Top 5 Best and Worst James Bond Movies

[X2]

Everybody's seen him, everybody knows him, all men want to be him and all women want to be with him?

But everyones favourite spy has had his highs and lows and while the countless Top and Bottom Ten lists can inform one of the opinion of a community I think it's time the individual had his say... what are the highest and lowest of Agent 007's large resume?

Mine:

Best
1. From Russia With Love
Pay attention reboot makers: You can make a down-to-earth James Bond flick without overstuffing it with out of place and awkward emotional moments. Case in point: This movie, one of the best Cold War espionage movies I've seen.

2. For Your Eyes Only
Given the Roger Moore era's reputation of being silly and over-the-top I was, of course, skeptical of this movie. But it was simple, relatively realistic and bloody entertaining. If you can only watch one Roger Moore James Bond, make it this one.

Oh... the soundtrack kicks ass too

3. Goldfinger
Come on! You really need an explanation! It's freaking Goldfinger! The signature Bond film!

4. Goldeneye
Two words: Xenia Onattop... moving on!

5. Thunderball
A little cumbersome perhaps but worth it for a great plot, cool action scenes and a freaking jet pack!!!

Worst
1. Die Another Day
That's right, the one that prompted a 40 year old franchise to be rebooted. It's convoluted, over-the-top and extremely insulting

2. A View to a Kill
The only thing good about this movie is the drinking game. Drink every time you facepalm. But then again if you're going to subject yourself to lethal doses of alcohol you should probably have more justification.

3. Octopussy
The-the... movies called Octopussy? I think I can stop right there.

4. Quantum of Solace
Look, from now on can we get a real editor to work on these movies?

5. Casino Royale (2006)
An overhyped, overbloated, overemotional mess with bad editing that takes itself way too seriously. Some cool action scenes are not worth 2 hours of unentertaining fail. Why do so many people like this? It's awful!

[MistahFixIt]

Octopussy was the name of the short-story Ian Fleming wrote. They couldn't very well call it anything else, now could they? :P

Once you get past the um... distressing title, its one of the better Bond films (in my opinion) Although they replace the cache of Nazi gold with a series of stolen Fabergé Eggs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faberg%C3%A9_egg). I guess the intent was to be more politically correct, though the story would've sounded marginally less goofy if they kept the 'Nazi Gold' angle.

My favorite Bond movie has still got to be 'The Man With The Golden Gun'. It's got Christopher Lee as a Bond Villain! And a creepy little sidekick named Nick Nack...

[Freshmeat]

(in no particular order)

Best 5:
For Your Eyes Only: Okay, so the ultimate villain may be lacking a little, but it's still a great movie. Cool henchmen, interesting characters, a crossbow-using Bond girl, a great villain lair, underwater action scenes that - for a change - aren't horribly confusing, sharply reduced campiness and fewer Deus Ex Machina gadgetry. Moore may not have been the best Bond in my opinion, but FYEO is still awesome.

Casino Royale: Brutish, thuggish action. The stairwell fight! The parkour chase! Judi Dench! Daniel Craig! Eva Green! I like the Bourne-inspired fights and think that this is one of the greatest Bond movies around, and served as a fantastic stepstone for the reboot.

The Living Daylights: Great score, possibly the best pre-title sequence in Bond history, a surprisingly interesting and sensible plot (and a rather cunning villain, for once) and the awesome assassin/henchman with his explosive milk bottles. Another good movie.

Goldfinger: While I like some of the other movies better, it's the definitive Bond movie with all of the classic elements in it. If you hate Goldfinger, you hate everything Bond stands for - period.

GoldenEye: I love everything about this movie, particularly Sean Bean as 006. The action scenes are good and interesting, and it's nice to see a villain who's actually a match for Bond in a fight. The pre-title sequence is good, as is the tank chase sequence. Good pacing, some humor here and there and no gadget-overload. No complaints here.

Honourable mentions: From Russia with Love (on par with any of the above 5)

Worst 5:
On Her Majesty's Secret Service: this is a 'love it or hate it' movie. I personally hate it. I'm not much of a Lazenby fan (something about his face just seems... off), but I abhor OHMSS' plot, which is just plain ridiculous, even by Bond standards. The scene in which Bond steals a porn magazine is also rather cringeworthy. I don't like the love story, the actor they cast as Blofeld and the sloppy action scene at the end either.

Thunderball: I used to like this movie when I was young, but repeat viewings just annoy me. It drags and the pacing is off. The underwater sequences are rather bland and there isn't enough interesting action in between. The way that guy got spear-gunned was a let-down too (you don't throw a bus on interesting villains!).

