Best Bond movie with the worst song

Cafe Society
1

My question here is not just about bad Bond songs. I’m asking about, in your opinion, the greatest contrast between the song and the movie it accompanies.

For example: “Die Another Day” is a terrible Bond song. Out of context, it’s not a bad techno/electro thing, an experimental dalliance by a big pop artist who doesn’t completely embarrass herself with the exercise, but as the intro to a Bond movie, it’s jarring and distracting. But then the movie itself is stupid and horrible. So the song doesn’t qualify under the terms of the topic.

No, what I’m looking for is a song where, on your first viewing, the credit sequence kicks in, and you slowly cringe back into your seat, thinking, Oh no, this is not going to be one of the good ones. But then when it’s over, the movie regains its footing, and by the end you forget about the song. (And then on a repeat viewing, you grab the remote and press Mute, or skip the song entirely.)

This will necessarily be subjective, based on your opinion and experience. Like, I have a big soft spot for Moonraker. Yes, it’s one of the dumber, campier Bonds (which is really saying something), and I know a lot of people dislike it for that. But it was the first Bond I saw in the cinema, so I have a nostalgic fondness for the dopey thing it’s doing.

The “Moonraker” song, though? Dire. Shirley Bassey sings her heart out, but there’s just nothing there. She might as well be singing VCR repair instructions to the tune of a Henry Mancini outtake.

If you’re like me, and you enjoy Moonraker for what it is, then this is a contender. If you’re a detractor of the film, though, then this would be disqualified.

On the flip side, Goldeneye is a pretty good Bond, and I think the “Goldeneye” song kicks ass. Yet I’ve heard people complain that they don’t like Tina Turner’s voice (heresy), and the constant repetition of the title word is annoying (I don’t get it), so for them, this would be a good suggestion.

So what’s your nomination?

2

I think Skyfall is a terrible caterwaul from Adele. I was surprised how against popular opinion that turned out to be. The movie is outstanding fun, though.

Disclaimer: I have not seen many James Bond movies, mostly just the latter half.

3

Heh. That song was okay for me, but I’m in the distinct minority of people who thought the movie itself was terrible. Like you, I find myself alone against popular opinion in that.

4

I think Moonraker is a good nomination from my perspective - I like the film despite (or perhaps because) it’s almost a parody of itself. I think at one point Drax even refers to the fact he has failed to despatch Bond twice already when he had the opportunity. And Jaws’ ‘conversion’ at the end is hugely cheesy, of course. But the leads do a great job of acting the roles they have been assigned in an entertaining way. Plus of course it has one of the great closing lines (“I think he’s attempting re-entry, sir” - I think I first watched the film in the late 90s and remember thinking this must have been quite risque for a family film made in the early 80s, but clearly the censors OKd it). I can barely remember the song though, which makes it pretty bad by definition.

Not the worst Bond song - I also agree with you, entirely, on Die Another Day. So that’s out.

Skyfall I enjoyed as a film, perhaps more the second time round (initially I was a bit disappointed with the villain, I don’t think Javier Bardem was as good as he was in No Country For Old Men, but that’s a high bar of course - however on reflection it is an intriguing character and might just need more screentime), but it’s just too long. A few cuts to the preamble and some of the final sequences would probably do it good. However, I also really like the song, so that’s out for me also.

Big fan of Goldeneye (biased because it came out when I was 10 and as such it was the first one I was aware of contemporaneously) and the song is OK for me.

To be honest I struggle to remember most of the tunes. I just looked up the title song from From Russia With Love to see if it could be a contender, but the song is fine for its time and suits the film.

Not everyone liked Chris Cornell’s singing for Casino Royale but I think it’s one of the great Bond themes (and an excellent film to boot).

One of my other favourite Bond films is Tomorrow Never Dies (see bias mentioned above) but again I couldn’t remember the title song (by Sheryl Crow). Having just listened to it, it’s not my favourite, but not bad by any means.

