"About The James Bond Movies" Topic

"Not many international secret agents have a cinematic shelf life of 52 years. Actually, there's only one: Bond … James Bond. The suave super-spy better known as 007 has been foiling plots for world domination since Sean Connery made the role so iconic back in 1963. Since then, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig have served queen and country, but not all Bond films are created equal—and lest you spend several days plowing through them all nonstop (like I did), you should choose wisely.

But with a little bit of guidance, you can maneuver the two dozen movies with the skill that Bond uses to command a Baccarat table. We'll take you through the surefire hits, the excruciating misses, and the underappreciated gems that only seem to get better with time, like a '53 Dom Perignon. If you've got the license to kill some time, our guide won't steer you wrong…"
See here
link

Amicalement
Armand

A LOT of crap with a number of gems and great individual set pieces.

Lists man with the Golden Gun as good somehow. List is clearly faulty.

What? Not one mention of David Niven, who played Bond in "Casino Royale", was Fleming's choice for "Dr No", and is mentioned by name in two of the Bond novels ("On Her Majesty's Secret Service", and "You Only Live Twice" – being described in the latter as "the only gentleman in Hollywood")?

See the new comedy called "Spy" if you can. They give the intro a full Bond treatment.

I liked Spy, too.

I agree with most of what the article says, but no mention of Ursula Andress in the recap of Dr. No, despite using her in the lead-in photo? Inexcusable! She set the tone for all Bond women to follow.

I do agree that "You Only Move Twice" from The Simpsons is one of the best Bond homages/parodies.

Ursula Andress to me is still the definitive Bond girl.

I like Jessica Alba's homage to that iconic scene:

Slurp!… (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

When Fleming first wrote Casino Royal, he envisioned actor Hoagy Carmichael as Bond.

Yes, Vesper Lynd even comments on the resemblance to Hoagy in Casino Royale.

When Fleming first wrote Casino Royal, he envisioned actor Hoagy Carmichael as Bond.

No, Fleming – through the Vesper Lynd character – only remarks that Bond looks like Hoagy Carmichael (including a scar on one cheek, I believe); he never said Bond should be played by him if that's what you are suggesting – apologies if I've mis-read you. Carmichael was well into his 50s at the time Fleming wrote the novel, and so would never have been considered, although the physical similarity was also remarked on in at least one other Bond novel (Moonraker?). The first man to play Bond on screen was Barry Nelson, who was in his mid-30s, the age-group Fleming envisaged.

It was remarked on that Fleming also looked like Carmichael.

Saw Specter the other night. My God, what a horrible movie. I honestly almost walked out but I was sort of snake fascinated to see the end, hoping it would somehow, in any fashion, get better. But nope.

@Triplecad. Really??!! How bad could it be? Give us a review or some reasons.

Ok, first let me say I love Connery as Bond, enjoyed Skyfall immensely and like the edgy Bond portrayed in that film. Spectre is so disjointed that it often makes no sense. In the opening scene, for example, Bond attacks a guy in a helicopter. For absolutely no reason, the pilot of the helicopter starts flying around in crazy circles, as if he is injured, but he is not. It is sort of hard to describe, but my wife and I both looked at each other and asked, why the heck is that pilot flying around in crazy circles?
At several points in the movie, I had to ask my wife what the heck Bond was doing, why was he doing it and who was the person he was speaking with? Neither of us had a clue. The movie is beyond being forced and contrived, it is often just plain nonsensical.
After a major Spectre assassin is slain by Bond, he rushes to save the guy's widow. For some reason, she is now a threat to the world's biggest criminal organization – but you never know why. Presumably her super secret assassin husband told her something, but, you never know. Of course, this widow of 15 minutes falls into Bond's arms for some good old-fashioned comforting.
And, the "Bond girl" character is, well, a horrible actress. After knowing Bond for about one day, the girl confesses her love for Bond, sigh, and it is beyond unbelievable. The main villain tries desperately to be interesting, but he fails.
At least twice in the movie, some villainous type sets a timer – once for one minute and another for three minutes – in a contrived suspense-builder during which Bond must escape some horrible fate. The movie then plays out in real time as Bond races the clock. Towards the end of the movie, my wife said, "Oh my God, someone is going to set a 15-minute timer and this movie will never end."
It is a stinker.

"At least twice in the movie, some villainous type sets a timer – once for one minute and another for three minutes –"

>ding<

Villain: "The eggs are done!"

;-)

I realize that if the script writers stuck to the stories of Ian Fleming's books, there probably wouldn't have been as many motion pictures. I have my favorites and those I found not as entertaining to a purest. The best in my opinion for keeping to story line:

Dr. No (sans the squid)
From Russia With Love
Goldfinger (but they should have kept the train in the story)
The Living Daylights (although highly embellished)
Casino Royale (Both Barry Nelson and Daniel Craig version)
Thunderball

On my list of worst:

The Spy Who Loved Me (If they kept to the script, Bond would have appeared in only 1/3 the movie, but I would like to have seen it made)
Diamonds Are Forever
The Man With the Golden Gun
You Only Live Twice (An elegant motion picture that was the first to bear no resemblance to the books save for a few characters and location)

I wonder how many critics have really bothered to explore the dimensions of the Bond character beyond motion picture. A few, I suppose, but not many.

Some better than others … but generally pretty entertaining. And of course some lovely gals/girls !

I really found the old Casino Royale with David Niven, Woody Allen, etc., one of my favorites. Even though it was a comedy !