I personally prefer "The Living Daylights" to "License To Kill". Not by much, but I find there's more style in TLD and is quite unique compared to other bond films.
Thank you. Licence To Kill feels like a low rent knock off a Bond movie. I am feeling less EON, more Cannon from that film. I know the budget was reduced after Living Daylights but damn, did it have to look so cheap ?
Skyfall is easily my favorite. I get the frustration as a meta-commentary, but just as a character piece I really love where the movie takes Bond, maybe because Im such a sucker for "heroes past their prime" stories. The third act in particular is something that really resonates with me after watching it. The tone they set with the location feels so unique to Skyfall in comparison to most other Bond films. The vast Scottish field is so beautiful, but still has a sense of melancholy with the clouded weather and muted color pallette. It reminds me of summers spend in the west side of Norway where sometimes the weather isnt super great, but the landscape still remains so beautiful.
I think skyfall is good, but it's always felt odd how they introduced Craig's Bond as being in his younger years and then rather abruptly go into the whole "past his prime" thing. Edit: and look at that, that's what he says in the video lol
@@derekwalter4238 Yeah, but is that the fault of Skyfall itself? Maybe it fails as a direct sequel to Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, but it never really marketed itself as such. Then again, the whole "past his prime" thing isn't Skyfall's only quality. If you view it as a stand alone film, it is pretty great in my opinion.
I loved the beauty and action and general filmmaking of sky fall but it did fall emotionally short for me and some of the plot holes were too noticeable for me. Still my second favourite Craig obviously but Royale will always be my numero uno.
I honestly think Daltons bond movies are underrated and some of the best of the bond series. He adds so much to the character. Great list and another fantastic video, look forward to your next.
I absolutely love the On her Majesty’s Secret Service Theme song and I think the fact that it’s just an instrumental is a testament to how strong it is. Not talked about enough whatsoever.
If you like the theme...which is brilliant...check out the vid OHMSS The First Four Chords. It gives a real eye-opener on the score and how it was used, subtly, as a refrain throughout the movie.
Aye, watched The Music of Bond, or whatever it was called) on Amazon last week... 'From Russia With Love' and 'O.H.M.S.S.' main theme completely ignored. Plus, an hour of being subjected to Billie Eilish... no thanks.
Can't tell you how refreshing it is to see Skyfall not in someone's top 3 for once; not only that but calling out the film's thematic flaws. Bravo sir!
It used to be my absolute favourite right after seeing it and still some time later. It can probably still make my top 5, but the film's flaws regarding it's plot only become more visible with each viewing.
I like Skyfall a little better than Eyebrow does, but it's nice to see someone think that it's overrated. He's right that Bond goes from "cocky hotshot" and "old and struggling" way too quickly, and I still can't watch the climax without thinking of Home Alone.
Skyfall has flaws, but Eyebrow is overstating his case to justify a lower rating for the movie. It's not even true Bond didn't accomplish anything (or failed at everything). Despite seeing the movie repeatedly, Eyebrow still seems to miss some of the subtleties of the film. For once we have a Bond movie that doesn't spoon feed every plot point to us. Eyebrow was looking for excuses to rate this lower than it deserves. His opinion is his, though, and this is his list.
To me Skyfall is just an ok film, one that has a lot of great components but which the plot does a poor job of connecting. For example Silva should be an interesting villain, but what I got out of the film was more just that Javier Bardem is a good actor, because the story itself just doesn't do enough for me to really care about his backstory and motivation. And the plot a lot of the times comes across as nonsensical to the point that it just feels like the filmmakers didn't care as long as they can shoehorn in the themes they wanted.
I love that OHMSS is getting the acclaim it deserves all these years later. It's a masterclass of filmmaking, and to say it's a bad film merely because of Lazenby's performance, (which itself is underrated IMO) is a cop out.
Lazenby stepped into Connery's massive misogynist shoes and made it something new, modern.... and we know he wanted to take that even further. You have to remember the sexual politics and anti-Establishment feeling in 1968... Mi5 probably gave Cubby notice to get Bond 'back on track' by dumbing him down, waving the Union Jack at every possible opportunity.... and that still continues to this day; why the series should be put to sleep... much like the British Establishment.
The funny thing about Die Another Day is that it has quite a few plot points with Diamonds Are Forever. The conflict diamond laundering, the surgery altering people's appearance and of course the space laser the villain uses for world domination.
It’s been a real treat to see OHMSS go from being “that weird one with that guy who never played Bond again” to becoming viewed by many as one of the best, if not, the best of them all. I had a special connection to it because I watched the weird cut of the movie that came out on tv. And I loved the bobsled sequence. The movie felt otherworldly and hit differently. And as I started watching the movies again as an adult, it took forever to find out that “the one with that guy who never played Bond again” was THAT movie I loved as a kid.
OHMSS has been my favourite Bond film for at least the last twenty years. It's the one that most grips me emotionally. On some re-watches, it wrecks me. The older you get, the more you've loved and lost, the more it finds you. And yes, the score is sublime. Thank you for this thoughtful ranking, I'd love it even if you hadn't agreed about top Bond.
In regards to Skyfall, I never thought it was a direct sequel to Quantum. I always interpreted the movie as happening much later in Bond's life. During the car ride with M, Bond jokingly threatens to launch her out of the vehicle which is a throwback to Goldfinger as an example. The death of Judy Dench's M, I gathered happened much later after Goldeneye and the other films. In Spectre, they tie all the films together, which implies all those events have happened from prior non-Craig Bond films, but in Spectre, it becomes a re-imagining. Also, the film took almost 5 years to come out, and there was a ton of articles being written regarding whether the film was actually going to be made and that perhaps Daniel Craig would be too old to continue the franchise. While I understand the inclusion of a Money-Penny origin story, doesn't quite add up with the timeline... I was willing to look past it in order to have Money-penny back. The general point I'm making, is that Skyfall, I don't believe, was meant to be taking place, directly after Quantum.
Not directly after, but from the shift in tone, Bond goes from a late thirties renegade to a late forties burnout. The grizzled and grey muzzle of stubble and the reflection on a career of sacrifice all add up to say it's at least ten years later, which doesn't work. It could have been fine, if only they had dropped the "tired and burned out" approach to his character. He could still have been ambitious and energetic and made the story work just as well. As it happens we're now getting the third film in a row where Bond is a burnout, because that's the story each director wants to explore, but it didn't need to be that way.
You're right that Skyfall doesn't take place immediately after Quantum, but you seem to think Casino and Quantum are a prequel to the Connery-Brosnan films and Skyfall and Spectre (and No Time to Die, I presume), the sequels. This is incorrect. The Craig films operate in their own, standalone timeline. Casino Royale was a reboot, not a prequel. Just like Batman Begins isn't a prequel to the Tim Burton Batman film, but a reboot. The reason Skyfall shows a Moneypenny origin story is because that's the first time the character has met Bond in this timeline. It's not a continuity error.
@@beethockmtee8565 I feel like you are being unusually dense. Casino Royale was the very first book written by Ian Fleming, and takes place, before the other books. It wasn't a reboot, it was the first book. The Hobbit wasn't a "reboot" of LoTR, it was the first book written. The Craig-era, wasn't officially a reboot until Spectre, prior to that, they toyed with the idea of it not being a complete reboot.
@@hat8918 no, the Craig era was a reboot. The books don’t matter. Casino was an adaptation of the first Fleming book, yes, but it was a reboot of the Bond series.
Excellent James Bond ranking, I really appreciate "Her Majesty's Secret Service" as number one. To me it is the ultimate James Bond movie as well. Out if all the movies, its the most haunting and non-stop fun!! I seen it at the drive in with my parents when i was a kid....and the part were the hench man gets mulched by the snowblower and thd white snow turns red, gave me nightmares for weeks!! Great job!!
What does apologist mean?, I love moonraker too, it’s the first bond movie I saw on release as a young boy. I didn’t really care for many of the films after for your eyes only.
25: Quantum Of Solace 24: The Man With The Golden Gun 23: A View To A Kill 22: Die Another Day 21: Spectre 20: The Living Daylights 19: Diamonds Are Forever 18: Live And Let Die 17: You Only Live Twice 16: No Time To Die 15: For Your Eyes Only 14: The Word Is Not Enough 13: GoldenEye 12: Tomorrow Never Dies 11: Moonraker 10: Octopussy 9: Licence To Kill 8: Thunderball 7: Dr. No 6: The Spy Who Loved Me 5: Skyfall 4: From Russia With Love 3: Goldfinger 2: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service 1: Casino Royale
I've watched so many "Bond Rankings" videos I usually end up moving on 5 minutes in, but yours is different. The thoughtfulness and reverence you employ sets your mini-reviews apart, emphasizing obscure, yet important notes others blow over. To me, it's more about the why than where a given film appears on the list, but having said that, we do have surprisingly similar overall rankings. While I don't agree with every point, or that Bond films should necessarily be viewed through the lens of modern popular sensibilities, I commend your keen eye and ability to explain your thoughts in a convincing way! Bravo on your articulation and presentation of your views! Every true Bond fan has an "aberration"...a Bond film that ranks unexpectedly high. Mine is "For Your Eyes Only," which is #2 on my overall list for best overall tone. Cheers!
I think From Russia with Love is my favorite, as well, except for the woman with the shoe and the guys with the room service take it down a few notches below Casino Royal and Skyfall.
Bravo. I haven't even seen all of the Bond films - for me the canon pretty much ends in 1969 - but I find it fascinating that we've both made the same leap in recent years and gone from 'From Russia With Love' being our favorite to 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' being the best. 'From Russia With Love' is without question the best in terms of telling a realistic spy story, but 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' is just so poignant and has so many great elements. I love the opening scene where Bond watches Tracy through a rifle scope. That rings true to me. It also rings true that a guy like Bond would end up marrying the daughter of a wealthy gangster. Gangsters and spies both exist outside of the moral universe of the average citizen, so it feels right. Love the scene where Bond opens the safe. Love the Alps location in general. Love the ski chase. Love it when Tracy appears on ice skates. Love the lovers' temporary shelter in the barn. Love the commando raid on Blofeld's headquarters. Love that Bond falls in love enough to marry the girl for once. Love the montage with Louis Armstrong singing. Just so many great moments. And on an entirely personal level, I love that it's set at Christmas time, because I just happened to be born in December of 1969. I might have ranked 'Dr. No' slightly higher than you did, but mostly because I just love the look of it. You've actually taken the time to consider things like plot, character, pacing, cinematography, performances, etc., so no complaints. Why do I consider the Bond canon to have ended in 1969? For me Bond is a product of the 60s, and the look of the series changed dramatically in the 70s. The Bondian universe in its Platonic ideal, as you put it, is glamorous and full of people who dress well, dress for dinner, and have good manners, even while trying to kill each other. It's a world of bright colors, mostly, perfectly coiffed women, exotic (usually either tropical or snowy) locales. Cinema changed suddenly, along with everything else, seemingly, right around 1969-1970. I have thoroughly enjoyed your video essays on Bond. Well done!
This critic of Skyfall is so unfair to me. I think Skyfall is probably the greatest Bond of Craig. And that's because, opposed to your view, I feel the introspection is great. We've never had this movie where we explore, ever so slightly, Bond's past. The mansion scene is truly one of the best action sequence I can think of, it's riveting, it's fun, it has spectacular shots and it ends by M's Death which I didn't see coming. Skyfall does not adress the series flaws, the racism and all that jazz, what it does pretty well is aknowledging the world we live in is moving forward in probably the fastest since the Industrial revolution and Bond's (and all the 00's) usefulness in this new world. M's recital at the Govt' hearing is yet another demonstration that they're still valid, they still deliver results, for the fictional MI-6 and for us, the audience. It's also a redemption story, it follows Casino Royale and Quantum Of Solace's narratives that those have been so taxing to Bond in every way, that it results in him not being on top of his game and thus failing to retrieve the list. It's a story about cutting loose ends, not by Bond itself, but by the surroundings he lives in. M dies, MI-6 HQ's is bombed, his childhood home is no more. Your critique seems to fall in some moments into the contrarian rather than on the essay. In my honest opinion, Skyfall deserves top 5 at the very least. Also, ranking Spectre above Skyfall? Come on. The movie is a reel of gags piled one on the other, with a forgettable Bond girl, a stupid long lost brother story which isn't even canon, with boring action scenes that feels like the bad guys are storm troopers when shooting at bond (with the laboratory explosion, for instance). Even the soundtrack is horrible to listen at (looking at you, lackluster Sam Smith's "Writing on the wall"). Talk about a movie that brings absolutely nothing, make poorly executed callbacks to "From Russia With Love" and others whilst being written by a five years old who still thinks poop jokes are funny. Jeez!
I couldn't ever rate Spectre higher than Skyfall since Spectre is honestly one of the more terrible Bond outings in general. I think save for Die Another Day, which truly is bad in a lot of ways, and maybe even one or two Moore films, Spectre is a contender for the worst Bond film ever.
It’s wild that they were made by the same team (writers / director). You can tell how much they cared about Skyfall, how much love and enthusiasm went into that film. Contrarily, you can tell that SPECTRE was just a paycheck, nobody cared or thought they were making something special. And it shows.
