Ranking the Bond Films: November 2015 Edition

In a way, this post may seem a bit redundant because I had previously done a ‘Ranking the Bond Films’ post back in March 2013. Sure it was a few months after I had completed the first Bond Month but by that point I had finally gotten around to seeing ‘Skyfall’ for the second time so I figured that I could finally do a conclusive list to rank all of the 23 official Eon produced James Bond films that had been released at that time, not counting any unofficial Bond films like the 1967 spoof ‘Casino Royale’ and the remake of ‘Thunderball’, ‘Never Say Never Again’, which just so happened to star Sean Connery in what would be his last on-screen appearance as James Bond. But you see, the thing about a list like this is that it’s like trying to list your favorite films of all-time; it could inherently change over time. And of course, because there have been so many Bond films, I guarantee you that you’re probably never going to see the same exact list of rankings twice. Having re-watched all of the Eon Bond films in anticipation for ‘Spectre’, my opinions on some of them did change so because of it, here is an updated list of my rankings for the 23 Eon produced Bond films as of November 2015, obviously not yet counting the soon to be released (in the U.S.) 24^th Bond film. If you want to see my previous list and compare the two to see what changed since then, click the link below.

(http://rimoviecorner.blogspot.com/2013/03/ranking-james-bond-films.html)

23. A VIEW TO A KILL

After two viewings, this film still stands as my least favorite entry in the series. It may have a memorable duo of villains in Zorin and May Day and one of the series’ best title songs but it also has a Bond who’s way past his prime, the series’ worst Bond girl, and some of the most obvious uses of stunt doubles ever.

22. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN

Another film that maintained its previous position from 2013’s list, ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’ was at least only Roger Moore’s second Bond film so this isn’t a case where his age negatively impacts the film. But with that said, the film seriously drags at times and Moore is pushed to be like Connery way too much. Christopher Lee does manage to shine though as Scaramanga so at the very least it’s not the absolute worst.

21. DIE ANOTHER DAY

This one was originally #5 worst but upon re-watch I’ll admit that this film’s problems, namely an overuse of CGI for a good chunk of the action sequences, were a bit more noticeable this time around. I don’t ‘hate’ it as much as other Bond fans do, probably because Pierce Brosnan is my favorite Bond, but you can definitely see why this resulted in the series having to reboot with the next film.

20. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

At the very least, ‘Diamonds are Forever’ is a fairly entertaining Bond film and Sean Connery at least seems to be having more fun here than in his previous two Bond films. But ultimately this film is just way too campy to be taken seriously. The fine balance of seriousness and silliness that worked so well in director Guy Hamilton’s first Bond film ‘Goldfinger’ didn’t translate as well here.

19. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE

Still not fooling anyone James...

This is definitely a Bond film that dropped a bit for me upon re-watch. It’s ultimately a very bland entry in the franchise as far as the story is concerned, even when considering that this film’s main plotline was rehashed in director Lewis Gilbert’s two subsequent Bond films, ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ and ‘Moonraker’. It definitely has some memorable moments but for being the first film to officially introduce the character of Blofeld, it ultimately doesn’t do much with the character.

18. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

This film, though, is the one that dropped the most on this list compared to the first time I saw it. This is just a bland Bond film in almost every aspect; the main Bond girl, the story, the villain, and so on and so forth… and yet for some reason I still found it to be slightly more memorable than ‘You Only Live Twice’, hence why it gets the higher ranking. This is also another case of the filmmakers trying to make Roger Moore act more serious as Bond when ultimately that wasn’t his style.

17. THUNDERBALL

It may have one of the series’ best henchwomen in Fiona Volpe but ‘Thunderball’ is a fairly lackluster follow-up to Sean Connery’s original 3 Bond films. The main reason? It’s unwelcomely overlong, primarily due to the prolonged underwater sequences. Sure these scenes are well-shot for the time but they go on forever.

16. QUANTUM OF SOLACE

Daniel Craig once again shines in the role of 007 but the follow-up to ‘Casino Royale’ ultimately lacks the same punch that its predecessor had, namely due to bland supporting characters and action that frequently suffers from piss-poor editing.

