Favourite Bond - Redux

[Greg1138 3]

Well - here goes - it's been a fair while since Casino Royale was released......and some time ago I did a set of polls on the favourite films for each Bond actor and the results were perhaps a little surprising, but nonetheless defintive.......so the question here is simple:

I list here the favourite movie (as voted then) for each Bond, and this time include Casino Royale.......I just want to know which, out of these, is your peronal favourite Bond movie.....i don't want to know which you think is the BEST, I want to know your FAVOURITE......

Greg

[Joe Brausam 215]

I'll go for Casino Royale, it took the series in a new direction and made Bond "popular" again. I know so many people who got into Bond becuase of this film. I'd vote for Goldfinger too, but it's obviously not here.

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

my fav fluctuates between FRWL, Goldfinger, YOLT and OHMSS. Today its OHMSS so yea

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Goldfinger is not there??????

[Lurker 5]

Greg, you of all people should know it's "Licence" to Kill.

Neil

[Greg1138 3]

Goldfinger is not there??????

Nope, it was beaten by FRWL in the "Best Connery Bond" poll some time ago....

Neil....I shall sentence myself to 10 lashes for that one.....

[robthehand 3]

Of those, either OHMSS or FRWL... I'll go for FRWL.

[Greg1138 3]

Well - you guys (and guy-esses) surprised me a couple of times in the original poles (GoldeEye winning over TND, FRWL winning over Goldfinger), and I am being surprised yet again.....keep the votes coming!

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Casino Royale

Because it's awesome!

[pixie_twinkle 48]

On Her Majesty's Secret Service, closely followed by From Russia With Love, The Spy Who Loved Me, and Licence to Kill.

[Spikey 0]

Man, this list is almost my least favourites

GoldenEye = huge disappointment after the long wait, although worse was to follow

Spy Who Loved Me = WTF?? I can't bear the 'we can write better than Fleming' attitude that permeates the non-Fleming Bond movies, which ALWAYS end up with ludicrous plots (and seem to have the worst soundtracks as well)

Licence to Kill = huge disappointment after the incredible TLD, lacks Bond feel

OHMSS and FRWL are great Bond movies, although Tracy sours OHMSS for me a LOT.

FRWL is one of my favourite Bonds, TLD and Thunderball being my personal favourites. Out of this list FRWL wins though.

EDIT: Something else just occured to me, I can't stand the Bond girls in pretty much any of these films (except FRWL). GE, LTK, TSWLM have AWFUL Bond girls! I mean, Lupe in LTK- in the words of doctors from Scrubs, "Dude, you hit *that*?". And it was so random.

EDIT 2: Another thing- something that adds to LTK's problems is the awful cutting. A lot of crucial scenes have been deleted, such as the man "Sharkey" (without wishing to sound racist, the black guy) following Krest's boat (I think that's what it is) and that's the reason he's killed later. Without that scene it's random as to why it happened. And there's about 5 or 6 such KNOWN scenes. Sigh, that movie could have been wonderful.

In order:

FRWL, OHMSS, TSWLM, GE, LTK (haven't seen the new CR yet).

- Spike

[Vaderbait1 1]

They are all great Bond movies, but Casino Royale is the best. It's fantastically directed, the music is great, Craig is convincing as Bond, the action scenes, while unbelievable are believable, if you can understand what I mean. They were insane, but not totally out of the realm of possibility, while maintaining traditional excess in the action department.

[Wycket 36]

After watching all the Bond movies about four years ago I decided that On Her Majesty's Secret Service was my favorite Bond film and my mind hasn't changed yet. Perhaps if Craig can deliver with his next film, perhaps it will cause my love for Casino Royale to take the top spot in my heart.

At least I know that OHMSS' score will never be eclipsed in my mind.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I'm surprised no one is saying GoldenEye. Not only is it my favorite, I think it is one of the best.

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

why dont we have a worst Bond movie/girl poll next? That should be fun too

[ADigitalMan 0]

why dont we have a worst Bond movie/girl poll next? That should be fun too

I'm with JFK. From Russia With Love. For one, it's an actual spy movie.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I'm surprised no one is saying GoldenEye. Not only is it my favorite, I think it is one of the best.

It's good, it's very very good.

But I've always felt that there is something missing, I can't put my finger on it.

[robthehand 3]

But I've always felt that there is something missing, I can't put my finger on it.

A good score?

I really like GoldenEye (the film), but I just don't find it very memorable.

