007

[The JG Man]

I just noticed we have this thread. So, a few things to get back up to speed:

1. Die Another Day was awful. Everything about it, from the theme tune to...well, everything.
2. I enjoyed Quantum of Solace, but it was disappointing coming off the back of Casino Royale which was an excellent film.
3. Thoroughly enjoyed Tomorrow Never Dies. I was not under the impression it was generally less liked...
4. The double-punch of From Russia With Love and Goldfinger makes for magnificent Saturday matinée viewing.
5. Lambchops is my new favourite person on RPS for posting the A&J songs. I also thought Joe's was far better than the actual one, which I thought was rather lacking.
6. The title sequence for Casino Royale and its theme tune are my favourite in the entire franchise. They just work so perfectly.

The song is excellent being fresh AND reminiscent of the melodies that make up the Bond theme and syncs perfectly with the video.
6a. Casino Royale's ending is the very definition of bad ass. Basically, I was more than happy to have the franchise go in that direction, when that is the quality that is produced.
7. I miss Q :(

There, I think that does it.

[Miker]

Speaking of Q, they hired some upstart youngster as Q for the next film (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyfall). Not sure what to think about that. I thought John Cleese did a rather fine job in the later Brosnan flicks, but obviously they weren't going to bring him back.

[The JG Man]

Perhaps he was busy with other things? I can imagine him having generally retired from acting by now though. I say this bearing in mind that Judi Dench retained her role despite being in pre-Casino Royale.

[Ian]

Perhaps he was busy with other things?

Possibly, but he's trying to pay for/get some money after his divorce so I imagine he'd have pulled out to the stops to make time for a Bond gig if it came up.

I suspect Q will be less slapstick now which probably makes Cleese a less appropriate casting choice. Interesting that've gone for somebody younger than Craig I think.

[The Tupper]

Gawd I hated Goldeneye. From the cheap blue-screen when he jumps after the plane near the beginning to the tinker-toy BMW that Q told us (told us, not showed us - it did nothing at all) had stinger missiles behind the headlights, to the helicopter-with-an-ejector-seat (with the button easily bumped by the pilot's head) to Alan fucking Cummings.

[Ian]

I liked Goldeneye a lot, but generally I thought Brosnan was an excellent Bond in films of decreasing quality. He was unfortunate that it was during his tenure the people making the films were getting special effects boners.

Missed your big post JG Man, but I also really like "You Know My Name". I'm not sure it's a perfect Bond song by any means but it's a good song and you can hear how Cornell and David Arnold were trying to do something a bit different while also capturing the feel of a Bond theme.

[groovychainsaw]

Hmm, let me chip in with my bond-y thoughts.

So, obviously, Sean C was the definitive (and got 2 of the best films, from russia with love and goldfinger).
Lazenby was in a good film and wasn't terrible, bit hard done by, to be honest (and great theme tune, too).
Good ole roger makes for perfect sunday afternoon viewing. Some great moments in any of his films, but usually drag a bit for half hour periods in most of his films. (although a view to a kill seems to be taking some flack, another great theme tune, and enjoyably scenery-chewing baddies, Christopher Walken and Grace Jones)
Then poor old Timothy Dalton got dragged in to make it a bit grittier and was only partially successful (I can never figure out what went wrong with his films, they're not bad, as such, just maybe a bit slow?).

Then Pierce, who started well (Goldeneye is a good 'classic' bond film, acitony and fun, very well paced, too), then started to slip as they crudely added in 'gritty' elements to rollercoaster-type films (i think die another day, which is probably the worst bond film, starts with him being tortured in a prison camp, then ends with a frickin space laser.... its like they had two warring scripts).

My controversial choice for most underrated, is 'the world is not enough' as his best, and one of my favourite bond films, perversely. It's got a good villain (robert carlyle as a russian who feels no pain!), and a good evil woman for bond to fall for (Sophie Marceau), Pierce even got a chance to show that dark side of bond when he has to (spoilers!) shoot Marceau near the end. Thats cold, man ,and pretty well done. There's a couple of great action sequence in there, including one of the best snowy-mountain chases from the whole franchise, IMHO.

