My first experience with the Bond series was, like many young people at the time, the Goldeneye video game for the N64. It wasn't until around 2015 or so that I actually watched my first Bond film. I viewed Goldeneye on the "definitive" format of VHS because I just so happened to have found a tape of it in storage and my VCR was still working at the time. Flash forward another ten or so years and I'd actually like to sit down and watch some of these to see what all the fuss is about.
Here's what I know or have been told about the Bond series:
- It's originally based on some books which are of varying quality
- Various actors play as Bond (and some are better than others?)
- I heard Moonraker is crazy and/or really bad
My queries:
- Is this a series in which you want to start at the beginning and work your way forward? Or can you jump around to watch the highlights?
- If the latter, what are the main films to watch?
- No major spoilers, but is Oddjob's height pertinent to the film or was that just some video game b.s.?
Shaken, not stirred
Re: Shaken, not stirred
I have a box set of every Bond movie up till Casino Royale from 2006 which is Daniel Craig’s first movie in the series and for what I understand, that one predates every Bond movie.
The issue for me at least is that I can’t determine if there’s an actual timeline. Even though Casino Royale is supposed to be the very first movie chronologically, technological advancements like a sleek new Aston Martin or a watch sorta takes the experience out for me.
I honestly look at it from the perspective of who starred as the main Bond and just take it from there. So each actor represents a separate timeline. Judi Dench just happens to be M in two of those timelines or alternate universes. Desmond Llewelyn as Q just so happens to be part of many timelines. I’m definitely looking at this a little too much
Since my first Bond movie was Goldeneye, if I’m ever in a mood for a bond, I usually watch from anything Goldeneye and newer. I haven’t watched No Time to Die which was Craig’s final movie. I heard it wasn’t very good.
The issue for me at least is that I can’t determine if there’s an actual timeline. Even though Casino Royale is supposed to be the very first movie chronologically, technological advancements like a sleek new Aston Martin or a watch sorta takes the experience out for me.
I honestly look at it from the perspective of who starred as the main Bond and just take it from there. So each actor represents a separate timeline. Judi Dench just happens to be M in two of those timelines or alternate universes. Desmond Llewelyn as Q just so happens to be part of many timelines. I’m definitely looking at this a little too much
Since my first Bond movie was Goldeneye, if I’m ever in a mood for a bond, I usually watch from anything Goldeneye and newer. I haven’t watched No Time to Die which was Craig’s final movie. I heard it wasn’t very good.
I own too many hoodies jackets hoodies and DS games and I’m not ashamed!
Re: Shaken, not stirred
Goldeneye on the N64 was also my entry point to the Bond franchise. After it became one of my favorite video games at the time, I wanted to see the movie it was made after. I went to my local video rental shop, since such things existed at the time, and rented Goldeneye on VHS. But my VCR kept ejecting the tape, which is a safety mechanism built into VCRs if the tape is damaged in any way. Not to be discouraged though, I made my way down to Blockbuster just as soon as I could to rent another copy of the movie. I remember watching it for the first time and thinking, "It's just like the game!" LOL.
After watching and very much enjoying Goldeneye, I wanted to see other Bond movies. The next ones I chose also tied into the N64 game. I knew that the Golden Gun as well as some other things were pulled from Roger Moore Bond movies, so I decided to start with Live and Let Die and watch through the Moore movies, one or two rentals at a time. That's probably why Moore ended up being my favorite Bond, at least back then.
I will defend Moonraker. The thing that pisses a lot of people off is the whole "James Bond meets Star Wars" thing. It was a great book. But Star Wars just blew up so I guess they wanted to capitalize on that. In the third act, Bond goes to a space station and there ends up being a laser gun fight that you may or may not find cheesy. This is where the Aztec level from the game Goldeneye comes from. Despite the third act, I think it's a a solid Bond movie. The rest of the movie up until that point is solid, with the exception of one really goofy scene (the pidgin double take). And I never really mind the whole in space thing to be honest.
My vote for worst Bond film is Die Another Day. It is such a horrible movie. I pretend that it doesn't exist, and I skip it when watching through the series. I would say watch it at least once for a good laugh. But it sucks that this is how Brosnan went out as Bond.
There's a lot of movies if you want to start at Dr. No and watch all of them. So I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to check out some highlights first. I could give you my recommendation, if you want.
Connery - There is a mild continuity between the Connery films regarding the organization SPECTRE and it's leader Blofeld. The one Connery film that this doesn't matter is Goldfinger (the one with Oddjob). Goldfinger isn't one of my personal favorites, but it's one of the more beloved Bond movies. It's cut very well, sort of fast paced, so it still holds up today I think. So if you wanted to check out one Connery film, this would be a good one.
