Dr No is hopelessly dated. The typical Bond elements are still there but in a rather primitive form, and the directing is ordinary. Ok film which would have been better if filmed as 4th or 5th film of the series.
Goldfinger is also a bit old fashioned looking but benefits from the superb acting by Gert Fröbe, who is still the most fascinating villain of all Bonds. And he has much more screentime than all the others villains, and he has Odd Job on his side. So Fröbe easily dominates the film even if Connery gave his probably most enthusiastic JB performance.
GF also was made too early in the series to be fully convincing, and maybe it was also made with the wrong director. So GF can’t live up to his reputation.
Thunderball is the best of the trio. It’s the underwater Bond, and all these underwater scenes still look fresh today. Terence Young directs with more competence than in Dr No, and the film’s structure works quite assured with all the coincidences and probabilities of the story. Typical Bond in a positive way.
rewatched Quantum of Solaces last night. I can’t help but like this one A LOT. Bond doesnt get the girl at the end, in that sense the new bonds are pretty conservative, but the movie still kicks tons of ass
He’s a good villain indeed, but I agree with Stanton that the film is dated
It’s still okay, but you get that dr. John the nighttripper effect when watching it: right face, wrong time
I enjoyed Dr No when I saw it again recently on the ultimate edition, didn’t find it dated too much (Diamonds Are Forever is the only one I find has dated alot).
The music cues are nice and dramatic, good pacing and bright beach locations. I loved those opening titles with the dots.
The confrontations Connery has with the henchmen, especially the scene where he shoots Anthony Dawson with the silencer… just realized how amazing that was when I saw the film again last month.
You only Live Twice (1966) is from the so far 18 Bonds I had the pleasure to rewatch in the last 3 months the worst. A totally mechanically developed film in which all the typical ingredients are presented in a rather routine way with no signs of inspiration. I didn’t liked it too much in the past, but to my surprise it was now only 2 hours of well groomed boredom. (Sorry Scherp)
Before Sean Connery was James Bond, at that time he was Sean Connery who was Sean Connery who had to play James Bond.
Diamonds Are Forever (1971) on the other hand is a pleasantly entertaining film, even if one has to admit that the film on closer inspection had more shortcomings than successful moments. Especially the big action scenes are all a bit disappointing.
In fact only the decadent killer duo, whose actors were clearly enjoying themselves, is really remarkable.
[quote=“Stanton, post:128, topic:544”]Two more Connery Bonds.
You only Live Twice (1966) is from the so far 18 Bonds I had the pleasure to rewatch in the last 3 months the worst. A totally mechanically developed film in which all the typical ingredients are presented in a rather routine way with no signs of inspiration. I didn’t liked it too much in the past, but to my surprise it was now only 2 hours of well groomed boredom. (Sorry Scherp)
Before Sean Connery was James Bond, at that time he was Sean Connery who was Sean Connery who had to play James Bond.[/quote]
I rewatched it a few weeks ago, just to be sure I wasn’t mistaken
I must admit it dropped a few places, I still like those sets and Little Nellie (and for some reason those silly special effects, the opening scene is even better than The Thunderbirds), but the story is for the birds. And yes, Connery wasn’t in fine form here
James Bond: Suave, sophisticated and cunning, the legendry fictional spy has spellbound people with twenty-two films based on the twelve novels by Ian Fleming, who created the character in 1953. Of the six actors to portray Bond, Sean Connery is undoubtedly the most popular, who appeared from Dr. No (the first Bond movie) to You Only Live Twice and returned for Diamonds Are Forever.
Some of the great film posters that the Bond series has been graced with:
When i was a kid i was at my nan’s house as she said to me “James Bond is on telly soon,do you want to watch it?”, i did so i sat down to watch it when my nan trotted off to make dinner, it had been on for quite a while when i said to my nan “where’s James Bond?”, i was looking out for Roger Moore as he was the only Bond i had seen prior! remember i was a little kid at the time
