there are a handful of good bond films, but you'd be hard pressed to make a case that any of the films are great, and there are a lot of duds. a lot. - ThreadSky

nberlat.bsky.social • 5 days ago

there are a handful of good bond films, but you'd be hard pressed to make a case that any of the films are great, and there are a lot of duds. a lot.

Reposted from mtsw

one of my favorite running storylines in culture is that people treat JAMES BOND as a franchise full of classic, beloved movies that has only recently lost its way, when the reality is that literally almost every single movie in the history of the franchise sucks.

Comments

nopassaran.bsky.social•5 days ago

Hard to disagree, the modern era films are mostly crap, but the Moore and Connery era duds are good kitschy fun

stud-sterkel.bsky.social•5 days ago

There are a lot of bad ones, but even I have to admit that the Broccoli family has somehow done a good job at holding the franchise at a basic level of quality, even through the ups and downs. People who like film tended to like the James Bond movies for various reasons.

nberlat.bsky.social•5 days ago

there are a couple excellent sean connery films, arguably one good Roger Moore one, one or maaaybe two good craig ones...that's not especially impressive for a 60 odd year old franchise...

nberlat.bsky.social•5 days ago

same thing for the MCU really. it's almost all crap.

nberlat.bsky.social•5 days ago

like, there aren't any bond or mcu films as good as the first two terminator films, really.

the terminator franchise went downhill fast after that, but it did in fact start with two actual classic movies.

cneal290.bsky.social•5 days ago

Same with alien/aliens imo

mapcenter.com•5 days ago

They're pretty ridiculous, over-the-top comic book movies that went hard-boiled and self-serious just like everything else after 9-11. The only way I'd be remotely interested in the franchise's survival is if they went full 1960s Batman.

allegedlyjoel.bsky.social•5 days ago

I remember reading something around the time of maybe the 2nd Craig one, where the writer theorized that Bond was ruined by Austin Powers

mapcenter.com•5 days ago

Maybe? I think it was just time. Everything got a gritty reboot. Bourne Identity, BSG, 24, Dark Knight. Silly things like comic books got serious. Stories evolved out of the genre that made them work.

allegedlyjoel.bsky.social•5 days ago

It was more along the lines of, yeah, everyone is doing it, but "Campy Bond" literally can't come back, because Austin Powers maxxed that genre.

It's like, after watching the Family Guy Star Wars episode, when I watch a New Hope I'm constantly remembering the parody FG did in each scene

allegedlyjoel.bsky.social•5 days ago

Not certain I agree, but not certain I disagree, either. It's a fun thought to bounce around though

rakhanreturns.bsky.social•5 days ago

This kind of gets at the issue with Bond in particular and something that a lot of people noticed with early MCU and their color work - what makes a film good? Is it the same criteria for Bond?

When you hear the creators of Bond movies talk they have specific ideas in mind about how to progress /1

rakhanreturns.bsky.social•5 days ago

Not that this is really what you were getting at, but as a personal gripe

Man, Pierce Brosnan got absolutely *shafted* by his films

rakhanreturns.bsky.social•5 days ago

There's an interesting question here - "what if Lazenby was a good actor?" Despite being silly as a whole, OHMSS has a lot going for it *as a story.* it scans as "story by numbers" in a way but it also provokes thoughts about who James Bond *is*

rakhanreturns.bsky.social•5 days ago

Connery is almost entirely a vibes character - if there weren't any good movies or smash hits under his belt I doubt the franchise would have continued.

rakhanreturns.bsky.social•5 days ago

And in a sense that's part of what made Dalton's and Craig's runs interesting - the question being "where's the interest in a story about this government assassin?" That the tonal shift occurred after Moore was as much a continuation of why Moore was even brought on

rakhanreturns.bsky.social•5 days ago

If you ever watch the people who made Tomorrow Never Die talk about it, they'll say "how do we top the GoldenEye tank chase" and that's how the motorcycle chase came about. What's wild is that this logic is *also* how the Die Another Day chases came to be and ...they're fun in a way but not good!

nberlat.bsky.social•5 days ago

yes; very insular filmmaking, where the creators pretty deliberately seem to...not think about anything other than other bond movies.

filmsonwax.bsky.social•5 days ago

Arguably though, that logic is inbuilt into Bond movies with the opening sequences.

rakhanreturns.bsky.social•5 days ago

So that's an interesting point! Consider FRWL and Goldfinger. Did you notice that they're micro versions of the main story? I think it's fair to consider them as appetizer courses in a fil meal and I suspect the creators *intended* that, given Bond's (and likely their own) proclivities

rakhanreturns.bsky.social•5 days ago

film*

cruiseshipdrummer.bsky.social•5 days ago

I'll watch the timothy dalton ones because he's awesome, plus MWTGG, TSWLM, LALD. I'll watch Goldfinger again some day, the rest, IDGAS. Maybe Moon Raker for Michael Lonsdale. They're all trash.

arigoldblatt.bsky.social•5 days ago

From Russia with Love and Casino Royale are the only two “great” movies imo, desperate their shortcomings.

nberlat.bsky.social•5 days ago

I really like casino royale...but it's just too long.

arigoldblatt.bsky.social•5 days ago

You could tighten the last 40 minutes to maybe 10 and come away with a stronger movie, but I think part of its greatness is its willingness to treat itself seriously without being explicitly camp.

wendelschwab.bsky.social•5 days ago

There's one good Pierce Brosnan movie, Goldeneye.

I, personally, only like Skyfall during Daniel Craig's run.

But I grew up watching these movies at my grandparents' house, same with classic Doctor Who, so there's a nostalgia factor for me.

wendelschwab.bsky.social•5 days ago

But, even when the movies sucked, they often had fun and interesting set pieces or locations, such as the underwater base in The Spy Who Loved Me or the hollowed out mountain base that gets raided in a really cool set piece in You Only Live Twice.

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