# I'm going to watch all of the James Bond Films \[Please avoid Spoilers for Goldeneye or later Bond movies\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [December 17, 2019, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001 "2019-12-17T18:58:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001/364 "2023-03-19T04:48:59Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > …so it wasn’t as if he just dined on his Bond role the way Roger Moore did… Did he? I remember Moore from _The Saint_ (although that was before his time as Bond), _The Wild Geese_, and _Ffolkes_. He did a couple other roles that played on, or against, his Bond persona, though. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001/365 "2023-03-19T07:17:25Z")
I’d never heard that. I know they were considering it for Berry’s character from DAD, but not Yeoh’s. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001/366 "2023-03-19T15:42:01Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I remember Moore from _The Saint_ (although that was before his time as Bond), _The Wild Geese_, and _Ffolkes_. He did a couple other roles that played on, or against, his Bond persona, though. You forgot _The Persuaders!_ and his short tenure as Beau Maverick, the English cousin of gambler and raconteur Brett after James Garner left the show (which he had experience with in his previous role as “Silky” on _The Alaskans_, which literally just reused scripts from _Maverick_) but while Moore had held other roles, it was as Bond that he was known on film and for which he received the CBE. Like Connery before him, he had difficulty getting other work beyond playing parodies of the Bond role, and while _ffolkes_ is really a pretty good turn as a decidedly non-Bond character I doubt you’d find one person in twenty who has seen it; even more _The Wild Geese_. In contrast, Dalton, Brosnan, and Craig have all gone on to other starring roles. > [@iamatractorboy](#): > > I’d never heard that. I know they were considering it for Berry’s character from DAD, but not Yeoh’s. I don’t know that it even got to a development phase or if Yeoh actually had any interest in starring in spinoff franchise. But she clearly made an impression as being able to carry an action role in an era when neither women or Asian actors were accepted as being able to do so in the US and European markets. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001/367 "2023-03-19T16:42:57Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > You forgot _The Persuaders!_ and his short tenure as Beau Maverick, the English cousin of gambler and raconteur Brett… I’ve never seen _The Persuaders!_. I was aware that Moore was on _Maverick_, but that’s about it. He made his biggest splash as Bond, but there were a few other ripples, as well. I don’t think that _Ffolkes_ is better known than _The Wild Geese_. TWG used to show up on TV from time to time. Had a hell of a cast; Richard Burton and Richard Harris, and Jack Watson very good as a drill instructor. I’ve seen part of _Ffolkes_ once; keep thinking it might be fun to see again one of these days. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001/368 "2023-03-19T17:25:54Z")
ffolkes (two small fs) is a great movie. James Mason and Tony Perkins chewing scenery magnificently! Clever plot. The iold Geese as noted was shown on TBS regularly. I’d seen it a lot and I never knew that they cut out the same 10-15 minutes every time. Until I got the DVD I never knew anything happened between the plane taking off and Burton going to see Harris’s son. Quite a lot did! Funny how they always removed that part. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001/369 "2023-03-19T18:03:21Z")
And Michael Parks showing how good a character actor he could be. Re: ffolkes not being well-known. It was an HBO staple around the time we got cable. With Phantasm and Heaven Can Wait. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001/370 "2023-03-19T19:20:30Z")
Somewhere, Roger Moore’s corpse is cracking a smile in delight that no one has yet mentioned _Cannonball Run_. Sorry, Roger. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001/371 "2023-03-19T20:15:35Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > …_Cannonball Run_. I said he played on the Bond persona. That was the movie I had in mind. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001/372 "2023-03-19T20:56:19Z")
“I got that reference” ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001/373 "2023-03-20T00:03:46Z")
I don’t know my Bond flicks- is the one with the tanker trucks with liquified drugs going down the mountain the same one where Bond goes to the circus dressed as a clown? Didn’t care for that one. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001/374 "2023-03-20T01:35:05Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > …the one with the tanker trucks with liquified drugs going down the mountain… _License to Kill_ > [@](#): > > …the same one where Bond goes to the circus dressed as a clown? _Octopussy_ ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001/375 "2023-03-23T11:59:17Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Michelle Yeoh (along with Judi Dench and Samantha Bond, of course) are about the only parts that make _Tomorrow Never Dies_ watchable. _Tomorrow Never Dies_ has my favorite Bond (Brosnan), my favorite “Bond girl” (Yeoh) and my favorite Bond theme song (by Sheryl Crow). A pity the plot was so stupid (albeit still better than DID and TWINE). ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001/376 "2023-03-23T12:33:56Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > _Tomorrow Never Dies_ has my favorite Bond (Brosnan), my favorite “Bond girl” (Yeoh) and my favorite Bond theme song (by Sheryl Crow). A pity the plot was so stupid (albeit still better than DID and TWINE). It is essentially the same basic plot as _You Only Live Twice_ and _The Spy Who Loved Me_ except with a villain whose fiendish goal was to…sell more advertising space? I just felt bad for Jonathan Pryce and was relieved to see him get a far better antagonist role the following year in [_Ronin_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0122690/) along side other former Bond villain actors Michel Lonsdale and Sean Bean. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001/377 "2023-03-23T13:23:42Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > except with a villain whose fiendish goal was to…sell more advertising space? That still beats the nefarious plan in Quantum of Solace. Which was actually tried in real life, and worked even worse there! (no spoilers!) ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2023, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001/378 "2023-04-18T05:45:45Z")