Specter is bad on so many levels. My biggest gripe is it ruined the motivations for Silva. A man out for revenge being his own man? Nope....specter agent....give me a break. One problem with bond as a series. Trend chasers. Marvel had all the movies connected so let's make all the craig movies connect!
@@dereklewis4321 absolutely. It’s also so fucking lazy because it’s basically the writers saying “hey, we have no way to make the villain of this film intimidating or compelling, so we’ll just (basically) steal all of the good shit done in Casino Royale and Skyfall and just assume that because people loved those films, they’ll automatically love this one because now the plots of those films are the plot of this film!” And just….no. I hate SPECTRE so fucking much. Easily the only Bond film that I hate.
@@ghani666 Shooting down a helicopter at night time with a handgun at 200 meters out was the biggest groan I have had at a movie. I know its Bond and I need to suspend disbelief but even that was just god awful writing. Dimonds and Die another day are bad but they are still entertaining to watch. This movie tho is the only Bond film I have absolutely 0 desire to ever watch again. And it blows my mind its by the same team that brought us Skyfall. I dont know how this guy could rank it so high.
Thanks for this - really fun to get your take on the whole series. My faves? 1. Casino Royale 2. The Living Daylights (Love Timothy Dalton's Bond) 3. After that it's hard. I loved The Spy Who Loved Me, Thunderball, OHMSS (so agree with you about that soundtrack, and I've been a Diana Rigg fan since her Avenger's days), Goldeneye. Lots of good ones. And, heretically, I really like Never Say Never Again!
Crazily harsh on Skyfall! Bond does achieve a lot in the film, including saving the life of M in the parliamentary sub-committee when he shows Ralph Fiennes why he, Bond, remains relevant. Enjoyed this video though, otherwise. Good work fella.
For context, I don't hate any of these films, and the bottom two are the only ones I don't have a ton of fun watching. Maybe if we got Moore and Dalton each in one film earlier, things might have been improved somewhat. Alas. 24. A View to a Kill 23. Diamonds Are Forever 22. Moonraker 21. Die Another Day 20. The World Is Not Enough 19. Quantum of Solace 18. Live and Let Die 17. The Man with the Golden Gun 16. Octopussy 15. Tomorrow Never Dies 14. Spectre 13. For Your Eyes Only 12. Thunderball 11. You Only Live Twice 10. Licence to Kill 09. Dr. No 08. The Living Daylights 07. Skyfall 06. Goldeneye 05. The Spy Who Loved Me 04. Goldfinger 03. From Russia with Love 02. On Her Majesty's Secret Service 01. Casino Royale
I loved it. Great list. Overall, my choices would be similar, couple of changes but thats a preference thing. I love your Bond outlook. These videos are great. Thank you for your awesome work!
Honestly, Tomorrow Never Dies is one of my all time favs. Love the idea of Elliot Carver as like this mad newspaper guy intentionally creating world war 3 to sell newspapers, a concept that seems less and less far fetched every day. Love Paris; her history with Bond, the pathos of her death and how much it makes you hate Elliot (and as you said the assassin is great). The car escape and the motorcycle chase. I love how both times he hooks up it's not really a straightforward seduction, thought goes into what the women are getting out of it (Paris is fleeing a troubled marriage + Wai Lin is just casually hooking up). And Michelle fucking Yeoh. I love how not only is she every bit as good as Bond as far as spy shit goes, but also how as a character she's basically identical to him, which makes it funny that they both find each other annoying as hell for a long time. Hell yeah. Tomorrow Never Dies. That's the comment.
I've always had a soft spot for the man with the golden gun because I used to watch it all the time as a kid. I can't dare to rewatch for fear of ruining it.
Perhaps, but had Lazenby not blown his chance, we can never know just how good he could have been. Him and Connery were the only two Bonds, to me, who looked like they could handle themselves.
@@laurencewhite4809 Neither could Moore tbf. Lazenby was learning and would have got better. He was a good Bond who properly looked like he could beat the sh1t out of an opponent..unlike Brosnan, for intance.
@@spanishpeaches2930 I think its fair to say Moore wasn't a very versatile actor, but the one character he played in pretty much all his movies were great. Lazenby on the other hand is so out of his element it was embarrassing.
Love seeing Majesty’s at its rightful spot at the top of the list, here are my rankings; 27. Never Say Never Again 26. Quantum of Solace 25. Casino Royale (1967) 24. SPECTRE 23. A View To A Kill 22. Die Another Day 21. Diamonds Are Forever 20. The Man With The Golden Gun 19. Casino Royale (1954) 18. Moonraker 17. Tomorrow Never Dies 16. Licence to Kill 15. You Only Live Twice 14. Live and Let Die 13. Octopussy 12. Skyfall 11. Thunderball 10. For Your Eyes Only 9. The World Is Not Enough 8. Dr. No 7. The Spy Who Loved Me 6. The Living Daylights 5. Goldfinger 4. Casino Royale (2006) 3. Goldeneye 2. From Russia With Love 1. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service EDIT; I stupidly put Thunderball twice on the list, fixed that to include Goldfinger! Lot of this is just my personal opinion, but after my most recent run through of the series, this is where I find myself with the films. Love your videos btw!!!
1) Casino Royale 2) On Her Majesty's Secret Service 3) Goldfinger 4) The Spy Who Loved Me 5) From Russia With Love 6) Skyfall 7) Goldeneye 8) Licence to Kill 9) No Time To Die 10) The Living Daylights
My current ranking goes as follows: 24. DAD 23. DAF 22. AVTAK 21. TMWTGG 20. Spectre 19. TND 18. YOLT 17. QOS 16. Thunderball 15. LALD 14. Moonraker 13. TWINE 12. Goldfinger 11. Octopussy 10. Dr. No 9. FRWL 8. FYEO 7. TSWLM 6. Goldeneye 5. Skyfall 4. TLD 3. Casino Royale 2. OHMSS 1. LTK Btw, Quantum used to be pretty low on my list, but after my recent rewatch, I gotta say that I really liked it, despite it's many flaws.
Great ranking man! You have some of the best Bond takes on YT. Here's my ranking, subject to change. 24. Spectre - Dull, plodding and illadvised. The Blofled plot really sinks this one. 23. Quantum of Solace - Potentially good story squandered by poor script and direction. 22. Die Another Day - Fun in parts but also ridiculous and dated. 21. The Man With The Golden Gun - Let down by a confusing B-plot. 20. Live And Let Die - Not the biggest fan of the voodoo plot but the action rips as does Rog. 19. Diamonds Are Forever - Feels like a big step back but it's saved by the witty script. 18. Skyfall - Too long and pretentious in places but it still stands strong as a series bookmark. 17. A View To A Kill - Moore is far too old but the action and villains are just stellar. 16. Octopussy - Really love the first two thirds but the climax feels a bit drawn out. 15. You Only Live Twice - Epic and beautiful, Connery's best swan song film. 14. Thunderball - Iconic and entertaining, John Barry's score is just amazing. 13. The World Is Not Enough - Brosnan's best performance for sure. 12. Goldfinger - Love everything except the section on the stud. 11. Moonraker - Underrated, it works so well as a sci-fi story. 10. Dr. No - The Fleming vibes are strong here, especially in Connery's performance. 9. For Your Eyes Only - A great spy thriller with some awesome action scenes. 8. Tomorrow Never Dies - A forecast of the media technocracy, Brosnan's most comfy Bond. 7. The Spy Who Loved Me - THE prototypical Bond adventure and Roger's best film. 6. Casino Royale - Stays true to the source whilst also revitalsing the film series. Perfect. 5. The Living Daylights - Proper Cold War adventure with superb action and music. 4. GoldenEye - An exhilertating action picture and the series' greatest moment of reinvention. 3. From Russia With Love - The best pure spy film in the whole series, peak Connery for sure. 2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service - The best shot film of the series, way ahead of its time. 1. Licence To Kill - Dark, violent and taut, gets better with every rewatch.
Licence to Kill is Top 5 for me. Edged out by (in no particular order) From Russia with Love, Dr No, Goldfinger, and OHMSS at No.1. Licence to Kill just edges out Casino Royale and Thunderball.
25: Never Say Never Again 24: A View to a Kill 23: The Man With the Golden Gun 22: Quantum of Solace 21: Die Another Day 20: Spectre 19: The Living Daylights 18: You Only Live Twice 17: Live and Let Die 16: Diamonds are Forever 15: Octopussy 14: Moonraker 13: Tomorrow Never Dies 12: For Your Eyes Only 11: Licence to Kill 10: Thunderball 9: The World is not Enough 8: Goldeneye 7: The Spy Who Loved Me 6: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service 5: Dr. No 4: From Russia With Love 3: Skyfall 2: Goldfinger 1: Casino Royale P.S: I will update my list when NTTD comes out P.P.S: I disagree, Skyfall is triumphant!
I would put Spectre at 9. To say it's worse than the god-awful Diamonds Are Forever - you must be a Connery fan. But seriously, that movie just sucks in so many ways. And Moonraker is BOR-ING. Live and Let Die so poorly gets culture. Spectre rises above them all in many ways. Maybe Thunderball above Spectre. But Octopussy, no way. For Your Eyes Only is also cheesy in many ways, but I still love it for reasons I cannot fully explain. Maybe I like the cheesy song. I like the crossbow Greek Chewbacca chick getting revenge. Or the awful acting hot blonde skater. Whatever, I just like it. It makes no sense that I like it. Total agreement on Casino Royale, which I have just under Goldfinger, although it's overall acting, stunts, everything really just rocks. The script writing in CR is probably the best in all of the Bond movies. Skyfall just a shade behind it... and the ending of Skyfall is the most epic. From Russia With Love is an amazing theme song, and the Bond girl is sublime. I hate jaws so that is why the Spy Who Loved Me falls down the board. Dr. No is epic for the Caribbean scenes done right. On Her Majesty's Service is absolutely not number one the dude's just intrigued but that doesn't make it a great movie. I felt Lazenby fell flat as Bond. And I can't get over that. Quantum of Solace is also not the piece of trash everyone says it is. Yes, there are flaws and after Casino Royale it would be hard for anything to measure up. But Quantum of Solace has its moments. I truly love the opening sequence and the bullring fight scenes. The airplane scene is good. The desert hideaway is weak. That's probably what tanks the movie. If they'd had a more sinister evil hideout, maybe someone truly more bad guy than Green, the movie would be stronger. The movie that doesn't make this list, but should, is the one that came out the day he made this list. And it belongs just under Skyfall, in my opinion, only because it's so damned long. But the opening, the depth of James' love, betrayal, and rediscovery of his love is unrivaled in any Bond movie. I was touched. The opening scenes where Bond visits Vespa's tomb is a particularly amazing fight sequence. Oh - one more thing - you have to rate Spectre higher if only for the amazing helicopter sequence over the city. Which is epic.
I saw "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" as a young teen (correction), I was 9, and I felt it was absolutely my favourite Bond Film. Also in kindergarten I saw "Thunderball" when it 1st came out.
My personal ranking would go 1. Casino Royale 2. From Russia With Love 3. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service 4. Goldfinger 5. For Your Eyes Only 6. Dr. No 7. Skyfall 8. The Spy Who Loved Me 9. Goldeneye 10. The Living Daylights 11. The World Is Not Enough 12. You Only Live Twice 13. License to Kill 14. Live and Let Die 15. The Man With The Golden Gun 16. Quantum of Solace 17. Spectre 18. Tomorrow Never Dies 19. Octopussy 20. Thunderball 21. A View To A Kill 22. Moonraker 23. Die Another Day 24. Diamonds Are Forever
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is my favorite Bond film as well. Back in the 70s ABC ran all the Bond films but this was a lost one. They finally aired it in 1979. A lot of young people like myself thought it was going to be a satire.. It's the only one of It's kind. The only performance by George Lazenby, the only Bond that depicts "The Swingin' 60s (the Bond film that Austin Powers borrows from. Granted Largo in Thunderball chews his pinky nail and Dr. Evil resembles Donald Pleasence in You Only Live Twice but the martini glasses with a British flag superimposed on it, Bond wearing the kilt and frilly laced cravate were so Austin Powers), Bond being depicted as vulnerable and, let's not forget the awesome ski chase with the cool John.Barry music. Back in the 90s there was a British Pop group called The Propellerheads who had a single with Shirley (Goldfinger) Bassey on guest vocals. The next track on the album was a cover of the theme from On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
OK, my own take - Roger Moore was and still is my favorite Bond, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE is still my top favorite Bond movie (it even had my top favorite Bond gadget, the attache case), DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER was actually the first Bond movie I saw during my pre-teen childhood, John Barry is one of my Top Five favorite film composers and Ken Adams one of my Top Five Favorite Production Designers, I actually got a six-pack of Bond movies on VHS as a gift for finishing elementary school, the BMW Z3 Roadster was my longtime dream car after seeing GOLDENEYE in my teens (my brother and I even played GOLDENEYE on Nintendo 64 before seeing the actual movie), and I always defended TOMORROW NEVER DIES even though a lot of people didn't at the time (and it was my introduction to Michelle Yeoh)... whew!
I have to respect that each Bond fan will have their own personal list of Band favs but also acknowledge that a diverse fan base means there will always be lots of arguments and disagreements about how the movies should be ranked.
