Pre-Title Sequences from Shortest to Longest

Given the news of NTTD supposedly having a pre-title sequence that clocks at 20 minutes (!!!), I thought it would be interesting to look into the length of every Bond film's pre-titles. My method of timing them was to not include the opening studio logos, so I start it off with either the gun barrel or in the case of CR, QOS, and SF start right after the stuio logos fade to black. I then stop the timer right when the main titles visual cue kicks in.

Here's all the pre-titles listed in film release order to see the evolution of the lengths:


From Russia with Love - 3:00
Goldfinger - 4:52
Thunderball - 4:32
You Only Live Twice - 5:47
On Her Majesty's Secret Service - 6:32
Diamonds Are Forever - 4:32
Live and Let Die - 4:30
The Man with the Golden Gun - 7:55
The Spy Who Loved Me- 7:40
Moonraker - 5:32
For Your Eyes Only - 6:16
Octopussy - 7:16
A View to a Kill - 5:59
The Living Daylights - 7:14
Licence to Kill - 8:32
GoldenEye - 10:10
Tomorrow Never Dies - 9:12
The World is Not Enough - 14:05
Die Another Day - 13:12
Casino Royale - 3:11
Quantum of Solace - 3:36
Skyfall - 12:33
Spectre - 12:26


Now here's all the pre-titles from shortest to longest:


From Russia with Love - 3:00
Casino Royale - 3:11
Quantum of Solace - 3:36
Live and Let Die - 4:30
Thunderball - 4:32
Diamonds Are Forever - 4:32
Goldfinger - 4:52
Moonraker - 5:32
You Only Live Twice - 5:47
A View to a Kill - 5:59
For Your Eyes Only - 6:16
On Her Majesty's Secret Service - 6:32
The Living Daylights - 7:14
Octopussy - 7:16
The Spy Who Loved Me- 7:40
The Man with the Golden Gun - 7:55
Licence to Kill - 8:32
Tomorrow Never Dies - 9:12
GoldenEye - 10:10
Spectre - 12:26
Skyfall - 12:33
Die Another Day - 13:12
The World is Not Enough - 14:05


So under Cubby and Harry's run during FRWL-TMWTGG the typical length was above 4 minutes, with FRWL being the shortest at 3:00 and TMWTGG being the longest at 7:55. When Cubby took over during TSWLM-LTK the typical length was boosted to 6-7 mins, with MR being the shortest at 5:32 and LTK being the longest at 8:32. Then with Michael and Barbara taking over since GE they've clearly favored having in having the pre-titles clocking around over 10 mins, with TND being the shortest at 9:12 and TWINE the longest at 14:05. The clear exceptions were CR and QOS, as they ran even shorter than the average length during Harry and Cubby's run.

And as brought up in another thread, TWINE was kind of an accident in that it was supposed to be just the bank scene and the revelation of Renard as the sniper that helped Bond escape. Only through post-production was it decided to cram in the MI6 office/River Thames chase into the PTS. This is why DAD's flows more smoothly that you might not realize it's only a minute under TWINE, because it had always been planned to be structured at 13 mins.

The seamlessness of the DAD PTS in contrast to the TWINE might be that the action occurs in one location. However, I've never felt the TWINE PTS is overlong or structured differently to originally intended.

Amazing that TMWTGG's PTS is almost 8 minutes! Could have sworn it was half that length.

Yeah I was very surprised to see TMWTGG stretch that long. I figured the longer sequences only kicked in once Cubby became solo producer, as he aimed to make the Bond films starting with TSWLM more grandiose.

I think the seeds for a bigger Bond were planted well in advance, beginning with TB and YOLT, no?

To my mind, anything over 8 minutes produces diminishing returns.

Quite the jump in length of Craig's from his first 2 to SF and SP.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

To my mind, anything over 8 minutes produces diminishing returns.

But some of them over 8 minutes are some of the best...

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

To my mind, anything over 8 minutes produces diminishing returns.

But some of them over 8 minutes are some of the best...

I rate 4 out of 7 highly. My approval rate for those under 8 minutes is quite a bit higher than that.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

To my mind, anything over 8 minutes produces diminishing returns.

But some of them over 8 minutes are some of the best...

I rate 4 out of 7 highly. My approval rate for those under 8 minutes is quite a bit higher than that.

Which ones? I'd highly rate 5:

GE
TND
TWINE
DAD
SF.

LTK is a little too goofy, made-for-TV, and not sure I buy Bond being Leiter's best man.
SP has a cracker opening shot and setting, but not a fan of the reckless action, Craig's performance and piss-stain filter.

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

To my mind, anything over 8 minutes produces diminishing returns.

But some of them over 8 minutes are some of the best...

I rate 4 out of 7 highly. My approval rate for those under 8 minutes is quite a bit higher than that.

Which ones? I'd highly rate 5:

GE
TND
TWINE
DAD
SF.

LTK is a little too goofy, made-for-TV, and not sure I buy Bond being Leiter's best man.
SP has a cracker opening shot and setting, but not a fan of the reckless action, Craig's performance and piss-stain filter.

TND: Tense and suspenseful. The presence of a nuke, the premature launch of the missile, the failure to abort, and Bond getting the job done as the missile closes in make for riveting viewing.

GE: The action is marvelous. Bond's swan dive off of the dam and his ridiculously outrageous airplane escape are about as good as it gets.

SF: Very good punch-up between Bond and Rapace, and Moneypenny being put into a position beyond her competence is jolly good. M makes the mistake of demanding she "take the bloody shot" and then that beautiful fade into Adele's unforgettable title track.

SP: Great Benign Bizarre to begin the PTS and the movie (skeleton float with a cigar in its mouth), and an excellent and vertiginous helicopter battle.

Heh, as far as 8+ mins go, I guess my ranking would be...


GE
SF
SP
DAD
TWINE
LTK
TND

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

To my mind, anything over 8 minutes produces diminishing returns.

But some of them over 8 minutes are some of the best...

I rate 4 out of 7 highly. My approval rate for those under 8 minutes is quite a bit higher than that.

Which ones? I'd highly rate 5:

GE
TND
TWINE
DAD
SF.

LTK is a little too goofy, made-for-TV, and not sure I buy Bond being Leiter's best man.
SP has a cracker opening shot and setting, but not a fan of the reckless action, Craig's performance and piss-stain filter.

TND: Tense and suspenseful. The presence of a nuke, the premature launch of the missile, the failure to abort, and Bond getting the job done as the missile closes in make for riveting viewing.

GE: The action is marvelous. Bond's swan dive off of the dam and his ridiculously outrageous airplane escape are about as good as it gets.

SF: Very good punch-up between Bond and Rapace, and Moneypenny being put into a position beyond her competence is jolly good. M makes the mistake of demanding she "take the bloody shot" and then that beautiful fade into Adele's unforgettable title track.

SP: Great Benign Bizarre to begin the PTS and the movie (skeleton float with a cigar in its mouth), and an excellent and vertiginous helicopter battle.

Good summary and I agree with GE and TND particularly. I've thought about how Moneypenny is used in SF's PTS and not sure I'm convinced by it. I may have been too hasty to include it in the PTSs I rate highly but everything else works quite well. I do like the skeleton and the cigar opening shot in SP but Craig's awkward movement and the recklessness of Craig's actions prevent it from being a great PTS.

I think if you give DAD a go again you might think, if anything else, DAD starts off strong.

DAD did start off strong....but after he shaves off his beard everything starts to go downhill.

bitchcraft wrote:

DAD did start off strong....but after he shaves off his beard everything starts to go downhill.

Ironic that the western world started going downhill when men started growing beards...

Damn dirty hippies, right?

Yes.

But seriously, yes.

I'm had what I refer to as a 'widescreen goatee' for 20 years.

I apologise profusely.

Makeshift Python wrote:

Yeah I was very surprised to see TMWTGG stretch that long. I figured the longer sequences only kicked in once Cubby became solo producer, as he aimed to make the Bond films starting with TSWLM more grandiose.

Well he was soloing essentially on GG because of the alternating rule that started with him doing YOLT and Harry doing OHMSS.


The key difference in PTS is the originals that have nothing to do with the film in any way, and then the ones that tie into the main story somehow. The vast majority tie into the plot but the rule they keep breaking is to do too much of the main plot instead of teasing it and allowing the audience's intelligence to bridge the gap.

hegottheboot wrote:

The key difference in PTS is the originals that have nothing to do with the film in any way, and then the ones that tie into the main story somehow. The vast majority tie into the plot but the rule they keep breaking is to do too much of the main plot instead of teasing it and allowing the audience's intelligence to bridge the gap.

In which films do you find this most prominent, HGTB?

I think all the PTS work well at this idea until you get to TWINE and after where they moved the planned point and then make the opening sequences meant for the opening post title scenes part of the PTS.

They realized the bank opening felt too underwhelming to open the film (which it is) and also cut the Renard intro scene. Either they should have just gone with what they had or condensed/rewritten the opening to have the PTS be all about the Thames chase.

If we're saying the inciting incident is MI6 explosion, then yes. But there's so much plot in the banker's scene anyway that it doesn't really matter, in the case of TWINE.

I would have liked to see how it would have played as originally sequenced in a complete fashion, rather than the bits and pieces we get on the DVD extras which were just based off a workprint IIRC.

As would I. Also keen on the 160 (?) min version too!

As far as I can tell it's pretty straightforward. All that's missing is the Renard scene and I think maybe a snippet or two of lines in M's office cut for time.

Bank scene and escape-Bond walks away-Cigar Girl and Renard scene-Fade into MI6-Office scene and explosion-Q Boat Thames chase-balloon explodes and fade out wounded on top of Millenium Dome-Titles

M had that awfully self-conscious line about hollowed out volcanoes and big breasted women... Apparently Feirstein tried to get it in GE and TND and finally managed in TWINE, but it was cut in the edit. I'm one of his biggest proponents but that line really isn't appropriate.