BOND MONTH: Top 10 Title Sequences

There are two key elements to almost every Bond film’s credits sequence; the main theme, the best of which we’ll be addressing next week, and the title sequence that accompanies both it and the credits. Since the James Bond series first began in 1962, there have been three main people, and one company, that have been responsible for all the title sequences of every Eon produced Bond film. First there was Maurice Binder, who not only created the opening titles for 14 of the first 16 Bond films but also the iconic gun barrel sequence that opens almost every Bond film, save for the Craig films in which they appear later on or before the credits. The two title sequences that Binder did not produce, ‘From Russia With Love’ and ‘Goldfinger’, were instead developed by graphic designer Robert Brownjohn, who implemented what would become one of the main staples of Bond title sequences; scantily-clad women. Following Binder’s death in 1991, Daniel Kleinman took over as the series’ main opening titles artist. The only Bond title sequence he didn’t create was ‘Quantum of Solace’, which was instead done by animation company MK12, who had worked with director Marc Forster on some of his previous films like ‘Stranger than Fiction’. But Kleinman did return to do the opening titles for ‘Skyfall’ and will of course be creating the opening titles for ‘Spectre’. So today, continuing on with Rhode Island Movie Corner’s second annual Bond Month, I’ll be listing my Top 10 personal favorite Opening Title Sequences from the past 23 Bond films. But first, I’ll start with my Top 5 Least Favorites.

5. DIE ANOTHER DAY

I don’t necessarily fault Daniel Kleinman for this film’s less-than-stellar opening credits sequence because for what it’s worth, his contributions to it are actually pretty solid. I do like the contrasting use of fire and ice, even though fire never really plays a major part in the film compared to the ice (e.g. Gustav Graves’ ice palace). But the one major downfall to these titles is that it doesn’t feel like Kleinman was able to have full control over it, as his visuals are set over scenes of Bond being tortured while he is held captive in Korea after the events of the pre-credits sequence. Obviously it helps to move the story along but it truly does feel like Kleinman was limited in what he could do when it came to designing the sequence because he had to work around the footage. There’s literally no other Bond film that’s like this when it comes to actually having the titles play over a scene from the film. The closest that these films ever came to having something similar to this was in ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ but in both of these sequences it was the clips from the film, or ‘films’ in the case of the latter, that were implemented in and not the other way around. So ultimately this title sequence just becomes one of the many weaknesses of ‘Die Another Day’, the film that effectively resulted in the series being rebooted four years later. 

4. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

This sequence was notable for being the first Bond title sequence to actually implement the singer of the main title song, in this case Sheena Easton, into the sequence itself. But ultimately I don’t think that this is a particularly stand-out sequence as far as Bond Opening Titles are concerned. The same thing could actually be said for the film ‘For Your Eyes Only’ in general as it was a rather ‘middle-of-the-road’ entry in the series; not bad but not particularly great either. Prepare to hear this next point a lot during this post, but this sequence ends up utilizing the same old motifs of silhouetted women and watery backgrounds that were basically the basis for almost all of Roger Moore’s Bond films’ title sequences and, suffice it to say, it got old after a while. And part of me kind of feels that the use of Easton in this sequence is rather awkwardly executed. Even Easton has admitted that shooting the sequence was a rather unpleasant experience, to the point where Maurice Binder had to attach her to a chair so that she wouldn’t move when the camera zoomed into her lips. All in all, I don’t think that this is a ‘terrible’ title sequence but I think it could’ve turned out better.

3. MOONRAKER AND 2. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS

I’m pairing these two title sequences together because ultimately I can’t really say that much about either of them. The only real thing I can say about them is that the reason why they’re in the ‘Bottom 5’ is the same argument that I made earlier with ‘For Your Eyes Only’. These two are prime examples of when the standard motifs of the franchise’s title sequences started to get old. The titles for ‘Moonraker’ don’t even have a lot of references to the film’s theme of space save for a few shots of the moon, the earth, and the night sky. But with that said, those shots that are in there keep ‘Moonraker’ from being ranked lower than ‘The Living Daylights’. That film’s title sequence is as standard as you can get when talking about James Bond title sequences. It’s nothing but the same old motifs of scantily-clad women floating in water and that’s really about it. There’s an interesting motif of having a man and woman standing side by side holding guns but the thing is, that doesn’t actually connect that much to the film because while I do think that Kara was a solid Bond girl, she doesn’t actually do much in the film and is really just along for the ride with Bond. So because of this, ‘The Living Daylights’ has a much blander title sequence compared to ‘Moonraker’. But at least it looks better than my pick for the series’ worst title sequence.

1. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN

Not only is the ‘same old stuff’ argument once again in effect here for ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’s title sequence, but another big issue with it is that it feels kind of cheap, especially when watching this film in HD on Blu-Ray. Obviously this was just 1974 and it was a long time before the crisper visuals of the Kleinman era but even at this point in time, it feels very low-tech even by the franchise’s standards at the time. This sequence is really nothing more than just the usual motif of scantily-clad women distorted by rippling water. And quite frankly, it’s primarily because of how water is implemented into this sequence that makes it look as bad as it does. It both distorts all of the imagery in the sequence and contributes to the cheapness of it all. Other Bond title sequences that have primarily revolved around women and water have turned out much better due to how better balanced they were compared to this sequence. And this is ultimately why ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’ has the worst title sequence in franchise history. With no disrespect towards the phenomenal work that Maurice Binder has done for the James Bond series, this sequence feels like he wasn’t really giving his all and given the fact that ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’ was one of the series’ weakest installments, that’s not really surprising.

And now for the Top 10…

10. LIVE AND LET DIE

Kicking off the top 10 is a fiery credits sequence, both figuratively and literally, that partners well with the upbeat rock tune that is the title song of ‘Live and Let Die’ performed by Paul McCartney and Wings. The credits sequence features quite a lot of native elements in it, which perfectly connects to the film given the fact that most of the action takes place in the Caribbean, and tons of striking visuals, including faces turning into skulls whenever the main beat of the song kicks in. The overall pacing of the sequence is also well-connected to the song as well, starting off slow and peaceful and then becoming fast and bombastic. Admittedly some of the elements of this title sequence haven’t aged very well, like the use of fiber optics after the line ‘you gotta give the other fellow hell’, but it’s still a highly memorable title sequence nevertheless as ‘Live and Let Die’ the film helped start Roger Moore’s Bond career on a solid note.

9. A VIEW TO A KILL

The title sequence of ‘A View to a Kill’ is very similar to the one in ‘Live and Let Die’. Both emphasize the use of fire as part of their visuals and both are backed by more upbeat Bond songs. But ultimately I rank this sequence higher than the one in ‘Live and Let Die’ because I think it has aged a bit better. The sight of women covered with luminous paint is quite a unique and striking visual. And of course, it’s paired perfectly with the title song by Duran Duran. While I do sort of question the use of Bond in this sequence due to the fact that it’s the younger Roger Moore Bond that was used in the title sequence for ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, though ultimately I guess it is better than having old Moore from ‘A View to a Kill’ featured instead, my least favorite Bond film in the entire series does get the benefit of having a really kick-ass title sequence.

8. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE/GOLDFINGER

I’m pairing the two Bond title sequences done by Robert Brownjohn, ‘From Russia With Love’ and ‘Goldfinger’, together because they’re basically the same thing save for a few cosmetic differences. They utilize the same technique of projecting the titles onto the models. The major difference is in regards to ‘what’ is projected in each of these sequences. In the case of ‘From Russia With Love’, the credits are projected over belly-dancers. Admittedly, sometimes this results in the credits being rather unreadable but it’s still a unique aesthetic. ‘Goldfinger’ actually features clips from the film itself and even a few clips from the previous two Bond films. That and, keeping with the theme of the film, they’re all projected onto a gold-painted woman just like how in the film Jill Masterson is found dead covered with gold paint from head to toe. If I had to pick one over the other, I’d probably give the edge to ‘From Russia With Love’ because I think it looks just a bit nicer but I decided to honor them both here. They’re both simpler title sequences in terms of execution but the end results provides us with a pair of title sequences that are arguably just as memorable as the more complex title sequences that would come later.

 7. THUNDERBALL

‘Thunderball’ was another landmark entry in the franchise when it came to its title sequences. This was the first to effectively combine two elements that would result in a prime combination that would define Bond title sequences for years to come; scantily-clad women and water. As I noted earlier, admittedly this led to some less-than-stellar Bond title sequences, like the ‘run-of-the-mill’ opening credits of ‘The Living Daylights’ or the very low-quality looking titles of ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’, due to the fact that they started to blur together due to how similar they looked. But as for ‘Thunderball’, being that it was the one that started this whole trend, it still stands as one of the series’ best title sequences. Vibrantly colorful, it also connects perfectly to the film’s emphasis on underwater sequences. So whereas later Bond films tried to copy the same visual cues of ‘Thunderball’s title sequence, nothing could ever beat the original. 

   

6. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME

The title sequence for ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ is perfectly executed, which is quite something considering that the visuals are arguably a bit standard as far as the franchise is concerned. For the record, I’m not saying that this is a bad thing. It’s just more impressive that this sequence manages to stand out so much for basically being ‘business as usual’ as far as Bond title sequences are concerned. But the rise in quality going from the titles of ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’ to the titles of ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, which also perfectly correlates with the overall quality of both films, is so staggering that it’s very much clear that the three-year gap between these two films was highly beneficial to everyone who worked on ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, and that definitely included Maurice Binder. This is also without a doubt one of the best marriages of title sequence and theme song with one of the all-time greatest Bond themes, ‘Nobody Does It Better’. What more can be said about what is pretty much a near-perfect James Bond title sequence from a near-perfect Bond film?

