Hi all, just wanted to add a note here and say that this is going to be the last of these semi-video-essay-ish videos. Future videos are still going to be review-like, but I've found myself feeling really bored with and restricted by this format, and I need to switch things up and inject some new creativity into how I discuss media. I'm going to make a big effort to push myself with editing and finding unique ways to frame my ideas, and try to make things feel a little more loose and conversational. I don't really engage with media in this rigid, overly-critical way anymore, so I think it's time I had a little more fun with it.
Tomorrow Never Dies is my favourite Bond film ever. The carpark scene, Terri Hatcher, Bond being a ruthless killer, a Bond girl who was his equal, the bad guy manipulating media.
I have love for Roger Moore mainly because I grew up with him... I didn't even know Sean Connery was bond until I was older. But the original is always the best.
Utterly delighted you are a fan of Timothy Dalton's Bond. He was treated as a joke for years and its only in recent times he's become more appreciated. He did grounded and dark YEARS before Daniel Craig. Licence to Kill is a gritty classic.
Pierce Brosnan is my favorite Bond. I feel that he brought back the fun "I wanna be this guy" vibe from the Sean Connery years. I love GoldenEye and think Tomorrow Never Dies and The World is Not Enough are underrated. They are better than most would give them credit for.
Completely agree with that. He’s the only Bond I actually want to be - tall, dark haired, conventionally handsome, funny, and seemed to have genuine affection in most of his relationships as opposed to the Connery template of outright contempt for the women in his life.
100% agree, while I very much enjoyed this video, I think he was too harsh on the Brosnan era. I think Brosnan really brought back that Connery feel with some characteristics of Moore and Dalton. He has his grounded and cold moments in GoldenEye and The World is not Enough, which I actually think is very underrated. He had a closer relationship with the women in this then Connery, and he could give a good punchline like Moore.
The World Is Not Enough is a genuinely awesome Bond film. It remains the ONLY movie in the ENTIRE series of 25 films that has a female villain, which is excellent (not just for representation, but also because women have always been Bonds greatest weakness). Elektra King (in many ways) is the villain that was able to hurt Bond the worst (Urma Bunt not included) because he’s genuinely tricked and manipulated by her. Normally, Bond just smiles in the villains face and most of them never really manage to get under his skin, no matter how hard they try, but Elektra does. Idk man, it’s the only Bond film where the main villain turns out to be a henchman and the Bond Girl turns out to be the main villain. Even if some of the execution is botched, in premise it’s a pretty great shakeup of the formula.
Fully agreed. I think Brosnan represented the best balance of what made Bond Bond. I'm biased because he's the one I grew up with but he had the looks, the toughness, the ruthlessness, the wit, the charm, he did it all very well. TWINE is also my personal favorite 007 movie, even though it is definitely flawed. I just wish he got a final, grounded 5th movie.
I think it would have been a neat twist if maybe instead of Blofeld and Spectre being behind everything in the Craig Movies they've actually been benefiting and growing as an organisation through Bond's action. Taking out their rivals in Quantum and Silva, creating a power vacuum for Spectre and Blofeld to grow. Bond would inadvertently be the greatest Spectre agent of all, with maybe there being a scene at the climax revealing this and to rub salt on the wound, everyone in the organisation stands up and applauds him when he is greeted by everyone. Overall I think that could be a more neat way of tying Spectre to the previous Craig movies.
When Mr. White was confirmed to return I thought they were going that route- Spectre taking over from Quantum, or a power struggle between the groups that Bond gets wrapped in. But they didn't feel like having ambition the day that script was submitted.
So happy to see that Timothy Dalton, getting some much need respect, his two bond movies are among the best of all the bonds, and Timothy Daltons performance as bond, was class, pure class.
@@leekereopa1960 The problem with Dalton is that he is too dull and his Miami Vice Bond film was awful. Those films were originally for Brosnan and Dalton was the second choice
FINALLY!!! Dalton getting some love. His version of Bond is actually the most faithful to the character from the Fleming novels. People say he was just Craig before Craig, and while that is true (Craig even said at one point he is just doing a Dalton impression). I feel that the big differences are how they play the character. While I love Craig, he always just seems a little bit too emotionless for me. He is just too much of a cold, robotic assassin. That dark, ruthless nature is part of Bond’s character, but Bond isn’t an assassin, he is a SPY. Dalton can be cold and angry but he is also far more emotional and vulnerable. I think he also does have a lot of genuinely funny moments unlike what a lot of people say. They just happen to be based around more his facial expressions and the situations he finds himself in. You get the sense that, unlike Craig, he doesn’t actually enjoy killing (unless it is vengeance based). He just kills as part of the job. And that’s another difference. He treats it like a JOB. Not as a complete way of life the way Craig does. He gets tired with it, but he also appears happy and genuinely amused at times as well. There is also an underlying sadness to his portrayal that is difficult to pin down, but once you notice it. It makes it all the more compelling. This is a Bond that you can tell has seen loved ones and friends die. Similar to Craig, but the patters performance lacks the aforementioned vulnerability of Dalton. You genuinely find yourself feeling sorry for him at times. Connery will forever be the most iconic, and the most legendary to boot. But for me, Dalton IS James Bond
@Redford Reddington But that’s the point. Craig treats it as a lifestyle that he bases his entire existence around. He is a killer who enjoys killing. When he is asked what he does he replies “I kill people”. That isn’t James Bond. That is one of the things he does, but it isn’t the only thing he does. As I said before, Bond is NOT AN ASSASIN. He is a SPY. Bond isn’t supposed to just be a hitman for the government and be happy with that. With Dalton, you feel that he doesn’t enjoy what he does. It merely is all that he knows. It is the only thing he is good at. He is a government blunt tool and he knows it. But he almost appears lost when he is not on a mission. There is a desire for a life outside of MI6. You feel that this the Bond who was most deeply affected by Tracey’s death. He wants to be happy. But he isn’t. That is the Bond from the books. That is Dalton.
