Bond. James Bond.

[Munchkin]

Last month in the Entertainment press there was a big hullabaloo about Pierce Brosnan possibly leaving the role of 007 as a result of a "creative" dispute with the producers of the Eon series. Although it was reportedly settled with Brosnan agreeing to make at least one more film (his 5th), it got me thinking about how I'd used to be a fan of the movies in my youth.



So in that vein, I hope to start this topic off with my personal list of the "Best & Worst" things about the James Bond Film Series, not counting the rival-produced Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again because they'd all-too easily sweep their 'worst' categories for their overall suckiness. So please feel free to comment, add, or dispute on any of these choices, amongst other things. Enjoy!



Best Bond: Sean Connery (but of course!)

Best Bond Girl: Diana Rigg as Tracy in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (OHMSS)

Best Villian: Robert Shaw as Red Grant in From Russia With Love

Runner-up: Christopher Lee as Scaramanga, The Man With the Golden Gun

Best Henchman: Harold Sakata as Oddjob in Goldfinger

Best Villianess: Lotte Lenya as Rosa Klebb From Russia With Love

Favorite Blofeld: Donald Pleasance in You Only Live Twice

Best Ally (after 'Q'): Pedro Armendariz as Kerim Bey in From Russia With Love

Best Car: The original Aston Martin DB5 in Goldfinger

Best Gadget: The tear-gas exploding briefcase in From Russia With Love

Best Stunt: The parachute ski-jump in The Spy Who Loved Me

Best Composer and Score: John Barry, for OHMSS

Best Song: "We Have All the Time in the World", by Louis Armstrong , for OHMSS

Best Director: Terrence Young, for Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and Thunderball

Best Connery Film: From Russia With Love

Best Moore Film: The Spy Who Loved Me

Best Bond Film Ever: On Her Majesty's Secret Service



Worst Bond: Roger Moore

Worst Bond Girl: Tanya Roberts as Stacey Sutton in A View to a Kill

Worst Villian: Toby Stephens as Gustav Graves in Die Another Day (pussy)

Worst Henchman: That 'Stamper' guy in Tomorrow Never Dies

Worst Villianess: Sophie Marceau as Electra King in The World is Not Enough

Worst Blofeld: Charles Gray in Diamonds Are Forever

Worst Ally: Felix Leiter (All of 'em, cause he's totally lame)

Worst Car: That 'invisible' thing in Die Another Day

Worst Gadget: That appallingly impractical 'wrist-activated' dart-shooting watch in Moonraker

Worst Stunt: All the CGI crap of Die Another Day

Worst Composer and Score(s): David Arnold, for Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, AND Die Another Day, because repeating the 'James Bond Theme' loudly and instead of writing any memorable music of your own does NOT make you the next John Barry.

Worst Song: "Die Another Day", by Madonna (blech!)

Worst Director: Lee Tamahori, for Die Another Day (poser)

Worst Connery Film: Diamonds Are Forever

Worst Moore Film: A View to a Kill

Worst Bond Movie Ever: Die Another Day

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Dave C.

Edited by: Munchkin at: 6/22/04 1:43 pm

[urnofosiris]

Oh boy, I am not at all Bond educated enough to debate these choices. I remember loving James Bond movies when I was a kid. I saw the ones with Roger Moore and at the time I had no idea Sean Connery was the original Bond. I have seen his movies since, and he is the best Bond. I stopped watching them after the ones with Timothy Dalton. Nothing against Mr Dalton, I just don´t like the movies any more. Consequently I have not seen the ones with Pierce Brosnan. Eventhough I have not watched a Bond movie in years, I am oddly fascinated by the ´who is going to be the next James Bond´ debate that keeps popping up from time to time. At one point I think I actually heard the name of Russell Crowe. Not going to happen, but that would be wrong, so very wrong.

[Triscuit7]

Bond



Diana Rigg as the best Bond girl ever, oh yes, absolutively!

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is certainly my favorite of the films (Moonraker is my least fave - too, too silly).

The neat thing about OHMSS is that it has in it not one, not two, but three actresses who were part of the Avengers franchise: Diana Rigg (of course! we Emma Peel), Linda Thorson (Tara King) and Joanna Lumley (Purdy).



Ciao, Melissa

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Do something totally irrational and let the enemy think himself to death. (Pyanfar Chanur)

[Hemiola]

Of course, I would not try to claim anything like the obvious expertise of Munchkin in this area. So what follows is purely personal opinion from the point of view of a person of my (advanced ) age....



Certainly, no one in their right minds would claim that anyone but Connery was the best Bond . The trouble with so many of the others is that they either played the character for laughs (such as Roger Moore) or way too seriously (Timothy Dalton)--only Connery managed to project exactly the right "mix" for the character. However, after saying all this, I must say that Brosnan comes, IMHO, closest to Connery in capturing the spirit of this character .



