jrod
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Post by jrod on Nov 29, 2006 2:09:09 GMT
Wasnt really sure which category to put this in, but 1990s to Present should work fine. Moderators are free to move it...
Recently I finished all the films. I thought Id rate them, from worst to best. Bigger then proviews, smaller than full reviews. Ill start with the worst one, in my opinion, then update it every now and then until Ive done them all.
So, without further ado, Ill start with the bottom
#21 Moonraker ZERO 1979, Lewis Gilbert
Bond Actor: Roger Moore
The bad Bond movies are really bad, and this one is the worst. Overall a lot of the movies in the Moore era are extremely badly written. This adventure takes Bond into outer space, where the villian controls a space station way more advanced than anything we have today. Ridiculous. In The Spy who Loved Me, by far Moore's best, the hitman Jaws is an extremely entertaining bad guy. In this movie, he falls of the brink from amusing over-the-top to annoying over-the-top.
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jrod
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Post by jrod on Dec 1, 2006 3:20:48 GMT
#20 You Only Live Twice ZERO 1967, Lewis Gilbert
Bond Actor: Sean Connery
Entertainment Weekly called this the 2nd best Bond, I thought it was the 2nd worst. Like in Moonraker, the worst Bond movie, Lewis Gilbert gives us more crappy scenes in outer space. The SPECTRE organization, led by Blofeld, Bonds arch nemesis (and the guy Dr. Evil most directly spoofs) has a spaceship that can swallow up Russian and American rockets in space. Riiiight. The only part that isnt bad is the ending, where Bond and an army fight the terrorists inside a hollowed out volcano (also a little over the top of an idea...). I won't put any of the other Connery movies too far down, but this one certainly belongs near the bottom.
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jrod
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Post by jrod on Dec 1, 2006 3:28:13 GMT
#19 License to Kill ZERO 1989, John Glen
Bond Actor: Timothy Dalton
The Dalton Bond movies are like the Godfather III. Some hardcore fans defend them hard, but the majority of people notice that they arent up to par with the rest. In this movie, Bond goes on a revenge mission. Because, the British government doesnt support this, he quits his job. Dalton cant pull off this kind of badass the way that Clint Eastwood does in Dirty Harry. It was certainly a good thing that the series took a break after this one.
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jrod
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Post by jrod on Dec 1, 2006 3:42:52 GMT
#18 Die Another Day ZERO 2001, Lee Tamahori
Bond Actor: Pierce Brosnan
I like Brosnan as Bond, but this movie was awful. If I'm going to insult a laser fight in space and a rocket ship swallowing another as I have previously in this topic, I have to complain about a fucking invisible car. Halle Berry sucks too. Monsters Ball won her an Oscar, but fuck, she is in a lot of awful movies. In a few of the Bond movies, we meet a woman who is basically as good as Bond, only working for another country. In one movie, to be named much much higher, this works. In Die Another Day and the others, this seems to diminish the masculinity of the most masculine character movies have to offer. Given the quality of the characters Q and Monneypenny in this movie, Im glad Casino Royale left them out for the next installment. Don't play your hand until its halfway respectable.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Dec 1, 2006 3:45:37 GMT
I kind of liked "You Only Live Twice", in retrospect. I haven't seen it in a very long time.
I love the battle station in the volcano, an amazing set piece. The Simpsons did a good job making fun of it in one of their episodes.
Where is "A View To a Kill"? I always thought that that was the worst Bond, and then followed by "Moonraker".
Keep these up though.
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jrod
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Post by jrod on Dec 1, 2006 5:55:20 GMT
A View to Kill is next Im thinking. Glad my topic has at least one fan I agree the set in You Only Live Twice is impressive, but after those ridiculous space scenes, it was just adding more excessiveness to an already over the top movie. I'll get to a few more of them soon.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Dec 1, 2006 13:47:38 GMT
I'll rank mine soon.
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jrod
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Post by jrod on Dec 2, 2006 2:41:44 GMT
#17 Octopussy ZERO 1983, John Glen
Bond Actor: Roger Moore
A View to a Kill can hold out a little longer. Octopussy is worse as well, and quite frankly, even if it wasnt, it belongs near the bottom for that ridiculous name. The opening to the movie and the big middle eastern henchman are both pretty cool, but this movie fails hard for the most part. James Bond is literally turned into a clown at one point. So dumb. Also, Bond and Q(why is Q fighting?) lead an attack on the enemies, allied with a bunch of circus performers. What kind of crap is this? This movie is where we START to see some good Bond stuff, but not enough to make it decent.
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jrod
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Post by jrod on Dec 2, 2006 6:20:39 GMT
#16 Man with the Golden Gun ZERO 1974, Guy Hamilton
Bond Actor: Roger Moore
Usually Guy Hamilton was a fairly solid director for the Bond movies, but this one just is not very good. Christopher Lee plays Scramenga, a professional hitman with a vendetta for Bond. While the one-on-one aspect is interesting, the film really doesnt get to the enemys grand scheme until the last 20 minutes, when you could hardly care anymore. Bond also runs into a cop from hickville he met in a previous film named "G.W." which was pretty stupid. Between the midget henchman, the idiotic Agent Goodnight, and G.Dubya, this movie is just a little too playful, and bad because of it.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Dec 2, 2006 13:33:26 GMT
I think The Man with the Golden Gun should be remade.