Glad to find someone else whose favorite from the Brosnan era is Tomorrow Never Dies as well (though I still love GoldenEye). The combination of Michelle Yeoh, David Arnold's score, the villain's insane plan, the remote-controlled car, the motorcycle chase, etc... really made the film flow for me from beginning to end.
I thought the ending was very weak with the all too quick deaths of the bad guys. Other than that, I enjoyed it more than any of the other films of that era. If you want to see what Pierce Brosnan could have done with good scripts, watch Remington Steele. It is the show that both put him on the James Bond radar and kept him from it because of contracts.
Agreed. Its the best of the Brosnan films. I also think hes definitely better in it than he was in Goldeneye. Don't understand why the movie is so overlooked.
I want to like it. Everything you said is great, but it suffers from one fatal flaw: Brosnan and Yeoh do not have chemistry together. Apparently he also did not get along with Teri Hatcher during production. So you have two Bond girls who Brosnan has zero chemistry with. It’s unfortunate. Off-topic, Tomorrow Never Dies has my favorite Bond one-liner: “They’ll print anything these days.”
I like the part where Bond was suuuper particular about the way they make his alcohol that he likely took two sips of before walking away to the next scene. P.S I can totally relate to feeling restricted by a video format, and wanting to try something new. I wish you the best, and look forward to whatever you come up with!
My top Bond films: Goldeneye, OHMSS, Goldfinger, Living Daylights, Skyfall, Casino, LALD, FRWL, Octopussy, YOLT, TND, TWINE, Thunderball, Spy. Bottom: Quantum, Spectre, DAF, DAD. Dalton, I feel has the best Flemming Bond scenes in Living Daylights, in opening with Saunders. But Dalton Bond in Pushkins room, how he handles the guard, and the scene, are the best Flemmingesque Bond as an assasin.
Respect for not digging the Brosnan era. Bronsan is the millennials Bond. We remember him fondly and I think the game elevated that era maybe in a distorted way that we couldn't tell whether the movies were quality or not. We just all laughed at Die Another Day but appreciated it's wackiness. It's good to get that outsiders first time watching perspective on the whole thing. That's usually a better perspective to come from than die hard fans who are very dogmatic about certain eras. Funny enough, almost all new fans of the franchise unanimously love Dalton's portrayal where it was universally panned at the time. Dalton is my favourite Bond. License To Kill is my favourite Bond film.
Moore actively fought against the womanizing for his later movies. I think he also shows a lot more vulnerability than people give him credit for. It's definitely easy to lose that under all the cheese, though.
Appreciate the love for Dalton! Although to call the Dalton villains forgettable is heresy to me lol, as I (and many others) find Sanchez to be one of the absolute best Bond villains of all time. A shrewd, cold blooded businessman, where loyalty means everything. He wasn't interested in world domination or delusions of grandeur. Just don't f*ck with him or his.
Totally agree with you about Dalton. Moore is my favorite Bond but mostly because he was Bond when I first became a fan of the series. The books are really good as well....well, most of them.
My first Bond film was "Live and Let Die", and it has a very special place for me, from the villains to the music, from the lovely ladies to the gadgets, not to mention it being the first time Bond Appearently encountered the supernatural with Baron Samedi, it's just good time all around for me, also i don't care what anyone says, Moonraker is a lot of fun
I grew up on bond films and I actually completely agree with you on all the favorites for each actor. The continuity of the Craig films burned me out though, I feel like he never got around to just being Bond, like you said he's always either almost the Bond we know or he's already washed up and ready to retire; just write a fun adventure damn it!
Yeah, it would’ve been great if it you start with Casino Royals, then go on a few more standard kind of Bond adventures and then closed it out with SkyFall. Would’ve made those two great Craig entries far more meaningful. You would feel like you got a good glimpse over the entire span of his career in this timeline.
@@TheGeorgeD13 yh I always thought that was what was missing from Craig’s bond. Every movie seemed to have massive stakes in it which can dilute over time. I would have loved to have seen maybe two classic adventures and then as you say have sky fall to bring back the bigger picture
@@benwratha6628 Casino Royale had fairly minor stakes. The conflict was over terrorists being funded at first and ended with Vesper life being at stake.
I understand your point. But to be fair, I think all movies, before Casino Royale (at the exception of On Her Majesty and Licence), are "fun adventures". We had 17 movies about "fun adventures". Maybe it was enough. To me, this new way of portraying Bond worked. When I got to see a new Bond movie, I want to know how they are able to recreate what I already know.
