RANKING THE BOND FILMS
It has arrived…
It’s NOVEMBER 14.
Today QUANTUM OF SOLACE, the new JAMES BOND adventure, hits screens right across North America.
I’ll be out there as well.
If I don’t get in (and I’m sure that some boy at some local theatrical establishment will take note of my distracting blonde presence – if not, there’ll be a lot of stamping of china doll feet and constructive cursing…), I will be rather upset.
To put it mildly…
But I know my way around this town. Fingers crossed…
In a particularly apropos move, EW has ranked the BOND flicks. Of the ones listed, these are the ones that I personally dig:
21. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
20. LICENCE TO KILL
19. OCTOPUSSY
17. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS
14. MOONRAKER
10. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
5. CASINO ROYALE (2006)
I’m not including any that I haven’t seen ALL THE WAY THROUGH. (There are a number of them, unfortunately.) If you’re assuming I’m not a Connery fan, you’d be right…
The slideshow is here
Here is my own personal TOP 5.
5. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
4. LICENCE TO KILL
3. MOONRAKER
2. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS
1. CASINO ROYALE (2006)
I also have an enormous soft spot for the star studded CASINO ROYALE spoof (1967), which makes me laugh my ass off every single time I watch it.
*deep breath*
It’s finally here, boys and girls.
I’ve been waiting two whole years for this.
Hope I don’t spontaneously combust…
November 16, 2008 at 11:00 am
Hope I don’t spontaneously combust…
hmm you mean that 3 hour cold shower didn’t help ????
November 16, 2008 at 11:07 am
i’ll match you this time fashion/style maven.
http://jamesbondlifestyle.com/
November 16, 2008 at 11:08 am
glim, I could be IMMERSED IN COLD WATER for days on end and it wouldn’t help.
Just thinking of those cool blue eyes and that hot body…
I think I need one of those refrigerated trucks.
November 16, 2008 at 11:25 am
Thanks, glim.
For all of that. You’re a sweetheart…
That is most impressive. All that info on clothing, accessories, gadgets, luxury cars, food and drink…
Those are the definitive reasons I love those films. Fabulous lifestyles. People dressed to the nines. Exotic locales. Great hotel suites.
BOND is not exactly a low rent romeo.
All that glamour and sex are pretty intense turn ons for me. I come out of the theatre (or the living room at home) after one of those films just buzzing.
I like ROGER MOORE and PIERCE BROSNAN. They’re both handsome and very likable.
But TIMOTHY DALTON and DANIEL CRAIG are the only two that raise my temperature right through the roof.
They’re both so dangerous. Just like lions in heat…
November 17, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Miranda, have you heard Stephen Merchant talk about James Bond? Hilarious.
I quite enjoyed Casino Royale. I think it went on too long (that card sequence was unbearable for me, I’m sorry), but the action sequences were incredible. I can’t even remember the last time I saw a Bond movie before that.
When I was younger I was HOOKED on the Bond themes. “The Spy Who Loved Me”, “Goldfinger”, and “Dr No”, of course… I always remember the songs but not the actual films. MOONRAKER stands out to me, though, only because the space shuttle and the character of Jaws were so memorable.
November 17, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Oh, and Q! I remember Q from all of the films! And Jane Moneypenny!
November 17, 2008 at 3:22 pm
k, YOU’RE BACK!!!!!
Great to have you over here again, my girl.
Especially since we’re talking about…BOND.
No, I’ve never heard STEPHEN MERCHANT discuss BOND. NOT EVER.
TOTALLY agree about the BOND themes. Some of them were more memorable than the pictures themselves.
I’m really digging the new song (JACK WHITE and ALICIA KEYS’ ANOTHER WAY TO DIE). Sorry to bring that up because I remember you said that you hated it.
But, like you, I also adore GOLDFINGER and THE SPY WHO LOVED ME. They were GREAT.
Really love:
LIVE & LET DIE (PAUL McCARTNEY & WINGS)
A VIEW TO A KILL (DURAN DURAN)
GOLDENEYE (TINA TURNER)
TOMORROW NEVER DIES (SHERYL CROW)
THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH (GARBAGE)
November 17, 2008 at 3:32 pm
I’m back!
Part-time, at least.
November 17, 2008 at 3:39 pm
YAY for that, k!!!!!
You two goddesses from INSIDE THE GOLD should visit these shores more often.
CINEMATIC PASSIONS suffers greatly from your respective absences.
COMPLETELY…
November 17, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Yeah, I’m not too fond of Another Way to Die.
One of the absolute worst themes was Madonna’s “Die Another Day”. I don’t think I’ve ever made it all the way through, to be honest.
But the themes have become more memorable than most of the films — especially the recent ones. Garbage’s “The World is Not Enough” stands out (I saw the film, but I can’t, for the life of me, remember what the hell it was about), so does Sheryl Crow’s theme, Tina Turner’s…
The older ones are the best, though. Paul McCartney (I feel like I’m the only one who likes his, for some reason), Nancy Sinatra, Carly Simon, SHIRLEY BASSEY (Goldfinger AND Diamonds are Forever, not so much Moonraker)… and I think everyone knows the Dr. No theme.
November 17, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Ha! It looks like we share the same favorites!
November 17, 2008 at 3:43 pm
k, somehow that DOES NOT surprise me.
We generally agree on the important things, I would say…
November 17, 2008 at 3:43 pm
You can listen to Stephen Merchant talk about Bond here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx4vPHRhI3Y
It’s a pretty hilarious rant about some of the older films.
November 17, 2008 at 3:54 pm
k, Madonna did herself no favours whatsoever when she recorded that alleged song. For it to be a great BOND theme, you need it to be a classically gorgeous rendition of something you’d hear on the radio anywhere from around 1965 to the late 80s.
With all that rank cutting, Madonna just sounds like she has the hiccups. It’s NOT like she can sing anyway.
THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH is a BOND flick that I actually like a lot despite the presence of Denise Richards as Dr. Christmas Jones.
Yeah, like that chick is a nuclear physicist. If brains were dynamite, she couldn’t blow her own nose. If she’s a highly intellectual scientific genius, then I’m Queen Elizabeth. Where’s my crown…?
PAUL McCARTNEY was nominated for an OSCAR for LIVE & LET DIE. Fabulous song that was a huge hit all on its own. It should’ve won.
And of course SHIRLEY BASSEY was incredible. She’ll live forever simply because of GOLDFINGER. She hit that straight out of the park and into another country.
You have great taste, girl. What can I say…?
November 17, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Many thanks for the STEPHEN MERCHANT stuff, k.
I’ll have to give that a listen…