For me it’s also between GoldenEye and CR.
The first time I saw the GE titles I thought “Wow! He nailed it!”, but CR I think is the more original and creative one of the two and it works fantastic in the movie and togethter with the title song.
1 Like
Voted for Skyfall, I just really like the darkness, the haunting atmosphere of the title sequence.
From the graves, the house, all inside of Bond’s eye, Bond shooting some shadows, brokenglasses and his house, it’s all great and fits the film very well.
Then you have Adele’s theme that really blends into the visuals, it’s beautiful.
There’s some smokes, a dragon and a moving inkblots.
It’s impressive and dare I say it, everytime I’m watching the title sequence, it’s hair raising.
Very Bondian, making a modern title sequence while still keeping the Bond tone.
2 Likes
Agreed, I have many issues with Skyfall but the titles
sequence is as close to perfect as it gets. With the exception of TSWLM it’s the only one I’ve been known to pop in a disc just to watch it, and nothing else. There are sequences in many of the films that I watch in isolation, but usually not the titles.
Everything just “morphs” into everything else so seemlessly, always surprisingly and yet somehow logically. It’s like a dream sequence, or a Jim Steranko illo put into motion.
Doesnt hurt that it accompanies a kick-ass song, either.
3 Likes
I’ve never been that impressed by the titles for CR or SF - so chose the first time Kleinman really surprised and delighted, probably all the more because Binder‘s previous three or four titles were kinda… been there done that?
1 Like
I generally like all of Daniel’s title sequences, but the best three are winning. CR, GE and SF are the clear standouts. The imagery is top notch but so are the songs. You really knew Bond was back with these movies.
1 Like
For June 27, the third of these Unfilmed Fleming ones…
You can pick up to 7
- Bond in a Bentley in a high-speed chase (Casino Royale)
- Night-time underwater dive and barracuda attack (Live and Let Die)
- More time spent on Bond’s London life / club land (Moonraker)
- Brooklyn stomping – eighty percenter (Diamonds are Forever)
- Bond at the mercy of the elements and powerless to do anything about it (e.g. flying through a storm) (From Russia with Love)
- The basket of poisoned fruit (Dr No)
- Bond spending his days on office duties (Goldfinger)
- Bond illegally crossing the US border (For Your Eyes Ony)
- Fight with a stingray (The Hildebrand Rarity)
- Curious domestic quasi-sitcom with May or equivalent (Thunderball)
- A well-meaning lecture about how one should not admire a person like James Bond (TSWLM)
- Bond’s cover nearly blown by chance encounter with someone who knows the real person he’s pretending to be (OHMSS)
- The choice - torture by volcanic geyser, or give one’s self away (YOLT)
- Bond being picked up by a villain in a brothel (TMWTGG)
- Bond eating a plate of scrambled eggs and musing on the quality of garden furniture (007 in New York)
- Something(s) else that I will mention in the thread below
0 voters
I accept some of these are scraping the bottom of the little copper serving dish. I was going to put in the Goldfinger one-to-one hand/knife fight right at the start of the book but it dawned on me that was pretty much the Mr Slate fight in Quantum of Solace. The Casino Royale one is more about chasing in a Bentley than the chase itself.
However, 007 in New York - or “Socktopussy” as it would probably be called - is a gift that never stops giving.
4 Likes
It’s already been done in the film.
I would also add
- A Governor telling Bond a story about their failed marriage (Quantum of Solace short story).
- Bond resting under a tree waiting for the assassin who killed a motorcycle courier (From A View To A Kill Short Story).
- Bond being a Mister Knowing It All Guy telling a trivia to a Bond Girl about how Flowers got hurt when they’re picked, then putting flower in his lapel (Moonraker).
- Bond working as the Villain’s Secretary and doing undercover in a Mobster’s meeting while writing a request letter to CIA for a backup (Goldfinger).
- A Bond Girl who killed herself of drug overdose and leaving a suicide note or a letter (Casino Royale)
- Villain breaking Bond’s finger in a torture (Live And Let Die)
- A chase in the trails of Mine Cart (Diamonds Are Forever).
- Bond having his own Secretary.
I voted for Bond spending his days on Office duties (Goldfinger), I want to see Bond doing some paperworks and just him being busy at the office, maybe in the start of the next film? I’m tired of seeing him always at the field.
