This is a good and fair video -- but the _worst_ James Bond movie must be the first ever done: the TV movie "Casino Royale" from 1954. But OK, that is barely not a movie at all.
I'm tempted to thumbsdown the video for the Diamonds are Forever hate. It's a fun movie, it's not the best in the series, but unlike Quantum of Solace, it's at least fun to watch. And unlike The Man with the Golden Gun and Never Say Never Again/Thunderball, it's at least memorable. I barely remember seeing any of those movies, even though I know perfectly well that I have.
Quantum of Solace is the result of the star and director (I may be wrong on who) having to write the script and story last minute and as they're filming because of a writer's strike, When you take that into account you can only say they did a great job considering the hand that fate dealt them. They DIDN'T quit or cancel or delay the film. Movies like Bond take months and years to plan and create. There's PLENTY of films that have the time, money and creative freedom that STILL turn out to be utter stinking turds. QS is between the 2 greatest Bond films ever. I saw it with my Mama and Brother, both who are now sadly passed. So, for me? It's special - how Good or bad doesn't matter. Sometimes the moment is worth more than any quality rating.
The main thing so shocking bad about this movie is the cinematography. It is directed by the same guy who made EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, shot by the guy who did the INDY FILMS.... yet it looks like a movie from the mid 60s. What the hell happened!?
@@pauljackson2473 I only watched it years ago,but it's so rare to see on TV and costs a fortune to buy a physical edition now because it's not part of the MGM collection. I would like to see it again soon though 😉
@Green Sneakers & Hot Dogs love the movie great villain great Bond girl good and bad and it’s Sean connery please don’t assume I would say something for attention sounds like u might dr no golden eye never say never live and let die my 4 favorite I own all the bonds films pure enjoyment for me
Very clever analysis of why NSNA is such a lousy movie. However, the movie was doomed because the people behind the project were second rate. Say what you want about Eon but Saltzman and Broccoli took risks, thus making the series a one-of-a-kind that still continues to this day. McClory, who originated the NSNA project was a talentless hack who spent ten years doing NOTHING until he could reclaim his rights because he had no ideas. Instead of building himself a reputation with other projects, he insisted he had the rights to make the movie again and lied to his investors by promising them they would be able to make a parallel series, not just a single movie. In the end, he had to give the project to a "real" producer because he couldn't get the money. That real producer, Schwartzman, was a small fish who'd only produced one theatrical release and had no clue how to make a "big" movie. The team he hired was all wrong, from writer Lorenzo Semple to director Kershner. These were reliable Hollywood names but not the kind of people who are going to come up with a new and exciting take on Bond. McClory and Schwartzman never aimed for anything other than an Eon knockoff and that's what they delivered.
Remember: McClory was highly restrained as he could only make Thunderball. More than anything, this film is a testament to McClory's Quixote-like desire to cash in and Connery's desire to give a hearty "f*ck you" to Cubby Broccoli (also his career was in the tank).
I wonder what direction the Bond films would have taken if Kevin McClory brought Harry Saltzman's rights of the Bond series. Sure you will get a lot of conflictive differences between McClory and Cubby Broccoli but wouldn't that of taken the series and Bond himself in new directions? After all Cubby Broccoli and the writers stuck to the guns, gadgets and girls formula laid down in Goldfinger. But taking 007 and the films down a fresh route could have been exciting. License To Kill did throw away the formula and replace it with a gritter tone which fans didn't like at the time.
It does have one of my favorite Bond quips though. The doctor tells him he needs to eliminate free radicals from his system through diet and exercise. As he's leaving, Moneypenny asks "How did it go?" Bond answers "I'm to eliminate all free radicals." "Do be careful!" she gasps.
Connery's dry wit - no-one does the one liners like him. EG: Nurse: - "Can you do a urine specimen in here please?" (Holding a bekah across the room) Bond replies: "From here?"
I would have liked this better if Connery (and the filmmakers) crafted the role the way Connery played an older Robin Hood in "Robin & Marion". An aging hero, realizing his glory days were gone, facing his old nemesis one last time and realizing all the loses and sacrifices his life of adventure cost him, and dying in an anti-climactic way.
This was actually one option they seriously considered. What ultimately scuppered it was the fact that the actual Bond franchise was still up and running and they weren't in a position to undermine it.
The main issue that I had with Never Say Never Again was that it was so unnecessary. They'd already done Thunderball and unlike the remakes of Casino Royale, this wasn't the first serious take on the source material. It's definitely better than Quantum of Solace, even if it's not a particularly great or memorable movie. A lot of that comes from the fact that it shares source material with Thunderball.
There is no chance that they would have killed off Bond. The biggest franchise ever. Conan Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes and then had to bring him back.
Quantum’s faults are mainly down to the 2007-2008 writers strike. The film barely had a script and a lot of it actually had Daniel Craig himself come in and write parts of it. The film’s a victim of circumstance.
ironically, Michael Bay's The Rock is the better ending to Connery's James Bond than Never Say Never Again and Diamonds Are Forever were. And yet Connery's character in The Rock had a different name.
No person who talks about Bond on TH-cam can be considered a full Bond TH-camr until they have a video dunking on Never Say Never Again, and I am So Glad to see yours
A Meta Bond movie. A surreal movie commenting on itself. Thinking about the part where each time we see the Bond girl she is different and younger, more disposable. Eventually Bond is just this Crypt Keeper looking dude. and the Bond girl is that kid from from the Coppertone suntan ads.
First time seeing this movie many years ago, I thought it was self parody movie (like naked gun, airplane) which is not funny Learning about the story behind it is more entertaining
Although a flawed Bond film, the baddies in this film are fun to watch. I thought Klaus Brandauer's depiction of Maximillian Largo makes for one of my favorite Bond villains. The character is subtle and somewhat understated but he's got a lot of oddball sociopathic tics under the surface. His scenes and banter with Bond are fun to watch. Also, the actor for Fatima Blush was also pretty good as the over-the-top crazy henchwoman.
I just looked up Siskel and Ebert’s review of it. They loved it. Both have it a thumbs up and mentioned how the Roger Moore movies were getting a bit silly up to that point and they appreciated Sean Connery.
I hated Moonraker for decades, before I watched it recently and had a thoroughly good time. I can't say the same for Thunserball which is a boring slog.
I can only enjoy Moonraker when I give up on the idea of it being at all good. And it's SO dumb that it manages to get that out of me. I can't bring myself to rate it over Thunderball, but I agree with that description of it. Thunderball is not only boring, but feels like a pointless re-tread of Dr. No. To me, laughing at the movie at least makes it enjoyable, but not better.
Moonraker is one of the best i feel, the one component in this film is bonds first time in space, plus non stop fun action and jaws, each bond film has a few things in them which makes them unique
The same thing happened to me. I thought Moonraker was so stupid and goofy(for decades!) and then when they released those big mega Bond box sets in the early 00s, I bought them and watched Moonraker and I thought it was pretty good. There was literally nothing wrong with it. The bad guy acted like any other Bond bad guy. His plan of restarting civilization under his leadership was fine. It's as good an idea as any. The only goofy stuff was Jaws surviving the crash and having a girlfriend.
Great comment! I also watched Moonraker again for the first time in years this summer and thoroughly enjoyed it!! And the only thing great about this effing "review" leaves us talking about another movie. So kudos to you! But I gotta cut a strip off this pimple popping wannabe cuz I actually wasted my time watching the entire "review". As far as I can tell his biggest complaint is that it's not violent enough which is pretty typical from a person growing up with the over the top violence in so many of today's productions. Brandauer comes across crazy enough for me. Fantastic actually!! Whoever this reviewer is has no effing clue what was even going on in this movie. He attemps to tell us that it's not even a Bond movie over and over again. Who said a franchise has to be made by the same producer or anybody on the first movie or the next movie etc? The fact that Sean Connery is in it makes it a Bond movie or maybe the name Bond is enuf? The movie was made in the style of the time. It's reminiscent of Romancing the Stone and other 80's classics. The music is very reminiscent of the time and fits perfectly. The movie is made towards end of Aaron Spellings long long run and dominance of the be 80's and plays on that very familiar territory with the audience with remarkable success and more than "competes" with Broccolis Octopussy. I suppose it would completely elude someone who's never had sex that the opening scene is meant to be sultry and play off the sex appeal of Sean Connery. The scene ending with a woman stabbing him with the knife which alludes to the standard sexual interaction that people expect from a Bond movie and everyone's aware that there's more to come from the subsequent beautiful women in the film because yes he's still got it(he passed away in 2020 and the sheets are still on fire). Junior needs to take a break from reviewing movies cuz he's too young to even realize that you don't waste your time trying to review a movie from 20 years prior or the actor for that matter. But he goes on to tell us that the dance with Domino was meant to be funny. Say waht?! My biggest apprehension to attending this movie at the theatre was the possibility that Kim Basinger didn't have 'what it takes' to be a Bond girl. Boy was my fear put to rest. She added another accomplishment to her successful acting career with this venture. Beautifully played with enuf crazy too. The only thing we can agree upon is the standard Bond elements in this film such as location, beautiful women, action etc were all present. Yet somehow because they didn't appear exactly like in one of the previous Bond movies only makes it illegitimate in this reviewers mind. As far as I'm concerned the underwater scenes alone were fantastic and done at a level that probably hadn't been attempted previously. Those alone were worth the price of admission. The film was a refreshing departure from anything done with Bond to date mostly because of the missing standard trademarks which allowed a reimagining of the characters. And I can't even be bothered to comment on his take on Fatimas finale because where to begin. Sigh. Too bad this reviewer is sooooo focused on the film he would have made. Certainly took away from his enjoyment of the film that was made. Now then, I have to hit rewind on one of the best Bond movies of all time. So sad McClory wasn't able to come up with another feature.
