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.

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