Thanks, David! Did you post your ranking? I’m not sure how to search for stuff here yet. 
I’m not a “list” kind of guy, really. My top three or four favorites stay fairly constant and the bottom few will probably always be at the bottom, but the vast majority in between are forever in flux. And anyway they’re not strictly apples to apples, so it feels weird assigning numbers. But it’s always interesting seeing other fans’ picks.
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Redoing this after recent marathon…
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DN - the original “Bond, James Bond” line is breathtakingly cool and the best of the series. “That’s a Smith and Wesson. And you’ve had your six,” brutal, right out of a Craig film. Ursula.
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CR - as close to a perfect Bond film as there is. “Yes. Considerably” is Craig’s “you’ve had your six” and might be the best line of the entire series.
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OHMSS - “This never happened to the other fellow” is an elegant, minimalist, and clever way to transition from Connery to Lazenby. Eon should consider something like it for the next transition. Diana Rigg is my #1 favorite Bond girl.
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TWINE - Yep, Brozza cracks the top 5. I watched this one very recently and had to ask myself why I didn’t like this one more. This one proved all the others in PB’s tenure did him a disservice. Brozza had much more to give and he gave it in this one.
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SF - The “held up in a ranch house with just a couple sticks of dynamite and a box of shotgun shells” thing had been done several times before…everything else about the movie is amazing
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MR - Loved everything about this film except the actually going to space thing. Still think a remake based on the novel would be great here.
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OP - first Bond I saw as a kid. Ton of sentimental value here. Also I love it. The “Fill 'er up please” intro is all over Bondian. Love Maud Adams as an age appropriate Bond girl.
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FYEO - Virtually flawless. Bond kicking “the Dove’s” car over the cliff is one of my favorite moments in any Bond film…even if Moore didn’t like it. Only thing I didn’t like about this movie was the weird hockey fight sequence. Feels very out of place in this move.
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TLD - makes the top 10 for two reasons. Dalton is my favorite Bond and the PTS. PTS may be second only to CR. Dalton comes across as both hard and really really cool at the same time. The “stuff my orders, that girl didn’t know one end of a rifle from the other” scene is a series standout.
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NSNA - I just love it. I get excited every time I go to put it on. I love the non-traditional title sequence intro and the song. The Largo in this movie is better than TB’s. Bond’s dispatching of Fatima is one of the best death’s in the series.
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TMWTGG - Agree with @Flint72001 this is a guilty pleasure. I love just about everything about this film except JW Pepper. Maud Adams should have been the Bond girl, but oh well.
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LTK - Overall best of the two Dalton’s. TLD rates higher for the reasons mentioned above. Talisa Soto was extremely annoying throughout the entire film.
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GF - Overall outstanding Bond film. Would rate higher but for the meh climax.
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FRWL- As good as this one is, it’s not in the top group of films I think of when I feel like watching a Bond.
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QoS - I may be the founding member of the Society for the Defense of QoS (SDQOS). Never understood the hate, never will. Big fan of arthouse Bond.
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LALD - was my dad’s favorite. Used to watch it with him. Sentimental value. Think the connection between vodoo and drug trade plot stuff is really interesting. This is one that might do well with a modern retelling.
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AVTAK - Just a ton of fun. Top 3 best song of the series. Chris Walken is one of the best villans of the series. And the entire climax is awesome.
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TSWLM - I know I’m going to get sideways looks for rating this one behind AVTAK, but I think it’s less fun. It is one of the most structurally sound films in the series though and Stromberg is a standout.
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DAF - another that doesn’t get a lot of love, but I get excited every time I sit down to watch it. It’s a lot of fun and Connery resurgence is really good. Also awesome song.
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NTTD - After doing some thinking, I love everything about this movie…except the plot and the ending. So I had to drop it down.
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YOLT - This is the one I feel like could move up. Solid film. Plot is a bit disjointed and I’m not sure about Donald Pleasence.
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SP - I liked it, a lot. But it’s one of those “good not great” films. Blofeld being Bond’s stepbrother is just lazy unoriginal storytelling. Not a fan of that part at all.
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TB - I’m not a fan of underwater sequences and this film has way too much underwater stuff. Also NSNA is a better version. Otherwise it’s a good Connery outing.
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GE - why so low? I’m not exactly sure. I think it’s because Eon was still trying to do Moore fantasy Bonds and Brozza needed something different. Also Brozza in a tank. No, just no.
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TND - plot is too far-fetched. Pryce is not a good villan. Teri Hatcher did not seem like a good fit for a Bond film.