In that scene in Thunderball, you can literally see Bond's hand shake like he's about to crack up at 12:32. I bet he put his sunglasses on at 12:24 so Domino can't see he probably shed a tear.
The proposed movie isn't a movie anymore it would just be a two hour long meta critique of the movies it isn't even allowed to mention. Besides these experimental types of deconstructive movie making only became common outside of arthouse in the 21st century so we can't expect an almost 40 year old movie to evoke something that only became relevant decades later. Besides challenging tradition like this can be interesting to see but become easily overindulgent and movies like The Last Jedi (which most definitely challenged the previous movies) may be technically sounds but is alienating to long term fans and completely goes over the head of newcomers. The biggest hinderence of this movie was the distinction from the other movies and that it never could fit in with the others but that it had the obligation to be radically different. In the end it was mostly an opportunity to make money of the movies rights (and it made logical sense to let this opportunity slip). The fact that it doesn't deviate to much from what we know besides what it wasn't legally allowed to do Never Say Never Again can still be enjoyed as a part of the James Bond movies in a way the first Casino Royale could never be. The movies biggest problem was that the movie wasn't good. Movie goers back then and even aren't that interested in the legal background when watching the movie and they were gladly accepting the movie as part of the others and an opportunity to see Connery reprise the role. All the movie had to do was provide a traditionally better script conforming to the classic rules of writing (i.e. not telling someone her brother died during a dance).
Quantum of Solace is part of my Top 5 Bond Movies ngl. I really like the Vesper Theme throughout the movie, the conflict between Bond an M, Bondgirl, and especially the dark scenes, when Bond goes rogue oder Mathis‘ death
Never Say Never Again absolutely counts as a Bond film, i am sick of it not being considered a Bond film as it was not produced by Albert R. Broccoli’s Eon Productions - it isn't as bad as Moonraker, Die Another Day, Quantum of Solace, Spectre or the latest lame attempt ... i think it is worth reconsidering as it is great....
@@expendableindigo9639No Time To Die subtly admits the "Bond and Blofeld are brothers" twist from Spectre was a silly and regretful mistake. Also No Time to Die's labyrinthine plot would be boring to write and even more boring to read if i bothered to explain it ... it is easier to say it was just a lame long winded drama. Never Say Never Again is vastly superior on every level and Maximillian Largo makes Lyutsifer Safin look like petty pathetic ass ....
Absolutely! I don't give a monkeys what anyone else thinks - I really enjoyed it, and find it better than any in the Moore era and better than Die Another day and Quantum of Solace.
Never Say Never Again could have been a lot better, but personally, I find it slightly more entertaining than Diamonds Are Forever, the plot being slightly more grounded in reality. I also think the movie had some of the best Bond women in the franchise. Believe it or not, I think the scene where Fatima explodes is the highlight of the movie. Yes, it’s not as subtle as Thunderball, but it still works. For the most part, I agree that they played it too safe. I like your suggestion about the aspect ratio, but switching actresses would’ve been too surreal for a James Bond film.
Maybe rather than there being a continual shift of actress throughout the movie, maybe some segment where Bond is drugged or otherwise not quite mentally right and has some hallucinations of it being other women?
Die Another Day was definitely worse lol. The big negatives for me in Never Say Never Again was the music, which was awful, and the unsatisfying finale. The production value was also just not really there and it had a slightly cheap look in places. There were some drawn out sequences that dragged the pace, such as the versus, video game match scene. It's hard to fault the movie for pretty much remaking Thunderball because that was the only Bond material that they had the rights to draw from. I suppose if you take into consideration all of the legal craziness between Kevin McClory, Ian Fleming, Broccoli and Saltzman that you could fault this movie out of spite. There were a few things that I liked about it. I think Connery was back to form, delivering a much better final performance than his disinterested work in Diamonds Are Forever. I also think that Klaus Maria Brandauer as Largo is actually one of the more underrated Bond villains, if you compare this to the main EON films. He's charming, charismatic and a total sociopath. Kim Basinger was also a great choice for a Bond leading lady, though I admit that some of the layers from her Thunderball counterpart weren't totally there. Also the character of Fatima Blush is thought of by many Bondians to be the inspiration for Xenia Onatopp, who has gone on to be regarded as one of the more memorable henchwoman or henchman in the series. Of course Thunderball is better and yes, Never Say Never Again is not a great Bond movie. I would not place it at the bottom though.
@@CCovers1 Yeah most definitely for me too. NSNA is worth watching just for Connery if nothing else. I wish I could say that DAD was worth watching for Brosnan but I just think that the material was so bad that it's a sad send off for him. I think that the only sequence that I thought was at all okay was the fencing/sword fight. Otherwise ... what a mess.
I'm fascinated by how common it is to dissect Bond movies as a collection of components rather than whole films themselves. It makes a lot of sense to do with 25+ movies to look at and compare (maybe I'm just not aware of other long-running franchises that do this too) You're so right about every official Bond movie having at least a few good components that stand out. Even NSNA has... maybe three? Fatima Blush and Q are fun and, sacrilegious as this might be to say, Sean Connery seems to be putting more effort into his NSNA performance than he did in You Only Live Twice or Diamonds are Forever.
Bond generally follows such a rigorous formula that it's easy to see the parts, I think. Those highlights you bring up with NSNA are valid. I don't much like how Fatima Blush is written but Barbara Carrera gives a very fierce and memorable performance.
You make a good point: Sean Connery seems to be having fun with bond here, in a way I hadn't seen since goldfinger. By extension, I have fun watching this film along with him in the role.
What's odd, is that, when it originally released in cinemas in October of 1983, "Never Say Never Again" was a hit. But boy-oh-boy, the film dated so poorly over time. It is almost unwatchable today. It's a truly terrible movie. 1965's "Thunderball" is a vastly superior film in every way.
“Thunderball” is the real snooze-fest; talk about dated! It seems like a TV travelogue for the Bahamas. Even Connery is boring! The characters are poorly developed, several of them dubbed. At times it really drags - such as the bomb hijacking, the health spa, and the underwater battle. Terence Young, the director, didn’t look back fondly on it, feeling that the machinery took precedence over character and plot. He said that an MIT graduate could have handled it just as well. This is what made him turn down future Bond offers!
It was actually released in the UK in December 1983, purposefully delayed for months so it didn't collide with octopussy's release in June. Of all its stars, only Sean Connery, Barbara Carrera, Rowan Atkinson and Pamela Salem attended the premiere.
@@thomaschacko6320 I disagree entirely. It's flawed, too long sequences underwater, sped up footage lol in climax etc. But my god is it fun. Evil villain with eye patch, the opening punching the drag queen, the spectre briefing, dialogue like Bond saying can't win em all, just giving shoes to the bathing henchwoman, small details in scenes like where he tells Domino about her bro and then puts shades on, the brilliant score. It screams classic Bond. It is in my view the most bondian bond film ever. It also just feels BIG like epic with the wide-screen and the score
NSNA has one of the best villains, the best bad girl ever, a fantastic Kim Basinger, a Sean Connery in good mood - it has great action, great light and I love it - one of the 5 best 007 films! It is weak (to long) under water, like Fireball!
I came to this comment section expecting everyone to hate on NSNA. Instead, I find a glorious treasure trove of comments shitting on Thunderball and Quantum. Excellent!
I agree, when u strip that film down and analyse it ohmss is fantastic, the settings, camera use and lighting, its cosy winter feel, music and of course Lazenby and rigg its epic
I don't give a Monkeys what anyone thinks - I really enjoyed NSNA - it certainly beat the embarrassing Octopussey! Maximillian Lago was convincingly played, and Fatima Blush was the most sinister of female villains (with possibly the exception of Rosa Klebb) Max Von Sydow made a very menacing Blofeld - much better than the Campy Charles Gray in DAF; and Connery clearly IS James Bond & sets the benchmark for anyone else!
Regarding Quantum, the standout feature is the villan's plan. That the villan is frantically securing control over water resources around the world and helping army generals overthrow democracies to get what he wants. The second standout is that it was creating a bond universe. Sadly that was put on hold in Skyfall (which used the same villan concept as M:I 1 and M:I 2) the Spectre, whose half brother premise was "unimaginative" and dull.
The film Specter and the half brother BS ruining the previous movies plots for me. Silva a man making his own choices and seeking revenge? Na...Specter agent...give me a fuckin break. Id argue its the worst bond film ever.
