Ranking films always promises to be hard task and it's one that alot us like myself love doing for our favorite franchises. As i'm a huge James Bond fan I thought that it was about time that I did a ranking of some of the James Bond films I say some as doing all twenty five films would be incredibly hard work so to make it easier on myself i'm only ten of them and i'm only including the ones that have been produced by EON Productions and so then join me as I give you all my personal top 10 EON Productions James Bond films which are all ranked from worst to best enjoy.
10) Die Another Day
Yeah this film was always going to be at the bottom of this film just because it's a perfect example of how the Pierce Brosnan era went downhill and fast. With the film having an over-reliance on gadgets and CGI to the point where the film becomes laughable and not in the good way and this does hinder what was a really solid era for the James Bond films as now whenever people think of this era there always going to think of this film along with films like The World Is Not Enough or Goldeneye for example.
On top of that everything is just pushed to the extreme with stunts that would feel more at home in a video game then a James Bond film. A villain that is at best laughable and a storyline that is at best OK and while this film does indeed have some one or two saving graces with the acting being one of them they are quickly outmatched by alot of the things that this film gets wrong and while some people might really like this film i'm just not nor will I ever be one of those of people as this is a film that pretty much almost killed of the entire franchise so much so that they had to reboot the entire franchise just a few short years later.
9) A View To A Kill
I'm a huge fan of the Sir Roger Moore era of James Bond I always have been and I always will be but even this film is one that I just cannot get behind. As it's a film that really does show that an actor should leave their role when there at there height and not when the audience is begging you to go while this film does indeed serve as an end of an era for it being the last James Bond film to star Sir Roger Moore and Lois Maxwell with Maxwell having played the role of Miss Moneypenny every since 1962's Dr. No it's just a shame that these two iconic actors left the franchise with what is a really bad film in this iconic franchise.
I'm not going to lie and say that this film doesn't have it's saving graces because it does with Sir Roger Moore turning in another solid performance and Grace Jones making for a capable henchwoman. It's the fact that you see Moore's stuntman more then you do Roger himself and on top of that the main Bond Girl just isn't that interesting of a character and while Christopher Walken also does in a solid performance and as you'd expect is just as crazy and insane as you'd want him to be this film has so much working against the film that it's hard for this film ti be a good James Bond film let alone one for what is arguably the second most iconic James Bond actor of all time.
8) Octopussy
I know that it feels like that i'm really picking on Sir Roger Moore here but his later James Bond films aren't really that good. While this film is indeed better then A View To A Kill it's still a film that just sticks to what worked in his previous films instead of trying to do something and to actually be a good James Bond while many prefer this film to the Bond film tat was released the exact same year as this film Never Say Never Again that doesn't excuse the fact that this film is just a paint by numbers Bond film which is fine for a lazy Sunday afternoon viewing of the film but it doesn't mean that more effort couldn't have been thrown into it.
Like I just said this film is one of i'd say possibly two or three James Bond films that make for a good lazy Sunday afternoon watch. As this film does have some rather over the top action and some really over the top acting from certain actors which does make the film enjoyable it's also the point where the Sir Roger Moore films started to feel rather lazy and complacent with the producers not really wanting to stray to far from what worked in the previous Sir Roger Moore films which is a shame because on paper a film like this could even perhaps should have worked.
7) Moonraker
While this film isn't the best of the Sir Roger Moore era of James Bond films it is the most fun of his James Bond films. With this film obviously taking inspiration from Star Wars it is the first and to date only James Bond film to take 007 into outer space and while that is a pretty out their concept for this series it is one that does work well enough for his film that you can kid of forgive it for at the very least trying to do something new and while Bond was obviously never going to go into outer space again after this film it is fun just to see what this crew could do with that idea in mind and with these truly iconic characters.
It's not all good tho as this film is over the top to the point of being a live action cartoon to the point where the henchman of the first film returns and is made alot more comical and family friendly. While that was the choice of the actor Richard Kiel it is something that is kind of jarring as while Jaws was sometimes played for laughs in The Spy Who Loved Me he was still treated as a credible threat where as here he comes so comical and so lighthearted that it's hard to take him as a serious threat to James Bond's life and while going into outer space is solid idea it's one that doesn't mesh well with the more serious tone of the James Bond films and the James Bond character.
6) You Only Live Twice
The first of technically three final James Bond films for Sir Sean Connery and the only one to appear on this list. This film has the honor of being the film where Ian Fleming himself gave EON Productions permission to change the pot of the novel as he never liked the plot of the book and while this film would have been a fine send off to the iconic James Bond actor it's sadly nothing more then just an OK film as it does have an awful lot of thins working against chief amongst which is the fact that Sir Sean Connery himself just looks bored and fed up all throughout the film granted this was due to his treatment from the Japanese press and other issues that occurred both before and during the making of this film it is something that really shouldn't have been noticeable in the final product.
This is the also the first James Bond to outright feature the character of Ernst Stavro Blofeld with the character always being obscured in both From Russia With Love and Thunderball. With this film marking the first time that we see the characters face and like with Octopussy this is a paint by numbers James Bond film that would make a great watch on a lazy Sunday afternoon but where as Octopussy is just a lazy film here there is alot of genuine effort to make the film very entertaining and it's that love and care that places his film here as it is a really entertaining film that alot of people really should go and check out as soon as they can do.
5) Dr. No
No James Bond top ten film list would be compete without this film as without this film there is no James Bond film franchise to speak off it's as easy as that. Just like with You Only Live Twice this is a paint by numbers James Bond film but here you can forgive it as there inventing the things that would become very well known i the franchise with alot of the things that you expect in the franchise being introduced in this film and when you add in the fact that this film does have some really good acting and some genuinely good writing to it then it's not that hard to see why this at the time book character took off in the realm of cine,a the way that he did.
Yes some of the background projection is really dated but that's more due to the time that this film was made and released in and is not due to the overall quality of the film itself. I will admit that this film isn't as good as other James Bond or even other James Bond films starring Sir Sean Connery either but as a starting of point it's a film that still holds up as it gives you a mysterious main hero and a plotline that while simple is still really entertaining and while the James Bond theme song does get introduced in this film it's used in moments where it really isn't needed and the music at times does get really loud for no reason whatsoever.
4) On Her Majesty's Secret Service
The only film to feature George Lazenby in the main role this film is really well known for making James Bond do the impossible and that's fall in love. That right there was an incredibly bold choice as it's something that really could have backfired massively had the film not been as well done as it was as the films tragic ending and most of it's plot relay's on you buying into the fact that James Bond has finally found someone to settle down and marry and that makes the ending all the more tragic when we see Bond's wife get killed by a revenge seeking Blofeld and Irma Bunt with that ending having meaning nothing if us the audience don't buy into their relationship in the first place.
While there alot of positives to be found in this film there are also some negatives as well like the fact that this film is well over two hours long which today means nothing but back then having be that long was a big deal. The other thing is that despite Blofeld and Bond having just met each other in the previous film they somehow fail to recognize each other in this film which makes no sense whatsoever as the only thing Bond is doing to hide his identity is changing his voice he's not changing the way that he looks and Blofeld does neither of those things and so the two enemies should have known whom each other is right from the word go.
3) Casino Royale (2006)
The only Daniel Craig James Bond film to be featured on this list this film had the incredibly hard task of not only following up Die Another Day but also finding a new approach to the character that audiences might actually like. Which is something that this film does really well with this film being a complete and total reset of the entire James Bond film timeline with us spending the entire pre-title sequence seeing how James Bond earned his 00 status and the rest of the film showing us how to started to become the man that all know and love from all the way back in Dr. No but done in a more modern way with a more modern approach to film making.
This film is for the most part pretty faultless that's not to see that there aren't faults to be found in this film. It's just that they are pretty hard to find with the major issue that I personally have with the film is the fact that this film can be pretty boring at times which given that the film is over two hours when it really didn't need to be is to be expected and while we do get alot of really good scenes we also have a film that has quite a few endings to it all of which do go a long way to making this film at times feel like a chore to sit through.
2) The Spy Who Loved Me
Finally a really good Sir Roger Moore film this is the film that saved the James Bond franchise when it was deep trouble. As the previous films had started to loose alot of money and co-producer Harry Saltzman was forced to sell his share of the franchise rights to partner and co-producer Albert R. Broccoli which meant that the pressure was on to prove that the James Bond franchise didn't need Sir Sean Connery init to make a hit film and this film more then proved that as this film gave us something that's fun and entertaining with it also giving us an iconic henchman in Jaws and a killer title track "Nobody Does It Better" by Carly Simon this film proved that it will take alot more then a few low performing films to kill of James Bond for good.
There is one major issue with this film and that's it's villain who is perhaps the weakest villain in all of the James Bond films. With this character also getting the most underwhelming death in all of the James Bind films as well with Bond just shooting him underneath his own table to finish him off and that's really it ad that's not rally the kind of death that a James Bond villain should get as they should get a death that ties in with whatever physical deformity that they have as those make for the most cinematic and satisfying deaths and they also go a really long way in helping to make the films villain alot more memorable which s something that this films villain is also very sadly lacking as he's not a very memorable villain in the slightest.
1) Goldfinger
It had to be this film i've said many a time that this film is my all time favorite James Bond film and so of course this film was going to be at the very top of this list. This film that set the bar on what a James Bond film should be and more importantly could be as while From Russia With Love introduced the idea of a pre-title scene it's this film that reworked that idea and made it into what it is today by making it a mini James Bond film that somewhat very loosely ties into the events of the main film itself in this case it's Bond getting a plane to Miami.
There are not enough good things that I can say about this film as everything about this film just works and is simply iconic From the fact that this is the film that gives us the Astin Martin DB5 , to giving us our first look inside Q branch everything that we love about this film is because of this film and while many will argue that Bond being held prisoner for so long makes the film i'd argue differently as it now adds tension to the film as it means that Bond could be killed of at any minuet which makes that Bond himself has to watch every single step that he makes and watch every single thing that he says as it could be the last thing that he says.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very post well ten boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very post from the official James Bond fandom wiki page , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personal favorite website to use to get the images that I used in this very review being IMP Awards . Com just simply due to the fact that pretty much all of the images that are featured / presented to us and are currently up and also on IMP Awards . Com are all fairly high quality and as well as being fairly high definition and well then boys and girls just freaking like James Bond I will return.
Comments
Post a Comment