gets Bond out of jams with his cunning to activate them, and not just with pressing a button.
 
T

Tobor

Member
1. From Russia With Love
2. Goldfinger
3. Casino Royale
4. You Only Live Twice
5. Ugh, too close to call at this point. OHMSS, Dr. No, or Thunderball, I suppose.
 
F

FStop7

Banned
Probably Goldfinger. The opening scene and transition into the title sequence ("Positively shocking") is one of the high points in entertainment.

I would be more interested in a debate over which Bond film theme song is the best.

Diamonds Are Forever - Shirley Bassey
Goldfinger- Shirley Bassey
Live and Let Die - Paul McCartney & Wings
A View to a Kill - Duran Duran
Goldeneye - Tina Turner

Also, Grace Jones and Christopher Walken were absolutely insane in A View to a Kill. Totally stole the show.
 
W

Wool

Member
FStop7 said:
Probably Goldfinger. The opening scene and transition into the title sequence ("Positively shocking") is one of the high points in entertainment.

I would be more interested in a debate over which Bond film theme song is the best.

Diamonds Are Forever - Shirley Bassey
Goldfinger- Shirley Bassey
Live and Let Die - Paul McCartney & Wings
A View to a Kill - Duran Duran
Goldeneye - Tina Turner

Also, Grace Jones and Christopher Walken were absolutely insane in A View to a Kill. Totally stole the show.
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I know for a fact that Living Daylights by A-Ha is the worst theme song. The Moonraker song is pretty good, I think that was Shirley Bassey as well. Listen to the Thunderball song by Tom Jones though, he really nails the tone of the movie.
 
T

thefro

Member
Solo said:
Audiences would never go for it, but I'd even like to see a faithful The Spy Who Loved Me. ie. a film in which Bond isn't the protagonist and doesn't even show up until halfway through the film.
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Yeah, that book's underrated because I enjoyed it a lot.

The whole set up of the gun battle is fantastic and I'd like to see that used in one of the movies at one point.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
The first Bond film I ever saw was Goldeneye, and I really liked it. I tried watching the older films after that, but couldn't really get into them (of course, I was quite young at the time). The later Brosnan films were universally shit, even when I was a kid. They were just too cheesy to be enjoyable.

Casino Royale was excellent and is by far my favorite Bond film.
 
J

Jason's Ultimatum

Member
Solo said:
It's funny that people are complaining abut Craig aging. To me, the lines on his face just make him look all the more rugged and believable. And he's still in better shape than anyone in this thread will ever be. Such a ridiculous non-issue.
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Pffft. Not me. I'm an athlete.
 
M

Martian

Member
teruterubozu said:


The original is the best.
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I have all the James Bond movies recorded, including that one, but that is the only one I seriously dislike. I don't know what it is, maybe it is because they said, when it was on tv, that is was a new bond movie, but I genuinely hate that movie
 
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