Voting closes September 21.
One of the books I have read said Binder’s work declined towards the end of his run. Not entirely sure I’d agree with that but my votes here apparently would,
When you look at LICENCE TO KILL’s titles and compare them to THE SPY’s it’s hard to see much creative development since 1977. The formula with a couple of girls and a gun was established by that point and a highlight with acrobatic elements set - and afterwards it’s just repeated through various iterations, with LTK’s merely adding a few seconds of product placement to cut the overall costs.
To me the last really ‘good’ titles were MOONRAKER’s; afterwards I think the struggle to come up with something new - that mustn’t be different! - became lamentably obvious. And maybe that was more due to Cubby than a lack of creativity on Binder’s side. The GOLDENEYE titles would show what could be done with the format.
I kind of agree with both of you. I think Maurice Binder’s latter work ('80s stuff) isn’t as good as his previous efforts, and that his last REALLY good main titles sequence was Moonraker. But having said that, I still think his Octopussy and A View To A Kill efforts are solid if unspectacular. I seem to like Octopussy’s main titles more than most (maybe it’s more clear shots of the female models and/or the lasers), and AVTAK’s is definitely different with a very distinctive style, but I still think they’re both worthy efforts.
It’s not until the Timothy Dalton films, I think, that Binder’s creativity–or lack thereof–becomes noticeable. I remember being disappointed in The Living Daylights’ main titles, but looking back they’re not that bad, just uninspiring, whereas Licence To Kill’s main titles are generic and definitely disappointing. So much so that when we got a new main titles designer in Daniel Kleinman in the next film, his GoldenEye effort is incredible eye candy and a breath of fresh air.
I rank them as:
In all fairness, Binder did not have all the tools at his disposal that
became available in the 90‘s.
True. But I do think by the end of his tenure, Maurice Binder was about out of ideas. He was great for his time and I enjoyed most of his work. He had a terrific first 23 years. He was the right man for 13 of the first 15 James Bond films–nowhere is that more evident than in Dr. No where he was responsible for the absolutely iconic and unforgettable moving dots and gun barrel walk, turn, and shoot followed by dripping blood images. We are definitely better off for him having done those films. Binder’s contributions to Bond history are not–and should not–be underestimated, but certainly by the time of the Pierce Brosnan films, it was time for a change.
Binder didn’t have 90s technology - but for YOLT’s or OHMSS’ titles he didn’t need to and the sheer atmosphere of these was already a highlight. Plus, they picked up a main theme - Japan, race against time - and spun it into a brief collage. Whereas later on one could exchange OP’s and, say, AVTAK’s and would hardly notice it.
That said, I’m not sure how much of that was really due to orders from Eon. Ever since TSWLM they’ve been under attack by McClory, and one of the main takeaways from various lawsuits was Eon’s property regarding gunbarrel, logos and so on was protected. Cubby probably didn’t want these titles to veer too far into uncharted territory. Bond, his Bond, was to be recognisable throughout.