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jrod
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Post by jrod on Dec 2, 2006 16:52:19 GMT
#15 A View to a Kill ZERO 1985, John Glen
Bond Actor: Roger Moore
This is at the very bottom of many peoples list, I put it at the top of the "shit" movies in the series. Before seeing this one, I was excited that Christopher Walken was the bad guy. The problem is, instead of playing a dark and mysterious figure like in Batman Returns or the Dead Zone, he is as jubilant a villian as Goldfinger. To me, this was really a waste of a talented actor. It was also pretty damn stupid to find the most air headed woman in Hollywood, and make her a freaking geotechnical engineer. Between her crappy dialouge and the henchwomans unattractiveness, this may be the worst of all the movies as far as Bond girls go. The reason this is higher than several of the other movies however, is because I really enjoyed all the action scenes. Roger Moore does better in them than he did in movies made when he was 10 years younger.
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jrod
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Post by jrod on Dec 2, 2006 17:20:22 GMT
#14 Tommorow Never Dies 1997, Roger Spottiswoode This is where I start finally giving the movies some stars. Tomorrow Never Dies certainly has flaws, but overall I really enjoyed Brosnan as Bond. Like in Die Another Day, my least favorite thing about this movie was the female agent from another country being just as effective a spy as Bond. Honestly, if theres people doing this all over the freaking world just as well, what makes Bond so special? My favorite Bond girls in the series arent the ones who are complete "danzel in distress", but I also dont like the ones where they steal too much of Bond's thunder. Thats the case here. I wouldve like less Michelle Yeoh (or none) and more Terri Hatcher. Elliot Carver is a goofy villian, and his grand scheme is pretty stupid in my opinion. This movie doesnt really have a great story or plot, but is held together by great action sequences and a lot of witty double entendre.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Dec 2, 2006 20:14:55 GMT
I think The Man with the Golden Gun should be remade. That is an amazing idea. I think the major flaw of the film is how extremely dated it is. If they were to update it, take out the humor that jrod mentioned, and focused more on the psychological cat-and-mouse game between Bond and Scramenga, then it could be a masterpiece. Oh, but what am I thinking, the public wouldn't want to see that...
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Dec 2, 2006 21:02:50 GMT
Like I suggested in my Proview of Casino Royale, I'd love it if they brought a good director in on the series, who wasn't so much interested in crowd-pleasing as getting to the bottom of the character, the psychology. I'd love it if they made all the Fleming novels again in the order they were written (we've already started with Casino Royale), but did it in such a way that it might be termed 'artistic' not commercial. Only a few directors at the moment can make a film bankable and personal. Nolan's definitely one, but I'd rather him follow his own preoccupations, not to mention Batman. In other words, I can think of nobody better to direct the next James Bond film other than me.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Dec 2, 2006 23:26:48 GMT
What about Tarantino? I seem to remember him a little while back really wanting to take over the series and portray Bond as a cold and ruthless killer.
He could make it bankable.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Dec 3, 2006 1:25:44 GMT
I remember that buzz, and was totally against it. I'm not sure if he'd take it in the direction I want to see it go.
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jrod
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Post by jrod on Dec 4, 2006 5:26:37 GMT
Id like to see Roman Polanski or Steven Soderbegh try
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jrod
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Post by jrod on Dec 4, 2006 5:36:00 GMT
#13 Diamonds are Forever 1971, Guy Hamilton Bond Actor: Guy Hamilton I watched these movies in order recently, and by the time I got here, Blofield was starting to get old. I really like the character in some movies, really got bored with him in others. Anyways, it seems every actors last Bond movie falls below the precedent set by the previous ones Connery is in, most of which are splendid. There are some goofy things in this one, a moonmobile, some interesting female henchman at the end, a car driving on two wheels, the character Plenty O'Toole The events leading up to the Vegas scenes are very unspactacular. Once in Vegas, there is a pretty cool scene where Bond must get to the top of a hotel to find the villain, and scales the outside of it. SPOILER WARNING: One thing that really bothered me about this movie is that there is no explanation at the end whether Blofeld died or not. Not even a character saying "We couldnt find his body" or something like that. Keep your viewers a little more in the freaking story
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jrod
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Post by jrod on Dec 4, 2006 5:42:37 GMT
#12 Live and Let Die 1973, Guy Hamilton Bond Actor: Roger Moore My opinions on this film seem to change a lot. Overall, it is a pretty entertaining film, but a lot of it just doesnt sit right. There is a fortune teller that actually tells fortunes, and a immortal man. Really odd for Bond to deal with the supernatural (at least thats not as bad as space though). It also has the character G.W. (also in The Man with the Golden Gun, who is supposed to be funny, but really just draws away from a really exciting action scene. I really enjoyed the magnet watch, the villian with the claw, and the alligator death trap. This movie shouldnt work for me, given that I like the more realistic ones, but for some reason its better than quite a few of the films in my opinion.
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jrod
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Post by jrod on Dec 4, 2006 5:50:19 GMT
#11 The World is Not Enough 1999, Michael Apted Bond Actor: Pierce Brosnan This movie recieves a ton of hate (EW calls it the worst of them all), a lot of which I think is unfounded. The primary concern seems to be Denise Richards character. One of the more popular movie magazines recently named her the worst Bond girl ever. ok, Richards cant act. This isnt a first for Bond girls, but unlike some of the others, Denise isnt even in like the first 90 minutes of the film. Sophie Marceau is this films MAIN Bond girl (this goes unrecognized as she isnt as big a name), and I think she is pretty damn good. This movie gives us a badass boat scene in the opening, a fun ski scene, a pipeline bomb disarmourment attempt, an escape from underground explosions, a helicopter chase and more. It is (i think) the longest of the Bond movies, and it probably has the widest variety of action.
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