Observations on Bond, James Bond

dinopoker · #1 11-27-2006, 06:05 PM

So this weekend I had nothing much else to do and I was feeling kind of under the weather, so I stayed at home and watched all of the James Bond movies on Spike. I also saw Casino Royale last Sunday so I basically saw every Bond actor and most of the movies over a 7-day span. I've seen them all before, of course, but never in such a short time span. After watching, I came to the following conclusions (in no particular order):

1. The best Bond was Connery, but Daniel Craig is going to be in the running when it all shakes out. Connery plays the part like a guy who enjoys all the finer things in life, but still knows how to throw down when the time comes. Craig, however, is more realistic as just an all-out badass.

2. Die Another Day is pretty bad, but still nowhere near as bad as A View to a Kill.

3. George Lazenby and OHMSS are seriously underrated. Lazenby was a black belt in karate and studied under Bruce Lee and as a result the fight scenes in this movie were top notch (for the time). He also pulled off the metamorphisis between 'Sir Hillary' and Bond very effectively. I read in the IMDB trivia that Albert Broccoli stated that Lazenby could have been the best Bond ever if he'd stuck with it, and I found myself agreeing. (Fun trivia note: Lazenby is actually the Bond actor that has become the richest after leaving the franchise. This is due to him cleverly marrying Pam Shriver, a Kennedy heiress. Also, it means that Arnold Schwartzenegger is his brother-in-law.)

4. Of all the Bond chicks, I think that the hottest one may have been the first one, Ursula Andress. I would put Britt Eklund and Denise Richards next to her in the top 3 of all time. Meanwhile, Barbara Bach gave by far the worst performance.

5. Walther PPK’s don’t seem to eject spent shells.

6. License to Kill is actually pretty good.

7. Pierce Brosnan was good, but his movies were not.

8. The poker scene in Casino Royale is bad, but they really should have stuck with the book and made it a baccarat game. Every other time we see Bond gambling (except once in License to Kill) he's playing baccarat and clearly is portrayed as an expert player. It would have been far more appropriate to have him playing that game rather than poker. That being said, I agree with the BBV crew that he played the AK hand fairly well.

9. From Russia with Love was excellent. The scrap at the end with Connery and Robert Shaw in the train compartment was awesome. They both made it work as a fight that could only end with one of them dead. This actually may have been the movie that I enjoyed most. Entertainment Weekly recently rated Goldfinger the best Bond, but I thought this one was better.

10. Bond is incapable of just killing someone - he always has to chat for at least a couple of seconds. For a guy with a license to kill this seems odd. Maybe it's a British thing. He would save himself a lot of aggravation if he took Tuco’s advice, “If you’re going to shoot, shoot - don’t talk.”

11. For Your Eyes Only is Roger Moore's best Bond movie. Overall, though, he made Bond too posh. The suaveness is there, but he doesn't have the rough edges that the others do. At no time in any of his movies did I feel like he could beat up anyone, even the chicks.

12. The best song was ‘For Your Eyes Only’. The best opening sequence during the credits was in Die Another Day.

13. Q branch had a serious budget crunch in the late 70’s, downgrading Bond to a Lotus Esprit for a car (although it did turn into a submarine) and wearing a Seiko watch. Even his suits looked off the rack. They obviously lobbied for more money in the 90's and got it.

14. The best Bond villian? This is a very tough call. I’m going to vote for Gert Fröbe as Goldfinger. He seemed to have the most character. Christopher Walken nearly got my vote because he almost saved AVTAK, but, in the end, the movie was just too lousy.

bobman0330 · #2 11-27-2006, 06:15 PM

Awesome, thanks.

diebitter · #3 11-27-2006, 07:40 PM

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3. George Lazenby and OHMSS are seriously underrated.

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Not by me

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...age=0&vc=1

Dominic · #4 11-27-2006, 07:56 PM

you must have gotten your two stars for saying "For Your Eyes Only" is the best Bond song.

Come on. Over "Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger," or Wings' "Live and Let Die?"

And no mention of Timothy Dalton? He could've been a great bond if he had had a decent movie to star in.

Otherwise, I enjoyed your post. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

Kamakaze22 · #5 11-28-2006, 12:26 AM

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And no mention of Timothy Dalton? He could've been a great bond if he had had a decent movie to star in.

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"Timothy Dalton should win an Oscar and beat Roger Moore over the head with it!" - Andrew from Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 6

dinopoker · #6 11-28-2006, 12:28 AM

[ QUOTE ]
you must have gotten your two stars for saying "For Your Eyes Only" is the best Bond song.

Come on. Over "Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger," or Wings' "Live and Let Die?"

And no mention of Timothy Dalton? He could've been a great bond if he had had a decent movie to star in.

Otherwise, I enjoyed your post. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

You're right, 'Live and Let Die' is terrific, maybe I have a leaning towards FYEO because I remember liking it (and Sheena Easton) as a kid.

Also, you're right that Dalton could have been a good Bond, but we lack credible proof. Not his fault because the script were lousy, but still the way things are.

private joker · #7 11-28-2006, 12:34 AM

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2. Die Another Day is pretty bad, but still nowhere near as bad as A View to a Kill.

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These are my two favorite Bond films.

[img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

dinopoker · #8 11-28-2006, 12:35 AM

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[ QUOTE ]

2. Die Another Day is pretty bad, but still nowhere near as bad as A View to a Kill.

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These are my two favorite Bond films.

[img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

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Please tell me they're the only two you've watched.

cwsiggy · #9 11-28-2006, 12:38 AM

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The poker scene in Casino Royale is bad, but they really should have stuck with the book and made it a baccarat game. Every other time we see Bond gambling (except once in License to Kill) he's playing baccarat and clearly is portrayed as an expert player. It would have been far more appropriate to have him playing that game rather than poker. That being said, I agree with the BBV crew that he played the AK hand fairly well.

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Baccarat - Game of skill?? - it took me 3 seconds to find out you simply bet the banker every single time for a house edge of 1.06 % (best odds possible) Poker was definitely appropriate despite the silly hands that played out.

dinopoker · #10 11-28-2006, 12:44 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The poker scene in Casino Royale is bad, but they really should have stuck with the book and made it a baccarat game. Every other time we see Bond gambling (except once in License to Kill) he's playing baccarat and clearly is portrayed as an expert player. It would have been far more appropriate to have him playing that game rather than poker. That being said, I agree with the BBV crew that he played the AK hand fairly well.

[/ QUOTE ]

Baccarat - Game of skill?? - it took me 3 seconds to find out you simply bet the banker every single time for a house edge of 1.06 % (best odds possible) Poker was definitely appropriate despite the silly hands that played out.

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Sure, but the trend of Bond playing baccarat through the series is what makes it more appropriate than poker. I mean they explored martinis, womanizing, license to kill, and aston martins, baccarat should follow.

Meanwhile, nice avatar. I love Annie.