No Time to Die (2021) review

 

Since 1962, six actors have officially portrayed author Ian Fleming’s suave secret agent James Bond AKA 007 in Eon Productions’ long-running franchise of films based on Fleming’s work, with each of them bringing their own unique spin to the title role. Up until this year, however, arguably the one thing that most of them had in common was that, unfortunately, their tenures in the role didn’t exactly end on a good note as their final films tended to be some of the franchise’s worst-received installments, sometimes for reasons that extend beyond the film’s quality. Sean Connery, for example, may have been the first and quite arguably most iconic James Bond, but his run ended in a rather bizarre way where he temporarily left the franchise after 1967’s You Only Live Twice, returned for 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever, then left again, and then proceeded to star in an unofficial Bond film, 1983’s Never Say Never Again, which was just a remake of his fourth Bond film, 1964’s Thunderball. During Connery’s temporary hiatus, George Lazenby took up the role, and while 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is often seen as one of the franchise’s best films, Lazenby infamously stepped away from the role after just a single film on the advice of his agent. Thus, Roger Moore ended up becoming the first ‘proper’ successor to Connery and notably appeared in a franchise-record 7 films. However, many felt that he had stayed in the role for too long to the point where, by the time that he had starred in 1985’s A View to a Kill at the age of 57, he was older than lead Bond Girl Tanya Roberts’ mother.

After Moore’s departure, Timothy Dalton was cast; like Lazenby, his tenure was another notoriously short one although, in his defense, this was mainly because the series ended up in some major legal issues after only his second film, 1989’s Licence to Kill. After that, Pierce Brosnan helped revive the franchise in the mid-’90s, with his final film, Die Another Day, notably being released in 2002, which coincided with the series’ 40^th anniversary… it also ended up being one of its worst-received outings. Thus, we now cut to Daniel Craig, the man who successfully managed to defy his biggest critics who heavily crucified his casting in 2005 because they felt that he didn’t fit the character’s long-standing image as it was both described in the books and portrayed by his five predecessors. And yet, once his first film, 2006’s Casino Royale, hit theaters, he quickly became a fan-favorite amongst critics and audiences as the series effectively rebooted itself, eschewing many of its campier elements to be more in line with the grounded spy thrillers of recent years such as the Jason Bourne franchise. In the years since, Craig has arguably maintained one of the most consistent runs of any of the Bond leads to date. Sure, his first four films were an even mix of critically-acclaimed outings (Casino Royale and 2012’s Skyfall) and incredibly polarizing affairs (2008’s Quantum of Solace and 2015’s Spectre), but overall, Craig has managed to muster a strongly positive reputation amongst Bond fans. However, by the time that Spectre was released, it was unclear if Craig was going to return for another film, especially after an infamous comment that he had made during an interview where he noted that he’d rather “slash his wrists” than do another one. Granted, he did later admit that this was simply a poor way of responding to the question in the immediate wake of Spectre’s production, but nevertheless, it did cause a bit of a scandal. Ultimately, though, Craig confirmed that he would return for one more film which, as you’ll see, ended up going through quite a lot.

After it was confirmed that Skyfall and Spectre director Sam Mendes would not return to direct a third Bond film, it was announced that visionary director Danny Boyle was tapped to direct Eon’s 25^th official Bond film with a screenplay that he had co-written with his longtime collaborator John Hodge. Had this gone through, Boyle would’ve quite arguably been the most prominent director to ever be attached to the franchise given Eon’s tendency to not rely on big-name directors, having notably turned down the likes of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson in the past. Unfortunately, Boyle ended up dropping out of the project in August 2018 due to creative differences over his and Hodge’s script. Luckily for Eon, the search for a new director didn’t end up taking too long as they ultimately hired Cary Joji Fukunaga. Over the past few years, Fukunaga has made quite a name for himself as a director thanks to his work on the likes of the 2015 Netflix film Beasts of No Nation and the first season of HBO’s True Detective. With his hiring, Fukunaga notably became the first American-born director to helm a Bond film as well as the first to also have a writing credit on the film, which he shares with series regulars Neal Purvis and Robert Wade and, by Daniel Craig’s own request, Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge. And apart from an ankle injury that Craig sustained during filming, everything seemed to be going well for what would eventually be titled No Time to Die as the film was primed for an April 2020 domestic release… and then the COVID-19 pandemic happened.

With theaters closing around the world due to the impact of the pandemic, MGM and Eon promptly decided to push No Time to Die’s release date back, effectively making it the first film that had to bow to the pressure of a COVID-forced delay. And sure enough, other big-name blockbusters like F9, Black Widow, and Wonder Woman 1984 were forced to move back to a later date as well. As for No Time to Die, it was clear that this was for the best to ensure a strong financial performance at the worldwide box office as it was estimated that the film would’ve lost about $300 million had it stayed in its April 2020 slot. First poised for a November 2020 release, it was then pushed back again to April 2021, a full year after its initially planned release, when it was clear that theaters wouldn’t be back in full operation by that time. But when the new year rolled around, it was pushed back again to October 2021; thankfully, though, that release date was officially locked in back in August, and thus, more than one and a half years after it was originally set to hit theaters, the grand finale to Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond is finally here. Obviously, this one’s been a long time coming, but thanks to Cary Joji Fukunaga’s brilliant direction and its many moments of powerful emotional poignancy, No Time to Die achieves a genuine first in franchise history by giving its lead actor the send-off that he damn well deserves.

In the wake of MI6’s successful capture of Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), the leader of the sinister criminal organization known as Spectre, James Bond AKA Agent 007 (Daniel Craig) has begun to settle down with his lover, psychiatrist Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux). However, their peaceful lives are tragically upended when a run-in with Spectre agents leaves Bond to believe that Madeleine has betrayed him, thus resulting in him abandoning her and retiring from MI6. Five years later, Bond is approached by his old friend, CIA agent Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), who requests his help in locating a kidnapped scientist, Valdo Obruchev (David Dencik). Bond soon discovers that Obruchev has been working with MI6 on an advanced nanobot bioweapon known as ‘Project Heracles’ that can eliminate any target by coding itself to their DNA. This immediately compels Bond to return to active duty, where he finds himself reuniting with his old MI6 associates (MI6 head Gareth Mallory AKA M (Ralph Fiennes), his secretary Eve Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), chief of staff Bill Tanner (Rory Kinnear), and Quartermaster Q (Ben Whishaw)) while also meeting his successor as 007, Nomi (Lashana Lynch). Eventually, Bond comes face to face with the true perpetrator behind Obruchev’s kidnapping, terrorist Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek), who happens to have a notable connection to Madeleine due to a previous encounter with her when she was younger. Thus, Bond finds himself having to reunite with Madeleine for the first time in years as he and MI6 work to stop Safin before he can unleash ‘Project Heracles’ upon the world and cause the deaths of millions.