I think I can only conclude that Moonraker is my answer too.

It might also be interesting to discuss the worst Bond movie with the best song - for me The Spy Who Loved Me would be a strong contender there.

5

On that last suggestion — the biggest gap between good song and bad movie — I think Live and Let Die wins that in a walk.

6

I quite enjoyed Live and Let Die - but it’s been a very long time since I watched it, as a kid, so I may need to reassess.

7

Everything about Moonraker sucked. It was a terrible film that tried to take Bond down the line of the Star Wars craze. Roger Moore’s irreverance as Bond came across a total parody in this particular film (take the ridiculous hovercraft scene in the middle of a tourist site).

The best music for Bond I would say was On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The theme was electric and Louis Armstrong’s All The Time In The World was really quite poignant. Shame the movie never quite got the recognition as it is the one with George Lazenby.

8

I very much agree that OHMSS is excellent and underrated and overlooked.

But what interests me here is not what’s simply good or bad, but a contrast between good and bad in the same movie.

9

I’d say License To Kill: we get to see the one true Bond go real dark, acting on his own initiative to turn people against each other while still going through the motions of his ‘charming high roller in a tuxedo’ persona, and the song is bloody awful.

10

For Your Eyes Only feels like the weakest Bond song to me. I think Sheena Easton is a great singer but she didn’t have the right voice for a Bond song IMHO. However the film was a pile of turd too so it doesn’t fit with the OPs criteria.

Dr No was one of the better Bond films and although it didn’t have it’s own main theme song the opening credits did feature a version of Three Blind Mice which was a bit underwhelming and weird.

11

The most bat-shit, crazy, stupid (but in a good way) theme song is from Thunderball. The poor lyricist obviously had no idea what the hell a thunderball is, and Tom Jones’ performance is so earnest and over the top, it’s like Pavarotti singing “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious“.

12

I liked the movie on first viewing, on second viewing I couldn’t figure out why. And the song was not great. Not the worst, but not great.

13

A View To A Kill. (drops mic.) On second thought, the judges would have also accepted The World Is Not Enough or Diamonds Are Forever.

For the OP…it’s a toughy. FWIW, Goldeneye was the first one that came to mind. And then I slapped myself and said, “Really!? It’s Tina Turner, idiot. Find another one…”

I’ve heard of people liking the movie Licence To Kill, but who likes the song?

14

I absolutely despise the ‘Goldfinger’ song, so that is my choice.

15

No love for Herb Alpert? :wink:

16

Right? I was thinking about this, and I started to notice a modest correlation, that the better movies tend to have the better songs, and the weaker movies tend to have the weaker songs. It’s almost like a rule of thumb, like, when the producers have taken the eye off the ball, they take their eye off all the balls. Um, so to speak. Anyway, so I thought I’d ask the question, looking for the exceptions.

17

Easily my favorite Bond song.

18

I found “You Know My Name” from “Casino Royale” very forgettable, but the movie is quite good.

19

I was hearing that opening trumpet, the second I saw Herb’s name. I don’t count Casino Royale as a ‘Bond movie’, or it would have won easily. A View To A Kill is still terrible though. Pretty much all of the ‘last movie as James Bond for that actor’ movies are, Dalton and Lazenby being the exceptions. I have every faith Craig’s last one will be a stinker too.

It’s amazing how much de gustibus there is in this subject. I thought For Your Eyes Only was Moore’s best, for example, and Live and Let Die is good, provided you can take the cringing at the blaxploitation elements. Certainly had one of the most gorgeous Bond girls ever, and some of the most amazing stunts.

20

Another example of de gustibus, and I’m kicking myself for not thinking of this until now: Spectre. I am not a great fan of the movie—despite it having things I should like, such as the opening Mexico City stunt sequence, or Christoph Waltz as Blofeld—but that Sam Smith theme song is absolutely awful. Judging by his Academy Award for it, most people disagree…