Bond movie ranking (Simple list, no details)

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  • edited October 2016 Posts: 19,339
    bondjames wrote: »
    I too have lost a lot of interest in TLD. It starts of incredibly but really drops off during Afghanistan. Too much action and not enough suspense imho. I much prefer LTK.
    Definately !

  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    Tastes are different. Nonetheless I'm glad @Murdock stirred such an uproar placing TLD to No 20.
    Usually I stir up the s*** ;)

    By the way... DALTON RULEZ™
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,687
    TLD & LTK, my number 1 & 2 Bond movies.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,328
    w2bond wrote: »
    Murdock wrote: »
    chrisisall wrote: »
    Murdock wrote: »
    20. The Living Daylights
    At 20??? REALLY?!?!?!!??!?

    :-O
    Yep, it's not doing it for me so much anymore. Koskov, Whitaker, the Cello case sled scene, the dragging along in Afghanistan and bad humor just ruin an otherwise standard Bond film for me.

    You have to see it from the other side:
    - Excellent Bond intro and PTS
    - Koskov defection
    - Safehouse infiltration and Green 4 fight
    - Car chase
    - Pushkin interrogation
    - Cargo net fight
    - I'll include the Bond/Saunders relationship which I've grown to like, it's more fleshed out than many of the other allies.
    - The score of course

    But I can understand John Glen humour is very misplaced, sometimes funny (eg. in OP) but inappropriate in TLD, and how it can ruin the movie for some.

    It's an easy 1st place for me. Although this year's Bondathon OHMSS may displace it

    Those things are good of course but sadly for me the bad outweighs the good. I want to enjoy it like others do but those things I mentioned earlier just sour the film for me. I much prefer Licence To Kill.
  • GBFGBF
    Posts: 3,195
    I think TLD is an excelent film from start to finish. LTK is just a solid revenge film but nothing more. Dalton is overacting in LTK and the locations are among the worst in the series. Furthermore, the humour is much more displaced in the gritty and dark LTK wheras it really works in the more moderate TLD. Even te cello ride is not overly silly, the car chase is amusing and the use of gadgets is good too. Bond is also much more human and vivid than in LTK where his urge for revenge is a bit unrealistic in my eyes. We all know that Bond is a friend of Felix but more on a prosfessional level. They worked together but their relationship has never been that deep in the franchise. There have also been hundreds of other alies being killed in the meantime and Bond even though he is emotionally touched and might long for revenge still manages to focus on his actually mission.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    I always found LTK more in tune with Dalton's characterization of James Bond. Much more so than TLD, in which I found him uncomfortable on many an occasion. Not that he wasn't uncomfortable in some LTK scenes (notably with Lowell), but at least the intensity of his pursuit of Sanchez was more consistent with Dalton's portrayal of the character. It was genuine.
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 3,985
    Dalton's acting in LTK is so overdone if it was a steak it would be charcoal....
  • jake24jake24 Sitting at your desk, kissing your lover, eating supper with your familyModerator
    Posts: 10,586
    The cargo net fight is incredibly tense. I love it.
  • MooseWithFleasMooseWithFleas Philadelphia
    Posts: 3,332
    Cargo plane set seemed incredibly difficult to shoot. Love the shot of all the bags flying out of the plane as the two desperately cling on still fighting.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,687
    Dalton works for me on every level in both Bonds. Hell, he alone made The Rocketeer a better film than it might otherwise had been.
    Not that I'm a fan or anything...
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    DALTON RULEZ™


    You better believe it people.

    THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS is probably the one movie I won't discuss as for me it is utterly perfect, Heaven on Earth, sheer Bliss and happiness and everybody is just fabulous in it.
    John Barry provided his best work as well. It features three sung Bond themes. All of them better than most of the other Bond themes combined.

    As for LICENCE TO KILL I get the criticism. There are some spots that are flawed and it's nowhere near the level of TLD, still it will never go further down in my ranking than 9, and it's only 11 at the moment because I have three films at 9 as a tie actually.

  • Posts: 11,189
    Dalton's acting in LTK is so overdone if it was a steak it would be charcoal....

    I feel a bit uneasy about Dalton in parts of LTK too.

