Top 5 Bond reviews

[JohnCleese]

See??????? My post aren`t all useless

[Gale Weathers]

You just redeemed yourself.

[JohnCleese]

What do you mean

[Jarvmeister]

1 A View To A Kill
Believe it or not but I rank AVTAK 1st! This is the most underrated bond movie of all time! The PTS is fantastic, and I personally don't feel that Moore's age shows at all. The plot is a good one, sure it may be similar to Goldfinger, but still it is entertaining and easy to follow. Some of the greatest ever action sequences are in this film:- The car chase in France, The Eiffel Tower Stunt, All the scenes at the horse farm, city hall fire, the fire engine chase, the mine flood, bond hanging from the airship, and the final showdown on the remarkable Golden Gate Bridge. All of this is underrated. Some great locations are in this film, like the eiffel tower, zorin's estate, city hall, zorin's mine, and the golden gate bridge. Bond Girls - Ok, Stacey wasn't the best, but IMO, she is still underrated. Her screaming is what gives her some character. Also, she is hot. Mayday isn't too attractive to look at, but her character rules! Max Zorin is my favourite villain. He is played by the fantastic Christopher Walken, and he was a pure psycho. He even laughs before he dies! Being the result of a Nazi experiment makes him very unique. 10/10

2 Live And Let Die
The first Bond movie I ever saw was the one that got me into the series, and LALD it was. An excellent start for Roger Moore. The PTS, despite not having bond in it at all, is still great IMO, and unforgettable. The plot is an easy to understand one, which makes perfect sense, while also being interesting. LALD has great action:- Speed boat chase, mrs bells' "flying lesson", crocodile farm escape, double decker bus escape. The locations are great and exotic. San Monique was entertaining. Solitaire was an excellent bond girl. She was hot, and also had a very interesting and unique character. The villains were not at all bad. Kananga was great, and his henchmen were even better. Especially Baron Samedi, "The man who cannot die"! 10/10

3 Die Another Day
007's latest outing greatly celebrates Fleming's work. Brosnan's performance was simply brilliant. DAD is fully action-packed, and the plot is intriguing. Halle Berry is an ok bond girl, and Gustav Graves is an excellent villain. The whole idea of him changing his identity was breath taking. The Ice Palace was a breath taking location. 10/10

4 The Spy Who Loved Me
Roger Moore yet again does an excellent job in this 1977 classic. The plot is very good, and some great action sequences in this movie. Truly amazing PTS. xxx is a wonderful bond girl (a much better xxx than Van Diesel or whatever his name is!) Karl Stromberg wasn't the best of villains, but he still had his good points, and was still a threat to humanity. Atlantis was a wonderful set and the climax is unforgettable. 9.5/10

5 Goldeneye
An excellent start for Pierce Brosnan. The plot is IMO quite different compared to other bond films, which makes it stand out well. GE has by far the best PTS, without a doubt. Bond's free fall into the plane is stunning, as is the moment when he pulls the plane out of it's internal dive! The villains are great. Trevelyen is a true classic. Ourumov is underrated. He was the one that made bond think Trevelyan was dead when he wasn't. Xenia is HOT HOT HOT!!!! Boris wasn't the most threatening of villains, but was good for entertainment value.The special effects are stunning. Who'd think that the space devices were all models and not CGI?! Simply amazing if you ask me! Natayla is a very hot bond girl. Some of the best action sequences in this film, one being the tank chace through St. Petersburg. Classic! Great locations too. Cuba was nice and exotic, and the chemical weapon facility was entertaining. 9.5/10

Just Missing Out:-
You Only Live Twice
For Your Eyes Only

[JohnCleese]

Jarvmeister, I knew even before your review which movie was you favorite WIth your avtar and signature, its no secret that you love AVTAK

[Will]

Apologies for this turning into a "merits of DAD" thread. Because of that, I'd thought I would re-new this thread with one of the Bonds that comes close to the top 5 I have above, and sometimes sees itself in there:

Goldfinger:
The ultimate mix of hard-nosed spying with "Bond as superstar". A truly well-paced I cannot watch the laser near-castration or the final bomb-ticking without getting nervous that Bond is actually done for. Connery plays Bond with the perfect mixture of edginess and savoir faire, and the terms Connery and Bond begin to become interchangable. In terms of set pieces, Oddjob's death is about as good as it gets. Gert Frobe, whose portrayal is unmatched in the series Yes, the introduction of so many gadgets sent the series in a direction that hasn't always been good, but it's fair to say that without GF there would be no huge Bond phenomenon. This set the standard for the series, and for the action/adventure genre as a whole.

[Gale Weathers]

Alright, to allow myself to be a little more controversial, I think that I will post my current top five movies. It isn't surprising to me that more of you would rather put FRWL, OHMSS, GF, FYEO, TSWLM, and GE on their list, however, there are several GOOD bond movies that are just plain over looked by many of the fans.

