James Bond

How many Bond fans are out there? I'm thinking about watching all 20 of the Bond films during the Christmas holiday's since I only have 4 movies left on the AFI list (that I can get my hands on. I still need 3 that I can't seem to find a copy to watch). In any case, what's your favorite Bond flick? Who's your favorite Bond? Connery, Moore, Lazenby, Dalton, or Brosnan? I've only seen the 4 Pierce Brosnan films and my favorite is without a doubt Goldeneye.

Favorite 007: Sean Connery

I liked Lazenby, who's Australian accent makes for a totally different and interesting interpretation of Bond, while Brosnan's Diet Connery and Dalton's aggressive modes were good. However, I always hated Roger Moore. To me, he was the William Shatner of the Bonds in terms of how he hams it up and well, is as convincing as Captain Kirk whenever he fights...

But Connery rules. Why? Maybe its because hes got Dalton's aggression, but its narrowed and always on mark for the story, and besides....hes a slick bastard with the girls as well while kicking ass, something of which Dalton could never get down right. Still that new FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE video game has been very enjoyable, with Connery back(of sorts). He was style and substance!

Well, I plan someday whenever I pull out my Franchise Review column to fully get down deep with the BOND pictures, though here is a few I've always dug:

GOLDFINGER (1964) - Many would call this either the best movie of the franchise, or at least the iconic flagship of it. What I always dug about it is how the villain doesn't care about taking over the world or whatever. No, he simply wants to nuke America's gold supply so that HIS gold becomes 100x more valuable. What a bastard.

GOLDENEYE (1995) - The last 007 picture that I can say I liked as a movie itself without grinding my molars. Not to mention that Bond is in personal conflict in fighting the villain (Sean Bean), his old friend-turned-baddie. For once, Bond is emotional and personal.

ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (1969) - While I'm not the biggest Lazenby fan, there is something to this film where it not only willing to take a joke at Connery's BOND beforehand, but also its got the balls to have a downer of an ending for such a super-popcorn machine.

IMO Connery was the best Bond, with Moore a close second. The rest don't even come close. I love all of the Connery Bond movies, with Dr. No and Goldfinger being my favorites out of them. Moore's Live and Let Die is my favorite of his tenure as Bond.


Don Cardi

First of all, I'm not a James Bond movies fan, definitely not the type of cinema I like. Anyway, there's only one James Bond and his name is Sean Connery. Call it class, charme, charisma, whatever. The others are nobodies, sorry.

The name's Connery. Sean Connery.


Yeah.. I'm a Bond geek

Connery is the ONLY bond. The others were James Bond wannabes.

The best Bond movie? Without a doubt - "From Russia With Love". The second of the series had the most realistic feel of the cold-war spy period. Grant (Robert Shaw) was Bond's best adversary and their fight on the train was pure adrenalin raising entertainmnent.

With the exception of the third installment ("Goldfinger") the following movies all became parodies of the others and they soon became somewhat silly.

I second that.

Dalton was also not bad. I sensed the real British dry (sonuvabitch-) humor in him...

I think Dalton was the worst. Horrible accent. And the two films he did are now very out-dated, and unpleasently 1980s-esque.

My favorite has to be Moore (may have something to do with my first Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me, with Connery in an extremely close second. I haven't really enjoyed any of the films since Goldeneye.

well I'm a real fan. in fact, I've been watching a lot of Bond Movies lately because TNT just do not stop running them on TV. Roger Moore is my favorite, but I only watched 1 movie with Sean Connery. Pierce Brosnan was fine until the last one, and the others just sucked, to me. as I said, Die Another Day was ridiculous in my opinion. one of the worst action films I have ever seen. aside that piece of shit, I loved every Bond film I watched, but I do have 2 favorites: Octopussy and The man with the golden arm.

The BOnd franchise's golden era came upon it's inception in 1962, when the Ian Fleming novels were adapted for film as a result of Hitchcock's "North by Northwest". Notice similarities between "From Russia with Love"'s helecopter chase scene and the scene in the deserted field with a crop duster in "North by Northwest"?