Live and Let Die: This one is just plain off and far too weird. A blaxploitation Bond movie? An immortal voodoo villain? The Big Bad who blows up like a balloon and dies? What the hell? And that annoying Bond girl (not Solitaire - the other one who died almost immediately and did nothing else but scream all the time). She was more annoying than the Bond girl in A View to a Kill.

Quantum of Solace: Lame title. Uninteresting villains. No real henchmen to speak of. The villain's lair (the hotel) explodes for reasons that are just plain stupid. It's just 'meh'.

Dr. No: Unlike Goldfinger and From Russia With Love, this one just doesn't age too well. The three blind mice are neither interesting nor scary. Dr. No himself dies rather undramatically. Crab Key's 'dragon' wouldn't even scare kids, much less grown adults (yet terrifies the local populace). There are far better Bond movies around.

Dishonourable mentions: Diamonds are Forever, Die Another Day, the Man With the Golden Gun (if only for J.W. Pepper, Nick Nack and that sound effect they used during the barrel roll stunt) & The World is Not Enough (suffers from Quantum of Solace-syndrome).

[Tirian]

Tomorrow Never Dies I am unashamed to put a Pierce Brosnan movie at the top of the list, as he is the entire package here. Suave, action-oriented, and even the few goofy scenes are genuinely funny. Michelle Yeoh kicks butt as an efficient sidekick, Teri Hatcher is hot like whoa, and they finally give Judi Dench some good lines after the disaster that was GoldenEye (see below). Ten thumbs up.

For Your Eyes Only People have already hit on this. Roger Moore's movies are hit or miss in a big way (and I think that's got more to do with the production of the era than Moore himself), but FYEO worked across the board. You're going to notice that I don't put Goldfinger on my list, because I think it took them a long while to correctly adjust the pacing of the plot. To me, *this* is the quintessential Bond movie.

The Spy who Loved Me Like From Russia with Love, a movie that does a good job handling the softer moments. And Jaws is the quintessential Bond henchman, and Stromberg work out of the quintessential Bond lair.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service Almost not really a Bond movie, what with George Lazenby being a one-shot and a plot that's more about romance than saving the world. But the chemistry between Lazenby and Diana Rigg sold me, and it's got some great skiing in it. Maybe it doesn't really deserve a spot in my top 5, but I want to give it some props because it definitely doesn't deserve the thrashing that some people give it.

You Only Die Twice I don't want to give the impression that I didn't like any of the Connery movies. Much better pacing than the earlier films, and they had started to mix in the trademark silliness to some generalyl positive results. Dressing Sean Connery in yellowface was regrettable, though.

It's easier to come up with the 5 really bad movies. In fact, I'll start with a bonus film, which I hate beyond even remembering why.

Never Say Never Again This is the Bond movie that I have managed to repress all memory of. My only memory is that I'm glad to have forgotten it. Bad by movie standards, bad by Bond standards, even with Sean Connery. This is truly the Star Wars Holiday Special of Bond movies.

Live and Let Die Everything Freshmeat says. Blaxpoitation. Do not want.

Diamonds are Forever Creepy pseudo-gay tag team assassins are creepy. Useless bimbo assistant is worse than useless. And then there was a scene were Bond was beaten up by a pair of acrobatic women who flipped around the room for no reason and then hit him because he was standing still watching them. The movie was phoned in from start to finish.

GoldenEye Ugh. It's the James Bond movie for people who hate James Bond movies. Bond spends the entire movie being harangued for being an anachronism from all sides. Look, if you don't want to make the movie then don't, but don't make me feel stupid for wanting to watch it. Totally didn't work for me.

A View to a Kill Another movie that was bad enough to prompt a soft reboot. On paper, Christopher Walken must have looked like a sure thing as a Bond villain, but he doesn't deliver at all. Bond destroys half of downtown San Francisco just because he's there.

Moonraker Evidently rushed to tie in with Star Wars fever and the upcoming excitement about the space shuttle. It shows in every way. Buck Rogers looked sharper.

[MistahFixIt]

I would just like to add that the movie 'Quantum of Solace' was both terrible action-movie 'bubblegum', and has absolutely nothing to do with the Ian Fleming short-story of the same name.

Which is a damnable shame, considering how remarkable Casino Royale was; true to the original story being just one of its many wonderful features :3

(I still don't think Daniel Craig looks ANYTHING like Bond, but that's just something I'll have to live with)

[Dienekes]

1) Goldfinger= "No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die." Was any Bond villain so awesome? Plus Oddjob, I freakin' love Oddjob.

2) Goldeneye= Sean Bean as the anti-Bond? Yes please. Even if his survival of the explosion and his revenge plan is really bizarre. And of course "EEEYESSS! I AM INVINCIBLE!"

3) Man with the Golden Gun= Possibly not the best direction for a Bond film, and the laser satellite seemed tacked on. However, Scaramanga rocks, as does Nick Nack.

