We’ve already had Deathmatches about the songs (albeit I obviously recognise not all of those in that round of Deathmatches were played over the titles), so for this one lead with your impression of the visuals rather than the vocals / da tune – although obviously how those visuals play out alongside the music is an entirely justifiable consideration and it would be madness to deny it. Madness, I say.
Tomorrow Never Dies - Yes, for me it’s the only great one in this group, I really liked those systemized machine designed moving women, Bond’s watch dimensional designed, the transitions is great, but I’m not sure if it’s fit well with the song. I don’t love it, but it’s definitely the best of this group, the others were a letdown.
Die Another Day - Yes, while the most hated movie, it’s still has its merits, and the title sequence is one of them, I really liked how the torture scenes was shown in the title sequence with each sides turning into ice and each pain of Bond showing there’s a fire, it fits well with the song, truly decent.
You Only Live Twice - Not much going on here, Volcanoes, geishas, that’s just it, more like an intro for a Japanese Travel Documentary than a Bond film opening, it fits well with the song though, but again it also looked a bit cheap, particularly the effects on the volcano background.
The Man With The Golden Gun - Asian Title Sequences didn’t do much for me (LTK also counts in this one, as it features Asian women, the one in the Photographs and the dancing woman on the gunbarrel).
This one just lacked on any artistic views, I though like the opening with the woman on the ripple reflection and the Golden Gun projection, but it’s weak when it comes to creativity and artistry, it also didn’t go well with the song.
Diamonds Are Forever - Probably one of the weakest Title Sequences, I didn’t liked the transitions, there’s this drawings of flowers and arab like designs projecting in front of women, diamonds everywhere, the cat projection, much like the film itself, it’s convoluted, it didn’t matched Shirley Bassey’s song (it’s wasted), it deserved much better.
Tomorrow Never Dies – Interesting visuals and it has grown on me a bit, but it’s not among my most favorite. The diamond necklace turning into various satellites was a nice touch.
The Man With The Golden Gun – It seems I might like this more than most people, although I also like the main theme more than most people, so there is that. But it does have some nice imagery with the golden gun and the dancing girl to name a couple.
Die Another Day – Normally, I wouldn’t want scenes from the Bond film in the main titles sequence, but it works well here for the passage of time. The fire and ice motif is excellent and really helps sell the sequence. (It also really works well with the song, though that doesn’t count for this contest.)
Diamonds Are Forever – Not overly imaginative is this one, but it remains an okay entry. I like the woman dancing in the jewel as a diamond silhouette. I also like some of the various cat shots, but overall the main titles sequence just lacks some pizzazz.
You Only Live Twice – I’ve never been a big fan of this one. All we get is geisha girls (not scantily clad, I might add), lava flows, and Japanese fans. It works with the song, but on a Bond series visual level, it’s just not all that interesting to me.
DAF is the best of the bunch–first time women are weaponized, and visuals match the music well. Having seen all the Binders in such close proximity, this sequence seems to offer the female image up to male gaze least of all–rejecting it the way the song lyrics reject men for diamonds.
YOLT and TMWTGG–Orientalism is never good, but tacky Orientalism is beyond the pale (and I kinda/sorta like both songs/music).