It's important for everyone to have their own opinions and I actually enjoy that film, as well. As you said, not brilliant, but contains some good elements.
Quantum has all the flaws Eyebow flags, but I do think it embodies the one real strength Craig brings to the role, even if it doesn't fully compensate for his limited charisma: He's the best of all the Bonds at the *physicality* of the role. Roger Moore himself insisted on this in a 2012 interview: "I thought his action was quite extraordinary-he did more action in the first 30 seconds of the film than I did in 14 years of playing Bond. To me, he looks like a killer. He looks as though he knows what he’s doing. I look as though I might cheat at backgammon." (TIME Magazine, Nov. 09, 2012)
@@richardmalcolm1457 I've always felt the same. From the very opening of Casino Royale, beginning with this Bond's "first kill" and proceeding through the skyway chase scene, you know this Bond brings a dimension to the role that hadn't previously been seen. There's something to be said about a Bond actor "making the role his own", and whereas Brosnan's Bond had all the charisma one could ask for, this era of Bond has plotted it's own course. Connery was--of course--the perfect blend of both elements, in my estimation. Cheers.
Did watch all the Daniel Craig movies in close succession, prior to watching the new film, it definitely sits better, as a continuation of the over arching story, well specifically the start and end scenes are really good, the bit in the middle is a bit rushed, particularly after Mathis gets dumped out of the story. The action just seems to be on fast forward until the villain's lair is destroyed, which typically signals the end of a Bond Movie albeit with a brief nod to confirm the villian is defeated or dead, the memorable and nasty end for Greene is needed to avenge agent Fields, and Mathis. Next more vengence this time for Vesper, a return to the opening of of the story, in a cold icy and downbeat environment, the scene is exciting and gripping but is presented in such a way that is the antithesis of spectacle, exoticism, and adventure, and furthermore this end is the ending, just because it is the last scene in the movie, evidently James Bond Will Return'... and needs to so the audience can discover what happens next, especially considering the time frame that this movie began at, in relation to the previous movie.
Thanks a lot mate. I almost 100 % agree with your list. Its so good to see, that young people like you (I guess you are young😃) not always pick the 5 most recent Bond- movies and rate them the top 5 choices. This is by far the best, and most thorough ranking I have ever seen. Good work!!
Agree. On Her Majesty's Secret Service is in my opinion the best Bond film. It is free of the Eon formula and strives to show a human being in in-human circumstances with the temptation of the license to kill and the decisions and outcomes this brings. Genius.
Here's my personal top six 1. Spectre 2. From Russia With Love 3. License To Kill 4. Live And Let Die 5. The World Is Not Enough 6. On Her Majestys Secret Service
I always have trouble ranking these because I love most of them but I’ll try 25 man with the golden gun 24 a view to a kill 23 no time to die 22 quantum of solace 21 spectre 20 living daylights 19 diamonds are forever 18 moonraker 17 die another day 16 Casino Royale 15 for your eyes only 14 live and let die 13 tomorrow never dies 12 license to kill 11 dr no 10 skyfall 9 the world is not enough 8 on her majesty’s secret service 7 the spy who loved me 6 you only live twice 5 Goldfinger 4 thunderball 3 goldeneye 2 octopussy 1 from Russia with love Octopussy is super underrated, the second act is down right hitchcockian in my opinion
1. Casino Royale 2. Skyfall 3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service 4. From Russia with Love 5. Licence to Kill 6. The Spy Who Loved Me 7. Goldfinger 8. The Living Daylights 9. GoldenEye 10. Live and Let Die 11. For Your Eyes Only 12. Dr. No 13. A View to a Kill (this is a film that I love for the wrong reasons) 14. The Man with the Golden Gun (the first one I ever seen so I can't hate this one as much as others) 15. Thunderball (a bit overrated as Calvin said in his video but it has grown on me over the years) 16. Tomorrow Never Dies 17. Quantum of Solace 18. Octopussy 19 Spectre (worse than Quantum because at least that film somewhat understood the point of its predecessor to a degree, its mercifully short and I at least understand why characters are making certain choices from scene to scene rather than being dictated by some convoluted plot rather than natural characteristics) 20. The World Is Not Enough 21. Moonraker 22. You Only Live Twice (BEYOND overrated, this is where the spectacle and gadgets really takeover the character development as well as the first one that really doesn't bring anything new in ways the previous 4 Connery films have) 23. Die Another Day 24. Diamonds Are Forever.
1. from russia with love 2. casino royale 3. goldeneye 4. on her majesty's secret service 5. the living daylights 6. thunderball 7. the world is not enough 8. licence to kill 9. for your eyes only 10. dr. no 11. tomorrow never dies 12. the spy who loved me 13. skyfall 14. goldfinger 15. you only live twice 16. no time to die 17. octopussy 18. live and let die 19. moonraker 20. a view to a kill 21. spectre 22. the man with the golden gun 23. die another day 24. quantum of solace 25. diamonds are forever the bottom 5 are the only ones I do not like, in fact, I hate them.
@@dgnoel4180 i have rewatched the entire franchise since I posted this list in lead up to NTTD. I do now hate spectre, but not NTTD. That one has some letdowns like poorly displayed gimmick of a bland super villain, the nonsensical reason Bond decides not trust her. But it also has really great highs like the action choreography and callback music from OHMSS (the music in general, even the theme is great)
My ranking changes almost daily, right now I'd be: 1. Goldeneye 2. Casino Royale 3. The Spy who loved me 4. Skyfall 5. Goldfinger 6. Licence to Kill 7. Tomorrow never dies 8. You only live twice 9. For your Eyes only 10. On her Majesties Secret Service 11. Moonraker 12. The Living Daylights 13. No Time to Die 14. Octopussy 15. Live and let die 16. From Russia with love 17. The World is not Enough 18. Thunderball 19. Dr No 20. A View to a Kill 21. The Man with the Golden Gun 22. Quantum of Solace 23. Die Another Day 24. Diamonds are forever 25. Spectre
Here's my list 1. For Your Eyes Only 2. From Russia with Love 3. Thunderball 4. Casino Royale 5. The Living Daylights 6. Dr. No 7. License to Kill 8. Goldeneye 9. The World is Not Enough 10. Goldfinger 11. Tomorrow Never Dies 12. You Only Live Twice 13. The Spy Who Loved Me 14. The Man with the Golden Gun 15. Live and Let Die 16. Octopussy 17. Skyfall 18. Die Another Day 19. Moonraker 20. Quantum of Solace 21. Diamonds are Forever I've left OHMSS off my list based on your review! I think it deserves another watch and it's been well over a decade since I've seen it. Spectre is also missing because I honestly can't remember it. Either I never saw it or it's mentally blended with Quantum of Solace.
Even though there technically are better entries in the series, I could watch the Roger Moore films, especially For Your Eyes Only and The Spy Who Loved Me, over and over a again. I've never enjoyed the Bond films for their action scenes but rather for their witty and clever dialogue and style. The Craig movies are missing out on that most of the time.
@Patrick J it's just a joy watching him conducting himself in all sorts of situations. Perfectly funny, arrogant and ironic. I love how his Bond elegantly insults the villains on there narciccistic egos. Therefore I even enjoy A View To A Kill.
Same. The moore era if nothing else was pure camp escapism. They were among the first bond films i ever saw, so maybe that tends to just stick with me more, idk. I'm simply never bored when i watch any one of his 7
OHMSS doesn't deserve #1--Not to take away from Lazenby's performance as Bond, but overall the film just doesn't scream itself as a 'classic'//IMHO, this film should've been ranked 15 or 16.
Moore was my Bond growing up and I think he had gotten unfairly treated. His films were more fun and not taken itself too seriously and as a kid I loved that.
I find it hard to disagree with you on OHMSS. It’s been my No.1 for a long time. I could debate some of the other positioning but it’s not outrageously contentious with me. I do have an issue with Spectre over Skyfall. I take your points, but I can’t get past wasting Christoph Waltz on that take on Blofeld. When I heard that he’d been cast in the role, I thought that they couldn’t possibly have cast better (I mean…Hans Landa was the personification of evil!). And it was such an unforgivable let down. I mean…it’s Blofeld…Bond’s nemesis…
Here’s my list: 1. The Spy Who Loved Me 2. Skyfall 3. Licence To Kill 4. Goldeneye 5. From Russia With Love 6. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service 7. Octopussy 8. Live And Let Die 9. You Only Live Twice 10. Moonraker 11. Goldfinger 12. The Living Daylights 13. No Time To Die 14. Casino Royale 15. Tomorrow Never Dies 16. For Your Eyes Only 17. The World Is Not Enough 18. Diamonds Are Forever 19. The Man With The Golden Gun 20. Dr No 21. A View To a Kill 22. Thunderball 23. Spectre 24. Die Another Day 25. Quantum Of Solace
My list of Favorites read um and weep 1. Thunderball (1965) 2. You Only Live Twice (1967) 3. Diamonds Are Forever (1971) 4. From Russia with Love (1963) 5. Live and Let Die (1973) 6. The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) 7. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) 8. Dr. No (1962) 9. Goldfinger (1964) 10. The World Is Not Enough (1999) 11. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) 12. License to Kill (1989) 13. A View to a Kill (1985) 14. Octopussy (1983) 15. GoldenEye (1995) 16. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) 17. Moonraker (1979) 18. The Living Daylights (1987) 19. Die Another Day (2002) 20. For Your Eyes Only (1981) 21. Casino Royale (2006) 22. Quantum of Solace (2008) 23. Spectre (2015) 24. Skyfall (2012) 25. Never Say Never Again (1983) - rehash of Thunderball
Thank you. Although I'd seen all the movies many times, I hadn't seen every Bond in a cinema till I caught O.H.M.S.S. on IMAX at Sheffield Cineworld, the 50th anniversary restoration. Wow. That ending; the silence. The lack of end credits. For me, it's always been the best of the series (for all the reasons you stated in your previous video - it always stood out because of Diana Rigg/Tracie) and nice to.finally have someone publicly agree. The biggest mistake Broccoli ever made was not giving George another payday.
George was offered a contract-he refused it. He was essentially a hippie, at that time, and didn’t think much of short hair; or the overall Bond vibe. TH-cam has a great video of him speaking about it; he tells great stories about OHMSS. Of course, in his later years, he truly regretted his decision.
@@stevehackett2678 Well, Lazenby was bang on and probably saw Bond like myself - the worst human on Earth - Establishment-cock-sucking detritus, probably protecting a paedo ring when he wasn't called on to crack a mystery or keep the Cold War going forever. p.s. Are you the REAL 'Steve Hackett' cos I've never met another.
What you said about Die Another Day being endearing in its stupidity is a large part of why I like it. It's definitely the worst of Brosnan's era but there are so many goofy moments that I can't help but have a big, dumb smile on my face while watching it. Hell I'll take it over Quantum or Spectre any day. It's also the first Bond I saw in the theater so the nostalgia is very strong.
1. From Russia with Love 2. Licence to Kill 3. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service 4. Skyfall 5. For Your Eyes Only 6. Goldfinger 7. Casino Royale 8. The Spy Who Loved Me 9. Goldeneye 10. Dr. No 11. The Living Daylights 12. Thunderball 13. Spectre 14. You Only Live Twice 15. Octopussy 16. The World Is Not Enough 17. Live and Let Die 18. Diamonds Are Forever 19. The Man with the Golden Gun 20. Tomorrow Never Dies 21. A View to a Kill 22. Moonraker 23. Quantum of Solace 24. Die Another Day For what it's worth, choosing between those top three for the #1 spot is really hard because I love all of them equally for different reasons, but I'll put FRWL up there just because it came first and really set the tone for the whole series and yes, I'm one of those people that loved Skyfall. Sue me.
@@EyebrowCinema Along with OHMSS, it's the most underrated Bond film. Robert Davi and Benicio del Toro are great, Wayne Newton is hilarious and that truck chase at the end *chef's kiss*. Maybe it's worth revisiting for a future video. ;) ;)
That Goldfinger barn scene with Bond and Pussy Galore does not bother me at all. Sure, times have changed since then and if a scene like that showed up in this modern day era, Bond would have been in prison for it. Honor Blackman (may she Rest In Peace) has always been proud of her and Sean Connery’s work on that scene for how playful it was for the times and she enjoyed the chemistry she had with Sean Connery in that scene.
I know Dr. No is highly acclaimed, but is really showing its age. Surprisingly, Y.O.L.T has really good pacing compared to Connery's films. This is just as someone going through them for the first time.
I never really got into the James Bond cinematic universe but I still really enjoyed your video. Makes me want to check out On her Majesty's Secret Service.
Haven't finished your list yet but I'd like to try to post my own. First the unranked ones I haven't seen (NS) or don't remember well enough to rank (DR) Spectre (NS) Octopussy (NS) For Your Eyes Only (DR) Living Daylights (DR) License to Kill (NS) 19.) Quantum of Solace 18.) Thunderball 17.) Diamonds are Forever (technically worse than Thunderball but I enjoy it more) 16.) Casino Royale 15.) Die Another Day 14.) The Man with the Golden Gun 13.) View to a Kill 12.) Skyfall 11.) Moonraker 10.) Goldeneye 9.) Live and Let Die 8.) Tomorrow Never Dies 7.) You Only Live Twice 6.) The World is Not Enough 5.) OHMSS 4.) Goldfinger 3.) Dr. No 2.) From Russia With Love 1.) The Spy Who Loved Me I can go into detail on some of the... more unusual decisions on here if anyone's curious. Also some are subject to change upon rewatch.