4) Casino Royal= Actually, I don't really view this movie as a Bond movie. But it was far too entertaining to not add to the list.

5) Thunderball= There needs to be more Sean Connery on this list.

The Bad
1) Quantom of Solace= Took everything that was good with Casino Royal and screwed it. It probably isn't bad enough to deserve the #1 spot, but it is still fresh in my mind.

2) Die Another Day= I have a rather huge suspension of disbelief, if dragons appear 3/4 of the way through your modern crime movie, I'll roll with it. But I just did not get the Ice Palace. And the villain sucked.

3) Tomorrow Never Dies= An evil reporter. That's the direction you want to go with Bond? Really?

4) Moonraker= ughhhhh....

5) The World is Not Enough= I just didn't like it, at all.

[Talya]

The Good

(1) Casino Royale. Who'd have thought James Blonde could compete for the best Bond ever. It captured the essence of Bond perfectly and added incredible action and removed all the corniness that comes with the series.

(2) Thunderball. Best Connery Bond movie, great setting, great plot.

(3) For Your Eyes Only. The only Moore Bond movie I really liked. (Although The Spy Who Loved me and Man with the Golden Gun are guilty pleasures that I secretly enjoy but don't admit to very often.)

(4) GoldenEye. The wasted potential of Brosnan, who could have been the best Bond ever if he'd been given more than one decent script, is only shown in this movie. And Sean Bean is probably the best actor to play a Bond villain, ever. (Christopher Lee notwithstanding.)

(5) From Russia With Love. I was torn on mentioning this one or You Only Live Twice. Along with Thunderball, they make up the "Good" Connery Bond movies. The rest were all crap.

The Bad

(1) Die Another Day. Being forced to watch this movie makes me wish I could die now, thank you very much. Poor Brosnan, this had to be the stupidest script ever.

(2) Tomorrow Never Dies. If not for Die Another Day, this would hold the record for dumbest movie ever. Note to the director: If the pilot tells you helicopters cannot hover relatively steady on a 45 degree incline, hiring a crane to hold one in place does not assist audience suspension of disbelief. Also, double-shame for wasting an appearance by the wonderful Michelle Yeoh.

(3) The World is Not Enough... to get me to watch this movie again. (Are you noticing a pattern here?) But, at least Christmas only comes once a year.

(4) Moonraker. Alright, didn't we just watch this same movie two years earlier with "The Spy Who Loved Me?" Changing the survival ark's location from the sea to in orbit doesn't make for a brand new plot.

(5) License to Kill. Timothy Dalton wasn't all that great in Living Daylights, but at least it felt like a Bond movie. I have no idea what this was.

The Ugly
Dishonorable Mention: Never Say Never Again. I had to put this in a separate category. Some third party remade one of the best Bond movies of all time (Thunderball) with an actor that looked way too old for the part, and made it much worse than the original. At least they can legitimately say "This Bond movie wasn't official. We wash our hands of it, it has no connection to the official Bond movie series." (Yeah, so what. You still made Die Another Day, dumbasses.)

[Mr. Scaly]

So many movies...makes me wish I'd seen more. My somewhat shortened list:

Favourites:

Goldfinger. For every reason mentioned above. Simply the best of them all.

The Man with the Golden Gun. Christopher-effing-Lee as a Bond villain!

Thunderball. If you think about it, stealing nuclear weapons and holding the world for ransom was a new idea back then.

Mid-favourites:

Dr. No. My first Bond movie. Very classic though it can't compare to some newer ones.

Moonraker. Squarely in So bad it's Good territory. Plus I love Jaws.

Unfavourite:

Live and Let Die. I like the villains but Solitaire annoyed me and Bond was too much of a jerkass for me to really like.

License to Kill. Tough one...objectively it's a really good movie. I just hate psychopathic heroes.

[Athaniar]

Incomplete and in no particular order:

Il Buono
GoldenEye - For all the reasons already mentioned. It's also my favorite game.

The Man with the Golden Gun - Christopher Lee. That is all.

Goldfinger - It's a classic.

Il Brutto
Casino Royale - A pity they only made twenty Bond movies.

Die Another Day - While it's not that bad, it's certainly one of the worst in the series.

Il Cattivo
Quantum of Solace - Nothing you say can make me watch it.

[Cyrion]

Top 5:
Man with the Golden Gun- I'm with everyone who thought Christopher Lee as a Bond villain as a bad guy was way cool.

Live and Let Die- A voodoo villain with a clown face and a wicked laugh. And a huge crush on Jane Seymore.

Die Another Day- Loved the fencing, and Rosamund Pike. Made watching Pierce Brosnan marginally worthwhile.

