Rank the Bond films

[nutso42]

As a casual viewer, I have personally only seen six Bond movies, but I am interested in getting everyone elses opinions. Which one(s) should I watch next?

The six I've seen are (ranked from favorite to least):
1 - From Russia With Love
2 - Skyfall
3 - Thunderball
4 - The Spy Who Loved Me
5 - Die Another Day
6 - Quantum of Solace


What's your opinions?

[HaMMerHeD]

Pierce Brosnan was the most Bondy of Bonds, in my opinion. I don't much care for Daniel Craig in the role. Bond is supposed to be smooth and sophisticated. Daniel Craig is too much a blunt instrument.

[mattsk42]

Agreed with Brosnan comment. Best mix of goofy and deadly/smooth. I'm sure that varies by generation, though. I thought Craig was changing/reinventing Bond as reckless, and intentionally NOT trying to be the "same old Bond". I don't know that I liked it, but I can understand what they were trying to do.

You have a truly random collection of Bond movies watched. You started out rough, so let's get you to the good stuff.

Bonds you need to watch:

1. Dr. No (it's the "original" and somewhat slow but still ok)
2. Goldfinger (most say it's the best, and it's very entertaining for an old film and has some classic lines/villians/girls)
3. Diamonds are forever (same reasons as above)
4. Any of the Roger Moore films - Probably Moonraker or some other one with Jaws (to me they're all basically the same, so someone may have a better suggestion)
5. Either of the Timothy Dalton ones (there's only two but they're similar IMO) just so you can say you've seen his acting. They have a very 80's 90's feel if you like that.
5. Goldeneye (Probably my favorite or top 3. Has all the classic Bond elements, is somewhat interesting plot wise, great action, and was the ORIGINAL rebirth of Bond pre-Craig)

I put 5 and 5 again because I would say you could skip the Dalton ones if you wanted. Don't skip Goldeneye though.

Bonus watches would be:

Tomorrow Never Dies as it's just a fairly good one with most of the classic Bond themes/characters and it's easy to watch.
On her majesty's secret service - I thought it was boring, but it's the ONE appearance by George Lazenby as Bond
Never Say Never - Sean Connery came back for one more run as Bond. Again, just so you can say you're a true Bond fan, but not really the greatest film
The World is Not Enough - only if you like Brosnan as Bond.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Sean Connery
Roger Moore
Pierce Brosnan
Daniel Craig
Timothy Dalton
George Lazenby

Connery is the classic Bond, followed by Moore in terms of classic swave. The Brosnan films had a more modern take while still keeping Bond, Bond.

I'd say Dalton and Craig are about a par in my opinion, but while Dalton is the better 'classic Bond', his role isn't as memorable as Connery, Moore or Brosnan and I think Craig does a good job (def. redeemed in the newest film) carrying it to a more modern audience. On Her Majesty's Secret Service is a good Bond film, but I never thought Lazenby was a great Bond, not that he was bad, just, not all that memorable IMO.

[tplyons]

Originally Posted by HaMMerHeD

Pierce Brosnan was the most Bondy of Bonds, in my opinion. I don't much care for Daniel Craig in the role. Bond is supposed to be smooth and sophisticated. Daniel Craig is too much a blunt instrument.

Pierce Brosnan is the perfect movie Bond. However, Daniel Craig is closest to the Bond in Ian Fleming's novels.

[jmattbassplaya]

Got to run to rehearsal, but I'll post my list later!

[tplyons]

Sean Connery -- Original Bond
Pierce Brosnan -- Bond I grew up on
Daniel Craig -- Closest to Ian Fleming's novels
Roger Moore
Timothy Dalton
George Lazenby

I liked Dalton as Bond, but the movies of that era were terribly written. Lazenby just wasn't Bond.

As far as movies to watch, Dr. No was the very beginning. From Russia with Love and Goldfinger wrap up the first three. You can see the progression how Bond became Bond and the movies evolved into what they are now. Goldfinger is where it became a series for car guys too with the first appearance of the DB5.

In the novels, he drove a 1930's Bentley 4-1/2 litre:

[Darth Handsome]

The first three flicks are really good. The rest kind of blend together, but the pacing is better in some than others.

[HaMMerHeD]

I think Goldeneye is my favorite one. And it spawned one of the best video game adaptations of all time.

[Clef_de_fa]

I loved Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Perce Brosnan and I didn't like at all Daniel Graig, too much like all other modern adaption of old movies where everything got more violent for no reason.

[Ziltoid]

That's a tough one.

