My favourite Eon Bond Film World Cup - THE FINAL

Special Interest Games
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It’s been a long time… and finally, here we are.

Just as a quick review, where this has gone so far…

Out in Round 1 - in which A View to a Kill and Dr No gathered not one vote between them…

Dr No
You Only Live Twice
Live and Let Die
The Man with the Golden Gun
A View to a Kill
The World is not Enough
Die Another Day
Spectre

For the first shall be last and the most recent shall… also be last.

Out so far - 33% of Connery; 42.8% of Moore; 50% of Brosnan; 25% of Craig.

Not scientific, but of momentary passing interest perhaps.

Out in Round 2

Diamonds are Forever
For Your Eyes Only
Octopussy
The Living Daylights
Licence to Kill
GoldenEye
Tomorrow Never Dies
Quantum of Solace

The remaining 1960s films sail through Round 2. By Round 2, everything from the 1980s has gone, likewise everything from the 1990s.

Out so far - 50% of Connery, 71.4% of Moore, 100% of Dalton, 100% of Brosnan, 50% of Craig

Out in Round 3 - the Semi-Finals

From Russia with Love
Goldfinger
The Spy who Loved Me
Skyfall

Some big beasts falling, there.

Interesting Final - a mix of the (relatively) dutiful to Fleming (and risky) debuts on the one hand, and on the other a brace of outlandish and confident not-that-cursed-after-all fourth films.

What a mixed-up kid the series is. All tastes may be accounted for here - but which will ultimately taste victory?

You have 48 hours to investigate.

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  • Thunderball
  • On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
  • Moonraker
  • Casino Royale

0 voters

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Well, that was about the easiest vote I’ve ever made.

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I voted for my favorite Bond movie, Moonraker ofcourse! :slightly_smiling_face:

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One Connery, one Lazenby, one Moore, and one Craig.

I will admit I am a bit surprised at the Moore, Connery, and Craig options (in that order–the Lazenby option was a given LOL). Plus a total Brosnan and Dalton shutout.

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THUNDERBALL, a film after a book after a film script: the entire series in a nutshell, reiterating itself to a point at the event horizon…

MOONRAKER, a film after a source that was an early attempt to stretch the written word over the surface of the silver screen - and when it finally came close the screen gobbled the book and digested it into a circus show of sensations and spectacle. I wonder what kind of book Fleming would have written based on MOONRAKER’s script?

CASINO ROYALE, based on a remarkably slim book (is ‘novelette’ a word Fleming would have wanted to be seen with, even dead?) that’s nonetheless brimming with detail no editor would keep today. Coming to the screen after half a century and a self-parody - and amid the running and jumping, explosions and expensive toys for adults the characters and story are surprisingly intact.

And then there’s ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE. There’s not a lot meaningful left to say about this film that Charles Helfenstein’s book hasn’t already said before. A production that, with its union of time and place, hit the sweet spot of 60s cinema Bond one final time.

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Possibly better than any other 60s Bond film, and followed by DAF, which hit the sweet (some would say sour) spot of 1970s cinema better than any other Bond film (and among the best of all 1970s movies).

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So far it looks like I won’t have to choose between TB and OHMSS after all. Just as well.
BTW I didn’t realize I could change my vote until today.

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What a nice surprise. All in my top 5. However it turns out TB has won the Connery era and MR has won the 1970-2005 era. I wouldn’t have predicted that when this game started.

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I’m surprised at the Connery and Moore options and slightly surprised at no GoldenEye. But that said, with the options available, I have to go with Casino Royale.

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Indeed, GOLDENEYE‘s absence is surprising. For many younger fans (now timidly approaching middle age) it was their introduction to Bond and, together with its game, used to be a favourite for that generation.

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Agreed. Shocked not to see GoldenEye in there. Also quite surprised to not see The Living Daylights in there as well, especially with a much weaker entry in Moonraker there, as well as Thunderball getting the nod instead of From Russia With Love.

Given the options, though, it was an easy choice to choose Casino Royale.

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Structured differently there may have been other outcomes - such is democracy, I guess.

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I think CR is the better movie, but GE really was a great time to be a fan. That said, my early fandom centred a lot on the Connery and Moore films, and mostly still does (I voted for OHMSS here but I’m pleased MR is polling so well). No matter what happens in the future, we’ll always have those eras. They’re the bedrock of the franchise, and that’s why they get referenced so much.

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I thinks it’s a nice surprise. I would’ve expected The Spy Who Loved Me as the Moore final contender and Goldfinger there as the Connery final contender but as much as I like both of those films I see Moonraker as an improvement over The Spy Who Loved Me as far as the 1970s fantasy style Bond films go and Thunderball as an improvement over Goldfinger as far as the more gadget oriented mid-1960s films go . I share your disappointment with The Living Daylights not making it there since I consider it an improvement over For Your Eyes Only as far as the back to Fleming 1980s films go.

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The right four contested the final.

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Utterly shocked to see Thunderball in the final beating out FRWL, GF, TSWLM, and SF in the semis.

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When I reflect on the comments in various threads about Bond films, THUNDERBALL in the final is not that surprising. There is much love for it. Certainly more than there is for GF, which seems to be a little more divisive. I was surprised that it beat out FRWL, which seems to the Connery Bond consensus favorite.

As for MR: I am surprised that it beat out TSWLM, which seems to be roundly admired. And with the strong OCTOPUSSY contingent, I would not have been surprised to see it make the final. MR (though my favorite Moore Bond) ranks third on my list of which Moore Bond movie might make the final.

CR is not surprising; for me it was a toss-up whether CR or SF would be the Craig representative.

As for OHMSS: there is much love for it, and while I do not know how many members rank it as their #1 Bond film, I do not think it is toward the bottom of many lists. It is less of an acquired taste than many of the films, and does not require the qualifier of “I love it even though…”

Another interesting approach to the voting would be passion index voting (and this is in no way a criticism of Jim’s great work on these contests). OHMSS is a good film, and is leading at the moment, but is it a passionate #1 or a consensus #1.

n.b.: I am not sure if “passion index voting” is the right term. I have read about methods of voting that have a way of incorporating voters’ passion for a selection into their vote.

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Bond fans (myself definitely included) seem to hold Octopussy in much higher regard than the more casual movie going public.

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For many years ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE was the stepchild, almost forgotten by the disappointing box office and the out-of-his-depth lead who couldn’t get away from Bond fast enough. In the 70s - and I think even for most of the 80s - the verdict outside the fan community seems to have been it’s a solid dud…a judgement that often seemed not even based on people actually having seen it since it was rarely shown in cinemas or on tv.

In fan circles the film seemed to have its followers, but mainly for the relative faithfulness to the book. ON HER MAJESTY’S has always had its strongest followers with the literary fans of Bond. But even this subset of fandom is nowadays a fringe and many fans have never picked up a Fleming.

I doubt many in the community would have predicted in 1980 - or 1990 even - that by 2020 the Bond film with Lazenby would make it into the finale of such a World Cup scheme, against films which made several times its box office and marked whole generations of fans.

Who knows which other undervalued entries will see a reappraisal in the future? I think I’ve detected a streaming that’s coming to the defence of OCTOPUSSY and DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER in the recent past. And fans come to the fore defending DIE ANOTHER DAY (or at least its better qualities). In twenty years such a ‘World Cup’ might look very different again.

And of course there’d be two more Bond films to take part…

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