It’s interesting to see him filing some documents while at his office, him talking to his secretary (maybe have Mary Goodnight back or have Loelia Ponsonby?) Then M calls him for some mission, then we get to see Bond being happy again because of his boredom in the office.
It would be a unique and different moment for Bond, as we’re used to him being always on the field.
2 Likes
It’s already been done in the film
Was it? The encounter with the sports club type who knew the real Hilary Bray? Haven’t watched it for some years, I admit.
1 Like
Just watched the film last Saturday, yes, Campbell was also killed in the film, he’s hanged.
It’s happened in the film but only subtle, that’s why Bond’s real identity was also revealed.
Not the same thing. Campbell knows Bond is Bond in both film and book. The thing in the list is the incident in the book when a friend of Sir Hilary Bray almost blows Bond’s cover and Bond has to make up some tale about being a different part of the family but with the same daft name. This happens earlier than the Campbell thing. I think it’s around the point where Fleming alludes coyly to Ursula Andress having a suntan and serves up a dish of exclamation marks all round.
2 Likes
It’s been a long time since I’ve read the book, but I don’t think it would have worked, it would be a bit confusing because Campbell also revealed Bond, and what would be Campbell’s purpose if that friend of Sir Hillary Bray was there and would also reveal Bond’s true identity?
That Sir Hillary Bray’s friend would just be a redundant in my opinion.
Maybe it worked on page but I don’t think it would work on film. 
Just adds to the general tension and exposes what a half-baked scheme it all is, running the risk of someone knowing the real person. I assume that’s why it’s there; the author is not available for comment.
2 Likes
The volcanic geyser was my top choice, but I really like the idea of LALD’s night time underwater dive. I think we’re due for more underwater reconnaissance, ala TB or TND. It’s been a while.
3 Likes
Unfilmed Fleming I’d like to see:
-
Night-time underwater dive and barracuda attack (Live And Let Die). We haven’t had an underwater scene in awhile, and we’ve never seen a barracuda threat, so I’d definitely go with that. It was a good scene in the book.
-
Brooklyn stomping – eighty percenter (Diamonds Are Forever). A helpless Bond getting beaten up and then overcoming his circumstances would be good to see.
-
Torture by volcanic geyser / giving one’s self away (You Only Live Twice). That would be an interesting and suspenseful scene. Plus, the mud geyser would also be eerily bizarre – and quintessential Fleming.
-
Bond stalks and confronts an injured villain who is not as injured as he initially seems (The Man With The Golden Gun). In the films, it’s usually the other way around, so to have the tables turned would be different and interesting.
2 Likes
For June 28…
Best “last” Bond (not including OHMSS nor Never Say Never Again here, because it’s totally whimsical),
- Diamonds are Forever
- A View to a Kill
- Licence to Kill
- Die Another Day
- No Time To Die
0 voters
1 Like
Interesting that only 2 of them were made with the knowledge that it was the actors final film.
1 Like
I love Diamonds Are Forever, but it has too many issues (questionable editing choices and the worst special effects of the series) for it to be “the best”, whether it’s for best film or best last film.
I like Die Another Day, certainly more than many on here, but it’s only a middle of the road Bond for me. And like DAF, it also has too many (well-publicized) issues to be the best, and besides, I don’t like it as much as DAF anyway.
Despite the solid casting of the villains and Patrick Macnee as Godfrey Tibbett, A View To A Kill is just not the best effort from the EON team which, like Roger Moore, is showing its age in this one. Fortunately, it was just a blip in the series.
James Bond ceased being the James Bond we all knew and loved about the time he got on that plane to leave Cuba. The last half of No Time To Die was all downhill from there, and it ended in a total disappointment with a character called “James Bond” who gave up and did not act like James Bond. So it’s more a case of the worst Bond than the best last Bond.
And that leaves Licence To Kill. It’s a film that dares to be different, having Bond resign from the service and go out on a personal mission (at least it was new then) to avenge the maiming of his best American friend. The Yojimbo-inspired plot is rock solid, the stunts are incredible, the film’s tanker chase has the best climax in the series, Carey Lowell is a solid Bond girl who is Bond’s “equal” without trying to top him, and Robert Davi’s Franz Sanchez is so attention-grabbing that he is arguably the best villain in the series.