My personal favorite is "Goldfinger". The franchise has honed itself. Conery is extremly comfortable in the role and he is given great material to work with along with his supporting cast. Mind you, the Bond franchise's intent was never to win an Oscar for Best Picture but I can't stress enough how important the scripts are to the films, almost as important as the actor potraying Bond.

"From Russia with Love" is a close second and it has a great handle on the suspense, as SC noted, the train chase. In fact, I can't wait to play the new PLaystation 2 interpretation of the film.

I love the Bond series, own almost all of them. Of course Connery is the best Bond. He is the original and I doubt anyone could come close to him. After him I would say Moore, Brosnan, Dalton, then Lazenby in order of best to worst. I personally cannot stand Lazenby. I'm really anxious to see how Daniel Craig does.

My favorite Bond film is also From Russia with Love, followed by Gold Finger and The Man with the Golden Gun.

Kris, how are the twins? Any recent pics to share?
Love from me, mamma!

That about sums it up for me as well.

You'll find a Bond fan here! I have two favorites: Goldeneye and Die Another Day. My favorite Bonds is Brosnan, but Moore's good too.

Connery was the best Bond but I think he was helped by doing the best Bond pictures. I didn't think Moore was that bad (sorry RonnieRocket... by the way if you think Moore was bad imagine if it had *actually been Shatner instead*). The problem with Moore was that some kind of Carry On virus got into the scripts. Dalton was just boring and so were the films. Brosnan brought back some class. He will be hard to follow. I feel worried for Daniel Craig: an ageing formula, I think. Bond should probably die. Preferably in some ultra-CGI aliens versus humans armageddon.

By the way, anyone remember that film on a train with Mr Brosnan and at the end he shoots the bad guy in the head and it's all caught on a video camera that Brosnan is wearing? Now, what was the film?

Wasn't that Goldeneye? It was definitely not in Brosnan's second and fourth movie, but I didn't see the third, so that could also be a possibility.

Sorry Enzo... I should have been more plain. It's not a Bond movie. It was just a movie starring Pierce Brosnan. I'm gonna look on IMBD in a sec but I just wondered if anyone could come up with it without resorting to internet resources.

I believe that was GOLDENEYE (***/5), again the last actual "good" 007 picture.

One can argue that the times and audience have grown past James Bond. If anything, Bond was a post-WW2/Cold War creation in a world where dictators sought to conquer in military madman plans their rivals or everyone else as well.

However, soon it'll be 20 years since the Berlin Wall fell. The only such old-school scary dictators are either deposed (Hussein), still in power and trying to gather weapons in their corners of the world(Kim Jong Ill), or allies with the United States in the War on Terror.

In a way, why I can relate more to the recent THE BOURNE IDENTITY and THE BOURNE SUPREMACY is because of how those millenium film adaptations of Robert Ludlum's Cold War spy exploits reflect different attitudes. For one, Bond always makes a wise-crack after dispatching some goon or baddie, while the gadget-popping/girl-chasing hero works as a professional "hero" of the system (The West, NATO, UK, etc.) against those that threaten it.

Matt Damon's Jason Bourne is instead a man having to fight the corrupt system that created him...and of which also desire to destroy him as well. One could argue that his amnesia gave him a moral "pardon" that turned him from a super-irresponsive-assasin to one that is disgusted with who he is, or was. Bourne's villains aren't billionaires who want to take the world or whatever. Instead, his adversaries are mostly his former co-workers/bosses at the CIA who want him whacked simply to cover their bureaucratical asses of which who are stuck in some serious stuff that isn't exactly "legal".

James Bond is the quintessential masculine comic book superhero, with mostly no real change inbetween each picture of any serious consequence, while dispatching hundreds with style that a badass like he is should do. Bond works to save the day. Bourne works to save his ass from extinction.

