(007) Favorite Gunbarrel

[TheBondFan]

Hello,

Each Bond movie starts (or ends) with a Gunbarrel.

Which one is your favorite ? You can judge: the walk, the stance, the turn, the music, and the look of the gun barrel itself.

--> The gunbarrel of No Time To Die is currently unknown. However, we already have the music:

[Show spoiler]

Gun Barrel (From ''No Time To Die'' Soundtrack) - YouTube

Can a mod merge thread to the poll section please ?

[zen007]

From the top of the mind recall, OHMSS … It has both energy and style, along with an excellent score … Appears unique among gun barrel sequences

LALD, OP, etc., have a good score too but the 007 style is relatively common … IIRC, Connery did his 1st gun barrel sequence in TB

[Bugg]

All James Bond Gunbarrels (1962-2015) - YouTube

[Winslow Leach]

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

[Rzzzz]

Dr. No. It set the standard...

[Bugg]

I like the computer beeps leading into Dr. No, and it was the first one. Otherwise I don't really see enough difference in them.

[TheBondFan]

Originally Posted by Bugg

I like the computer beeps leading into Dr. No, and it was the first one. Otherwise I don't really see enough difference in them.

Compare Casino Royale and Die Another Day for example. Only 4 years, but what a difference.

[zen007]

In my book, when ppl talk about gun barrel, they are usually referring to the “usual” ones before the pre title sequence that started from FRWL … First gun barrel sequence done by a Bond actor is TB.

DRNO, CR, etc., have no gun barrel sequence in the traditional sense.

[captainsolo]

This is one of those impossible questions I routinely ask myself. As a Bond fanatic to simply pick just one is excruciatingly difficult. Music would have to count as the cue is crucial. It also differentiates between films where the same footage was reused. For example in the original 20 films there were only 7 gunbarrels. John Barry knew the importance of setting the tone of the film with the gunbarrel music itself which is the rule all others must follow.

The original Bob Simmons barrel is the iconic one. Connery's go round is great and keeps the fedora. OHMSS is a standalone with the music cue and Lazenby's kneeling setting it apart, Roger's first barrel is spherical and non-tuxedo but wonderfully in your face, his second tuxedo clad scope barrel is effortless. Dalton's is the classic and absolutely perfect with John Barry making the perfected cue on TLD but Michael Kamen gets a strident dangerous tone in LTK. Brosnan had the confidence down and his most effective is GE with the Eric Serra rendering of the Bond theme.
My own ranking would probably look like this but I'd probably change it every two seconds:
DN
GF
LALD
TLD
TB
OHMSS
FRWL
TSWLM
FYEO
TMWTGG
MR
YOLT
DAF
LTK
AVTAK
OP
GE
TWINE
TND
DAD

[TheBondFan]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

This is one of those impossible questions I routinely ask myself. As a Bond fanatic to simply pick just one is excruciatingly difficult. Music would have to count as the cue is crucial. It also differentiates between films where the same footage was reused. For example in the original 20 films there were only 7 gunbarrels. John Barry knew the importance of setting the tone of the film with the gunbarrel music itself which is the rule all others must follow.

The original Bob Simmons barrel is the iconic one. Connery's go round is great and keeps the fedora. OHMSS is a standalone with the music cue and Lazenby's kneeling setting it apart, Roger's first barrel is spherical and non-tuxedo but wonderfully in your face, his second tuxedo clad scope barrel is effortless. Dalton's is the classic and absolutely perfect with John Barry making the perfected cue on TLD but Michael Kamen gets a strident dangerous tone in LTK. Brosnan had the confidence down and his most effective is GE with the Eric Serra rendering of the Bond theme.
My own ranking would probably look like this but I'd probably change it every two seconds:
DN
GF
LALD
TLD
TB
OHMSS
FRWL
TSWLM
FYEO
TMWTGG
MR
YOLT
DAF
LTK
AVTAK
OP
GE
TWINE
TND
DAD

What about Craig movies ?

[trevanian]

I think I like the wild unused TLD gunbarrel, the one where Dalton leaps and shoots.

I used to obsess over the gunbarrels, because so many of them are bad (Moore's tux one seems to have him moving in slow-motion, and even the film version Daltons seem a little slow to me), but after the QUANTUM cave-man walk one, which looks speed-ramped, I realized this problem is getting worse, not better.

[trevanian]

Originally Posted by zen007

From the top of the mind recall, OHMSS … It has both energy and style, along with an excellent score … Appears unique among gun barrel sequences

The thing that always messed me up about the OHMSS one is that the score seems to have Lazenby coming out several seconds and many beats too late, as the fanfare has already started by the time we see him, instead of after the gunshot. I don't know if that was just an attempt to make things more suspenseful or just an ill-considered change of pace, but I actually skip the gunbarrel on that one, though the rest of Barry's work on the film is definitely near the top of my list of his Bonds.

[DR Herbert West]

Dr. No

[XanderAE]

For Your Eyes Only - it’s so funky!

[Messana]

TND. Modern take on the gunbarrel with classic Bond theme. No gimmicks.

[Krynoid-Man]

Probably Live and Let Die. I really love the version of the Bond theme in that one.

[RCRochester]

For me, it's all about the music.

I prefer the sequences that start out with the striking "da-da-dum, da-da-dum" notes, rather than ones like The Spy Who Love me that just begin with the first few bars of the Bond theme. My favourite though is probably Licence To Kill, because of the drum beats of Michael Kamen's score, it really gets the blood pumping for the film.

As to the actual sequences themselves, the Lazenby one in OHMSS is interesting. Although it has a weird "treadmill" effect, it's also the only one where Bond gets down on one knee to shoot, which sort of foreshadows what happens later in the film.

The absolute worst is Die Another Day with that idiotic CGI bullet.

[Hindustani]

LICENSE TO KILL = GOLDENEYE

LTK probably edges out GE. Too Close to Call.

DRNO, FRWL, GF are too corny and amateurish. Its like someone is shoving JB forward to go for kill shot.

THUNDERBALL is where it turns truly pro, means business. irony also, JB shooting into gun barrel which opens into casket titled JB. so interesting.

LTK has that incredible music. Probably the best of the lot.
GOLDENEYE has that perfect music and best SFX.