My nephew is 11 1/2 and has just discovered a passion for James Bond movies. He has seen a documentary about James Bond, and all three of the Pierce Brosnan movies (which my sister/his aunt owns). He is asking for James Bond movies for Christmas. Which one(s) would be the best for a new fan?
Goldfinger. It’s considered the best by many, and is a damn fine action film.
I would nominate Thunderball after Goldfinger. It has a great enemy, a great plot, great performances, and the coolest underwater battle sequence ever filmed.
My personal favorite is *Live And Let Die.
I’d add From Russia With Love after Goldfinger, but before Thunderball. It has the best fight scene in any Bond movie, and the best henchman (Red Grant) after Oddjob.
In addition to the Bronson movies, I would classify the remaining films in three categories:
Must Haves:
Goldfinger (Connery)
From Russia With Love (Connery)
Thunderball (Connery)
The Spy Who Loved Me (Moore)
For Your Eyes Only (Moore)
License to Kill (Dalton)
Good Additions:
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (Lazenby)
You Only Live Twice (Connery)
Live and Let Die (Moore)
Octopussy (Moore)
The Living Daylights (Dalton)
For Completists Only:
Moonraker (Moore)
A View to a Kill (Moore)
The Man With the Golden Gun (Moore)
Diamonds are Forever (Connery)
Thanks for reminding me! I’m going to drop some hints to my wife to pick me up some Bond movies for Christmas.
I’d have to agree with Spoofe. As a long time Bond fan, I think Goldfinger and Thunderball are the best representatives of the series.
Oh, IMHO, anything Roger Moore did trying while pretending to play 007 is utter garbage.
Of course, I admit to being old school and thinking that Connery was Bond for the better part of my youth. Only recently have I begun to consider that he has a legitimate son in Pierce Brosnan.
D’oh! I can’t believe I left Dr. No off of my list. Please consider it added to the Good Additions list.
My personal opinion, only, but I think each Bond did at least one good flick, there’s at least something good with each Bond film, and I think that Lazenby, Dalton, and Brosnan are better than they’re given credit for. Oh, and Connery was easil the best Bond ever.
My picks:
From Russia with Love
Thunderball
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
For Your Eyes Only
The Living Daylights
I like Goldfinger, but I don’t worship it the way so many do. (Some people complain that Thunderball is too damned long. I say Goldfinger – the shortest Bond film – is too damned short.)
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is the only Bond movie I’ve ever cried at the end (although I might have been premenstrual). Louis Armstrong singing, “We have all the time in the world…” and me then remembering that we might not, even if my lover isn’t killed by Blofeld…sniffle. It’s also a good lesson for a prepubescent boy: don’t think with your dick (since Bond gets bopped easily going for the girl-bait), and conversely, kilts are sexy and make it easier for girls to write their room numbers on your muscular inner thigh.
I do like the Bond music CD, Best of Bond Stuff like that’s always good for sing-alongs in the car, better than the polly-wolly-doodle-all-day nonsense. Though, occasionally I find myself driving too fast to it. But I’m a dork, and happy like that.
Just for the record, I think The Man With the Golden Gun is fantastic. Unlike the others, the villain isn’t plotting to take over of destroy the world, he’s simply an assassin (but a very good one) with his eye on Bond (sort of…it’s a lot more complex in the movie itself).
I’d also highly recommend The Spy Who Loved Me.
I’d say Never Say Never Again belongs there as well.
Thanks, guys. This helps a lot.