Bourne himself, despite apparently having the capacity to beat someone to death with a rolled-up magazine, actually......*SPOILER WARNING*.....only kills one person in THE BOURNE SUPREMACY, and its out of self-defense. However in the aftermath, we can see in his body language of how he absolutely hates that he had to kill someone, and by the end by refusing to follow himself to the level of the wounded villain that assasinated his lover, Bourne is in a poignant shot able to walk away from the dark tunnel-way and into the "light" above the structure.......*SPOILER WARNING*.....

Maybe my main problems with BOND at its worst is having lazy villains that want to take the world hostage because he just wants to. That is why I dug GOLDFINGER, for the baddie only wants to make himself richer. Why bother with the world if you are a monetary monarch anyway? I could even say the same for TOMORROW NEVER DIES, which despite having a very nice premise and works fine for the first 2/3rds of the movie, finally runs out of gas by the finale. However, a plot about a mass-media mogul(Rupert Murdoch?) starting WW3 just so he can both score in the TV ratings/Newspaper circulation game and some juicy TV rights in China after a war....whats not to dig about that?

Okay. Wasn't expecting that. The film I am asking about is called Death Train made in 1993. Sometimes called Detonator.

The whole concept of James Bond is an anachronism anyway. It's noticeable that the biggest superhero films of recent years hark back to comics like X-Men, Spiderman etc. Why do you think that is?

We all understand the Cold War issues that hang around Bond and those issues are either extinct or have been transferred to a new enemy. Therefore, unless Bond becomes some kind of banner hero for the 'free world' with a new enemy to fight he is surplus to requirements. Bond was always a bit of a fantasy figure and was fun when you could imagine the enemy as a fantasy enemy. In the current climate for Bond to carry on he's going to have to be a very serious character. Who wants that?

I guess I would. Fact is, I can't stand ANOTHER damn 007 movie that involves a villain and his Space Laser. DIE ANOTHER DAY may have officially killed it.

Well I have to admit I'd love to see 007 dropped by jetpack into Fallujah, modded AK47 in hand. He seeks out (using local spies and a few wads of the US dollar) the head of the insurgency, whereupon he fills em full of lead before a finale with Osama himself (a la Scaramanga). Bond wins, Osama crumples and Bond tidies up with a quickie with a beautiful Afghani sex slave, now liberated. But would it get past the censors?

I was wondering what is the Bond flick that Leo's character is watching in Catch Me If You Can? Connery's playing Bond

Goldfinger has Pussy Galore in it, I think which I remember from the movie.

Anyway I've seen several of Brosnan's films and Live and Let Die. I gotta start watching the marathons on Spike TV if they're ever on. Goldeneye is my favorite, naturally.

Die Another Day was such an enormous piece of shit, it should've been burned. I'm ashamed to own it. The World is Not Enough was decent with a good cast, although it failed to be heavily memorable.

The actors:
Connery
Brosnan
Lazenby
Dalton
Moore

The films (again, I shall have to multipost, for image limits):
1962: Doctor No (Young)
1963: From Russia with Love (Young)
1964: Goldfinger (Hamilton)
1965: Thunderball (Young)
1967: You Only Live Twice (Gilbert)
1969: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Hunt)
1971: Diamonds are Forever (Hamilton)
1973: Live and Let Die (Hamilton)

1974: The Man with the Golden Gun (Hamilton)
1977: The Spy who Loved Me (Gilbert)
1979: Moonraker (Gilbert)
1981: For Your Eyes Only (Gilbert)
1983: Octopussy (Glen)
1985: A View to a Kill (Glen)
1987: The Living Daylights (Glen)
1989: A Licence to Kill (Glen)

1995: GoldenEye (Campbell)
1997: Tomorrow Never Dies (Spottiswoode)
1999: The World is Not Enough (Apted)
2002: Die Another Day (Tamahori)

Sean Connery is the best bond...

hey have you guys heard about the new BOND...

its going to be Daniel Craig


The coming bond movie isn't going to be a new movie...
I heard they're remaking Casino Royale...
I hope they don't remake all the OLD Bond movies...