15. MOONRAKER

I’m not afraid to admit it… I really warmed up to ‘Moonraker’ when I re-watched it. Yes it’s a total cash-in on the ‘Star Wars’ craze that was going on at the time of its release but it actually does manage to be a really fun Bond film even with all of the stupid things that happen in it. That’s more than I can say for a film like ‘For Your Eyes Only’ or ‘Thunderball’.

14. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH

The very definition of a Bond film that is a ‘mixed bag’. It has both really good things in it, like Pierce Brosnan’s performance, arguably his best as Bond, and its main villain Elektra King, and some not so good things in it, like a severely underused Robert Carlyle. And of course, there’s the infamous casting of Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist. Though ultimately it’s more a problem of miscasting than it is the writing because Dr. Christmas Jones actually isn’t ‘that bad’ of a Bond girl in terms of her role in the film.

13. OCTOPUSSY

Just like last time, ‘Octopussy’ lands at the midpoint of this list. Yes it’s very campy and extremely over-the-top at times but I don’t care… I really, really like this Bond film. It’s just really fun and is clearly aware of how silly it is. It just goes with it.

12. TOMORROW NEVER DIES

On a whole, ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ is a generally by-the-numbers affair as far as Bond films are concerned. But ultimately I feel that it manages to be a nice little entertaining entry in the series with a memorable villain and one of the series’ all-time greatest Bond girls, Wai Lin.

11. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS

Another rather ‘by-the-numbers’ affair for the franchise but Timothy Dalton does a solid job in his first foray as Bond. Too bad the film suffers from having the series’ weakest villains to date, not counting main henchman Necros.

10. DR. NO

To be perfectly frank, ‘Dr. No’ has dated quite a bit compared to some of the other early Bond films, which is understandable given that this was the first Bond film. Still, even with the parts in it that have not aged very well, it’s still a really solid and engaging spy film that served as a nice start to this prestigious franchise.

9. LIVE AND LET DIE

Yes this film is quite un-PC nowadays given all of its stereotyping. That and Sherriff Pepper is in it for way too long. But on a whole, Roger Moore’s first Bond film is a nice start to his Bond career that highly benefits from a terrific cast of villains.

8. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

A superior follow-up to ‘Dr. No’, Bond’s second film was the first to really start implementing a lot of the trademarks that would define the series for years to come. It’s also a very compelling story with an excellent duo of villains in Red Grant and Rosa Klebb.

7. LICENCE TO KILL

Still my pick for the most underrated Bond film to date, ‘Licence to Kill’ was the precursor to the edgier Craig films while also having a terrific main villain in Sanchez. Though with that said, perhaps the film is a bit too dark and gritty, which easily makes it the most violent film of the franchise even though it was only the first PG-13 rated Bond film.

6. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME

Easily Roger Moore’s best Bond film, ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ is an almost pitch-perfect Bond film; a great plot, a great Bond girl, and one of the series’ all-time greatest henchmen in Jaws just to name a few. The only thing that keeps it from being any higher is that the main villain Stromberg is the film’s only weak link.

5. GOLDFINGER

I think it’s safe to say that ‘Goldfinger’ was the first ‘blockbuster’ of the franchise and why not? It has great characters, including a terrific duo of villains in Goldfinger and his assistant Oddjob, and while it’s much more light-hearted than the first two Connery films, it’s handled perfectly.

4. ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE

Say what you will about George Lazenby’s sole turn as Bond but ‘OHMSS’ has one of the series’ best plots and of course is the only film in which Bond’s leading lady becomes his wife by the end. But of course as we also know that ends tragically, resulting in one of the most heartbreaking finales in film history.

3. GOLDENEYE

It was rather hard in terms of ranking these next three Bond films. ‘GoldenEye’ in particular was hard to rank because it was the first Bond film that I ever watched so I do have a very personal connection to it in that regard. Pierce Brosnan makes an excellent debut as 007 in a film that perfectly relaunched the series for the post-Cold War era... and it spawned one of the greatest FPS games of all-time. Really it’s just due to the film’s lackluster score that kept it from breaking into the Top 2.

