007...an Agent for the Ages

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Bogie
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Post by Bogie »

cinemalover wrote: I thought Casino Royale was a good direction to go and after initially being repulsed by the idea of Daniel Craig as my beloved Bond I found his gritty interpretation to be a blessing after the films have paid too much attention to gadgets and not enough to the warrior himself. Was it perfect, of course not. But I thought it was a good direction to go. The true test will be to see how he holds up to a second film which has been the downfall of several of his predecessors.
For those that have been reading the other thread these are the same words I put there but since this is more fitting i'll put it where it belongs. I have two seperate comments so i'll put what has to do with CR as a reply to cinemalover and make a new post with my question/fact

As for the current iteration of Bond. I actually like it. It harkens back to the Connery era IMO and the ruggedness of Craig's Bond is what has been missing for years. His Bond at least felt pain and was a bit of a renegade. As for the sequel Quantum of Solace (BTW what the hell kinda name for a movie is that?!) I think it's going to be quite good. Yeah it's a direct sequel to Casino Royale but that movie ended with a cliffhanger and i've heard they're trying to pit Bond against a major criminal organization in the same vein as SPECTRE. It's a shame that that producer (forget his name) bought the rights to the organization and Blofeld. I'd really love to see Blofeld updated for the 21st century. He was Bond's main villain but he wasn't over the top crazy.
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Bogie
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Post by Bogie »

This is in regards to Lazenby/Dalton

IIRC Lazenby was Australian right? That makes the casting all the more weird. Were there other actors seriously in the running or just Dalton and Lazenby.

Oh and another interesting parallel, Pierce Brosnan was originally tapped to take over after Moore but his contract with the TV series Remingston Steele nixed that. As we all know he ended up being the replacement for Dalton.
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charliechaplinfan
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Post by charliechaplinfan »

I'm just glad to see support for Dalton. I loved his Bond quite the handsomest too :oops: ) but that's by the by.

Even now My husand is vigourously disagreeing with me about Timothy Dalton. He's a big fan of Casino Royale it's a breathe of fresh air after the special effects packed Brosnan films.

Tell him he's outnumbered. I liked Craig in "Casino Royale" but I didn't care much for the women.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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movieman1957
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Post by movieman1957 »

I haven't seen the new Bond yet but thought I'd bring it up in case anyone had and wanted to comment on it.

My son saw it (without his sister and me) and he liked it. He didn't like it as well as "Casino Royale" but still enjoyed it.
Chris

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
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Rita Hayworth
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Re: 007...an Agent for the Ages

Post by Rita Hayworth »

I'm also a big 007 fan myself.

I will share my top 10 007 Movies of all times and my five worst 007 movies of all times.

MY TOP TENS - IN ORDER OF RANKING

1. Goldfinger – Classic (Intense in every way) Storyline and memorable (Oddball, played by Harold Sakata, remember fans – his mere existence alone was unforgettable, and he did all this without saying not one word!) characters – My all time favorite 007 Movie! Honor Blackman was great as Pussy Galore – a very determined and sexy Bond Girl. Lots and lots of action in this movie. Well Scripted movie and the laser scene of which Bond and Auric Goldfinger (as Gert Frobe) was classic because of the memorable dialogue between them. Very fast paced movie. An awesome Movie, a must see! Grade A+

2. Thunderball – Good Plot and lots of action and very (four of them) sexy Bond girls. Filled with action, drama, and suspense. The underwater fight scene considered one of the best action scenes in any Bond movie ever. The movie was fast paced and never a dull moment. Very intense film and very original. Connery was fantastic from start to finish, music score was unforgettable, and superb aquatic and tropical photography. Great Cast and well written. You’ll be glued to your favorite chair – because you do not want to miss any minute of it. I was tempted to make this (It is the highest grossing 007 movie of all time) movie #1. Grade A+