So LTK easily takes the title of “Best last Bond”.
4 Likes
Voted License To Kill too.
It’s a film that opened a lot of possibilities for the James Bond Franchise.
Showing Bond’s dark side and a more grounded plot.
Dalton in this film was better than Craig in NTTD, because at least Dalton in this movie was engaged in his portrayal, in his acting, he’s acting James Bond, I didn’t see Timothy, I see James Bond, unlike in NTTD where I’m finding it hard to see Bond, what I see in the whole movie was Craig himself, aside from he’s not engaged in playing the role, too old, he’s playing like himself too.
Sanchez is a great bond villain, a villain that could truly matched Bond physically and intellectually, he’s not a villain that’s big boss and ordering his henchmen but defenseless at the end where Bond just easily kill him, he can defend himself and very threatening, not a one dimensional and stereotypical Bond Villain.
Pam Bouvier is one of the Bond Girls that have shown a true concern for Bond, she’s tough and the one who saved Bond’s bacon many times, she’s not a damsel in distress that Bond needs to rescue, it also helps that Carey Lowell and Timothy Dalton had great chemistry and the age gap between them wasn’t obvious, she had the inner fire inside of her, the sincerity, the warmth and you truly feel that she loves Bond compared to Madeleine and Bond relationship. The relationship between Pam and Bond was believable and convincing, she’s one of the Bond Girls that I could imagine Bond settling down, something that I really finding it hard when it comes to his romance with Madeleine, not believable.
There’s no plot holes, and the plot itself was straightforward, not overstuffed, it would not leave you any questions after watching, it’s tightly written.
It hits all the notes when it comes to emotional level, maybe a bit too much as I found the love triangle between Pam and Lupe unnecessary and crossing the line from a Bond film.
But apart from that it’s great.
What No Time To Die lacks really have this film perfected and nailed it to a tee.
It’s just a simple battle between No Time To Die and License To Kill, but:
Plot: License To Kill
Villain: License To Kill
Bond: License To Kill
Bond Girl: License To Kill
Romance: License To Kill
Cinematography: No Time To Die
Score: No Time To Die
Story: License To Kill
No Time To Die only have cinematography and score, but License To Kill is a much better film of the two.
It’s the literal evolution of James Bond.
I’m not commenting on DAF, DAD and AVtaK, as there’s no chance of winning between these three.
Though I’d even find DAD to be a bit better than NTTD, at least it still felt like a Bond Film and Brosnan’s performance was still engaged and not far removed from the character, he’s still playing Bond.
And Gustav Graves, as much as he’s a mediocre villain, he’s at least fun to watch than Safin who’s really boring, the film itself was fun to watch, No Time To Die was boring, melodramatic and depressing.
Then DAF and AVtaK as neck to neck for the least good final Bond Film.
2 Likes
NTTD is the clear winner in terms of being the end of an era, referencing Fleming material and Craig’s own films - with visuals rivalling Skyfall. It’s technically well made and I believe it makes SPECTRE a better viewing experience overall.
I dig that it’s Craig’s version of an end of the world plot. It has elements of the classic tropes and he’s completing the mission no matter the cost. There are powerful moments in there too, such as Felix’s death and the briefing with M. Everything about it screams ‘The End’.
As for the change in Bond’s future circumstances, the concept of a family is alien to Bond, given he wordlessly mouths the word to Nomi upon introducing them to her. He was going ahead with that dynamic, but like James Suzuki, he didn’t even know Mathilde even existed. Is the man running to close the silo doors really that much different to Lazenby in the minutes he drove away from the wedding as Tracy’s wife? How things were to play out if they were uninterrupted remain uncertain. Would have they all remained together long term? It’s the same thing but different.
LTK is my second vote and it remains of my favourites. After that I’d choose AVTAK, which is actually pretty good as a conclusion for Moore. The film has its fair share of obvious strengths, and with the passage of time I think they outweigh the negatives.
3 Likes
For June 29…
If you had to - and none of us I am sure really wants to - lose a Bond i.e. wipe his tenure from the Earth and delete all references and memories of it, who would it be? Time to Bin a Bond. You don’t have to vote.
- Connery
- Lazenby
- Moore
- Dalton
- Brosnan
- Craig
0 voters