I've never been a big Bond fan. I have seen several Bond movies, mostly the earlier ones (Goldfinger, Dr. No, and a little more recently, Never Say Never.

I know Connery is the one who is most popular and will be remembered as the "real" Bond, I don't dislike him, but never really saw the attraction.

Also, although I never saw a Bond movie with him, I thought Pierce Brosnon was a great choice for Bond. I remember way back during his tv show, Remington Steele, thinking he'd be a great Bond. I guess not being a diehard fan, I may not see things as all the real fans do.

TIS

Zadjali, "Casino Royale" wasn't made into a normal Bond movie if I remember. It was a comedy version of it with Peter Sellers, no?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casino_Royale

Absolutely agree about Connery and "From Russia With Love"! "Russia" also was far and away the best novel. Lotte Lenya was every bit as good as Robert Shaw. Aces!

I liked all of the first four (Dr. No, Russia, Goldfinger, Thunderball), after which they started getting overrought. Goldfinger left us with an indelible line. I picture the proverbial Little Green Man from Mars landing on Earth. The first Earthling he encounters says to him, "Do you expect me to talk, Goldfinger?" And without hesitating, the Little Green Man replies, "No, Mr. Bond--I expect you to DIE!"

Am I crazy or would have Pacino played a good Bond (in his earlier days)? I know Bond's supposed to be English, but fuggedaboutit, this time he's Italian. Any thoughts?

Nah, I just don't see him as Bond.

On the other hand, consider Pacino as Bond:
"I don't fee I have to wipe out all the Commies, M. Just SMERSH."
"We're both part of the same hypocrisy, Blofeld. But never think it involves Miss Moneypenny."

Pacino as Bond? Watch The Recruit. :p No, really, part of Bond that is irreplaceable is him being English. Take that out and hmm...

You are crazy!!!! :p
I couldn't resist, sorry....

Has anybody ever read any of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels? I've done a little research and it looks like he wrote 14 of them:

1. Casino Royale
2. Live and Let Die
3. Moonraker
4. Diamonds Are Forever
5. From Russia with Love
6. Dr. No
7. Goldfinger
8. For Your Eyes Only
9. Thunderball
10. The Spy Who Loved Me
11. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
12. You Only Live Twice
13. The Man with the Golden Gun
14. Octopussy and The Living Daylights

Worth the read or no? Are the movies close to the Bond in the books or not really?

The novels are grittier,more graphic; Bond's tougher in them, and more chauvinistic. Turnbull will be able to elobrate further, since he's read a fair few, and considers, FWIW, From Russia with Love to be the best.

The novels are possibly even more campy, trashy, name it what you want, than the films.
Bond is indeed more politically incorrect in the novels.

There's been a lot of movies made claiming to be "James Bond" films, but the last time I saw a James Bond movie, Sean Connery was in it...

Risico Rumors

January 3, 2007 - British tabloid reports recently suggested that the next James Bond movie would be Risico, which is also the title of a tale in Ian Fleming's book of short stories For Your Eyes Only.

The problem with Risico is that its basic plot and characters were already used for the 1981 film version of For Your Eyes Only. In Fleming's Risico, 007 is sent to Italy to investigate a heroin ring and crosses paths with the likes of Colombo and Kristatos, both of whom were featured in the Roger Moore movie. The idea of remaking a previous Bond film doesn't seem likely, but as producer Barbara Broccoli told ComingSoon.net last year, "We don't plan to do that, but to coin a phrase, 'never say never'."

DarkHorizons.com, however, reports that all this talk about Risico may be premature or flat out wrong. "The Risico talk is (expletive), none of the story details exist right now — period," claims a longtime source for the site.

The source continued, "[Screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade] have thrown around the idea of using some plot threads from the old books that weren't used in the movies before, but Risico isn't one of them because it's been done. Fact is if they use anything from it at all, it'll be name only." A Bond film that only uses Fleming's title, but not his story? Perish the thought!