For the movies themselves, I am and always remain a devotee of the "original" trilogy--"Dr. No.", "FRWL" and "Goldfinger"--these having been directed by devotees of the original books (Terence Young/Guy Hamilton) and thus having an air of "authenticity" lacking from their successors.



The Best Song? For me it will always be "Goldfinger" sung by the incomparable Shirley Bassey ("His heart is COOOOOOOOOLLLLD! He Loves only GOOOOOLLLLLLLD! ). And another thing: I cannot over-emphasize to the younger generation how sexy and "risqué" those old opening titles were--in this age of easy access to filmed nudity and sex, this was HOT STUFF!



The Best Music will always be, for me, the "cool jazz" Bond Theme of the original trilogy (which I was delighted to hear the return of in the Pierce Brosnan film with Jonathan Pryce ). Many other scoring felicities were to be heard in these three original films (think of the "running from the rats" music in "FRWL" ).



I agree with most of Munchkin's other choices for the Best Villain, Best Henchman etc. etc. One of my favorite things is to put on my vintage recordings of "The Threepenny Opera" and, everytime Lotte Lenya sings, point to the speakers and say "Hear that? That's Colonel Klebb!"



I don't want to end on a "negative" note, but I must say something about the current problems with this franchise. James Bond was very much a creature of the Cold War era, which made spies and "whizz-bang" gadgetry "super cool". Unless the producers can successfully re-make/re-image JB for our grungier, less "classy" era, I fear there might not be much of a future for Bond...James Bond.

[mollyig]

According to www.planetout.com Rupert Everett jettisoning his plans for a gay James Bond earlier this year, claiming he "would rather play it straight anyway." I think he'd be a good choice should Pierce Brosnan get fed up of it.



I loved watching the films as a kid, some of the gadgets were brilliant.



My favourite Bond is actually Brosnan (and not just 'cause he's Irish!), but previously was probably Connery. Favourite Bond girl is Halle Berry

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Sheacht mh'anam déag do bhéal, do mhalaí's do ghrua

[justin]

Quote:

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Best Bond Girl: Diana Rigg as Tracy in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (OHMSS)

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This one I have to disagree with. The best bond girl ever is Maud Adams, who happens to be the only Bond girl to appear in two films (Octopussy & The man with the golden gun)

"To mess up a Linux box you need to work at it; to mess up a Windows box you just need to work on it."

[Munchkin]

Triscut7: Sorry, but I don't think Linda Thorson was actually in OHMSS; perhaps you've mistaken that 'Ruby' gal for her, since they look quite similar. But another "Avengers"' actress did appear in Goldfinger: Honor Blackman (Cathy Gale) as "Pussy Galore" . Also, the only good thing about A View to a Kill was Patrick Macnee (John Steed!) as Bond's ally Tibbett who was rather uselessly killed off by that lame-o May Day (Grace Jones). What a waste.



Hemiola: I actually almost picked Bill Conti as "Worst Composer" for his horrible-sounding and badly-dated early 1980's score of For Your Eyes Only, but I chose the new guy who did the last three Brosnan Bonds simply because I dislike his being overrated just because he "brought back" the 'James Bond Theme' while Goldeneye composer Eric Serra hardly used it.



John Barry's true worth was not only for writing/producing the famous theme (and NOT Monty Norman, who only ever did that cheesy score for Dr. No, the one lowlight of the early films), but for a whole slew of memorably beautiful melodies all the way through his tenure. Besides the '007' theme of FRWT ("running from the rats" scene), other stand-outs include the final rocket-ship launch from SPECTRE's hollow volcano in You Only Live Twice, Goldfinger's laser beam inching toward the captive Bond, and (my personal favorite) the helicopter's first approach to Piz Gloria in OHMSS. Nothing in the last three films have come close to that excellence, yet has been mistaken for it. And that's why I DON'T like it.

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Dave C.

Edited by: Munchkin at: 6/23/04 4:26 pm

[Gatito Grande]

Heh: I know some of you are going to think that *I* came up w/ this, but I read in a magazine several years ago (Esquire?) a proposal for Lucy Lawless as "Jane Bond"! (Makes ya think of "Bond Girls" in a whole new light, eh? )



OK, brace yourself for some sacrilege: I loved Roger Moore as Bond. Maybe because, as an inveterate peacenik, I could never get into all that Cold War-related crap, I wanted my Bond to not take it all So Seriously. Ergo, I appreciated Moore's drollery (is that a word?)---not so much the Connery Alpha Male (yes, yes: SC's sexier).



Probably because it was the movie that came out when I was most "into" Bond, my favorite flick is For Your Eyes Only: liked the setting(s), liked the French chick, really liked the song (Probably the last 45 I ever purchased! And Sheena Easton, both for the lookin' and the hearin' ), and absolutely loved the ending.