And then implacable, stony-faced daniel craig. Casino royale was good, quantum of solace was sorely lacking in plot. Also, I can't help but feel that bond now feels like a spin-off from the bourne identity series. They might just need to get a little bit more bond-feel back into the character. Suggestions on the back of a postcard, please....

I'm sure someone will contest my choice of 'the world is not enough' as one of the best, but I guess the good thing about bond is that its something different to everyone, there's a film out there to appeal to most people's tastes.

[The JG Man]

TWINE (makes for a rather good acronym, actually) is a good Bond film, definitely up there as one of the go-to ones, I'd say. I think I need to go back and watch the Brosnan ones again. I remember a fair bit of Goldeneye, especially the pen and tank sequences and I thought Tomorrow Never Dies was good, along with TWINE, but I can never remember all of them very well, despite owning TWINE on DVD. At the very least, TWINE also had a great theme tune.

I also agree that On Her Majesty's Secret Service has an ace tune. EDIT: Just watching a video for it, I forgot Miss Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) was in it!

EDIT 2: I'm sure a good few of the posters in here realise that Patrick McGoohan (the prisoner in The Prisoner) was originally asked for the role but declined it with regards to how much action and sex was in it. I think that, those things aside, he'd have made a great Bond. Having Sean Connery wasn't exactly bad though...I can't imagine anyone else, for example, saying "Do you expect me to talk?"

[Ian]

The GoldenEye theme's pretty sweet too.

Pierce even got a chance to show that dark side of bond when he has to (spoilers!) shoot Marceau near the end. Thats cold, man ,and pretty well done.

"You won't shoot me. You'll miss me."
*shoots*
"I never miss."

Cracking Bond moment, that.

Good ole roger makes for perfect sunday afternoon viewing.

Sunny bank holiday Mondays, a cool glass of lemonade, a choc ice and a bit of Roger Moore's Bond on the box. Childhood paradise.

(i think die another day, which is probably the worst bond film, starts with him being tortured in a prison camp, then ends with a frickin space laser.... its like they had two warring scripts).

This is the biggest shame of Die Another Day. The first twenty minutes I was sitting thinking, "Wow, this could actually be pretty good."

By the time 3/4 of the way through when the scriptwriters suddenly went "Oh shit, we forgot we'd introduced an invisible car!" the film was already drowning in it's own excrement.

They might just need to get a little bit more bond-feel back into the character. Suggestions on the back of a postcard, please....

I think Craig's always maintained that they would be trying to bring more Bond-ian humour in as they went along and that they just wanted to do it carefully and not go overboard. Three films into his stint and with seemingly the first story of the first two films done, Skyfall would be the obvious time to try and at least make some of it a little lighter.

Of course everyone really only keeps watching Bond films to see if they'll do a live-action version of Hank Scorpio. ;D

[The Tupper]

Yeah Groovychainsaw - out of all the Brosnan Bonds TWINE was my favourite by a long way (Sophie Marceau was great - Rubbertits Sheen less so). I agree with virtually everything you say - particularly regarding Timothy Dalton's time.

I adore Casino Royale. While it's sometimes cited (in a derogatory way) as borrowing from the Bourne films, the franchise has, for decades, incorporated themes prevalent in contemporary action flicks - notably Live And Let Die taking the Blaxploitation fashion started by 'Shaft' in the early 70s, while The Man With The Golden Gun borrowed liberally from Enter The Dragon through to Moonraker/Star Wars.

While those latter examples admittedly may undermine my point, I think that Casino Royale managed the near-impossible task of being a fantastic action film (some of the best fight scenes I've ever seen) while undeniably still James Bond.

[Drinking with Skeletons]

The best thing about the Bond films is that you can easily pretend that "James Bond" is simply a codename, and each new actor is, in fact, a new "James." Don't recall if there's any film that directly contradicts this, but it's a pretty cool theory and worth ignoring those pesky facts to enjoy.

[Xercies]

I sometimes fantasise that James Bond is actually a Time Lord and his various Aston Martins are his TARDIS...but maybe thats just me lol

[The Tupper]

The best thing about the Bond films is that you can easily pretend that "James Bond" is simply a codename, and each new actor is, in fact, a new "James." Don't recall if there's any film that directly contradicts this, but it's a pretty cool theory and worth ignoring those pesky facts to enjoy.

