Favorite Bond movies

[UnephenStephen]

again, in honor of 007's 50th anniversary, what are your favorite Bond films?
mine in order of release..

Goldfinger
Diamonds are Forever
Live and Let Die
Man With the Golden Gun
Moonraker
For Your Eyes Only
GoldenEye
Tomorrow Never Dies

favorite Bond actors: Connery, Moore, Brosnan

[rapidfirerob]

Goldfinger
Dr. No
From Russia With Love
Thunderball

[Scott Bails]

From Russia with Love is definitely my favorite.

Also really like Goldfinger, Thunderball, The Living Daylights, Casino Royale and Skyfall.

Connery is by far the best Bond, but Craig does a very good job, and I really like how he's portrayed as more "gritty" than "suave."

Absolutely can't stand Roger Moore.

[Vic2012]

I can't come up with just one favorite but there's a few that stand out for one reason or another.

Goldfinger was the first Bond film I ever saw. Never really cared all that much for Roger Moore but he dominated that series for a long time so I saw all, or most of those films. They tended to be heavy on slapstick and humor, but the Bond babes were always pretty hot. The one I remember the most is Live And Let Die. The theme song alone made a big impression on me.

Now, the Timothy Dalton films always get trashed. Maybe Timothy wasn't a good James Bond, or who knows. But I liked those two films, especially License To Kill. I remember the criticism back then was that the Dalton films were "too gritty","too violent." Are you effin kidding me? I thought those films were a breath of fresh air compared to the last few Bond films with Roger Moore.

The Brosnan flicks wore out their welcome by the second film. I like Pierce Brosnan, the actor. Just never cared much for the Bond films he did. You could tell the series was getting tired.

The new reboot films have been good too. Now he's "gritty" and "violent." He's not suave and bedding every hot babe that winks at him. I mean, where else are they gonna take this character?

[Trane]

From Russia With Love, Goldfinger are my fave Connery

Although I agree that the Dandy Moore was a less credible Bond (but I never watched a Bond movie for credibility), he added a certain fun and pizzazz that others haven't... I liked Live & Let Die and Golden Gun best in that era

Never cared for Dalton-era (can't really remember it), not sure I ever saw an entire Brosnan-era movie... not planning on seeing the latest one, despite good reviews

[UnephenStephen]

for the record, Dalton was my least favorite Bond and i only liked License to Kill because it was more of a revenge flic then a typical Bond film.

[nosebone]

Goldfinger, Casino Royal, Skyfall and Diamonds are Forever, which was the first Bond film I saw in the theater.

Oh, and Live and Let Die,for its awesome early 70s look.

[wideopenears]

I really enjoyed Skyfall. Previous Craig Bonds didn't really convince me, but the new one did.....but I'm a Connery fan, mainly.

[rapidfirerob]

I really enjoyed Skyfall. Previous Craig Bonds didn't really convince me, but the new one did.....but I'm a Connery fan, mainly.
Skyfall is definitely on my list to rent in the future.

[Trane]

I really enjoyed Skyfall. Previous Craig Bonds didn't really convince me, but the new one did...


He looks too much like Putin to make a credible Bond

[UnephenStephen]

He looks too much like Putin to make a credible Bondi've had trouble buying Craig as Bond as well. and i don't like the whole new gritty, humorless style of the movies.

[Trane]

i've had trouble buying Craig as Bond as well. and i don't like the whole new gritty, humorless style of the movies.

Yeah, at least even if Moore was not as credible as the others, Bond movies were kind of fun to watch then...

it was just too serious afterwards... and when a "fantasy-spy" flick (isn't that what Bond movies are??) takes itself too seriously... it spells trouble

[Scott Bails]

Could not disagree more.

LOVE the tone of the Craig movies, and find the Moore films virtually unwatchable due to the kitsch.

[Wilton Said...]

I always liked Diamonds are Forever, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Moonraker. My fav is The World is not Enough as I think the twist of who the real villain is was great. Not to fond of the Daniel Craig films. I like my bond to be a little cheesy and unrealistic. However, I think the Skyfall Theme song by Adel is one of the best Bond theme songs ever.

[GuitarGeek]

My favorite is definitely Thunderball. The underwater battle scene is one of the most over-the-top things I've ever seen in a movie. Some say it's boring or that it goes on too long, but I love it.

As for Sir Roger Moore, his movies would have been a lot of better without the slapstick business that invariably appeared in each of his Bond pictures. You had the redneck sheriff in Live And Let Die (who then makes a reappearance in Man With The Golden Gun). You had that ridiculous series of events in Moonraker where first Jaws does a reverse heel turn and joins forces with Bond, then falls in love with a geek chick. And there's that crazy Parisian car chase in A View To A Kill. It was like Cubby Broccoli saw some of Hal Needham's films and said "Hmmm, maybe it's time we Americanized Bond a bit" (though in fact, I believe Live And Let Die, the first film where I think that started, predated Needham's directing career).

On the other hand, the not-fooling-around bits in the Moore era films tended to be pretty good. And Mrs. Ringo was totally hot in The Spy Who Loved Me. I just wish that they had actually filmed Moore and Carole Bouquet's very brief (but very obviously faked) underwater closeups...ya know, underwater. Would it have killed Eon Productions to have rented a swimming pool for an afternoon?