As of 2021, No Time to Die is, officially, the longest film of the franchise with a near 3-hour runtime of 163 minutes. Admittedly, there are a few instances where you do feel the brunt of that hefty run-time, like when the film reaches its finale and it’s clear that there’s at least a half-hour left to go. Still, that doesn’t mean that the film is a slog or anything as the main plot is solidly engaging as far as premises from this franchise are concerned. And just like how Daniel Craig’s previous odd-numbered Bond films did a great job of recontextualizing the Bond franchise for the times in which they were released, No Time to Die wholly succeeds at being another attempt at modernizing James Bond. In this instance, being that this was the first Bond film released in the wake of the #MeToo movement, it goes above and beyond to combat the series’ long-standing habit of objectifying its female characters, mainly by giving them some of the most significant roles that any ‘Bond Girl’ has ever had in these films. And while I know that there are some old-school fans out there who are viciously decrying this film for being ‘too woke’, this is all just very much in line with how Daniel Craig’s Bond films have been handled. It has also helped to give them some of the most emotional narrative moments in the history of the franchise, and sure enough, No Time to Die is arguably the most emotionally driven Bond film to date, which is a fitting development seeing how it does, indeed, serve as the end of an era.

Given how many actors have portrayed James Bond over the years, there’s been plenty of debate over the question of which of Eon’s 6 official leads is the ‘best’ of the bunch. And while many Bond fans usually tend to give Sean Connery that honor due to him being the first and most iconic Bond, it could be argued that Daniel Craig has managed to legitimately challenge Connery’s spot for that vaunted position. Regardless of the quality of his films, Craig has arguably been the best ‘acted’ James Bond as each of his five Bond films has done a great job of highlighting his deeply raw and emotionally vulnerable take on Bond, with his more recent outings also allowing him the opportunity to flex his comedic talents via Bond’s trademark quips. And as I noted earlier, No Time to Die pairs him with some of the franchise’s best female leads which, of course, all starts with a returning Léa Seydoux in a significantly improved turn as Madeleine Swann. Madeleine’s role (and, for that matter, Seydoux’s performance) in Spectre was one of the more polarizing aspects of what was quite frankly the franchise’s most polarizing installment in recent memory, with several critics and fans feeling that her chemistry with Craig was mediocre and that the romantic relationship between Bond and Madeleine wasn’t exactly developed properly. It’s a much different story here as Seydoux’s chemistry with Craig is much stronger and their relationship is far more pivotal to the plot, thus making it a nice bookend to Craig’s tenure as Bond as it matches up nicely with a lot of the big narrative beats that defined Bond’s similarly strong yet ultimately tragic relationship with Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale.

As for the film’s other Bond girls (a term that, full disclosure, isn’t exactly a fitting way of describing these characters nowadays), despite some initial fears of her potentially being underutilized, Lashana Lynch’s Nomi is properly established as Bond’s equal as his successor for the position of 007. It also helps that Lynch has a terrific back-and-forth camaraderie with Craig whenever they’re on-screen together. And while she only appears in a single sequence in this nearly three-hour film, Ana de Armas is, as has been the case with a lot of her recent work, a major standout as Bond’s CIA ally Paloma. Then, of course, you have all the Bond franchise’s regulars, from Bond’s MI6 allies (Ralph Fiennes’ dry-witted M, Ben Whishaw’s lovably dorky Q, Naomie Harris’ spunky Moneypenny, etc.) to Jeffrey Wright’s first appearance as Felix Leiter since Quantum of Solace. Finally, we come to the latest main antagonist of the Bond series, Rami Malek’s Safin, whose role in the story has been one of the more polarizing elements of the film. From what I can tell, this is mainly because some feel that he isn’t in it that much which, admittedly, has sort of been a recent trend with Bond villains as both Javier Bardem’s Silva and even Christoph Waltz’s Blofeld had rather limited screentime in Skyfall and Spectre, respectively. For what it’s worth, though, Malek does succeed in making Safin a legitimately sinister antagonist, especially thanks to the appropriately oft-kilter vibe that Malek gives him.

For the longest time, none of the actors who have played James Bond have ever had a great final film… with No Time to Die, Daniel Craig officially breaks that curse. Aside from just being another great example of this franchise’s penchant for top-notch action set-pieces and thrilling globe-trotting adventures, No Time to Die also does a beautiful job of maintaining one of the strongest elements of the Craig-era Bond films, their strong sense of emotional poignancy. While this era of the franchise may have started with James Bond being subjected to all the character beats that made him… well, James Bond, this Bond has also undergone a noticeable evolution for a character who was once described by Judi Dench’s M (albeit back in the Brosnan era, but the point still stands) as a “sexist, misogynist dinosaur” and a “relic of the Cold War”. In other words, regardless of how much it will inevitably piss off longtime fans of the franchise, No Time to Die effectively updates its main protagonist for the current cinematic landscape, thus resulting in a James Bond that no longer beds every single woman that he comes across but is still very much the coolest guy in the room. And since the Craig era was the first time in franchise history where subsequent follow-ups were true direct sequels, this allows No Time to Die the chance to effectively tie up any loose ends from the previous four films which, as a result, gives Daniel Craig’s Bond the best kind of send-off that any cinematic protagonist could possibly get.

Rating: 5/5!

Spectre (2015) review

It was just over a decade ago when Daniel Craig became the sixth actor to take on the role of James Bond for Eon Productions. But, just like with pretty much any actor or actress who takes on a major role in a comic book film, Craig’s casting led to a ton of backlash by fans of the franchise. Simply put, many believed that the 5’10’’ blond-haired Englishman did not fit the ‘tall, dark’ description of the character both described in Ian Fleming’s original novels and portrayed by Craig’s predecessors in the role. But, thankfully, Craig managed to prove his biggest critics wrong with his first film, 2006’s ‘Casino Royale’, which served as a reboot of the franchise after the critically bashed ‘Die Another Day’. Instead of the campy gadget-filled escapades of the franchise’s older days, ‘Casino Royale’ took on a much edgier and grounded route while Craig portrayed Bond as an emotionally driven and more vulnerable character, again compared to his predecessors. The end result was simply perfection as far as the franchise was concerned… and then his second Bond film, 2008’s ‘Quantum of Solace’, ending up being a major disappointment. It may have had something to do with the Writer’s Strike that was going on at the time but even then the film was extremely bland as far as Bond films went. Thankfully, Craig’s run as Bond rebounded with 2012’s ‘Skyfall’. Under the excellent and classy direction of Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes, the film served as both a fitting commemoration of the franchise as it celebrated its 50^th anniversary and another ‘re-invention’ of the franchise in this modern technological world.