Dr No- As I talk to many people I know who wouldn't call themselves Bond fans, but they have seen all the movies, many of them would consider Dr No to be thier favorite, simply because it is the first. I would have to disagree. Although I would hate to ignore this movie, because without it, Bond would hardly exist in theaters, I honestly believe, it created the phenomenon, and it laid the bar rather high for the following movies. It seems to me, that instantly, the filmmakers responsible for it were ready to bust out three or four sequals, based on Flemings novels, without a second glance at the sucess of Dr No. Luckily for them, it was a hit to begin with. The movie was filmed with a low budget, but that is rather hard to believe. Younge really knew what he was doing, turning low budget into something that looks expencive. One of the greatest cheats in Hollywood history, I must say.

You only Live Twice- Perhaps the second worse Connery movie (just behind Thunderball) in my opinion. There is such irony in this movie, that it is almost painful to see such a beautiful set, and brilliant potential, be wasted away by a bad performance by the lead villian, and horrible special effects. John Barry's score was just about top notch here, as well as Adams' set design, and the costume department might as well get a nod as well. The climax heading up to the end is excellent, but movie-goers are in for a real let down.

The Man With The Golden Gun- Without a doubt, the best villain in the Bond archive. Finally someone who is suttle in thier plot, cool under pressure, good with a gun (should I say phenomenal with a gun?), has a steady job, and even owns a car! Someone of the elements that brings it down, however, is the akward story involving a solex, that most fans would have to watch the movie three times before they pick that up, an unbelievable Japaneese fighting school loosing to two giggly school-girls, and perhaps even a rather poor score during key scenes.

Octopussy- A rare treat for me to watch this one. It seems rather unrealistic that Bond would be sent on a mission over a missing egg. But, the romance in the movie is real, the performances are good, the sets are good, and the henchmen are good, however, where do all the lulls come from? Often times watching this movie, I find myself getting fidgety over the amount time it takes for something to happen, or the tired plots and fight sequences. Over all, this movie is definately on the bottom five list, however, it is still watchable.

[Will]

Gail, I like ALL the James Bond films. Granted, some I think are gems of the cinema and others make me really want a sip of whatever the production team was drinking, but ultimately I like all the films in the series.

To each his own in regards to Bond fan's opinions on movies. I too dont care for people when they have little arguement behind why their favorites are such, or they seem to be just being sheepish with their opinions. Its unfortuneate, however, I do believe there are many intelligent and reasoned viewpoints on the series, not just the ones I agree with.

Are there underrated movies in the series? Well it all depends who you ask. I think DAD is underrated by some, then again some would charge that I overrate it. Whatever. As long as you have got some better reasoning than "DAD sucks its the worst movie ever its so gay" (which for some people sadly is the limit of their english command) then I have respect and an interest in your viewpoints. Thats it

[Spanner]

I agree with you 100%, Will; however, sometimes I think why a movie is considered to be a person's favourite is not always easy to logically explain.

[Gale Weathers]

Are you saying that I don't justify my opinions?

[Spanner]

No, he's not. He's answering you, then moving on.

[Will]

Originally Posted by Spanner

No, he's not. He's answering you, then moving on.

Apologies Gail, I certainly enjoy that you arent afraid of speaking your mind and listing movies that you in fact like, thats sometimes more than what "real fans" do.

I do agree with Spanner that telling a persons favorite isnt entirely objective, if anything its probably entirely subjective. Even though I have categories and my own way of looking at the series, it is in fact my own; I made it up, I base it on how much I enjoyed the movie.

I think thats why its so much fun listing our views, because as intimidating as some can be, there are so many interpretations. I think overall the Brosnan Bond and his era are the ultimate of 007's adventures, and I like to think Ive got good reason behind it. But whats more interesting is someone justifying the merits of TMWTGG, or AVTAK, merits I dont always see. Thats why I joined the board, if I wanted a conversation with myself, Id reserve a room for one.

[Spanner]

What I was trying to get at, Will, is that it's easy to say which movie is your favourite but when you try to explain it, you can't really find a logical reason why.

[Will]

Originally Posted by Spanner

What I was trying to get at, Will, is that it's easy to say which movie is your favourite but when you try to explain it, you can't really find a logical reason why.

I definitely understand that. Honestly, when I first sat in the theaters with my father nearly ten years ago to see GE, I didnt look for the devolpment of the Bond character, or the crucial elements of the series. I did then and still now know if I like a movie because I enjoyed it. And enjoyment can come, as Im sure you know, in alot of valid ways.

Please continue posting your top 5 reviews. While mine does change, my top six contain, GE, TWINE, DAD, FRWL, GF, OHMSS, and GE, TWINE, and DAD usually find themselves always in the top 5.

[Spanner]

That's true. It's on the fifth, sixth, seventh etc viewings when you can get into character development, subtext and such. The great Bond films do this.

I just realised I haven't done my Top 5 reviews yet. My films are:
5. GOLDFINGER
4. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS
3. LICENCE TO KILL
2. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
1. ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE
These are pretty much fixed, though the two Daltons sometimes swap places. Also, GoldenEye and The World is not Enough are so ridiculously close to making this list it seems unfair to neglect to mention them. Watch this space for forthcoming reviews.