Are the Bond films sexy?

v

I think all of the sexy Bond movies are in the 1960s. The two you already mentioned and I would add DN to the list.

Tom Cruise should probably get the blame for the "Mission: Impossible" franchise being so chaste and asexual. I'm reminded of the fact that Annabelle Wallis revealed he had a kissing scene between them removed from "The Mummy".

It's an interesting question. I know some people deem "Red Sparrow" as a sexy film but I thought it was a rather passionless affair myself. Possibly "Blackbook" could qualify, though that is stretching the definition of a spy thriller to its very limits.

When folks are satiated by on-demand porn, it's hard to know what sexy even is anymore, and it may be impossible for modern non-NC17 or X films to titillate, so to speak...

Sexual and sexy aren't necessarily the same thing.

I found DAF to be sexy (at 12) not just because of Tiffany Case, Plenty O'Toole and Bambi & Thumper, but also because of the locations, music, cars and that guy who cruised through it all like this world was made exclusively for him.

For sexual, TMWTGG has the titles, Chew Mee, Mary Goodnight in a bikini and Andrea in the shower. MR and OP has scantily-dressed girls everywhere, but were the entire productions as sexy?

'Sexy' is what you consider it to be.

Some may be more than others, which is totally fine considering that the likes of Fleming's LALD and YOLT for example felt less so than his DN and FRWL.

I agree with AMC in that sexy also comes in the form of the production. OHMSS is sumptuous in its music and photography as well as through its characters (i.e. the Angels of Death). Similarly, TWINE and SF have a sexy feel to them, the former always felt evocative of TB to me. Whereas something like OP really should have a sexy look to it (considering the enigma surrounding Octopussy and her girls), but the production values cheapen it. Instead of looking like Penelope Cruz, it looks likes Rosa Klebb.

On the whole, the production values of TND matches the press and pressing urgency of its narrative, yet it still manages one of the sexiest scenes in a Bond film.

I'd agree that the Bond films reached peak sexiness in the early 60's. They were somewhat risque for their time but there was still an underlying elegance.

As social mores and filmmaking changed, as did that particular aspect of the films.

In more recent entries, I suppose I'd give a nod (amongst other things) to Severine for having that old school air about her. Otherwise, Bond films have grown increasingly sterile over the years. Good luck bringing sexy back in the era of MeChew. What an utterly joyless time to be on this spinning rock.

b

Luckily the drive to cater to the kiddie toy market didn't lead to them having an army of Ewoks assault Blofeld's volcano.

There was something about Diana Rigg walking out of the bathroom in the hotel room in slight undress that was always fetching. OHMSS might not have screamed sexiness but that was an enduring memory from first watching it. The films of late lack it.

I don't think the series has ever lived up to the sheer impact of reading a Fleming scene. The eroticism was still inherent with Terrence Young in the early days because they found ways to keep it intact with the sense of danger and excitement. This also has much to do with Peter Hunt's revolutionary way of cutting in both narrative and new wave-ish sense.

Starting with GF the sense of sex changed and the humor portion was increased. The sense of immediate excitement was gone along with danger and eventually got to the point of ticking off boxes. I've never felt the physical attraction the way many say they did as boys-merely on retrospect can I see the sexiness in the later films and it is more the characters themselves I got crushes on and not being scantily clad or innately "sexy".

The sexiest scenes in the series are without comparison: The trysts with Slyvia, Miss Taro's cottage, the rowboat with Honey, the bridal suite FRWL meeting, the gypsy camp, train car on the Orient Express, Bond and Domino underwater and the fiery tussle with Fiona.
Hmm...and all of these are from Terrence's three...hmm....makes you wonder...

I'll admit the above moment in OHMSS is great particularly since she's aiming Bond's PPK at him out of sheer amusement. The sexiness of Tracy is in her intelligence, wit and spirit which does come across in the film but it is the film's focus and thus I think it isn't at the same sexy level as the original films.  Then again, I adore Dame Diana doing virtually anything.


Ultimately Bond isn't about sex or being sexy and I hate that it gets labelled as such. Fleming wrote sexy scenes but they were usually the introductions and Bond's inner thoughts that led to eventual sex scenes that were more character driven. Bond in the books wasn't involved with every female in sight. Sex was part of Fleming's literary cocktail that made the books feel alive whereas the films eventually short changed this aspect until it was just put Girl A here and Girl B here.

Well as far as it goes with me being a male viewer, I found a lot of older ones more sexy from the girls point of view, because in the older ones, the Bond girls just seem more naughty and more passionate, where as ever since Casino Royale, Bond keeps going after more sexually reserved, more sexually innocent women, less sexual. Would I be wrong in seeing it this way?

You aren't wrong there. The Craig Bond films are almost asexual.

I dunno, Cregg emerging out of the water in his tighty-blueies probably gave some at least a half-chubb.

FieldsMan wrote:

You aren't wrong there. The Craig Bond films are almost asexual.

Well I thought that the kissing scene between Craig and Belucci was actually really hot. But aside from that, I felt that Craig's Bond is more into the good two shoes type of relationships more, unless I'm wrong.

CJB wrote:

I dunno, Cregg emerging out of the water in his tighty-blueies probably gave some at least a half-chubb.

Not the warm blooded heterosexuals Bond was intended for.

FieldsMan wrote:

You aren't wrong there. The Craig Bond films are almost asexual.

6 bangs across 4 films ... could be worse.

Not sure Rog's 'just raise an eyebrow and listen to the underwear drop' thing would fly nowadays. Too ridiculous.

I still abhor that shot to this day because it seems like not only a mens swimwear magazine ad but also a reference to Jinx.

FieldsMan wrote:

CJB wrote:

I dunno, Cregg emerging out of the water in his tighty-blueies probably gave some at least a half-chubb.

Not the warm blooded heterosexuals Bond was intended for.

Plenty of women dug it. My mother was totally skeptical of Craig as Bond. Then after the Madagascar chase she was totally sold on him. By the beach scene, she was oversold.

Good for your mum.

Remember when Bond was attractive due to his menace, intelligence, wit, charm, abilities, sardonic humor or any semblance of humanity?
Oh wait that's been gone for ages.

Some of them are very sexy, e.g. From Russia with Love and especially Thunderball.
Others, less so. It depends a lot on the era, screenplay and direction.

I will say that the Daniel Craig era has been largely unsexy imho.

I'd love to know which you consider to be sexy beyond FRWL and TB, if you care to Salome.

FieldsMan wrote:

I'd love to know which you consider to be sexy beyond FRWL and TB, if you care to Salome.

Thunderball's entire atmosphere has a feverish, erotic tinge to it. Helped by the cast, the locations, the cinematography, the writing, ...
FRWL has some of the same qualities, only far less pronounced.

100%... I mean, which other Bond films would you consider sexy?