I never formed an attachment to Star Wars despite being exactly the right age for it (12 when the first one came out). But yes, there’s a lot of that attitude in fandom in general.
I was more of a Trekkie, so the big one was when someone (almost certainly a disgruntled Gene Roddenberry…if that’s not redundant) leaked news to fans that Spock would die in “Wrath of Khan.” Pandemonium ensued; human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria. Then the movie came out and now it’s the most treasured and revered entry in the canon. But the point is even way back in 1982, fans had a sense of entitlement; it’s just a lot louder now that the internet has given every crank on Earth a bullhorn.
I didn’t see a need for more Star Wars after the original trilogy, and certainly not another three films to tell a story already told (better) in a couple minutes of expository dialog in the earlier films. Of course the funny thing is even as someone who doesn’t really care about the series, I’m still a complainer – maybe the ultimate complainer – because I still say making Vader into Luke’s dad was the dumbest wrong turn the series could have taken, and the beginning of the end. So I get it that everyone has opinions.
But the great thing is nothing can “ruin your childhood” unless you let it. The films, books, TV shows, etc of the past remain fixed objects, trapped in amber, exactly as you remember them, so if you want to flee back to your childhood, it’s still there.
Interesting. I generally agree with your top half and bottom half, but OHMSS and NTTD I’d have in completely different places. I’m curious because you also have LTK very high, and also feel, as I do, that Skyfall is overrated.
I love Licence To Kill. It may be helped by sentimental reasons from the time, but it’s always been my favorite since first seeing it. I also love the novelization. Additionally, I consider Franz Sanchez to be the best villain in the series and Pam Bouvier is my favorite Bond girl. It’s got great stunts (which I have found seems to be one of the more important things for my liking a Bond movie) and I love the Yojimbo-inspired plot.
Yeah, I can appreciate Skyfall. It looks great and there is a lot to like about it, but I just don’t like it as much as other people. And I don’t even think there’s quite as many holes in Silva’s escape plan as some. But I’m not a big fan of the Raoul Silva character. He’s too over the top and obsessed with “mommy issues” for my taste (and then when he has M dead to rights, he still can’t pull the trigger). The other big thing is that, following on from Quantum Of Solace, Daniel Craig’s Bond is still not having any fun and that seems to affect my enjoyment of it.
Conversely, Craig’s Bond does seem to be having fun in SPECTRE, and I think that’s why I like it more, even though, ironically, I find that Sam Mendes’ decision making was near perfect in Skyfall and far from perfect in SPECTRE.
So yeah, I’m probably gonna have to edit this. Started my marathon a couple days ago and I already see changes that need to be made. The first is and this may be an unorthodoxed opinion (think there used to be a topic on that)… TWINE is the best of the Brozza era, and it’s not particularly close.
The golden era of the first six films at the top. Roger Moore comes next, with what I think are his three best films. We enter the grit territory with Craig and Dalton, followed by Brosnan’s best two. By no means do I dislike the films at the lower end of my list - with so many entries in the series it looks like they’re being rejected big time. I like them all for different reasons.
Leading up to the release of SPECTRE, I watched them all in order, and this is where I landed:
Goldfinger
From Russia with Love
Casino Royale
Dr. No
GoldenEye
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
The Spy Who Loved Me
Skyfall
Moonraker
The Man with the Golden Gun
The Living Daylights
For Your Eyes Only
Tomorrow Never Dies
You Only Live Twice
Spectre
Thunderball
License to Kill
Die Another Day
Quantum of Solace
Diamonds are Forever
Octopussy
Live and Let Die
A View to a Kill
The World is Not Enough
Watching them all in order was interesting, as some played better or worse in comparison to what preceded it. For example, I like OP and AVTAK individually, but they suffered in comparison to the preceding 3. Conversely, TMWTGG was a breath of fresh air after the combo of DAF and LALD. Likewise, TB and YOLT didn’t play as well after the original 3, FYEO was a trifle diminished after my 2 favorites of Roger Moore, and TLD and LTK seem to switch places every time I watch them. Some viewings also suffered from my burning myself out on too much Bond viewing in too little time.
That said, I’m sure I’ll be making some changes to the above list even apart from where to add NTTD. For the first 1/2 to 2/3, I was all in and had it 10th. But as they threw more previously avoided story curves, chiefly the ending, I no longer knew how I felt about it.
My plan is to watch them all again but this time in order from the bottom to the top of my own list.
I’m going for my second viewing of NTTD tonight. I’m still going to hold on adding it to my rankings for awhile, until I have at least 3-4 viewings and it’s had time to settle.