**_Tomorrow Never Dies_ (1997)** There’s actually a lot to like here. Pierce Brosnan comes into his own as 007. I thought Brosnan was a bit bland in _Goldeneye_. Here’s what I said: > [@](#): > > He looks the part, sure. But Brosnan doesn’t have Connery’s swagger, or Moore’s charm, or Dalton’s fire. He was just kind of there, saying the lines and doing the things, without bringing anything unique to the role. And I stand by that. But here, Brosnan comes across as the cool, aloof Bond, though he does have some nice moments of intensity when he lets his guard down, then quickly puts it back up. Brosnan has figured out who his James Bond is, and I kind of dig it. Then there’s Michelle Yeoh, who is just fantastic. Outstanding. Brilliant. Think of a superlative adjective, and she’s that. If they’d made a series of Wai Lin movies, I’d watch every one over and over. Her presence alone should earn this film a higher ranking than 22 of the 27 Bond films that Rotten Tomatoes gives it. Judi Dench, who didn’t have much to do in _Goldeneye_, is now a new, hands-on type of M, and she’s a badass. The action scenes are quite fun. Bond’s parachute drop into the ocean was very cool. The remote control car chase and the motorcycle chase, though both a bit silly, were quite exciting. On the other hand, yeah, the plot is a mess. The Big Bad is a news media mogul who wants to start World War III because of… ratings? And he’s amassed an army of henchmen willing to kill and die for this? If his plan were successful, I can’t imagine his profits would come close to the overhead involved in building his invisible-to-radar ship, and GPS-jamming satellites, and his undoubdedly sky-high henchman payroll. Jonathan Pryce quite adequately chews the scenery in a Bond supervillain kind of way, but I can’t buy his motivation for a second. The #2 bad guy is nothing but a generic big muscular blond guy. Meh. And the climax is just kind of a cacophony of explosions and chaos. So, though I don’t think _TND_ fully deserves the bad reputation around it, it’s surely not a top-tier Bond movie. Next up: _The World Is Not Enough_ ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2023, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001/379 "2023-04-18T06:58:13Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > The remote control car chase and the motorcycle chase, though both a bit silly, were quite exciting. Helicopters do not work that way! ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2023, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001/380 "2023-04-18T08:44:25Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Judi Dench, who didn’t have much to do in _Goldeneye_, is now a new, hands-on type of M, and she’s a badass. One of the best exchanges of the entire series: Admiral Roebuck “You know, M, sometimes I don’t think you have the balls for this job.” M “Maybe. But that means I don’t have to think with them all the time.” It was particularly amusing for British audiences given Roebuck was played by Geoffrey Palmer, who had starred opposite Dench in the long-running sitcom _As Time Goes By_, in which the plot revolved around the two rekindling a long-past romantic relationship and often featured ‘spiky’ dialogue such as this. Someone upthread commented on the Dr Kaufman assassination scene, another favourite bit of mine. Overall this is my second-favourite Brosnan Bond after Goldeneye and I’d probably put it top 10 overall, despite the fair criticisms of it. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2023, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001/381 "2023-04-18T11:50:22Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > The Big Bad is a news media mogul who wants to start World War III because of… ratings? And he’s amassed an army of henchmen willing to kill and die for this? If his plan were successful, I can’t imagine his profits would come close to the overhead involved in building his invisible-to-radar ship, and GPS-jamming satellites, and his undoubdedly sky-high henchman payroll. Jonathan Pryce quite adequately chews the scenery in a Bond supervillain kind of way, but I can’t buy his motivation for a second. [Over to Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow_Never_Dies) to explain it. They soon escape and contact the [Royal Navy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Navy) and the [People’s Liberation Army Air Force](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Liberation_Army_Air_Force) to explain Carver’s scheme. Carver plans to destroy most of the Chinese government with the stolen missile, allowing a corrupt Chinese general named Chang to negotiate a truce between Britain and China, both of which will have begun a naval war. Once the conflict is over, Carver will be given exclusive broadcasting rights in China for the next century. So, the intention is not to actually come to war, but pull back from it, and not for ratings but an exclusive deal worth billions. A somewhat better motivation. The exposition isn’t done well, a couple of throwaway lines to explain it, and an important character that is shown only very briefly. I don’t think Chang has any actual lines. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2023, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001/382 "2023-04-18T14:44:08Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Helicopters do not work that way! That scene bugged me in real time. I just thought it was emblematic of the Brosnan era. Even for Bond movies it left science behind and ran on down the road. Of course, supertankers with holds large enough for nuclear submarines would fold in half at the first big wave. And let’s not talk about hollow volcanoes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2023, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001/383 "2023-04-18T15:22:43Z")
I have a similar view on this film as I do on Octopussy, but for slightly differing reasons. Octopussy veers between being quite thrilling, with a lot of Cold War intrigue, to the downright silliness of Tarzan screams, clown outfits etc. Tomorrow Never Dies has some terrific set pieces and scenes but also has some seriously cringeworthy stuff too (e.g. the cheesy beyond belief slow mo that crops up a lot during the final act when Bond and Wei Linn take down the stealth boat). Some of the dialogue is…not great. I’ll echo the opinion someone has on the Kaufmann scene though. The best in the film and genuinely one of the best non-action scenes of any Bond, no exaggeration. The Kaufmann character is hilarious and Brosnan plays it really well too: Bond: It won’t look like a suicide if you shoot me from over there. Kaufmann: Mr Bond, I am a professor of forensic medicine. Believe me, I could shoot you from Stuttgart and still achieve the desired effect. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-watch-all-of-the-james-bond-films-please-avoid-spoilers-for-goldeneye-or-later-bond-movies/845001.md?page=20)