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GF seems to be a semi-controversial film these days, since its treatment of women is now popularly viewed as problematic. I'd be interested to hear if your old flame had that objection.
That's good to hear. The only Bond film I'd rank higher is OHMSS, but GF certainly has more iconic moments.
Amen.
Interesting. They're on exact opposite ends in my ranking - OHMSS at #2 and DAF at #23. When I was first getting into the films years ago though, I did prefer DAF over OHMSS for a little while. But that was a long time ago.
Put on MR last night, as it felt like a good way to start the weekend. And it is!
MR is a film I struggle with, even with Roger as my favourite Bond. He's great of course, but the film lacks in many departments. I never cared much for the Bond girls in MR. Holly Goodhead is just boring, while Corinne Dufour only have a few scenes – as does Manuela. Even so, the film is enjoyable enough until Bond enters space. I like seeing Bond investigate the disappearance of the Moonraker, and I would no doubt rank it higher if it wasn't for the space sequence. I don't like Bond becoming too sci-fi.
Obviously, you can't write about MR without mentioning the fantastic score by Barry and the really nice designs by Ken Adams. It certainly makes up for some of the lesser parts of the film.
2019 ranking so far:
1. Thunderball
2. The Spy Who Loved Me
3. Live and Let Die/Diamonds Are Forever
5. The Man with the Golden Gun
6. You Only Live Twice
7. Moonraker
Just finished watching GF. As always, it's a treat to watch this one, with Connery at his best and a lot of the trademark elements in place for the first time. As with every viewing, it's the first half that makes the better part of the film; Bond introducing himself to Blofeld by blackmailing him to loose at cards, meeting Goldfinger again, and following him to Switzerland. The film looses some of it's charm and pace once in Kentucky, and stays that way. Bond in captivity didn't bother me too much this time around though, and every scene with Pussy Galore is entertaining.
The film is a visual treat too. The cinematography is great (rear projection aside – Miami in particular), and the Ken Adam production design is brilliant. The score by John Barry is… well, we all know how good it is!
I had more fun watching GF than last time, and it will be interesting to see where I'll place it in my 2019 rankings. So far, it's at third place:
1. Thunderball
2. The Spy Who Loved Me
3. Goldfinger
4. Live and Let Die/Diamonds Are Forever
6. The Man with the Golden Gun
7. You Only Live Twice
8. Moonraker
Although, she loved Licence To Kill, its predecessor was something she couldn't bear much after Vienna. I understand why, to be honest. But, at least the Tangier segment does have its moments for me and doesn't drop the ball. The Afghan scenes on the other hand... Well...
As of the moment, Dalton is her favourite Bond mainly because he's serious and hardly uses puns, double entendres, sexual innuendos and doesn't act like a "sleazebag" (in her own words). Boy, imagine her going through the Connery, Moore and Brosnan films... :))
What is there to be said about this film that hasn't been covered here before? This is Bond at it's very best, and Bond without many of the OTT elements we've grown used to. The locations are great, the characters even better, and Barry's music terrific. It's simply impossible for me not to include this in my top three. At the moment I'm tempted to place in behind TB, but it's so close between the two that the end of the year ranking might be different:
1. Thunderball
2. From Russia with Love
3. The Spy Who Loved Me
4. Goldfinger
5. Live and Let Die/Diamonds Are Forever
7. The Man with the Golden Gun
8. You Only Live Twice
9. Moonraker
Having just watched FRWL and only having DN left to cover all the Connery EON films, I took the opportunity to watch it this afternoon.
It's always great to revisit the earliest Bond film, and to see how this one differs from the rest. The Monty Norman score sounds dated – more like something belonging in a 50's B-film thriller. On paper a bad thing, but as a one-off score, it works within this film. Just love the introduction of Bond and his scenes with Sylvia Trench. Perfect introduction to Bond, and sets off the film nicely. I also love the early scenes with Bond in Jamaica, investigating the Strangways disappearance. In fact I enjoy this part more than the scenes at Crab Key (Honey Ryder's introduction aside of course!).
This time around I didn't find the same enjoyment of the Crab Key scenes as before. I found it to drag a bit. Ken Adam's set design is fantastic though, and makes the film look like it could have had a bigger budget than it did.
DN remains a top ten entry to me, but as the latter half drags a bit, it won't rank as high as (I think) I ranked it last year:
1. Thunderball
2. From Russia with Love
3. The Spy Who Loved Me
4. Goldfinger
5. Live and Let Die/Diamonds Are Forever
7. Dr. No
8. The Man with the Golden Gun
9. You Only Live Twice
10. Moonraker
Coming up is the three 80's Moore films!
A bit "out of season" to watch OHMSS after Christmas, but it's February and snow outside, so it didn't feel completely wrong.