[Hitch 57]

I went with OCTOPUSSY Not a lot of bush in it mind you....not that I'd be interested in such things.

Miss Penelope Smallbone??? What next? Alotta Vagina?

[Lurker 5]

Reportedly on set there was a take where Lois Maxwell referred to her as "Penelope Smallbush".

Neil

[gkgyver 1,645]

why dont we have a worst Bond movie/girl poll next? That should be fun too

Then there's no comparison, it begins and ends with Halleeeee Berry. Closely followed by that bird with the mustache in For Your Eyes Only. Third place makes Lois Maxwell in A View To A Kill, where she looks like a building with teeth.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

But I've always felt that there is something missing, I can't put my finger on it.

A good score?

I really like GoldenEye (the film), but I just don't find it very memorable.

I love the score! I had it years ago when I was little and remembered loving it. However I lost it along with 1,000-some other scores on a plane in Switzerland before I really got into film scores. Just a few months back I finally bought it again, and to my surprise I didn't like it as much as I remembered. The absence of the Bond Theme hurts it significantly, but I love it nonetheless. Serra's middle eastern-synth combination works to perfection for me, but that's coming from a HZ fan. I find it hilarious that all his scores are EXACTLY the same, it's a bad thing but for some reason I enjoy it.

EDIT: I shouldn't say the Bond Theme is absent, it's just drowned out with synth a little too much. My favorite tracks: Overture, Ladies First, A Little Surprise For You, Run Shoot Jump (excellent track! should be much longer), A Pleasant Drive In St. Petersburg, and Dish Out Of Water.

[gkgyver 1,645]

I don't want to deprive you of this hilarious A to Z "review" of Die Another Day:

http://debrief.commanderbond.net/index.php...3&hl=review

[Spikey 0]

I went with OCTOPUSSY Not a lot of bush in it mind you....not that I'd be interested in such things.

Kristina Wayborn? ) (or whatever her real name was)

I'm surprised no one is saying GoldenEye. Not only is it my favorite, I think it is one of the best.

I watched the movies in order over the last 6 months, and TLD was brilliant. LTK was extremely unsatisfying, but I had high hopes for GE. I was incredibly disappointed. Yes, Dame Judi's good, and Pierce isn't awful, but the "Bond girls" (including Moneypenny) all sucked awfully, and Sean Bean is a lousy villain. I read in some review earlier today that "Licence to Kill" is marred by having a "small-time" villain and being dragged down in his plots. I don't agree with that at all, if anything, that's GoldenEye- with the ludicrous big dish thingie. I can't even remember what the plan was, and I watched it only a few months ago.

And of course the music- even John Altman's stuff sucks. Has anyone heard the reorchestrated, but faithful, Prague version of "St. Petersburg"? I'm sorry, that is *fucking boring* to listen to, hardly good action stuff. People bash Kamen's LTK, but geez, GoldenEye has the worst action music (I'm not saying worst score, though it probably is), in a Bond movie.

I say this because I liked the tank sequence but the music is extremely unsatisfying, ironically in TND it's the exact opposite (great music, thoroughly uninspiring movie).

ANYWAY. The main reason GE disappointed me- it suffers from "second half is boring" syndrome. You might recall TSWLM, with the seemingly-never-ending tanker sequence. The second half let down an interesting first. GoldenEye's no different- you set Pierce up as this action guy, a hard-ass, almost as good as Dalton (almost almost), you have all these interesting ideas set in place, you wonder what 's going on..

Yet in the second half we have all these bullshit action sequences, minimal interesting plot and then suddenly we're at the laser dish thingie (I still don't remember), and you're left thinking- where's the Dalton wit, where's the heart-pounding stuff? I feel like taking Brosnan out and putting Bond out of his misery when I see films like GE and TND. Seriously, people bash Roger all the time, but he is so much better than Pierce. PLUS, his movies are actually fun!

People have criticised LTK, for example, for not having enough Bondian elements- but I think that's a strength of the movie. Real spies don't posture in front of the camera when they use a device, they just do it. Brosnan seems to rely on the "Bond image" rather than acting at all well, and he becomes the worst Bond in my eyes because of it. Same goes for TND, the next film- great, great Bondian-sequences. Horrible plot, terrible actors. Net result- deeply unsatisfying movie.

BTW, anyone noticed the shame of the cheesy backstories in movies like TND? Ian Fleming would never have written such drivel.

Worst mistake with GE- killing off the "good bad guys" too early, i.e. Famke Janssen and the general guy. Sean Bean and "Boris" just don't cut the mustard, you know Bond'll kick his ass.

