Last Bond Movie You Watched? 2.0

Would still love for some of the post-60s Bond films to be given Director's Cut treatment, either by MGM or any of the directors still with us. Some toning down of stupidity and excess through sensible editing could vastly improve many of the 71-89 Bond films.

If only some of the films, non-Barry ones anyway, had a choice of an alternative soundtrack.

(Sight for sore eyes, Laze)

Lazenby. wrote:

Would still love for some of the post-60s Bond films to be given Director's Cut treatment, either by MGM or any of the directors still with us.  Some toning down of stupidity and excess through sensible editing could vastly improve many of the 71-89 Bond films.

Indeed it is possible although I would have to suggest that, by and large, I find 'Directors cuts' rarely improve on the original theatrical release often making for a more insular work.

Lazenby. wrote:

Would still love for some of the post-60s Bond films to be given Director's Cut treatment, either by MGM or any of the directors still with us.  Some toning down of stupidity and excess through sensible editing could vastly improve many of the 71-89 Bond films.

There wouldn't be much of some of them left .

Had a Bond bender recently. Just finished watching LALD.

Watching QOS right now.

It's better than I remember it being in places. If you can forgive the action-heavy first half and the lack of overall focus, it's pretty good in places. I'm actually really appreciating Matthieu Amalric; if the film had made it clear from the start that Bond was looking for answers about Vesper rather than revenge, and that everything he encountered was just another hurdle that he had to clear, the Dominic Greene - a creepy, self-serving coward to whom villainry is just a way of doing business - would be the ideal villain with his ability to get under Bond's skin and figure out what makes him tick.

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

Watching QOS right now.

It's better than I remember it being in places. If you can forgive the action-heavy first half and the lack of overall focus, it's pretty good in places. I'm actually really appreciating Matthieu Amalric; if the film had made it clear from the start that Bond was looking for answers about Vesper rather than revenge, and that everything he encountered was just another hurdle that he had to clear, the Dominic Greene - a creepy, self-serving coward to whom villainry is just a way of doing business - would be the ideal villain with his ability to get under Bond's skin and figure out what makes him tick.

I tend to agree, but feel it really is down to that missing level of polish on the script, there are many times when its doing one thing but saying another, acutely about Bond's motivation. Another issue is that, of all people Amalric needed a threatening henchman so that the end would have played as a 2 on 1 fight perhaps with a bit more zing.

Recently watched LALD. Didn't watch it when it was shown today,already have the film. It's my favourite Moore film,it's got a good soundtrack by George Martin, Kananga's scheme is the most inventive of the series and we get to see Bond's house again. He now lives in a shag pad, Which is a big contrast to Bond's in Dr No. There are some humourous characters in Whisper ("Anybody hooooome?" Tee Hee ("Heh heh heh heh heh heh heeeee! HEY!"  ) and Strutter ("can't miss him it's like following a cue ball!").
Actually watched it three days running.

A View to a Kill

Let's get the bad bits out of the way. Moore looks too old in parts (indeed the cast feels older with Macnee, Brown and dear Maxwell), the Moore/Roberts difference, a lot of the puns, back projection and California Girls (I like the Beach Boys but, re-ally) amongst a few others.
By and large it's probably the Bond film I've seen the most next to DAF by virtue of those films being the only ones we had on VHS for years until we got the Collection. Yet somehow it eeks into a guilty pleasure by now. Would Dalton have improved things if this had been his first film? Doubtful. He might've seemed better with Roberts though. She can't act but I'll always fancy the socks of her.
Shame when Walken gets to do a Bond film it ends up like this. Opposite Dalton he would've been impressive. Not taking anything from Moore, the City Hall exchange has its dark cold moments.
San Francisco was wasted location wise, could've done with a bit more or at least shot and utilised better. (Do away totally with the chase. Though when I 're-wrote' this on old MI6 I had the chase being with Bond in his V8 Vantage).
Musically good. Tibbetts' death has some shock factor still. Though harkens my memory back to when I was a child watching it, hearing the music build and asking my parents what it meant: "Something bad," was the response. Little wonder my post-university life has zeroed out.

Unintentionally funny moments but also a couple that unintentionally make me laugh still that are based on bad jokes or old jokes such as when Bond offers to lighten Tibbetts' load at the French mansion and only takes the umbrella.

And finally, still love the fire ladder scene. John Barry's music and the dream of when I was a kid being the chap rescuing the damsel.