    The scene when he's with Lupe in the casino and "take me to him!" is a good example.

    The dramatic movement infront of Lupe and the pause he does before delivering the line. Feels like he's pushing the drama a bit.

    Also, I'm not too sure about his performance during the whole sequence in and around Hemmingway's house. Brown is excellent and you can really sense his anger at Bond (I love his delivery of "your licence to kill is revoked"). However, Dalton's performance in that scene feels a bit forced to me - the acting shows.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    But people, at least Dalton acts, not like some of his newer colleagues.
  • edited October 2016 Posts: 11,189
    But people, at least Dalton acts, not like some of his newer colleagues.

    The best type of film acting is where it doesn't show.

    I keep trying to imagine Connery or Craig in the Hemmingway house scene and I can see them doing it in quite a different way.

    I'll agree Dalton was a bit awkward in some of the lighter moments of TLD but in general I think I find his intensity there more convincing.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    BAIN123 wrote: »
    But people, at least Dalton acts, not like some of his newer colleagues.

    The best type of film acting is where it doesn't show.

    That's a matter of taste. I love slightly overacting like for instance Patrick Stewart does with Captain Picard.

    Dalton is a theatre actor as well and imho it was perfect for his two Bonds.

    The way he reacts to finding Felix bleeding on the sofa and then his wife...it sends chills down my spine everytime, it may just be the best acted moment in all of the films, actually.

    There is drama in his acting and it takes me right into the movie.

    His car ride with Saunders in TLD is another example of how it has to be done.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,328
    Dalton's acting has been hit and miss for me. At times he's good in the more calm and subtle approaches but when he gets "Angry" or Emotional it comes off like he's trying too hard and it looks forced. The only Bond actor who has really pulled off anger well is Connery.
  • Posts: 11,189
    BAIN123 wrote: »
    But people, at least Dalton acts, not like some of his newer colleagues.

    The best type of film acting is where it doesn't show.

    That's a matter of taste. I love slightly overacting like for instance Patrick Stewart does with Captain Picard.

    Dalton is a theatre actor as well and imho it was perfect for his two Bonds.

    The way he reacts to finding Felix bleeding on the sofa and then his wife...it sends chills down my spine everytime, it may just be the best acted moment in all of the films, actually.

    There is drama in his acting and it takes me right into the movie.

    His car ride with Saunders in TLD is another example of how it has to be done.

    It's actually the other way round. He's good in the Felix scene (though Hedison's muttering of "Della" as he comes round bugs me a bit - so cheesy).

    I'm not so sure about the Della scene though. As @LeonardPine said it feels mannered and rather overdone, like Dalton is trying to make this his big moment. I just don't feel the emotion myself.
  • Posts: 6,726
    Well he is the most accurate portrayal of Ian Flemings James Bond, so if you don't like that, well good luck to you! TLD took Flemings short story and really built on it, it has many superb sequences, most of them when Daltons on screen! The pts, best intro shot of 007 since Connery, the opening in Bratislava (Bonds new tux with velcro lapels, a superb touch) the safehouse meeting, Daltons reactions to Koskovs story is great acting without saying anything, Bond with Kara in all their scenes, the car chase is definitely not the best (though it finished high in our recent poll!) but the Aston is really brilliant and it does have some cool moments (the car exiting the shed as it explodes) the death of Saunders and Daltons reaction (and after "Yes.I got the message!) the explosive scene with Pushkin, the Afghanistan scenes do slow it down, but as I've said before, what Bond movie doesn't have a slow section, and anyway Dalton sells it and looks great in the turban (its those eyes!) the cargo fight was superbly staged, and the airport battle had real thrills, not many like it but I think the final shootout with Whitaker was genuinely exciting (unlike that SF inquiry shootout, which is dullsville!) the music by Barry was of his usual high standard!
    So, TLD, no 2 on my list and thoroughly deserves it!
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 3,985
    BAIN123 wrote: »
    BAIN123 wrote: »
    But people, at least Dalton acts, not like some of his newer colleagues.

    The best type of film acting is where it doesn't show.

    That's a matter of taste. I love slightly overacting like for instance Patrick Stewart does with Captain Picard.