Well.. after letting Serra do Bond music anyway

- Spike

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

I actually hated The Living Daylights. Dalton was charmless as Bond, D'Arbo somehow came across as the weakest Bond girl ever, the villian was boring and the action (especially as it gets towards the end) increasingly stupid.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

In my opinion, D'Abo just lacked the sex appeal a proper Bond girl needed.

[gkgyver 1,645]

She was a natural beauty, a down to earth character, and believable in the role. In other words, a great fit for the film TLD wanted to be (and is).

Same thing with LTK.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I agree with Dennis Nedry.

[Greg1138 3]

In my opinion, D'Abo just lacked the sex appeal a proper Bond girl needed.

That's a neighbour of mine you're talking about

EDIT - Well, the clear winner is there for all to see.....and I really never thought I would see the day when the latest Bond flick was picked above all the rest to be the favourite.....

Given some of the comments here though, methinks it might be worth doing a whoe new set of polls once Bond 22 in released and has had some time to settle in to the consciousness....

Cheers all!!

Greg

[Spikey 0]

I actually hated The Living Daylights. Dalton was charmless as Bond, D'Arbo somehow came across as the weakest Bond girl ever, the villian was boring and the action (especially as it gets towards the end) increasingly stupid.

I agree with some of this, except I like Dalton very much and I don't mind D'Abo. She's OK.

Dalton liked her so much he kept talking about her in the release of LTK.

Villians and action- valid comments, but they don't detract from enjoyment enough to be a bother.

Contrast with GoldenEye, which has identical issues- shitty Bond girls and villians, except Brosnan is worse than Dalton and the action is even more stupid, and the soundtrack is a 0 out of 10 (compared to 8 or more for TLD).

Also, TLD is FUN! People crap on about the coolness of Bond, which is valid- but when I want to see a Bond movie I want to have fun, not just see action (Spy Who Loved Me is a good example of all action and little otherwise, makes for an intensely boring flick). I don't have enough fun with TSWLM, GE, LTK, but I do with flicks like FRWL and TLD. They're better films as well, but the fun factor is important too.

And on Bond girls, Barbara Bach is (was) gorgeous, but damn, she can't act.

But I have to say I agree with you Burga. TLD just 'lost the plot'- literally- about 3/4 of the way through, and it's kinda confusing why. Most later Bond flicks (in my view) feel like the writers lost enthusiasm half way through- the next few films, LTK, GE and TND are more examples. Second halves of those movies suck badly, and I liked most of the first halves of 'em.

One last last thing. GoldenEye's music- WTF?? I listened to some of the CD today and I was baffled at how bad it was, given that I don't remember it being that bad in the movie.

- Spike

[HookFanRH 0]

Well - here goes - it's been a fair while since Casino Royale was released......and some time ago I did a set of polls on the favourite films for each Bond actor and the results were perhaps a little surprising, but nonetheless defintive.......so the question here is simple:

I list here the favourite movie (as voted then) for each Bond, and this time include Casino Royale.......I just want to know which, out of these, is your peronal favourite Bond movie.....i don't want to know which you think is the BEST, I want to know your FAVOURITE......

Greg

Well My PERSONAL FAVORITE Bond is not Listed here, its Die Another Day with Pierce Brosnan as Bond, everything about Die Another Day was awesome, STORY plot, ACTION and SCORE. But since its not listed on here I would have to go with my next Fav Goldeneye. Really Any James Bond Staring Pierce Brosnan is my favorite. I did not consider Casino Royale lived up to its Expectations, the action was good, the actor was good but not good enough in my Opinion for the Bond Role, maybe the next one will be a LOT Better

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Well My PERSONAL FAVORITE Bond is not Listed here, its Die Another Day with Pierce Brosnan as Bond, everything about Die Another Day was awesome, STORY plot, ACTION and SCORE.

Welcome to the messageboard.....

[fommes 153]

My PERSONAL FAVORITE Bond is not Listed here, its Die Another Day

Yes welcome. I'm sure you will fit in.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Die Another Day is worse than Moonraker.

There, I said it.

Only one worse is Octopussy, which wasn't even bad enough to be memorable.

[Lurker 5]

My PERSONAL FAVORITE Bond is not Listed here, its Die Another Day...

If you enjoy that movie you'll love this!

Neil

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I rather enjoy Octopussy, it's exactly average.....

[HookFanRH 0]

Die Another Day is worse than Moonraker.