Three years later, Craig, Mendes, and the new cast of primary Bond allies that were introduced in ‘Skyfall’, are back for the franchise’s 24^th installment, and Craig’s fourth official Bond film, ‘Spectre’. As the title suggests, this film re-introduces the franchise’s classic criminal organization of the same name; ‘Special Executive for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion’ (disclaimer: this acronym is not used in the film). SPECTRE played a major part in the Sean Connery/George Lazenby era of the franchise but had been absent from the franchise since its last appearance in 1971’s ‘Diamonds are Forever’. This was mainly due to copyright issues that had initially spawned from legal disputes between Ian Fleming and ‘Thunderball’ co-writer Kevin McClory, which subsequently affected Eon Productions for more than four decades. MGM finally managed to get the rights back to SPECTRE in 2013 and immediately implemented the organization into ‘Bond 24’. But now the question is how Mendes’ second Bond film turned out. Well, despite what the rather low 62% rating on RT may suggest, ‘Spectre’ is another rock solid entry of this long-running franchise. Now while I don’t want to make any major comparisons to ‘Skyfall’, I will admit that this film can be rather predictable in terms of the writing. But even with that said, this is still very much a Sam Mendes directed Bond film that manages to be a well-crafted and classy spy thriller in almost every way.

After a unauthorized mission in Mexico City ordered by the previous M before her death (Judi Dench makes a brief video message cameo) in which he kills an assassin by the name of Marco Sciarra (Alessandro Cremona), MI6 Agent 007 James Bond (Daniel Craig) is taken off field duty by his boss, the new M (Ralph Fiennes), who is in the middle of dealing with the recent merger between MI5 and MI6 headed by Max Denbigh (Andrew Scott) that could end up resulting in the shuttering of the ‘00’ section. Meanwhile, against orders, Bond begins an investigation into the mysterious organization known as Spectre that Sciarra was a member of. His probing soon leads to him crossing paths once again with an old foe, Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), as Bond learns that White, whose organization Quantum is revealed to have been a subsidiary of Spectre, has a daughter named Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) who, like him, is being pursued by the organization. Bond finds Madeleine and the two, with the help of Bond’s MI6 allies Q (Ben Whishaw) and Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), venture off in order to uncover the mysterious plans of Spectre. This ultimately leads Bond into having to deal with a ‘ghost from his past’ in the form of Spectre’s mysterious leader, Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz), who as it turns out has a very special connection with Bond.

As far as the plot is concerned, ‘Spectre’ is admittedly much more predictable than its immediate predecessor. A certain reveal about the main villain is pretty darn obvious given both the history of the franchise and the fact that pretty much everyone on the internet predicted it just like they did with Khan in ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’. Not only that, but one of the main plot-points in the film about a new intelligence system reminded me of, of all things, ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’. In other words, this film is a much more straight-forward entry in the franchise compared to ‘Skyfall’. But at the end of the day, I’m totally fine with that. Even with some of the story’s shortcomings, Sam Mendes’ direction is just as excellent as it was in his previous Bond film. The action sequences are once again superb, from the film’s terrific pre-credits sequence that takes place in Mexico City during the ‘Day of the Dead’ festivities to the intense hand-to-hand fight scene on a train between Bond and Spectre operative Mr. Hinx (Dave Bautista in a short but definitely memorable henchman role). Sadly Roger Deakins didn’t return to do the cinematography this time but ‘Interstellar’s Hoyte van Hoytema is a more-than-suitable replacement. And despite what I said before about the writing’s predictability, one thing that I did really love about this film’s story was how it managed to connect certain events and characters from all of Craig’s previous Bond films and tie them all to Spectre. And just like how ‘Skyfall’ focused on Judi Dench’s M dealing with a ghost from her past, this film’s plot sees Bond’s past coming back to haunt him.

Four films in, what more can be said about Daniel Craig as Bond? He’s just as excellent as he’s been in his last three Bond films. But with that said, one of the best things about Craig’s performances in the Mendes-directed films in particular is that he’s been able to have the chance to bring back the character’s sense of wit that was rather absent from his first two Bond films. And believe me when I say that this film definitely delivers in terms of its witty dialogue; after all, no Bond film is complete is without a few highly quotable lines. As the main villain, Christoph Waltz admittedly isn’t in the film that much to be as memorable as Javier Bardem was as Silva in ‘Skyfall’ but does manage to bring the right amount of diabolical charm and intimidation required for the role whenever he does appear onscreen. And without giving anything away, Waltz was a perfect choice for this role. As far as the film’s ‘Bond Girls’ are concerned, Monica Bellucci, who plays Lucia, the widow of the assassin that Bond killed in the opening, really only has a ‘cameo role’ in the film as she appears in only two scenes near the beginning. But as for the film’s main leading lady, Lea Seydoux is arguably the film’s biggest standout. Dare I say she even outshines Craig? Madeleine Swann might not be a vengeful spy like Bond but she’s still a very strong-willed woman reminiscent of classic Bond girls like Natalya Simonova and Tracy Bond. And of course, all of the returning regulars from ‘Skyfall’ are great as well, from Q (Ben Whishaw continues to be a worthy successor to the great Desmond Lleweyn) to Moneypenny (Naomie Harris continues to have solid flirtatious chemistry with Craig).

I don’t want this to seem like I’m pointing any fingers at anybody but I have the feeling that the rather low RT score for this film was partially due to certain critics negatively comparing this film to ‘Skyfall’, which in my opinion is a rather unfair thing to do. I don’t believe that Bond films should be compared to each other as if they were just sequels, save for the franchise’s only true sequel to date, ‘Quantum of Solace’, because they are all their own separate stories that just so happen to be a part of the same franchise. And even though ‘Skyfall’ has ended up becoming my favorite Bond film to date, I didn’t go into this film expecting it to be ‘better’ than its predecessor. And ultimately while I do feel that ‘Skyfall’ is still the better film, I don’t hold that against ‘Spectre’. It’s rumored that this may be Daniel Craig’s last Bond film and if that ends up being the case, then he does manage to end his tenure as Bond on a much better note than some of his predecessors like Pierce Brosnan or Roger Moore. Sure, ‘Spectre’ can be rather predictable in terms of its plot, namely a reveal that the internet figured out months beforehand, but that doesn’t mean it is, to quote a review by someone who won’t be named, ‘the worst Bond film in 30 years’. Whereas ‘Skyfall’ was a reawakening for the Bond franchise in which Bond dealt with the possibility of being obsolete in this modern world, ‘Spectre’ is very much a tribute to the classic Bond films of yesteryear.