Great to hear your opinion and the debate it stirs. It's easy to trot out the typical classics and claim them as their best but this creates debate and although I might not agree with all of them I really liked your take.
The part where they make Sean Connery look Japanese is stupid but it isn't racist. They didn't do it because of hatred of a race, the definition of racism.
This is exactly why I love SPECTRE! Finally found a bond fan who agrees with me and I’m so happy! Yes Casino Royale is incredible and Skyfall is a fantastic and beautiful film, but SPECTRE is the closest we’ve come to a ‘proper’ Bond film. It’s a culmination of bringing the Bond tropes back into the modern era so we finally get to see the Bond structure with Daniel Craig. In ten years time I do think we will look back at this as the film that stayed true to the old bond formula for better or worse. NTTD could be similar but it also has the task of closing Craig’s arc, meaning although we might see the structure with the opening Gun Barrel, Q and Moneypenny featuring there’ll also be a clear finality to the film!
"SPECTRE is the closest we’ve come to a ‘proper’ Bond film." For Daniel Craig, I agree: this is very hard to dispute. It brings in more classic Bond elements than any other film he's done. Its problem is that the script just isn't very good. It has a few fantastic setpieces; it has a great cast; but the pacing is a mess, it wastes the talent (how do you make Christoph Walz boring?), the climax is contrived, and as a totality, it just doesn't quite work. Whereas SKYFALL and CASINO ROYALE may be closer to Jason Bourne films, but they're just very well written and executed. The hard part is deciding if you can take them on those terms.
EDIT: also sorry forgot to say, I love the video. Compared to maybe 18 months when I found this channel you've really really improved the editing of you're vids, good work keep it up Wait, you say the cinematography on spectre which opens with that minutes long one shot scene with hundreds of extras, with crews running along with Bounce cards and diffusers, taking the camera on and off various rigs like body Steadycams, cranes, and a tv, that wasn't showy? It's the most gimmicky and "showy" sequence in a bond film, and a large part of the marketing focusing on it. They put the opening scene on TH-cam for free when the movie came out. The cinematography you say isn't as "showy" is literally what the showed people to advertise it.
I appreciate the compliments. It's nice to hear I have in fact been getting better. Also, you make a good point with Spectre's cinematographer. That opening oner is definitely indulgent. But I find taken as a whole, the film less so than Skyfall. As good as Skyfall looks, almost every shot feels like it's begging you to admire just how pristine and beautiful it is. Spectre's visual style blends a bit more with the story.
The sword fight scene in Die Another Day might be pretty okay on it's own, but it is also the scene where the plot completely lost me. Having the villain go into a murderous frenzy with loads of civilian witnesses while still meant to be trying to pass as a philanthropic businessman just came across as really dumb to me. It is probably the film in the series I have the hardest time to enjoy, even if there are some good parts. Aside for that OHMSS has always been my favourite, watched it for the first time as a kid sometime in the late 90's and was expecting it to be one of the weaker films since it was the "one-off Bond", but for whatever reason it just clicked with me.
@@EyebrowCinema I can understand that. I just have a very bitter feeling toward that scene in particular, because I was still trying to take the plot seriously up to that point when I first watched the film and it somehow was my breaking point. Had I gone in just expecting silly entertainment I might have had a very different opinion of the scene and perhaps the movie as a whole.
Good ranking list! Some rankings were a bit shocking at first but you made decent points and I'm not one to take that away from you. Here's my Top 10 James Bond movies: 1. GoldenEye 2. Casino Royale 3. Skyfall 4. Goldfinger 5. Licence to Kill 6. The Spy Who Loved Me 7. From Russia with Love 8. For Your Eyes Only 9. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service 10. Thunderball
A brilliant list, sir! Very well done! Lazenbe was an excellent mover and surprising actor. However, his Aussie accent was very noticeable, and it was also dubbed through a good chunk of the film. Yet, he played the tearing and brokenhearted man in shock, at the end, brilliantly. OHMSS does have a goofy allergy clinic plot, though. That is what makes me still prefer FRWL, because it is a film with a plot, inspired by the WWII decoders. Like Dr. No, the plot works because of the Cold War theme. Dr. No is clearly brilliant with the investigation within. So, like you, those films work as actual spy films.
I found it very tough to rank all 24 films, so I put them into 5 tiers. My top tier matches your three exactly: OHMSS, FRWL and CR. I struggle with Sean Connery's films (except for FRWL). While I can appreciate the setting of the standard, I just find so many of them problematic in terms of continuity, pacing and characterisation (and totally agree with the Pussy Galore scene). OHMSS would be my favourite if pressed. So many great aspects, most you mentioned here and in the OHMSS video you did previously. I love Roger Moore's portrayal of Bond so rank lots of his films highly. Especially MR, TSWLM and FYEO (even OP is in my top 10). Totally agree with the issues around LALD and TMWTGG. I rank Licence to Kill highly. If it were a Craig film, it'd be a classic. It was just ahead of its time. As for TLD, I have issues with the plot, characterisations of villains and Kara, to me, is ineffective as a Bond girl. The Brosnan films were hit and miss for me. GE is up there for most people, me included. I have always found the storyline of TND to be not outside the realm of reality, especially in the last 4-5 years. Sure, TND has scripting issues, but it's middle of my pack. I found TWINE to be an interesting departure, especially being more character driven. Agree that Renard is ineffective as a villain, but loved the twist of Elektra being the villain. It could have just been a bit more subtle. The Craig era is also hit and miss. Love CR and SF, though I do agree with your argument about the massive leap from QOS to SF in terms of experience. I agree that we are missing adventures in there somewhere. Spectre still needs time to grow for me, but I still can't for the life of me understand how Madeleine became Bond's love interest. The chemistry between them was non-existant. I'm hoping NTTD expands on that a little to help us understand. Got to wait until November here in Australia to see the film, so shutting off from the socials for a while so I don't get spoilers.
You're my guy! You're list almost totally matches mine. "The spy who loved me" is a bit higher on my list because it is one of my favourites but On her Majesty's secret Service" is also in my top 3 of all the Bond-Movies. Thank you for your list!
OHMSS would probably rank #1 for me if Pleasance played Blofeld and Connery or Moore were in the Bond role…..or honestly even Dalton could have been great as this movie feels more like a setup for his take on Bond. But nonetheless, it’s one that has definitely grown on me over time and is firmly in my top 10. The score is amazing and Diana Rigg absolutely kills it as Tracy. My favorites are License to Kill, Goldeneye, and The Rock (yeah…..I choose to believe it’s a Bond film….more so than Never Say Never Again anyway). Great video!
My top 5 Bond films are: 1. Goldeneye 2. From russia with love 3. OHMSS 4. The spy who loved me 5. License to kill But I love all Bond films and every single actor. Great job as always. I wonder if you would cover other franchises in the future, I don't know, like the original pirates of the caribean trilogy or The Lord of the tinga or even Godzilla. But as always you hace done an excelent work.
This is probably the most deeply felt James Bond ranking I have ever seen here on TH-cam. And what you say about Spectre and Skyfall is just music to my ears. Thanks a lot!
Interesting ranking! No Bond fan will ever give the same ranking- here's mine: 1. Casino Royale 2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service 3. From Russia With Love 4. Goldfinger 5. The Living Daylights 6. Skyfall 7. Dr. No 8. Licence to Kill 9. Octopussy 10. Spectre 11. For Your Eyes Only 12. Tomorrow Never Dies 13. The Spy Who Loved Me 14. Goldeneye 15. Live and Let Die 16. Quantum of Solace 17. You Only Live Twice 18. Thunderball 19. The World is Not Enough 20. The Man with The Golden Gun 21. A View to a Kill 22. Moonraker 23. Diamonds are Forever 24. Die Another Day
I get Quantum is not liked by many, but to put it completely at the bottom (considering it’s considerable competition) and Spectre above Skyfall (not even the biggest fan of), respectfully, is fucking criminal imho. Spectre is just as guilty of cod meta commentary as Skyfall, so I don’t get the distinction?
Here is my list (from the best to the worst): 1. From Russia With Love 2. Goldfinger 3. Thunderball 4. Skyfall 5. Goldeneye 6. The Living Daylights 7. The Spy Who Loved Me 8. Casino Royale 9. You Only Live Twice 10. No Time To Die 11. On Her Majesty's Secret Service 12. For Your Eyes Only 13. Dr. No 14. Live and Let Die 15. Tomorrow Never Dies 16. Licence To Kill 17. Spectre 18. Moonraker 19. The World Is Not Enough 20. A View To A Kill 21. Never Say Never Again 22. Octopussy 23. Diamonds Are Forever 24. Quantum of Solace 25. The Man With The Golden Gun 26. Die Another Day
Not sure how you can rank Q of S #24, and CR #3 when it really continues the story and themes of Bond becoming Bond. Q of S is a misunderstood amazing Bond film from a character development standpoint. It’s a direct continuation from Casino Royale, taking place the same day that CR ends, which has never been done before in Bond films. It’s Act II of a three act play between Casino Royale and Skyfall. The fighting/action scenes are awesome. I recommend watching CinemaWins’ video, “Everything Great about Quantum of Solace,” and the companion videos for Casino Royale and Skyfall, to appreciate this film more.
I personally prefer "The Living Daylights" to "License To Kill". Not by much, but I find there's more style in TLD and is quite unique compared to other bond films.
Same
I think it's close as well, but for me the villains of LTK give it the slight edge
LTK is awful. Most people won't admit it tho
Thank you. Licence To Kill feels like a low rent knock off a Bond movie. I am feeling less EON, more Cannon from that film. I know the budget was reduced after Living Daylights but damn, did it have to look so cheap ?
@@strikerbowls791 It has a legion of fan boys who insist it's closer to the novels and it is on a superficial level.
Skyfall is easily my favorite. I get the frustration as a meta-commentary, but just as a character piece I really love where the movie takes Bond, maybe because Im such a sucker for "heroes past their prime" stories. The third act in particular is something that really resonates with me after watching it. The tone they set with the location feels so unique to Skyfall in comparison to most other Bond films. The vast Scottish field is so beautiful, but still has a sense of melancholy with the clouded weather and muted color pallette. It reminds me of summers spend in the west side of Norway where sometimes the weather isnt super great, but the landscape still remains so beautiful.
I think skyfall is good, but it's always felt odd how they introduced Craig's Bond as being in his younger years and then rather abruptly go into the whole "past his prime" thing.
Edit: and look at that, that's what he says in the video lol
@@derekwalter4238 Yeah, but is that the fault of Skyfall itself? Maybe it fails as a direct sequel to Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, but it never really marketed itself as such. Then again, the whole "past his prime" thing isn't Skyfall's only quality. If you view it as a stand alone film, it is pretty great in my opinion.
@@phcookie.t Yeah I know, I said I thought it was good.
Spectre is easily worse then sky fall
I loved the beauty and action and general filmmaking of sky fall but it did fall emotionally short for me and some of the plot holes were too noticeable for me. Still my second favourite Craig obviously but Royale will always be my numero uno.
I honestly think Daltons bond movies are underrated and some of the best of the bond series. He adds so much to the character. Great list and another fantastic video, look forward to your next.
Completely agree!
I absolutely love the On her Majesty’s Secret Service Theme song and I think the fact that it’s just an instrumental is a testament to how strong it is. Not talked about enough whatsoever.
If you like the theme...which is brilliant...check out the vid OHMSS The First Four Chords. It gives a real eye-opener on the score and how it was used, subtly, as a refrain throughout the movie.
Probably me favourite track in franchise aside for the classic Bond theme.
It was the first Bond movie I owned and will always be my favourite.
Aye, watched The Music of Bond, or whatever it was called) on Amazon last week... 'From Russia With Love' and 'O.H.M.S.S.' main theme completely ignored. Plus, an hour of being subjected to Billie Eilish... no thanks.
Propellerheads have a very nice remix of this track. Indeed the best bond theme together with We Have All the Time in the World from the same movie.
Can't tell you how refreshing it is to see Skyfall not in someone's top 3 for once; not only that but calling out the film's thematic flaws. Bravo sir!
Skyfall is a film I didn't like and agree with the video but the plot mirrored The Dark Knights plot in parts .
It used to be my absolute favourite right after seeing it and still some time later.
It can probably still make my top 5, but the film's flaws regarding it's plot only become more visible with each viewing.
I like Skyfall a little better than Eyebrow does, but it's nice to see someone think that it's overrated. He's right that Bond goes from "cocky hotshot" and "old and struggling" way too quickly, and I still can't watch the climax without thinking of Home Alone.
Skyfall has flaws, but Eyebrow is overstating his case to justify a lower rating for the movie. It's not even true Bond didn't accomplish anything (or failed at everything). Despite seeing the movie repeatedly, Eyebrow still seems to miss some of the subtleties of the film. For once we have a Bond movie that doesn't spoon feed every plot point to us. Eyebrow was looking for excuses to rate this lower than it deserves. His opinion is his, though, and this is his list.