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DAD - So so so much potential in the first half… aaaand then it just wet the bed in the second half. Sorry PB, you deserved better, my brother.
Look forward to your thoughts.
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Totally feel the same way about a majority of the films on my list as well. Really just the top 5-10 have any significance. The rest can easily fluctuate depending on my mood. Still, I find it a really fun exercise to try to evaluate how I feel about them all.
Sir, you serve taste!
my main difference would be to move Thunderball comfortably into the top 10… perfect epic, lazy Sunday afternoon viewing and it looks gorgeous: Connery’s standout performance too.
Good to see you speak out for Safin: I love the shadowy presence for the first half of the film. Once he reveals himself, he is deranged, creepy and dangerous… his scenes with Mathilde are plain warped. I love the OTT style of villainy like Silva and Zorin, but Safin is just as effective… just different.
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You’re right about his presence being shadowy. Masked in the PTS, and now holding the record of the fastest villain introduction in the series, beating out Scaramanga. Then he’s heard on the phone to Obrushev before the lab attack.
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Haven’t done this in a few years. OHMSS went way up based on a recent viewing and SF dropped a bit. I recently saw NSNA and thought it was a lot better than I remembered. Curious to see where NTTD stands with me (and others) in a few years. While there are some films that I think don’t have much to love, everyone has some scenes that are great. All the best.
1 From Russia With Love
2 Casino Royale
3 Goldfinger
4 No Time To Die
5 On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
6 Skyfall
7 The Living Daylights
8 Dr. No
9 GoldenEye
10 For Your Eyes Only
11 Thunderball
12 SPECTRE
13 Live and Let Die
14 You Only Live Twice
15 Quantum of Solace
16 License to Kill (was once my favourite!)
17 Never Say Never Again
18 The Man With the Golden Gun
19 Diamonds Are Forever
20 Octopussy
21 Tomorrow Never Dies
22 Die Another Day
23 The World is Not Enough
24 A View to a Kill
25 The Spy Who Loved Me
26 Moonraker
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Having seen NTTD twice now, time for an update to the rankings.
- Licence to Kill
- From Russia With Love
- The Living Daylights
- Casino Royale
- For Your Eyes Only
- Dr. No
- Quantum of Solace
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
- GoldenEye
- Skyfall
- Octopussy
- A View to a Kill
- The Spy Who Loved Me
- Thunderball
- Moonraker
- Tomorrow Never Dies
- You Only Live Twice
- Diamonds are Forever
- Goldfinger
- The World Is Not Enough
- No Time to Die
- Live and Let Die
- Die Another Day
- The Man with the Golden Gun
- Spectre
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NTTD moving up, I see?
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If anything, it probably fell a few spots. After the first viewing, I probably would have had it somewhere around 15th. Didn’t enjoy the first half as much as I did the first time around. The second half of the film is still a train wreck.
It has the Cuba scene and Ana de Armas, which the other below it don’t have going for it. It’s the only moment of the past two films that really captures what they were trying to achieve with the entirety of both films, which is to marry the tone of Craig’s first two films with what we all consider to be “classic Bond”. While I would have preferred they kept going with what they were doing in CR and QOS for the entire run of Craig’s tenure, if they could have gotten SP and the entirety of NTTD up to the standard of the Cuba sequence, they could have done something really special with both films. DAD, TMWTGG, and SP are plain terrible films and I’ve pretty much decided that LALD isn’t “eligible” to rank any higher than where it is here on the basis of the scene where Bond tricks Solitaire with the cards. I despise that moment and it destroys all of the goodwill that I have for what is otherwise a decent film. So NTTD was never going to delve down to those depths on the listing.
With heart and head, having seen NTTD several times now and bearing in mind what I often stick on… This is definitely maybe my final ranking for the foreseeable.
- FRWL
- OHMSS
- DAF
- SPECTRE
- NTTD
- THUNDERBALL
- CASINO ROYALE
- MOONRAKER
- SKYFALL
- QOS
- LALD
- TLD
- LTK
- TMWTGG
- AVTAK
- GOLDFINGER
- TSWLM
- OCTOPUSSY
- DR. NO
- FYEO
- YOLT
- GOLDENEYE
- TND
- NSNA
- TWINE
- DAD
However, I’d happily watch em all really😏
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This is always really difficult, and I don’t like having movies I love so far down a list. Even the bottom 5 have great moments that I really enjoy.
