Top Five Bond Movies
Yes, I found this community via Scott Keith, and being the High Fidelity mark that I am, I just had to join. (That, and I always do stuff like this in my own journal anyway... so maybe someone will read it now)
I got into the Bond movies AFTER reading some of the original Ian Fleming novels. The fact that I read them first makes me a little biased towards the darker, more realistic Bond films. So for fans of The Spy Who Loved Me or Goldfinger, this may look like a *bottom* five list.
5. The Man With The Golden Gun - I really like the Moore films. They're arguably the most watchable of all the 007 series... as in, 'boy, I feel like watching a dashing Brit blow up stuff and get a snog with every woman within a twenty mile radius'. Moore was still feeling his way into the role of 007 by the time TMWTGG came around (his second Bond). Besides the fact that the film has the quintessential villain (Christopher Lee), it also has a superb Mandarin-flavored John Barry score, and some of the most exotic locations ever filmed (probably one of the last Bonds to have that 'travelogue' feel to it). Roger is slightly darker in his portrayal of Bond here, particularly in the scenes where he smacks Scaramanga's lover around for information, and also when he tries to elicit a shag out of Mary Goodnight just because he's bored (yes, THAT is how the character acts in the novels)
4. From Russia With Love - This is Connery at his best. Everything just seemed to hit the mark perfectly in this film. Looking back, it's definately a dated period piece, but that only adds to it's charm. The plot is seemingly low-key compared to today's 'blow up the world with a nuclear missile' kind of plots. If you've never seen this one before, you might be shocked at the amount of actual SPYING Bond does during the course of the film.
3. The Living Daylights - Timothy Dalton is without question, my favorite Bond, and one of my favorite actors period. He really did his homework before stepping into the role, reading all of Fleming and toning down the character after Roger Moore left, taking Bond in a less comedic, more serious direction. TLD introduces us to the moody, cynical Bond... plus the film has JOE DON BAKER as one of the villans, how can you go wrong there?
2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service - The most faithful adaption of a Fleming novel to film. The plot is just brilliant and the cast is wonderful. Diana Rigg used her Avengers experience to get the best out of Tracy's character, and Telly Savalas (another actor I'm a big fan of) is my favorite of all the different Blofeld's. He's probably the only one to match up to Bond on a physical level too (something that happens in the books). George Lazenby - forever a piece of movie trivia - is really a breath of fresh air to the series. Some say he's wooden, can't act out of a wet paper bag, but I completely disagree. It's probably Lazenby's lack of acting experience that makes his portrayal of Bond so unique. There's also no doubt that he was exceptional in the action/fight sequences too, bringing an intensity that Sean Connery never had to the screen. OHMSS also has fantastic scenery, particularly the mountains in Switzerland where the climax of the film takes place. Finally, the John Barry score is my favorite of all the Bond films, combining ALPINE HORNS and SYNTHESIZERS to make unique, memorable spy music.
1. License To Kill - Along with Moonraker, LTK is one of the Bond's with a bad reputation... I can understand this in someways. Watching LTK, it doesn't FEEL like a Bond movie really. If you're used to the over-the-top antics, it's hard to think of the main character of this film as the same person from before. Dalton in LTK is the angry, moody, chain-smoking, dark-humored bad ass that Ian Fleming dreamed up in the 1950's. Again, the plot is low-key, but it brings back memories of OHMSS, only this time Bond has the chance to get revenge. The fact that Bond has to work outside of MI6 and loses his 00 number only make the film more intriguing. Robert Davi is the villain, and he and Dalton have great chemistry in their scenes together, as Bond takes a samurai strategy and destroys the villain's empire from within. It's a terrible shame that MGM ran into sticky legal problems after this film, because I would have liked to see where Dalton was going to take the character next... he would have done very well with the plot of Goldeneye.
I got into the Bond movies AFTER reading some of the original Ian Fleming novels. The fact that I read them first makes me a little biased towards the darker, more realistic Bond films. So for fans of The Spy Who Loved Me or Goldfinger, this may look like a *bottom* five list.
5. The Man With The Golden Gun - I really like the Moore films. They're arguably the most watchable of all the 007 series... as in, 'boy, I feel like watching a dashing Brit blow up stuff and get a snog with every woman within a twenty mile radius'. Moore was still feeling his way into the role of 007 by the time TMWTGG came around (his second Bond). Besides the fact that the film has the quintessential villain (Christopher Lee), it also has a superb Mandarin-flavored John Barry score, and some of the most exotic locations ever filmed (probably one of the last Bonds to have that 'travelogue' feel to it). Roger is slightly darker in his portrayal of Bond here, particularly in the scenes where he smacks Scaramanga's lover around for information, and also when he tries to elicit a shag out of Mary Goodnight just because he's bored (yes, THAT is how the character acts in the novels)
4. From Russia With Love - This is Connery at his best. Everything just seemed to hit the mark perfectly in this film. Looking back, it's definately a dated period piece, but that only adds to it's charm. The plot is seemingly low-key compared to today's 'blow up the world with a nuclear missile' kind of plots. If you've never seen this one before, you might be shocked at the amount of actual SPYING Bond does during the course of the film.
3. The Living Daylights - Timothy Dalton is without question, my favorite Bond, and one of my favorite actors period. He really did his homework before stepping into the role, reading all of Fleming and toning down the character after Roger Moore left, taking Bond in a less comedic, more serious direction. TLD introduces us to the moody, cynical Bond... plus the film has JOE DON BAKER as one of the villans, how can you go wrong there?
2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service - The most faithful adaption of a Fleming novel to film. The plot is just brilliant and the cast is wonderful. Diana Rigg used her Avengers experience to get the best out of Tracy's character, and Telly Savalas (another actor I'm a big fan of) is my favorite of all the different Blofeld's. He's probably the only one to match up to Bond on a physical level too (something that happens in the books). George Lazenby - forever a piece of movie trivia - is really a breath of fresh air to the series. Some say he's wooden, can't act out of a wet paper bag, but I completely disagree. It's probably Lazenby's lack of acting experience that makes his portrayal of Bond so unique. There's also no doubt that he was exceptional in the action/fight sequences too, bringing an intensity that Sean Connery never had to the screen. OHMSS also has fantastic scenery, particularly the mountains in Switzerland where the climax of the film takes place. Finally, the John Barry score is my favorite of all the Bond films, combining ALPINE HORNS and SYNTHESIZERS to make unique, memorable spy music.
1. License To Kill - Along with Moonraker, LTK is one of the Bond's with a bad reputation... I can understand this in someways. Watching LTK, it doesn't FEEL like a Bond movie really. If you're used to the over-the-top antics, it's hard to think of the main character of this film as the same person from before. Dalton in LTK is the angry, moody, chain-smoking, dark-humored bad ass that Ian Fleming dreamed up in the 1950's. Again, the plot is low-key, but it brings back memories of OHMSS, only this time Bond has the chance to get revenge. The fact that Bond has to work outside of MI6 and loses his 00 number only make the film more intriguing. Robert Davi is the villain, and he and Dalton have great chemistry in their scenes together, as Bond takes a samurai strategy and destroys the villain's empire from within. It's a terrible shame that MGM ran into sticky legal problems after this film, because I would have liked to see where Dalton was going to take the character next... he would have done very well with the plot of Goldeneye.