3. The Spy who loved Me – Barbara Bach was sensational as Triple X. That scene where she wore that black (she looked so unbelievably glamorous) gown was unforgettable. This movie marked the first appearance of Richard Kiel as Jaws – a 7 foot monster with killer teeth made of cold steel. This is the best 007 movie that Roger Moore made as 007. The movie song “Nobody does it Better” is (Sung by Carly Simon) my all-time favorite. Great Opening (ski jump, world record attempt) sequence; and when 007 played by Moore right after his fight scene with Jaws in Egypt; when he said “Egyptian Builders” really cracks me up! I’ve loved that punch line, good humor, and loaded with good fast paced action. Great action scenes, dialogue, and excitement! Grade A+

4. From Russia with Love – Classic (great spy thriller) Bond Movie. Connery was superb and the overall acting was fantastic in this movie. Great scenes, marvelously paced, and special effects. The cat fight scene with the two beautiful gypsies was brutal and intense. Robert Shaw as Donovan “Red” Grant did a masterful job acting in this movie. Great Photography too. I’ve loved the closing scene of where Bond threw away the film (reel) clips of where he and Tatiana Romanova making love earlier in the movie were so extremely romantic. That’s why I loved this movie from start to finish! Excellent supporting cast, strong plot and wonderfully directed as well. Grade A

5. Dr No – Sean Connery splash as 007 was harbinger of things to come. Best 007. He was simply was the best. Jack Lord of the Hawaii Five-0 fame was fabulous as CIA Agent (He and Connery had great chemistry together) Felix Leiter and Ursula Andress as Honey Rider set the tone for all Bond girls to follow. Great Photography and quite fast (action-wise) paced. Good (the scene of the deadly tarantula crawling up on 007 still haunts me) storyline and Joseph Wiseman as Dr. No did a marvelous job playing a reclusive member of SPECTRE out to destroy the American rocket launches at nearby Cape Canaveral. Nice music and lovely settings throughout this movie. Grade A

6. Diamonds Are Forever – Connery was Superb in his last official role as 007. Great action in this movie; if you want to see Las Vegas looked like during the 1960’s this is your movie to watch. The car chase through Las Vegas streets was by far the best I’ve seen in all my years of watching Bond movies. I wished they had a better Blofeld in this movie; if Telly Savalas was available for this movie it would had displaced Dr. No in my rankings. Watch out for Mr. Kidd and Mr. Wint – two deadly assassins out to kill 007. Jill St. John (as Tiffany Case) did a nice job playing a moll for Blofeld. She was very sexy in this movie – loved that two-toned bikini! Great Story; and I’ve loved the scene of where 007 was fighting Bambi and Thumper – two scantily clad beauties who are more than a match for Connery in hand to hand combat. Terrific Humor – literally. Grade A

7. Golden Eye – Brosnan’s first outing as 007 was dynamite! Great opening scene; I’ve loved the Russian (a T-55) Tank scene and chase – it was unreal! Great secondary cast; and the casting of Famke Janssen as Xenia Onatopp – a beautiful, but deadly (lethal leg squeeze) villainess was sensational. Lots and lots of action; well acted movie, and a great score. Excellent script and has a nice touch of romance and the producers made Bond more human than ever before – they did it with style. Why? Because of the romantic interlude between Bond and Natalya (pretty computer analyst) Simonova – they made great romance and made it realistic (very lovingly) together. Grade A-

8. Casino Royale – Great (to start to finish) Movie! Unbelievable! Sexy, very sexy Bond (drop dead gorgeous) Girls, and Craig was very good as 007. The movie was intense, edgy, and filled with action galore! Notable absence – not much gadgetry. I’m a big fan of Jackie Chan – and this movie has lots of it; and they did a wonderful job doing it! Good story line and very fast paced and filled with great actions and suspense. Nicely played out. Eva Green as Vesper (very sexy) Lynd was dynamite! She has presence and poise; along with elegance and intelligence a match for 007. Very suspenseful and gritty movie – Daniel Craig did well as 007. Nice ending too. However, this movie was a tad (144 minutes) too long to watch. Grade B+