Rating: 4.5/5

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: Ranking the Bond Actors

To close out Rhode Island Movie Corner’s second annual Bond Month, one week before the stateside release of ‘Spectre’ on November 6^th, I will be doing what could arguably be one of the most important lists ever when it comes to talking about the James Bond franchise; ranking the 6 actors who have played James Bond to date. For the record, that doesn’t count David Niven, who played Bond in the 1967 comedy ‘Casino Royale’. Only those who starred in an ‘official’ Bond film for Eon Productions.

006 George Lazenby

Well I guess it’s the obvious choice to start off a list ranking all 6 Bond actors with the one Bond lead who literally only starred in 1 Bond film, ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’, before immediately stepping down from the role, resulting in his predecessor returning for one more ‘official’ Bond film. But for the record, it’s primarily because of this fact that he’s at the low point on this list, not due to his performance as Bond as most people like to focus on. There have been a lot of people who have accused him of being wooden in his performance and while I do see where they’re coming from, I view this as a result of Lazenby apparently never really having a chance to shine in the role because he was stuck in Sean Connery’s shadow, something that would affect Roger Moore early on in his Bond career as well. In fact, every other Bond actor’s best performance usually came in one of their later films so I feel that Lazenby could’ve fared much better had he had more time as Bond. And say what you will about his performance, but his scene where he talks to the police officer after Tracy’s death was where he was at his best. But ultimately, that would be it for George Lazenby, the one Bond that most people tend to forget, even though he was the star of one of the best Bond films of all-time.

005 Timothy Dalton

Like Lazenby, Timothy Dalton’s career as Bond was very short. He did star in more Bond films than Lazenby, but only by one more. His second film, ‘Licence to Kill’, was one of the franchise’s biggest under-performers and this subsequently led to a legal dispute over the rights to the franchise. By the time the series returned with ‘GoldenEye’, Dalton had already stepped down from the role, which is a shame because, contrary to popular opinion, I think that he was actually a really solid Bond. He was the predecessor to Daniel Craig in terms of portraying a much more serious and emotionally driven Bond. Plus, he absolutely looked the part, perhaps even more so than any other Bond lead before or after him. But ultimately his biggest downfall while in the role was that he wasn’t as strong as Roger Moore when it came to spewing Bond’s trademark quips. I wouldn’t go as far to say that he was ‘absolutely terrible’ at humor, but because he played the role so seriously, there wasn’t as many opportunities for one-liners. Still, I think he did a phenomenal job as Bond and I’d argue that ‘Licence to Kill’ is not only his best Bond film, but also the series’ most underrated film to date.

004 Roger Moore

Sean Connery and Roger Moore are arguably the two most iconic Bonds of all-time. But when it came to Moore’s tenure as 007, he had a bit of a mixed run in terms of both performances and the films that he starred in. Early on in his run, the filmmakers tried to make him like Sean Connery’s Bond when really that was the wrong route to go, which was most evident in ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’ (e.g. the scene where he twists Andrea Anders’ arm in order to get information from her) and ‘For Your Eyes Only’, which opted to take a much more serious route compared to its far campier predecessor ‘Moonraker’. Moore wasn’t the tougher Bond like Connery was that was similar to Ian Fleming’s original interpretation. He was much more charismatic and was also a master when it came to Bond’s hilarious quips. So ultimately, his best performances as Bond came in films like ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, ‘Moonraker’, and ‘Octopussy’, where he was simply allowed to be himself. However, he was also in the role longer than he needed to be. By the time he started filming his final Bond film, ‘A View to a Kill’, he was 57 years old and was even older than his leading lady’s mother. By that point, he was no longer convincing in the role so it’s a good thing that ‘A View to a Kill’ ended up being the last time Moore would take on the role of Bond. It’s a shame though that he had to end his career with what is, in my opinion, the worst Bond film in the series to date.

003 Sean Connery

What more can be said about Sean Connery as James Bond? He was the one who started it all and is arguably the one actor that is the most identified with the character. So why then is he only ranked at #3 on this list? Well ultimately this just comes to down to personal preference as I just like the next two actors more in the role of Bond. It may have something to do with the fact that these next two actors were the Bonds of my time but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like Connery in the role of Bond. He definitely had the right amount of swagger and charisma for the role and was also able to throw in a good quip from time to time. But at the same time, he also wasn’t afraid to take on some of the darker elements of the character. As far as his films are concerned, he started off his career as Bond with a bang with three back-to-back classics in ‘Dr. No’, ‘From Russia with Love’, and ‘Goldfinger’. However after that, his Bond films started to decline in terms of quality. Part of it can stem from the fact that it seemed like Connery was getting bored in the role which is most noticeable in ‘Thunderball’ and especially in ‘You Only Live Twice’. He retired from the role after ‘You Only Live Twice’ but returned two films later for ‘Diamonds are Forever’. But while he was definitely much more enthusiastic in the role this time around, the film ended up being the weakest of the Bond films that he did for Eon. After that film, he finally stepped away from the Eon franchise for good… and then reprised the role of Bond one more time in the unofficial Bond film/remake of ‘Thunderball’, ‘Never Say Never Again’, released in 1983, the same year as ‘Octopussy’.

002 Daniel Craig

As we all know, when Daniel Craig was first cast as 007, a lot of fans weren’t too pleased with this decision. Feeling that Craig simply wasn’t fit for the role of Bond, they responded with the kind of vitriol that you tend to see from comic book fans whenever someone is cast in the lead role of a superhero film. But Craig thankfully managed to prove most of his critics wrong with ‘Casino Royale’, in which he proved to be one of the finest to have ever taken on the role of Bond. The film marked a new era for the Bond franchise as it moved away from the over-the-top plots and gadgets in favor of a stripped down, grittier interpretation of the character and Craig more than fit the part. He carries a cold and edgy demeanor but also has an emotional vulnerability to him as well. ‘Quantum of Solace’ may have been a rather disappointing follow-up to ‘Casino Royale’, but Craig still shined as Bond. And then came ‘Skyfall’, which once again redefined the character of Bond. Now Bond had to deal with the possibility of being ‘past his prime’ in an age where people like Q are much more effective behind a computer than he is out in the field. As I stated earlier, usually a Bond lead actor’s best performance comes in one of their later films and that is definitely the case for Daniel Craig with his performance in ‘Skyfall’, steely and physical while also suave and poised like the Bonds before him.