FRWL
FYEO
CR
TSWLM
Skyfall
Dr No
Octopussy
Moonraker
OHMSS
LTK
Goldfinger
Goldeneye
YOLT
TLD
TND
TB
NTTD
Spectre
TWINE
LALD
TMWTGG
AVTAK
QOS
DAF
DAD
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I still have OHMSS as my favourite, and I’ve decided to put it into words why.
The most faithful adaption of a Fleming novel. Just about everything is translated.
Being one of the longest films in the series allows that to happen.
Who hits harder than Lazenby? I say nobody.
Bond is rebellious despite his cheery facade: he fully intended to resign and goes rogue to save Tracy.
The Hillary Bray alias which also provides fun contrasts to his real personality.
The extended focus on one environment helps a lot, and Switzerland is one of my favourite countries.
Draco is a personable ally in the spirit of Kerim Bey.
I’m a fan of gadgets but I don’t miss them here. The character work and story shine.
There’s real tension, such as the safecracking, wheelhouse escape and the skier who refuses to die.
Creative action ideas, namely the bell house fight, car race and bobsled chase.
I love Bond keeping the lift door closed, too.
Sneaking around Piz Gloria, especially after he escapes the wheelhouse, has a great atmosphere.
Tracy rescuing Bond from the village has great atmosphere too. I love how vulnerable Bond is here.
Throwing the hat to Moneypenny is such a moving gesture that speaks to the soul.
I still think Tracy’s death is the strongest emotional conclusion to a Bond film. It’s a real kick in the guts.
The soundtrack and cinematography speak for themselves.
Lazenby being Australian gives it a degree of special significance for me personally.
I’m sure I’ve got other things to add, but that’ll do for now.
7 Likes
And I’ll add that Lazenby gives a good portrayal in the scene where he’s frustrated to save Tracy from Blofeld, he’s arguing with M, but still with respect, Bond still looked at M as his boss and with respect, he’s calm while there’s that feeling of frustration in him.
Craig’s Bond, I’ve felt never respected M, even Dalton in LTK with how he confronted M.
I liked that even Lazenby’s Bond was frustrated inside, he still interacted to M with respect and calmed.
And this is also the film with full of tension, I’ve really felt the tension, like Bond’s feelings really got through me, what Bond felt is also what I’ve felt, the emotions and feelings were all done well.
Yes, it’s still my favorite Bond film, thank you.
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It’s also one of my favorites, besides Moonraker ofcourse! Nobody beats that one!
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Craig, easy. But I’m a Lazenby defender. I disagree with pretty much every assertion that had Connery played Bond in OHMSS it would have been the epitome of the franchise. Connery would be completely out of place in OHMSS. Even Goldfinger Connery likely wouldn’t give the performance the film requires. But had OHMSS cast 1969 Connery, who sleepwalked through YOLT, the film just wouldn’t have worked at all. Lazenby works in the role and does the best with his limited skill set.
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I’d agree Craig is the most physically strong overall. It’s the overdubbing on Lazenby’s punches that does it for me. That sound is meant to be reality, and in terms of a fistfight I’d fear encountering Lazenby the most. He’s faster on his feet and gets in a lot of hard strikes in a short space of time.
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I don’t disagree with that. I think the effort was certainly made to differentiate Lazenby’s take from Connery. Still better sound effects than the awful crunch in TND when Bond is kicked in the booth room.
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The idea of having Connery fall in love and suffer through that disastrous end scene would have been terrific.
But I must agree - it could have been a totally different and less effective film because the sardonic coolness Connery effortlessly displays as Bond would have left him rather surprisingly dumbfounded at the end, whereas Lazenby seems like a younger, inexperienced and arrogant Bond who really could not have foreseen what happened. His surprised sadness is all the more affecting.
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This baffles me time and again. It’s bad enough in the book where Bond practically hops off Piz Gloria right to his wedding date in the British consulate in Munich, entirely ignoring the fact Munich might be an important retreat for Blofeld as it is for him.
But in the film it’s even worse since Blofeld has Tracy in his grip and makes a show of having designs on her. The wedding at her father’s estate with all and sundry taking part is an invitation for Blofeld and Bunt to take revenge.
Bond not having foreseen this is…inexplicable. The combined efforts of Hybris, Themis and Nemesis working on Bond’s downfall and transformation to Greek tragedy hero. Connery had the tragic part a few times in his career (THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING, THE HILL, THE OFFENCE) but it’s debatable whether that turn of events would have worked with him. However, had this been his last Bond he’d have finished with a bang.
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