James Bond: The Ultimate Collection (1962-2012) + Volume Collections

[jonam]

The problem with Goldeneye could be the pacing and the tone, which fluctuates from wanting to be serious and then throwing in a gag. It's still a competent Bond movie with an unusual score.

[jonam]

Looking through my Bond collection I've come to the conclusion that the Daniel Craig movies and The Spy Who Loved Me, Never Say Never Again have the best transfers. The others were great when I first saw them over 10 years ago but now it's not too difficult to notice all the added frozen grain. Hopefully for the 4K release they will transfer from the OCN and leave them more organic.

[critterdvd]

Originally Posted by Galactus123

I also watched the Timothy Dalton movies for the first time. The Living Daylights is probably one of the best movies in the series. Definitely in the top 10. Both had great action scenes. Now I have seen all the Bond movies.

Every time I decide to do a Bond Marathon I usually burn out before getting to Dalton, and the more I think about it, I probably haven't seen either of his entries since I was in my early teens. I'm tempted to give them a spin this weekend now...

[imsounoriginal]

Dalton's movies have both aged well. Licence to Kill is still a top five Bond IMHO.

[GuruAskew]

The 80s weren’t kind to Bond. John Glen directed all 5 and he was a bland yes-man of a director. They all have a cheap Cannon Films vibe too. Dalton is in the best (TLD is the least-Cannon of all of them) and worst of the 80s Bond films. I’d go so far as to say LTK is the worst of all the Bond films. It’s 100% pure cheese but unlike Moonraker failing to emulate Star Wars and Close Encounters LTK fails to emulate the modern action movie which already is the series own genre. With LTK EON was a soon-to-be-extinct animal failing to adapt. It effectively killed the franchise and easily could have been the last whimper of a Bond movie.

You can criticize the Brosnan movies until you’re blue in the face but at least they aren’t B-movies like the 80s/Glen films.

[kwisatzhaderach]

Originally Posted by Galactus123

I also watched the Timothy Dalton movies for the first time. The Living Daylights is probably one of the best movies in the series. Definitely in the top 10. Both had great action scenes. Now I have seen all the Bond movies.

The Living Daylights is my favourite Bond film. The Barry score is sensational, even by his standards.

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by GuruAskew

The 80s weren’t kind to Bond. John Glen directed all 5 and he was a bland yes-man of a director. They all have a cheap Cannon Films vibe too. Dalton is in the best (TLD is the least-Cannon of all of them) and worst of the 80s Bond films. I’d go so far as to say LTK is the worst of all the Bond films. It’s 100% pure cheese but unlike Moonraker failing to emulate Star Wars and Close Encounters LTK fails to emulate the modern action movie which already is the series own genre. With LTK EON was a soon-to-be-extinct animal failing to adapt. It effectively killed the franchise and easily could have been the last whimper of a Bond movie.

EDIT: Weird. My gif disappeared. Anyways, all of the above is rubbish. That's all.

[MJD64]

Originally Posted by kwisatzhaderach

The Living Daylights is my favourite Bond film. The Barry score is sensational, even by his standards.

I saw it twice theatrically in 1987 and THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS is easily my favorite 80s Bond film. Dalton makes such an impressive debut, and like many on these Bond threads I think it's a real shame he wasn't able to continue in the role (or at least start earlier when Roger Moore was clearly past his prime). Also agree on the John Barry score, which has a truly lovely romantic theme - a fitting swan song for the legendary composer who did so much to make this series as iconic as it is.

[Platitude]

Next Bond movie title revealed to be 'No Time To Die', very old school feeling.

https://variety.com/2019/film/news/b...ed-1203307527/

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by jonam

No way. Die Another Day is the worst Bond movie full stop. Never seen such trite. And this is coming from a major Bond fan. Atrocious special effects which are a disgrace to the Bond lore considering how most of the stunts were done for real back in the day.

So disappointed when I saw it in the theatres back in 2002 and to think it was the movie that celebrated the 40th Anniversary. Three of the other Bonds attended the Royal Premiere too. I wonder what Dalton was thinking?

