Wednesday, 04 November 2009

  • Movies 9.33 - The [Pre-Daniel Craig] James Bond Series

    When I put the Mission: Impossible Trilogy on my Netfilx a while back, it started recommending all the James Bond films.  So I decided, what the heck, I’ll just watch the whole [pre-Daniel Craig] series.  Some I had seen, others were new to me.  In the interest of space and my sanity, I’ll form an [engineered] list [for Rachel] so as to just hit the high points of the adventures of Agent 007.

    ·        Dr. No (1962) – Had not seen previously.  007 – Sean Connery (The Untouchables).  Nice locations, pretty good set up for the rest of the series.  Some cheesy fights and corny lines, but delivered so well by Connery. M, played by Bernard Lee, and Moneypenny, played by Louis Maxwell, make first appearances. Q, played by Major Boothroyd, makes an appearance, but not as his job title.

    ·        From Russia with Love (1963) - Had not seen previously.  007 – Sean Connery. Some nice locations, but overall, not quite as good as the first.  The Cold War setting worked, but the ending was a little lackluster.

    ·        Goldfinger (1964) – Already seen. 007 – Sean Connery.  Classic Bond.  Impossible scenarios, lovely ladies, double entendres, gadgets, and scheming.  Brilliant and funny – probably the best of Connery’s run. Desmond Llewellyn takes over the role of Q. One of the best Bond girl names: Pussy Galore. 

    ·        Thunderball (1965) -  Had not seen previously.  007 – Sean Connery.  A worthy follow-up to Goldfinger, but not quite as good.  Some pretty cool underwater sequences that work well. 

    ·        You Only Live Twice (1967)- Had not seen previously.  007 – Sean Connery.  New scenery in Japan, and space is brought into play.  Also, Blofeld is revealed for the first time, and there are some good fights and explosions. 

    ·        On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) – Had not seen previously.  007 – George Lazenby (Gettysburg).  It just doesn’t quite work as well as the Connery movies.  Plus, the idea of Bond actually wanting to get married is just silly.  Some of the action is pretty good, but it just isn’t as suave as the previous ones, and Lazenby is kind of dull compared to Connery.

    ·        Diamonds are Forever (1971) – Already seen.  007 – Sean Connery.  Triumphant return of Connery to Bond.  High action, but kind of lame duo Bambie and Thumper and creepy/annoying/gay duo Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd.  The Las Vegas thing didn’t really work for me.  Still, Connery is the man as far as Bond goes.

    ·        Live and Let Die (1973) – Had not seen previously.  007 – Roger Moore. One of the stranger bond films, but not entirely bad.  A young Jane Seymour (Wedding Crashers) was the Bond girl in one of her first films.  Strange setting in the Caribbean, and an odd plot involving drugs.

    ·        The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) – Already seen.  007 – Roger Moore.  One of the better Moore films.  A much younger but still impressive Christopher Lee (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) plays the titillating villain – pun intended.  A string of odd occurrences, lovely ladies, and corny lines make it worthy of remembrance. 

    ·        The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)– Already seen.  007 – Roger Moore.  Another fairly good Moore film, though not as good as the previous one.  Barbra Bach (i.e. Mrs. Ringo Starr) plays the hot Russian spy/Bond girl.  First appearance of Jaws.  New gadgets from Q including the underwater car. 

    ·        Moonraker (1979) – Already seen.  007 – Roger Moore.  One of the sillier of the Bond films.  Jaws makes a second and final appearance, and Bond ventures into space.  Other locales are interesting including Venice and Rio.

    ·        For Your Eyes Only – Already seen.  007 – Roger Moore.  Another silly adventure for Bond.  A lot of underwater action, and some nice snow skiing.  However, professional ice skater Lynn-Holly Johnson is one of the most annoying Bond girls (if she can even be called one).  The end credits feature silhouetted skinny dipping, which I found quite comical. 

    ·        Octopussy (1983) - Had not seen previously.  007 – Roger Moore.  As if the name wasn’t funny enough.  This one wasn’t as silly as the two prior films, but it was silly nonetheless – especially the climatic battle and the crocodile.  Otherwise it really wasn’t too bad, in that it pokes fun at commies.  Robert Brown takes over as M.

    ·        Never Say Never Again (1983) - Had not seen previously.  007 – Sean Connery.  This was an “unsanctioned” Bond film.  Completely devoid of the theme music and other little elements that make Bond films good, but a return of Connery to the role.  All the other players are replaced by different actors, but the effect is still the same.  Kim Basinger (L.A. Confidential) is the Bond girl in this one, and Rowan Atkinson (Rat Race) has a small role. 

    ·        A View to a Kill (1985) - Had not seen previously.  007 – Roger Moore.  One of the better Moore films in the scope that it was so far out there.  From horse races to a climatic fight at the top of the Golden Gate Bridge.  Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter) is the baddie, with Tanya Roberts (”That 70’s Show”) as the Bond girl. 

    ·        The Living Daylights (1987) - Had not seen previously.  007 – Timothy Dalton.  A big switch up as far as Bond movies go – and not really in a good way.  Caroline Bliss takes over as Moneypenny, and it just gets sillier from there.  Though it’s still anti-commie, the trek from Europe ends in a silly climax in Afghanistan.  Ironic, though. 

    ·        License to Kill (1989) - Had not seen previously.  007 – Timothy Dalton.  Strange little film that was one of the weakest in the series.  Drugs aren’t Bond’s forte.  A few exciting sequences, but I honestly fell asleep during the last part, so I had to rewatch it later.  A younger [less stoned-looking] Benicio del Toro (The Usual Suspects) has a small part. 

    ·        GoldenEye (1995) – Seen already.  007 – Pierce Brosnan. A big shake up for the franchise – but in a good way.  Judi Dench (Mrs. Henderson Presents) takes over as M, and Samantha Bond takes over as Moneypenny.  While it’s probably just meant to be a shakeup in terms of female empowerment, Dench as M somehow works well.  Plus, Sean Bean (Sharpe’s Rifles) as the baddie alongside Famke Janssen (Taken) as Xenia Onnatop (another great Bond girl name) make it even better.  Robbie Coltrane (Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince) and Alan Cumming (X2: X-Men United) have small parts.

    ·        Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) - Seen already.  007 – Pierce Brosnan.  Not a bad follow up to GoldenEye.  I did find it quite ironic that the media was portrayed as trying to create the news – not entirely unlike what they do today.  Who knew that a Bond film would be foretelling?  Jonathan Pryce (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End) is the media mogul baddie, and Teri Hatcher (“Desperate Housewives”) and Michelle Yeoh (Sunshine) are the Bond girls.  Some exotic locales, and some cool toys supplied by Q.

    ·        The World Is Not Enough (1999) - Seen already.  007 – Pierce Brosnan.  A unworthy follow-up, and one of my least favorite Bond films.  Probably because the whole Stockholm syndrome thing didn’t work for me, and the fact that Denise Richards (Starship Troopers) is easily the worst Bond girl ever.  Couldn’t a more capable actress have been picked to play a nuclear physicist?  It was just a weak story overall, even though it tried to take advantage of a hot button issue: oil supply.  Coltrane appears again, as does Robert Carlyle (28 Weeks Later). This saw the departure of Llewellyn as Q, and the introduction of his replacement by John Cleese (The Day the Earth Stood Still).

    ·        Die Another Day (2002) - Seen already.  007 – Pierce Brosnan.  This one brought it back for Bond after the previous lackluster affair.  More impossible scenarios (ice castles melting, surfing into North Korea, sword fighting) make the action appealing, as do Halle Berry (Introducing Dorothy Dandridge) and Rosamond Pike (Pride & Prejudice) as the Bond girls.  An appearance by Madonna, however, was unwarranted and lame.  Otherwise, with the awesome new Aston Martin provided by Cleese’s Q, and the fairly worthy adversaries provided by Toby Stephens (son of Maggie Smith) and Rick Yune (The Fast and the Furious), it’s a pretty good Bond adventure, and the last for Brosnan.

    Now the series has been revamped with Daniel Craig in the lead.  I have to say that he’s my favorite Bond.  However, there’s something endearing about Connery.  He’ll always be Bond, but just the less serious, more suave and womanizing Bond.

  • Choose Identity

  • Give eProps (?)

  • New! You can now edit your comments for 15 minutes after submitting.

About this Entry

Tags

Who recommended?