GE has a strong place for a generation of fans. The N64 game, and later the movie, made me a 10yr old Bond fan. Brosnan was my role model stylistically through early high school. Hurts to admit but over the years, watching the rest of the movies, the majority of them are better than Brosnan's run. GE is a really good film, and it revived the franchise after a 6yr hiatus, but it doesn't quite strike that FRWL, CR quality. LTK gets a ton of flack for feeling too "80s action movie" but GE feel even more painfully 90s in ways, and the soundtrack really, REALLY dates it. As soon as the tank using starts I'm immersed in a Bond film. The rest of the time I'm watching a good Pierce Brosnan 90s action movie. Love the idea of a 00 being the villain but the rest of the story feels smaller in concept. Even finding out what Koskov was up to is more intriguing than "Who's got the EMP?". Natalya is one of the best Bond girls for sure, Onattops a great henchman, and Bean plays Trevelyan flawlessly. Still a really quality film with a lot to love but as a Bond movie it doesn't do anything too striking to me. I still take Brosnan's run over Spectre, which may be my least favorite one. His run ranges from very good to OK, and while Pierce does what he's sposed to he isn't an interesting Bond.
if I remember correctly, one of the major reasons why Goldeneye is so liked is because the game it's based on was so groundbreaking. That, and the intro is pretty memorable. But honestly I agree, Goldeneye is kinda "Eh?" for me as well. I tried watching it multiple times with my friend who loved the game back when we were kids (seriously, it was the only game we played some days!), and I really just couldn't get into it. Tried it again last year, and I just couldn't help but turn off the movie. Which is funny cause to me, in terms of most memorable face for Bond, is Pierce. He's just got that look, and it works well for him. Just wish the films were better.
It’s no doubt his best Bond movie because the rest were dire. If not for the game he’d have nothing. Sad because he could’ve been much better if not for the rubbish they saddled him with. You can see glimpses here and there of what he could’ve been if given better material.
Not really. The video game came out 2 years after the movie. Tomorrow Never Dies was only 2 months from being released when the video game came out. The reason Goldeneye is so liked is because it had the longest gap between Bond movies between License to Kill and Goldeneye and Brosnan was already popular from Remington Steele.
Your experiment did indeed pay off. I haven’t seen a bond retrospective with more insightful commentary and most of all a good perspective. It’s crazy you only watched them now, but it certainly worked.
I tend to put the Connery and Moore films together in my head as "the classic Bond movies." I love both actors and both eras tremendously. I contradict myself when asked, "Who is your favorite Bond?" Because I tend to say my favorite performance is Sean Connery in Dr. No and From Russia With Love. But Roger Moore is my favorite OVERALL Bond. I think that's, in part, because he seemed to be having such fun in the role and that's infectious. But I get it. That very fact can also be a detriment for some viewers. I suppose my best defense for Moore is to say= His movies are amazing fun when you're in the right mood for them. But I can't say I'm surprised by the lack of love for the Moore era in this video. Pretty much all the opinions expressed here are common among the internet 007 community. Right down to the love for Dalton (which was noticeably absent when his films were in theaters). I enjoyed Dalton and was disappointed when he wasn't brought back. I disliked the Brosnan era when it was in theaters but, for some reason, have come around to liking it in recent years. I guess it grew on me. As for Craig, I think he was GREAT in the role but the movies (outside Casino Royale and Skyfall) often let him down. Spectre and No Time To Die are actually my least favorite 007 movies.
I disagree with you on your comments towards "Skyfall", I felt like that film was the more organic and thematic sequel to "Casino Royale" in ways "Quantum of Solace" just wasn't. If "Casino Royale" was basically the film that gave us an understanding to why Bond is the icon that we know him as, "Skyfall" is the film that displays why Bond is relevant and why he still works in a modern age despite what many would call dated. Sure '"Spectre" really missed the point in that, but to be fair it is clearly Mendes was not as passionate as he was in "Skyfall" as he originally wasn't interested in returning, but it is clear the producers wanted to cash in on the "It's All Connected" phase that the MCU popularised similar to how "Skyfall" felt like a response to "The Dark Knight" which is a lot more nature to me as that film was influenced by Bond films/
Skyfall was an ok movie but i think his point was it really should have been the final Craig movie. It felt like we were missing 3 movies on Bond in his prime during the Craig era.
Skyfall made no sense. How does Bond go from the brash new agent that needs discipline to the veteran who is being questioned as to whether he is still relevant in the space of a single film? It would be fine if Craigs movies weren't one overarching story arch. But once Spectre came along and tied them all into one story arch it completely ruined Skyfall.
@@linkvagar2336 To quote Rachel Green in regards to your very surface level observation: "IT'S A METAPHOR". The point of the old vs. new theme is not fucking age, it's his methods and ideals. In a day where so many jobs becoming obsolete because of robots and digital technology, the point of the film is to prove why the old school methods of Bond work in the then modern day.
