Bond & Beyond

Rank James Bond Films

I haven't seen any signs of recent life on this board, but will throw out a suggestion... RANK THE BOND FILMS.  Against each other, of course, not necessarily individual ratings.  A friend of mine challenged me to re-watch them chronologically and as quickly as possible.  We each made our own notes along the way and ranked them. 

The ranking below was created prior to DIE ANOTHER DAY, so I need to consider where it fits in.  I will tell you exactly where CASINO ROYALE fits in (see below).  This is all very subjective, but I'd be interested to see other's thoughts.  For example, do you loathe YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE because of its finale or do you forgive that portion and rank it higher?  Enough babbling, on with my ranking.

1. From Russia with Love
2. Thunderball
3. Goldeneye
4. Casino Royale
5. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
6. The Living Daylights
7. Dr No
8. Tomorrow Never Dies
9. The Spy Who Loved Me
10. License To Kill
11. Goldfinger
12. For Your Eyes Only
13. Live and Let Die
14. The World Is Not Enough
15. Octopussy
16. The Man with the Golden Gun
17. Die Another Day
18. A View To A Kill
19. Diamonds Are Forever
20. Moonraker
21. You Only Live Twice

Re: Rank James Bond Films

Where's Never Say Never Again and the other Casino Royale?

If I were doing it by who plays Bond, I'd order them like this (best =1 to worst = 7):

1. Sean Connery 

2. Timothy Dalton

3. Daniel Craig

4. George Lazenby

5.  Pierce Brosnan

6. Roger Moore

7. David Niven 

 I didn't have a problem with You Only Live Twice or Moonraker. I'd move them up. Die Another Day jumped the shark.

Re: Rank James Bond Films

I really am a fan of the James Bond character, but I feel like most of the movies have done 007 a disservice. As such, some of my choices are unusual for a Bond fan, but I really only like the best of the series - the others make him kind of lifeless. With that explanation out of the way, here are my choices:

1. Goldfinger - best Bond, best direction, best plot, best villains, great song

2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Having Mrs. Peel marry James Bond is a joy to behold and I thought the direction was tight

3. Casino Royale - stylish and finally a Bond that can kick ass without making punny one-liners

4. Thunderball - This plot moves pretty fast and Austin Powers used a lot this and Moonraker to spoof

5.  Diamonds are Forever - I know a lot of fans that hate this one, but I find it very entertaining and I like the bad guys

6. Never Say Never Again - Basinger is a good Bond girl and Brandauer is a good villain. That computer game that gives electric shocks was always intrigueing to me and it's an image that comes to mind when I think of Bond.

7. License To Kill - This is the first Bond movie I saw in a theater and I liked Dalton in it.

8. Goldeneye - This is the only Brosnan Bond movie I like, good action and humor, good theme song and I fell in love with Famke Janssen in this

Then they all bunch up for me and I don't really care one way or another until you hit rock bottom with: The World is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Dr. No ( I know it's the first, but it hasn't aged well and I think it's boring and cheesy), and The Spy Who Loved Me

My favorite Bonds (based on quality output) :

1. Connery - naturally

2. Craig - he's already breathed new life into the franchise

3. Lazenby - I know he only did one but I think he rocked it 

4. Dalton - A more action-oriented Bond. He would have been like Daniel Craig, but the scripts weren't really there. He made his Bond films interesting for me

5. Brosnan - He should have been the best Bond - I liked his performance, but the scripts and directors let him down. Some of the worst of the franchise came from these big-budget years. 

6. Moore - He's kind of charming and funny, but all these movies sucked. He made Bond a joke.

Re: Rank James Bond Films

Jymkata:

Then they all bunch up for me and I don't really care one way or another until you hit rock bottom with: The World is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Dr. No ( I know it's the first, but it hasn't aged well and I think it's boring and cheesy), and The Spy Who Loved Me

I watched the first half of Dr. No the other night and was so sad that it hasn't held up. Connery gets some really goofy expressions on his face. But I'm putting this out of my mind, because back in the early Sixties, when everyone found out that JFK's favorite reads at the end of the day, there in bed in the White House next to Jackie (little did we know the truth), were Ian Fleming's novels, the first Bond flick had a little buzz to it. I saw it at the drive-in (plenty of them still around in '62) in Phoenix in the summer after freshman year at college, with Amy MacIntosh in a '49 Studebaker. At that time, for me at least, even distracted as I was, it was not boring or cheesy. Especially Ursula Andress.

Re: Rank James Bond Films

As a long time fan of the James Bond franchise, I have altered this list many times over the years.  This is where I currently stand.

1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service  (4 stars)
2. From Russia With Love (4 stars)
3. Casino Royale (3 1/2 stars)
4. Dr No (3 1/2 stars)
5. Goldfinger (3 1/2 stars)
6. The Living Daylights (3 1/2 stars)
7. For Your Eyes Only (3 stars)
8. Diamonds Are Forever (3 stars)
9. The Spy Who Loved Me (3 stars)
10. Thunderball (3 stars)
11. Goldeneye (3 stars)
12. Octopussy (3 stars)
13. You Only Live Twice (2 1/2 stars)
14. The Man with the Golden Gun  (2 1/2 stars)
15. License To Kill (2 1/2 stars)
16. The World is Not Enough (2 1/2 stars)
17. Live and Let Die (2 stars)
18. Tomorrow Never Dies (2 stars)
19. Die Another Day (2 stars)
20. A View To a Kill (1  1/2 stars)
21. Moonraker (1/2 star)

The only two films listed here that I really thought were out of place in the series were A View to a Kill and Moonraker.  Daniel Craig does a nice job of filling the role of bond and I look forward to the Casino Royale sequel.  For those interested, Never Say Never again and the original Casino Royale are not part of the James Bond franchise.  Interesting side note: Bond titles that mention death in any of its wonderous forms for some reason usually don't meet the expectations of the series.   Thank you.