001 Pierce Brosnan

This may be a bit of a controversial choice but yes, Pierce Brosnan is my personal favorite James Bond. While he had already stepped down from the role by the time I started watching the Bond films, he was the first major actor in the role since I was born and as a result, he’s the one I most identify with the role… yes, even more so than Connery. As Bond, Brosnan found the perfect mix of Roger Moore’s charm and wit and Timothy Dalton’s emotional drive. In other words, he was a very well-rounded Bond. As far as his films went, admittedly they went down in quality with each subsequent installment after the brilliance that what his debut film, ‘GoldenEye’. But as far as his performances in the role were concerned, I’d argue that he was one of the most consistent of the 6 Bond leads and never really gave a ‘bad’ performance as Bond. It’s just a shame that some of his films didn’t live up to the quality of his performances. It may just be a case of personal preference, but at the end of the day, Pierce Brosnan is still my favorite James Bond.

BOND MONTH: Top 10 Favorite/Least Favorite Bond 'Moments'

Over the span of 23 official Bond films, we’ve seen plenty of memorable moments involving our favorite MI6 agent, 007, from awesome action sequences to heartbreakingly tragic moments and so on and so forth. But of course with that said, there are also some moments within the franchise that were memorable for all the wrong reasons. They’re the moments that are hard to defend no matter how big of a fan you are of the franchise. So today, as part of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s second annual Bond Month, I will be listing 10 of my personal favorite and least favorite moments in the Bond franchise. I tried to keep it limited to one moment per film for variety but I’ll admit that there are at least one or two instances within these two lists where I may have at least two separate moments from one film listed just because certain films had quite a few great moments in them that made it hard to pick just one. Also, to keep things fair, this list won’t be including the classic moment when James Bond first introduces himself by name in ‘Dr. No’, and every subsequent Bond actor’s take on it, because that would just be too obvious in terms of where that would rank. So let’s just get it out of the way then, shall we? The ‘best’ moment in Bond history is the classic introduction of ‘Bond, James Bond’, first spoken by Sean Connery in ‘Dr. No’ and then repeated by all subsequent Bond lead actors. Now that we got that out of the way, let’s kick things off with my Top 10 Least Favorite Bond Moments.

10. THE OVERUSE OF SHERRIF J.W. PEPPER- LIVE AND LET DIE/THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN

To put things as nicely as I can, Louisiana Sherriff J.W. Pepper is quite the character that Bond comes across during his adventures. He first appears in ‘Live and Let Die’, where he ends up right in the middle of the speedboat chase between Bond and Kananga’s men in the Louisiana Bayou. But at the end of the day, maybe things would’ve been better off without him. Now for the record, I do sort of understand why they added him into ‘Live and Let Die’ in order to offset all of the racial stereotypes of that film. But even with that in mind, Pepper is basically the one thing that prevents me from listing that film as one of the all-time best entries of the Bond series, despite it being one of my personal favorites. Obviously meant to be the primary source of comic relief, the film continuously cuts to him during the boat chase. Not only does this drag out the already rather long action sequence even further but as many of you would agree, he also gets pretty darn grating at times with all of his yelling and racist comments. And then to make matters worse, they brought him back again for ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’. I’m not as positive towards that film compared to ‘Live and Let Die’ and, suffice it to say, the return of Pepper didn’t make it any better. Simply put, I guess you can say that Sheriff J.W. Pepper is the ‘Jar Jar Binks’ of the Bond franchise… a misguided attempt at comic relief.

9. GOOFING UP JAWS- MOONRAKER

I already talked about this when I listed Jaws in my Top 10 Bond Henchmen post so I won’t repeat myself here. Needless to say, the once highly intimidating Jaws was goofed up beyond belief in his second Bond outing and most of the time it just comes off a bit too weird, like when he first meets his girlfriend Dolly.

8. JAPANESE BOND- YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE

And the award for having one of the worst makeup jobs in film history goes to ‘You Only Live Twice’ for its failed attempt at making James Bond look Japanese. Yes in this film Bond, while undercover to investigate into the disappearances of American and Russian spacecraft, is briefly disguised as a Japanese man. But seriously, look at the picture above and tell me… does that look like a Japanese man to you? No, it looks more like a British man, who technically speaking is being played by a Scottish man. There seriously seems to have been no effort at all in trying to make look Sean Connery different other than changing his hair up a bit and Connery certainly doesn’t make any attempts to sound Japanese whatsoever. It’s funny because leading up to this part of the film there’s a scene in which Bond being prepped for his disguise. And yet, as I just noted earlier, nothing much changed in terms of Sean Connery’s appearance save for his hairstyle so ultimately that scene is entirely pointless. It’s quite amazing that no one in the film is able to see past this poor excuse for a disguise. It’s about as obvious as the many disguises that Team Rocket have worn in the ‘Pokémon’ anime but just like Ash and his friends in that show, everyone in this film seems to fall for it.

7. THE BEACH BOYS? - A VIEW TO A KILL

Taking the Number 7 spot is one of two moments on this list that were ruined by questionable sound design choices. First up is the opening sequence of ‘A View to a Kill’ in which Bond escapes from a bunch of bad guys in Siberia on skis. As far as Bond skiing sequences go, this one is just okay. It’s not terrible by any means but not particularly memorable either, although it did in, in a way, help popularize snowboarding. But then for some reason the track ‘California Girls’ by the Beach Boys (note: This version was actually a cover performed by the band Gidea Park) starts playing and it’s just… weird. It’s just like Madonna’s ‘Die Another Day’ and Jack White and Alicia Keys’ ‘Another Way to Die’ in that it just feels completely out of place for a Bond film except in this case it’s during an actual scene in the film and isn’t just a part of the opening credits. Thankfully it doesn’t last for long, about only one or two minutes or so, but it’s still a very odd way to start off a Bond film.