Sad that Brosnan had to finish his tenure with this dud.

I just don't know why they did not keep Will Yun Lee as Colonel Moon as the central villain instead of resorting to all that DNA nonsense.

I don't disagree that Die Another Day is a dud, and one of the worst in the series but I always have to speak up when people talk about how atrocious the special effects were. Yes, the CGI used for Halle Berry's dive and the parasailing on the ice floes are horrible, but there are a lot of other great effects and stunts in the film, and those bad examples of CGI are no worse than seeing obvious sped-up back projection in the [Oscar winning] Thunderball or the stupid AF scene of Kananga blowing up like a balloon in Live And Let Die.

Originally Posted by GuruAskew

The 80s weren’t kind to Bond. John Glen directed all 5 and he was a bland yes-man of a director. They all have a cheap Cannon Films vibe too. Dalton is in the best (TLD is the least-Cannon of all of them) and worst of the 80s Bond films. I’d go so far as to say LTK is the worst of all the Bond films. It’s 100% pure cheese but unlike Moonraker failing to emulate Star Wars and Close Encounters LTK fails to emulate the modern action movie which already is the series own genre. With LTK EON was a soon-to-be-extinct animal failing to adapt. It effectively killed the franchise and easily could have been the last whimper of a Bond movie.

You can criticize the Brosnan movies until you’re blue in the face but at least they aren’t B-movies like the 80s/Glen films.

The only Glen directed film that I would objectively consider to be bad is AVTAK. The rest are great. And that includes Octopussy (cornball Tarzan jokes and the like aside). I'll agree that the 80s were challenging for the series because action movies caught up to them and surpassed them with R-rated stuff like Rambo, Predator, Lethal Weapon, etc. but I think the Dalton films especially were great then and still are now.

And I'm sorry, I respect your right to express your opinion, but nothing makes me laugh out loud more these days then when someone critiques a movie as "100% pure cheese".

[GuruAskew]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

And I'm sorry, I respect your right to express your opinion, but nothing makes me laugh out loud more these days then when someone critiques a movie as "100% pure cheese".

What a devastating insult! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to show my face around here after that one. I’m doubled over in physical pain as a result.

Seriously though, literally every component of it is cheap and cheesy. It’s all horribly dated. Acting, direction, writing, production design, stunts, music, you name it. It fails on every level, and those failures are humorous 80s failures. It’s like a McBain movie.

[Vertigo2010]

No time like the present...welcome back Mr Bond.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by GuruAskew

What a devastating insult! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to show my face around here after that one. I’m doubled over in physical pain as a result.

Seriously though, literally every component of it is cheap and cheesy. It’s all horribly dated. Acting, direction, writing, production design, stunts, music, you name it. It fails on every level, and those failures are humorous 80s failures. It’s like a McBain movie.

So it's from the 80s and dated.

Live and Let Die is pretty dated too. And The Spy Who Loved Me. A lot of other 80s action movies are dated as well. The music for LTK is by Michael Kamen and it sounds the same as his other scores of that era from Lethal Weapon to Road House. I guess that makes their music horribly dated.

[GuruAskew]

Almost all creative works are easily identifiable as being of their time. The 60s and 70s Bond films seem very 60s and 70s. That wasn’t detrimental to those movies. They weren’t trying to be 60s or 70s movies. There is a desperate and inelegant quality of the 80s Bond movies that amplified the inherent tackiness of all things 80s. Unsuccessfully emulating the new stuff is a double-fail compared to assuredly doing your own thing. If modern Bond could be traced back to LTK then I wouldn’t consider it dated but as a disastrous disappointment that killed the series for 6 years and caused a massive course-correction that has given the series 25 years of success after LTK comes off as a regrettable relic of years past.

As for Kamen’s score? Saying it was standard Kamen isn’t exactly a compliment. It certainly wasn’t Die Hard, and even if he’d delivered another Die Hard Bond still isn’t Die Hard. The same goes for the Conti score on FYEO.

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

So it's from the 80s and dated.