    Dalton is a theatre actor as well and imho it was perfect for his two Bonds.

    The way he reacts to finding Felix bleeding on the sofa and then his wife...it sends chills down my spine everytime, it may just be the best acted moment in all of the films, actually.

    There is drama in his acting and it takes me right into the movie.

    His car ride with Saunders in TLD is another example of how it has to be done.

    It's actually the other way round. He's good in the Felix scene (though Hedison's muttering of "Della" as he comes round bugs me a bit - so cheesy).

    I'm not so sure about the Della scene though. As @LeonardPine said it feels mannered and rather overdone, like Dalton is trying to make this his big moment. I just don't feel the emotion myself.

    I actually find it hard to believe people think Dalton is good in LTK, @Bain123

    When you can see the acting the dramatic aspect of a scene just falls flat on it's face as the viewer then can't connect with a scene.

    It happens far too often in LTK and the worst culprit is the finding Della and Felix at the house scene. It's abysmal.
  • edited October 2016 Posts: 11,189
    I like the shootout between Bond and Whitaker. No problems there at all.

    However, I think the SF courtroom shootout is superb.

    I get that Dalton was going for Fleming's Bond and I think on the whole he had some great moments. However, after reviewing both his performance and Craig's, I genuinely think Craig comes off as more confident, more arrogant and tougher than Dalton was.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,328
    Dalton was trying to be Fleming's Bond but was nowhere near it. Connery was the closest to Fleming's Bond.
  • edited October 2016 Posts: 11,189
    Murdock wrote: »
    Dalton was trying to be Fleming's Bond but was nowhere near it. Connery was the closest to Fleming's Bond.

    I think he's fairly close to Fleming's Bond but more so in TLD than LTK. In the latter it often feels like he was acting edgy and tough ("looks like Sanchez's law operates north of the boarder too").

  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    Dalton is the only actor who ever came near Fleming's vision.
  • Posts: 11,189
    Lazenby did too but the story required it.

    Craig does at times but I agree that physically he's a tad too rough in appearance.
  • Mendes4LyfeMendes4Lyfe The long road ahead
    Posts: 7,966
    Dalton is the only actor who ever came near Fleming's vision.

    As a whole I agree, however I feel early Connery and early Moore both have a Fleming tinge to them.
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    Posts: 5,080
    Lazenby.
  • Posts: 11,189
    Early Connery was a great screen version of Bond but I'm not so sure he had the complexities of Fleming's character.

    The "mouth assassination" scene is a good example. Brilliantly acted in the film but, from what I remember of the book, Bond was a lot more uncomfortable about being part of a cold blooded kill and didn't say an audience pleasing quip at the end.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    I'm not a Fleming purist (I've only read a few books), but I see a little of Fleming in all of them except for Brosnan.

    Dalton has some excellent scenes in his films (most notably the Pushkin interrogation, and the scenes with Saunders) but I think early Connery, Moore and Laz were quite good too. Not too sure about Craig, because his build always throws me, but in SF he certainly had a lot of Fleming'esque moments imho.
  • Mendes4LyfeMendes4Lyfe The long road ahead
    Posts: 7,966
    BAIN123 wrote: »
    Early Connery was a great screen version of Bond but I'm not so sure he had the complexities of Fleming's character.

    The "mouth assassination" scene is a good example. Brilliantly acted in the film but, from what I remember of the book, Bond was a lot more uncomfortable about being part of a cold blooded kill and didn't say an audience pleasing quip at the end.

    Yes, but that's more a function of them needing a punchy way to finish the scene and keep the tone/pace light and playful.
  • Posts: 11,189
    BAIN123 wrote: »
    Early Connery was a great screen version of Bond but I'm not so sure he had the complexities of Fleming's character.

    The "mouth assassination" scene is a good example. Brilliantly acted in the film but, from what I remember of the book, Bond was a lot more uncomfortable about being part of a cold blooded kill and didn't say an audience pleasing quip at the end.

    Yes, but that's more a function of them needing a punchy way to finish the scene and keep the tone/pace light and playful.

    That's true and to be fair it does suit the dark nature of the scene.
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