There's an element of "you had to be there" that can benefit enjoyment of the Bond films and their respective eras. Of course you can enjoy them if you weren't there but having firsthand perspective into the mindset of the eras they were made makes them make sense. I can simultaneously love Casino Royale for its gritty modern take and Moonraker for it's insane over-the-top hokiness because they both appeal to the different eras of my life. Connery & Lazenby's era led the way by fitting in with the popularity of the 60's spy genre. And it's not a coincidence that fans remain attached to the positive and negative masculine traits Bond is known for at the time. Moore's era ran through the more flippant 70s and fun-natured early 80s. Easily a time period that became immediately dated as soon as it ended. Dalton's era tapped mostly into the the classic 80s action hero template but played it safe with increasingly taboo subjects like Bond's chauvinistic tendencies and crass sexuality. Brosnan's era was driven by too much self awareness, the reboot mindset that took hold in the 90s, and an increasing overreliance on computer graphic imagery in the film industry. His films merely got caught in the industry's obsession with revisting elements of past films. The 90s had everyone thinking every preposterous plot of an old film could be remade better with CGI and an emphasis on a more believeable "realism". Craig's era spiralled into existence from the direct influence of the Jason Bourne films, which I'm surprised you didn't mention more. Self awareness of Bond's franchise tropes held his films to an obsessive requirement of making everything sophisticated, gritty and logical. Which really limited their ability to go into more farfetched elements without a layer of dramatic on top. The modern day audience has a more vocal disdain for anything even remotely corny or cheesy and the filmmakers have struggled to a fault in coming to terms with defining Craig's Bond because of it. My hope for the franchise is that the filmmakers come to terms with having a Bond capable of showing faces that we may not always like to see, both light and dark. That way we can get more opportunities to see his dramatic, sinister and comedic moments. A well-rounded Bond, not just one always on the edge. Good video. Enjoyed your breakdown and reasonings surrounding what you think of the Bond franchise.
I started late into the Brosnan ones and while I liked them then they haven’t held up. This became even more so after watching every previous movie and the Daniel Craig movies. I feel Brosnan had the potential to be really good as James Bond but he kept getting poor scripts and mostly bad directors. That and the series was struggling to find its footing after the Cold War ended. His video games were better than his movies. His movies felt really naff after seeing all the other movies and they went too far into the realm of ridiculous but lacked the charm of the Roger Moore movies and they tried to be more serious at the same time which conflicted with the ridiculous nature of his movies. I tend not to rewatch his Bond movies. I prefer the older ones for how ridiculous and cheesy they are and I prefer the Daniel Craig movies that do a better job at capturing the essence of Bond but in a more gritty way. I also like the Timothy Dalton Bond movies because they were a light version of the Daniel Craig movies. Boy do I wish he got more movies. Guy was so underrated.
For some reason during the Brosnan era they decided that "have Bond appear more vulnerable" meant that they should just show him in more physical pain. He gets beaten up in the first two films, in the third he fractures his clavicle and gets violently choked by the villain, the fourth literally begins with him being tortured, and all throughout the films he's constantly yelping or grunting during action sequences. Having him be a masochist super-spy who can tank absurd amounts of damage and essentially shrug off having PTSD is an interesting angle and goes right along with Ross's "Bond is a crazy person" idea, but they never really did anything with it.
They were trying to do what they would do better with Daniel Craig. They made Brosnan too inconsistent to do it effectively. That and the awful scripts kept getting in the way. He’d keep alternating between witty to being invulnerable to vulnerable to angry in a very uneven way. Seriously, just watch the Dr Kaufman scene up until the garage chase and the torture scene in TWINE up until the submarine to see. It’s ridiculous how inconsistent they made him. Don’t know if anyone could have done it well.
@@Gamingnstuff131 Yes, that's very true. Comparing the torture scenes in Die Another Day vs. the scene in Casino Royale highlights your point quite nicely. The latter is the culmination of everything that happens in the second act, informs the third act, and is genuinely rather disturbing, whereas the former is only there to add false dramatic weight to the opening of the film and is completely forgotten about as soon as Bond escapes the MI6 ship and lands in Hong Kong.
@@jonreededworthy7518 it’s a lot like having him fall off the hot air balloon in TWINE. Aside from a couple scenes, it didn’t factor into the movie at all. They utilized the shoulder injury better in Skyfall to explore the character better, even if it didn’t entirely make sense.
Having him “be in pain” all the time makes the character come accross as a sissy. He has to be wimpiest version of James Bond. James Bond shouldn’t be portrayed as a wimp.
Roger Moore was a tongue in cheek Bond, but his films fit '70's audiences very well. Sean Connery was the best and left a tough act to follow. I think, that time had been good to the other Bond actors. They were criticized in their time. Looking back, for instance, George Lazenby looked like he was just about to hit his stride, so he may have done well, if he'd stayed with it.
Something I have thought a lot about in my discussions with fellow fans... It's interesting how different fans see and relate to James Bond over the years.. I grew up in the 80s/90s when, if you asked anyone to describe a typical 007 movie, I doubt the words "dark" or "gritty" would even come up. And not just because of the Moore/Brosnan eras. Even going back to the late 60s and early 70s, Bond was starting to develop a certain iconic public image that usually did not include darkness or grit. That's probably why the movies responded in kind with the likes of "From Russia With Love" giving way to movies like "You Only Live Twice" and "Diamonds Are Forever" even before Roger Moore took over. But NOW, post Daniel Craig, even people who have never seen a Bond movie go into them expecting the grittier character. This is something that Ian Fleming purists (who, frankly, dislike the majority of 007 films) used to insist on and talk about online, while those who came to the character through the movies never gave much thought to it. I'm not attempting to review anything or say one side is wrong or right. I'm only saying that I don't think the Moore era got anything "wrong." That WAS how people saw 007 by the time he took over. Largely due to public expectations, that's where the franchise went. That seems impossible to fans who came to Bond through Fleming or Craig but I think it's true.