I think the worst bond film overall is Roger Moore's swansong, A view to a kill. He is far too old by this point, acts like an endearing playboy, it's obvious when the stuntmen appear, Tanya Roberts is dull and dreary, and grace jones in only her 2nd film.......well, most people would agree, she couldn't act her way out of a paper bag! The only redeeming qualities this film had was Christopher walken's superb portrayal of psycho max zorin, and duran duran's theme song. If Timothy Dalton had been in this, and octopussy, both films would have turned out considerably better.
My biggest gripe with Never Say Never again is that it seems very made for tv as opposed to being a theatrically released film. Also I like to add that despite the lukewarm reception to Octopussy, it's honestly very underrated and unfairly bashed because Bond dons a clown suit.
the scene in quantum where craig smacked the dude off his motorcycle is an all time classic. also while the scaffolding fight scene was rough, that final quickdraw shot from bond is absolutely iconic
M treating Bond like a bad boy became so tired. NSNA may be the worst offender. Years of watching Connery save the world just to get scolded by the boss. Tedious. By this point in his career, he would be treated like MI6 royalty. He got more respect from M back in DR No and From Russia. After Goldfinger it became a schtick
I remember Roger Ebert saying Brandauer was the best Bond villain when Siskel and Ebert did a James Bond special. Something about he was the most human and empathetic. FWIW Siskel half agreed, he said Goldfinger was the best character and Brandauer was the best performance
Brandauer was a very charming guy as Rowan Atkinson said to Bond. He was seldom angry and creepy, but more playful and polite. A trait that Brandauer shares with Christoph Waltz (Hans Landa, Dr. Schulz). One typical example is how he deals with his defeat at the computer game. He smiles and admits his loss of game and money. A typical Bond villain would have destroyed of killed something with an grim face. But my favorite example is when Bond and his partner struggle to swim into Largo's yacht and get separated. Bond is on his own and makes his way to the deck. When he opens a hatch and carefully looks around there is already a steward waiting for him carrying a bathrobe. This is extremely cool and ironic as Largo seems to know exactly how Bond thinks and acts. But still he remains charming and polite. He invites Bond for lunch and a jouney, orders clothes for him. Then he let's Bond go around freely with the word's "Mister Bond, enjoy the ship."
@@varelion I've gotta disagree with both of you. He's not threatening looking or in his behavior and doesn't emote any emotion from me other than apathy. Emilio Largo, in Thunderball, was charming, as you describe of Klaus, even in defeat, but he had menace.
@@k2sworld I got a lot more than apathy. From Brandauer, he projected an easy charm, humour, vulnerability, and megalomania. Emilio Largo could be charismatic and ruthless but I think Adolpho Celi didn't reach very far in his performance. There's just no contest here, Max Largo was the more compelling villain. I would easily take him over many of the EON villains.
What Bond fans fail to understand about Craig's Bond and the Craig films is that they are a direct representation of Fleming's Bond. The literary Bond is a cold-blooded, mean, nasty, uninteresting, dull, and hardened killer. Craig is not a bad Bond. He just gives an accurate depiction, aside from Timothy Dalton. Personally, I like Craig's Bond. Maybe I am in the minority. I was also fond of Dalton and Brosnan as Bond too. The thing about Brosnan is that he had a sense of humor like Roger Moore, but he could be as tough and as mean as Connery, Lazenby, and Dalton too. He didn't overdo it with the camp or the silliness.
I like the sequence in Quantum where Bond gets the villains to reveal themselves and then he meets them as they go to leave. It’s a fun power play that shows that for all their influence, Bond can still get to them.
QOS is a stinker. The lack of the basic thing of A PLOT and A STORY are its weakest points. It wasn't the worst Bond, we had a wait a few years for that under NTTD. As for NSNA I'm sure a good film was filmed, but with the production hell, it didn't make it to the screen.
quantum suffered from a writer’s strike. It could have been better, but it could’ve been so much worse. That said Die Another Day is somehow the worst only after A View To A Kill. And that is because Never Say Never Again isn’t even James Bond canon. Good lord.
16:58 ... perhaps this would be a good time to give Bond something the books never did and the films never will... an ENDING! Who's watching this video after No Time to Die?
But “No time to die”, though it’s the last Craig bond film, it’s not the last Bond film ever, they’re just gonna reboot it over and over until the sun burns out of the sky.
I refuse to see that film. It, like Never Say Never Again, do not exist in the 007 film pantheon. See also: the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy and Indiana Jones 5.
I'll still take the worst Connery Bond movie over the best Craig Bond flick anyday. The Man With The Golden Gun was a great film, Christopher Lee was one of the best Bond villians ever.
Yeah... I don't really think he gets her character. The "hatred of me" line was meant to push her buttons as she considers herself to be the female equivalent to Bond in that sense; a woman that no man can resist. I get some of the criticism, but I feel like it's more than a bit naive... especially the part about Casino Royal getting away with changing it up... McClory famously had his hands tied more than any preceeding rights issue. Also I could see EON having an attitude of never again after allowing Casio Royal to get away with it.
"Because McClory only had the rights to 'Thunderball' ... that greatly expands the types of stories you can tell." Are you high? McClory was very limited because he had to be adapting 'Thunderball'. If he had tried to kill off Bond, as you suggest, he'd be legally stopped. Broccoli's lawyers would have been on top of that so fast... Competing with the franchise for one film is one thing; making a film that would come across as an ending for the franchise's main character? HA!! Also, this was 1983. Bond films stopped taking themselves seriously with 'Diamonds', and wouldn't start again until 'Daylights'. If McClory wanted to do a Bond film, he was doing a Bond film as they were in the early 1980s. Is it a great Bond film? No. Is it an okay Bond film? Yes. It was entertaining, escapist fun. One shouldn't expect a film with a screenplay by Lorenzo Semple Jr. to be serious. There are far worse Bond films **cough**Moon**cough**raker*cough**
Great analysis. The Roger Moore films were largely inconsequential. It's a pity that Timothy Dalton only did two. Those were the best films following Majesty.
I don't get the Dalton camp. His acting was atrocious. He looked trapped in a stage play persona doing Shakespeare. I thought he was going to wet his pants when he got rattled and intimidated by some lousy low-level punks in a bar. Embarrassing. Him bouncing around while driving that 18-wheeler is pure comedy. I thought Pee Wee Herman was driving. It didn't help that the production values in his films bottomed out along with very weak supporting actors.
To say Never Say Never Again is the worst Bond film is to say Thunderball is also the worst Bond film, as Never Say Never again is based on the same script as Thunderball. Quantum of Solace was ruined by events that happened. The writes started writing the script for the film when their was a writers strike. As the writers were a member of the writers guild they had to strike as well, which meant they could finish the script. Daniel Craig and the films director in their great wisdom decided even though they had never written a script before that they could finish writing the script. To me the 3 worst bond films in no particular order were. On her Majesties Secret Service. I think Lazenby was a terrible Bond Die Another Day. To much CGI and not enough story. Quantum of Solace. All the problems I mentioned above. This film was so bad even Daniel Craig panned it as his least favourite Bond film that he was in.
Underestimated, yes - but none of the Moore Bonds are better than Diamonds Are Forever! Live And Let Die and Golden Gun are the best Moore Bonds, but I still prefer Diamonds to either of them.
@@thetragicyouth It is not my agenda to participate in any consensus forming bullying/domination contest - especially in matters of taste. IMHO a room full Elvis fans must tolerate a Cliff Richard fan and vice versa. I just strongly disagree with you and prefer "The Man with the Golden Gun" to "Diamonds are Forever" - no matter the first is with Moore and the latter with Connery - any day of the week and twice on sundays.
@@Gareth-410 The only part - besides Bonds everlasting confidence in the villain need to boast about his achievements and thereby not getting killed off the moment that he enters the lions den - I really dislike is the flying car. No sane person would sacrifice both the resources and loss of efficiency in building a jet powered flying wing for a car. That Mr. Scaramanga must really have been attached to it for sentimental reasons.
For me Diamonds are forever will forever be my least favorite bond film. Not just because the quality of the movie, but because it wasted a chance at being the best bond movie ever. The rivalry between Bond and blow field had been built up for seven movies, and at the end of her majesty’s secret service that rivalry was palpable. It could’ve served has the ending to the rivalry, instead it was a lame cash grab with an old Sean Connery returning a to a role he shouldn’t of come back in and introducing a new blofield actor who was a complete betrayal of all his previous incarnations. Ruining what could of been one of cinemas greatest movie arks right at the very end. I can never forgive the film for that. Also I am a quantum supporter. I’m not gonna write a essay on it but it was a movie I enjoyed.
You could say that. But like he says in the video: that one doesn't even attempt to be a true Bond movie. And I do think that movie is more memorable for several reasons. One of them being the fact that it features an Oscar winning song.
Oh I don't know. Die another day with invisible cars and basil fawlty as Q. Tomorrow never dies and the villans motive is increased newspaper circulation, etc.
@@porsche911sbs I wasn't saying they're not watchable or entertaining, I personally just find the two mentioned films weaker than goldeneye or the world is not enough. I pretty much enjoy all the bonds, but some films a lot more than others. That's what makes us all different !
That’s the way I feel about “View to a Kill” Roger Moore was too old and the movie just couldn’t come together. They had a good cast and the story was pretty good too. It just never got off the ground.
Roger Moore is my favorite Bond. But I firmly believe it would have been better if he’d stepped down after A View to a Kill and it had been rewritten to be Dalton’s first film.