GG What you don't remember?

Bond is getting his usual "Thank You Call" from Her Majesty's Government, and the producers got a *dead-on* Margaret Thatcher look-alike. Bond has already dived off the yacht for some Under-Water Scuba Nookie (this being Bond!) w/ the French chick, so Mrs. Thatcher is instead (unbeknownst to her, of course) connected by satellite phone w/ the French chick's parrot. When said bird pipes up "Give us a kiss! Give us a kiss!", Thatcher look-alike blushes, primps her hair, and flirts "Oh reeeeeally, Mr. Bond!"

I swear to God, I think I pee'd my pants! Out

[Cicca]

Oh yes... Lucy Lawless as Jane Bond.

I'd really pay to see that!

Is there a hyphen in anal-retentive?

[seurat]

Actually, there is one other good thing about A View To A Kill - Alison Doody as Jenny Flex. I occasionally watch it just to see her walk in and out of scenes.



My favorite Bond girl is Carey Lowell, and a a result I liked Licence To Kill. My next favorite is probably Jane Seymour in Live And Let Die, and I have to say that's one of my fave Bond theme songs too. Macca can always be trusted to come up with a hummable melody. That Sean Connery was the consumate Bond is of course undeniable, but as time goes by I don't enjoy the films quite as much anymore. Not sure exactly why, maybe I've just seen them too many times. Still if I had to pick one of the films to watch all the way through right now, it would probably be Goldfinger.

"Life's complications and frustrations/they disappear when the music starts playing/I found a place where it feels alright/I hear a record and it opened my eyes/do you remember what the music meant?" - Speakers Push Air, Pretty Girls Make Graves

[KiwiAlcyone]

My favourite Bond girl is definitely Famke Janssen in Goldeneye



All time favourite Bond movie is Goldeneye as well, although I may be a little biased because it was directed by Kiwi Martin Campbell. (A kiwi also directed the less than stellar Die Another Day) The bungy opening stunt and the tank chase through St Petersburg were awesome



Alcy

Reality continues to ruin my life - Calvin and Hobbes

[Munchkin]

Just read this in the Victoria Times Colonist newspaper:

Quote:

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Brosnan hints no more 007

NEW YORK (AP) -- Pierce Brosnan appears to be turning in his licence to kill, says Entertainment Weekly.

"That's it," Brosnan told EW.com. "I've said all I've got to say on the world of James Bond."

In an interview on the magazine's Web site, posted Tuesday, the Irish-born actor said 2002's Die Another Day was his last mission on Her Majesty's secret service.

"Bond is another lifetime behind me," Brosnan said.

"But the 51-year-old's statement might be a negotiating ploy. Original Bond Sean Connery quit for a whole movie before being lured back for bigger bucks.

If true, England-based Eon Productions, which produces the Bond flicks, must find another star to carry 007's Walther PPK in the 21st Bond movie, scheduled for release next year.

Speculation surrounds Brits Clive Owen, Ioan Gruffudd, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Gerard Butler, Jude Law and Ewan McGregor, as well as Aussies Hugh Jackman, Heath Ledger and Eric Bana.

For Brosnan, playing Bond will always be a fond memory.

"We went out on a high," Brosnan said, "and I look back affectionately at that time and doing those four movies. But I've said all I gotta say on it."

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Well, I can't say I'm too surprised or even saddened by this. While the man did his best, only his first Bond movie (Goldeneye) was actually any good (helped by Famke Janssen ), while the rest of 'em got more overblown, boring, indifferent and stupid, with the last being the nadir of both his tenure and the series as a whole. And that's counting past Bond duds like The Man with the Golden Gun, Moonraker, A View to a Kill, and Tomorrow Never Dies (which not even Michelle Yeoh's coolness could save).



And it's all down to the producers' lazy, "bigger-is-better", play-it-safe mindset that started as far back as You Only Live Twice (glossy, but fun to watch) and Diamonds Are Forever (grim, incoherent and painfully boring), which reduced the series' previously high standards ever since. And it doesn't matter who they cast in the role now, because it's still gonna result in a piece-of-$#!+ movie as long as they keep rehashing the "blockbuster" formula set in Goldfinger or The Spy Who Loved Me while forgetting the real artistic triumphs of From Russia With Love and On Her Majesty's Secret Service.



A shame then, that director Terrence Young can't make good on his stated intent to return only if it was the Last one (he died in 1994), then maybe the series could've bowed out with some semblance of dignity. Not that it has any now. But that's just what I think.

________



Dave C.

Edited by: Munchkin at: 7/28/04 4:52 pm

[AmbersSecretAdmirer]

Just a quick note to say that if they want a Bond, then they need a man who can:



Be sauve and charming one minute and cold and calculating the next.