To me Skyfall is just an ok film, one that has a lot of great components but which the plot does a poor job of connecting.
For example Silva should be an interesting villain, but what I got out of the film was more just that Javier Bardem is a good actor, because the story itself just doesn't do enough for me to really care about his backstory and motivation.
And the plot a lot of the times comes across as nonsensical to the point that it just feels like the filmmakers didn't care as long as they can shoehorn in the themes they wanted.
I love that OHMSS is getting the acclaim it deserves all these years later. It's a masterclass of filmmaking, and to say it's a bad film merely because of Lazenby's performance, (which itself is underrated IMO) is a cop out.
Lazenby stepped into Connery's massive misogynist shoes and made it something new, modern.... and we know he wanted to take that even further. You have to remember the sexual politics and anti-Establishment feeling in 1968... Mi5 probably gave Cubby notice to get Bond 'back on track' by dumbing him down, waving the Union Jack at every possible opportunity.... and that still continues to this day; why the series should be put to sleep... much like the British Establishment.
@@telsutton George Lazenby was a cad far worse than Bond in real life, lmao.
First bond movie I ever owned; solidified my interest in the character.
Lazenby was ok but the movie is garbage.
@@kkarx cap
A really well thought out and heartfelt list.
Thanks, Josef!
Oh I am SO with you on Tomorrow Never Dies. It's got all the classic Bond elements and does them well. It's easily the best Brosnan Bond in my mind.
My thoughts exactly
And its plot has aged like fine wine. A mega Billionaire using his media empire to create disinformation.
Hated the ridiculous villan.
Yeoh and Brosnan are great.
Great film but Goldeneye is better! 4 memorable villains and not a single wasted scene.
The funny thing about Die Another Day is that it has quite a few plot points with Diamonds Are Forever. The conflict diamond laundering, the surgery altering people's appearance and of course the space laser the villain uses for world domination.
Yes, that's what I noticed... It's an unfortunate fact
That's why both movies are my two least favourite in the series
I was pointed towards your channel in my comments today. Great content, pleased to meet you! 🍸
It’s been a real treat to see OHMSS go from being “that weird one with that guy who never played Bond again” to becoming viewed by many as one of the best, if not, the best of them all.
I had a special connection to it because I watched the weird cut of the movie that came out on tv. And I loved the bobsled sequence. The movie felt otherworldly and hit differently. And as I started watching the movies again as an adult, it took forever to find out that “the one with that guy who never played Bond again” was THAT movie I loved as a kid.
Honestly, I cant take anyone seriously who says OHMSS is their favourite bond movie.
@@laurencewhite4809Could not agree more! Fans of OHMSS choose to overlook the fact George Lazenby is not a believable Bons.
Spectre's greatest crime was having a long sequence set in a snowy mountainscape and NO SKIING DOWN THE MOUNTAINS.
OHMSS has been my favourite Bond film for at least the last twenty years. It's the one that most grips me emotionally. On some re-watches, it wrecks me. The older you get, the more you've loved and lost, the more it finds you.
And yes, the score is sublime.
Thank you for this thoughtful ranking, I'd love it even if you hadn't agreed about top Bond.
It's such a good movie. Watching "Diamonds are Forever" right after OHMSS just showcases how much of a a great film OHMSS is
In regards to Skyfall, I never thought it was a direct sequel to Quantum. I always interpreted the movie as happening much later in Bond's life. During the car ride with M, Bond jokingly threatens to launch her out of the vehicle which is a throwback to Goldfinger as an example. The death of Judy Dench's M, I gathered happened much later after Goldeneye and the other films. In Spectre, they tie all the films together, which implies all those events have happened from prior non-Craig Bond films, but in Spectre, it becomes a re-imagining. Also, the film took almost 5 years to come out, and there was a ton of articles being written regarding whether the film was actually going to be made and that perhaps Daniel Craig would be too old to continue the franchise. While I understand the inclusion of a Money-Penny origin story, doesn't quite add up with the timeline... I was willing to look past it in order to have Money-penny back. The general point I'm making, is that Skyfall, I don't believe, was meant to be taking place, directly after Quantum.
Not directly after, but from the shift in tone, Bond goes from a late thirties renegade to a late forties burnout. The grizzled and grey muzzle of stubble and the reflection on a career of sacrifice all add up to say it's at least ten years later, which doesn't work.
It could have been fine, if only they had dropped the "tired and burned out" approach to his character. He could still have been ambitious and energetic and made the story work just as well.
As it happens we're now getting the third film in a row where Bond is a burnout, because that's the story each director wants to explore, but it didn't need to be that way.
@@JackChurchill101 In other words, it doesn't work for you personally.
You're right that Skyfall doesn't take place immediately after Quantum, but you seem to think Casino and Quantum are a prequel to the Connery-Brosnan films and Skyfall and Spectre (and No Time to Die, I presume), the sequels. This is incorrect. The Craig films operate in their own, standalone timeline. Casino Royale was a reboot, not a prequel. Just like Batman Begins isn't a prequel to the Tim Burton Batman film, but a reboot. The reason Skyfall shows a Moneypenny origin story is because that's the first time the character has met Bond in this timeline. It's not a continuity error.
@@beethockmtee8565 I feel like you are being unusually dense. Casino Royale was the very first book written by Ian Fleming, and takes place, before the other books. It wasn't a reboot, it was the first book. The Hobbit wasn't a "reboot" of LoTR, it was the first book written. The Craig-era, wasn't officially a reboot until Spectre, prior to that, they toyed with the idea of it not being a complete reboot.
@@hat8918 no, the Craig era was a reboot. The books don’t matter. Casino was an adaptation of the first Fleming book, yes, but it was a reboot of the Bond series.
Excellent James Bond ranking, I really appreciate "Her Majesty's Secret Service" as number one. To me it is the ultimate James Bond movie as well. Out if all the movies, its the most haunting and non-stop fun!! I seen it at the drive in with my parents when i was a kid....and the part were the hench man gets mulched by the snowblower and thd white snow turns red, gave me nightmares for weeks!!
Great job!!
I'm a Moonraker apologist. I love how silly it is. It's like Temple of Doom for me. Ridiculous in almost every way. But that's part of why it rules.
What does apologist mean?, I love moonraker too, it’s the first bond movie I saw on release as a young boy. I didn’t really care for many of the films after for your eyes only.
@@iancocks9408 It means I'll defend the film to the death from detractors. Moonraker divides opinion a little bit.
The problem for me is not the silliness but that it managed to be kind of boring in the end and that I always fall asleep.
25: Quantum Of Solace
24: The Man With The Golden Gun
23: A View To A Kill
22: Die Another Day
21: Spectre
20: The Living Daylights
19: Diamonds Are Forever
18: Live And Let Die
17: You Only Live Twice
16: No Time To Die
15: For Your Eyes Only
14: The Word Is Not Enough
13: GoldenEye
12: Tomorrow Never Dies
11: Moonraker
10: Octopussy
9: Licence To Kill
8: Thunderball
7: Dr. No
6: The Spy Who Loved Me
5: Skyfall
4: From Russia With Love
3: Goldfinger
2: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
1: Casino Royale
1-10 I'm fine with, but the rest is one of the worst rankings I've ever seen 😂
I've watched so many "Bond Rankings" videos I usually end up moving on 5 minutes in, but yours is different. The thoughtfulness and reverence you employ sets your mini-reviews apart, emphasizing obscure, yet important notes others blow over. To me, it's more about the why than where a given film appears on the list, but having said that, we do have surprisingly similar overall rankings. While I don't agree with every point, or that Bond films should necessarily be viewed through the lens of modern popular sensibilities, I commend your keen eye and ability to explain your thoughts in a convincing way! Bravo on your articulation and presentation of your views! Every true Bond fan has an "aberration"...a Bond film that ranks unexpectedly high. Mine is "For Your Eyes Only," which is #2 on my overall list for best overall tone. Cheers!
I'm still of the belief that From Russia With Love is the best, I love that you put it #2 on the list.
I think From Russia with Love is my favorite, as well, except for the woman with the shoe and the guys with the room service take it down a few notches below Casino Royal and Skyfall.
Bravo. I haven't even seen all of the Bond films - for me the canon pretty much ends in 1969 - but I find it fascinating that we've both made the same leap in recent years and gone from 'From Russia With Love' being our favorite to 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' being the best.
'From Russia With Love' is without question the best in terms of telling a realistic spy story, but 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' is just so poignant and has so many great elements. I love the opening scene where Bond watches Tracy through a rifle scope. That rings true to me. It also rings true that a guy like Bond would end up marrying the daughter of a wealthy gangster. Gangsters and spies both exist outside of the moral universe of the average citizen, so it feels right.
Love the scene where Bond opens the safe. Love the Alps location in general. Love the ski chase. Love it when Tracy appears on ice skates. Love the lovers' temporary shelter in the barn. Love the commando raid on Blofeld's headquarters. Love that Bond falls in love enough to marry the girl for once. Love the montage with Louis Armstrong singing. Just so many great moments. And on an entirely personal level, I love that it's set at Christmas time, because I just happened to be born in December of 1969.
I might have ranked 'Dr. No' slightly higher than you did, but mostly because I just love the look of it. You've actually taken the time to consider things like plot, character, pacing, cinematography, performances, etc., so no complaints.
Why do I consider the Bond canon to have ended in 1969? For me Bond is a product of the 60s, and the look of the series changed dramatically in the 70s. The Bondian universe in its Platonic ideal, as you put it, is glamorous and full of people who dress well, dress for dinner, and have good manners, even while trying to kill each other. It's a world of bright colors, mostly, perfectly coiffed women, exotic (usually either tropical or snowy) locales. Cinema changed suddenly, along with everything else, seemingly, right around 1969-1970.
I have thoroughly enjoyed your video essays on Bond. Well done!
"for me the canon pretty much ends in 1969." A defensible stance.
This critic of Skyfall is so unfair to me. I think Skyfall is probably the greatest Bond of Craig. And that's because, opposed to your view, I feel the introspection is great. We've never had this movie where we explore, ever so slightly, Bond's past. The mansion scene is truly one of the best action sequence I can think of, it's riveting, it's fun, it has spectacular shots and it ends by M's Death which I didn't see coming. Skyfall does not adress the series flaws, the racism and all that jazz, what it does pretty well is aknowledging the world we live in is moving forward in probably the fastest since the Industrial revolution and Bond's (and all the 00's) usefulness in this new world. M's recital at the Govt' hearing is yet another demonstration that they're still valid, they still deliver results, for the fictional MI-6 and for us, the audience. It's also a redemption story, it follows Casino Royale and Quantum Of Solace's narratives that those have been so taxing to Bond in every way, that it results in him not being on top of his game and thus failing to retrieve the list. It's a story about cutting loose ends, not by Bond itself, but by the surroundings he lives in. M dies, MI-6 HQ's is bombed, his childhood home is no more. Your critique seems to fall in some moments into the contrarian rather than on the essay. In my honest opinion, Skyfall deserves top 5 at the very least.
Also, ranking Spectre above Skyfall? Come on. The movie is a reel of gags piled one on the other, with a forgettable Bond girl, a stupid long lost brother story which isn't even canon, with boring action scenes that feels like the bad guys are storm troopers when shooting at bond (with the laboratory explosion, for instance). Even the soundtrack is horrible to listen at (looking at you, lackluster Sam Smith's "Writing on the wall"). Talk about a movie that brings absolutely nothing, make poorly executed callbacks to "From Russia With Love" and others whilst being written by a five years old who still thinks poop jokes are funny. Jeez!
I couldn't ever rate Spectre higher than Skyfall since Spectre is honestly one of the more terrible Bond outings in general. I think save for Die Another Day, which truly is bad in a lot of ways, and maybe even one or two Moore films, Spectre is a contender for the worst Bond film ever.
It’s wild that they were made by the same team (writers / director). You can tell how much they cared about Skyfall, how much love and enthusiasm went into that film.
Contrarily, you can tell that SPECTRE was just a paycheck, nobody cared or thought they were making something special. And it shows.
Specter is bad on so many levels. My biggest gripe is it ruined the motivations for Silva. A man out for revenge being his own man? Nope....specter agent....give me a break. One problem with bond as a series. Trend chasers. Marvel had all the movies connected so let's make all the craig movies connect!
@@dereklewis4321 absolutely. It’s also so fucking lazy because it’s basically the writers saying “hey, we have no way to make the villain of this film intimidating or compelling, so we’ll just (basically) steal all of the good shit done in Casino Royale and Skyfall and just assume that because people loved those films, they’ll automatically love this one because now the plots of those films are the plot of this film!” And just….no.
I hate SPECTRE so fucking much. Easily the only Bond film that I hate.
@@ghani666 Shooting down a helicopter at night time with a handgun at 200 meters out was the biggest groan I have had at a movie. I know its Bond and I need to suspend disbelief but even that was just god awful writing. Dimonds and Die another day are bad but they are still entertaining to watch. This movie tho is the only Bond film I have absolutely 0 desire to ever watch again. And it blows my mind its by the same team that brought us Skyfall. I dont know how this guy could rank it so high.