As for the rest of the Connery films, I would say it's worth watching them in order. Dr. No is a little dated in many ways, but still holds up well in my opinion. And it has the best introduction to James Bond in any movie. The second film, From Russia WIth Love, is my personal favorite of the Connery films. Thunderball, You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever all have varying opinions.
George Lazenby - The second "actor" to play James Bond, and only in one movie, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. This movie came out in between You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever. They wanted to stay true to the book, so there's a bit of a continuity hiccup. But it has a major plot point regarding Bond and Blofeld.
Roger Moore - A lot of people will say the Moore files are too goofy. But honestly, there's some real goofy shit in some of the later Connery films. Moore has some solid films, but there are quite a few of them. You really don't have to watch them in any order. The Spy Who Loved Me is highly regarded, and although it's not one of my personal favorites I can see why. It wouldn't be a bad one to check out if you wanted to just check out a few Bond films from different eras.
Timothy Dalton - Dalton was Bond in only two movies. I rather like The Living Daylights, it feels like a classic Flemming Bond movie. License to Kill gets a bad wrap as being too "Miami Vice," like I said the movies are all products of their times, but I still think it's an enjoyable film.
Peirce Brosnan - If you already watched Goldeneye, then you already seen the best Brosnan film. I think Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough are both still excellent Bond movies, they just didn't hit the same high as Goldeneye for me. Watching the rest of the Brosnan movies would be a good start, I would think. Die Another Day sucks, but watch it if you want a laugh.
Daniel Craig - Obviously, these are the most modern Bond films. Casino Royale and Skyfall are both excellent movies. If you want to watch Spectre and No Time To Die, then watch all of the Craig films in order because they pull some continuity out of their asses in the end.
So to some it up, if you wanted to just check out a few to see if you like the series or not, these would be my recommendations...
Tomorrow Never Dies
The World Is Not Enough
Casino Royale
Skyfall
Goldfinger
The Spy Who Loved Me
If you like Goldfinger, then I would start with Dr. No and watched through all of the Connery films.
If you like the Connery films, then watch On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
If you liked Moore in Spy Who Loved Me, and don't mind a little goofiness/campy then I would say watch the rest of the Moore films but the order doesn't really matter.
The Living Daylights, like I said, feels very much like a Flemming Bond. I think it's a solid movie, definitely worth a watch if you're enjoying Bond. Dalton was the original cold/badass Bond before Craig. License to Kill can feel a bit less like a Bond movie and more like a generic 80's action movie, but it's still pretty good.
If you liked Goldeneye and Brosnan as Bond, then definitely check out his next two films. Just be warned about his last film LOL.
Casino Royale and Skyfall are both solid films, Bond or not. Quantum of Solace picks up directly after Casino Royale ends, FYI. And the last two Craig films have continuity from the previous ones. So while you can watch Casino Royale and Skyfall out of order and it doesn't matter, if you plan to watch all of the Craig films then you really should watch them in order.
After watching and very much enjoying Goldeneye, I wanted to see other Bond movies. The next ones I chose also tied into the N64 game. I knew that the Golden Gun as well as some other things were pulled from Roger Moore Bond movies, so I decided to start with Live and Let Die and watch through the Moore movies, one or two rentals at a time. That's probably why Moore ended up being my favorite Bond, at least back then.
Ian Flemming, the author that created James Bond 007 and wrote the original novels (and some short stories). The books were written in the 50s. Eon Productions started to adapt them into movies starting with Dr. No in 1962. They couldn't get the film rights to Flemming's first Bond book, Casino Royale, so they decided to shoot them out of order. So there's some continuity differences between the original books and movies. And notably there's a continuity hiccup with the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Oh, and also a law suite that prevented the films from using some things. But yeah, that's why it wasn't until recent years that Casino Royale was finally made into a proper film. Flemming died in the 60's, after which several other authors have written Bond novels.
To each his own, I guess. I would say that no Bond actor is straight up BAD.- Various actors play as Bond (and some are better than others?)
- I heard Moonraker is crazy and/or really bad
I will defend Moonraker. The thing that pisses a lot of people off is the whole "James Bond meets Star Wars" thing. It was a great book. But Star Wars just blew up so I guess they wanted to capitalize on that. In the third act, Bond goes to a space station and there ends up being a laser gun fight that you may or may not find cheesy. This is where the Aztec level from the game Goldeneye comes from. Despite the third act, I think it's a a solid Bond movie. The rest of the movie up until that point is solid, with the exception of one really goofy scene (the pidgin double take). And I never really mind the whole in space thing to be honest. My vote for worst Bond film is Die Another Day. It is such a horrible movie. I pretend that it doesn't exist, and I skip it when watching through the series. I would say watch it at least once for a good laugh. But it sucks that this is how Brosnan went out as Bond.