Be able to come across as tough, smart and humorous as the scene demands.



Is a good actor with a look that would be seen as one that women would fall for.



Is British (or at least can do a fairly good British accent).



I nominate:



ALEXIS DENISOF



I think he would make a superb Bond. What do other Kittens think?

TARA AND WILLOW 2GETHER 4EVER!!! BLESSED BE ETERNALLY!!!

Edited by: AmbersSecretAdmirer at: 7/29/04 4:41 am

[Hemiola]

In the spirit of the current "convention season", I second that nomination!

[Warduke]

From Yahoo...

Quote:

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Aussie star Bana chosen as next James Bond



LONDON (AFP) - Australian actor Eric Bana, star of films including "The Hulk" and "Troy", is the surprise new choice to take over as James Bond, a report said.



The beefy 35-year-old had beaten off competition from British actors such as Jude Law and Ewan McGregor to take over the role of the super-spy in the long-running series of films, the News of the World said.



Current Bond, Irish actor Pierce Brosnan, has stepped down after four films following a row with producers, the Sunday tabloid title said.



Bana was still negotiating with the series producers but they were hopeful he would take over for the 21st title in the series, due to begin filming later this year, the paper cited an unnamed "insider" as saying.



"Eric is the guy they want but he has a reputation for being demanding. They want to modernize Bond and turn him into a youthful, suave and modern hero to compete with the likes of Spiderman and Keanu (Reeves) in the Matrix," the source said.



Bana was formerly a popular comedian in Australia before grabbing attention in 2000 film "Chopper", in which he played a real-life character, a famous -- and famously violent -- Australian criminal, Mark "Chopper" Read.



He has subsequently appeared in a string of US blockbusters, most recently playing Hector in swords-and-sandals epic "Troy".



The James Bond films, based on the novels of Ian Fleming, have proved hugely successful ever since the first title, 1962's "Dr No", in which Sean Connery took the lead role.

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Firefox: One Browser To Rule Them All.

[justin]

Quote:

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"Eric is the guy they want but he has a reputation for being demanding. They want to modernize Bond and turn him into a youthful, suave and modern hero to compete with the likes of Spiderman and Keanu (Reeves) in the Matrix," the source said.

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Does this mean that we're going to see Bond climbing walls and dodging bullets?

"VOOM"?!? Mate, this bird wouldn't "voom" if you put four million volts through it! 'E's bleedin' demised! - The Parrot Sketch

[LunaMuses]

*laughs at the thought of Bond in tights and floor-length leather trench coat*



'modernizing' Bond seems a bit silly, if you ask me. isn't the appeal in that classic, clean-cut, debonair dashing tux-wearing type of guy we all love?



I'm not the biggest Bond fan (always been a Mission:Impossible gal, actually...), but I think Connery is too awesome to be anything *but* the best, and I love Shirley Bassey's voice...*shrug*



and a random side note...I used to know a girl named Emily Bond, and her dad's name was James, no joke! hehehe, how much fun is that? I always asked her if he answered the phone, "Bond. James Bond." Hell, I would ;D

In Memory of Austin Evans...you will not be forgotten...

[Warduke]

Quote:

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Bana Slams Bond Reports



Hulk star Eric Bana has dismissed reports he has signed a deal to replace Pierce Brosnan as James Bond as "crazy". The 35-year-old Australian actor was at the centre of a media frenzy last week when sources said producer Barbara Broccoli had offered Bana the part. But the Black Hawk Down star says he doesn't even want the coveted role - and has no idea where the story has come from. Bana fumes, "I've said like a million times I wouldn't do it. It's never, ever, ever been something we've had a discussion about. I haven't got a bloody clue where this all started."

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Firefox: One Browser To Rule Them All.

[dreamcatcher]

am i the only one who appreciates honor blackman as pussy galore....?

[Hemiola]

For those interested, the Encore Channel will be running a "Bondathon" on Saturday, June 4, featuring all of the Bond films in order.

I just recently saw their re-broadcast of "Thunderball", and was amazed all over again at the underwater sequences--some of the best ever filmed, I think (and let's not forget that there's underwater sex too!;) ).

Best line in "Thunderball", said by JB after sucking the poison out of a woman's foot:
"That's the first time I've tasted woman."
I remember sitting in the theatre back in 1967 and asking myself, "Really?"
It was considered very daring at the time.

[emma peel]

Thanks for the info, Hemiola. Too bad I don't get Encore, darnit!!
By the way, I agree with you in your Bond choices several posts (and many months ago!!) above.
I guess that since we both seem to be 2 of the more "mature" (cough,cough) kittens, we might have similar tastes. (I remember when The Avengers hit stateside for the first time. I was in high school. Ohmigod..Diana Rigg... )
Please continue with your regularly scheduled Bond thread.