The rather flaccid spoof from the late 60s, 'Casino Royale' (not that one) suggests that your theory is indeed the case, with an ageing 007 (David Niven) being urged out of retirement in spite of his younger replacement. In the world of 'proper' Bond films, however, Roger Moore is seen (at the start of 'For Your Eyes Only') placing flowers on the grave of Tracy Bond (his one-day-wife from 'O.H.M.S.S.'), indicating that he is intended to be the same man.

[Rii]

I didn't even know the upcoming film was called Skyfall; shows how much I keep up with these things, huh?

I like it.

The best thing about the Bond films is that you can easily pretend that "James Bond" is simply a codename, and each new actor is, in fact, a new "James." Don't recall if there's any film that directly contradicts this, but it's a pretty cool theory and worth ignoring those pesky facts to enjoy.

It's a cool theory, but ultimately I'm glad that it isn't actually canon. Some of Bond's strongest moments, I think, are those that acknowledge the rich tapestry of the franchise. I'm thinking particularly of License to Kill where Bond catches the bouquet which leads to a poignant reference to On Her Majesty's Secret Service which even then probably half the audience didn't get, and also Trevelyn's brutal excoriation of the ego-tripping Bond (male) fantasy in Goldeneye: "I might as well ask [...] if you find forgiveness in the arms of all those willing women .... for all the dead ones you failed to protect."

My controversial choice for most underrated, is 'the world is not enough' as his best, and one of my favourite bond films, perversely. It's got a good villain (robert carlyle as a russian who feels no pain!), and a good evil woman for bond to fall for (Sophie Marceau), Pierce even got a chance to show that dark side of bond when he has to (spoilers!) shoot Marceau near the end. Thats cold, man ,and pretty well done. There's a couple of great action sequence in there, including one of the best snowy-mountain chases from the whole franchise, IMHO.

Sophie Marceau was indeed wonderful as Elektra. It's amazing that they managed to put one of the very best Bond women right next to one of the very worst in Denise Richards as Christmas Jones. I always give a little cheer at Elektra's sneering dismissal of the latter upon their meeting.

Elektra is also to my recollection the only female Big Bad of the franchise to date. Of course if you're not paying attention to the plot (*gasp*) it's easy enough to miss the fact that she is the Big Bad as most of the film's action - including the concluding setpiece - revolves around her tool and lover, Renard, which in turn reflects the difficulties of adapting the series' structure - complete with mano-a-mano final showdown - to incorporate the novelty of a female Big Bad. And I don't think it's a coincidence that one of the series' few female villains is also one of its few sympathetic villains.

[Ian]

I don't pretend it's the case but I do like the idea of Bond just being part of the 00- codename.

[jasons]

Goldfinger is my favorite James bond movie

[The JG Man]

1. Looks awesome.
2. Teal and orange.
3. Looks awesome.
4. Wubstep theme?
5. Looks awesome.

[Drake Sigar]

I have never liked James Bond. Maybe it's the setting. Throw some 18th century warfare in there and you've got Sharpe, or throw spaceships in and you've got Buck Rogers - both of which I love. I was never into the whole secret agent fantasy as a kid. Hell, while I'm admitting this, I might as well tell you I didn't like Indiana Jones either.

...

I fear I've gone too far.

[The JG Man]

Hang on. So, you don't like Bond, you don't like Buck Rogers, and you don't like Indiana Jones? My god man. My god.

But seriously, give Casino Royale a go. It pretty much serves as a reboot for the franchise. If you enjoyed the Bourne films, you'll enjoy Casino Royale. Not to say that CR is Bourne, but the similarities are certainly noticeable.

[Drake Sigar]

Hang on. So, you don't like Bond, you don't like Buck Rogers, and you don't like Indiana Jones? My god man. My god.

I like Buck Rogers and Sharpe:

Throw some 18th century warfare in there and you've got Sharpe, or throw spaceships in and you've got Buck Rogers - both of which I love.

Again, I think a big part of it was the settings.

If you enjoyed the Bourne films...

I didn't.