The Meta James Bond idea isn't bad... nowadays, but back in the days before internet video essays it would have been too avant garde to make sense for the average audience. Now we have the insight of studied critiques and in-depth evaluations to help make sense of complex tropes, back then you, at best, had simple movie reviews.
I was going to jump on here and say that Bever Say Never Again is far from the worst Bond film. I think there are several from the official series that are far more forgettable. But, I have to say that your criticisms are spot on, and agree with you that this movie could have been so much better. In that sense, you are right in saying that this movie was a waste. Love your critiques.
there is no other bond film as bad. you could say the other 2 fake Casino Royales, Diamonds are Forever, The Man With the Golden Gun, and Quantum of Solace are just as bad, that's about it and none of these are worse, just on the same level or a tad better.
i have always wondered why they chose to stay as close to Thunderballs story when they could have strayed and did something different within the walls they were given..... a final showdown with Blofeld to end Connerys era would have been amazing....
probably because they only had the rights to the Thunderball story and could only do a Bond movie if it was exactly the same story-wise. But yea it would have been better had they done their own thing
Honestly, the weakest bond movie of all 28(or 25 or 27 depending on who you ask) is casino royale 1967, while the best bond movie is skyfall, one of the main reasons of the latter one being the main villain, raoul silva, the best bond villain . But each bond movie deserved to be watched. At least once.
I don't get all the hate for this film. Although it drags toward the end, it was more fun than "No Time To Die" or "Quantum of Solace." At least it's fun.
And lost opportunity ,no doubt. Given that they had 27 years time to tweek papers together and make "Logan" for James Bond , they come up with this straight to video ,TV movie
Never Say Never Again is based on the what is the true Thunderball, I don't think that is the worst bond film since it is now a Bond Canon (YES MGM Bought Orion Pictures which made Never say Never Again). Casino Royale is now included as a Bond Canon (MGM holds the rights too). The reason why bond in Casino Royale (1967) is different from the one with Sean Connery is that Ian Fleming preferred David Niven due to his likeness and personality and hated the decision of Harry Saltzman/Albert Brocolli to cast Sean Connery. Die Another Day is the worst bond film ever.
I was obsessed with the James Bond movies as a kid (Swedish grandfather was weirdly obsessed with them, had every movie on VHS). Connery was by far my favourite, and Roger Moore was such a disappointing follow up, so when I heard there was another Connery movie I was so excited… and then it was, well, this. Anyways, this was very nostalgic to watch and you absolutely nailed everything that’s great about these movies, especially how even the terrible ones are usually terrible in a great way. Loved it.
While Never Say Never Again was a needless remake of Thunderball, it is NOT the worst James Bond movie. And neither is Quantum of Solace. There is nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, that saves Die Another Day from that prize. You might make the argument "there's the swordfight" or "Halle Berry", it doesn't matter. It had the stupidest plot, stupid effects, a stupid villain, a stupid Q wannabe (sorry, John Cleese), a stupid theme song.
It's a good one, especially the ~ 45 minutes from when they go on the train until the bomb almost goes off. My personal favourites are Thunderball and The Spy Who Loved Me.
I always thought it was such a shame that Sean Connery had such an arrogance after leaving bond. Talking badly about it, sometimes refusing to discuss it, and then this awful film
This video just hit my recommended list… a few months late! As a huge Sean Connery as Bond fan (my first was Goldfinger in original release), I totally agree with the criticism. I found myself not only missing the EoN elements, but also the actors of the recurring cast. It felt like going to the theater and, other than the main star, the rest were understudies. It also felt “cheap”. I like most of your thoughts for what could have been, particularly the idea of a final Blofeld face off. NSNA was a bit of a caricature… and not a good one. Thanks! 👍
Not even going to watch the video just gonna respond to the heading. Obviously written by somebody who doesn’t know a good bond movie. The worst bond movie is the ones with Daniel Craig. Oh let me add I forgot the movies with Timothy Dalton.
All the Scaramanga - Nick Nack - Bond scenes are terrific, but everything else seems irrelevant and/or part of a different movie. And bringing back Sheriff Pepper was as big a self-indulgent mistake as bringing back Jaws in Moonraker.
@@thetragicyouth all the supporting characters carried the film, including the minor ones. Bond sounded more like a Southern stereotype than Pepper..... "You sir... do not qualify as a gentleman. Now let us enjoy this delicious lunch Nick Nack has prepared for us."
The first 1000 people to use the link will get a free trial of Skillshare Premium Membership: skl.sh/eyebrowcinema06211
James bond movie the best one is goldfinger 🤗
This is a good and fair video -- but the _worst_ James Bond movie must be the first ever done: the TV movie "Casino Royale" from 1954. But OK, that is barely not a movie at all.
I'm tempted to thumbsdown the video for the Diamonds are Forever hate. It's a fun movie, it's not the best in the series, but unlike Quantum of Solace, it's at least fun to watch. And unlike The Man with the Golden Gun and Never Say Never Again/Thunderball, it's at least memorable. I barely remember seeing any of those movies, even though I know perfectly well that I have.
You should definitely write a script based on Thunderball
Quantum of Solace is the result of the star and director (I may be wrong on who) having to write the script and story last minute and as they're filming because of a writer's strike,
When you take that into account you can only say they did a great job considering the hand that fate dealt them. They DIDN'T quit or cancel or delay the film.
Movies like Bond take months and years to plan and create. There's PLENTY of films that have the time, money and creative freedom that STILL turn out to be utter stinking turds.
QS is between the 2 greatest Bond films ever. I saw it with my Mama and Brother, both who are now sadly passed. So, for me? It's special - how Good or bad doesn't matter.
Sometimes the moment is worth more than any quality rating.
The main thing so shocking bad about this movie is the cinematography. It is directed by the same guy who made EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, shot by the guy who did the INDY FILMS.... yet it looks like a movie from the mid 60s. What the hell happened!?
It's extra ironic because Thunderball, a film from the mid 60s, looks a million times better.
The film was mostly shot by an assistant.
We already have a perfect ending for Sean Connery's Bond, it's called The Rock.
yes!
OMG yes, The Rock is the James Bond ending that no one asked for but everyone needed.
Bond would never have been captured and locked up in Alcatraz for decades
Alcatraz decommissioned in the '60s?
@@Musketeer3 And he never would've put up with Nic Cage's shit
Imagine having two James Bond movies release the same year with 2 of the most iconic bond actors ever. What a time to be alive.
It was awesome. I was there!! And NSNA is a fun movie. Connery is great in it.
@@pauljackson2473 I only watched it years ago,but it's so rare to see on TV and costs a fortune to buy a physical edition now because it's not part of the MGM collection. I would like to see it again soon though 😉
@@pauljackson2473
That's the only Bond movie I ever liked due to Klaus
They should have held back NSNA until the following year.
Imagine if this happened with brosnan and dalton
Never say never is one of my favorite bond movies
I wouldn't call it my fav, but I definitely prefer it to thunderball which feels like a slog.
I wouldnt put it very high on my bond list but I do enjoy it and also prefer it to thunderball.
@Green Sneakers & Hot Dogs love the movie great villain great Bond girl good and bad and it’s Sean connery please don’t assume I would say something for attention sounds like u might dr no golden eye never say never live and let die my 4 favorite I own all the bonds films pure enjoyment for me
how is that even possible? this movie is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO bad.
@@crobeastness don’t feel that way Sean Connery bond goodbye absolutely relished his performance not asking u 2 like it thanks for the reply
Very clever analysis of why NSNA is such a lousy movie. However, the movie was doomed because the people behind the project were second rate. Say what you want about Eon but Saltzman and Broccoli took risks, thus making the series a one-of-a-kind that still continues to this day. McClory, who originated the NSNA project was a talentless hack who spent ten years doing NOTHING until he could reclaim his rights because he had no ideas. Instead of building himself a reputation with other projects, he insisted he had the rights to make the movie again and lied to his investors by promising them they would be able to make a parallel series, not just a single movie. In the end, he had to give the project to a "real" producer because he couldn't get the money. That real producer, Schwartzman, was a small fish who'd only produced one theatrical release and had no clue how to make a "big" movie. The team he hired was all wrong, from writer Lorenzo Semple to director Kershner. These were reliable Hollywood names but not the kind of people who are going to come up with a new and exciting take on Bond. McClory and Schwartzman never aimed for anything other than an Eon knockoff and that's what they delivered.
Such a good comment.
Remember: McClory was highly restrained as he could only make Thunderball. More than anything, this film is a testament to McClory's Quixote-like desire to cash in and Connery's desire to give a hearty "f*ck you" to Cubby Broccoli (also his career was in the tank).
I wonder what direction the Bond films would have taken if Kevin McClory brought Harry Saltzman's rights of the Bond series. Sure you will get a lot of conflictive differences between McClory and Cubby Broccoli but wouldn't that of taken the series and Bond himself in new directions? After all Cubby Broccoli and the writers stuck to the guns, gadgets and girls formula laid down in Goldfinger. But taking 007 and the films down a fresh route could have been exciting. License To Kill did throw away the formula and replace it with a gritter tone which fans didn't like at the time.