I don't think I've seen any of the Brosnan or Craig era films all the way through. I know I've seen bits and pieces of a couple of the Brosnans. Which was it where Halle Berry comes out of the water wearing the orange bikini, in the process causing half the male audience (and there's really no other way to say this) to require a change of underwear? And I know John Cleese took over the role of Q after Desmond Llewelyn passed away. I dunno, I somehow didn't dig Cleese in the role, but again maybe that's because it was pushing too close to out and out parody, as opposed to just the sly wink you usually get with the Bond films (or at least did before Daniel Craig took over the role, I get the impression the most recent films don't have the tongue-in-cheek thing).

As a side note, one of thing I've recently learned is that once you have a couple James Bond films under your belt, you can follow the plot of any spy movie, regardless of whether you understand the language spoken. I've recently had the opportunity to screen a few Italian, French, and German made spy flicks, hell, I even watched a Turkish one (Altin Cocuck, I think it was called), and the ones that weren't dubbed into English, I had no trouble figuring out what was going on. It's pretty easy to figure out who the hero is (often times, he's being played by someone familiar to American audiences), who the megalomaniac villain was, which woman was the hot babe love interest was, which was the hot babe henchwoman who is sent to seduce and then kill the hero, etc.

Sure, you may not understand all the details, but what I've found is some of those pictures actually seem to make more sense when I don't understand the dialog. I was watching one movie, an Italian film that had been dubbed into German, where I couldn't figure out which bits were taking place in the present and which bits were the flashbacks. Then I saw it dubbed into English, and I still didn't know which bits were the flashbacks, as well as presenting more questions than the German version did. Oy vey!

[JKL2000]

I always liked Thunderball - I thought all the underwater fighting was cool. Also You Only Live Twice.

The boat chase in Live and Let Die is awesome.

[PeterG]

1. Diamonds are Forever
2. Casino Royale
3. Goldeneye

[Scott Bails]

Part of the problem with Diamonds are Forever is the awful soundtrack. That crap they play during the action scenes is so freaking annoying.

[Chip]

Goldfinger, Dr. No and Thunderball. Everything since comes up short of those gems.

[Finn_McCool]

For a lot of people, it depends on how old you were when you saw your first Bond film. Roger Moore was Bond whenIwas growing up, so he set the standard for me. I judged the Bond films with Sean Connery I saw after the fact based on how much they were or were not like the films with Roger Moore. The best Bond films for me have the best quips, gadgets, chase scenes, villians, "Bond girls", etc. Live and Let Die seems to get a lot of those things "right", as does The Spy Who Loved Me. Just about every film has good parts. Sometimes the opening sequence is the best part! Which film has Bond fighting with a guy after jumping out of a plane and pulling his parachute off him?

[Scott Bails]

Personally, "best quips" falls very low on my list of things I'm looking for in a Bond film.

Probably why I can't stand Moore so much.

[willyswing]

Without a doubt, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" is my fave Bond flick. Diana Rigg, baby! Would have loved to see Lazenby do another Bond movie, he was really a convincing 007.

[llanwydd]

I didn't look at the thread because I don't want it to influence my choices but I'll try to pick my top 10. The first three are easy.

1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2. From Russia With Love
3. Dr. No
4. For Your Eyes Only
5. Diamonds Are Forever
6. You Only Live Twice
7. Octopussy
8. Goldfinger
9. The Spy Who Loved Me
10. The Man With the Golden Gun

Don't care at all for the 21st century Bonds.

[Dave (in MA)]

I always liked Thunderball - I thought all the underwater fighting was cool. Also You Only Live Twice.

The boat chase in Live and Let Die is awesome.
The corkscrew car jump over the river in an AMC was ridiculous, although apparently real. Then they had to go and dub in a slide-whistle sound.

[Dave (in MA)]

Casino Royale

Woody Allen or Craig?

[GuitarGeek]

The corkscrew car jump over the river in an AMC was ridiculous, although apparently real. Then they had to go and dub in a slide-whistle sound.

Yeah, all the Moore era Bond films are like that. They added this slapstick element that I don't think really fit too well.

[Trane]

Originally Posted by Dave (in MA)
The corkscrew car jump over the river in an AMC was ridiculous, although apparently real. Then they had to go and dub in a slide-whistle sound.
Yeah, all the Moore era Bond films are like that. They added this slapstick element that I don't think really fit too well.

Because you ever watched a Bond movie for its credibility?? :O

Bond movies are the epitome od Spy-Fi movies

[Scott Bails]

Because you ever watched a Bond movie for its credibility?? :O

Bond movies are the epitome od Spy-Fi movies

No, it's not the credibility, it's the whole slapstick thing that just didn't work, IMO. A "winking sense of humor" is fine, but Moore's Bond took it way too far, IMO.

[GuitarGeek]

No, it's not the credibility, it's the whole slapstick thing that just didn't work, IMO. A "winking sense of humor" is fine, but Moore's Bond took it way too far, IMO.

Exactly. If I want slapstick, I'll watch one of Dean Martin's Matt Helm pictures or Get Smart reruns, which I think did that sort of thing way better than the Sir Roger Moore era Bond films.

[sarah]

Casino Royale is the best Bond movie.