I watched OHMSS during Christmas too, but it didn't take even two months before I had to watch it again. And what a film it is! The plot is one of the best of the series, the cast is great, it's probably the best Barry score, and one of the best looking films from a cinematography point of view. All these factors makes OHMSS a sure top three entry. As with all my top three favourites it's incredibly difficult to rank them, but for now i'll place it second:
1. Thunderball
2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3. From Russia with Love
4. The Spy Who Loved Me
5. Goldfinger
6. Live and Let Die/Diamonds Are Forever
8. Dr. No
9. The Man with the Golden Gun
10. You Only Live Twice
11. Moonraker
These are two of my personal favourites, with FYEO being a film I've grown to love more as I get older, and OP my number one Bond film for several years. My favourable opinion of these two films didn't change this time around either; both films holds up really well, and kept me entertained from start to finish.
Both films have the trademark lightheartedness of the Moore era, but FYEO displays the darker side to Moore's bond very effectively. Got to love that car chase early on, and Bond pairing up with Columbo. It's always great when Bond have a good ally to help him out. (Controversially) I also rank Melina quite high on my Bond girl rankings. Age aside, she made a good companion to Moore's Bond.
OP have some really great moments as well. The PTS have never been my favourite, but the scene with 009 chased by Mischka and Grischka is thrilling. The train fight sequence is also a highlight. Moore also got along well on screen with Louis Jourdan I feel – and Maud Adams of course.
A FYEO/OP double-feature is a good way to spend a Saturday afternoon/evening, and I see no way to place them outside top ten in my 2019 ranking so far:
1. Thunderball
2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3. From Russia with Love
4. For Your Eyes Only
5. The Spy Who Loved Me
6. Goldfinger
7. Octopussy
8. Live and Let Die/Diamonds Are Forever
10. Dr. No
11. The Man with the Golden Gun
12. You Only Live Twice
13. Moonraker
Enough has been said about its flaws, and they are legion, but there are some fine moments here too:
- the Hong Kong hotel scenes
- the sword fight
- the amazing ally named Raoul, played by the equally amazing Emilio Echevarría
- Miranda Frost
- the design of the ice palace is imo the most Adamesque villain lair not created by Ken Adam
- the Aston v Jag chase is a great duel between two beautiful cars
- Pierce does well throughout
- I do like both versions of Madonna’s song and Arnold’s score is pretty good as well
While definitely in the lower parts of the Bond canon, it is no 0 out of 10 either. I’d say a 6/10 should do it.
You can't watch this film without sitting there thinking what a mess it is. Reading about the production, it's hardly surprising it turned out the way it did. I mean, almost every sequence has a "What the…!" bizarre moment. In a way it makes CR67 an interesting watch, because it's just so, so strange!
Another thing you can't help but think, is how much some of the sets and sequences must have cost, because there's a lot of money on screen in this one – as the budget would suggest (it had a bigger budget than TB and YOLT!). A lot of that money must have covered the salary of some of the names in this film. I mean, it's quite incredible looking at the talent in this one:
David Niven, Peter Sellers, Orson Welles, William Holden, John Huston, Ursula Andress, Woody Allen, Deborah Kerr, to name just a few. On top of that you have a score by Burt Bacharach (with music by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass), including the wonderful (Oscar nominated) "The Look of Love", sung by Dusty Springfield.
Despite the on- and off screen names in CR67, that doesn't make it a great film. It's barely a story in place, and several scenes are missing from making this a coherent viewing experience. It really makes you wonder what was left in the editing room, or what wasn't shot at all after Sellers left the production. Because of this, it's no surprise CR67 is last on my 2019 bondathon viewing so far. But it's an entertaining film (if you can forgive the lack of story etc.), and I'm not sure it'll rank the lowest when I've watched all the films.
1. Thunderball
2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3. From Russia with Love
4. For Your Eyes Only
5. The Spy Who Loved Me
6. Goldfinger
7. Octopussy
8. Live and Let Die/Diamonds Are Forever
10. Dr. No
11. The Man with the Golden Gun
12. You Only Live Twice
13. Moonraker
14. Casino Royale (1967)
So I was scrolling through Amazon Prime last night and noticed they had TND in 4K and I thought to myself 'I haven't watched this in a good 10 years, why not.'
This always ranked on the lower half of my Bond movie favorite-to-least-favorite list, and this was actually the first Bond movie I saw in theatres aged 14 (after seeing GoldenEye, my VERY first Bond movie, on VHS) and I distinctly remember finding it very..... okay.
Well I started it up, and before too long I was finding it way better than I remembered. In fact, I had a lot of fun watching this! The only thing I really would have changed was putting the k.d. lang song 'Surrender' at the beginning instead of the end. Luckily for me, that very thing exists on Youtube, so I can at least see it that way
So to conclude, TND bumped its way up my rankings considerably. Could TWINE do the same I wonder?
One of his best.
It's an awesome soundtrack. The film gets a lot of crap from core and casual Bond fans, but I find so much to enjoy about it. Some of the hate is warranted (Stacey...), but it's such a fun ride for me. Fun action, great villains, awesome music, and a great mix of serious and silly moments.
Agreed. I've always enjoyed it. It's low on my ranking but that's just because I love most of the movies.
Same here. I sits somewhere in my bottom ten, but it is nevertheless always a treat to watch (bar some cringy scenes which I can happily forget about...)!