The Sound Editor said he was told not too work to hard as the film was a spoof.
Connery wanted to screw EON because of their lousy treatment of him.
That was a big motivator.
It does have one of my favorite Bond quips though. The doctor tells him he needs to eliminate free radicals from his system through diet and exercise. As he's leaving, Moneypenny asks "How did it go?" Bond answers "I'm to eliminate all free radicals." "Do be careful!" she gasps.
Classic . I also love when Bond says “I’ll cut out the white bread” 😂😂
Connery's dry wit - no-one does the one liners like him. EG: Nurse: - "Can you do a urine specimen in here please?" (Holding a bekah across the room) Bond replies: "From here?"
@@MrDublin2 Lol!
I would have liked this better if Connery (and the filmmakers) crafted the role the way Connery played an older Robin Hood in "Robin & Marion". An aging hero, realizing his glory days were gone, facing his old nemesis one last time and realizing all the loses and sacrifices his life of adventure cost him, and dying in an anti-climactic way.
This was actually one option they seriously considered. What ultimately scuppered it was the fact that the actual Bond franchise was still up and running and they weren't in a position to undermine it.
The main issue that I had with Never Say Never Again was that it was so unnecessary. They'd already done Thunderball and unlike the remakes of Casino Royale, this wasn't the first serious take on the source material.
It's definitely better than Quantum of Solace, even if it's not a particularly great or memorable movie. A lot of that comes from the fact that it shares source material with Thunderball.
There is no chance that they would have killed off Bond. The biggest franchise ever. Conan Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes and then had to bring him back.
@@SmallSpoonBrigade No movie is necessary.
@@trajan75 yeah no chance...
Quantum’s faults are mainly down to the 2007-2008 writers strike. The film barely had a script and a lot of it actually had Daniel Craig himself come in and write parts of it. The film’s a victim of circumstance.
Sure, it’s understandable that would result in a bad movie. But the result is still a bad movie.
Quantum works better if you watch it immediately after Casino, and treat it as all one big movie.
@@mikenayers5981 It still sucks.
ironically, Michael Bay's The Rock is the better ending to Connery's James Bond than Never Say Never Again and Diamonds Are Forever were. And yet Connery's character in The Rock had a different name.
spycraft
I'm confident the existing NSNA footage could be drastically re-edited and re-scored to be significantly improved.
It's so slow paced. It's a good movie to watch if you have a bad case of Insomnia.
No person who talks about Bond on TH-cam can be considered a full Bond TH-camr until they have a video dunking on Never Say Never Again, and I am So Glad to see yours
There are other Bonds that deserve worse than this review.
The screenplay was also written by Lorenzo Semple Jr. who also wrote the 1966 Cinematic Masterpiece, “Batman: The Movie”.
You forgot to mention the scene where James Bond throws his pee at a guy.
Lol, I thought for sure I'd include that somewhere, but realized I really had nothing to say about it other than "Uhhhh, Bond throws his pee at a guy"
Best scene of the film
Loved that scene
Could've been worse....
Could've been like Silence Of The Lambs...
Great fight scene... even with the comedy elements
A Meta Bond movie. A surreal movie commenting on itself. Thinking about the part where each time we see the Bond girl she is different and younger, more disposable. Eventually Bond is just this Crypt Keeper looking dude. and the Bond girl is that kid from from the Coppertone suntan ads.
isn't that just that first Casino Royale?
There is something unintentionally meta about Bond co-starring with Johnny English I guess.
First time seeing this movie many years ago, I thought it was self parody movie (like naked gun, airplane) which is not funny
Learning about the story behind it is more entertaining
Although a flawed Bond film, the baddies in this film are fun to watch. I thought Klaus Brandauer's depiction of Maximillian Largo makes for one of my favorite Bond villains. The character is subtle and somewhat understated but he's got a lot of oddball sociopathic tics under the surface. His scenes and banter with Bond are fun to watch. Also, the actor for Fatima Blush was also pretty good as the over-the-top crazy henchwoman.
Yes, Klaus and the other nice looking people are the only reason I ever liked a Bond movie
I just looked up Siskel and Ebert’s review of it. They loved it. Both have it a thumbs up and mentioned how the Roger Moore movies were getting a bit silly up to that point and they appreciated Sean Connery.
Don’t think this guy really gets it tbh some of his points are decent but others are kinda bizarre and wouldn’t fit Bond.
I hated Moonraker for decades, before I watched it recently and had a thoroughly good time. I can't say the same for Thunserball which is a boring slog.
I can only enjoy Moonraker when I give up on the idea of it being at all good. And it's SO dumb that it manages to get that out of me. I can't bring myself to rate it over Thunderball, but I agree with that description of it. Thunderball is not only boring, but feels like a pointless re-tread of Dr. No. To me, laughing at the movie at least makes it enjoyable, but not better.
Moonraker is one of the best i feel, the one component in this film is bonds first time in space, plus non stop fun action and jaws, each bond film has a few things in them which makes them unique
To quote Dr. Evil "Oh hell, let's just do what we always do, hijack a couple nukes and hold the world hostage."
The same thing happened to me. I thought Moonraker was so stupid and goofy(for decades!) and then when they released those big mega Bond box sets in the early 00s, I bought them and watched Moonraker and I thought it was pretty good. There was literally nothing wrong with it. The bad guy acted like any other Bond bad guy. His plan of restarting civilization under his leadership was fine. It's as good an idea as any. The only goofy stuff was Jaws surviving the crash and having a girlfriend.
Great comment! I also watched Moonraker again for the first time in years this summer and thoroughly enjoyed it!!
And the only thing great about this effing "review" leaves us talking about another movie. So kudos to you!
But I gotta cut a strip off this pimple popping wannabe cuz I actually wasted my time watching the entire "review".
As far as I can tell his biggest complaint is that it's not violent enough which is pretty typical from a person growing up with the over the top violence in so many of today's productions.
Brandauer comes across crazy enough for me. Fantastic actually!!
Whoever this reviewer is has no effing clue what was even going on in this movie.
He attemps to tell us that it's not even a Bond movie over and over again. Who said a franchise has to be made by the same producer or anybody on the first movie or the next movie etc? The fact that Sean Connery is in it makes it a Bond movie or maybe the name Bond is enuf?
The movie was made in the style of the time. It's reminiscent of Romancing the Stone and other 80's classics. The music is very reminiscent of the time and fits perfectly. The movie is made towards end of Aaron Spellings long long run and dominance of the be 80's and plays on that very familiar territory with the audience with remarkable success and more than "competes" with Broccolis Octopussy.
I suppose it would completely elude someone who's never had sex that the opening scene is meant to be sultry and play off the sex appeal of Sean Connery. The scene ending with a woman stabbing him with the knife which alludes to the standard sexual interaction that people expect from a Bond movie and everyone's aware that there's more to come from the subsequent beautiful women in the film because yes he's still got it(he passed away in 2020 and the sheets are still on fire).
Junior needs to take a break from reviewing movies cuz he's too young to even realize that you don't waste your time trying to review a movie from 20 years prior or the actor for that matter.
But he goes on to tell us that the dance with Domino was meant to be funny. Say waht?! My biggest apprehension to attending this movie at the theatre was the possibility that Kim Basinger didn't have 'what it takes' to be a Bond girl. Boy was my fear put to rest. She added another accomplishment to her successful acting career with this venture.
Beautifully played with enuf crazy too.
The only thing we can agree upon is the standard Bond elements in this film such as location, beautiful women, action etc were all present. Yet somehow because they didn't appear exactly like in one of the previous Bond movies only makes it illegitimate in this reviewers mind.
As far as I'm concerned the underwater scenes alone were fantastic and done at a level that probably hadn't been attempted previously. Those alone were worth the price of admission.
The film was a refreshing departure from anything done with Bond to date mostly because of the missing standard trademarks which allowed a reimagining of the characters.
And I can't even be bothered to comment on his take on Fatimas finale because where to begin. Sigh.
Too bad this reviewer is sooooo focused on the film he would have made. Certainly took away from his enjoyment of the film that was made.
Now then, I have to hit rewind on one of the best Bond movies of all time.
So sad McClory wasn't able to come up with another feature.
In that scene in Thunderball, you can literally see Bond's hand shake like he's about to crack up at 12:32. I bet he put his sunglasses on at 12:24 so Domino can't see he probably shed a tear.
The proposed movie isn't a movie anymore it would just be a two hour long meta critique of the movies it isn't even allowed to mention. Besides these experimental types of deconstructive movie making only became common outside of arthouse in the 21st century so we can't expect an almost 40 year old movie to evoke something that only became relevant decades later.
Besides challenging tradition like this can be interesting to see but become easily overindulgent and movies like The Last Jedi (which most definitely challenged the previous movies) may be technically sounds but is alienating to long term fans and completely goes over the head of newcomers.
The biggest hinderence of this movie was the distinction from the other movies and that it never could fit in with the others but that it had the obligation to be radically different. In the end it was mostly an opportunity to make money of the movies rights (and it made logical sense to let this opportunity slip). The fact that it doesn't deviate to much from what we know besides what it wasn't legally allowed to do Never Say Never Again can still be enjoyed as a part of the James Bond movies in a way the first Casino Royale could never be.
