ShogunRua wrote:I wouldn't even say there is a "Bond girl" in Skyfall.
I was pleasantly surprised by Sf, but it irked me that all the women were completely forgettable (The Dench aside). Maybe they think the femme fatale is outmoded; or that there isn't enough time to develop a character properly. Fuck knows.
Not that gender is really the issue: having forgettable characters is the gripe. A memorable sausage-fest would be fine. I haven't seen Spectre - perhaps they did a better job of it there.
ShogunRua wrote:I wouldn't even say there is a "Bond girl" in Skyfall.
Yeah I actually debated Moneypenny. I always think that if someone has less screen time then they should've then that means that everyone on set hated him/her. Ever since hearing that's why Michelle Rodriguez was killed so soon in Lost that has always stuck in my head.
ShogunRua wrote: As for Javier Bardem, he did his best to turn chicken shit into chicken salad. He mostly succeeded. The character of Silva, as written in the script, is one of the dumbest, lamest, and most nonsensical villains in any Bond movie, Gustav Graves and Renard included.
The difference between a great Bond villain and a bad one can simply be just the performance or how threatening the guy is. My top 3 villains are all accomplished actors and all added another dimension to their characters. If you look at Elliot Carver how much better would that villain have been if you were just slightly intimidated by him? Bardem's character was ridiculous, but I expect Bond villains to be ridiculous and his performance really elevated it.
1. Goldfinger 2. Goldeneye 3. From Russia With Love 4. A View to a Kill 5. Live and Let Die 6. Thunderball 7. Never Say Never Again 8. For Your Eyes Only 9. Skyfall 10. Dr. No 11. You Only Live Twice 12. The Man With the Golden Gun 13. Moonraker 14. Tomorrow Never Dies 15. Octopussy 16. On Her Majesty's Secret Service 17. Diamonds are Forever 18. The Spy Who Loved Me 19. Spectre 20. Quantum of Solace 21. The Living Daylights 22. Casino Royale 23. Licence To Kill 24. The World Is Not Enough 25. Die Another Day
Villains:
1. Max Zorin (A View to a Kill) 2. Alec Trevelyan (Goldeneye) 3. Scaramanga (The Man With the Golden Gun) 4. Jaws (The Spy Who Loved Me & Moonraker) 5. OddJob (Goldfinger) 6. Goldfinger (Goldfinger) 7. Stromberg (The Spy Who Loved Me) 8. Silva (Skyfall) 9. Largo (Never Say Never Again) 10. Donald "Red" Grant (From Russia With Love) 11. Largo (Thunderball) 12. Dr. No (Dr. No) 13. Blofeld (Spectre) 14. Franz Sanchez (Licence To Kill) 15. Kristatos (For Your Eyes Only) 16. Blofeld (You Only Live Twice) 17. Hugo Drax (Moonraker) 18. Dominic Greene (Quantum of Solace) 19. Elliot Carver (Tomorrow Never Dies) 20. Kamal (Octopussy) 21. Blofeld (Diamonds are Forever) 22. Kananga (Live and Let Die) 23. Blofeld (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) 24. Le Chiffre (Casino Royale) 25. Renard (The World is Not Enough) 26. Koskov/Whitaker (The Living Daylights) 27. Gustav Graves (Die Another Day)
Girls:
1. Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress in Dr. No) 2. Tiffany Case (Jill St. John in Diamonds are Forever) 3. Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco in Goldeneye) 4. Camille (Olga Kurylenko in Quantum of Solace) 5. Goodnight (Britt Ekland in The Man with the Golden Gun) 6. Domino (Claudine Auger in Thunderball) 7. Pam Bouvier (Carey Lowell in Licence To Kill) 8. Stacey Sutton (Tanya Roberts in A View to a Kill) 9. Christmas Jones (Denise Richards in The World is Not Enough) 10. Domino (Kim Basinger in Never Say Never Again) 11. Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi in From Russia With Love) 12. Severine (BéréniceMarlohe in Skyfall) 13. Solitare (Jane Seymour in Live and Let Die) 14. Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman in Goldfinger) 15. Kissy (Mie Hama in You Only Live Twice) 16. Octopussy (Maud Adams in Octopussy) 17. Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet in For Your Eyes Only) 18. Dr. Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux in Spectre) 19. Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles in Moonraker) 20. Vesper Lynd (Eva Green in Casino Royale) 21. Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh in Tomorrow Never Dies) 22. Agent XXX (Barbara Bach in The Spy Who Loved Me) 23. Kara Milovy (Maryam d'Abo in The Living Daylights) 24. Tracy (Diana Rigg in On Her Majesty's Secret Service) 25. Jinx Johnson (Halle Berry in Die Another Day)
Pickpocket wrote:Skyfall is the movie people think Casino Royale is.
I agree 100%, Skyfall was everything that I wanted in a gritty James Bond reboot and never got in Casino Royale. Also, you're still missing a Bond film. Are we not counting the dreadful Casino Royale from 1967?
Pickpocket wrote:Skyfall is the movie people think Casino Royale is.
I agree 100%, Skyfall was everything that I wanted in a gritty James Bond reboot and never got in Casino Royale. Also, you're still missing a Bond film. Are we not counting the dreadful Casino Royale from 1967?
It's a satire/spoof, although definitely worth watching for the bizarre spectacle.
01 - Licence to Kill 02 - On Her Majesty's Secret Service 03 - From Russia with Love 04 - The Living Daylights 05 - For Your Eyes Only 06 - The Spy Who Loved Me 07 - A View to a Kill 08 - You Only Live Twice 09 - The World Is Not Enough 10 - Octopussy 11 - Casino Royale 12 - Skyfall 13 - Moonraker 14 - GoldenEye 15 - Live and Let Die 16 - Goldfinger 17 - Diamonds Are Forever 18 - Dr. No 19 - Die Another Day 20 - Tomorrow Never Dies 21 - The Man With the Golden Gun 22 - Thunderball 23 - Quantum of Solace
I wrote the second post in this long-lived topic. Sadly, one can't quote posts anymore, but it's not hard to find.
How has my opinion changed now, 7.5 years later and having watched Skyfall?
For one, I would probably lower A View to a Kill a little. I still think it's good and underrated, but some of the action scenes are a lot duller and more mailed-in than I remembered.
While I don't hate License to Kill as much as I did above, I don't think its placement would go up at all. It's a below-average, completely generic 80's action movie, complete with big explosions and even a barroom brawl. Nothing remotely James Bond about it.
I would SEVERELY downgrade the other Dalton, The Living Daylights, though. The film is a real mess, with the most forgettable villains of the series, a lousy conclusion, and while not completely Bond-less, still more of a generic 80's action movie than anything.
I would drop it from 12th to arguably 18th, below Octopussy.
Speaking of which, I need to rewatch the whole thing, but I think I really underrated Octopussy. It's a lot more fun and eclectic than I remembered, even after the first 45 minutes, with some nice set-pieces and locales. It's not a completely successful attempt to clone Bond hits like Moonraker and The Spy Who Loved Me, but far from a failure, too.
As for Skyfall, the more time that has passed since I watched, the less I like it. I would probably put it 17th, just below Tomorrow Never Dies and ahead of Never Say Never Again, and not even feel great about rating it there.
Here's a question for everybody. Is it a worthwhile exercise to go through and watch all of them? I think I've seen all the Bond movies that came out since I was old enough to see them (i.e., all the Brosnan and Craig films) and then a few of the Connery installments. I've mostly enjoyed them, but haven't been blown away. I guess my question is more specifically, is the whole better than the sum of its parts? Or would one be better served just sticking to the better installments and ignoring the weaker entries?