Living Daylights- I'm one of the few who actually liked Timothy Dalton as bond and think he should have done more. I liked Bond with a harder edge.

For Your Eyes Only- The crossbow was cool. Otherwise, no specific reason, just always liked it.


Bottom 5
Never Say Never Again- Bad remake

Goldfinger- Just doesn't keep my interest

Tomorrow Never Dies- Brosnan as Bond

The World is Not Enough- Brosnan is still Bond. Denise Richards as the Bond Girl???? Not even Sophie Marceau can salvage this one.

Diamonds are Forever- Another one that just doesn't catch my fancy.

[Thane of Fife]

I apparently have weird opinions:

The Good:

1. The Living Daylights
I like Dalton-Bond in general, and I think that this is by far the better of the two movies (Licence to Kill has some awesome moments, but it has some really bad ones, too). It has a scene where Bond escapes down a mountain on a Cello case! How cool is that?!

2. Goldeneye
This is Brosnan-Bond at his best. All of the impressive action scenes, with none of the goofyness of Tomorrow Never Dies.

3. The World is Not Enough
Brosnan. Renard. Elektra. Interesting locales. Etc. I can't really think of anything to complain about about this movie, and it's a lot of fun to watch.

4. From Russia with Love
I have a hard time picking from the Connery movies, but if I had to pick one to watch right now, this would be it, so....

5. Octopussy
I think this is one of the better Moore movies - decent plot, not too corny, and, best of all, it's got that one villain - you know who I'm talking about. Umm... Gobinda (http://www.mi6.co.uk/sections/villains/gobinda.php3?t=op&s=op)! That's it! He's like the greatest henchman ever - he crushes stuff in his hands, looks menacingly at people, and fights with Bond on top of an airplane! Good stuff.

The Bad:
1. The Man with the Golden Gun
I'm pretty sure this is my least favorite of them all. This one is so much my least favorite that I could probably list it as my entire bottom 5. This movie fell victim to the "make everything a hundred times more intense" bit that plagued later Moore movies. The book's plot is pretty solid, and while it could have used some work to make it more movie-suitable, it was basically thrown out and replaced with the laser gun/solar energy bit. Scaramanga was not frightening, Nick-Nack was bizarre. Uggh. I can think of nothing good about this movie.

2. Moonraker
More or less the same problem - lasers? What? That weird side-plot with Jaws and the girl? Very bizarre.

3. Casino Royale
I feel like this movie tries to fix everything that was wrong with some of the later Moore movies and goes too far. It's not over-the-top enough. The science is too realistic. It's too gritty. And I'm not a big fan of the modernization, either. Bond seems like he should be Cold War-era.

4. Tomorrow Never Dies
This one takes action-movie Bond too far. After the fourth or fifth scene where Bond strides into the middle of a large area, with no cover, and guns down people with two SMGs, I just can't take this movie seriously anymore.

5. I am torn between A View to a Kill and On Her Majesty's Secret Service
The former has nothing going for it except for Christopher Walken, the bridge fight, and that theme that plays during the intense moments. The latter struck me as very non-Bond-esque when I saw it, but it's been a while now, so I could be off in my recollections.



All of this is of course IMO, and I've left out the original Casino Royale, Never Say Never Again, Quantum of Solace, and For Your Eyes Only. The former two because they aren't official, and the latter two because I haven't seen them (or don't remember anything about them).

[Fiendish_Dire_Moose]

I can't believe you put A View to a Kill as bad. It had Duran Duran theme, and Christopher Walken as the villain. Those two facts already give it a B+. Shame on you.



On the flip side it was a terrible movie.

[Tyrant]

Some favorites:

1) Goldfinger. In my mind this is almost everything that represents Bond in one movie. Villinous mastermind with an odd name (Aurick Goldfinger, AU, Gold), check. Cool henchman, check. Crazy plan that kind of makes sense, check. Gadgets, check. Fem Fatale with an "interesting" name, check. It's all there.

No particular order on the rest of the favorites.

Goldeneye I like Brosnan as Bond. Sean Bean as the villain was good as well. The plot was slightly more down to Earth and personal which makes for a nice change of pace now and then.

The World Is Not Enough Brosnan again. Beyond that, I am not sure why I like this movie. I do know I would have been content had this been the end of the Brosnan era. Maybe it was the fact that M was finally in the line of fire (though I am sure I am forgetting some other situation where M was in potential jeopardy) and the villain had a bone to pick with M. Maybe it was more down to Earth plot again. I know it wasn't Denise Richards though.

The Spy Who Love Me I like this one for the opposite reasons as the Brosnan movies. This one has the potentially world changing plot, the villain with an underwater lair, the Soviets and the West forced into cooperation, and Jaws.