Having just read Fleming's short story, I noted a few interesting elements in Risico that appeared in the film version of Casino Royale but not the novel. Most of Risico takes place in Venice, which is the villains' base; Venice was also the setting for the last act of the big-screen Royale. In Royale, Vesper Lynd and the mysterious villains seemed to know their way around the backstreets of the city, suggesting that perhaps they had met or operated there in the past.

There are also a group of villainous Albanian smugglers in Risico. Curiously, the film version of Casino Royale strongly suggests that bad guy Le Chiffre is Albanian (the book was far more vague). Are all of these mere coincidences? Probably. But fanboys wouldn't be fanboys if they didn't speculate on such things!

The only hard fact about the next Bond movie is that it will further explore some of the plot elements — and 007's character development — established in Casino Royale.

Whatever it will be about, Bond 22 is slated for a November 7, 2008 release date.

Source: IGN

Are they going to cast Peter Falk?

Until the Brocoli clan die off, Bond will ever always be played by a British actor, or an actor from the British Commonwealth(note that George "One Shot" Lazenby was an Aussie).

To be honest, I prefer this but whatever.

You know, I've been reading up on the original LIVE & LET DIE novel(which as Irishman pointed out, is the 2nd Bond book), and as it is, the basic template would work perfectly with the universe style of Bond that CASINO ROYALE gave us.

Oh sure, it would be a "remake" of the previous movie, but screw it.

I'd love them to revisit some of the now-dated Bond films, with an added nastiness present in the novels but lost completely by the time Moore came along.

The Man with the Golden Gun could be wonderful.

I couldn't agree more Capo. A story like that one, with today's hollywood technology, coupled with sticking closer to the book's version of Bond, could turn out to be a really good movie.

I'd also like to see them re-do Live and Let Die.



Don Cardi

Bond Sequel Not Risico

January 29, 2007 - With James Bond proving to be more popular than he has been in years thanks to Casino Royale, the inevitable sequel to that film is already being hotly anticipated. Now, word has come from two of the writers of the film that contrary to previous reports, the follow-up film will not be based on the Ian Fleming short story Risico.

"That's not the case," Robert Wade and Neal Purvis tell The Trades, before adding that the current plan is to start shooting the tightly guarded screenplay (for what is at the moment only known as Bond 22) at the beginning of 2008.

The scripters also say that there's currently no plan to reintroduce fan favorite characters like gadget-maker Q and ever-faithful secretary Moneypenny, both of whom were dropped for Casino Royale.

"Some people think they should be there, and some people know that they shouldn't be there," Wade says. "With the way Casino Royale ends, you know there's still unfinished business for Bond. He may say, 'The name's Bond, James Bond,' but there's still a lot of stuff churning up inside him. So, if you're going to explore that, and we've got this great actor to do that with, what you don't want to do is suddenly clamp it down with all these familiar elements that keep your focus off him. He's the great asset."

The character of Q in particular is problematic for the writers.

"Q presents more problems [than Moneypenny]," Purvis adds. "People have all got gadgets now. Other films have lots of gadgets as well… The idea of Q coming back, for the moment, it's just not a high priority."

Sorry, John Cleese fans!

One character who will reportedly be back is Casino Royale's Rene Mathis, played by Giancarlo Giannini. The Italian actor told the magazine Il Giornale that he has signed on for Bond 22. Mathis was thought to be a double agent at the end of Royale but the actor claims Mathis will turn out to have been a good guy after all. "His double agent status will be used by Bond to reach to top of the organisation Le Chiffre worked for," according to MI6.co.uk.

Source: Filmforce

The last James Bond movie that I saw had Sean Connery in it . . .

Have you heard the excellent Hard Rock version of the James Bond Theme by Neil Norman and His Cosmic Orchestra ? ?

I have the live version, and IT ROCKS ! !