What a fantastic video. As a massive fan of the series, I'm happy to see a newcomer be so positive towards the series. So glad to see some love for Dalton as well. The only point of the entire video I'd disagree with is your view of Brosnan's era but maybe my Irish blood makes me biased. Still though, excellent video and I hope you enjoy rewatching these films in years to come!
I still think Goldeneye was the best of brosnan's tenure, Tomorrow Never Dies had an interesting concept but it was monumentally generic, Jonathan Price was laughably bad as the villain. Goldeneye represented russia after the cold war as well as giving us two great bond girls and a compelling villain who knows bond's every move. My only wish is that Dalton got to make his 3rd film (Which would've been Goldeneye) he would've added some serious drama to an already great bond story.
Casting Bond should never lead to changing the character. This is why women, orientals, Russians, Latinos, Americans and yes even black people should never ever ever ever ever ever be casted as James Bond. James Bond is a 6-ft Caucasian British gentleman. I hope the next Bond is a brunette or black haired man again. Let's get back to casting Bond closer to the novels so the character will remain the James Bond we know and love.
LICENSE TO KILL and CASINO ROYALE are my favorite Bond movies. I think QUANTAM OF SOLACE is a very underrated film, I enjoyed it much more the 2nd time around. LIVE AND LET DIE, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME and GOLDFINGER would round out my top 5.
Kind of a fun fact here, from Russia with the love was Ashley the last movie President John F Kennedy ever saw before his assassination. In fact the first two movies were made because Kennedy loved the book version of from Russia with love so much. Also some other things I wanted to add, the reason why the gun barrel sequences at the end of Skyfall is because the movie opens with a pseudo-version of the gun barrel and the Director thought it looked weird having two gunbarrel sequences back to back. Also, the Daniel Craig films are actually on a different timeline than the other actors. So when keeping that in mind Blofeld being Bonds adoptive half-brother actually kind of makes sense because you can just ignore the original timeline of Connery through Brosnan
The Daniel Craig movies had the right idea but totaly the wrong implementation. Originally the bond movies was shot out of order because Dr No and from Russia with love was the one that could be cheapest to film with a then very limited budget. They was to shot one every year (and almost manage). The budget increase sharply and i would say when Thunderballt and you only live twice it was almost bloated. All Roger Moore movies have lower budget than Iive twice, except moon raker. Its almost like big budget destroyes movies (granted, i love moon raker). Dalton movies and Golden eye (that effectively is a Dalton movie) had a higher budget, but was also packed action movies with a lot of expensive sets. Now Die a other day had more than twice the budget of Golden Eye... why. From Thunderbolt to Die a other day, there was one Bond every 2:nd year except from The Dalton gap. The Craig movies averages about 4-5 years between them. That don´t work. He agees to much. Craig have been bond for 19 years! Moore was for 14. Connery 9... Brosnan 7.
Being born at the end of the 80's and growing during the 90's, my default fav Bond was Brosnan and even though I didn't enjoy every Bond movie with him as a kid/teenager, I remember being outrage that Craig was chosen to be the next Bond (he was buffed, blond, blue eyes etc) and I skipped Casino Royal for years...And ironically, I actually became a huge fan of Craig as Bond (and Craig in general). Casino Royal and Skyfall are two of my favourite movies of all time (and I'm not a huge spectacle movie fan anymore). I think the direction and photography are out of this world in Skyfall, one of the most well shot movie in the action genre. And the songs are like engraved in my brain at this point. Now, I never liked Quantum (I don't remember a frame from this film except the mindnumbing fast-cuting intro), and was kind of baffled by Spectre. I thought that last one in particular was trying to be serious and goofy at the same time, relying on twists from the 60's but wanting the audience to be emotionally invested as in a more modern/brooding hero movie post-Nolan Batman. It kind of let me on a sour note. And though two of the Craig era Bond films are some of my favourite movies, I think you nailed it very well analysing how they don't really work as a four (soon five) parters. I feel like we should have had Casino Royal, one or two movies, then Skyfall, but with an ending close to Spectre, with James retiring and a teasing for a new 007. And then a new reboot with another actor. Oh and, I now is far too late now, but Idris Elba would have been soooo good in that role é_è
First video I’ve seen on this channel. I saw these films over 40 years. You saw them all at once, yet our opinions on each Bond and the movies as a whole are similar. We don’t necessarily agree on our liking of each film because I didn’t like Casino Royale but I loved Quantum of Solace, but you do at least find Goldeneye unremarkable, which makes two of us. It was also fun seeing how you more or less predicted how No Time To Die would pan out (old retired Bond). I actually liked that movie but opinions were all over the map.
To be fair to the end of QoS, the end of CR has a quick exchange indicating that Vesper had been played, too, which helped subtly shift the tone and meaning of his line "The b*tch is dead" to be, not a write off of her betrayal, but a way to keep M from realizing at first that he's about to go off on a roaring rampage of revenge against those who did him and Vesper wrong -- especially against her. "The dead don't care about revenge," so it wasn't mainly about himself. Incidentally, I think QoS despite its very different style works well as the butt-kicking 90 minute finale to an epic 4-hour Bond origin story. Too bad they couldn't stop trying to do an origin story (while also shifting into an old-man-who-should-retire mode, good grief.) Best part though is that Vesper turns out to be the ORIGINAL Moneypenny. As practically declared in their opening exchange when M's accountant arrives. "You must be the money." "Every penny."
