Favorite James Bond Film

[vanguard96]

We've done a Bond actor poll a number of years ago - how about the films?

For inclusion-sake I've added the '67 Casino Royale - with Woody Allen, David Niven, Peter Sellers and a host of others and Connery's return to Bond in Never Say Never Again with Kim Basinger and Barbara Carrera.

[vanguard96]

I picked


1. For From Russia With Love it is the script, setting and characters - Robert Shaw as Grant is great vs. Connery. As is the Kerim Bey character by Mexican actor Pedro Armendariz. Turkey in the early 60's is captivating as is the Soviet-UK Cold War by proxy background of the story.

2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service - OHMSS is my favorite Bond novel and the book aside from switching around the order of it with You Only Live Twice has a number of aspects faithfully recorded. With the rather blank slate of Lazenby we get one of John Barry's best scores, a fantastic turn from Diana Rigg and Telly Savalas all in the backdrop of Switzerland and Spain. Hunt's editing is excellent as the DVD releases show and the ski chase set the tone for the next decade.

3. The Spy Who Loved Me - The final choice came down to Bond on a big scale in the real world locations in Egypt and Italy -  fighting larger than life villains like Jaws - working with the Russians while keeping an eye out for double-crossing deals. The model work for Stromberg's fortress was great but the Ken Adam set here with the full sized submarines is a marvel. The precredit ski sequence with Bond jumping off a glacier - a pre-CGI actual stunt done in Greenland - is memorable as is Bond's white Lotus Esprit. My favorite with the dearly departed Roger Moore.


Debated: Casino Royale 2006, For Your Eyes Only, Goldfinger

[Mr. Smith]

Casino Royale (2006) - Daniel Craig at his peak, excellent script and characters, Judi Dench continues to nail it, and Vesper was amazingly tragic.

Goldfinger - This one was just so much fun, most of the cliches of Bond come from this movie, and Goldfinger himself is an absurdly funny villain.

The Living Daylights - Closest to the books, most believable Bond put to the screen here, even now. There' still some of the fun to be had from the Moore era, but no longer with such excess.

HM: Goldeneye (The only good Brosnan flick), On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Never Say Never Again (it was directed by The Empire Strikes Back guy, and it shows), Skyfall

[vanguard96]

Casino Royale (2006) - Daniel Craig at his peak, excellent script and characters, Judi Dench continues to nail it, and Vesper was amazingly tragic.

Goldfinger - This one was just so much fun, most of the cliches of Bond come from this movie, and Goldfinger himself is an absurdly funny villain.

The Living Daylights - Closest to the books, most believable Bond put to the screen here, even now. There' still some of the fun to be had from the Moore era, but no longer with such excess.

HM: Goldeneye (The only good Brosnan flick), On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Never Say Never Again (it was directed by The Empire Strikes Back guy, and it shows)

I like your top 3 choices - Casino Royale was a smash - and as a minimalist story it was still full of action and suspense after the bloat of DAD.

What in particular about the direction of Never Say Never Again did you really pick up on?

I like the chase scene in Monaco - the contemporary house where Bond finds the French agent in the waterbed - and pretty much any scene with Barbara Carrera - she has a sizzle in her scenes that Basinger lacks.

The Domination video game scene is quaint and nostalgic.

Bernie Casey is a fine Felix Leiter - best even.

The MI6 scenes are perhaps the worst part of the movie - terrible casting.

The title sequence is a bit underplayed, the theme is serviceable, and despite a bigger budget than Octopussy - it does not have as much spectacle to it - maybe because it is Kevin McClory's Thunderball with a few small modifications to update it to the 80's.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Skyfall
Gold Finger
Casino Royale

[Illiniwek]

My Mount Rushmore of Bond movies is:
Goldfinger, Goldeneye, Casino Royals, Skyfall

[The Dowager Mod]

Goldfinger.
Casino Royale '06
The man with the golden gun.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Octopussy

[#gravelgang #lessiglad]

Easy. The living daylights. Timothy Dalton is the only true James Bond.

[NewYorkExpress]

Goldfinger, Casino Royale 06. Spectre. Skyfall and Goldeneye are my top five.

[vanguard96]

Goldfinger.
Casino Royale '06
The man with the golden gun.