#1-2 Tie: GoldFinger, From Russia with Love
#3 Casino Royal
#4 Dr. No
#5 On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
#6 Golden Eye
#7-9 Tie'ish ThunderBall; The spy who loved me; You only live twice

The "bad ones" imo:
Diamonds are forever, License to Kill, Moonraker, A view to kill, The world is not enough, the golden gun, Die another day, Octopussy, Quantum Solace

I did not really ponder on this, so it's more how I feel at the moment than an actual critique. It also has been a while since I've seen most of them.

As far as actors go I don't really have a favorite, I like Connery, Brosnan and Craig.

[fisticuffs]

Connery
Craig
Moore
Lazenby
Brosnan
Dalton

The Dalton movies are awful, GoldenEye is the only acceptable Pierce movie. Lazenby only did one, On Her Majesty's Secret Service which is one of my favorite Bond movies. It's not terribly traditional, more like Skyfall than Octopussy.

Favs in order
From Russia with Love
Goldfinger
Casino Royale
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Skyfall
Man with the Golden Gun
Live and Let Die
Thunderball
Goldeneye
the rest....

[bassbrad]

From reading the books I always wanted to see Pierce Bronson as Bond and he was great but he was admittedly a bit old when he finally played the role.

Sean Connery is the classic Film Bond but I appreciate what all the different actors brought to the character. Roger Moore played on the wit and devil may care attitude. Lazenby dressed the part, kilt and all and had the courtly manners. Dalton showed the ruthless side especially in Licence to Kill.

Daniel Craig brings all of those aspects together along with a brutal modernism that fits the films as they have developed. Was not sure at first but DC has grown to be my 2nd fave Bond.

[colcifer]

Connery IS Bond but I also like Craig. He's a good actor and Royale was a good movie. Quantum was no good, though. Haven't seen Skyfall and won't for a while 'cause, you know, **** going to the theaters.

As for ranking films, I put Golden Gun in the top three. Goodnight was awful but other than that...

[nutso42]

According to the rankings on IMDb, the listing of Bond films goes (best to worst):

Skyfall
Casino Royale
Goldfinger
From Russia With Love
Dr. No
GoldenEye
The Spy Who Loved Me
Thunderball
You Only Live Twice
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
For Your Eyes Only
Live and Let Die
The Living Daylights
The Man With the Golden Gun
Diamonds Are Forever
Quantum of Solace
Octopussy
Licence To Kill
Tomorrow Never Dies
The World Is Not Enough
Moonraker
A View To Kill
Die Another Day

[jaywa]

#1 = The one with Britt Eklund. Because of Britt Eklund.

[SteveC]

I always liked Barbara Bach. Nice curves, very sexy, very bond girl IMO.

[jmattbassplaya]

I grew up on James Bond movies. I currently own all of them (sans Skyfall), and I've seen each one at least a dozen times. I won't claim to be the biggest fan out there, but I'm definitely more into this franchise than most people I know. It's actually really hard for me to pick a best Bond or a best movie because I genuinely love them all for what they are. And that's the trick - you have to accept each Bond for what they are. Moore's Bond is comedic. If you're expecting a Brosnan movie then you're going to be disappointed, but if you are expecting it to be slightly zany then Moore's Bond can be really fun to watch.

Bond rankings:
1. Connery
2. Tie between Moore and Brosnan
3. Dalton
4. Craig
5. Lazenby

Connery gets first place because he defined the franchise. TBH, I'm not positive James Bond would of been nearly as successful had Connery not been the first Bond. He had the perfect mixture of suaveness, masculinity, and humor, and it made Bond someone that men wanted to be and women wanted to be with. He arguably starred in the best movies in the entire series, too.

Moore and Brosnan both get a solid tie for second. Moore gets this place because all his movies were decent. They weren't the best flicks in the franchise, but none of them were weak (which is something I can't say about Brosnan). That in mind, Brosnan is a better Bond. He returned to the suaveness of Connery's bond while simultaneously giving the character a more modern edge. Moore's comedic approach, while fun for what it is, can definitely make a movie go from cool to slightly embarrassing to watch at times.

Third place goes to Dalton (aka, the black sheep in the franchise). Personally, I never understood why no one likes him. I found the movies not only enjoyable but a breath of fresh air from Moore's style. Likewise, Dalton brought a more realistic, darkness to the franchise that mimicked the books better than any other Bond before him. To me, he actually gets the closest to Flemming's character than any of the others. Honestly, I think people only dislike him because they hear other people say they dislike him. I can't even begin to count the number of times people have said he is the worst only to later admit they had never actually seen one of his films.

