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.) 24th 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
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| 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.
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