Why The Man With the Golden Gun - Chris Lee? Tattoo from Fantasy Island? The Flying AMC? Kung fu? It looks really muddy cinematically and is to me the least appealing of the 3 Gulf+Western productions (Diamonds, Live and Let Die are the other 2) despite the location having the best potential.

[Santander]

Goldfinger

[Mr. Reactionary]

Thunderball

[vanguard96]

Octopussy

Interesting choice. I like Octopussy well enough - the action is pretty well done. Moore is my favorite Bond - some people say Moore should have left after this one. I am sad that the original master of the score is still missing - Barry's work is highly underrated for that one. Vijay Armitraj is a fun guy in his role as the MI6 local agent. Steven Berkoff's Russian general is so over the top and Louis Jourdan is a classic smooth, but unhinged villain of the 80's with this turn here and of course Swamp Thing. Kristina Wayborn as Magda seems a little wooden but is a lovely lady particularly in the scenes in India. Maud Adams has a great connection with Moore - obviously a totally different character than Andrea Anders in The Man With the Golden Gun - and pivotal to the story. She is very three dimensional in a story that people dismiss at face value with the Tarzan yell and some of the sight gags. I love the Cold War plot too. I would put it around #10 depending on how I feel on a given day.

[vanguard96]

Thunderball

Claudine Auger is an incredible beauty, Bond gets a nice taste of her foot on the beach and they have some tender moments together. She's not as vocally comfortable with Connery as Honor Blackman was of course. She's very appealing but I personally feel that she was upstaged here by Lucianna Paluzzi as the femme fatale character, Fiona - a stunning redhead killer. Her playful chemistry with Connery was a highlight. She asks him for something to put on when she's in the tub and he hands her slippers. Great scenes with her.

In other later movies - example Bay of Blood and Belly of the Tarantula, Auger is cast in somehow she does not smolder like here. The latter it has 3 Bond girls - Auger, Barbara Bach, and Barbara Bouchet who played Moneypenny in the '67 Casino Royale. Celi also co-stars with Lazenby in a somewhat disappointing '72 giallo - Who Saw Her Die - for which Lazenby lost 35 pounds for his role as a mustachioed sculptor.

The dialog with Largo - Adolfo Celi is sharp. Again Bond with the line where Largo asks during shooting about how Bond knows about the guns and Connery replies that he knows women.

My issue with the movie is the underwater sequences are too heavily emphasized and too large scale with Bond zipping through pulling off masks and cutting the air lines of the SPECTRE frogmen in a drawn out battle that seems longer than it really is. The undercranked scenes meant to speed up the boat look awkward. The PTS with the agent in drag that Bond kills and the jet pack is so-so - I prefer Goldfinger's mini adventure in Mexico to it - though it does lead to the best of the early credit film sequences. Barry has a very good score - though he would improve on it with the next 3 as the sound recording took on a larger scope and sophistication.

I guess I prefer the supporting characters in FRWL and GF to TB and that's what does it for me. Perhaps if I was more of a diving fan. I do think even though You Only Live Twice has a far worse Bond girl and Pleasance's Blofeld is the Dr Evil archetype, and Connery's transformation to become Japanese is silly that it is more sentimental for me. As a former Japan resident I have a certain fondness for it that goes beyond the actual individual qualities of the film itself - aside from the score and main song which are my respective favorites in the series history.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Goldfinger, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Casino Royale

[Reluctant Republican]

Though it's a bit campy, I have to go with Diamonds are Forever.

[dax00]

1. Skyfall
2. Thunderball
3. Octopussy
4. Casino Royale (2006)

[President Johnson]

1. Casino Royale (2006)
2. Golden Eye
3. The living Daylights

[dead0man]

not really a fan of the series (or the genre), but I enjoyed Goldeneye

[vanguard96]

Though it's a bit campy, I have to go with Diamonds are Forever.

It has a great comedy inspired script. And score.
Admittedly Connery is no longer lean but he's visibly having a good time.

[Beet]

Goldfinger- the quintessential Bond, but still not as good as NBNW
Goldeneye- Cold War over? No problem
Casino Royale- new aesthetic for aging franchise lampooned in Austin Powers