Not that you care but Tomorrow Never Dies is my second favourite Bond film and the one that cemented me as a Bond fan. Basically a British take on a Jerry Bruckheimer film - for me, right movie at the right time.
Sir James Bond was actually retired in Casino Royale 1967, he retired after giving Mata Hari, his love, to the british army, but it turned out he got a daughter, Mata Bond, that looked like Mata Hari
Damn no Brosnan love at all hahah I thought GE to TWINE was a solid run. I make no excuses for DAD though… that’s a rough one but it wasn’t Brosnans fault. Glad Timmy got some love, to me it’s the biggest tragedy in Bond history that Dalton didn’t get at least 1 more.
Great vid. In my opinion the way to really create a theme-perfect Bond movie, and also inject some freshness into the formula at this stage, would be to do a 60s period piece - and take it seriously. Cold War and everything.
Brosnan is the best Bond because he was the perfect balance of Connery and Moore. He was able to be charming without sacrificing the danger. His films are also the best of the series, even his weakest being Die Another Day is still a really fun time. His other 3 are all top 10 Bond movies.
Oi, sir! Have only just discovered your vid So, firstly, well done! Secondly, as a uni professor, and film school graduate, I applaud your visual content and commentary. Your analysis of the Moore Era is spot on, save that goofy American sheriff. That bloke was hysterical, as well as a strong social statement. As a Welshman, I was OTM to see Dalton as Bond. However, I disagree, for Daylights is the better film. As to B-era, well, you are correct. Sadly, I must yield. Firstly, Goldeneye had Bond diving from one plane to another? Later, Bond wind-surf a tidal wave? Madness! As to Craig, you are again spot on. However, you neglected to mention that the bloke looks more like Elmer Fudd than Bond. OMG! What were they thinking? The character, like it or not, must be handsome. Lastly, I must ask you to re-examine OHMSS & Lazenby. Examine his acting and physicality, they're surprising. Like Sean, he was hired because of his movement. The man was dashing, swift, posh, and ruthless. In the end, well done, you! Cheers!
That's funny because my friend recently wanted to do the same thing and we're currently On Her Majesty Secret's Service. I had seen most of them and saw Spectre in theaters and was looking forward to No Time To Die since Craig is my favorite Bond
Brosnan may have had Moore's charisma, but you can't deny he also brought the spirit of Connery's cold blooded killer to the role as well. Particularly when he kills Kaufman in Tomorrow Never Dies and Electra King in The World Is Not Enough
I'm sorry but I consider Goldeneye to be a masterpiece, not just because of the great story, but also its political comment about a character like Bond post the cold war. It was also the big comeback on the character after the 6 years gap because of the lawsuits. This movie means a lot for the franchise.
Hey man that was a really great video! It's awesome to see a new fresh perspective. Dalton is awesome and definitely overlooked. I typically prefer smaller character driven film's over big dumb blockbusters. So given that what I'm gonna say next is going to sound very odd and contradictory... My favorite Bond film's are usually the over the top goofy ones. Roger Moore is my favorite Bond followed closely by Brosnan. Roger Moore is the charming British gentleman with dry witt who winks at the audience and always looks like he's having fun. He's a lover not a fighter. That being said I do enjoy every version of Bond for one reason or another. However I gotta say Craig is easily my least favorite actor to don the tux. He's far to rough for my tastes and far too similar to Jason Bourne. When I think of James Bond I think of larger than life comic book film's. With evil underwater lairs, submersible cars and jet packs. I find film's like Moonraker to be hilarious and just pure fun. I only actively strongly dislike a couple of film's in the series. Those being Quantum of Solace, Goldfinger (blasphemy I know) and Diamonds are Forever. The absolute highlights in the series for me (in no real order) are The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, Live and Let Die, Octopussy, Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, License To Kill (I do love Bond unhinged and out for revenge) Skyfall, Thunderball, From Russia With Love and On Her Majesties Secret Service. Film's that I know are bad but I absolutely love anyways are Moonraker, A View to a Kill, The Man With the Golden Gun and The World is Not Enough.
As a lifelong fan of Bond and stumbling across this video, I really enjoyed listening to your thoughts on the series. I find it interesting that other than choosing Tomorrow Never Dies as your favourite Brosnan film, your favs from each actor were the same as how I would pick them. I'm also going to start using "the best Bond is Connery, but Dalton is my favourite" line to describe my thoughts on that as well. I used to say Dalton was the best Bond, now that I think about it, you kind of nailed it on the head. It would have been interesting where Dalton's Bond would have went with even one more film.
Although I appreciate the little bit of love you gave to Tomorrow Never Dies as I think it's kind of underrated, Goldeneye is obviously the best Brosnan film. Just as you say any outrage about you not liking Goldeneye doesn't matter, you not liking Goldeneye also doesn't matter. It's still the best film of that era, regardless of your feelings.
Timothy Dalton is my favourite Bond _and I will argue about that till the day I die!_ Personally Living Daylights edges it out for Favourite of Daltons, had to re-watch License to Kill a couple more times to love it. LD, _right out the gate!_
Just wanted to leave a comment expressing how much I enjoyed this video. I didn't agree with everything you said, but it's your experience, not mine. That being said, I did disagree that Denise Richards wasn't bad in her role as I feel she simply was. Thank you for the work you put in and good luck with your channel.
I like Pierce Brosnans Bond because die another day was my first bond movie but his bond is pretty goofy. Golden Eye birthed one of the most iconic games for speedruning.
