I have to admit, I have been away from the Bond franchise for some time. The last one I saw was 'Goldeneye', and while I thought it was a cut above the previous few entries, I was getting a little tired of the concept, thinking "how long can they keep milking this?" -- Well we had heard that this new Bond Daniel Craig was worth a look, so we ventured out to our local multiplex to check him out around December. Additionally, the 'Encore' channel started running all the old Bonds around the New Year (and if you got the 'on demand' option with your cable service, you could watch all of them at your leisure in widescreen no less!), so around here, we've been thoroughly drenched in Bond for the past few months. This weekend, we were snowed in and watched one of the more recent Pierce Brosnan entries, so with all this is mind, I thought I'd do an overview of the 007 pantheon (at least the ones I've seen, who knows how many times by now).
I have to start by qualifying some of my prejudices about the series. I cut a lot of slack for the early ones. Budgets were low, the mindsets were different, audiences weren't quite so demanding of constant 'bang for the buck' as they are today. Sean Connery is still the favorite, and I will never understand how Roger Moore survived as long as he did.
Dr. No (1962) - The franchise started the year I was born, but I didn't actually see this film until the mid-eighties video boom. Recently revisited it thanks to the Encore channel last month. Sean Connery sets the standard for the cool playboy secret agent, handles himself well in fights, makes snappy double entendres and Ursula Andress in her bikini and knife-belt combo is probably the most iconic of 'Bond girls'. Action-wise, the film is a little slow, but it has the proto-typical 'evil genius' and 'hidden island lair'.
From Russia With Love (1963) - Haven't seen this one since the seventies, so its not fair to review this one. I seem to remember Robert Shaw was an impressive baddie, and the weird little woman with the pointy shoes was probably the model for the female evil sidekick character in the 'Austin Powers' movies.
Goldfinger (1964) - Good villain, wierd henchman (with a lethal bowler hat no less), and Bond girl with the best name ("Pussy Galore") - Great car, good memorable lines "I expect you to die, Mr. Bond!" and the best of the theme songs.
Thunderball (1965) - Remade as 'Never Say Never Again' in the eighties. Never a good idea to include scuba chase scenes, they really slow down the action. Good Tom Jones theme song. Haven't seen this one since the eighties, so I'll pass on more comments.
You Only Live Twice (1967) - The goofiest of the Sean Connery films. Check out Bond in Japanese makeup made to pass as a native. Very cliche villain and volcano hideaway which was probably the model for Dr. Evil in the 'Austin Powers' films. Bond flies around in a mini helicopter with 4 distinct weapons onboard, and is chased by and dispatches - you guessed it - 4 helicopters. You can usually tell how weak the franchise is getting by how many techno gadgets get introduced.
Casino Royale (1967) - A testament to how stale the franchise was becoming, it was ripe for lampoon. Not worth a look, this is a total mess. But maybe worth a peek at the final reel just to catch Woody Allen's bit as the evil 'James Bond Jr.'
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) - Saw this for the first time last month. Not as bad as I was expecting. Telly Savalas makes a rather lame villain which is probably the biggest flaw. Diana Rigg is appealling and a nice tough mate for James. George Lazenby is a little on the dry side, but handles himself well, has a lot of good one liners. Ski chase scenes aplenty (and we'll be getting many more of them in the future, unfortunately).
Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - Connery comes back, looking a little pudgy, but still holding his own. This one has my favorite Bond double entendre when he comments on Jill St. John's wig change : "as long as the cuffs and collars match" - colorful villainous henchmen, just bordering on spoofery, the usual evil genius villain with an exotic hideaway that needs to be stormed. Not bad, but needs fresh ideas badly.
Live and Let Die (1973) - Enter Roger Moore. Great theme song. Colorful villains and voodoo setting. A nice boat chase. Overall though, this Bond seems to play everything a little too much for laughs. A constant smirk on his face and the fact that he never looked believable in the fight scenes always left me a little cold on Roger Moore.
The Man With the Golden Gun (1974) - More silliness. Killer midgets, another boat chase with the same southern sherrif along for the ride. We are in serious 'sequel-itis' territory now. Just treading water.
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - Tried watching this one last month, couldn't get interested. 'Jaws' makes his first appearance. It just keeps getting more and more ridiculous.
Moonraker (1979) - More 'Jaws'. Slow motion outer space climax (pardon the pun). Tied for a three way "worst bond film ever" award.
For Your Eyes Only (1981) - Almost palatable Roger Moore bond. (more skiing though - probably easier to hide the stunt man beneath all the protective gear). Topol makes a good ally/sidekick. Revenge seeking crossbow weilding bond girl is a nice touch.
Octopussy (1983) - More silliness. Maud Adams again for some reason (wasn't she killed off in 'Golden Gun'?) Girly Circus Troupe. Ok. (three way "worst bond film ever" winner)
Never Say Never Again (1983) - To underscore how badly the franchise needs a facelift, but not quite the facelift it needed, Sean Connery goes back at it again in this 'unofficial' remake of 'Thunderball'. Beats the current 'official' Bond movies hands down, but still needs a younger actor in the role. Good villain turn by Klaus Maria Brandauer.
A View To a Kill (1985) - Badly in need of a makeover now. Roger Moore is looking quite old and frail by this time and the pairings with the young girls is starting to earn catcalls. Grace Jones and Christopher Walken and Duran Duran title song. (three way "worst bond film ever" winner)
The Living Daylights (1987) - Timothy Dalton takes over. While he has a good British theatrical delivery and seems to have a lot of severe intensity, he strikes me as being a bit of a 98 lb weakling in the brawn department. 'AIDS awareness Bond' spends much more time out of bed in the next few movies and more time with small potatoes bad guys and outlandish action sequences. An improvement on Roger Moore at any rate.
Licence to Kill (1989) - Revisited last month. Good final chase scene (if not a little improbable - semi trucks doing wheelies?) - Grim determined Timothy Dalton goes on a revenge spree and brings Q along for the ride. Good creepy villain. Funny cameo by Wayne Newton as a new age guru.
Goldeneye (1995) - Pierce Brosnan takes over. Refreshing to see the sex jokes back in the mix. Good over the top action sequences (love the tank chase scene). Bond is back in a good way. But oddly enough its not enough to sustain my interest and I end up missing the next three at the theater. Nice touch bringing in Judi Dench as M.
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) - haven't seen it yet
The World Is Not Enough (1999) - Saw this one last weekend. Good villain, good 'bad bond girl' - extremely silly 'good bond girl' (who buys Denise Richards as a nuclear scientist?) - Good enough Bond flick, but we seem to be getting back to a bit of Roger Moore-ishness in the spoof/seriousness ratio.
Die Another Day (2002) - haven't seen it yet
Casino Royale (2006) - Wow. Bond taken a bit more seriously ala 'Batman Begins'. Daniel Craig actually looks like he can 'take a licking and keep on ticking'. And I love the 'Bond with an attitude' persona he puts forward, reminds me of Connery in his youth. Favorite line: Bond: "give me a vodka martini" Bartender: "shaken or stirred?" Bond: "do I look like I give a damn?" - And doesn't everyone need a car with a built-in defibulator?
Looking forward to where this goes next...
addendum: A few other 'Spy Films' that might help take away the bad taste of 'too much Bond' - "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold" with Richard Burton, "Three Days of the Condor" with Robert Redford, and recently "The Constant Gardener" with Ralph Fiennes -- they treat the 'glamorous world of spy-dom' with a generous dose of skepticism and a refreshingly bleak world view.