Thanks for this - really fun to get your take on the whole series. My faves? 1. Casino Royale 2. The Living Daylights (Love Timothy Dalton's Bond) 3. After that it's hard. I loved The Spy Who Loved Me, Thunderball, OHMSS (so agree with you about that soundtrack, and I've been a Diana Rigg fan since her Avenger's days), Goldeneye. Lots of good ones. And, heretically, I really like Never Say Never Again!
Crazily harsh on Skyfall! Bond does achieve a lot in the film, including saving the life of M in the parliamentary sub-committee when he shows Ralph Fiennes why he, Bond, remains relevant.
Enjoyed this video though, otherwise. Good work fella.
I just think it is ordinary. There is nothing for me, that I think makes it standout
No, skyfall is bang average
10:55 Oh, don't worry, I'm absolutely fine with this. I'm just worried why we haven't gotten to Spectre yet at this point 😅
For context, I don't hate any of these films, and the bottom two are the only ones I don't have a ton of fun watching. Maybe if we got Moore and Dalton each in one film earlier, things might have been improved somewhat. Alas.
24. A View to a Kill
23. Diamonds Are Forever
22. Moonraker
21. Die Another Day
20. The World Is Not Enough
19. Quantum of Solace
18. Live and Let Die
17. The Man with the Golden Gun
16. Octopussy
15. Tomorrow Never Dies
14. Spectre
13. For Your Eyes Only
12. Thunderball
11. You Only Live Twice
10. Licence to Kill
09. Dr. No
08. The Living Daylights
07. Skyfall
06. Goldeneye
05. The Spy Who Loved Me
04. Goldfinger
03. From Russia with Love
02. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
01. Casino Royale
I loved it. Great list. Overall, my choices would be similar, couple of changes but thats a preference thing. I love your Bond outlook. These videos are great. Thank you for your awesome work!
I still can't believe some people hate OHMSS, it has everything a Bond movie needs.
Great cast, near perfect filmmaking, and that score oh my God!
Everyone’s good. But Bond sticks out like a sore thumb
@@hairy_cornflake Other than the score I found it subpar and just very boring.
6 Skyfall
5 Goldfinger
4 Dr No
3 From Russia with Love (mainly for the train scene, it’s the best of the Connery films)
2 Casino Royale
1 OHMSS
Pretty close to Dan's list it turns out. Great minds..
The whole train sequence is also my favourite stretch of From Russia with Love.
Honestly, Tomorrow Never Dies is one of my all time favs. Love the idea of Elliot Carver as like this mad newspaper guy intentionally creating world war 3 to sell newspapers, a concept that seems less and less far fetched every day. Love Paris; her history with Bond, the pathos of her death and how much it makes you hate Elliot (and as you said the assassin is great). The car escape and the motorcycle chase. I love how both times he hooks up it's not really a straightforward seduction, thought goes into what the women are getting out of it (Paris is fleeing a troubled marriage + Wai Lin is just casually hooking up). And Michelle fucking Yeoh. I love how not only is she every bit as good as Bond as far as spy shit goes, but also how as a character she's basically identical to him, which makes it funny that they both find each other annoying as hell for a long time. Hell yeah. Tomorrow Never Dies. That's the comment.
Quality comment. I'm always here for more Tomorrow Never Dies love.
Except I've always felt the Director killed off Paris far too soon. The interactions with her and Bond were truly something to enjoy.
I've always had a soft spot for the man with the golden gun because I used to watch it all the time as a kid. I can't dare to rewatch for fear of ruining it.
It's definitely got one of the very best villains!
it’s my favourite and I never get the bad comments it receives .
Moore's 2nd worst performance, meh storyline and Bond girls. OTT Sheriff Pepper is more miss than hit.
Can't moan at anyone who likes it as it is at the back of my rankings of ones I don't mind watching, just before 4 Bond movies I don't really like.
Roger Moore is the reason why the Bond series still exists. Never a true word said on this topic.
Perhaps, but had Lazenby not blown his chance, we can never know just how good he could have been. Him and Connery were the only two Bonds, to me, who looked like they could handle themselves.
@@spanishpeaches2930 Lazenby couldn't act if his life depended on it.
@@laurencewhite4809 Neither could Moore tbf. Lazenby was learning and would have got better. He was a good Bond who properly looked like he could beat the sh1t out of an opponent..unlike Brosnan, for intance.
@@spanishpeaches2930 I think its fair to say Moore wasn't a very versatile actor, but the one character he played in pretty much all his movies were great. Lazenby on the other hand is so out of his element it was embarrassing.
Love seeing Majesty’s at its rightful spot at the top of the list, here are my rankings;
27. Never Say Never Again
26. Quantum of Solace
25. Casino Royale (1967)
24. SPECTRE
23. A View To A Kill
22. Die Another Day
21. Diamonds Are Forever
20. The Man With The Golden Gun
19. Casino Royale (1954)
18. Moonraker
17. Tomorrow Never Dies
16. Licence to Kill
15. You Only Live Twice
14. Live and Let Die
13. Octopussy
12. Skyfall
11. Thunderball
10. For Your Eyes Only
9. The World Is Not Enough
8. Dr. No
7. The Spy Who Loved Me
6. The Living Daylights
5. Goldfinger
4. Casino Royale (2006)
3. Goldeneye
2. From Russia With Love
1. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
EDIT; I stupidly put Thunderball twice on the list, fixed that to include Goldfinger!
Lot of this is just my personal opinion, but after my most recent run through of the series, this is where I find myself with the films. Love your videos btw!!!
great list! but for me you shouldn't include those Non-Eon Bond films, they should be rank differently
1) Casino Royale
2) On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3) Goldfinger
4) The Spy Who Loved Me
5) From Russia With Love
6) Skyfall
7) Goldeneye
8) Licence to Kill
9) No Time To Die
10) The Living Daylights
My current ranking goes as follows:
24. DAD
23. DAF
22. AVTAK
21. TMWTGG
20. Spectre
19. TND
18. YOLT
17. QOS
16. Thunderball
15. LALD
14. Moonraker
13. TWINE
12. Goldfinger
11. Octopussy
10. Dr. No
9. FRWL
8. FYEO
7. TSWLM
6. Goldeneye
5. Skyfall
4. TLD
3. Casino Royale
2. OHMSS
1. LTK
Btw, Quantum used to be pretty low on my list, but after my recent rewatch, I gotta say that I really liked it, despite it's many flaws.
Great ranking man! You have some of the best Bond takes on YT. Here's my ranking, subject to change.
24. Spectre - Dull, plodding and illadvised. The Blofled plot really sinks this one.
23. Quantum of Solace - Potentially good story squandered by poor script and direction.
22. Die Another Day - Fun in parts but also ridiculous and dated.
21. The Man With The Golden Gun - Let down by a confusing B-plot.
20. Live And Let Die - Not the biggest fan of the voodoo plot but the action rips as does Rog.
19. Diamonds Are Forever - Feels like a big step back but it's saved by the witty script.
18. Skyfall - Too long and pretentious in places but it still stands strong as a series bookmark.
17. A View To A Kill - Moore is far too old but the action and villains are just stellar.
16. Octopussy - Really love the first two thirds but the climax feels a bit drawn out.
15. You Only Live Twice - Epic and beautiful, Connery's best swan song film.
14. Thunderball - Iconic and entertaining, John Barry's score is just amazing.
13. The World Is Not Enough - Brosnan's best performance for sure.
12. Goldfinger - Love everything except the section on the stud.
11. Moonraker - Underrated, it works so well as a sci-fi story.
10. Dr. No - The Fleming vibes are strong here, especially in Connery's performance.
9. For Your Eyes Only - A great spy thriller with some awesome action scenes.
8. Tomorrow Never Dies - A forecast of the media technocracy, Brosnan's most comfy Bond.
7. The Spy Who Loved Me - THE prototypical Bond adventure and Roger's best film.
6. Casino Royale - Stays true to the source whilst also revitalsing the film series. Perfect.
5. The Living Daylights - Proper Cold War adventure with superb action and music.
4. GoldenEye - An exhilertating action picture and the series' greatest moment of reinvention.
3. From Russia With Love - The best pure spy film in the whole series, peak Connery for sure.
2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service - The best shot film of the series, way ahead of its time.
1. Licence To Kill - Dark, violent and taut, gets better with every rewatch.
Even with our disagreements this is a rad list.
Damn people really be ranking sky fall so low. I don’t get how moon raker is so high above it, kinda kills your credibility imo.
Licence to Kill is Top 5 for me. Edged out by (in no particular order) From Russia with Love, Dr No, Goldfinger, and OHMSS at No.1. Licence to Kill just edges out Casino Royale and Thunderball.
25: Never Say Never Again
24: A View to a Kill
23: The Man With the Golden Gun
22: Quantum of Solace
21: Die Another Day
20: Spectre
19: The Living Daylights
18: You Only Live Twice
17: Live and Let Die
16: Diamonds are Forever
15: Octopussy
14: Moonraker
13: Tomorrow Never Dies
12: For Your Eyes Only
11: Licence to Kill
10: Thunderball
9: The World is not Enough
8: Goldeneye
7: The Spy Who Loved Me
6: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
5: Dr. No
4: From Russia With Love
3: Skyfall
2: Goldfinger
1: Casino Royale
P.S: I will update my list when NTTD comes out
P.P.S: I disagree, Skyfall is triumphant!
I would put Spectre at 9. To say it's worse than the god-awful Diamonds Are Forever - you must be a Connery fan. But seriously, that movie just sucks in so many ways. And Moonraker is BOR-ING. Live and Let Die so poorly gets culture. Spectre rises above them all in many ways. Maybe Thunderball above Spectre. But Octopussy, no way. For Your Eyes Only is also cheesy in many ways, but I still love it for reasons I cannot fully explain. Maybe I like the cheesy song. I like the crossbow Greek Chewbacca chick getting revenge. Or the awful acting hot blonde skater. Whatever, I just like it. It makes no sense that I like it. Total agreement on Casino Royale, which I have just under Goldfinger, although it's overall acting, stunts, everything really just rocks. The script writing in CR is probably the best in all of the Bond movies. Skyfall just a shade behind it... and the ending of Skyfall is the most epic. From Russia With Love is an amazing theme song, and the Bond girl is sublime. I hate jaws so that is why the Spy Who Loved Me falls down the board. Dr. No is epic for the Caribbean scenes done right. On Her Majesty's Service is absolutely not number one the dude's just intrigued but that doesn't make it a great movie. I felt Lazenby fell flat as Bond. And I can't get over that. Quantum of Solace is also not the piece of trash everyone says it is. Yes, there are flaws and after Casino Royale it would be hard for anything to measure up. But Quantum of Solace has its moments. I truly love the opening sequence and the bullring fight scenes. The airplane scene is good. The desert hideaway is weak. That's probably what tanks the movie. If they'd had a more sinister evil hideout, maybe someone truly more bad guy than Green, the movie would be stronger. The movie that doesn't make this list, but should, is the one that came out the day he made this list. And it belongs just under Skyfall, in my opinion, only because it's so damned long. But the opening, the depth of James' love, betrayal, and rediscovery of his love is unrivaled in any Bond movie. I was touched. The opening scenes where Bond visits Vespa's tomb is a particularly amazing fight sequence. Oh - one more thing - you have to rate Spectre higher if only for the amazing helicopter sequence over the city. Which is epic.
Recently found the channel! Greatly articulated video essays all around!
Thank you, kindly!
I saw "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" as a young teen (correction), I was 9, and I felt it was absolutely my favourite Bond Film. Also in kindergarten I saw "Thunderball" when it 1st came out.
Ditto
My personal ranking would go
1. Casino Royale
2. From Russia With Love
3. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
4. Goldfinger
5. For Your Eyes Only
6. Dr. No
7. Skyfall
8. The Spy Who Loved Me
9. Goldeneye
10. The Living Daylights
11. The World Is Not Enough
12. You Only Live Twice
13. License to Kill
14. Live and Let Die
15. The Man With The Golden Gun
16. Quantum of Solace
17. Spectre
18. Tomorrow Never Dies
19. Octopussy
20. Thunderball
21. A View To A Kill
22. Moonraker
23. Die Another Day
24. Diamonds Are Forever
Never say Never ?
Wow, your output has been crazy prolific lately. A 30 minute video followed by a 40 minute long vid. Amazing
Thanks man. The key is I'm very dumb and don't consider how long things will take until I've actually committed and need to finish by the set date :P
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is my favorite Bond film as well. Back in the 70s ABC ran all the Bond films but this was a lost one. They finally aired it in 1979. A lot of young people like myself thought it was going to be a satire.. It's the only one of It's kind. The only performance by George Lazenby, the only Bond that depicts "The Swingin' 60s (the Bond film that Austin Powers borrows from. Granted Largo in Thunderball chews his pinky nail and Dr. Evil resembles Donald Pleasence in You Only Live Twice but the martini glasses with a British flag superimposed on it, Bond wearing the kilt and frilly laced cravate were so Austin Powers), Bond being depicted as vulnerable and, let's not forget the awesome ski chase with the cool John.Barry music. Back in the 90s there was a British Pop group called The Propellerheads who had a single with Shirley (Goldfinger) Bassey on guest vocals. The next track on the album was a cover of the theme from On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
OK, my own take - Roger Moore was and still is my favorite Bond, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE is still my top favorite Bond movie (it even had my top favorite Bond gadget, the attache case), DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER was actually the first Bond movie I saw during my pre-teen childhood, John Barry is one of my Top Five favorite film composers and Ken Adams one of my Top Five Favorite Production Designers, I actually got a six-pack of Bond movies on VHS as a gift for finishing elementary school, the BMW Z3 Roadster was my longtime dream car after seeing GOLDENEYE in my teens (my brother and I even played GOLDENEYE on Nintendo 64 before seeing the actual movie), and I always defended TOMORROW NEVER DIES even though a lot of people didn't at the time (and it was my introduction to Michelle Yeoh)... whew!