The movies biggest problem was that the movie wasn't good. Movie goers back then and even aren't that interested in the legal background when watching the movie and they were gladly accepting the movie as part of the others and an opportunity to see Connery reprise the role.
All the movie had to do was provide a traditionally better script conforming to the classic rules of writing (i.e. not telling someone her brother died during a dance).
Quantum of Solace is part of my Top 5 Bond Movies ngl.
I really like the Vesper Theme throughout the movie, the conflict between Bond an M, Bondgirl, and especially the dark scenes, when Bond goes rogue oder Mathis‘ death
same here!!!
Never Say Never Again absolutely counts as a Bond film, i am sick of it not being considered a Bond film as it was not produced by Albert R. Broccoli’s Eon Productions - it isn't as bad as Moonraker, Die Another Day, Quantum of Solace, Spectre or the latest lame attempt ... i think it is worth reconsidering as it is great....
You are correct. At least this film is fun.
At least Spectre had Blofeld do something in the film and doesn't look like ass. Also I've heard mostly very good things about NTTD so far.
@@expendableindigo9639No Time To Die subtly admits the "Bond and Blofeld are brothers" twist from Spectre was a silly and regretful mistake. Also No Time to Die's labyrinthine plot would be boring to write and even more boring to read if i bothered to explain it ... it is easier to say it was just a lame long winded drama. Never Say Never Again is vastly superior on every level and Maximillian Largo makes Lyutsifer Safin look like petty pathetic ass ....
Absolutely! I don't give a monkeys what anyone else thinks - I really enjoyed it, and find it better than any in the Moore era and better than Die Another day and Quantum of Solace.
Never Say Never Again could have been a lot better, but personally, I find it slightly more entertaining than Diamonds Are Forever, the plot being slightly more grounded in reality. I also think the movie had some of the best Bond women in the franchise. Believe it or not, I think the scene where Fatima explodes is the highlight of the movie. Yes, it’s not as subtle as Thunderball, but it still works. For the most part, I agree that they played it too safe. I like your suggestion about the aspect ratio, but switching actresses would’ve been too surreal for a James Bond film.
You make a fair point. Diamonds is indeed a low point that I do find hard to defend at all beyond a couple of highs, but those are certainly outliers.
Maybe rather than there being a continual shift of actress throughout the movie, maybe some segment where Bond is drugged or otherwise not quite mentally right and has some hallucinations of it being other women?
I just watched DAF and I actually liked it more than I remembered. there is no way I'd rather watch NSNA
Wasn't this movie effectively a sequel to Thunderball?
@@evertonporter7887 a remake. the guy had the rights of the Thunderball story and could only do a Bond movie with that story, basically
Die Another Day was definitely worse lol. The big negatives for me in Never Say Never Again was the music, which was awful, and the unsatisfying finale. The production value was also just not really there and it had a slightly cheap look in places. There were some drawn out sequences that dragged the pace, such as the versus, video game match scene. It's hard to fault the movie for pretty much remaking Thunderball because that was the only Bond material that they had the rights to draw from. I suppose if you take into consideration all of the legal craziness between Kevin McClory, Ian Fleming, Broccoli and Saltzman that you could fault this movie out of spite. There were a few things that I liked about it. I think Connery was back to form, delivering a much better final performance than his disinterested work in Diamonds Are Forever. I also think that Klaus Maria Brandauer as Largo is actually one of the more underrated Bond villains, if you compare this to the main EON films. He's charming, charismatic and a total sociopath. Kim Basinger was also a great choice for a Bond leading lady, though I admit that some of the layers from her Thunderball counterpart weren't totally there. Also the character of Fatima Blush is thought of by many Bondians to be the inspiration for Xenia Onatopp, who has gone on to be regarded as one of the more memorable henchwoman or henchman in the series. Of course Thunderball is better and yes, Never Say Never Again is not a great Bond movie. I would not place it at the bottom though.
@@CCovers1 Yeah most definitely for me too. NSNA is worth watching just for Connery if nothing else. I wish I could say that DAD was worth watching for Brosnan but I just think that the material was so bad that it's a sad send off for him. I think that the only sequence that I thought was at all okay was the fencing/sword fight. Otherwise ... what a mess.
I'm fascinated by how common it is to dissect Bond movies as a collection of components rather than whole films themselves. It makes a lot of sense to do with 25+ movies to look at and compare (maybe I'm just not aware of other long-running franchises that do this too) You're so right about every official Bond movie having at least a few good components that stand out. Even NSNA has... maybe three? Fatima Blush and Q are fun and, sacrilegious as this might be to say, Sean Connery seems to be putting more effort into his NSNA performance than he did in You Only Live Twice or Diamonds are Forever.
Bond generally follows such a rigorous formula that it's easy to see the parts, I think. Those highlights you bring up with NSNA are valid. I don't much like how Fatima Blush is written but Barbara Carrera gives a very fierce and memorable performance.
@@EyebrowCinema Bond does not follow a formula nearly as much as you allude to. Another tragic flaw w which your lense is locked
You make a good point: Sean Connery seems to be having fun with bond here, in a way I hadn't seen since goldfinger. By extension, I have fun watching this film along with him in the role.
I saw this at the theater and immediately hated it when i heard the opening song. Then i had to sit through the rest of it. Painful!
What's odd, is that, when it originally released in cinemas in October of 1983, "Never Say Never Again" was a hit. But boy-oh-boy, the film dated so poorly over time. It is almost unwatchable today. It's a truly terrible movie. 1965's "Thunderball" is a vastly superior film in every way.
“1983”, in which country?
“Thunderball” is the real snooze-fest; talk about dated! It seems like a TV travelogue for the Bahamas. Even Connery is boring! The characters are poorly developed, several of them dubbed. At times it really drags - such as the bomb hijacking, the health spa, and the underwater battle.
Terence Young, the director, didn’t look back fondly on it, feeling that the machinery took precedence over character and plot. He said that an MIT graduate could have handled it just as well. This is what made him turn down future Bond offers!
It was actually released in the UK in December 1983, purposefully delayed for months so it didn't collide with octopussy's release in June. Of all its stars, only Sean Connery, Barbara Carrera, Rowan Atkinson and Pamela Salem attended the premiere.
@@thomaschacko6320 I disagree entirely. It's flawed, too long sequences underwater, sped up footage lol in climax etc.
But my god is it fun. Evil villain with eye patch, the opening punching the drag queen, the spectre briefing, dialogue like Bond saying can't win em all, just giving shoes to the bathing henchwoman, small details in scenes like where he tells Domino about her bro and then puts shades on, the brilliant score.
It screams classic Bond. It is in my view the most bondian bond film ever.
It also just feels BIG like epic with the wide-screen and the score
NSNA has one of the best villains, the best bad girl ever, a fantastic Kim Basinger, a Sean Connery in good mood - it has great action, great light and I love it - one of the 5 best 007 films!
It is weak (to long) under water, like Fireball!
Some “bad” Bond films are still functional. I dislike a lot of the stuff in Quantum, but I think it’s truer to Bond than Spectre.
Spectre is another Bond film on the verge of un-watchability. Atrocious.
I came to this comment section expecting everyone to hate on NSNA. Instead, I find a glorious treasure trove of comments shitting on Thunderball and Quantum. Excellent!
My favorite Bond film is "On Her Majesty's Secret Service".
I’m with you there, Bill! And George Lazenby is my favourite Bond!
I agree, when u strip that film down and analyse it ohmss is fantastic, the settings, camera use and lighting, its cosy winter feel, music and of course Lazenby and rigg its epic
The best example of a Bond film being cinema with a capital "C".
Hear, hear!
I don't give a Monkeys what anyone thinks - I really enjoyed NSNA - it certainly beat the embarrassing Octopussey! Maximillian Lago was convincingly played, and Fatima Blush was the most sinister of female villains (with possibly the exception of Rosa Klebb) Max Von Sydow made a very menacing Blofeld - much better than the Campy Charles Gray in DAF; and Connery clearly IS James Bond & sets the benchmark for anyone else!
Regarding Quantum, the standout feature is the villan's plan. That the villan is frantically securing control over water resources around the world and helping army generals overthrow democracies to get what he wants. The second standout is that it was creating a bond universe. Sadly that was put on hold in Skyfall (which used the same villan concept as M:I 1 and M:I 2) the Spectre, whose half brother premise was "unimaginative" and dull.
it was ripped directly from Austin Powers
The film Specter and the half brother BS ruining the previous movies plots for me. Silva a man making his own choices and seeking revenge? Na...Specter agent...give me a fuckin break.
Id argue its the worst bond film ever.
I think the worst bond film overall is Roger Moore's swansong, A view to a kill. He is far too old by this point, acts like an endearing playboy, it's obvious when the stuntmen appear, Tanya Roberts is dull and dreary, and grace jones in only her 2nd film.......well, most people would agree, she couldn't act her way out of a paper bag! The only redeeming qualities this film had was Christopher walken's superb portrayal of psycho max zorin, and duran duran's theme song. If Timothy Dalton had been in this, and octopussy, both films would have turned out considerably better.
My biggest gripe with Never Say Never again is that it seems very made for tv as opposed to being a theatrically released film. Also I like to add that despite the lukewarm reception to Octopussy, it's honestly very underrated and unfairly bashed because Bond dons a clown suit.
