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

[Dreamliner330]

The Man with the Golden Gun was very good. Honestly, it would have been excellent without the incredibly stupid comedy bits.

I also really liked the theme song/soundtrack.

[foxends]

Is it just me or are some of the covers for the single releases slightly skewed? I love having actual photos but some of them look like the image has been stretched horizontally... like Mr. Brosnan's face which looks especially stretched. And compare the airbrushing done on Daniel Craig's face to the film screenshot! I understand this is a common practice though, so maybe I'm being too picky, but still...

[misterweiss]

Originally Posted by foxends

Is it just me or are some of the covers for the single releases slightly skewed? I love having actual photos but some of them look like the image has been stretched horizontally... like Mr. Brosnan's face which looks especially stretched. And compare the airbrushing done on Daniel Craig's face to the film screenshot! I understand this is a common practice though, so maybe I'm being too picky, but still...

No it's not just you, some of those are "scrunched" a bit. It's like when people watch SD TV or DVDs in the widescreen mode...drives me nuts. Everyone looks shortened like South Park people, and car tires are egg shaped, rather than being round. Live with the black bars on the sides or shut the damn thing off. But in print like this, sometimes it's done to keep certain parts of the image in the allotted space. These new covers are no great shakes. And they printed that picture from Goldfinger (you know the one, with Connery touching the dead girl's gold back on the bed) backwards. You tell me if you EVER saw Connery's Bond with his hair parted on the right. This is how it's supposed to look:



Not sure why they flipped it on the new BD release, unless it was simply to have space for the logo in the top left:

[Dreamliner330]

Just finished The Spy Who Loved Me.

Meh. It was okay. Not great, but not bad. Nothing was overly memorable. The 'best' Russian spy was hardly better than a damsel in distress and the main villain was lame.

I liked The Man with the Golden Gun better. Even though I didn't like the comedic elements, TMWTGG had a better story.

[Indiana Jonezzz...]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner330

Just finished The Spy Who Loved Me.

Meh. It was okay. Not great, but not bad. Nothing was overly memorable. The 'best' Russian spy was hardly better than a damsel in distress and the main villain was lame.

I liked The Man with the Golden Gun better. Even though I didn't like the comedic elements, TMWTGG had a better story.

It's interesting that you enjoyed TMWTGG so much more as it's generally not very well liked, yet the TSWLM is normally considered one of the best, with a lot of iconic moments. I love TMWTGG though, never understood the dislike for it!

If you didn't like the comedy elements, I think you might find some of Moonraker a little...difficult. It's a really good film otherwise, with a crazy villain plot. The comedy parts you can disregard if you really hate them as they are generally superfluous to the story. I like them though, you can just laugh and wonder what they were thinking at the time when they made it. I envy that you get to watch the the gondola/pigeon scene for the first time ! Not sure SPECTRE will have anything to top that!

[misterweiss]

I too have been going through the whole Bond collection, in order. I had them on DVD and a couple of them on BD, but now I've got the set. I watched TMWTGG last night. Christopher Lee was great in it. I saw all of the Bond movies in the theaters in real time, as they came out, from YOLT onward, but I was only 9 then, my dad was a Bond fan.

None of my previous impressions have changed, really, except for OHMSS which I now appreciate a lot more. While I love Roger Moore, many of the films from his era got pretty camp. But watching him at the time in LALD was like seeing Daniel Craig in Casino Royale...he breathed some new life into the role. And that film had the best Bond theme song, bar none. Rock and roll, baby...no old (or young) ladies crooning there.

I think all of the actors playing Bond brought something to the role, so it's hard to say who is the best overall. Most will say Connery. And he does fit Fleming's original idea of what Bond should look like, better than any of the others. It's funny, because in his first five Bond movies, he was trying to cover up his Scottish accent a bit. But in DAF he just gave up and he's a Scotsman in that one, by god.

Timothy Dalton doesn't get the respect he deserves either. He was a good (I say great) Bond. Roger Moore, bless his heart, shouldn't have been allowed to make his last two Bond films, although AVTAK was better than his middle three or four, for sure. He was just getting too old. Dalton also had a tough job to do...knowing he was just a place holder until Brosnan was legally able take over. And he played the role closer to Fleming's Bond, who could be a cold, no-nonsense guy. But I don't think he slapped women in the films, like Connery and Moore did.

Even today, on Blu-ray, most of the films hold up really well, image wise. The in-camera special effects, before CGI, were pretty decent. Yes, you can tell that Bond wasn't really flying around in that jet pack, but it still looks ok, for the time. That was hot stuff in 1965.

[DMRI2006]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner330

Just finished The Spy Who Loved Me. Nothing was overly memorable.

The music isn't memorable? lol. It's only one of the best movie songs ever written to say nothing of a great Bond song. The opening teaser is also phenomenal. The movie re-launched the Bond series after the disappointment of Man with the Golden Gun (regarded as one of the worst of the franchise) in a big, huge way and was a mammoth success with fans and critics alike.

It's amusing reading through comments from people who have never seen these films before. Seems like everyone thinks what's current today won't be dated in the same way 30 years from now as the 70s Bond movies supposedly are in their view. Trust me, they will be. Much in the same way some of you dislike the humor in a typical Moore outing, people 20 or 30 years from now will find the cold, humorless Craig movies to be a product of THIS era also -- in a totally opposite direction. Kind of like most of the super-hero films today that all take themselves far more seriously than years ago also.

Eventually, the pendulum will swing back when people, in general, stop taking themselves as seriously as they do in this generation.

[Dreamliner330]

Originally Posted by Indiana Jonezzz...