6/10

--

The JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMES JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMES athon

1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2. From Russia With Love
3. Licence to Kill
4. Dr No
5. Skyfall
6. For Your Eyes Only
7. Octopussy
8. Thunderball
9. Goldfinger
10. Live and Let Die
11. Moonraker
12. You Only Live Twice
13. Diamonds Are Forever
14. The Spy Who Loved Me
15. A View to a Kill (last rating 6/10, last placed 14th)
16. The Man With the Golden Gun
17. Quantum of Solace

Watched Golden Gun with the missus on Sunday on ITV. Still good silly fun in places, somehow evoking a "one of the last Bond classics" vibe due to it blending it's daft fun with rather iconic elements. Would still love to know where the undercurrent of pissed-off-ness came from in some of the performances. Moore's Bond has the discomforting effect of a short-fused sexist sadist dumped unwittingly into a Disney movie.

Lazenby. wrote:

Watched Golden Gun with the missus on Sunday on ITV. Still good silly fun in places, somehow evoking a "one of the last Bond classics" vibe due to it blending it's daft fun with rather iconic elements. Would still love to know where the undercurrent of pissed-off-ness came from in some of the performances. Moore's Bond has the discomforting effect of a short-fused sexist sadist dumped unwittingly into a Disney movie.

Grizzlyland even ^^

From the 'Everything or Nothing' documentary it seems the production was rather stressed as a result of Saltzman's pending departure.

The World is Not Enough

I was drunk and overlooked Denise Richards more easily than normal. Also, Valentin can show his face in any future Bond movie whenever he wants in my book.

I cannot believe I sort of liked it. I feel so much shame.

Amusing to see the Bond movies back on the various ITV channels these last lot of weekends ... whatever happened to 'Exclusively on Sky Movies 007'?

Rip-off, methinks.

Chief of SIS wrote:

The World is Not Enough

I was drunk and overlooked Denise Richards more easily than normal. Also, Valentin can show his face in any future Bond movie whenever he wants in my book.

I cannot believe I sort of liked it. I feel so much shame.

The wonders of drink...although it usually makes the likes of Denise Richards more noticeable ^^.

"But I don't know any doctor jokes."

Hilly KCMG wrote:

"But I don't know any doctor jokes."

Like that, a flood of repressed TWINE memories surge back to the forefront of my mind.

Chief of SIS wrote:

Hilly KCMG wrote:

"But I don't know any doctor jokes."

Like that, a flood of repressed TWINE memories surge back to the forefront of my mind.

Apologies.

----

The Living Daylights

still remains a highly entertaining movie where positives far outweigh the negatives. Lush score, decent Bond and a mostly fine heroine (skipping aside the "Jaa-mes" on the runway). After the Moore era or at least how it ended in VTAK it feels refreshing even if technically done much the same way.
Saunders' death remains one of the most moving in the series. Indeed, seeing how Saunders goes from distrusting/disliking Bond to at the very end coming to like him and Bond's reaction to his death.

Should've brought lillies
1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2. The Living Daylights (last scored 9/10, last placed 2nd)
3. From Russia With Love
4. Licence to Kill
5. Dr No
6. Skyfall
7. For Your Eyes Only
8. Octopussy
9. Thunderball
10. Goldfinger
11. Live and Let Die
12. Moonraker
13. You Only Live Twice
14. Diamonds Are Forever
15. The Spy Who Loved Me
16. A View to a Kill
17. The Man With the Golden Gun
18. Quantum of Solace

Depends on your definition of safe sex...

Goldeneye

folk on old MI6 used to know for my apparent intense dislike of the film and it's bewildering as to now. Not so much a dislike as a kind of marmite feeling now. All hemmed down to the soundtrack. Growing up in the household I did I was used to John Barry and that sound.
On this viewing as much as I prefer a rescored version I focused more on the movie. Bear with me. Find myself wishing if only Dalton had been able to do this or had done a third Bond but then ended up thinking, this was pretty much a Roger Moore film in terms of puns and humour and villains. Brosnan isn't bad as Bond but after Dalton it feels a step back, the facial expressions are often mocked but hard to ignore say when he's getting the plane up in the PTS or after Alec is shot in the PTS and so on. Natalya I could leave her or lump her, I've never been fully swayed by her even when I liked the film as a kid. Onatopp isn't too bad and Trevalyan likewise. Ouromov is my favourite in the film, even by the end of his appearance he's drunk himself stupid I'd imagine.
Boris, no, just no.
Some bits of the film are better than others (the tank chase, Zhukovsky's club, M's office) but I find some of it just not feeling right and it might be the music, who knows. A couple of bits (the archive gunfight and tank chase) are good but at risk of further alienation those who like it, for the most part it doesn't sit right -the keyboard-y car race, the airport meet and end song chiefly.
Music is my integral viewing of a Bond film, when I heard the theme in Skyfall it was superb and with GE it jars enough to unsettle. This being said the pun/humour moments I smiled at...yay!

in spite of all this something bumps it up a bit in the ranking. Maybe because of what I have left before this Bondathon is over.