You didn't state the most obvious problem with the movie: the third act. It's so INCREDIBLY boring!!!
the scene in quantum where craig smacked the dude off his motorcycle is an all time classic.
also while the scaffolding fight scene was rough, that final quickdraw shot from bond is absolutely iconic
“I’d like to recap my Quantum review again for five minutes just to piss off the defenders further.”
Go ahead!
Quantum of Solace is a remake of For Your Eyes Only.
M treating Bond like a bad boy became so tired. NSNA may be the worst offender. Years of watching Connery save the world just to get scolded by the boss. Tedious. By this point in his career, he would be treated like MI6 royalty. He got more respect from M back in DR No and From Russia. After Goldfinger it became a schtick
So was the idea to have a new series of a bunch of Thunderball remakes?
I remember Roger Ebert saying Brandauer was the best Bond villain when Siskel and Ebert did a James Bond special. Something about he was the most human and empathetic. FWIW Siskel half agreed, he said Goldfinger was the best character and Brandauer was the best performance
Brandauer was a very charming guy as Rowan Atkinson said to Bond. He was seldom angry and creepy, but more playful and polite. A trait that Brandauer shares with Christoph Waltz (Hans Landa, Dr. Schulz). One typical example is how he deals with his defeat at the computer game. He smiles and admits his loss of game and money. A typical Bond villain would have destroyed of killed something with an grim face.
But my favorite example is when Bond and his partner struggle to swim into Largo's yacht and get separated. Bond is on his own and makes his way to the deck. When he opens a hatch and carefully looks around there is already a steward waiting for him carrying a bathrobe.
This is extremely cool and ironic as Largo seems to know exactly how Bond thinks and acts. But still he remains charming and polite. He invites Bond for lunch and a jouney, orders clothes for him. Then he let's Bond go around freely with the word's "Mister Bond, enjoy the ship."
@@varelion I've gotta disagree with both of you. He's not threatening looking or in his behavior and doesn't emote any emotion from me other than apathy. Emilio Largo, in Thunderball, was charming, as you describe of Klaus, even in defeat, but he had menace.
@@k2sworld I got a lot more than apathy. From Brandauer, he projected an easy charm, humour, vulnerability, and megalomania. Emilio Largo could be charismatic and ruthless but I think Adolpho Celi didn't reach very far in his performance. There's just no contest here, Max Largo was the more compelling villain. I would easily take him over many of the EON villains.
If I had to describe Never Say Never Again, it’s this … a cinematic oddity of wrights disputes and waisted potential
I actually like Never say Never again. Die another Day I think is the worst Bond movie that comes to mind for me.
I disagree, I think this film is better than some of the official movies
Dude, your Bond film would be straight trash. Honestly.
Man with the Golden Gun , For your eyes only, Never say never again and Die another Day . Those where the best Bonds for me.
You're having a laugh!
What Bond fans fail to understand about Craig's Bond and the Craig films is that they are a direct representation of Fleming's Bond. The literary Bond is a cold-blooded, mean, nasty, uninteresting, dull, and hardened killer. Craig is not a bad Bond. He just gives an accurate depiction, aside from Timothy Dalton. Personally, I like Craig's Bond. Maybe I am in the minority. I was also fond of Dalton and Brosnan as Bond too.
The thing about Brosnan is that he had a sense of humor like Roger Moore, but he could be as tough and as mean as Connery, Lazenby, and Dalton too. He didn't overdo it with the camp or the silliness.
I like the sequence in Quantum where Bond gets the villains to reveal themselves and then he meets them as they go to leave. It’s a fun power play that shows that for all their influence, Bond can still get to them.
It wouldn’t be Dark Souls, they’d be facing off in a Napoleon: Total War battle.
Pretty sure it'd be Goldeneye, pistols only, License to Kill mode.
QOS is a stinker. The lack of the basic thing of A PLOT and A STORY are its weakest points. It wasn't the worst Bond, we had a wait a few years for that under NTTD.
As for NSNA I'm sure a good film was filmed, but with the production hell, it didn't make it to the screen.
While I don't disagree this is a bad movie, in my opinion the worst "Official" Bond movie is Die Another Day.
@Sarcastic Dude LOL :)
For me, Diamonds is the worst, because the pretitle sequence is the greatest impertinence towards the viewer.
quantum suffered from a writer’s strike. It could have been better, but it could’ve been so much worse. That said Die Another Day is somehow the worst only after A View To A Kill. And that is because Never Say Never Again isn’t even James Bond canon. Good lord.
16:58 ... perhaps this would be a good time to give Bond something the books never did and the films never will... an ENDING!
Who's watching this video after No Time to Die?
But “No time to die”, though it’s the last Craig bond film, it’s not the last Bond film ever, they’re just gonna reboot it over and over until the sun burns out of the sky.
@@obiwankenobi9141 Hence the stupidity of killing the character.
I refuse to see that film. It, like Never Say Never Again, do not exist in the 007 film pantheon. See also: the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy and Indiana Jones 5.
I'll still take the worst Connery Bond movie over the best Craig Bond flick anyday.
The Man With The Golden Gun was a great film, Christopher Lee was one of the best Bond villians ever.
The whole film was goofy and looked cheap. The idea that an aged 007 had the strength and energy to do his job is ridiculous.
The highwater mark for bad Bond film goes to Specter. Not only the worst Bond film of all time but one of the worst films I've ever sit through.
17:00 No Time To Die has entered the chat
Fatima Blush was awesome and probably the only good thing in the movie. There is never a scene where she's not having fun.
Yeah... I don't really think he gets her character. The "hatred of me" line was meant to push her buttons as she considers herself to be the female equivalent to Bond in that sense; a woman that no man can resist. I get some of the criticism, but I feel like it's more than a bit naive... especially the part about Casino Royal getting away with changing it up... McClory famously had his hands tied more than any preceeding rights issue. Also I could see EON having an attitude of never again after allowing Casio Royal to get away with it.
Diamonds was straight 💩!!
The theme song was the only positive in the movie.
AND it's Bass-SEE
"Because McClory only had the rights to 'Thunderball' ... that greatly expands the types of stories you can tell." Are you high? McClory was very limited because he had to be adapting 'Thunderball'. If he had tried to kill off Bond, as you suggest, he'd be legally stopped. Broccoli's lawyers would have been on top of that so fast... Competing with the franchise for one film is one thing; making a film that would come across as an ending for the franchise's main character? HA!!
Also, this was 1983. Bond films stopped taking themselves seriously with 'Diamonds', and wouldn't start again until 'Daylights'. If McClory wanted to do a Bond film, he was doing a Bond film as they were in the early 1980s.
Is it a great Bond film? No. Is it an okay Bond film? Yes. It was entertaining, escapist fun. One shouldn't expect a film with a screenplay by Lorenzo Semple Jr. to be serious. There are far worse Bond films **cough**Moon**cough**raker*cough**
James Bond lost me after Bronson left
Craig has never been bond to me
Great analysis. The Roger Moore films were largely inconsequential. It's a pity that Timothy Dalton only did two. Those were the best films following Majesty.
I don't get the Dalton camp. His acting was atrocious. He looked trapped in a stage play persona doing Shakespeare. I thought he was going to wet his pants when he got rattled and intimidated by some lousy low-level punks in a bar. Embarrassing. Him bouncing around while driving that 18-wheeler is pure comedy. I thought Pee Wee Herman was driving. It didn't help that the production values in his films bottomed out along with very weak supporting actors.
Agreed!
Barbra carrera was great
To say Never Say Never Again is the worst Bond film is to say Thunderball is also the worst Bond film, as Never Say Never again is based on the same script as Thunderball. Quantum of Solace was ruined by events that happened. The writes started writing the script for the film when their was a writers strike. As the writers were a member of the writers guild they had to strike as well, which meant they could finish the script. Daniel Craig and the films director in their great wisdom decided even though they had never written a script before that they could finish writing the script. To me the 3 worst bond films in no particular order were.
On her Majesties Secret Service. I think Lazenby was a terrible Bond
Die Another Day. To much CGI and not enough story.
Quantum of Solace. All the problems I mentioned above. This film was so bad even Daniel Craig panned it as his least favourite Bond film that he was in.
“The Man with the Golden Gun” is underestimated - far better than “Diamonds are Forever”.
Agreed! It's very rewatchable.
Underestimated, yes - but none of the Moore Bonds are better than Diamonds Are Forever! Live And Let Die and Golden Gun are the best Moore Bonds, but I still prefer Diamonds to either of them.
@@thetragicyouth
It is not my agenda to participate in any consensus forming bullying/domination contest - especially in matters of taste.
IMHO a room full Elvis fans must tolerate a Cliff Richard fan and vice versa.
I just strongly disagree with you and prefer "The Man with the Golden Gun" to "Diamonds are Forever" - no matter the first is with Moore and the latter with Connery - any day of the week and twice on sundays.
The Man with the Golden Gun is terrible and I absolute love it.
@@Gareth-410
The only part - besides Bonds everlasting confidence in the villain need to boast about his achievements and thereby not getting killed off the moment that he enters the lions den - I really dislike is the flying car.