2. CASINO ROYALE

‘Bond Perfection’ 1.0. Daniel Craig proved his biggest critics wrong in one of the most well-crafted entries of the entire franchise. Capturing an edge and emotional drive that hadn’t really been seen before in a Bond film, ‘Casino Royale’ has it all in terms of action, performances, and suspense.

1. SKYFALL

Believe me folks when I say that I spent a lot of time trying to figure out my Top 3 favorite Bond films. The first time I did this list back in 2013, I ultimately listed ‘Skyfall’ at #1 but I’ll admit that was primarily due to me being caught up in the hype of the film’s release. This time around, I tried to see if any other film could overtake it but upon re-watch, I finally came to the conclusion that yes, this really is my favorite film in the franchise. It is ‘Bond Perfection’ 2.0, taking all of what worked great in ‘Casino Royale’ and actually managing to surpass it primarily thanks to Sam Mendes’ exceptional direction. As I noted a few weeks ago in my ‘Best/Worst Bond Moments’ list, this film is so frigging great that I literally can make a Top 10 Moments list solely consisting of scenes from this film… which is exactly what I did.

And now, presenting this completely impromptu list… My Top 10 Favorite Moments from ‘Skyfall’

10. The Underwater Fight Scene

One of many great action sequences in this well-directed and well-shot Bond film.

9. The first Scene between Bond and Q

A nice introduction to Ben Whishaw’s Q that also helps establish the differences in age and experience/skills between the two.

8. Attack on Skyfall

Yes I’ve heard all of the ‘Home Alone’ comparisons but the finale of the film still manages to be an intense battle between Bond and Silva’s men at Skyfall in which Bond has to utilize more than just weapons. Plus we get, among other things, a badass shot of Bond walking away from an explosion and an awesome one-liner from Bond in which he remarks ‘I always hated this place’ before he destroys it.

7. M’s Death

‘Skyfall’ ended Judi Dench’s Bond career on a great note by giving Dench her most substantial role as M and suffice it to say her death was an emotional send-off for the series’ best M to date.

6. M Quotes Tennyson

But before that scene, the scene at the inquiry where M quotes Tennyson is one hell of a sequence when it comes to raising the tension as Silva moves towards the inquiry to kill her and Bond rushes over there from the Underground. Top it off with one of the best tracks from Thomas Newman’s score and you have one tense set-up to the inquiry shootout.

5. Opening Sequence

Definitely one of the best pre-credits sequences of the series, the opening to ‘Skyfall’ has it all; great action and suspense while culminating with the supposed ‘death’ of James Bond. Obviously the plotline of Bond seemingly being killed in the opening has been done before in films like ‘You Only Live Twice’ and ‘From Russia With Love’ but ‘Skyfall’ is the one that does it the best given how it ties perfectly into the theme of Bond realizing that he may have ‘lost a step’.

4. Silva’s First Appearance

Javier Bardem immediately establishes himself as one of the franchise’s greatest villains in his first scene as Raoul Silva. In one long take, we see him enter the room and slowly walk towards Bond while making a speech about how he and Bond are like rats who have ‘changed their nature’ and now only eat other rats, just like the ones that he had trapped one summer with his grandmother.  

3. Bond vs. Patrice

Sure you can’t tell who’s who due to the scene being darkly lit but at the same time that’s what makes this particular sequence so beautifully shot. Seriously, why didn’t Roger Deakins win the Oscar for Best Cinematography for this film?

2. Reveal of the DB5

Talk about one of the best examples of fan-service ever… I’m sure many Bond fans were excited to see Bond’s classic ride return, complete with a joke where Bond nearly ejects M from the car.

1. London Underground Chase

Well seeing how I listed it at #2 on the ‘Best Moments’ list a few weeks ago, it’s only fitting to have this sequence be #1 on this list. I already talked about it before in that post so I won’t repeat myself too much here. Needless to say it’s a thrilling sequence in which Bond is put into a situation on his home turf while also bringing back the dry humor that was kind of lacking from Craig’s first two Bond films.