5. TOMORROW NEVER DIES

Okay, full disclaimer; these Top 5 are all from the Kleinman era. No offense to Maurice Binder but these 5 sequences are easily some of the most visually appealing title sequences in the entire franchise. Kicking off the Top 5 is the title sequence of Pierce Brosnan’s second Bond film, and coincidentally Kleinman’s second Bond title sequence, ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’. While I do have some issues with the title song (more on that next week), I really love the sequence as a whole. The use of technology and computers as visuals ties in nicely to the main villain, media mogul Elliot Carver, and it was definitely fitting for someone like Kleinman to work on this sequence given his love of technology. I love the smashing of screens, the women formed out of circuitry, and the diamonds around a woman’s neck becoming ‘satellites’ in the night sky. In fact, apparently there was a deleted line from the screenplay in which Carver remarked about something similar to this but of course it got cut, which is another sign that the film’s production wasn’t a smooth one. Still, ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ was another solid success as far as Kleinman’s titles were concerned. And as we’ll soon see, they would only get better and better. On that note…

4. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH

Yes, we now move to the next immediate Bond film after ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’, ‘The World is Not Enough’. The word I’d use to describe the titles for this Bond film would be luscious. Like its immediate predecessor, this title sequence does a great job of connecting to one of the main themes of the film, in this case oil. I loved the use of oil as a key part of the visuals, from the women disappearing into oil to shots of oil pumpjacks, which of course ties to the film’s main villain; oil heiress Elektra. All in all, it produces a nice array of layered visuals, hence why it’s definitely one of my favorite opening title sequences in the entire franchise. This sequence notably doesn’t appear until 14 minutes into the film after the series’ longest pre-credits sequence but it’s still a nice start to a Bond film that may be a mixed bag but it still very enjoyable to watch. And of course it’s paired perfectly with one of the best Bond title songs ever by Garbage… but again more on that next week. Though ultimately, as far as the Pierce Brosnan era Bond title sequences are concerned, nothing was better than, fittingly enough, what came from his first outing as 007.

3. GOLDENEYE

Daniel Kleinman made his official debut as the creator of the Bond title sequences in one of my absolute favorite entries in the entire series, ‘GoldenEye’. Seriously, the jump in visual quality between the opening titles of 1989’s ‘Licence to Kill’ and 1995’s ‘GoldenEye’, is stunning. Kleinman basically added in a whole new dimension to the series’ opening titles sequence while also placing greater emphasis on the backgrounds whereas Binder usually just set all of his title sequences against a black background. But even with all of the new tools that Kleinman had at his disposal, ‘GoldenEye’s opening titles still very much have the Bond feel to them. And just like how the visuals have a more modern feel to them, the sequence itself is aided by the fact that ‘GoldenEye’ resurrected the series as it entered the post-Cold War era. You can definitely see that through a good chunk of the visuals in this sequence like falling hammers and sickles, collapsing statues of Communist leaders like Stalin, and women destroying both the statues and the hammers and sickles. Starting and ending with a contrasting view of the classic gunbarrel sequence and full of absolutely gorgeous visuals, it was just another reason to love the film in general.

2. CASINO ROYALE

‘Casino Royale’ marked a new beginning for the Bond franchise as it showed Bond before he truly became Bond. And as such, the film’s title sequence has the feel of ‘starting fresh’. For one thing, there’s no scantily-clad silhouetted women. But these titles didn’t need that because they work so well in producing amazing visuals that not only connect to the themes of ‘Casino Royale’, but also feel very much fitting for the new era that was set to start with Daniel Craig in the role of Bond. Most specifically, this sequence highlights the film’s more hard-edged and violent style of action. Instead of the usual silhouetted women cavorting around the screen, we instead see Bond take out numerous goons and when they ‘die’, they then turn into the various suits found on playing cards. And it ends quite nicely as the camera zooms in onto Craig’s face, which I think was a prime example that Craig was about to prove his biggest critics wrong. The Bond title sequences were only getting more and more advanced with each new entry. So with that said, that leads into what is, yes, my #1 favorite Bond title sequence out of all of the 23 films in the franchise… and they come from the most recent Bond film.

1. SKYFALL

I would go as far as to argue that ‘Skyfall’ has the most visually cinematic opening titles in the entire franchise. I loved how much layers there are to the sequence and how there is so much vibrant imagery in each and every frame. This is one of those credit sequences that requires additional views in order to catch everything that appears in frame and I don’t mind that at all. Some may not like that these titles foreshadow events in the film, like showing Bond’s old home Skyfall or even placing Judi Dench’s credit in front of a tombstone which of course signify the end of her tenure with the franchise. But I didn’t mind that at all as I feel that it makes these particular titles the best in the series if solely in terms of being closely tied to the film. Other elements of this sequence that I like include the appearance of Silva as one of Bond’s shadows, the ‘Rorschach test’ style visuals near the end, and Silva’s, shall we say, ‘insignia’ of a red skull. With no disrespect towards MK12, the opening titles for ‘Quantum of Solace’, while kind of cool, were also rather lackluster, like the film itself. Simply put, ‘Skyfall’ definitely benefitted from Daniel Kleinman’s return to the franchise and doing what he does best; producing amazing Bond opening titles and as far as his best, I’d say that honor goes to his most recent endeavor; the opening titles for ‘Skyfall’.

NEXT WEEK: I list my Top 10 Favorite James Bond themes