6. ELEPHANT JACKPOT- DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

This was the moment that effectively made it impossible for me to take ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ seriously due to how incredibly campy it is. Now for the record I’m not saying that I don’t like the campier style Bond films because I do, with films like ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘Octopussy’ serving as prime examples of this. It’s just that some do a better job than others when it comes to executing this style, and ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ isn’t one of those films, which is a shame given that it’s directed by the same guy who did ‘Goldfinger’, Guy Hamilton. At first, it’s not too bad. I was fine with the quirky duo of Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd and I was fine with the film being primarily set in Las Vegas, which meant that this was going to be a much flashier Bond film compared to its immediate predecessors. But then we get to the scene in which Tiffany Case collects a shipment of diamonds at the Circus Casino and that’s where the film starts to go downhill for me. It ends with a quick shot of an elephant at a slot machine, where it ‘hits the jackpot’ and trumpets in celebration. I can’t really explain why but this scene just rubbed me the wrong way and after that, the film just got goofier and goofier and not in a good way. Bond drives a moon buggy, Blofeld dresses in women’s clothing, and so on and so forth. At the end of the day, ‘Diamonds are Forever’ is by no means the ‘worst’ Bond film of all-time but due to a lot of its overly goofy moments, namely the jackpot-winning elephant, it’s not really one of my favorites.      

5. DOUBLE-TAKING PIGEON- MOONRAKER

But when it comes to odd animal antics in Bond films, nothing is more infamous than the double-taking pigeon from ‘Moonraker’. The sequence in which it appears is already goofy as is, with Bond driving onto the Venice walkways in, to put it quite simply, a ‘Gondola Hovercraft’. Of course we then see a couple of reaction shots from the crowd, including a bunch of stunned onlookers, a guy looking at his drink, and of course, that pigeon. Now to be frank, this moment actually doesn’t really bother me as much as you might think. In a way, I’m much more critical of the ‘elephant at the casino’ scene from ‘Diamonds are Forever’ than I am towards this scene. Still, it’s impossible to deny that this moment is just bizarre and is a lot more infamous than the elephant scene, hence why it’s ranked higher on this list. These last two moments are the kind of things in films that make you question the thought process that went into creating these sequences. What’s next? Bond swinging through the trees and yelling like Tarzan? Oh wait…

4. OLD ROGER MOORE- A VIEW TO A KILL

Roger Moore starred in the most ‘official’ Bond films out of the 6 actors who have played Bond for Eon Productions with, fittingly enough, 7 appearances as 007. However, by the time production started on his final Bond film, ‘A View to a Kill’, he was 57 years old. He was so old that he ended up learning that he was even older than the mother of his co-star, Tanya Roberts. That alone was a major warning sign that he was way too old for the part. As a result, scenes of him seducing his female co-stars are incredibly awkward and uncomfortable because of it. Not only that, but Moore is shown to have aged considerably since ‘Octopussy’. Apparently he had a facelift done prior to production and needless to say it’s clearly noticeable. Because of his age, most of the action sequences in the film are clearly being done by his stunt double and the film makes little effort to cover this up. Now let me be clear; Roger Moore was an excellent James Bond. He was both charming and witty, effectively creating a new take on the character that may not have been completely in line with the original Ian Fleming novels but was iconic nevertheless. But clearly Moore should have stepped down from the role at a much earlier point in time so that it wouldn’t get to the point where he just didn’t look convincing in the role of Bond anymore because that’s what exactly what happened with his final James Bond film.

3. CGI-SURFING BOND- DIE ANOTHER DAY

Yes it’s the moment that pretty much single-handedly nearly destroyed the Bond franchise until the series was rebooted in 2006 with ‘Casino Royale’. It’s the infamous sequence from ‘Die Another Day’ when Bond surfs on a wave caused by a melting glacier. Now for the record folks, I’m not that big of a critic when it comes to CGI so I’m not necessarily ‘as bothered’ by this as many other people on the internet are. But still, it’s impossible to deny the absolute ridiculousness of the sequence and the fact that it happened in, of all things, a Bond film. It’s crazy that a series that has always been known for practical stunt-work went against that in favor of CGI action for this particular film. It’s very much clear that Brosnan isn’t actually surfing that wave and that Bond is just a digital double in any shot that’s not a close-up. Seriously, couldn’t they have just filmed this scene in like a soundstage or something? I’m pretty sure they could’ve just filmed this entire scene on the 007 Stage or somewhere just to make it look halfway decent. But ultimately they didn’t and as a result, it’s one of the most infamous moments in Bond franchise history which definitely wasn’t a good thing considering that this film was meant to honor the franchise’s 40^th anniversary.

2. SLIDE-WHISTLE CAR JUMP- THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN

The reason why this sequence from ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’ is as high up as it is on the list, even going as far as topping the infamous surfing scene from ‘Die Another Day’, is because if it wasn’t for one simple element of this scene, this would actually be amongst the series’ best moments. The sight of Bond’s car in a 360 degree spin as it jumps across two ramps is a pretty damn awesome stunt. So why then, some of you might ask, is this is a ‘bad’ moment? Because some moron thought it was a good idea to add a slide-whistle sound effect. This would be the first of two instances in the Bond franchise when an action sequence is marred by a terrible sound design choice, the other being the aforementioned implementation of the song ‘California Girls’ by The Beach Boys into the opening sequence of ‘A View to a Kill’. But whereas that sequence is by no means one of the best sequences in franchise history, this car jumping stunt is amazing because at the time it was considered impossible to pull off. It’s too bad then that the scene ended up getting ruined by the use of a slide whistle. Why? Well, I have no idea and I haven’t found anything on the internet that explains why this decision was made. Thankfully there are some videos online that remove this sound effect but unfortunately, the film itself hasn’t gotten a ‘George Lucas Special Edition’ update so we’re still stuck with this oddity in sound design that puts a major damper on one of the series’ best stunts.

1. NEVER FINDING CLOSURE FOR THE DEATH OF TRACY BOND- DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER/FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

My pick for the ‘Worst’ moment in franchise history isn’t a questionable sound choice or an infamous sequence predominantly done with CGI. Instead, the top spot goes to what is, in my opinion, the series’ biggest missed opportunity; a proper conclusion to the storyline that was set up at the end of one of the best Bond films of all-time, ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’. Of course, as we all know, the film ended with the tragic death of James Bond’s first wife Tracy by Blofeld and Irma Bunt just a few minutes after the two were married. But despite the possibility of Bond seeking vengeance against the two for his wife’s death, as he did in Ian Fleming’s immediate follow-up to ‘OHMSS’, ‘You Only Live Twice’, the series has never really done this idea justice. Obviously one of the main reasons for this was due to the fact that the series had already adapted ‘You Only Live Twice’ just two years earlier, albeit under a much different plot. But then you also have to take into account the fact that the film’s Bond, George Lazenby, left the franchise after just one film. I’ve heard rumors that the filmmakers were considering reshooting the final scene with Sean Connery when he returned to the role of Bond for ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ but obviously that never came to fruition. Also, Ilse Steppat, the actress who played Irma Bunt, the one who was firing the gun that killed Tracy, sadly passed away in December of 1969, so the character ended up getting cut.