Hi all, just wanted to add a note here and say that this is going to be the last of these semi-video-essay-ish videos. Future videos are still going to be review-like, but I've found myself feeling really bored with and restricted by this format, and I need to switch things up and inject some new creativity into how I discuss media. I'm going to make a big effort to push myself with editing and finding unique ways to frame my ideas, and try to make things feel a little more loose and conversational. I don't really engage with media in this rigid, overly-critical way anymore, so I think it's time I had a little more fun with it.
This is unrelated but, what are your thoughts on the upcoming shark-boy and lava-girl sequel?
I’ll watch whatever you upload my guy
The new trailer for Bond just dropped and its not what you’d expect:
ua-cam.com/video/gJJw08-15vE/v-deo.html
Tomorrow Never Dies is my favourite Bond film ever.
The carpark scene, Terri Hatcher, Bond being a ruthless killer, a Bond girl who was his equal, the bad guy manipulating media.
When were you "bored" with film history?
"The best Bond is Connery, but Dalton is my favorite"
When I tell you I SMASHED that like button
Ditto my friend. Ditto
I have love for Roger Moore mainly because I grew up with him... I didn't even know Sean Connery was bond until I was older. But the original is always the best.
why do people word things like that. It doesn't make sense.
I didn't even still made to that point, but after your commentary I also instantly liked
There is no best Bond. It's all opinion based
Utterly delighted you are a fan of Timothy Dalton's Bond. He was treated as a joke for years and its only in recent times he's become more appreciated. He did grounded and dark YEARS before Daniel Craig.
Licence to Kill is a gritty classic.
Dalton gang rise up
It irritates me how much flak he got
Yep he's the best and deserved more movies
yeah it is really good but the worse thing was its the lowest james bond box office of all time
My favorite, Brosnan being second, Moore third and Craig fourth
"Just a horny guy who likes dressing up as a clown and shooting people" was also Todd Phillips' pitch for Joker.
Maybe but why is this not like..... Bond could kill Thanos with one word.....
Pierce Brosnan is my favorite Bond. I feel that he brought back the fun "I wanna be this guy" vibe from the Sean Connery years. I love GoldenEye and think Tomorrow Never Dies and The World is Not Enough are underrated. They are better than most would give them credit for.
Completely agree with that. He’s the only Bond I actually want to be - tall, dark haired, conventionally handsome, funny, and seemed to have genuine affection in most of his relationships as opposed to the Connery template of outright contempt for the women in his life.
100% agree, while I very much enjoyed this video, I think he was too harsh on the Brosnan era. I think Brosnan really brought back that Connery feel with some characteristics of Moore and Dalton. He has his grounded and cold moments in GoldenEye and The World is not Enough, which I actually think is very underrated. He had a closer relationship with the women in this then Connery, and he could give a good punchline like Moore.
The World Is Not Enough is a genuinely awesome Bond film. It remains the ONLY movie in the ENTIRE series of 25 films that has a female villain, which is excellent (not just for representation, but also because women have always been Bonds greatest weakness). Elektra King (in many ways) is the villain that was able to hurt Bond the worst (Urma Bunt not included) because he’s genuinely tricked and manipulated by her. Normally, Bond just smiles in the villains face and most of them never really manage to get under his skin, no matter how hard they try, but Elektra does.
Idk man, it’s the only Bond film where the main villain turns out to be a henchman and the Bond Girl turns out to be the main villain. Even if some of the execution is botched, in premise it’s a pretty great shakeup of the formula.
Objectively correct opinion
Fully agreed. I think Brosnan represented the best balance of what made Bond Bond. I'm biased because he's the one I grew up with but he had the looks, the toughness, the ruthlessness, the wit, the charm, he did it all very well. TWINE is also my personal favorite 007 movie, even though it is definitely flawed. I just wish he got a final, grounded 5th movie.
Dalton has such an immense screen presence at all times it's hard not to love him every moment he's on film
I think it would have been a neat twist if maybe instead of Blofeld and Spectre being behind everything in the Craig Movies they've actually been benefiting and growing as an organisation through Bond's action. Taking out their rivals in Quantum and Silva, creating a power vacuum for Spectre and Blofeld to grow. Bond would inadvertently be the greatest Spectre agent of all, with maybe there being a scene at the climax revealing this and to rub salt on the wound, everyone in the organisation stands up and applauds him when he is greeted by everyone. Overall I think that could be a more neat way of tying Spectre to the previous Craig movies.
Damn that's a good one🔥
Great idea.
Depressing and something we've seen constantly in the past twenty years.
Personally, I don't find that idea to be particularly escapism-ist.
When Mr. White was confirmed to return I thought they were going that route- Spectre taking over from Quantum, or a power struggle between the groups that Bond gets wrapped in.
But they didn't feel like having ambition the day that script was submitted.
Off topic, but how awesome would Alan Rickman have been as a Bond Villain?
Only one way to find out.
The closest well get is Die Hard from1988
@@danvalenti that’s why I think he would have been an amazing Bond villain
You know... I don't think he'd make a bad Bond given the chance.
How about as M?
It’s okay to be wrong about GoldenEye.
So glad I'm not alone!
So happy to see that Timothy Dalton, getting some much need respect, his two bond movies are among the best of all the bonds, and Timothy Daltons performance as bond, was class, pure class.
Daltons Bond is instantly forgettable.