There, I said it.

Only one worse is Octopussy, which wasn't even bad enough to be memorable.

1. Thats Just What I thought About Moonraker LOL. Would you be refering to just the Bond character, Movie or Both? Curious

2. Yes I Agree

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I rather like Roger Moore's character, though he's actually Roger Moore, not James Bond.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Octopussy is a great, so much better than Never Say Never again, and better than any brosnan bond film which were kaka

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Ignore Joe, he's just a victim of the 1970's!

[HookFanRH 0]

Ignore Joe, he's just a victim of the 1970's!

I Will. LOL

Sorry Joe

Old Habits Die Another Day

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Ignore Joe, he's just a victim of the 1970's!

jealous, imagine walking into the theatre for the first time to see Jaws, and being blown away as it was like nothing ever before it, as all your fears and senses are nearly driven mad in anticipation of whats to come next, and then 2 years later as those magic words scrolled across the screen.

A LONG TIME AGO IN A GALAXY FAR FAR AWAY

STAR WARS

no numbers or subtitle, and to see the blockcade runner fly by followed by the star destroyer, and suddenly you knew that you would never ever look at movies the same again.

6 months later witnessing that we are not alone, and perhaps the greatest end music in any film, unless it was two years later when you believed a man could fly, and his love theme played while the greatest movie credits of all time went by.

Victim, is so let me be a victim again

[Red 75]

That doesn't sound so bad.

[gkgyver 1,645]

Die Another Day was worse than anything Bond produced within 50 years, and that includes David Niven's Casino Royale.

Bond has grey hair when he gets captured (based on the theory heavily armed trucks can drive over land mines), has no grey when released. Apparently, spending a year in a North Korean hellhole removes greying.

Bond has big flabby chests that weren't present before he got captured. If arachnid venom gives you pectorals like that, bring it on!

The Brosnasaurus gives the worst performance of a lifetime, looking incredibly bored, as he's maybe thinking of his better life in an alternate universe, where he remained a B-movie TV star.

He isn't exactly helped by Halle Berry. She turns up in Cuba for no apparent reason. She turns up in Iceland for no apparent reason. She thinks "ornithologist" is a mouthful. Although that reflects the intelligence of our latest, brand new generation, it lowers the film to the level of American Pie.

It could be that she is not really there to look for Zao, but to steal the gene therapy for the USA. Could hzave added an interesting side to her character. Could have been abandoned after it was decided to make it a film uncritical of the Western world after 9/11 ...

Has a cover as astronomer for the single purpose of making yet another sex joke. Character exists for sex jokes and has nothing to do with the plot. Wait, that looks like Moonraker, only that DAD lacks the class, the wit, and the charme of Roger Moore's films.

What could have been a genuine attempt at examining the effect of Bond's torture and descent into a "changed" world, slips into an absurd "face changing" and the usual BrosnanBond film blowing things up because ... they blow up.

The try to have Bond reflect on Frost's death doesn't resonate after two hours of explosions and villains with incredible teeth.

Then the "plot", aka "weak sex puns cobbled together, will this do?". Let me get this straight, as spokesman for the last uncaptured demographic, the lobotomised amoebae; that Mr. Graves keeps rambling on about what we know ourselves "beneath the skin", and we know that he had some connection to the guy in the clinic, and he tried to change his face ... hold on, that means Graves is Moon! And yet it takes 00-Thick some more interminable minutes to find that out.

In those 14 months, he did the following:

- pulled himself out of the water

- presumably walked back through the minefield

- somehow got out of Korea

- who paid for him to go to Cuba and his gene therapy? Does he use the Van Bierk diamonds? How did he retrieve them, considering they were blown all over Aldershot?

- unclear how long gene therapy takes. "some time"

- "Some time" later, Moon apears, being considerably taller, having a fearsome set of teeth

- invents Gustav graves

- somehow, unexplained, sets up Graves Diamonds

- somehow, unexplained, builds an ice palace

- somehow, unexplained, aquires/builds damn huge satellite space laser thing

- somehow, entirely impossible, and Argentinian is knighted

- somehow, entirely impossible, bcomes member of the London Club within 14 months

- James Bond released

The phrase "African Conflict Diamonds" is used ad nauseam, the usual crass attempt to "rip something from the headlines". Ultimately, it only serves to trick the 12 year olds into thinking they are watching something with a realistic backstory that only renders the film more replete with holes. Before brosnanBond pronounces words oddly, and his hispanic friend pronouncing words oddly, and they discover that the diamonds around Zao's neck, that BrosnanBond was ever so fortunate to get ahold of, are (wait for it) African Conflict Diamonds despite being GG gems, did nobody establish this before? Hatton Garden,, Antwerps? Not to mention one couldn't tell the chemical composition of diamonds by looking at them through a big eyeglass.

