Rank the Pre-Title Sequences

I think they did fine with Moore, they probably didnt regret it too much after LALD became a major hit.

Nothing beats the shot of Bond of lighting a cigarette, just above that distinctive Lazenby chin. 8)

And those ears of his we see from the backseat.

The Spy Who Loved Me:

Sets up the film's characters, hints at the plot and sub-plot, and delivers a slick ski chase with a wow finish, segueing perfectly into the titles.

After the previous 3 or 4 films that everyone whinges about, Bond was back with a vengeance.

Honestly, Spy's PTS doesn't do much for me. I cringe at the "So does England" line and the little kazoo riff that follows. Also, Babs Bach is in it, and that's enough to debilitate anything.

Okay, so maybe 3 or 4 was an optimistically low estimate...

By decades:

1960s: TB
1970s: TSWLM
1980s: TLD
1990s: TND
2000s: CR

Best overall: TB, the first widescreen PTS and the first time the Bond actor actually did the gunbarrel walk followed by Connery at his apex battling the "widow" Bouvard and escaping in the jet pack. Underscored brilliantly by John Barry set against a visually pleasing French chateau backdrop and the requisite beautiful female(this time a comely, Franco-Japanese agent) as well.

someone needs to vote and break the 3-way tie

Makeshift Python wrote:

The confrontation with Blofeld should have gone a bit longer I think, it feels anticlimatic the way it ends so quickly.

I've found that DAF makes way more sense if Bond kills the real Blofeld in the PTS, and the body double pretends to be Blofeld.

It's been suggested elsewhere that all three Blofelds were imposters and that the real Blofeld was still in hiding, recuperating from his injuries and didn't reappear until 1981.

That, of course, is revisionist bollocks. If Blofeld had been a wheelchair case as a result of his neck injury, he wouldn't have been behind the wheel of his Mercedes so soon after the fact. More likely he was "bashed into paraplegia" (as I read once) in '71.

More likely still, he was killed then and his unbilled appearance in FYEO was a joke, in an attempt to sabotage McClory's Warhead project and undermine his credibility.

Whatever. Trying to make chronological sense of the movie order is like trying to create a definitive, logical timeline for Star Trek or Doctor Who.

CJB wrote:

TND took Bond's newfound love for automatic weaponry to ridiculous levels.

Filthy habit.

I voted for GOLDFINGER as I've always had a softspot for it.

I also like FRWL, TB, OHMSS, TSWLM, FYEO, OP, TLD, LTK, GE, and CR.

Worst? QOS. Just a bunch of nothing.

1. GoldenEye
2. The World is not Enough
3. A View to a Kill
4. Goldfinger
5. Die Another Day
6. The Living Daylights
7. Tomorrow Never Dies
8. License to Kill
9. Casino Royale
10. Moonraker
11. Quantum of Solace
12. For Your Eyes Only
13. Thunderball
14. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
15. Octopussy
16. Diamonds Are Forever
17. The Spy Who Loved Me
18. From Russia with Love
19. The Man with the Golden Gun
20. Live and Let Die
21. You Only Live Twice

Quote :

I see TWINE is now the highest ranked. If it had been only the bank job, I might rank it higher, but the boat chase is is a pointless rehash of earlier Roger Moore boat chases and the whole set up makes no sense.

It's more exciting than Moore's boat chases, and the whole set up makes perfect sense. Cigar Girl is there to kill Bond after he delivers the briefcase.

As much as I loved the pre-credits sequence from TWINE, it just went on far too long and turned into more of a short film than a teaser, the scenes at MI6 HQ also felt very out of place. If it had ended at the bank job I could well havevoted for it, but seeing as it didn't, I voted for DAF instead.

FieldsMan wrote:

Quote :

I see TWINE is now the highest ranked. If it had been only the bank job, I might rank it higher, but the boat chase is is a pointless rehash of earlier Roger Moore boat chases and the whole set up makes no sense.

It's more exciting than Moore's boat chases, and the whole set up makes perfect sense. Cigar Girl is there to kill Bond after he delivers the briefcase.

