James Bond

Opening scene is great fun and there are good scenes throughout, but yes, too much happens under water, never a good idea for an action-adventure movie

I hadn’t watched Never Say Never Again in a long time. After rewatching it tonight, all I can say is “never again!”

Watching the Craig films now. I like him as Bond, which means I like them all.

Regarding the subject… or not…

It’s like asking young people in the 1950s/60s what they thought of victorian era.

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Bet I’m more ‘offended’ watching the last 4 Daniel Craig movies than these young whelps ! :smile: Oooops, that’s probably offensive … ?

Craig makes me fall asleep just looking at the guy.

I like Craig. I watched Casino Royale recently and thought he was pretty good in the role. I can’t say I liked the film that much though. I did remember liking Skyfall at the cinema but I’m going to have to watch them all again. Timothy Dalton will probably remain my favourite Bond now on. I also thought Brosnan was absolutely fantastic as Bond but he was given the worst scripts.

The writer of that page says “Bond fans are having trouble with Moore’s 70s-80s Bond films in different ways - after all, isn’t Live and Let Die essentially a blaxploitation film with its voodoo theme, black gangsters and pimpmobiles?”

What’s wrong with Blaxploitation films? They were often made by black filmmakers for black audiences and the reception was usually positive. Live and Let Die is easily one of the best Bond films, probably in my top five. If they don’t like Bond films, why would they call themselves Bond fans?

A film in which a supreme white kills dozens of blacks is hardly a blaxploitation film.

It is actually the opposite.

Apart from that, Live and Let Die is indeed one of the best Bonds (which does not mean that it is a great film). Moore’s other great Bond is of course The Spy Who Nailed Me, a surprisingly stylish film. Followed with Moonraker by a surprisingly un-stylish film (even more surprisingly from the same director), which is together with A View to A Kill the worst Bond.
But I think that Moore’s Bond films feel generally now more dated than those by the other Bond-actors

I think Ocotopussy is Moore’s worst and I actually like A View to a kill more than Moonraker.

Octopussy is good fun. Far better than the shortly thereafter released last Connery Bond Never Say Never Again. I also prefer Octopussy meanwhile to For Your Eyes Only, which is pretty blandly directed.
Actually from the Bonds of the 70s and 80s it is one of the better ones.

Octopussy suffers from some of the usual weak stuff of other Moore Bonds, but the story has potential and there are some fine action scenes.

He says ‘darling’ too much in Live and Let Die, thats the only problem I have with it.

The only one I don’t like is Spectre, which thinks its really clever and serious but is probably the dumbest of all of them, imo… Christoph Waltz as Blowfeld is one of the least menacing villains i’ve seen, hopefully he doesn’t return like the ending suggests

I wasn’t too fond of it when I watched it for the first time (I preferred Never say Never Again back then), but in retrospect it’s one of the better Bonds. It mainly suffers from those silly, stupid visual jokes, which were typical for the period (and the Bond movies from that period). Never say never again on the other hand, is in retrospect a rather dull movie, with a few good scenes and moments

I easily agree.

A while ago a network was showing all Bonds again. I picked up a few, among them Moonraker, that I had not seen in decades because I thought back then that it was hopeless. It hadn’t improved much, but otherwise it’s funny that preferences change over the years. For Your Eyes Only isn’t too bad, has its moments, but also its uninspired moments

For Your Eyes Only is one that had lost for me. That what was great then (like the ski action) is not that great any more, and the worse things are still there. But unlike Moonraker it is one I can still enjoy.

For me the old Bonds have not changed that much over the decades, the ones which once were the best, are more or less still the best.

But as you know, Quantum of Solace is an incredible masterpiece of a quality I never expected to find in a Bond film.
Mendes tries also to make more complex Bonds, but he has no real feeling for that. Skyfall and Spectre are pretty uneven and inconsequent films concerning style and story.

I haven’t picked up any of the old Bonds recently (watched half an hour over You only live twice though), so I can’t say if my preferences have changed. I was mainly interested in rewatching the ‘middle Bonds’, so to speak. I used to like You Only Live Twice, but when I re-watched it 6-7 years ago (when we were discussing all Bonds) I felt disappointed. Don’t really know why I liked it much better 30 years ago. I can still enjoy some things, but it’s simply not a good movie

Well yes, I also agree, You Only Live Twice is also one of the 4 weakest Bonds. Wasting a volcanic crater launching base is unforgivable.

The 4th one is Tomorrow Never Dies (with Never Say Never Again not too far away).

In these 4 Bonds the ideas look all like bland routine.

In the better ones the fun factor easily triumphs.

You Only Live Twice is my favourite with Connery even though it contains his worst performance. I also think For Your Eyes Only is a near perfect Bond film. The only thing I can’t stand is the parrot at the end. The main reason why Octopussy is my least favourite is because I can’t forgive the writers for putting Bond in a clown suit. Terrible idea!
I liked the first half of Moonraker but the second half is too ridiculous for me. I can understand why a lot of people don’t like A View to a Kill but it’s an enjoyable film for me. Love Christopher Walken’s character. It’s a pity they didn’t make it a bit darker and offer it to Dalton, although we wouldn’t have had the wonderful St. John Smythe part.

Moore’s best to worst for me:

The Spy Who Loved Me
Live and Let Die
For Your Eyes Only
The Man With the Golden Gun
A View to a Kill
Moonraker
Octopussy