There is some continuity, but you can most definitely watch them out of order if you want. There is one major plot point regarding Bond and Blofeld that is referenced in a few bond movies, which I can spoil for you if you want. But if you watched the movies out of order and this thing went over your head, it would in no way stop you from enjoying the movie. When I watched all of the movies for the first time, it was semi out of order and it didn't bother me.
There's a lot of movies if you want to start at Dr. No and watch all of them. So I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to check out some highlights first. I could give you my recommendation, if you want.
I mean, it's an attribute of the character. But I wouldn't call his height pertinent.- No major spoilers, but is Oddjob's height pertinent to the film or was that just some video game b.s.?
The Bond movies are all products of their time. So the Connery movies are very 60s, the Moore movies are very 70s, and so on. I just mention this because some people don't like movies that are "too old." A lot of people will say Connery was the best Bond, and in many ways he most definitely was. So it's not a bad starting point, if you don't mind movies from the 60s. If that seems too dated to you, then maybe start with a more modern Bond.
Connery - There is a mild continuity between the Connery films regarding the organization SPECTRE and it's leader Blofeld. The one Connery film that this doesn't matter is Goldfinger (the one with Oddjob). Goldfinger isn't one of my personal favorites, but it's one of the more beloved Bond movies. It's cut very well, sort of fast paced, so it still holds up today I think. So if you wanted to check out one Connery film, this would be a good one.
As for the rest of the Connery films, I would say it's worth watching them in order. Dr. No is a little dated in many ways, but still holds up well in my opinion. And it has the best introduction to James Bond in any movie. The second film, From Russia WIth Love, is my personal favorite of the Connery films. Thunderball, You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever all have varying opinions.
George Lazenby - The second "actor" to play James Bond, and only in one movie, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. This movie came out in between You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever. They wanted to stay true to the book, so there's a bit of a continuity hiccup. But it has a major plot point regarding Bond and Blofeld.
Roger Moore - A lot of people will say the Moore files are too goofy. But honestly, there's some real goofy shit in some of the later Connery films. Moore has some solid films, but there are quite a few of them. You really don't have to watch them in any order. The Spy Who Loved Me is highly regarded, and although it's not one of my personal favorites I can see why. It wouldn't be a bad one to check out if you wanted to just check out a few Bond films from different eras.
Timothy Dalton - Dalton was Bond in only two movies. I rather like The Living Daylights, it feels like a classic Flemming Bond movie. License to Kill gets a bad wrap as being too "Miami Vice," like I said the movies are all products of their times, but I still think it's an enjoyable film.
Peirce Brosnan - If you already watched Goldeneye, then you already seen the best Brosnan film. I think Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough are both still excellent Bond movies, they just didn't hit the same high as Goldeneye for me. Watching the rest of the Brosnan movies would be a good start, I would think. Die Another Day sucks, but watch it if you want a laugh.
Daniel Craig - Obviously, these are the most modern Bond films. Casino Royale and Skyfall are both excellent movies. If you want to watch Spectre and No Time To Die, then watch all of the Craig films in order because they pull some continuity out of their asses in the end.
So to some it up, if you wanted to just check out a few to see if you like the series or not, these would be my recommendations...
Tomorrow Never Dies
The World Is Not Enough
Casino Royale
Skyfall
Goldfinger
The Spy Who Loved Me
If you like Goldfinger, then I would start with Dr. No and watched through all of the Connery films.
If you like the Connery films, then watch On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
If you liked Moore in Spy Who Loved Me, and don't mind a little goofiness/campy then I would say watch the rest of the Moore films but the order doesn't really matter.
The Living Daylights, like I said, feels very much like a Flemming Bond. I think it's a solid movie, definitely worth a watch if you're enjoying Bond. Dalton was the original cold/badass Bond before Craig. License to Kill can feel a bit less like a Bond movie and more like a generic 80's action movie, but it's still pretty good.
If you liked Goldeneye and Brosnan as Bond, then definitely check out his next two films. Just be warned about his last film LOL.
Casino Royale and Skyfall are both solid films, Bond or not. Quantum of Solace picks up directly after Casino Royale ends, FYI. And the last two Craig films have continuity from the previous ones. So while you can watch Casino Royale and Skyfall out of order and it doesn't matter, if you plan to watch all of the Craig films then you really should watch them in order.