9. Tomorrow Never Dies – Good acting and memorable characters. Great (Countless) stunts and Brosnan was determined in this movie. Nice (really!) story, great action, and this movie was so well written that I loved the way they handled it; I wished they used Teri Hatcher more – but it was a shame when they killed her off so suddenly. Michelle Yeoh was so unreal in this movie – I was in awe (she was charming, sensual, and gave 007 more than he bargained for) of the way she handled herself in this movie. She was (did most of her stunts) a great Bond girl! Great Action too! Grade B+

10. On Her Majesty Secret Service – Great Characters in this movie – lovely girls everywhere and Lazenby did a wonderful job as 007. Can’t figure out why he didn’t do another 007 movie – I’ll never know why. Telly Savalas was dynamite as Blofeld and I consider him the best Blofeld of all time. Spectacular stunts in this movie and lots of actions too. Good casting and Diana Rigg (better known to us as Mrs. Emma Peel of the Avengers fame) was great as Tracy (born as Teresa Draco, aka Countess Teresa di Vicenzo) – of which she (the most romantic Bond ever) was the only Bond girl ever married 007. Unfortunately for 007 – she was gunned down in cold blood on their way to their Honeymoon. Excellent cast and Music score. Great Script. Grade B+

BAD TO THE BONES 007 MOVIES

1. Quantum of Solace – I saw this (even watched it with an open mind) movie twice – it was so bad I could not even figure out what the world is happening here. I will never, ever see this movie again. It was so bad – that Bond played by Daniel Craig was pathetic. Rated G for Garbage – pure garbage!!!!

2. A View to a Kill – The most moronic movie Roger Moore ever did as 007. Nice casting; but Tanya Roberts of Charlie’s Angels was downright silly in this movie. May Day played by Grace Jones made the movie bearable to watch. She was by far the best actor/actress in this movie bar none. Third rate (too simple to follow, a child can figure things out) script and plot. Very silly/stupid film indeed! Grade F

3. Moonraker – The laser (Remember Pong?) fight in outer space was so stupid – I can’t bear (I was laughing so hard – I could not believe that they spent 10-12 minutes of screen time to this garbage) myself watching it. The way they handled Jaws was by far the worst thing that the Bond franchise has done of which they transform him from villain to hero. Moore did a great job in this movie, the main villain Drax was by far the most uninspired villain that 007 has to fight for. I really do not care for his acting at all. Very stupid movie to watch – really. That’s why I gave it an “F”. Very little humor in this movie. Even the romance was silly too. See Jaws having (with very corny dialogue) romance with that cute pointy tailed blonde that’s less than ½ of his size. Grade F

4. Living Daylights – The movie had a great opening sequence and I’ve thought Timothy Dalton will be good as 007. I was dead wrong. This movie showed some promise; but when the movie started to get more Rambo-like and suddenly I started to dislike this movie because of that. Because of that, I lost interest in this movie and the Bond girls in this movie were so (they weren’t even attractive at all) uninteresting and pathetic. Timothy Dalton lacks charm, charisma, and style as 007 in both Living Daylights and License to Kill. Many of my female friends in Boeing, Chess Club, and etc consider Dalton the least attractive Bond of them all. I can’t stand the looks of him – he wasn’t suave enough! Grade D-

5. Man with the Golden Gun – Britt Ekland was the worst Bond Girl ever. Christopher Lee of Dracula fame made it tolerable to watch; and I’ll never, ever watch this move again. Hate it so (because of Ekland) much! However, this movie has one great stunt and a touch of humor in a tongue and cheek mode. Nice special effects too. Maud (she was the only actress in history of 007 movies to be a Bond Girl twice, See Octopussy) Adams as Andrea Anders did all right; it’s also has one great martial arts fight scene in where two teenaged Japanese girls came to Bond’s aid was good to watch. Grade D+

007 Actors in Rank (two tied for 3rd place)

1. Sean Connery, 6 Movies – the best, simply the best!
2. Pierce Brosnan, 4 Movies, my personal favorite as 007
3. Roger Moore, 7 Movies, the most as 007 & George Lazenby, only one movie – I wished he did more. I like his style. Moore/Lazenby – tied for 3rd.
4. Timothy Dalton, 2 Movies, most boring of all 007
5. Daniel Craig, 2 Movies so far, the worst 007
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