I have to respect that each Bond fan will have their own personal list of Band favs but also acknowledge that a diverse fan base means there will always be lots of arguments and disagreements about how the movies should be ranked.
I'm not saying it's brilliant or anything, but Quantum of Solace has grown on me after recently binge watching the Daniel Craig films back to back.
It's important for everyone to have their own opinions and I actually enjoy that film, as well. As you said, not brilliant, but contains some good elements.
Quantum has all the flaws Eyebow flags, but I do think it embodies the one real strength Craig brings to the role, even if it doesn't fully compensate for his limited charisma: He's the best of all the Bonds at the *physicality* of the role. Roger Moore himself insisted on this in a 2012 interview: "I thought his action was quite extraordinary-he did more action in the first 30 seconds of the film than I did in 14 years of playing Bond. To me, he looks like a killer. He looks as though he knows what he’s doing. I look as though I might cheat at backgammon." (TIME Magazine, Nov. 09, 2012)
@@richardmalcolm1457 I've always felt the same. From the very opening of Casino Royale, beginning with this Bond's "first kill" and proceeding through the skyway chase scene, you know this Bond brings a dimension to the role that hadn't previously been seen. There's something to be said about a Bond actor "making the role his own", and whereas Brosnan's Bond had all the charisma one could ask for, this era of Bond has plotted it's own course. Connery was--of course--the perfect blend of both elements, in my estimation. Cheers.
Did watch all the Daniel Craig movies in close succession, prior to watching the new film, it definitely sits better, as a continuation of the over arching story, well specifically the start and end scenes are really good, the bit in the middle is a bit rushed, particularly after Mathis gets dumped out of the story. The action just seems to be on fast forward until the villain's lair is destroyed, which typically signals the end of a Bond Movie albeit with a brief nod to confirm the villian is defeated or dead, the memorable and nasty end for Greene is needed to avenge agent Fields, and Mathis. Next more vengence this time for Vesper, a return to the opening of of the story, in a cold icy and downbeat environment, the scene is exciting and gripping but is presented in such a way that is the antithesis of spectacle, exoticism, and adventure, and furthermore this end is the ending, just because it is the last scene in the movie, evidently James Bond Will Return'... and needs to so the audience can discover what happens next, especially considering the time frame that this movie began at, in relation to the previous movie.
QoS slaps.
Thanks a lot mate. I almost 100 % agree with your list. Its so good to see, that young people like you (I guess you are young😃) not always pick the 5 most recent Bond- movies and rate them the top 5 choices. This is by far the best, and most thorough ranking I have ever seen. Good work!!
Agree. On Her Majesty's Secret Service is in my opinion the best Bond film. It is free of the Eon formula and strives to show a human being in in-human circumstances with the temptation of the license to kill and the decisions and outcomes this brings. Genius.
You are right about Skyfall, but Spectre is still more worse in my book.
Here's my personal top six
1. Spectre
2. From Russia With Love
3. License To Kill
4. Live And Let Die
5. The World Is Not Enough
6. On Her Majestys Secret Service
OHMSS is the absolute and apex pivotal story in the Bond canon. And the story centers on Contessa Tracy De Vicenzo played beautifully by Diana Rigg.
Well done man, as a total non-Bond fan, you made this list entertaining and made me curious about a few of the films.
A very solid ranking of the series - the top selections in particular are excellent!
This was a brilliant review! Really enjoyed it you explained so many feelings I had about the movies but couldn't articulate
I always have trouble ranking these because I love most of them but I’ll try
25 man with the golden gun
24 a view to a kill
23 no time to die
22 quantum of solace
21 spectre
20 living daylights
19 diamonds are forever
18 moonraker
17 die another day
16 Casino Royale
15 for your eyes only
14 live and let die
13 tomorrow never dies
12 license to kill
11 dr no
10 skyfall
9 the world is not enough
8 on her majesty’s secret service
7 the spy who loved me
6 you only live twice
5 Goldfinger
4 thunderball
3 goldeneye
2 octopussy
1 from Russia with love
Octopussy is super underrated, the second act is down right hitchcockian in my opinion
Wonderful seeing Octopussy rated very high, also at number two in my rankings (behind only GoldenEye).
@bengrenan8192 tbh for me, my top 3 usually switch around. I love all these movies
1. Casino Royale
2. Skyfall
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
4. From Russia with Love
5. Licence to Kill
6. The Spy Who Loved Me
7. Goldfinger
8. The Living Daylights
9. GoldenEye
10. Live and Let Die
11. For Your Eyes Only
12. Dr. No
13. A View to a Kill (this is a film that I love for the wrong reasons)
14. The Man with the Golden Gun (the first one I ever seen so I can't hate this one as much as others)
15. Thunderball (a bit overrated as Calvin said in his video but it has grown on me over the years)
16. Tomorrow Never Dies
17. Quantum of Solace
18. Octopussy
19 Spectre (worse than Quantum because at least that film somewhat understood the point of its predecessor to a degree, its mercifully short and I at least understand why characters are making certain choices from scene to scene rather than being dictated by some convoluted plot rather than natural characteristics)
20. The World Is Not Enough
21. Moonraker
22. You Only Live Twice (BEYOND overrated, this is where the spectacle and gadgets really takeover the character development as well as the first one that really doesn't bring anything new in ways the previous 4 Connery films have)
23. Die Another Day
24. Diamonds Are Forever.
1. from russia with love
2. casino royale
3. goldeneye
4. on her majesty's secret service
5. the living daylights
6. thunderball
7. the world is not enough
8. licence to kill
9. for your eyes only
10. dr. no
11. tomorrow never dies
12. the spy who loved me
13. skyfall
14. goldfinger
15. you only live twice
16. no time to die
17. octopussy
18. live and let die
19. moonraker
20. a view to a kill
21. spectre
22. the man with the golden gun
23. die another day
24. quantum of solace
25. diamonds are forever
the bottom 5 are the only ones I do not like, in fact, I hate them.
Spectre and NTTD should be last
@@dgnoel4180 i have rewatched the entire franchise since I posted this list in lead up to NTTD. I do now hate spectre, but not NTTD. That one has some letdowns like poorly displayed gimmick of a bland super villain, the nonsensical reason Bond decides not trust her. But it also has really great highs like the action choreography and callback music from OHMSS (the music in general, even the theme is great)
Her Majesty is flawless!
My ranking changes almost daily, right now I'd be:
1. Goldeneye
2. Casino Royale
3. The Spy who loved me
4. Skyfall
5. Goldfinger
6. Licence to Kill
7. Tomorrow never dies
8. You only live twice
9. For your Eyes only
10. On her Majesties Secret Service
11. Moonraker
12. The Living Daylights
13. No Time to Die
14. Octopussy
15. Live and let die
16. From Russia with love
17. The World is not Enough
18. Thunderball
19. Dr No
20. A View to a Kill
21. The Man with the Golden Gun
22. Quantum of Solace
23. Die Another Day
24. Diamonds are forever
25. Spectre
i totally agree with goldeneye, it's the epitomy of Bond and Brosnon got screwed over with the producers for the next three films. What a waste!
Here's my list
1. For Your Eyes Only
2. From Russia with Love
3. Thunderball
4. Casino Royale
5. The Living Daylights
6. Dr. No
7. License to Kill
8. Goldeneye
9. The World is Not Enough
10. Goldfinger
11. Tomorrow Never Dies
12. You Only Live Twice
13. The Spy Who Loved Me
14. The Man with the Golden Gun
15. Live and Let Die
16. Octopussy
17. Skyfall
18. Die Another Day
19. Moonraker
20. Quantum of Solace
21. Diamonds are Forever
I've left OHMSS off my list based on your review! I think it deserves another watch and it's been well over a decade since I've seen it.
Spectre is also missing because I honestly can't remember it. Either I never saw it or it's mentally blended with Quantum of Solace.
Nice! I hope you circle back and let us know where you land on OHMSS on a rewatch!
Even though there technically are better entries in the series, I could watch the Roger Moore films, especially For Your Eyes Only and The Spy Who Loved Me, over and over a again. I've never enjoyed the Bond films for their action scenes but rather for their witty and clever dialogue and style. The Craig movies are missing out on that most of the time.
I can dig it. I've always liked Moore and those two films are his best.
@Patrick J it's just a joy watching him conducting himself in all sorts of situations. Perfectly funny, arrogant and ironic. I love how his Bond elegantly insults the villains on there narciccistic egos. Therefore I even enjoy A View To A Kill.
@@armandovalmont9762 a view to a kill is one of my favourites.
Same. The moore era if nothing else was pure camp escapism. They were among the first bond films i ever saw, so maybe that tends to just stick with me more, idk. I'm simply never bored when i watch any one of his 7
@@abigailslade3824 I'm a big Dalton fan, but A View to a Kill is pretty whooper.
OHMSS doesn't deserve #1--Not to take away from Lazenby's performance as Bond, but overall the film just doesn't scream itself as a 'classic'//IMHO, this film should've been ranked 15 or 16.
Moore was my Bond growing up and I think he had gotten unfairly treated. His films were more fun and not taken itself too seriously and as a kid I loved that.
I find it hard to disagree with you on OHMSS. It’s been my No.1 for a long time. I could debate some of the other positioning but it’s not outrageously contentious with me. I do have an issue with Spectre over Skyfall. I take your points, but I can’t get past wasting Christoph Waltz on that take on Blofeld. When I heard that he’d been cast in the role, I thought that they couldn’t possibly have cast better (I mean…Hans Landa was the personification of evil!). And it was such an unforgivable let down. I mean…it’s Blofeld…Bond’s nemesis…
It's nice to see OHMSS at the top, that is a great movie.
Here’s my list:
1. The Spy Who Loved Me
2. Skyfall
3. Licence To Kill
4. Goldeneye
5. From Russia With Love
6. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
7. Octopussy
8. Live And Let Die
9. You Only Live Twice
10. Moonraker
11. Goldfinger
12. The Living Daylights
13. No Time To Die
14. Casino Royale
15. Tomorrow Never Dies
16. For Your Eyes Only
17. The World Is Not Enough
18. Diamonds Are Forever
19. The Man With The Golden Gun
20. Dr No
21. A View To a Kill
22. Thunderball
23. Spectre
24. Die Another Day
25. Quantum Of Solace
My list of Favorites read um and weep 1. Thunderball (1965) 2. You Only Live Twice (1967) 3. Diamonds Are Forever (1971) 4. From Russia with Love (1963) 5. Live and Let Die (1973) 6. The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) 7. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) 8. Dr. No (1962) 9. Goldfinger (1964) 10. The World Is Not Enough (1999) 11. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) 12. License to Kill (1989) 13. A View to a Kill (1985) 14. Octopussy (1983) 15. GoldenEye (1995) 16. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) 17. Moonraker (1979) 18. The Living Daylights (1987) 19. Die Another Day (2002) 20. For Your Eyes Only (1981) 21. Casino Royale (2006) 22. Quantum of Solace (2008) 23. Spectre (2015) 24. Skyfall (2012) 25. Never Say Never Again (1983) - rehash of Thunderball
Ranking all of Craig’s era dead last is craaaazyyyy
Daniel Craig absolutely sucks. His Bond is such a miserable sourpuss. I can't stand his movies.
Thank you. Although I'd seen all the movies many times, I hadn't seen every Bond in a cinema till I caught O.H.M.S.S. on IMAX at Sheffield Cineworld, the 50th anniversary restoration. Wow. That ending; the silence. The lack of end credits. For me, it's always been the best of the series (for all the reasons you stated in your previous video - it always stood out because of Diana Rigg/Tracie) and nice to.finally have someone publicly agree. The biggest mistake Broccoli ever made was not giving George another payday.
George was offered a contract-he refused it.
He was essentially a hippie, at that time, and didn’t think much of short hair; or the overall Bond vibe.
TH-cam has a great video of him speaking about it; he tells great stories about OHMSS.
Of course, in his later years, he truly regretted his decision.
@@stevehackett2678 Well, Lazenby was bang on and probably saw Bond like myself - the worst human on Earth - Establishment-cock-sucking detritus, probably protecting a paedo ring when he wasn't called on to crack a mystery or keep the Cold War going forever.
p.s. Are you the REAL 'Steve Hackett' cos I've never met another.
What you said about Die Another Day being endearing in its stupidity is a large part of why I like it. It's definitely the worst of Brosnan's era but there are so many goofy moments that I can't help but have a big, dumb smile on my face while watching it. Hell I'll take it over Quantum or Spectre any day. It's also the first Bond I saw in the theater so the nostalgia is very strong.