So ultimately, the opening sequence of ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ implied that Bond was going after Blofeld to avenge Tracy’s death. But ‘implied’ is the key word here because it’s never explicitly stated that this is what’s happening. And ultimately, the fact that Connery is back as Bond makes me believe that this was not meant to be following up on its predecessor’s ending. The closest the series got to ‘finishing’ this storyline was with ‘For Your Eyes Only’. It opens with a particularly touching moment in which Bond visits Tracy’s grave, which then leads to him basically defeating Blofeld for good by dropping him into a smoke stack. But here’s the thing… it’s only implied that the person Bond kills during this sequence is Blofeld because, due to legal issues with Kevin McClory, the filmmakers couldn’t actually refer to him by name in the film. And even if it was Blofeld, the way he goes out is a laughably mediocre way to kill off a character like Blofeld. Thankfully, Eon recently re-acquired the rights to use Blofeld and Spectre and obviously, the next Bond film will be re-introducing the organization. Because of this, as sacrilegious as it may sound to a lot of people, I actually want to see them remake ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ if only so that they could do the storyline of Bond and his wife Tracy proper justice.

AND NOW MY TOP 10 FAVORITE BOND MOMENTS

10. HONEY RYDER’S FIRST APPEARANCE- DR. NO

Kicking off the Top 10 list is not only one of the most famous moments in franchise history but cinema history as well, as Ursula Andress’ Honey Ryder emerges from the water in a white bikini singing ‘Under the Mango Tree’. Ultimately though, the reason why this scene is only at the #10 spot is because while it is undoubtedly iconic as far as the Bond franchise is concerned, Honey Ryder doesn’t actually do that much in the film compared to other Bond girls that came after her. She doesn’t appear until the film’s about halfway over and despite having a backstory where her father was killed while on Crab Key, the island of the titular Dr. No, ultimately she just ends up being the ‘damsel in distress’ for Bond to save. Still, it’s hard to deny the impact that this scene had on both the franchise and the film industry as one of the most beautiful women in the world at that time strode onto the scene in her sultry get-up, setting the standard that would define all future Bond girls to come. Oh yeah and that ‘sultry get-up’ ended up boosting bikini sales at the time and sold for about £35,000 when it was put up for auction in 2001. It’s that iconic.

9. BOND CONSOLES VESPER- CASINO ROYALE

There were a lot of great moments in Daniel Craig’s first Bond film, ‘Casino Royale’, making it rather hard for me to limit it to the two that ultimately made it into this list. The first of these two moments isn’t an action sequence but instead a nice little romantic scene involving Bond and Vesper Lynd. This scene takes place after Bond and Vesper dispatch a few assassins who were trying to kill Le Chiffre. After the two return to their room and Bond cleans up a bit, he finds Vesper sitting in the shower, visibly shaken by what had just gone down, unlike Bond who has obviously been in situations like this before. For what can ostensibly be referred to as a ‘shower scene’, this sequence is in no way sexual, to the point where Daniel Craig vetoed the idea of Vesper appearing only in her underwear. This scene might have turned out differently in an earlier Bond film but here it comes off as a much more emotional and romantic moment between these two growing lovers that also works well with Craig’s more vulnerable/emotionally-driven Bond. Backed by one of the best tracks from David Arnold’s score, simply titled ‘Vesper’, it’s a scene that one usually wouldn’t expect from a James Bond film but is handled perfectly.

8. BOND VS. GRANT- FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

Now we go back to one of the earliest action sequences of the franchise; the thrilling fight sequence between Bond and assassin Red Grant onboard the Orient Express. I won’t go into too much detail over this scene as I basically already talked about it earlier this month when I listed Grant as one of the series’ best henchmen. To reiterate what I stated in that post, the sequence had great build-up leading into it, with Grant, who has been tailing Bond around Istanbul for the majority of the film, going undercover and posing as ‘Agent Nash’ to gain Bond’s trust. Then after a while, he gains the upper hand, drugging Tatiana and subduing Bond. After revealing to Bond SPECTRE’s plan to have him steal the Lektor for them, Bond is able to trick Grant into opening his booby-trapped attaché case full of tear gas, which then leads into their fight onboard the train, ultimately culminating with Bond defeating Grant by strangling him with his own garrote. It’s a well-directed and well-edited sequence that works incredibly well around the limitations of the enclosed space of Bond and Tatiana’s sleeping car. Simply put, it may have been from one of the earliest of Eon’s Bond films but it’s still one of the series’ best fight scenes.

7. TANK CHASE THROUGH ST. PETERSBURG- GOLDENEYE

James Bond in a tank… need I say more?

6. REMOTE-CONTROLLED CAR CHASE- TOMORROW NEVER DIES

The Bond franchise has seen quite a lot of great car chases over the years, from the aforementioned car-tank chase through St. Petersburg in ‘GoldenEye’ to the on land and subsequently underwater chase sequence in ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’. But if I had to pick my favorite car chase from this series, it would have to be the one from ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’, in which Bond escapes from Elliot Carver’s henchmen in a parking garage in Hamburg, Germany. What makes this sequence so special is that Bond’s car, a BMW 750i, is remote-controlled, allowing him to drive around the garage from the backseat. At one point, he even jumps out of the car, remotely drives it up to the top of the parking garage, and then off of the roof where it oh so gently lands in the middle of, fittingly enough, a car-rental office. Of course the car comes with other accessories as well, such as a rear-bumper caltrop dispenser and a tear-gas/electric shock security system to prevent anyone else from using it, but ultimately the coolest part of this car is the remote-control system. ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ may have been rather by-the-numbers as far as Bond films are concerned, but it at least has the benefit of having one hell of a car chase sequence.