I'm going to skip Craig for now and hit Lazenby (who I ranked in last). I honestly don't think he was a horrible Bond. Rather, I just think OHMSS was just a dull movie. Nothing about it was truly memorable, and a lot of the film just fell flat. I really don't have much else to say about him or OHMSS, unfortunately.

And now to hit on Craig, who I ranked in 4th place behind Dalton. There's a lot I can say about him and his films. Seeing as I still haven't seen Skyfall I'm going to construct my argument as if it currently doesn't exist. Casino Royal was a great movie. It's arguably one of the best films in the series, and the direction is took was fresh and fun to watch, while simultaneously giving a nod towards Connery's character. That said, it lacked certain aspects that makes a Bond movie a Bond movie. There were no gadgets, no Moneypenny, innuendos were kept to a minimum, and certain stylistic aspects that define Bond cinema were absent. I was pleased, but I was also a little skeptical.

Then came Quantum of Solace, which is arguably one of the worst films in the series. There was so much wrong with this movie that I almost left the theater the first time I saw it. For one, it is not a Bond film. It is a Jason Bourne film with James Bond's name attached to it. Had it been a Bourne movie I would of been okay with it, but as a Bond film it was horrible. Once again we saw no gadgets, no Moneypenny, the fight scenes were made unwatchable due to extreme overuse of fast cutaways, the character development was ridiculous, and don't even get me started on the plot. We also had this guy make an appearance:



I mean, what the heck were they thinking putting a guy with that kind of haircut in the movie? Menacing henchman? This guy looks like a reject from an Austin Powers movie. And the love scene between Bond and the redheaded agent came totally out of left field and seemed completely unbelievable due to Craig's lack of suaveness and meaningful interaction with said character.

I thought Craig was great in Casino Royal, and had that been his only movie so far I could definitely see ranking him in 3rd place on that one movie alone. However, QOS was so incredibly bad that I can't give him higher than 4th place. Had Casino Royal only been decent I would be ranking him in dead last. His Bond lacks suaveness, devilish humor, and charisma. He just comes across as a brooding beast and not as a Bond. It might seem hypocritical given what I said in my first paragraph about accepting each Bond for what they are, but when it's not even a Bond movie I have a very hard time following my own rule. I'm hoping Skyfall turns his take on the franchise around, because if it's another QOS then I'm moving him to dead last.

Anyways! I wrote a lot so I'll rank the movies later

[mattsk42]

I totally agree with you on most points there, and I'm willing to bet that you enjoy Skyfall. Only things I disagree with are with CR.

1. To me it's a totally different, grown up version of Bond, and like you said at the beginning, you have to view them as different movies. I agree that there should have been SOME gadgets in it other than his usage of the phone (cool back then), hacking various computer things, arm tracking device, heart attack scene, etc. I think the producer/directors saw THESE as enough gadgetry to fill that need.
2. He has a TON of little quirky lines in there, they're just not as cheesy as previous Bond movies. Once again, I agree that there could and should have been more, but again I think it was just a different movie all together and INTENTIONALLY trying to not be too "Bond" feeling. Like almost the whole time he's with the girl in the red dress, there's all kinds of stupid lines and innuendos. I think his character IS supposed to be more boring (M saying "blunt instrument like you...understand" etc.) and that may or may not work. I thought Dalton was closer to that iteration of Bond as well in moments.
3. Spot on with Dalton. I'd kind of forgotten a couple moments in those films. Ditto to that whole paragraph.

[Simo98]

Brosnan would have to be my favourite I think, a close tie between him and Sean Connery at the very least. Pierce Brosnan to me, as mentioned, is the perfect balance between the smooth, suave and sophisticated gentleman, and the highly trainer espionage unit, all class, but surprisingly deadly. Connery is just the classic bond.

I don't like Daniel Craig, I hope nobody takes this the wrong way but the latest bond films with him just feel too "Americanised", if that makes any sense. It's like they've tried to turn him into the all star save the world action man, they've Jason Bourned him so to speak. Don't get me wrong, they're still a good watch, but I just don't feel Craig does the character justice.

I believe it's partly due to them attempting to "Re-boot" the series with DC in a way, but I don't really like where they've gone with it to be honest. I always liked James Bond because he was always one step ahead, he'd out do his opponent with wit and intelligence, spying and subterfuge was the name of the game, he could always fight his way out of a tight spot, but generally he didn't get there in the first place. With Craig they've gone for the brute force option, fight scenes, hand to hand combat, that sort of thing. That's the overall feel and impression I get from them anyway.