She somehow bypasses MI6 security by parking her boat nearby with all kinds of weaponry, somehow knowing that a hole was going to blow up at a certain location and that Bond was going to pop his head out of that hole to give her the opportunity to take a shot at him. It's all too stupidly convenient, even for a Bond movie.

DAF is ahead?

What a shocker!

To me the fight in the DAF PTS is the single worst fight in the entire series. Horribly staged and terribly fake looking. Only saved by it's relative shortness and Barry's great action cue.

j7wild wrote:

DAF is ahead?

What a shocker!

I strongly suspect Connery's entrance and his conversation with Marie probably has a lot to do with that.

hegottheboot wrote:

To me the fight in the DAF PTS is the single worst fight in the entire series. Horribly staged and terribly fake looking. Only saved by it's relative shortness and Barry's great action cue.

As much as I love Diamonds Are Forever, you're right, that is a terrible fight. It could have been ten times better if the directors had just used their heads to come up with a fight similiar to the fight with Peter Franks which comes later. A fierce duel with the Blofeld double and his two thugs to the death would have suited the tone of the PTS more accurately.

Is there any way of changing my winning vote or is it now forever carved into 'Bond and Beyond' stone?

I would like to change it to TLD (creating a four-way tie!)

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

CR's pre-titles are pretty much perfect. Even after a hundred viewings (I'm sure), the cut from Dryden's office to Bond fighting Fischer always makes me jump.

I also like GE's pre-titles. I love the sequences that are almost stand-alone films in their own right, and GE does this almost perfectly.

As much as I dislike GF, the pre-titles are awesome, and possibly the best part of the film. They're really the prototype for what many films would try over the years, but never perfected until GE.

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On the other hand, I love FYEO ... but I think the pre-titles are pretty flat. Bond and Melina escaing Gonzalez's villa would be a better sequence. As it is, the whole thing feels unnecessary and clashes with the rest of the film. And then there's the delicatessen line.

Actually, even though Blofeld deserved a better ending at the end of the movie (whatever movie it is), but obviously couldn't because of rights reasons we all know, I have a theory about the pre-title ending.
Bond gets revenge on Blofeld after he killed someone he loved (Teresa), and later he reproaches Melina for doing the same.

24 AVTAK
23 LALD
22 GE
21 TWINE
20 LTK
19 TSWLM
18 YOLT
17 MR
16 TB
15 OP
14 DAD
13 TND
12 TMWTGG
11 QOS
10 DAF
09 FRWL
08 SF
07 FYEO
06 TLD
05 OHMSS
04 SP
03 CR
02 NTTD
01 GF

Phantom Commander wrote:

24 AVTAK
23 LALD
22 GE
21 TWINE
20 LTK
19 TSWLM
18 YOLT
17 MR
16 TB
15 OP
14 DAD
13 TND
12 TMWTGG
11 QOS
10 DAF
09 FRWL
08 SF
07 FYEO
06 TLD
05 OHMSS
04 SP
03 CR
02 NTTD
01 GF

I'd probably switch GE and FYEO.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Phantom Commander wrote:

24 AVTAK
23 LALD
22 GE
21 TWINE
20 LTK
19 TSWLM
18 YOLT
17 MR
16 TB
15 OP
14 DAD
13 TND
12 TMWTGG
11 QOS
10 DAF
09 FRWL
08 SF
07 FYEO
06 TLD
05 OHMSS
04 SP
03 CR
02 NTTD
01 GF

I'd probably switch GE and FYEO.

There are things I like and things I dislike about both of those. For instance, I love the bungee jump opening, and I hate the Blofeld ramblings, but the balance of good and bad tips one way or the other, and that is how they tip for me. With GE, I really do not care for the dialogue either and the freefall stunt is idiotic, whereas I like the sombre opening by the grave in FYEO, and the helicopter spectacle is amazing.

The grave opening is about the only thing I really like about FYEO's PTS, and I say that as a pretty big fan of the film. As for GE's PTS, there's nothing about it I don't like. But, horses for courses.