Sure holidays like Thanksgiving provide great family time, lots of food and the biggest shopping time of the year, but for me I am always looking forward to TV marathons that the plethora of cable channels put on to fill programming time. As is the case with most holidays, I was able to find several different channels running James Bond marathons. After sharing the joy of hours upon hours of James Bond with my wife and kids, I decided to make a list of my Top 5 James Bond movies.
#5 Live And Let Die
Obviously the movie with the best Bond theme has to make my list. As with most Bond films, it drips with popular culture and is dated with themes of the day. This Bond uses the blaxplotation style that was prevalent in the 70's sending Bond through Harlem and into New Orleans chasing a voodoo man and a heroin dealer named Mr. Big. I always found it interesting to know Jane Seymour was a Bond girl. This was Roger Moore's first outing as Bond proving he had the chops to take over the franchise from Sean Connery. In the end, redneck lawman, Sheriff Pepper steals the show leading to the recurrence of the character in later movies.
#4 From Russia With Love
This one may be more of a sentimental choice. The juxtaposition of trained assassin Grant with Bond makes the film very interesting. Grant spends the first half of the movie protecting Bond from danger just to ensure he makes it to the train so he can kill him. There is a subtle distractedness to the Bond story here. We know from the beginning what the plot is a trap, who the bad guys are and where they are going. Those are usually secrets revealed throughout the Bond films. It makes the movie more about the journey as symbolized by the long train ride on the Orient Express and Bond's meandering around Instanbul. There is something special about that for a Bond flick.
#3 Casino Royale
Daniel Craig's first effort as Bond takes us back to the emergence of 007. The story is gritty, Bond is far from a perfect Double O agent and the action sequences seem fresh. Plot is unfolded masterfully with several twists along the way. A good love interest gave the movie an additional layer that leads us to the path of 007 becoming a cold killer and carefree lover.
#2 Goldeneye
Pierce Brosnan's first Bond film was a return to the Sean Connery form for 007 after Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton had taken the character in different directions. The plot features a good story and a nice twist. The gadgets and goofiness were scaled back for a more sauve Bond with amazing action sequences. Also, this movie brought Judi Dench as the new M creating a new dimension and depth to the character previously reserved to just scold Bond and tell him to get on his way. Dench's M is demanding and becomes almost as central of a character in the movies as Bond himself.
#1 Goldfinger
This one finally perfected the mold of a Bond movie that many tried to recreate over and over again. Auric Goldfinger is a fantastic villian. Oddjob is the perfect henchman. Pussy Galore is the great Bond girl name. There are a few unique dynamics in this entry that continue to set it apart. Bond has many run ins with Goldfinger as he tries to get the villian off his game, yet Goldfinger never seems to feel all that threatened by him. The ultimate sequence in the movie is when Goldfinger has Bond captured and tied to a table with the laser slowly approaching the helpless 007. In retort to Bond's efforts, Goldfinger coolly responds, "No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die." This trap more than any other should have been killed if not for his ability to manipulate other investors in Goldfinger's scheme to keep him alive. Also, there is the way Bond ends up foiling the plan altogether, not by his skill as a Double O agent, but his charisma with Pussy Galore. The entire movie is well done with a superb villian and Connery's Bond as cool as a cucumber.
Honorable Mentions:
A View to a Kill - Christopher Walken as a Bond villian.
Thunderball - Domino is the best Bond girl ever.
Dr. No - The one that started it all.
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2 comments:
I'd love to post something intelligent here, but I can't lie, I am not sure what Bond films I've seen. I know of I've seen parts of a few, and probably whole one here or there, but I have never got into them very much. I don't know why that is.
P.S. I'll post on previous post in morning, my brainpower is dwindling at this point.
I had never really gotten into Bond until maybe 7 years ago or so. There was a marathon on Encore back when I would have several days off during the week and not much good TV was on during the day. I started just watching them and was hooked ever since.
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