James Bond movies you've seen in the cinema / theatre / big screen

I just finished a Bondathon at the cinema.  It was an opportunity I could not pass up. $100 for 20 Bond movies. Some were shown several times. I saw OHMSS twice, the rest only once. (17 films, 18 viewings, in 11 days - 4 single bills and 7 double bills). The list of films available included Never Say Never Again, but didn't include Live and Let Die, Tomorrow Never Dies, Die Another Day or Quantum of Solace.

Due to the fact that we were working full days and had seen Craig's films in the cinema when they first came out, we chose to skip those and NSNA (Bond throwing urine is something one never needs to see). I didn't really miss having the two Brosnan ones missing but would have loved to see LALD in the cinema.

So, my list of Bond films seen in the cinema are set out below in bold.  I'm working on a review and ranking of them to post in a different area but once that is done, I'll add another post here about how my opinion of several films changed after seeing them on the big screen.

Dr. No (1962-Sean Connery)
From Russia With Love (1963-Sean Connery)
Goldfinger (1964-Sean Connery)
Thunderball (1965-Sean Connery)
You Only Live Twice (1967-Sean Connery)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969-George Lazenby)
Diamonds Are Forever (1971-Sean Connery)
Live and Let Die (1973-Roger Moore)
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974-Roger Moore)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977-Roger Moore)
Moonraker (1979-Roger Moore)
For Your Eyes Only (1981-Roger Moore)
Octopussy (1983-Roger Moore)
A View to a Kill (1985-Roger Moore)
The Living Daylights (1987-Timothy Dalton)
Licence to Kill (1989-Timothy Dalton)
GoldenEye (1995-Pierce Brosnan)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997-Pierce Brosnan)
The World is Not Enough (1999-Pierce Brosnan)
Die Another Day (2002-Pierce Brosnan)
b]Casino Royale (2006-Daniel Craig)
Quantum of Solace (2008-Daniel Craig)
Skyfall (2012-Daniel Craig)[/b]

Which have you seen on the big screen and how?

TWINE onto Skyfall I all saw when they came out with Skyfall leaving the bigger impression. Other than that, OHMSS. I saw it with two friends at the BFI on South Bank in London, fairly packed screening. One friend was 50/50 on it, had all the various negative stuff down pat that people have said. He did a volte face after the showing. Could see beyond as it were.
I enjoyed the film but having seen it a fair few times it probably was nothing different but at least I can say I saw it and met Lazenby.

Skyfall.

All of them, most memorably TSWLM. Turned out my date had socks in her bra.

Everything since TLD in the cinema.

My first film in the theater was Die Another Day. Not the best one for your first theater outing, but I was twelve at the time, so it kicked ass as far as I was concerned. I loved Die Another Day then, but my affection for it has dwindled since, probably because I've gotten older and don't just want CGI blockbusters anymore.

After that, I've seen all three Craig films in theaters, and my opinions of each of those films haven't changed much. With the exception of Quantum of Solace, which I still enjoy just the same as I did in 2008, I've just gotten to enjoy Casino Royale and Skyfall more.

Agent007391 wrote:

My first film in the theater was Die Another Day. Not the best one for your first theater outing, but I was twelve at the time, so it kicked ass as far as I was concerned. I loved Die Another Day then, but my affection for it has dwindled since, probably because I've gotten older and don't just want CGI blockbusters anymore.

Same here. For a 10 year old it was a fun ride.

Things change as you get older.

I've come around on DAD in some ways. When I first saw it I really enjoyed it and called it Brosnan's second best. Then after more viewings it went down as Brosnan's worse. Now it's right back up as Brosnan's second best, albeit still pretty low in the overall rankings. It has a certain flair and color that elevates it above the very dull and generic TND and TWINE. Then there's Brosnan, who gave his best Bond performance in that.

I certainly find it better than TWINE, but TND I find superior.

Makeshift Python wrote:

I've come around on DAD in some ways. When I first saw it I really enjoyed it and called it Brosnan's second best. Then after more viewings it went down as Brosnan's worse. Now it's right back up as Brosnan's second best, albeit still pretty low in the overall rankings. It has a certain flair and color that elevates it above the very dull and generic TND and TWINE. Then there's Brosnan, who gave his best Bond performance in that.

DAD, while not that good, was a breath of fresh air. A lot of people say the film's failure to please the critics/audience is why they rebooted the series and got experimental. But I would disagree. Die Another Day showed the producers stepping out of the box for the first time since Goldeneye. TND and TWINE played it safe.

Bond failing a mission and being tortured? That's certainly different. An invisible car? Silly, perhaps, but they went for it. Featuring major/heavy CGI effects in a series known for doing most of its stunts for real? A CGI bullet in the gunbarrel, etc.

It showed the producers were willing to experiment. They mixed it up. They did somethings they knew would probably not go over well with fans, but it's the first time we see them experimenting with Bond and not playing it safe. So Die Another Day, while not being a very solid film, does deserve credit as the film where the producers started to find their balls. Had they not gone the route they did, we would have ended up with another TND/TWINE blockbuster that did well at the box office and led us to another film in the same exact mold.

Plus the first 40 minutes or so (right up until Halle Berry appears) is probably the best stuff of the Brosnan era. Points for the locations and Raoul, one of the more interesting minor characters to appear in a Bond film in quite some time. I don't mind the CGI or silliness or the invisible car. It's just Halle Berry and the godawful dialogue. If that had been changed, it would be a decent MR-esque film.



Anyway, sorry I got a pit bit off topic.


I became a Bond fan early in 2003 after Die Another Day was out of theaters. So I've only had the chance to see CR, QOS, and SF on the big screen. Hopefully, one day, I'll get to see some of the Connery's on the big screen.

Everything from TND onward. Kept the ticket stubs from CR onward.

On the topic of DAD, I thoroughly enjoyed it as a 13 year old watching it in theaters. It had a different, more playful tone than the previous two Brosnan films, which can make it quite the guilty pleasure. Well, at least for the first hour, before devolving into a horrible light and noise show. Even with the rousing commercial and critical success of the Craig era, I still feel bad that Brosnan got such a shitty sendoff.

Not long ago, I caught a film print of FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE. Splendid experience.

The one I really want to see--and on a fairly big screen--is GOLDFINGER.

I'd love to see The Living Daylights on the big screen.