We were discussing the James Bond film franchise in another thread. I thought it would be appropriate to start a dedicated thread here.
I've been a fan of the films since I was a kid, and have read a few of Ian Fleming's orginal novels when I was a teenager. Haven't gotten around to reading any of the John Gardner novels though. Believe me, there's a huge difference between Fleming's books and the movies. That's not really a bad thing in my never to be humble opinion.
Since most people are more familiar with the films I'll stick to them for this post.
Sean Connery of course is the actor most associated with Bond. He set the (some would say impossibly high) standard. I really liked Connery's portrayal of Bond. If you're going to be typecast then this is the role.
George Lazenby gets a pretty bad rap for his one outing as Bond. I suppose he could have grown into the role, but it should be remembered that he had very little acting experience at the time. On Her Majesty's Secret Service is a very important Bond film it's own right because Bond finally married, and then was widowed.
Roger Moore brought a less serious tone to the role I thought. He was capable of returning the series to it's action roots as wonderfully demonstrated in the Paris, France sequence of A View to a Kill and in a pure espionage role in For Your Eyes Only (which had some fantastic action sequences). FYEO was also probably closer to the spirit of the original novels than any of the later films.
Personally, I also really liked Timothy Dalton. He acted more like the Ian Fleming Bond, much more cold-blooded and cynical, yet he could toss off Roger Moore style one-liners with equal ease. The Living Daylights, his first outing as Bond is my second favorite film. The sequence of Bond and Kara's escape in the Aston-Martin is one of the best in the film series. This movie also contains the funniest Q Branch scene when they test the "Ghetto Blaster".
And there's a Harrier S/VTOL jet...a very cool piece of technology.
But now to the best: Goldfinger.
Goldfinger is the perfect James Bond movie. I could watch it over and over.
Connery is Bond, and Gert Frobe doing a "Grand Slam" job as Auric Goldfinger. Tilly Masterson driving a brand new Mustang (yum), but using an AR-7 to try to kill Goldfinger!? Come on honey, get yourself a real rifle!
Love the tricked out Aston Martin. They really wimped out going with BMW later in the series.
This film set up the formula that most of the later films followed: an action-oriented prequel, famous theme song, M giving him the mission and the Q branch scenes, followed by globehopping supense and climaxed by Bond defeating the big bad while the military mops up the henchmen.
I thought Oddjob was a very effective villan. Much more menacing and dangerous than Eeegah, uh, Jaws who was humanized and then turned.
Now, let's talk about Honor Blackman and her Flying Circus. The ultimate verbal exchange of the whole series takes place in this movie after Bond regains consciousness on Goldfinger's plane as they fly back to America.
Galore: My name is Pussy Galore.
Bond: (slight smirk) I must be dreaming.
Major props for getting Blackman's character's name past the censors. Her female pilots are all quite delectable with their tight jumpsuits and bullet bras.
I also loved the scene where Goldfinger explains his plans to the mob honchos. His villain character was probably the most well developed of any in the series, even moreso than Blofeld. Goldfinger is a showman at heart and his presentation, maps and models were a great way for him to dive into that part of his psyche.
Lastly, there's a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in the movie. How could you not love a movie that features KFC?
For pure escapist fantasy though I prefer The Spy Who Loved Me or You Only Live Twice. Implausible, over-the-top but great, great fun.
Now, which Bond girl? Well, it's tough to beat Ursula Andress, the very first Bond girl who played "Honey Ryder" (gotta love the names they gave these girls) in Dr. No. I also liked Talisa Soto, Lupe Lamora, from License to Kill. And of course, Teri Hatcher and Michelle Yeoh from Tomorrow Never Dies. Each girl in each film is "the one" in her own right, so it's difficult to choose, especially when you also have Diana Rigg, Jane Seymour, and Myriam D'Abo in the other films.
More later...
DP