It's interesting that you enjoyed TMWTGG so much more as it's generally not very well liked, yet the TSWLM is normally considered one of the best, with a lot of iconic moments. I love TMWTGG though, never understood the dislike for it!

Originally Posted by misterweiss

Even today, on Blu-ray, most of the films hold up really well, image wise. The in-camera special effects, before CGI, were pretty decent. Yes, you can tell that Bond wasn't really flying around in that jet pack, but it still looks ok, for the time. That was hot stuff in 1965.

I thought the jetpack sequence looked mega fake too, but that jetpack really flew. In general, its really obvious in the closeups of the lead, that he really isn't doing the stunt.

Movies from the 90's and 00's and even 10's will likely all look terrible forever. All the effects are CGI and most have not saved the original work and only the final render was saved. In-camera optical effects from the 60's hold up better than CGI from the 90's.

Originally Posted by DMRI2006

The music isn't memorable? lol. It's only one of the best movie songs ever written to say nothing of a great Bond song. The opening teaser is also phenomenal. The movie re-launched the Bond series after the disappointment of Man with the Golden Gun (regarded as one of the worst of the franchise) in a big, huge way and was a mammoth success with fans and critics alike.

No way man. While I agree that the Title Sequence and song is very good and the visual sequence is pretty awesome, if you listen to the soundtrack while watching the movie...without lyrics...TMWTGG is better. Heck, even music from the ski sequence from OHMSS is better.

I've noticed I am liking some of the smaller stories better. I think its because I have trouble following along when the over-the-top effects start happening. I check out because its ridiculously implausible.

It doesn't need to be serious, it just needs to be somewhat realistic and not campy.

I've never read Flemmings books, and it doesn't really matter if the adaptation/portrayal is faithful or not...its all subjective on what you prefer. So far though, I like Lazenby . He was directed to play it not all knowing and perfect. The movie felt mostly realistic, which I liked. I also like it when the story has mystery to it, which is why I liked TMWTGG a lot.

I also really dislike really ditsy woman portrayal. Women are not stupid and when they are portrayed that way it annoys me. In The Spy Who Loved Me, XXX was supposed to be Bond's equal and she was hardly better than the average Bond girl. Goodnight from TMWTGG was portrayed much better...but still had her moments.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by DMRI2006

Eventually, the pendulum will swing back when people, in general, stop taking themselves as seriously as they do in this generation.

And it can't happen a moment too soon IMO, not just re: Bond but society in general.

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

And it can't happen a moment too soon IMO, not just re: Bond but society in general.

The Nolan generation

[Mandalorian]

Of course everyone thinks their generation was better, in some way, or another, than the current one.

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by Mandalorian

Of course everyone thinks their generation was better, in some way, or another, than the current one.

Or not, there are historians and archivists for a reason.
I like all the Bond films in one way or another, Dalton was the best actor full stop.
I grew up with Mooore

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner330

In The Spy Who Loved Me, XXX was supposed to be Bond's equal and she was hardly better than the average Bond girl. Goodnight from TMWTGG was portrayed much better...but still had her moments.

Britt Ekland makes Barbara Bach look like Germaine Greer.

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by misterweiss

I think all of the actors playing Bond brought something to the role, so it's hard to say who is the best overall. Most will say Connery. And he does fit Fleming's original idea of what Bond should look like, better than any of the others.

This is not quite accurate. Fleming's original description of Bond was that he resembled songwriter/singer Hoagy Carmichael and that's as far as you can get from Connery or any of the other actors who have played Bond. Craig comes the closest to it. However, upon seeing the film DR. NO, Fleming was so impressed with Connery's performance that in subsequent books he tailored the character to be more like Connery, even giving him a bit of Scottish ancestry which had never been mentioned before.

[Ray Jackson]

Not a big fan of this series, but Jill St. John in Diamonds Are Forever was the hottest Bond girl imo.

[misterweiss]

Originally Posted by Professor Echo

This is not quite accurate. Fleming's original description of Bond was that he resembled songwriter/singer Hoagy Carmichael and that's as far as you can get from Connery or any of the other actors who have played Bond. Craig comes the closest to it. However, upon seeing the film DR. NO, Fleming was so impressed with Connery's performance that in subsequent books he tailored the character to be more like Connery, even giving him a bit of Scottish ancestry which had never been mentioned before.

If you check it out, you'll find illustrations that Fleming did as well. It looks more like Connery than Craig. Bond was never blonde, and his face was thinner than Craig's. Craig looks more like Steve McQueen than Fleming's drawing of Bond. In the first two Connery Bond movies he WAS that image, before he put some more weight on.

[Professor Echo]

But Craig looks more like Hoagy Carmichael, at least slightly, than any of the other actors, and Fleming specifically states Bond bears a resemblance to Carmichael. This was in the books prior to Connery playing the role in the films.

When was that sketch done and who said Fleming drew it? I've seen the sketch before, but never attributed to Fleming himself, which is why I'm curious about it.

[Ray_Rogers]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Not a big fan of this series, but Jill St. John in Diamonds Are Forever was the hottest Bond girl imo.

She was one of the dullest.

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Not a big fan of this series, but Jill St. John in Diamonds Are Forever was the hottest Bond girl imo.

I thought Lana Wood in DAF was hotter.

[jayman3]

Originally Posted by Mandalorian

Of course everyone thinks their generation was better, in some way, or another, than the current one.

I grew up in the Pierce Brosnan era. I loved his Bond films as a kid. Growing up they were fun, campy action flicks. Now that I'm older, I prefer Daniel Craig over Pierce Brosnan. Craig's take as James Bond has an extra layer of character development. An added seriousness and deep meaning behind 007. The past decade have been generous to James Bond in the movie franchise. I only hope whoever replaces Craig will provide something new to the series we haven't seen before.