You Only Live Twice Again, a world domination plot. The villain even has a base in a volcano like setting. Donald Pleasence is the actor I prefer for Blofeld (and his version is the basis for Dr Evil so near as I can tell). Japanese Bond was the only real let down for me.

The bad, in no particular order.
Die Another Day Halle Barry, I could probably stop right there. The rehashed plot (the diamond satelite idea is from Diamonds Are Forever), even though it does look about a million times better with modern effects. The movie just doesn't work for me. This one really shows how much they wish the Soviets were still around to be bad guys.

Moonraker This one is just over the top. But it has Jaws so I still watch it when it's on. I just cringe at this one more than some of the others.

License to Kill I never cared for Dalton as Bond. Also, even though I like a little more down to Earth in my Bond stories occasionally, having Bond fight drug dealers is a little too far. Bond is not the DEA. Also, poor Felix. What did he do to deserve that?

The Living Daylights Again, Dalton. I don't even watch this one anymore when it's on.

Special place of awful, needess remake:
Never Say Never Again Totally unnecessary.

[Tirian]

I can't believe you put A View to a Kill as bad. It had Duran Duran theme, and Christopher Walken as the villain. Those two facts already give it a B+. Shame on you.

It is a great theme. Have there even been any good Bond themes after the Roger Moore era? I can't even remember a bad theme since then. Then again, if it was only about the theme, Live and Let Die would be on the top of everyone's list, and thankfully it sure as hell isn't.

I also don't know for sure why Christopher Walken was such a flop. Dangerously unstable just doesn't scare me when it's a guy who wants to destroy the world, since you may as well just stand back and let him self-destruct. It sure didn't help that he was recycling Lex Luthor's lame plot for world domination.

But it wasn't like he was the only thing wrong with the movie, what with Roger Moore being about 70 at the time and Tanya Roberts being a big pile of meh. Really, Grace Jones and Duran Duran were the only things that went right in the movie.

[Freshmeat]

I actually thought Walken did a good job, and that Grace Jones was one of the many problems. But yes, an old-timer Bond, Tanya Roberts, a couple of bizarre scenes and the randomness of the the horse-racing plotline all made for a pretty bad movie.

And let's not forget how Christopher Walken manages to sneak up on the Bond girl in a blimp.

A blimp.
What?!

[Bouregard]

Goldeneye

Best ever. Hunting a drinking russian General throught Moskow with a big ****ing tank? How epic is that? Not even starting with the trainscene and the shoutout at the beginning.

The other four? Pick your favourite... I liked Goldfinger too...

[chiasaur11]

Well, I thought the Casino Royale theme was okay.

In fact, I agree with those who said Casino Royale was awesome, even if Quantum of Solace is a bit...

okay pretty darn awful.

Goldfinger's pretty good too. So, yeah. Haven't seen enough Bond to take too firm a position beyond that.

(Except in noting that, although I respect his reasons for refusing to play Bond, Patrick McGoohan would have probably been amazingly good. Of course, then we might not have had the Prisoner.

[Athaniar]

Concerning theme songs: You Know My Name (Casino Royale) is actually my favorite theme song, strangely enough. Of course, most of them are quite awesome.

[Cespenar]

Just dropping by to third (or something) the Casino Royale theme. Never mind Bond movies, that was the best movie theme I watched/heard for a very long time.

[thegurullamen]

The Good

1) Casino Royale
A much needed reboot to a floundering series. Added a lot of intrigue and depth to what was essentially a cartoon. And the thing reeks of style.

2) Quantum of Solace
Flawed or not, this thing is heads and shoulders above the rest of the Bond library. It continues the trends set forth by its predecessor while pushing Bond farther down the path he's on.

3) Goldeneye
Because please. It's Goldeneye. Pick a scene and you have a sold gold cinematic moment just seconds away. Tank, dam, Tiny Turner (?), sex death, satellite war, anti-Bond, TRAIN.

4) The Spy Who Loved Me
Great pace, great characters and really cemented the Bond franchise. Can't say more because I haven't seen it in a while.

5) Wild card.

The Bad

1) Moonraker
Come the hell on, people. Bond in Space. Space. Bond. For a series so goofy by this point, how could you have muddled this so hard? It's so B-movie-tastic, it practically writes itself.

2) Live and Let Die
Bond's a **** here. He deflowers a woman whose only use to the villain is as a magical virgin and then leaves her alone with him! This, plus magical Blaxploitation in a Bond film equals just about everything wrong with Moore's stint as 007.

3) Diamonds Are Forever
Long, boring, offensive to gay people and as crass as its setting, Vegas. With a performance phoned in by a bored Connery, were left with a horrible end to the original Bond's run.

4) The World Is Not Enough
I fell asleep to this movie. I fell asleep to this Bond movie.

5) Die Another Day
Killed the franchise. Killed it hard.

Dishonorable Mention
Man With the Golden Gun SLIDE WHISTLE RAGE!!!
Goldfinger You read that right. The only good thing about this movie was its legacy. The film itself is so stupid, boring, stupid, over the top and stupid that I can't believe the position it holds as a sacred cow. Bond's just as big a **** here as he is anywhere else and the climax isn't just beyond moronic, but it's poorly acted by the extras.
Never Say Never Again Stupid remake of a mediocre film.
OHMSS Swing and a miss on a deeper Bond. Oh, and Diabolus Ex Machina.
And pretty much the rest of Moore's library. The worst Bond ever, in my opinion who turned the series into a bigger joke than it already was. Say what you will about Dalton, he at least made the series palatable for adults again.

[hustlertwo]

Best:

GoldenEye - Ah, such fun. It hits all the proper high notes of a Bond film, and the lows are few, if any. Well-cast all around (the villains in particular, with Sean Bean, Famke Janssen, and Alan ******* all creating memorable characters that stand out even within the crowded Bond universe), the plot skirts ridiculousness but does not plunge headlong into it, and both Brosnan and Dench make terrific series debuts. Great action, too. A movie with near infinite rewatchability.

Casino Royale - A necessary and innovative reboot after the excess of Die Another Day (more on that later, of course). Although the flavor isn't classic Bond, it still goes down smooth. An unheard of dose of reality in the story, and an opening that is nothing short of eye-popping. If the card game part is a little too Hollywood-esque, and our Bond a tad emotionally volatile for a supposed blunt instrument, well, it's forgiven. Takes the interesting tactic of picking a Bond girl for talent first and foremost, and it fits, since Vesper is certainly the meatiest role any chick has had in the series aside from Dench's M. About as good an action film as this decade has been able to bring us (for whatever that's worth).

From Russia With Love - The first true Bond film; Dr. No was good, but it was Love that really created the formula that the series would follow almost too religiously for the next several decades. Another group of good villains with Red Grant and Rosa Klebb, as well as the rest of SPECTRE. I'm nominating Bond's briefcase in this one as the best gadget ever, in part because it's far more feasible than most of them. Plays to Connery's hard-nosed strengths.

The World is Not Enough - Somehow I always feel this movie needs defending. Yes, it's true that Richards, while ruthlessly attractive back then in her pre-crazy days, was a bad actress given a worse part with an abysmal name. But Marceau steals the show, and I enjoyed the story more than most. Renard made for an interesting henchman/villain, and it's certainly no coincidence that both appearances of the Zukovsky character made my top 5. TWINE was Brosnan's proper swan song for the series, and utilized his talents fairly well. Ultimately, it's another of the ones that's just lots of fun despite some of its faults and excesses. Also, great theme song. Just saying.

The Spy Who Loved Me - No, Moore didn't seem very at home in the action sequences, or attempting to contort his congenial face to show any sort of anger or dramatic tension. But he was funny, and Spy gave him a chance to run with that. Jurgens is a decent, if generic, madman, but of course we all know who overshadows him so completely: Jaws. I'd also point out that of all the numerous attempts the series made to introduce a female who was 'equal' to Bond, I think Agent XXX was the only one who really measured up.

Worst:

Die Another Day - Just die, already. The orgy of bad CGI, the complete detachment from reality, the plot that was unoriginal even by Bond standards (yes, it was often guilty of story recycling, but another movie about a diamond-powered space laser? That's...really specific.), and there's nary an interesting character to be found. Redeeming qualities? Not really. On a side note, pretty funny when the director of this one got caught...what was it? Dressed up as a prostitute soliciting other guys, or something like that? Better background checks, Bond guys. Don't let these nutballs near the series.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service - What should have been the dramatic high point of the series was mired down by the Lazenby Curse, a rather miscast Telly Savalas, and one of the stupidest stories of the Fleming-"based" films. The dialogue is pretty creaky, the camera work scattershot, and during the climactic death all you can think is you wished they'd shot them both, and about 90 minutes ago. Ugh.

For Your Eyes Only - All the realism of Casino Royale, none of the fun. A snooze from start to finish.

Octopussy - Overlong, underdeveloped. '83 was just a bad year for the series in general.

The Living Daylights - Dalton just seemed permanently pissed in his two outings, like he couldn't shake the fact that he was the runner-up for the part. His phoned-in performances reflect this, and it didn't help that the movies were starting to suffer growing pains as they finally ran dry of proper Fleming fare to feast on and were forced to *gasp* be original.

[Mando Knight]

Casino Royale - A necessary and innovative reboot after the excess of Die Another Day (more on that later, of course). Although the flavor isn't classic Bond, it still goes down smooth. An unheard of dose of reality in the story, and an opening that is nothing short of eye-popping. If the card game part is a little too Hollywood-esque, and our Bond a tad emotionally volatile for a supposed blunt instrument, well, it's forgiven. Takes the interesting tactic of picking a Bond girl for talent first and foremost, and it fits, since Vesper is certainly the meatiest role any chick has had in the series aside from Dench's M. About as good an action film as this decade has been able to bring us (for whatever that's worth).

Not to mention the unspeakably brutal torture scene, despite its lack of bloodshed...

[Mystic Muse]

Am I the only one who hated Goldfinger?

[scsimodem]

Am I the only one who hated Goldfinger?

I didn't hate it, but I think it's definitely the weakest of the Connery Bond movies. Corny villain? Check. Woman with a suggestive name about as subtle as buckshot to the face? Check.

However, the worst 'Bond' movie, by far, was an unofficial spinoff done by a different company. It's called Operation Double 007. It features the original M and Moneypenny, as well as Largo from Thunderball, but it stars...Neil Connery, who plays a hypnotist and renowned psychologist who is also the brother of an unnamed secret agent. The names are all changed (SPECTRE becomes Thanatos), but he's clearly supposed to be James Bond's brother. He has to do a mission in lieu of his brother for reasons I'm unsure of. It involves nuclear radiation in some fashion. Anyway, the way he gets past bad guys is...drum roll...he hypnotizes them...by looking at them funny while the camera repeatedly zooms in on his face. It's almost impossible to find in its original format, but it is also an episode of MST3K.

Part I here. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZoTqcUckVQ)

I forgot Daniela Bianchi (From Russia With Love) was also in it.

[Dienekes]

Am I the only one who hated Goldfinger?

If you aren't you should be, Goldfinger is made of win.

[Mystic Muse]

If you aren't you should be, Goldfinger is made of win.

lets see. There's a girl who's too stupid to notice a giant gash cut through her car and slicing into both her tires, a guy who crushes a golfball into dust, a hat that breaks people's necks and gets stuck in prison cell bars, a Fan that glows red when thrown in a tub and a girl who gets killed by being painted. Oh and a granny with a machine gun.

Am I missing anything?

[Dienekes]

lets see. There's a girl who's too stupid to notice a giant gash cut through her car and slicing into both her tires, a guy who crushes a golfball into dust, a hat that breaks people's necks and gets stuck in prison cell bars, a Fan that glows red when thrown in a tub and a girl who gets killed by being painted. Oh and a granny with a machine gun.

Am I missing anything?

You forgot when the old chubby villain got vacu-sucked out of a plane window about half his diameter. And when that same villain did a quick change into a general's uniform and tricked the entire army. Or when they got the entire army to play dead.

Man, this is making me want to watch it again.

*though to be fair to the movie, the hat is implied to be made of metal. Which yes, it makes Oddjob's hat the only hat in the known universe more badass than Abe Lincoln's*

[Mystic Muse]

You forgot when the old chubby villain got vacu-sucked out of a plane window about half his diameter. And when that same villain did a quick change into a general's uniform and tricked the entire army. Or when they got the entire army to play dead.

Man, this is making me want to watch it again.

*though to be fair to the movie, the hat is implied to be made of metal. Which yes, it makes Oddjob's hat the only hat in the known universe more badass than Abe Lincoln's*

you're not really helping your point here.

also, there is no hat anywhere that is more awesome than Abe lincoln's

[Dienekes]

you're not really helping your point here.

also, there is no hat anywhere that is more awesome than Abe lincoln's

If you don't mind me saying so, boss, I think you're looking at James Bond the wrong way.

Bond is awesome. Bond movies run on either rule of cool or rule of entertainment. This is not something that is just in Goldfinger, though I personally think that's where it's at it's best. Pick any Bond movie and you can get a laundry list similar to the ones you pointed out here. But the thing is, Oddjob is AWESOME. Yeah he makes no sense, sure he has probably the weirdest and most nonsensical weapon of all time, and to some it makes him a campy but cool opponent. Take another favorite, Jaws, the only henchman to appear in 2 movies if memory serves. He bites people, that's his weapon, he bites them with big metally teeth. Retarded? Well... yeah. Awesome? Quite a bit. Make him a mute, and give him the ability to battle sharks and fall from insurmountable heights without taking any bodily damage and you got something. Ernst Blofeld, your plans are insane, riddled with flaws, and your henchmen are idiotic stand ins of stupidity. For this I salute you. Goldfinger, way to say possibly the coolest line any Bond villain ever spoke. You are all incredibly B level movies that were made to seem like A levels. Keep it going Bond.