Lame to the point of crawling across the floor and begging for mercy. Film falls apart.

The British Intelligence is shown to be a bunch of complete morons. Has no sensible checking system for its employees (as an example, maybe checking out where they went to university, and with whom ...). Knows where its best agent is, but does not attempt any sort of rescue operation. Maybe MI6 is sponsored by Phillishave: that beard must grow! Has no idea how much said agent knows about Korean military secrets. Cannot find said agent when "he goes rogue". Employs Cuban sleepers with bad teeth and worse diction.

Has developed a Virtual Reality training system where flimsy virtual objects have substance.

Develops an invisible car, to go with Brosnan's invisible acting. When Cleese walks behind it, his legs go all funny, which means you cannot technically hide behind the car. SO why is Bond able to hide behind it in Iceland? You can be seen through it, just like the whole concept is utterly transparent.

And why does Zao follow Bond into the melting ice palace? Is he insane?

And after the previous Bond films trying to show that MI6 is an operation of hundreds, we're back to the old AVTAK, Octopussy days where British Secret Service consists of three people and James Bond.

It all gets capped off by Moneypenny's character being exploited and put out to the crass by having her crave for James Bond's virtual willy, using the Holodeck fantasy room set beneath the sewers of London (it gets crazier the more one thinks about it).

Doesn't that mean the programmer has included a scenario where the wearer of the specs gets porked by Bond? If that isn't a new reveal for the Q character.

Ultimately, it's nothing more than another compromising element to the Matrix generation.

All Bond films have their bloopers, that's hardly a valid point, but DAD hits it out of the park. It wasn't just another Bond film, it was just another action film, which is a further state of erosion. I don't necessarily dislike the film, I pity it.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Wow, you really put some thought into it!

Not tell us why Casino Royale is sooooooo good!

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

Wow. How many times have you seen Die Another Day, gkgyver?

Ray Barnsbury - who's not sure a crappy Bond film is worth so much thought

[gkgyver 1,645]

How many times have you seen Die Another Day

Way too often.

I've been a Bond fan all my life, and I think it's worth putting so much thought into it because it almost killed the Bond series as a quality product.

And there's tons more you could criticise about DAD. Bond films have always featured larger than life villains, and the Brosnan films followed this line somewhat appropriately. But Mr. Kil? "I am Mr. Kil!" Character ends. He's the one wanting to cut people apart with lasers. Does he have to be there? Does he have to have that name? Oddjob is a pun. Jaws is some sort of pun, a fun idea. But "Mr. Kil"? Good god, why not "Monsieur D'eath" or "Hench-Man"? Just there for the joke, and not a funny one. Character fails, then flails, and pales.

When Bond escapes in that dragster thing, why does he end up on the edge of an extremely high cliff when the Ice Palace just seems to be inches above sea level? Why does he fall off the cliff? Can't he just, well, "turn around"?

Why isn't Zao given anything to do?

The concept of Q and John Cleese doesn't work. I'm not watching Q, I'm watching John Cleese.

And the most annoying thing is the unbelievable pretentious psychoanalysis. James Bond, who previously wouldn't have listened to all the piffle about "defense mechanisms" (in the repertoire Freud moment), who in earlier times would have just shot the silly man, banged the bird and sped off, now tolerates discussions with supervillains who "major in Western hypocrisy" (whatever that's supposed to mean), and who perform psychoanalysis upon him.

The audience doesn't need to be talked down upon like that.

All the BrosnanBond films trumpeted out the same point about James Bond, a point all the other films didn't need to make because it was a. clear from the get go, and b. hinted at subtly.

And, apparently the series knack for exotic outdoor locations was also gone. A hell of alot takes place indoors, which is an achievement, considering it basically shows a beginning war. A lot of people standing around, with only a few other people standing around, snarling at one another, or bedding one another. In a film so determined to be "epic", it ends ... indoors. And the only prolonged sequence of exterior action was the choppy car chase, which then goes ... indoors.

Even Iceland and the ice palace was created in a studio (and a computer). Which is a great improvement over Baku, which, if the mind wasn't playing any tricks, we never saw much of.

Same here. A few people blowing up big sets, and then it ends.