7/10

Tomorrow Never Dies

it certainly does. It tends to be the one Brosnan I don't mind re-watching. Musically it has a bit more going for it but that's not saying much. It also seems a halfway good film from the start until midway when zee shoosting begins with Wai-Linn and on the stealth boat.
I've always liked it for the little bits of navy we get. Too much Navy Lark I suspect but the end with HMS Bedford blazing away. Keeping the British End up a la the end of Thunderball. Certain parts are still good, the BMW chase (at least in TND we get the Beemer explained and a hefty bit of screentime unlike in GE), the pre-titles, Devonshire's loss (something about the vocals chiming with the abandon ship moment) and that's it. Strikes me that unlike GE I'm losing favour with it. I'm still more likely to watch this were I to pick a Brosnan at random but so be it.
Amazing to see some of the names in this that since have become quite 'big' Gerald Butler (we're fourteen degrees down at the stern!), Julian Rhind-Tutt (he's meant to be a yeo on Devonshire but couldn't recognise him) and from Downton Abbey, Brenday Coyle (Leading Seaman on Bedford) Hugh Bonneville (Bedford's gunnery officer) but also to see once again old faithful's like Geoffrey Palmer and Michael Byrne ("And this is how the Royal Navy says goodbye!")

6.5/10

The For England-athon rankings

1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2. The Living Daylights
3. From Russia With Love
4. Licence to Kill
5. Dr No
6. Skyfall
7. For Your Eyes Only
8. Octopussy
9. Thunderball
10. Goldfinger
11. Live and Let Die
12. Moonraker
13. Goldeneye (last rating, 5/10, last placed 20th)
14. You Only Live Twice
15. Diamonds Are Forever
16. The Spy Who Loved Me
17. Tomorrow Never Dies (last rating, 7/10 -last ranking 16th)
18. A View to a Kill
19. The Man With the Golden Gun
20. Quantum of Solace

The World Is Not Enough

the boat chase feels like it's my favourite part now, shots of London -even with the chase going up a seeming dead end at Jacob's Island. Zhukovsky is the other, such a shame he went (though it's moot now with the rebooting of Bond). The film sort of meanders.

6.5/10

1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2. The Living Daylights
3. From Russia With Love
4. Licence to Kill
5. Dr No
6. Skyfall
7. For Your Eyes Only
8. Octopussy
9. Thunderball
10. Goldfinger
11. Live and Let Die
12. Moonraker
13. Goldeneye
14. You Only Live Twice
15. Diamonds Are Forever
16. The Spy Who Loved Me
17. Tomorrow Never Dies
18. The World Is Not Enough (last rating 7/10, last placed 17th)
19. A View to a Kill
20. The Man With the Golden Gun
21. Quantum of Solace

Die Another Day-

oh the world is hollow...drawing the Bondathon to a near close (Casino Royale next) and like View to a Kill, a less than impressive Bond film somehow fun and the rest on this latest viewing. The maddening thing is, there seems to be the semblance of a decent Bond film (nothing earthshattering though) from the start up through to Bond's return to Britain. It tries to hold on at the sword fight and then it slides downwards in a blur of CGI, awkwardly delivered lines, bad lines period

Going against tradition I find myself liking Brosnan. Not my favourite Bond but he does his best with what he can I suppose. Bond seems weary enough at times having been betrayed. He's left behind by all the CGI though, the laser fight for example and then all that happens after on Iceland. Personally, it would've been interesting to see him return for one more and maybe even Casino Royale. My opinion on CR sadly has diminished.

Aside from some of the lines, weak spots tend to revolve around Jinx, Graves and Falco. Pike I'm neither here nor there about, never warmed to her.

But there's some good parts, Bond's walk into the hotel and even to a point the climax on the Antonov.


