[robisindy]

 

Inspired by a conversation on a fellow C3 user’s customs topic I want to discuss the famous James Bond. This is for anything related to Bond of course, but I’m curious about a few things:

1. Who is your most and least favorite Bond actor?
2. Who is your most and least favorite Bond villain?
3. What is your most and least favorite opening/theme?
4. Which is your most and least favorite film?

For me:

1. Favorite is actually Daniel Craig. He’s a tad bit too blocky since he’s so damn thin but otherwise he fits Bond very well. Serious. Badass. Once and a while a sharp sense of humor. Though Sean Connery was more like the Bond Ian Fleming wrote I still like Craig’s portrayal best. Pierce Brosnan is a close second. Least favorite is actually Roger Moore, which apparently is as unpopular an opinion as liking Craig and Brosnan. I just didn’t feel he fit how Bond should be. He’s a decent actor but he’s not Bond. Timothy Dalton would also be a close second.
2. As far as bond villains, it would have to be Max Zorin because Christopher Walken. Though I did like Auric Goldfinger. Least favorite…actually, I’ll have to get back to you on that. I don’t remember many of the Bond villains. I guess May Day was a villain most of the View to a Kill film and I didn’t care for her all that much.
3. Favorite opening is definitely Skyfall. Not sure about least favorite either, it’s actually been a while since I’ve seen most of the non-popular ones. I remember not liking the one for You Only Live Twice all that much.
4. My favorite film might actually be either Casino Royale, Die Another Day, Skyfall, or License to Kill. Least favorite…actually, I didn’t care for A View to a Kill all that much.

Other thoughts:

• I’ll never forgive Skyfall for killing Judi Dench
• Though Ralph Fiennes is a kick-ass actor so I’m glad he was the one to replace M.
• I think Goldfinger, while good, is overrated.
• GoldenEye 007 was a very impressive and fun to play game for N64. To be expected. Rare software develops great games.

 

 

Stumbling on this late since I’m new to the forums, but I figured as a gigantic Bond fan I’d post my responses anyhow.

 

Favorite Bond actor: Pierce Brosnan – Nailed everything about the role for me. I still think the weakness of the second half of Die Another Day (which is the fault of Lee Tamahori, in my opinion, and has nothing to do with Pierce) is the biggest reason people unfairly rate his entire tenure as Bond much lower than it ought to be.

 

Least favorite Bond actor: Roger Moore – This isn’t meant to be a slam on Rog. I love the guy. But someone has to be the least favorite of the bunch, and it’s mostly because a couple of his movies are among the biggest stinkers of the franchise for me.

 

Favorite villain: If we can include henchman in this answer, I’ll say Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me (the way they tried to turn him into strict comic relief in Moonraker was an abomination). However, if you mean main villains only, I’ll go with Franz Sanchez from Licence to Kill. The movie could’ve been better, but the villain was not at all the weakness.

 

Least favorite villain: Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever – Blofeld lost a little of his luster by the end of You Only Live Twice once they showed his face, and then Telly Savalas in the role in OHMSS was just kind of weird. But what they did to the character in Diamonds Are Forever was just beyond any logical explanation, especially when you factor in the casting of Charles Gray (the wrong actor no matter what, but especially after having played an ally of Bond 2 movies before!). Honorable mention in this category: Silva in Skyfall. Bardem was so over-the-top in all of the wrong ways.

 

Favorite opening/theme: Again, not completely sure exactly what you’re referring to: pre-titles teaser or theme song/credits sequence? So I’ll give an answer for both.

 

My favorite pre-titles teaser is Tomorrow Never Dies. Some of Pierce’s best moments as Bond are in that sequence, right down to the “backseat driver” line that I still think is one of the best Bond one-liners. Plus the first appearance of David Arnold’s big brassy Bond-theme-filled scores, which I love. Pierce’s pre-titles teasers were all awesome, even if TWINE’s ended up being sort of its own movie because of how long it was.

 

My favorite theme song/titles sequence is The Spy Who Loved Me. Great song, great titles design. Nobody does it better.

 

Least favorite opening/theme: Least favorite pre-titles sequence has to be For Your Eyes Only. Some good action and stuntwork that’s done in by way too much silliness and the bizarre decision to include an unnamed Blofeld in a one-off scene like this. Just weird stuff.

 

Least favorite song/titles sequence will go to On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. I love John Barry’s theme music, but I never liked the idea of showing clips from the previous movies during the opening credits. Seemed like they were trying to make the audience forget that Connery left or something, which is just kind of stupid.

 

Favorite Bond movie: From Russia With Love – On any given day, I could lean towards any of my 5 favorite Bond movies to be put in the top slot, but FRWL is just so well done. Connery is at his best, Robert Shaw is amazing as Red Grant, Kerim Bey is one of the best allies in the series, the Barry score is incredible…amazing movie.

 

To take this question a step further, here’s the rest of my top 10 (which, based on the many discussions I’ve had on different sites, probably doesn’t match any other Bond fan in the world’s top 10): 2. The World is Not Enough 3. Goldfinger 4. Goldeneye 5. The Living Daylights 6. Casino Royale 7. Octopussy 8. The Spy Who Loved Me 9. Tomorrow Never Dies 10. For Your Eyes Only

 

Least favorite Bond movie: Moonraker – This one just works the least for me. I like the pre-titles teaser for the most part, although Jaws flapping his arms is a bad indicator of things to come. There are a few other highlights, but more than any other Bond movie this is the one I find kind of boring, which to me is the cardinal sin for these films.

 

And to follow your template, here are a few additional thoughts:

 

• I completely agree about Judy Dench in Skyfall. Unforgivable.
• I cannot agree about Goldfinger being overrated. It set the model for everything to follow, and for the most part none of the others quite lived up to it.
• Goldeneye 007 is still amazing to this day. Rare really was the bomb back in the day. But Everything or Nothing was also a tremendous Bond experience, and Bloodstone is also criminally underrated (even though it deserves criticism for being too short).
• One thing you left off your questions that is usually included is favorite/least favorite Bond girl. I’ll share mine. Favorite: Solitaire (there are no words that can do justice to how lovely Jane Seymour is) followed closely by Domino Derval. Least favorite: Jinx (Halle Berry is stunning, but the character of Jinx was cringe-inducing in just about every aspect).
• And one more unpopular Bond take from me: Spectre is better than people give it credit for, and I like it quite a bit more than Skyfall.

[Bansheeflyer]

I didn’t think about the Bond girls. There might be something wrong with me.I really didn’t like May Day.

 

I actually haven’t seen Spectre, I should do that at some point. I guess I need to re-watch Goldfinger as well.

 

I agree that Brosnan is underrated. His face, his voice, his acting style, it’s just perfect Bond material. If you haven’t I’d recommend watching The November Man. Basically the fifth Brosnan Bond film that never made it to Eon haha.

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