5. THE GOLDEN GIRL- GOLDFINGER

Following in the footsteps of Ursula Andress’ iconic entrance in ‘Dr. No’ is another classic moment of both Bond and cinema history; the sight of a girl completely covered in gold paint from head to toe. It happens right at the beginning of the film, when Bond is in Miami Beach investigating bullion dealer Auric Goldfinger. He comes across Goldfinger’s assistant, Jill Masterson, and after the two of them prevent Goldfinger from cheating at gin rummy, they end up in bed together. But then Bond is knocked out by a mysterious figure in a bowler hat (AKA Oddjob) and when he comes to, he finds Jill completely covered in gold paint and dead from ‘epidermal suffocation’. Now many of you have probably heard the internet myth that Shirley Eaton, who played Jill, died during the filming of that scene due to asphyxiation from the gold paint. But, as proven by the fact that Eaton is still alive, obviously this wasn’t true. That and it’s also been proven that you can’t really die from being covered in gold paint. This moment was even re-interpreted in ‘Quantum of Solace’ when agent Fields is drowned in oil, though ultimately that scene was nowhere near as iconic. Needless to say, the first shot of Jill covered in gold paint is a striking image that has defined the Bond franchise for many years.

4. CHASE THROUGH MADAGASCAR- CASINO ROYALE

It was hard to pick just one of the many great action sequences from ‘Casino Royale’ for this list. I could’ve gone with the black-and-white pre-credits sequence, the insane Aston Martin car crash where it flips seven times (which actually set a Guinness World Record), or the final shootout inside a crumbling building in Venice culminating in Vesper’s death. Hell, I could’ve even gone with the scene in which Bond is tortured by Le Chiffre if solely due to how excruciating it is for any male viewer to see Bond whacked in the nuts multiple times. But, ultimately I decided to go with the first ‘major’ action sequence in the film in which Bond pursues a bomb maker named Mollaka through Madagascar, which ends up taking them through a construction site and comes to a conclusion at an embassy, where Bond ends up shooting Mollaka, even though it’s against his orders, and escapes by causing an explosion. After all of the CGI-laden action sequences of ‘Die Another Day’, it was so refreshing to see the series return to its roots when it came to doing all of its major action sequences practically. It also did a nice job in establishing the grittier side of Craig’s Bond, which really helped up the tension of the entire sequence as it does in many other sequences in the film. This, along with the amazing pre-credits sequence, helped immediately prove how great of a job Daniel Craig would do in the role of Bond after all of the backlash that came from his initial casting.

3. SKI JUMP- THE SPY WHO LOVED ME

What more can be said about this classic moment from the pre-credits sequence of ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’? The shot of Bond ski jumping off of a mountain in the Alps (technically the scene was shot at Mount Asgard in Canada but that’s beside the point) and opening his parachute to reveal a Union Jack canopy is a quintessential Bond moment that had audiences cheering when it was first released in theaters. Admittedly it almost led to the death of stuntman Rick Sylvester when one of his skis clipped the chute, which could’ve prevented it from opening, but thankfully that didn’t happen and as a result, this was a great start to what would be one of the all-time greatest Bond films.

2. CHASE THROUGH THE LONDON UNDERGROUND- SKYFALL

‘Skyfall’ was another tough film to crack when it came to picking the ‘best’ moment from it because there are so many to choose from. I seriously could make a Top 10 list solely consisting of moments from this film alone; the pre-credits sequence, the beautiful title sequence (which of course I talked about two weeks ago), the darkly lit fight sequence between Bond and Patrice, the first appearance of Raoul Silva, the first scene between Bond and Q, the finale at Skyfall (and yes I’ve heard all of the comparisons to ‘Home Alone), the death of M… I could go on and on. But in the end I decided to go with the chase sequence involving Bond and Silva through the London Underground as the latter escapes from MI6 custody and heads to M’s public inquiry in order to kill her. Bond chases him throughout the London Underground, with the help of Q back at MI6 headquarters, and at one point during the chase, Silva blows up part of the Underground which results in a train crashing into the tunnel that Bond is currently in. It all culminates in a shootout at the inquiry that involves a lot of the film’s main characters; Bond, Silva, M, Mallory, Moneypenny, etc.  

Now some nitpickers out there will no doubt point out that Silva’s plan on a whole seemed a bit too ridiculous, like how he had to have known when the train would be coming so that it would crash down into the tunnel at the right time or that M would be at an inquiry. But quite frankly I don’t care because it’s a Bond film; it’s not like something as ridiculous as this hasn’t happened before in these films (CGI glacier surfing, anyone?). I’ve stated before that Silva is sort of like the Joker, and this scene is very much inspired by the scene from ‘The Dark Knight’ in how Silva manages to outwit his adversaries every step of the way. The whole sequence itself is highly thrilling from beginning to end. It’s cool to see Bond partake in a chase sequence through London, and it even features a few bits of humor that, although a staple of the franchise, have been rather absent from the Craig era of the franchise, like when the random citizen remarks that Bond is ‘keen to get home’ when he leaps onto a train as it leaves the station and the moment right after that where Bond has to repeat himself when he asks the stunned train operator to ‘open the door’. The build-up to the shootout at the inquiry is also incredible, with M’s reading of a poem by Tennyson backed by one of Thomas Newman’s best tracks from the film’s score. All in all, this is just one hell of a well-done chase sequence from one of the best James Bond films of all-time… maybe even the best Bond film period.

1. THE DEATH OF TRACY BOND- ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE

Perhaps it’s only fitting that I top both my personal favorite and least favorite Bond moments lists with points that relate to the finale of one of the series’ greatest, and in some cases a bit underrated’ efforts, ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’; the death of Tracy Bond. In the worst of list, I talked about how the series never really followed up on this ending, in other words have Bond get revenge against Blofeld and Irma Bunt for the death of his wife. There were moments in the openings of ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ and ‘For Your Eyes Only’ which seemingly tried to tie up this loose end but quite frankly they weren’t handled very well. But as for the death of Tracy itself, there’s no denying that it is easily the saddest moment in the history of the Bond franchise. Even if you aren’t a Bond fan, this is still one of the most heartbreaking finales in film history. Everything seemed good for Bond and Tracy after they were married. Now that they had ‘all the time in the world’, they were ready to start their new lives together. But then, in come Blofeld and Irma Bunt to screw all of that up, proving that Bond will never be able to truly live a normal life. Many have criticized George Lazenby for being too wooden in his first and only turn as Bond but that’s not the case for the scene in which he tearfully tells a police officer that “It’s quite all right, really. She’s having a rest. We’ll be going on soon. There’s no hurry, you see. We have all the time in the world”.

NEXT WEEK: I’ll be ranking all 6 of Eon’s Bond leads, from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig.