My favourite Eon Bond film World Cup - 1970s

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER – The movie that helped usher in the Roger Moore era. The wittiest film in the series. (“Hi, I’m Plenty.” “But of course you are.” “Plenty O’Toole.” “Named after your father, perhaps.” As the Kenny Bania character would say on the iconic show Seinfeld, “That’s gold, Jerry! Gold!”) Great villains (how can you not love Wint and Kidd or the droll Charles Gray?), top notch car chase, Bond’s fight with Peter Franks is the best in the series since Bond vs. Red Grant on the Orient Express, Shirley Bassey’s best theme song, and the welcome return (no dig at George Lazenby) of Sean Connery. The film is not without its negatives. The worst special effects of the series–no doubt aided in part by crew member’s itchy trigger finger on the finale, odd choices of editing (Why not include Plenty returning to Bond’s hotel room? There’s no other reason for her to turn up at Tiffany’s house.) And other than a vengeful Bond in the PTS, there’s no extra animosity toward the man who killed his wife. Those nitpicks aside, however, DAF remains a fun romp.

LIVE AND LET DIE – Bond enters Blaxploitation territory and lives to tell about it. Solid debut for Roger Moore as 007. The villains are all great and memorable, great work on the boat chase, fantastic theme song by Paul McCartney and Wings which is one of the best of the series, a terrific funky score by George Martin who proved that somebody other than the indomitable John Barry could compose a Bond film, the best Felix Leiter in David Hedison, and the lovely Jane Seymour. Also, count me in as a fan of Sheriff J.W. Pepper. He’s hilarious in this. And kudos to both Ross Kananga for performing and whoever came up with the crossing the alligator bridge stunt. Classic. Alas, the film also has arguably the worst fight in the series when Bond escapes the Harlem thugs (only A View To A Kill’s Bond and Tibbett fight with Zorin’s security guards rivals it) and the horrible decision to use voice over work for Kananga’s goons that make them sound stupid and incompetent as they chase Bond’s plane at the airport. Someone should have found the brakes on that. Regardless, LALD is one of the series’ most memorable and enjoyable efforts.

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN – Bond joins the kung fu craze. However, the film is a lackluster effort I find. No big stunts save for the AMC Hornet barrel roll (which is great by the way) help to make the film feel smaller than any Bond film save for Dr. No. Also, the solex agitator/energy crisis plot REALLY dates the film–in my opinion more negatively than any film in the series. While Britt Ekland does a decent job with what she’s given, her bumbling Mary Goodnight is at her worst when Bond is trying to recover the solex. Even Barry’s score seems on the tired side although I do enjoy Lulu’s theme song. Fortunately, a rebound was right around the corner.

THE SPY WHO LOVED ME – An all-time greatest hits package that proved that nobody does it better. First time solo producing, Cubby Broccoli threw everything AND the kitchen sink into the film and, as a result, everyone is on their “A” game. Everything you look for and expect from a Bond movie is here and beyond. An over the top PTS stunt, a fabulous Bond girl, a maniacal villain, an indestructible henchman, a great score by Marvin Hamlisch, entertaining main titles work by Maurice Binder, unparalleled production design by Ken Adam, a wonderful gadget car, a lovely femme fatale in Naomi, and Roger Moore at the top of his game (“What a helpful chap”). There really isn’t much to dislike about this film. Probably the best film to introduce newcomers to Bond, which also happens to be Moore’s favorite. The spy may have loved me, but I love this film.

MOONRAKER – Bond goes to space. Taking a cue from Star Wars, Bond goes out of this world to stop a witty megalomaniac. (“Look after Mr. Bond, see that some harm comes to him.” One of the best villain lines of the series.) Michael Lonsdale is great as Hugo Drax, there’s an incredible PTS, and we get the last use (unfortunately) of the wonderful 007 Theme. Terrific scenes include Bond’s silent escape/recovery from the centrifuge and Corinne’s death at the paws (or is that jaws?) of Drax’s Doberman pinschers. However, Jaws seems a bit too cartoonish/indestructible this time, Lois Chiles seems a little too cold/detached, the space scenes are a little on the slow side, and then there’s the double-taking pigeon. :roll_eyes: One thing I wish was in this film is Bond’s space walk, which was included in the novelization. That would have been awesome! So a bit of a mixed bag for me.

My rankings:

  1. The Spy Who Loved Me
  2. Diamonds Are Forever
  3. Live And Let Die
  4. Moonraker
  5. The Man With The Golden Gun
3 Likes

Hamilton’s jaded eye for America and Las Vegas is perfectly suited to Mankiewicz’s jaundiced script, and 2:35 is his best aspect ratio.

I have never understood how Hamilton’s eye failed him on this movie (and I have tried to find good visual aspects to it). Combined with the film’s racism, LALD is a low point for the series.

Beautifully said (Tom Mankiewicz said Hamilton was the most cynical man he had ever known). Hamilton’s eye returns (thankfully), but Moore Bond needed to be reinvented if he was to continue.

True, but the looseness adds an attractive capaciousness to the film–a perfecting of the template introduced by TSWLM.

I think they wanted to keep the movie to no longer than two hours. This particular elision works me, and links up with the film’s other caesuras, e.g., suddenly Bond has a white lab coat and clipboard, and then he moves effortlessly from Level 5 to the moon buggy at ground level. Why? Simply because the film needs Bond to have these things or be in these places at these moments. The accumulation of these elisions over the course of the film creates a cadence I enjoy. Logical? No. Poetic? Yes. Call it James Bond meets magical realism.

Maybe, but I like the independence Dr. Goodhead shows. When she kisses Bond after the tram car adventure, it feels organic and not another instance of what-Bond-girls-do.

3 Likes
  1. The spy who loved me
  2. The man with the golden gun
  3. Live and let die
  4. Moonraker
  5. Diamonds are forever