Not to mention that DAD is a *wee* bit racist. South Korea is apparently a colony of the USA and the UK, shared governship, without any recognisable government or army of its own, although they supply neat little gadgets for Bond and bird in the final half hour on board of a CGI plane.

That bit at the end, with the Dench and that American, when they're running around when thing blow up, I suppose this is may be in Korea, I spot some asiatic faces, but appears to be a US airbase (which is apparently the whole of Korea).

Still ... unless that's the implication the film wanted to create. South Korea, globalised nation, brought to you by McDonald's and Starbucks. Hooray for EoN, taking a dispute that created of misery and deprivation, and turning it into a jolly lark about villains with wacky teeth and death rays from space!

Speaking of which .... Blofeld had piranhas, Stromberg had a shark tank, Drax had raging hounds. Graves has ... a glove. Jesus, run, he's getting the glove out!

Initial ideas meeting:

A: Alright, so we have this villain with the duality thing going on, what device or trick can we give him?

B: sharks with laser beams?

A: Uh, no.

B: trained cormorants?

A: I think not.

B: Hmm, a glove?

A: You're kidding me, right?

B: No, wait, this is good. He's got this glove, right

A: Right ...

B: And, it's got a trackball moue on it.

A: Why?

B: So we can say this film is "ripped from the headlines".

A: Go on. Strangely, you interest me.

B: And he uses it to control this death ray from space!

A: Thank god, I though you were going to suggest something really stupid!

But the absence of anything remotely resembling a coherent plot hurts this film more than anything. No twists, no turns, no surprises.

Bond goes somewhere, Bond blows thing up. Bond gets captured. Bond gets released. Bond goes somewhere else. Bond has sex, Bond blows things up. Bond goes somewhere else. Bond has sex, Bond blows things up. Bond goes somewhere else. Bond has no sex (that's the level of plot twist here), Bond blows things up. Bond then has sex. Film ends.

Plus, DAD is largely the Home Shopping Channel with a few steamy scenes and some gruesome deaths. The Bond series was/is a vehicle for MGM's partners to hang promotional work upon. DAD, and all BrosnanBonds gone before, didn't need to tell us anything about James Bond. That's why we got a bland, inoffensive, corporate Starbucks James Bond with little to nothing remaining of the original character. He was an action hero that happened to be called James Bond.

MGM was management consulted, and told that they have to capture all conceivable audiences, so they took their most widely known, longest running asset, shoved it full of bland and rendered it vanilla.

Thank god we have a new kind of Bond now, and so DAD remains "just" a money-making disaster.

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

Okay.

Ray Barnsbury

[Neimoidian 14]

I agree with gkgyver's thesis except the point about John Cleese. He is always a treat and I believe he's a great choice for Llewelyn replacement. After becoming such an icon, Q's characeter shouldn't have been playied by some unknown actor again. At least in the pre Casino Royale type of bond flicks.

Casino has changed the tone of the series, so Q's character - as we knew him - isn't essential any more. Even if he is going to show up in some future episode, then he'll be performed by someone less iconic than Cleese and the whole concept of his gadgets will be more down to Earth, I'm sure..

[pixie_twinkle 48]

DAD is such a mess it's often hard to get past the identity crisis. Having said that I watched it the other day as a part of my new complete set of Bond DVDs (I love the Ultimate Editions!). Yes, it sucks. Yes, the dialogue is more childish than the Carry On films (which I love by the way). Yes, Halle Berry and Pierce Brosnan SUCK in this film. BUT, the final scenes on the plane are a lot of fun. Graves' death is very satisfying. If only it had been the climax of a better film.

DAD: Worst Bond film ever. Least likeable portrayal of Bond ever. Worst script ever. Most irritating Bond girl ever. Blandest, most derivative Bond score ever. Worst double whammy by Madonna ever (acting AND theme song). Most blatant rip-off of Lord Flashhart from Blackadder ever (Graves). Silliest Bond car ever. Nastiest sex scene in a Bond film ever (I don't WANT to see Bond have an orgasm thank you very much).

Second worst appearance of movie title in script ever. "So you live to die another day".

(The worst is still and will always be "What a view." "To a kill.")

What a relief that the film-makers have done a complete about turn with Casino Royale and created a believable Bond "character" again. I can't wait for the sequel. Now if only they'd get Polanski to direct one. Imagine a Bond film directed by Polanski. It could be the ultimate Bond film, with a more spy-thriller feel than action movie. Of course it would have to take place entirely in Europe...