1. From Russia with Love
2. Licence to Kill
3. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
4. Skyfall
5. For Your Eyes Only
6. Goldfinger
7. Casino Royale
8. The Spy Who Loved Me
9. Goldeneye
10. Dr. No
11. The Living Daylights
12. Thunderball
13. Spectre
14. You Only Live Twice
15. Octopussy
16. The World Is Not Enough
17. Live and Let Die
18. Diamonds Are Forever
19. The Man with the Golden Gun
20. Tomorrow Never Dies
21. A View to a Kill
22. Moonraker
23. Quantum of Solace
24. Die Another Day
For what it's worth, choosing between those top three for the #1 spot is really hard because I love all of them equally for different reasons, but I'll put FRWL up there just because it came first and really set the tone for the whole series and yes, I'm one of those people that loved Skyfall. Sue me.
I'm seeing a lot of love for License to Kill in the comments today.
@@EyebrowCinema Along with OHMSS, it's the most underrated Bond film. Robert Davi and Benicio del Toro are great, Wayne Newton is hilarious and that truck chase at the end *chef's kiss*. Maybe it's worth revisiting for a future video. ;) ;)
I didn't agree with a lot of your ranking but man your no. 1 was bang on.
One of the cool things about making this list is hearing other people's rankings which have often been wildly different.
That Goldfinger barn scene with Bond and Pussy Galore does not bother me at all. Sure, times have changed since then and if a scene like that showed up in this modern day era, Bond would have been in prison for it. Honor Blackman (may she Rest In Peace) has always been proud of her and Sean Connery’s work on that scene for how playful it was for the times and she enjoyed the chemistry she had with Sean Connery in that scene.
yes I agree -- part of today's perception of that scene stems in large part from young men being taught that masculinity is ipso facto "toxic"
yeah that wasn't a rape scene at all, dumb calling it that.
I know Dr. No is highly acclaimed, but is really showing its age. Surprisingly, Y.O.L.T has really good pacing compared to Connery's films. This is just as someone going through them for the first time.
I never really got into the James Bond cinematic universe but I still really enjoyed your video. Makes me want to check out On her Majesty's Secret Service.
After rewatching On Her Majesty's Secret Service yesterday i can understand putting it at #1
Haven't finished your list yet but I'd like to try to post my own. First the unranked ones I haven't seen (NS) or don't remember well enough to rank (DR)
Spectre (NS)
Octopussy (NS)
For Your Eyes Only (DR)
Living Daylights (DR)
License to Kill (NS)
19.) Quantum of Solace
18.) Thunderball
17.) Diamonds are Forever (technically worse than Thunderball but I enjoy it more)
16.) Casino Royale
15.) Die Another Day
14.) The Man with the Golden Gun
13.) View to a Kill
12.) Skyfall
11.) Moonraker
10.) Goldeneye
9.) Live and Let Die
8.) Tomorrow Never Dies
7.) You Only Live Twice
6.) The World is Not Enough
5.) OHMSS
4.) Goldfinger
3.) Dr. No
2.) From Russia With Love
1.) The Spy Who Loved Me
I can go into detail on some of the... more unusual decisions on here if anyone's curious. Also some are subject to change upon rewatch.
That casual grin & sexy wink by the female pilot right before she fires dual machine guns at Bond. This is what I like. :D
Such an obvious yawn take on MWTGG and Mary Goodnight. Britt Ekland is funny.
I'm halfway into this and it is really good stuff. Before this i watched the breakdown of ohmss and the content is good. Keep up the good work my man
Great to hear your opinion and the debate it stirs. It's easy to trot out the typical classics and claim them as their best but this creates debate and although I might not agree with all of them I really liked your take.
Thanks Tony!
The part where they make Sean Connery look Japanese is stupid but it isn't racist. They didn't do it because of hatred of a race, the definition of racism.
People under the age of 30 think everything is racist lol. They have a very limited worldview and vocabulary.
One of the most thoughtful Bond rankings I've seen.
This is exactly why I love SPECTRE! Finally found a bond fan who agrees with me and I’m so happy!
Yes Casino Royale is incredible and Skyfall is a fantastic and beautiful film, but SPECTRE is the closest we’ve come to a ‘proper’ Bond film. It’s a culmination of bringing the Bond tropes back into the modern era so we finally get to see the Bond structure with Daniel Craig. In ten years time I do think we will look back at this as the film that stayed true to the old bond formula for better or worse. NTTD could be similar but it also has the task of closing Craig’s arc, meaning although we might see the structure with the opening Gun Barrel, Q and Moneypenny featuring there’ll also be a clear finality to the film!
"SPECTRE is the closest we’ve come to a ‘proper’ Bond film." For Daniel Craig, I agree: this is very hard to dispute. It brings in more classic Bond elements than any other film he's done. Its problem is that the script just isn't very good. It has a few fantastic setpieces; it has a great cast; but the pacing is a mess, it wastes the talent (how do you make Christoph Walz boring?), the climax is contrived, and as a totality, it just doesn't quite work. Whereas SKYFALL and CASINO ROYALE may be closer to Jason Bourne films, but they're just very well written and executed. The hard part is deciding if you can take them on those terms.
The movies in our top 3 are the same, although I give FRWL the nod for top spot.
I have always considered Skyfall as an overrated 007 film.
yes its overrated but still top ten but not top 3
EDIT: also sorry forgot to say, I love the video. Compared to maybe 18 months when I found this channel you've really really improved the editing of you're vids, good work keep it up
Wait, you say the cinematography on spectre which opens with that minutes long one shot scene with hundreds of extras, with crews running along with Bounce cards and diffusers, taking the camera on and off various rigs like body Steadycams, cranes, and a tv, that wasn't showy? It's the most gimmicky and "showy" sequence in a bond film, and a large part of the marketing focusing on it. They put the opening scene on TH-cam for free when the movie came out. The cinematography you say isn't as "showy" is literally what the showed people to advertise it.
I appreciate the compliments. It's nice to hear I have in fact been getting better. Also, you make a good point with Spectre's cinematographer. That opening oner is definitely indulgent. But I find taken as a whole, the film less so than Skyfall. As good as Skyfall looks, almost every shot feels like it's begging you to admire just how pristine and beautiful it is. Spectre's visual style blends a bit more with the story.
@@EyebrowCinema the only good thing in Spectre is that opening long shot.
The sword fight scene in Die Another Day might be pretty okay on it's own, but it is also the scene where the plot completely lost me.
Having the villain go into a murderous frenzy with loads of civilian witnesses while still meant to be trying to pass as a philanthropic businessman just came across as really dumb to me.
It is probably the film in the series I have the hardest time to enjoy, even if there are some good parts.
Aside for that OHMSS has always been my favourite, watched it for the first time as a kid sometime in the late 90's and was expecting it to be one of the weaker films since it was the "one-off Bond", but for whatever reason it just clicked with me.
Oh it's definitely dumb. In a better movie it'd probably frustrate me but for Die Another Day it fits right in.
@@EyebrowCinema I can understand that.
I just have a very bitter feeling toward that scene in particular, because I was still trying to take the plot seriously up to that point when I first watched the film and it somehow was my breaking point.
Had I gone in just expecting silly entertainment I might have had a very different opinion of the scene and perhaps the movie as a whole.
Good ranking list! Some rankings were a bit shocking at first but you made decent points and I'm not one to take that away from you.
Here's my Top 10 James Bond movies:
1. GoldenEye
2. Casino Royale
3. Skyfall
4. Goldfinger
5. Licence to Kill
6. The Spy Who Loved Me
7. From Russia with Love
8. For Your Eyes Only
9. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
10. Thunderball
A brilliant list, sir! Very well done! Lazenbe was an excellent mover and surprising actor. However, his Aussie accent was very noticeable, and it was also dubbed through a good chunk of the film. Yet, he played the tearing and brokenhearted man in shock, at the end, brilliantly. OHMSS does have a goofy allergy clinic plot, though. That is what makes me still prefer FRWL, because it is a film with a plot, inspired by the WWII decoders. Like Dr. No, the plot works because of the Cold War theme. Dr. No is clearly brilliant with the investigation within. So, like you, those films work as actual spy films.
Awesome vid, there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to our boy James
I found it very tough to rank all 24 films, so I put them into 5 tiers.
My top tier matches your three exactly: OHMSS, FRWL and CR.
I struggle with Sean Connery's films (except for FRWL). While I can appreciate the setting of the standard, I just find so many of them problematic in terms of continuity, pacing and characterisation (and totally agree with the Pussy Galore scene).
OHMSS would be my favourite if pressed. So many great aspects, most you mentioned here and in the OHMSS video you did previously.
I love Roger Moore's portrayal of Bond so rank lots of his films highly. Especially MR, TSWLM and FYEO (even OP is in my top 10). Totally agree with the issues around LALD and TMWTGG.
I rank Licence to Kill highly. If it were a Craig film, it'd be a classic. It was just ahead of its time. As for TLD, I have issues with the plot, characterisations of villains and Kara, to me, is ineffective as a Bond girl.
The Brosnan films were hit and miss for me. GE is up there for most people, me included. I have always found the storyline of TND to be not outside the realm of reality, especially in the last 4-5 years. Sure, TND has scripting issues, but it's middle of my pack. I found TWINE to be an interesting departure, especially being more character driven. Agree that Renard is ineffective as a villain, but loved the twist of Elektra being the villain. It could have just been a bit more subtle.
The Craig era is also hit and miss. Love CR and SF, though I do agree with your argument about the massive leap from QOS to SF in terms of experience. I agree that we are missing adventures in there somewhere. Spectre still needs time to grow for me, but I still can't for the life of me understand how Madeleine became Bond's love interest. The chemistry between them was non-existant. I'm hoping NTTD expands on that a little to help us understand.
Got to wait until November here in Australia to see the film, so shutting off from the socials for a while so I don't get spoilers.
Perfect choice, at last, shame it took so long, the best bond ever OHMSS
You're my guy! You're list almost totally matches mine. "The spy who loved me" is a bit higher on my list because it is one of my favourites but On her Majesty's secret Service" is also in my top 3 of all the Bond-Movies. Thank you for your list!
OHMSS would probably rank #1 for me if Pleasance played Blofeld and Connery or Moore were in the Bond role…..or honestly even Dalton could have been great as this movie feels more like a setup for his take on Bond. But nonetheless, it’s one that has definitely grown on me over time and is firmly in my top 10. The score is amazing and Diana Rigg absolutely kills it as Tracy. My favorites are License to Kill, Goldeneye, and The Rock (yeah…..I choose to believe it’s a Bond film….more so than Never Say Never Again anyway). Great video!
My top 5 Bond films are:
1. Goldeneye
2. From russia with love
3. OHMSS
4. The spy who loved me
5. License to kill
But I love all Bond films and every single actor. Great job as always. I wonder if you would cover other franchises in the future, I don't know, like the original pirates of the caribean trilogy or The Lord of the tinga or even Godzilla. But as always you hace done an excelent work.
This is probably the most deeply felt James Bond ranking I have ever seen here on TH-cam. And what you say about Spectre and Skyfall is just music to my ears. Thanks a lot!
Interesting ranking! No Bond fan will ever give the same ranking- here's mine:
1. Casino Royale
2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3. From Russia With Love
4. Goldfinger
5. The Living Daylights
6. Skyfall
7. Dr. No
8. Licence to Kill
9. Octopussy
10. Spectre
11. For Your Eyes Only
12. Tomorrow Never Dies
13. The Spy Who Loved Me
14. Goldeneye
15. Live and Let Die
16. Quantum of Solace
17. You Only Live Twice
18. Thunderball
19. The World is Not Enough
20. The Man with The Golden Gun
21. A View to a Kill
22. Moonraker
23. Diamonds are Forever
24. Die Another Day
I get Quantum is not liked by many, but to put it completely at the bottom (considering it’s considerable competition) and Spectre above Skyfall (not even the biggest fan of), respectfully, is fucking criminal imho.
Spectre is just as guilty of cod meta commentary as Skyfall, so I don’t get the distinction?
Your analyses are literate and smart. Really fine work.
You did octopussy dirty but really fun video
Yes! Skyfall’s ‘thematic smugness’ - spot.on.
Here is my list (from the best to the worst):
1. From Russia With Love
2. Goldfinger
3. Thunderball
4. Skyfall
5. Goldeneye
6. The Living Daylights
7. The Spy Who Loved Me
8. Casino Royale
9. You Only Live Twice
10. No Time To Die
11. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
12. For Your Eyes Only
13. Dr. No
14. Live and Let Die
15. Tomorrow Never Dies
16. Licence To Kill
17. Spectre
18. Moonraker
19. The World Is Not Enough
20. A View To A Kill
21. Never Say Never Again
22. Octopussy
23. Diamonds Are Forever
24. Quantum of Solace
25. The Man With The Golden Gun
26. Die Another Day
Not sure how you can rank Q of S #24, and CR #3 when it really continues the story and themes of Bond becoming Bond. Q of S is a misunderstood amazing Bond film from a character development standpoint. It’s a direct continuation from Casino Royale, taking place the same day that CR ends, which has never been done before in Bond films. It’s Act II of a three act play between Casino Royale and Skyfall. The fighting/action scenes are awesome.
I recommend watching CinemaWins’ video, “Everything Great about Quantum of Solace,” and the companion videos for Casino Royale and Skyfall, to appreciate this film more.