Re: Shaken, not stirred
And just for completeness, there's some weird out of continuity Bond movies. Basically, anything that is EON Productions you can consider "official" Bond movies. These are the ones that open with the gun barrel, and have the James Bond theme music. There was some kind of weird Casino Royale adaptation that predates Dr. No, which is why EON Production couldn't get the rights. There was also a Casino Royale movie that is a comedy spy spoof type movie in the late 60s IIRC. You can largely skip these two.
Then there's Never Say Never Again, which requires a bit of an explanation. You can read more about it on the Thunderball Wikipedia page, or there's YouTube videos I'm sure. But in short, Tunderball was originally being written as a screenplay. Ian Fleming and Kevin McCory were two of the writers. It was scraped, or not finished, or whatever. Later, Fleming wrote the book Thunderball which was then made into the movie. McCory filed a lawsuit and there was a settlement. Part of the settlement was that McCory got to make his own film adaptation of Thunderball at some point. And that's exactly what he did.
Connery was famously aggravated with the Bond role after You Only Live Twice. After Lazenby's stint as Bond in one film, EON Productions got Connery back for one more Bond film (Diamonds Are Forever) at which point he was quoted as saying "never again" to playing Bond in the future. And the story goes that his wife told him never say never again, which is where the title of the movie comes from, because McCory somehow got Connery to reprise his role as Bond one last time.
Connery actually does a pretty decent job in Never Say Never Again. It's just too bad that the rest of the film is kinda crappy. It's missing the Bond theme music, for obvious reasons, and the soundtrack that the movie has isn't very good. That right there brings the whole movie down IMO. It's not horrible, but I would really only recommend watching it if you've already seen every other Bond movie and you're looking for more. Or if you're just curious. It has a real made for TV movie vibe to it.
Then there's Never Say Never Again, which requires a bit of an explanation. You can read more about it on the Thunderball Wikipedia page, or there's YouTube videos I'm sure. But in short, Tunderball was originally being written as a screenplay. Ian Fleming and Kevin McCory were two of the writers. It was scraped, or not finished, or whatever. Later, Fleming wrote the book Thunderball which was then made into the movie. McCory filed a lawsuit and there was a settlement. Part of the settlement was that McCory got to make his own film adaptation of Thunderball at some point. And that's exactly what he did.
Connery was famously aggravated with the Bond role after You Only Live Twice. After Lazenby's stint as Bond in one film, EON Productions got Connery back for one more Bond film (Diamonds Are Forever) at which point he was quoted as saying "never again" to playing Bond in the future. And the story goes that his wife told him never say never again, which is where the title of the movie comes from, because McCory somehow got Connery to reprise his role as Bond one last time.
Connery actually does a pretty decent job in Never Say Never Again. It's just too bad that the rest of the film is kinda crappy. It's missing the Bond theme music, for obvious reasons, and the soundtrack that the movie has isn't very good. That right there brings the whole movie down IMO. It's not horrible, but I would really only recommend watching it if you've already seen every other Bond movie and you're looking for more. Or if you're just curious. It has a real made for TV movie vibe to it.
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Re: Shaken, not stirred
I will not stand for Moonraker slander. For the old school bond films it's actually my favorite. It's just so fun- I know it's objectively corny but it has the perfect amount of camp for me.
Re: Shaken, not stirred
I really like the Bond movie with Lazenby, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. It it much less camp than most of the other Bond films prior to Daniel Craig, and it covers a very important moment in 007's personal history. It helps it's a pretty good film. I also like Dalton in The Living Daylights. Very good film. My favorite Bond, however, is Moore, and though people complain about how camp his 007 films are, the later Brosnan films are just as campy in their own way and I enjoy them less. My favorite Moore film is probably Live and Let Die. There's an argument to be made that it's actually not a very good Bond film, but Jane Seymour is such a stunner and the action sequences are fun and frenetic. Also, I really like the strong debt the film owes to the Blaxploitation genre. For Your Eyes Only and The Spy Who Loved Me are also good picks. FYEO is a little more down-to-earth and TSWLM is action-packed and over the top without all the genre camp of Live and Let Die.
I do also really like Craig's Bond, though he feels incredibly different from previous bonds. If Connery was the previous title holder of agent with a darker side (vs Moore's much more Gentleman Spy), Craig says "hold my beer". His Bond is much more thuggish and physical in almost every regard. The tuxedo feels less like a second skin on him and more like a very temporary, paper thin costume that he threatens to break out of at any moment. Craig's bond carries tension on his person very obviously and openly and never has the relaxed calm of previous Bonds. Casino Royale and Skyfall are the absolute best of the Craig films. The others are decent. Even when they're not great stories, the chase sequences are always good and there are some very attractive vistas and cinematography.
I do also really like Craig's Bond, though he feels incredibly different from previous bonds. If Connery was the previous title holder of agent with a darker side (vs Moore's much more Gentleman Spy), Craig says "hold my beer". His Bond is much more thuggish and physical in almost every regard. The tuxedo feels less like a second skin on him and more like a very temporary, paper thin costume that he threatens to break out of at any moment. Craig's bond carries tension on his person very obviously and openly and never has the relaxed calm of previous Bonds. Casino Royale and Skyfall are the absolute best of the Craig films. The others are decent. Even when they're not great stories, the chase sequences are always good and there are some very attractive vistas and cinematography.
Re: Shaken, not stirred
I'm on a mobile device so just a quick update post for now.
Thank you, everyone, (especially Ziggy) for all the info. I don't think I'm planning on watching every single film but I wanted to at least view the first one. I finished Dr. No last night. It was just okay. Not sure why Bond feels the need to copulate with every female. I know it's because he's supposed to be "that cool" but he's probably a walking biohazard.
The next one I watch will be off the list of highlights that Ziggy posted. I don't think this is a series I'm going to be heavily invested in. I do want to watch at least one of each of the different Bond actors that way I can see the differences between their performances.
Thank you, everyone, (especially Ziggy) for all the info. I don't think I'm planning on watching every single film but I wanted to at least view the first one. I finished Dr. No last night. It was just okay. Not sure why Bond feels the need to copulate with every female. I know it's because he's supposed to be "that cool" but he's probably a walking biohazard.
Re: Shaken, not stirred
I still say Dr. No has the best intro to Bond in any movie. The casino scene, I'm talking about. But yeah, while I think this movie holds up well for it's age, it's not without its problems. One of the things I like about it is that it's one of the few movies where it really feels like Bond in investigating stuff.
It's definitely a lot of movies and thus time to invest in, so I can understand not wanting to tackle watching them all. But if you want to see the best from each actor, I would say circle back to Connery at some point. From Russia With Love is my personal favorite. I feel like it's the least campy and most gritty of the Connery films. And Goldfinger is definitely worth a watch, this was the movie that really cemented the Bond movie formula and it's where so many tropes come from. And these two movies are some of the rare examples of when the movie might have outdone the book.
It's definitely a lot of movies and thus time to invest in, so I can understand not wanting to tackle watching them all. But if you want to see the best from each actor, I would say circle back to Connery at some point. From Russia With Love is my personal favorite. I feel like it's the least campy and most gritty of the Connery films. And Goldfinger is definitely worth a watch, this was the movie that really cemented the Bond movie formula and it's where so many tropes come from. And these two movies are some of the rare examples of when the movie might have outdone the book.
Re: Shaken, not stirred
I just want to add that if you ever wanted to dress like Bond, there’s a site for that.
For years, fans have gone nuts over the Billy Reid Bond Peacoat from SkyFall. And no, the peacoat is not named after the character, but after the store located on Bond Street in Manhattan.
Got my hands a chocolate brown one from Nordstrom Rack a couple of years ago:
For years, fans have gone nuts over the Billy Reid Bond Peacoat from SkyFall. And no, the peacoat is not named after the character, but after the store located on Bond Street in Manhattan.
Got my hands a chocolate brown one from Nordstrom Rack a couple of years ago:
- IMG_4388.jpeg (349.97 KiB) Viewed 4836 times
I own too many hoodies jackets hoodies and DS games and I’m not ashamed!
Re: Shaken, not stirred
The sex stuff definitely does not hold up well, and I'm no prude. It's even worse in Goldfinger, too. I still enjoy these movies, though.opa wrote: ↑Tue Jun 18, 2024 7:41 am I'm on a mobile device so just a quick update post for now.
Thank you, everyone, (especially Ziggy) for all the info. I don't think I'm planning on watching every single film but I wanted to at least view the first one. I finished Dr. No last night. It was just okay. Not sure why Bond feels the need to copulate with every female. I know it's because he's supposed to be "that cool" but he's probably a walking biohazard.The next one I watch will be off the list of highlights that Ziggy posted. I don't think this is a series I'm going to be heavily invested in. I do want to watch at least one of each of the different Bond actors that way I can see the differences between their performances.