(note, the new Bond is taking a few steps away from this campy goodness for better or for worse. Part of why I claimed I didn't think of Casino Royal as a Bond movie really.)

[Mystic Muse]

okay then, I hate Bond movies and everything they stand for. Rule of cool and rule of awesome are fine. a Person not noticing a gash in her car the size of flipping Russia is a moron and must be put to death.

happy now?

[Dienekes]

okay then, I hate Bond movies and everything they stand for. Rule of cool and rule of awesome are fine. a Person not noticing a gash in her car the size of flipping Russia is a moron and must be put to death.

happy now?

She was. And yes

[Talya]

Am I the only one who hated Goldfinger?

You'll note i listed Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, and From Russia With Love as the only good Connery-Bond films. However, it certainly wasn't bad enough to be anywhere near those on my worst list.

[Thane of Fife]

Goldfinger, way to say possibly the coolest line any Bond villain ever spoke.

I might have to argue that one:


The satellite is now over... Kansas. Well, if we blow up Kansas the world may not hear about it for years.

[X2]

Am I the only one who hated Goldfinger?

Okay, so I was going to jump on the bandwagon and rip into you about how you don't know what you're talking about but then I realised something...

You and I are in a similar position! I hate Casino Royale for thinking that just because it's a reboot that allows it to take a dump on a cherished 40 year old franchise. And you hate Goldfinger because... {insert reason here}.

And yet we are both against the majority, sure the naysayers will stick up their nose at us and call us blasphemers and philistines but we will never be swayed... Because we're people, people who evidently have too much time on their hands but people nonetheless.

And people have opinions, and just because Rottentomatoes labels my hatred as 95 percent and yours as 98 doesnt mean we should conform. In the same way that just because people point and laugh at my love for Xanadu doesn't stop the fact that I love it.

So keep your opinion comrade, hate the hell out of good 'ol Goldfinger, never waver in the face of the oncoming majority and keep your flame shield out in front.

Because what is the internet for, if not for opinions... porn doubtlessly

[jmbrown]

Am I the only one who hated Goldfinger?

Nope. It was really, really corny. I think a lot of the love comes from the fact that it's one of the quintessential classics of campy spy pulp complete with psychotic and stylish villains, beautiful women, crazy technology, and the infamous 'torture' scene with the classic line that's been quoted and referenced to death.

With that said, I think I'm the only person who liked License to Kill. The directing, writing, and pacing was leagues better than nearly every bond movie before it and while Dalton was the complete opposite of the suave gentleman I expect from bond, the movie felt like a really smart action flick which was rare in the 80s. It was a nice departure from Moore's campiness.

[Cyrion]

With that said, I think I'm the only person who liked License to Kill. The directing, writing, and pacing was leagues better than nearly every bond movie before it and while Dalton was the complete opposite of the suave gentleman I expect from bond, the movie felt like a really smart action flick which was rare in the 80s. It was a nice departure from Moore's campiness.

You're not the only one who liked it. I enjoyed the look at the other side of Bond- what happens when he gets really pissed and decides to leave behind the suave veneer.

[Thane of Fife]

With that said, I think I'm the only person who liked License to Kill. The directing, writing, and pacing was leagues better than nearly every bond movie before it and while Dalton was the complete opposite of the suave gentleman I expect from bond, the movie felt like a really smart action flick which was rare in the 80s. It was a nice departure from Moore's campiness.

Dang it, people, it's Licence to Kill.

But yes, I quite like it. Sanchez is one of my favorite Bond villains, and I enjoy the plot, but for whatever reason, the girl (Pam Bouvier) gets on my nerves so much that it really dampers my enjoyment of the movie. I have a similar problem with Diamonds are Forever.

And then there's that weird scene with the ninjas....

[Mr. Scaly]

With that said, I think I'm the only person who liked License to Kill. The directing, writing, and pacing was leagues better than nearly every bond movie before it and while Dalton was the complete opposite of the suave gentleman I expect from bond, the movie felt like a really smart action flick which was rare in the 80s. It was a nice departure from Moore's campiness.

I liked it while hating how Bond turns into some kind of psycho-jerkass. Does that count?

[thegurullamen]

I liked it while hating how Bond turns into some kind of psycho-jerkass. Does that count?

No. I liked it because Bond turned psychotic. (And popped a wheelie in an unaugmented semi which is totally, totally possible.) Seriously, air tank Xanatos murder. Firebomb fight. Wayne Newton. And Q with radio rake. Only way it could have been cooler was if it had Christopher Walken on a blimp.

I'm with 2/3s of the last few opinions expressed here: Goldfinger blew, LtK rocked (doubly so for overwriting Moore) and Casino Royale....well, it rocked. I'm sticking with the fold on that one.