Live and Let Die is pretty dated too. And The Spy Who Loved Me. A lot of other 80s action movies are dated as well. The music for LTK is by Michael Kamen and it sounds the same as his other scores of that era from Lethal Weapon to Road House. I guess that makes their music horribly dated.

With 80’s nostalgia being not only noticeably, but robustly, evident on this site I’m tempted to deduce that the poster you are responding to is being just a bit too obviously contrary, ergo trolling. I won’t play into this and somehow appease his warped intentions, but for anyone else here who hasn’t yet seen the Dalton films, please don’t let this apparent sham posting discourage you in anyway.

As an old Bondphile who grew up when new Fleming novels were still being released and the early Connery films were fresh, Dalton’s approach was a dream come true. Up to that point he was the only actor in the role who knew the original Fleming novels backwards and forwards as well as the only classically trained actor to ever interpret the character. His respect for the roots of Bond resulted in creative decisions that so impressed the producers and director that he was allowed a freedom no other Bond actor had prior to then. John Glen’s direction may not be as ostentatious as some would like, but he was definitely up to the challenges Dalton presented and both films are wonderfully executed by all involved.

Anyone who has any knowledge of Fleming’s original creation and conception would be hard pressed to prefer any of the Moore or Brosnan entries above the Daltons. Connery was so perfect in the early films that Fleming himself actually tailored the character in the subsequent books to resemble him. Moore had his moments and his films are often very entertaining. Brosnan started out very effectively, but was then let down with each subsequent effort, all the way up to his last which is unequivocally the WORST in the series history. Craig is brilliant, but Dalton was there first as the serious literary Bond and deserves all the credit he can get. So if there any Bond newcomers reading this thread, give Dalton a fair chance and don’t feed the trolls!

[Dailyan]

A film, TV show, or even a video game being “cheesy”/“dated” has never stopped me from watching nor enjoying it.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by GuruAskew

Almost all creative works are easily identifiable as being of their time. The 60s and 70s Bond films seem very 60s and 70s. That wasn’t detrimental to those movies. They weren’t trying to be 60s or 70s movies. There is a desperate and inelegant quality of the 80s Bond movies that amplified the inherent tackiness of all things 80s.

Live And Let Die aping blaxploitation tropes... The Spy Who Loved Me with its disco influenced score... I don't know how the 80s Bonds are "trying" to be 80s films any more than these are trying to be 70s films.

Originally Posted by GuruAskew

Unsuccessfully emulating the new stuff is a double-fail compared to assuredly doing your own thing. If modern Bond could be traced back to LTK then I wouldn’t consider it dated but as a disastrous disappointment that killed the series for 6 years and caused a massive course-correction that has given the series 25 years of success after LTK comes off as a regrettable relic of years past.

You say a lot here but nothing of any real substance. I will point out that the six-year absence of the Bond series following LTK had nothing to do with its success or failure, it was due to a lawsuit between the studio and the production company, so it's erroneous to suggest that it "killed the series for 6 years".

[GuruAskew]

Oh, boy, here we go with the “Dalton is Fleming’s Bond” stuff. I almost called that out earlier but spaced it. It’s the Dalton apologist’s go-to.

Another thing I spaced: another component of “dated” is making bad choices that become detrimental in hindsight. You can watch lots of 80s movies and think people look good, attractive, cool, fashionable etc. and you can also have those “yikes” moments and LTK is one of those movies where they went with the “yikes” stuff every time.

[dallywhitty]

Originally Posted by GuruAskew

Another thing I spaced: another component of “dated” is making bad choices that become detrimental in hindsight. You can watch lots of 80s movies and think people look good, attractive, cool, fashionable etc. and you can also have those “yikes” moments and LTK is one of those movies where they went with the “yikes” stuff every time.

Licence to Kill is top-tier Bond. Wash your mouth out with soap!

[GuruAskew]

License to Kill isn’t top-tier anything. Releasing LTK a year after Die Hard and two years after Lethal Weapon was a public humiliation.

Again, the entire decade was rough on the series. The beginning of the blockbuster era in the 70s really started it but by the time the 80s came around the Bond series was truly hurting.