1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2. The Living Daylights
3. From Russia With Love
4. Licence to Kill
5. Dr No
6. Skyfall
7. For Your Eyes Only
8. Octopussy
9. Thunderball
10. Goldfinger
11. Live and Let Die
12. Moonraker
13. Goldeneye
14. You Only Live Twice
15. Diamonds Are Forever
16. The Spy Who Loved Me
17. Tomorrow Never Dies
18. The World Is Not Enough
19. A View to a Kill
20. Die Another Day (last rating 4/10, last placed 22nd)
21. The Man With the Golden Gun
22. Quantum of Solace

Casino Royale


concluding the much dragged out Bondathon that started way back in 2012. Time has not been kind in my book to CR06. At the time it seemed a welcome new start but since then tend to look at the film slightly differently. A little bit long, the African/Miami Airport/Venice feel kind of pointless and tacked on even if those bits have little plot points. Even changing Royale to Montenegro rankles to a point, but a slight point. Parts feel cringeworthy almost like it's a Brosnan movie in disguise (I found myself half wishing this HAD been a Brosnan movie). Craig does his best even if Bond seems to be some sort of bulked up superman. It's a decent attempt but looking at the rankings sits above three of the four Brosnan films at any event.

The soundtrack is neither here nor there, personally. Don't view/listen to Arnold's Craig scores well. Compared to his Brosnan scores they just lack any real punch.


Bondathon might be over but I might well return to Skyfall which almost pretends the past two never happened. Well, sort of

1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2. The Living Daylights
3. From Russia With Love
4. Licence to Kill
5. Dr No
6. Skyfall
7. For Your Eyes Only
8. Octopussy
9. Thunderball
10. Goldfinger
11. Live and Let Die
12. Moonraker
13. Goldeneye
14. You Only Live Twice
15. Diamonds Are Forever
16. The Spy Who Loved Me
17. Casino Royale (last rating, 9/10, last position 15th)
18. Tomorrow Never Dies
19. The World Is Not Enough
20. A View to a Kill
21. Die Another Day
22. The Man With the Golden Gun
23. Quantum of Solace

Hilly KCMG wrote:

Bondathon might be over but I might well return to Skyfall which almost pretends the past two never happened. Well, sort of

Definitely one of its best features, Skyfall does feel more connected to the main series imo while CR and QoS feel like an offshoot or dead end, Bourne films that misspelled the main characters name perhaps.

lachesis wrote:

Hilly KCMG wrote:

Bondathon might be over but I might well return to Skyfall which almost pretends the past two never happened. Well, sort of

Definitely one of its best features, Skyfall does feel more connected to the main series imo while CR and QoS feel like an offshoot or dead end, Bourne films that misspelled the main characters name perhaps.

One reason I've gone off QOS. I didn't get into it when I saw it in the cinema, unlike Skyfall or even Casino Royale. Just felt like a Bourne film or like Never Say Never Again, a film with a guy called James Bond in it.

In lieu of anywhere else, I'll put here how the Bond rankings changed in this 2012-14 watch. For some reason it died around the time of Skyfall but compared to previous ranking it's vastly changed.

Rise/demotions in ranks are shown in brackets

1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (0)
2. From Russia With Love (1+)
3. The Living Daylights (1-)
4. Licence to Kill (0)
5. Dr No (0)
6. Skyfall (NE)
7. For Your Eyes Only (0)
8. Octopussy (2-)
9. Thunderball (1-)
10. Goldfinger (1-)
11. Live and Let Die (2+)
12. Moonraker (0)
13. Goldeneye (7+)
14. You Only Live Twice (4-)
15. Diamonds Are Forever (3+)
16. The Spy Who Loved Me (5-)
17. Casino Royale (2-)
18. Tomorrow Never Dies (1-)
19. The World Is Not Enough (2-)
20. A View to a Kill (6-)
21. Die Another Day (1+)
22. The Man With the Golden Gun (-1)
23. Quantum of Solace (-4)

Looking at my listings, the pre-2007 ranking had TSWLM third. Everything sort of started to change after joining old MI6Forums.

Just did Live and Let Die last night. Not a favourite, but enjoyable all the same. Kananga, Tee Hee and Baron Samedi impress as the villain trio, Jane Seymour is very easy on the eyes and the music is super cool.

Did Thunderball the other night. Always a pleasure to watch, though this time more so. This is James Bond, in my opinion. Of course if you overlook the technical limitations, but like Goldeneye, Skyfall, From Russia With Love and a few others, it's a template for a good f*cking James Bond flick:

- A gallery of Bond babes, as I've said before - possibly the best in the series to feature in one.
- Intimidating villains
- Sense of Britishness
- Sense of danger whilst still being fun.

I think the 70s Bond flicks are too light and fluffy and don't have the edge that DN - TB, OHMSS have in the 60s, CR & QOS don't have the fun aspect the 90s flicks have.

But back to Thunderball, this is my idea of James Bond.

EDIT: Why Bond never shagged Paula is beyond me, though.