No sane person would sacrifice both the resources and loss of efficiency in building a jet powered flying wing for a car.
That Mr. Scaramanga must really have been attached to it for sentimental reasons.
For me Diamonds are forever will forever be my least favorite bond film. Not just because the quality of the movie, but because it wasted a chance at being the best bond movie ever.
The rivalry between Bond and blow field had been built up for seven movies, and at the end of her majesty’s secret service that rivalry was palpable. It could’ve served has the ending to the rivalry, instead it was a lame cash grab with an old Sean Connery returning a to a role he shouldn’t of come back in and introducing a new blofield actor who was a complete betrayal of all his previous incarnations. Ruining what could of been one of cinemas greatest movie arks right at the very end. I can never forgive the film for that.
Also I am a quantum supporter. I’m not gonna write a essay on it but it was a movie I enjoyed.
I will gladly take Diamonds over Quantum.
_Casino Royale,_ the Peter Sellers version, is actually the worst Bond film
You could say that. But like he says in the video: that one doesn't even attempt to be a true Bond movie. And I do think that movie is more memorable for several reasons. One of them being the fact that it features an Oscar winning song.
Oh I don't know. Die another day with invisible cars and basil fawlty as Q. Tomorrow never dies and the villans motive is increased newspaper circulation, etc.
@@forkinhell3545 I think all the Brosnan movies are more entertaining and rewatchable than the Sellers Bond movie.
@@porsche911sbs I wasn't saying they're not watchable or entertaining, I personally just find the two mentioned films weaker than goldeneye or the world is not enough. I pretty much enjoy all the bonds, but some films a lot more than others. That's what makes us all different !
If you think Never Say Never Again is the worst Bond movie, you haven't seen the 1960s Casino Royale.
That’s the way I feel about “View to a Kill” Roger Moore was too old and the movie just couldn’t come together. They had a good cast and the story was pretty good too. It just never got off the ground.
It's one of the better Bond movies if you don't focus on how old Moore is.
Roger Moore is my favorite Bond. But I firmly believe it would have been better if he’d stepped down after A View to a Kill and it had been rewritten to be Dalton’s first film.
Underrated, to this very day.
Agreed.
All these Futurama clips is just making me imagine this film remade in a Futurama episode. 😂 Great video Dan
I've been rewatching the series and it's rubbed off on my work.
@@EyebrowCinema Adding Futurama in your videos is always a good thing
The Meta James Bond idea isn't bad... nowadays, but back in the days before internet video essays it would have been too avant garde to make sense for the average audience. Now we have the insight of studied critiques and in-depth evaluations to help make sense of complex tropes, back then you, at best, had simple movie reviews.
Bond was the OG Among Us champion.
Great video, man. And congratulations on your first sponsorship!
Thanks, Randall! Feels like a step towards legtimacy.
@@EyebrowCinema A step? Lmao, man. In my eyes, you've been legit for a long time. You're going places, man. I'm proud of you.
I was going to jump on here and say that Bever Say Never Again is far from the worst Bond film. I think there are several from the official series that are far more forgettable. But, I have to say that your criticisms are spot on, and agree with you that this movie could have been so much better. In that sense, you are right in saying that this movie was a waste. Love your critiques.
there is no other bond film as bad. you could say the other 2 fake Casino Royales, Diamonds are Forever, The Man With the Golden Gun, and Quantum of Solace are just as bad, that's about it and none of these are worse, just on the same level or a tad better.
i have always wondered why they chose to stay as close to Thunderballs story when they could have strayed and did something different within the walls they were given.....
a final showdown with Blofeld to end Connerys era would have been amazing....
probably because they only had the rights to the Thunderball story and could only do a Bond movie if it was exactly the same story-wise. But yea it would have been better had they done their own thing
Honestly, the weakest bond movie of all 28(or 25 or 27 depending on who you ask) is casino royale 1967, while the best bond movie is skyfall, one of the main reasons of the latter one being the main villain, raoul silva, the best bond villain . But each bond movie deserved to be watched. At least once.
Personally, this is one of my favourite Bond movies.
I think it's pretty damn good myself as well.
I don't get all the hate for this film. Although it drags toward the end, it was more fun than "No Time To Die" or "Quantum of Solace." At least it's fun.
Never say never( Sean Connery) the jame bond charm was not there,, Sean Connery looked too old: Roger Moore aged better
The hologram video scene still holds up and secretly has a gun barrel sequence in it as an Easter egg.
And lost opportunity ,no doubt. Given that they had 27 years time to tweek papers together and make "Logan" for James Bond , they come up with this straight to video ,TV movie
For me, Spectre is the worse James Bond film. It is the 1st Bond movie I did not run out and buy, and still do not own to this day.
The one thing that really bugs me in spectre is that the entire film has this darkish yellow tint film used on it, check it out
his pronunciation of "grandiose" has the same energy as Ryan Hollinger's pronunciation of "however"
Never Say Never Again is based on the what is the true Thunderball, I don't think that is the worst bond film since it is now a Bond Canon (YES MGM Bought Orion Pictures which made Never say Never Again).
Casino Royale is now included as a Bond Canon (MGM holds the rights too). The reason why bond in Casino Royale (1967) is different from the one with Sean Connery is that Ian Fleming preferred David Niven due to his likeness and personality and hated the decision of Harry Saltzman/Albert Brocolli to cast Sean Connery.
Die Another Day is the worst bond film ever.
I was obsessed with the James Bond movies as a kid (Swedish grandfather was weirdly obsessed with them, had every movie on VHS). Connery was by far my favourite, and Roger Moore was such a disappointing follow up, so when I heard there was another Connery movie I was so excited… and then it was, well, this. Anyways, this was very nostalgic to watch and you absolutely nailed everything that’s great about these movies, especially how even the terrible ones are usually terrible in a great way. Loved it.
Thanks, Matilda! I didn't realize you had a history with this series so that's cool to hear. Glad you liked the video :)
@@EyebrowCinema Thunderball movie is a great film 😊
While Never Say Never Again was a needless remake of Thunderball, it is NOT the worst James Bond movie. And neither is Quantum of Solace. There is nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, that saves Die Another Day from that prize. You might make the argument "there's the swordfight" or "Halle Berry", it doesn't matter. It had the stupidest plot, stupid effects, a stupid villain, a stupid Q wannabe (sorry, John Cleese), a stupid theme song.
I still find this movie fun to watch. I think it's thanks to Fatima Blush.
Worst Bond Movie ever is Skyfall... Skyfall is actively offensive... Quantum is just blah partly because of the writers strike.
I actually liked this movie.
The only good part of NDNA is a young, hot Barbara Carrera.
Octopussy IS my favorite Bond movie. Thank you very much for asking.
It's a good one, especially the ~ 45 minutes from when they go on the train until the bomb almost goes off. My personal favourites are Thunderball and The Spy Who Loved Me.
Is that sarcasm? The last four Moore Bonds are not only the worst 007 movies, but are strong contenders for the actual four worst movies *ever*!!
I totally disagree. The worst James Bond movie is Quantum of Solace. It is basically unwatchable
Casino Royale is the best bond movie and an even better film itself.
So basically, you want David Lynch to make a Bond movie?
I'd love to see George Lucas and Stephen Speilberg work together on a Bond movie, or just Speilberg alone.
All of the people deriding Never Say Never Again are obviously millennials.
I always thought it was such a shame that Sean Connery had such an arrogance after leaving bond. Talking badly about it, sometimes refusing to discuss it, and then this awful film
"I'm not saying the filmmakers should have gone full Unforgiven" NOOOO NO PLEASE DO EXACLTY THAT THAT SOUNDS DOPE AS FUCK
Or full Logan.
You mispronounced Klaus Maria Bradauer's name. His name is German (Austria), not French.
Also, you deserve many more subs idk why your sub count didn't take off
Thank you, Senator.
Agreed! That seems to be going around in YT these days.
Videos like this one are exactly why.
Worst Bond film????? Eyebrow, have you seen Die Another Day?
This video just hit my recommended list… a few months late! As a huge Sean Connery as Bond fan (my first was Goldfinger in original release), I totally agree with the criticism. I found myself not only missing the EoN elements, but also the actors of the recurring cast. It felt like going to the theater and, other than the main star, the rest were understudies. It also felt “cheap”. I like most of your thoughts for what could have been, particularly the idea of a final Blofeld face off. NSNA was a bit of a caricature… and not a good one. Thanks! 👍
Not even going to watch the video just gonna respond to the heading. Obviously written by somebody who doesn’t know a good bond movie. The worst bond movie is the ones with Daniel Craig. Oh let me add I forgot the movies with Timothy Dalton.
Alright, who called "The Man with the Gold Gun" bad? cause you just got yourself a fight
All the Scaramanga - Nick Nack - Bond scenes are terrific, but everything else seems irrelevant and/or part of a different movie. And bringing back Sheriff Pepper was as big a self-indulgent mistake as bringing back Jaws in Moonraker.
@@thetragicyouth all the supporting characters carried the film, including the minor ones. Bond sounded more like a Southern stereotype than Pepper..... "You sir... do not qualify as a gentleman. Now let us enjoy this delicious lunch Nick Nack has prepared for us."