@@purefoldnz3070 do yourself a favor, go read all the classic lan Fleming novels and then you may have a better idea
@@leekereopa1960 The problem with Dalton is that he is too dull and his Miami Vice Bond film was awful. Those films were originally for Brosnan and Dalton was the second choice
This was the second time Dalton had been asked to be bond.
FINALLY!!! Dalton getting some love. His version of Bond is actually the most faithful to the character from the Fleming novels. People say he was just Craig before Craig, and while that is true (Craig even said at one point he is just doing a Dalton impression). I feel that the big differences are how they play the character. While I love Craig, he always just seems a little bit too emotionless for me. He is just too much of a cold, robotic assassin. That dark, ruthless nature is part of Bond’s character, but Bond isn’t an assassin, he is a SPY. Dalton can be cold and angry but he is also far more emotional and vulnerable. I think he also does have a lot of genuinely funny moments unlike what a lot of people say. They just happen to be based around more his facial expressions and the situations he finds himself in. You get the sense that, unlike Craig, he doesn’t actually enjoy killing (unless it is vengeance based). He just kills as part of the job. And that’s another difference. He treats it like a JOB. Not as a complete way of life the way Craig does. He gets tired with it, but he also appears happy and genuinely amused at times as well. There is also an underlying sadness to his portrayal that is difficult to pin down, but once you notice it. It makes it all the more compelling. This is a Bond that you can tell has seen loved ones and friends die. Similar to Craig, but the patters performance lacks the aforementioned vulnerability of Dalton. You genuinely find yourself feeling sorry for him at times. Connery will forever be the most iconic, and the most legendary to boot. But for me, Dalton IS James Bond
But it's not just a job. It's a career and a lifestyle.
@Redford Reddington But that’s the point. Craig treats it as a lifestyle that he bases his entire existence around. He is a killer who enjoys killing. When he is asked what he does he replies “I kill people”. That isn’t James Bond. That is one of the things he does, but it isn’t the only thing he does. As I said before, Bond is NOT AN ASSASIN. He is a SPY. Bond isn’t supposed to just be a hitman for the government and be happy with that. With Dalton, you feel that he doesn’t enjoy what he does. It merely is all that he knows. It is the only thing he is good at. He is a government blunt tool and he knows it. But he almost appears lost when he is not on a mission. There is a desire for a life outside of MI6. You feel that this the Bond who was most deeply affected by Tracey’s death. He wants to be happy. But he isn’t. That is the Bond from the books. That is Dalton.
Glad to find someone else whose favorite from the Brosnan era is Tomorrow Never Dies as well (though I still love GoldenEye). The combination of Michelle Yeoh, David Arnold's score, the villain's insane plan, the remote-controlled car, the motorcycle chase, etc... really made the film flow for me from beginning to end.
I thought the ending was very weak with the all too quick deaths of the bad guys. Other than that, I enjoyed it more than any of the other films of that era. If you want to see what Pierce Brosnan could have done with good scripts, watch Remington Steele. It is the show that both put him on the James Bond radar and kept him from it because of contracts.
@@n.d.m.515 Carver being drilled to death was quite brutal. Stamper's was via explosion, but it was the culmination of his fight w/ Bond.
I think Tomorrow never dies was ahead of its time. Look at the world today and the role media plays in it
Agreed. Its the best of the Brosnan films. I also think hes definitely better in it than he was in Goldeneye. Don't understand why the movie is so overlooked.
I want to like it. Everything you said is great, but it suffers from one fatal flaw: Brosnan and Yeoh do not have chemistry together. Apparently he also did not get along with Teri Hatcher during production. So you have two Bond girls who Brosnan has zero chemistry with. It’s unfortunate.
Off-topic, Tomorrow Never Dies has my favorite Bond one-liner: “They’ll print anything these days.”
I like the part where Bond was suuuper particular about the way they make his alcohol that he likely took two sips of before walking away to the next scene.
P.S I can totally relate to feeling restricted by a video format, and wanting to try something new. I wish you the best, and look forward to whatever you come up with!
Bond is a Starbucks Karen confirmed.
My top Bond films: Goldeneye, OHMSS, Goldfinger, Living Daylights, Skyfall, Casino, LALD, FRWL, Octopussy, YOLT, TND, TWINE, Thunderball, Spy.
Bottom: Quantum, Spectre, DAF, DAD. Dalton, I feel has the best Flemming Bond scenes in Living Daylights, in opening with Saunders. But Dalton Bond in Pushkins room, how he handles the guard, and the scene, are the best Flemmingesque Bond as an assasin.
Respect for not digging the Brosnan era. Bronsan is the millennials Bond. We remember him fondly and I think the game elevated that era maybe in a distorted way that we couldn't tell whether the movies were quality or not. We just all laughed at Die Another Day but appreciated it's wackiness. It's good to get that outsiders first time watching perspective on the whole thing. That's usually a better perspective to come from than die hard fans who are very dogmatic about certain eras. Funny enough, almost all new fans of the franchise unanimously love Dalton's portrayal where it was universally panned at the time. Dalton is my favourite Bond. License To Kill is my favourite Bond film.
I'm also doing a chronological viewing of all the Bond films.
But for me it's, like, the 25th time...
Moore actively fought against the womanizing for his later movies. I think he also shows a lot more vulnerability than people give him credit for. It's definitely easy to lose that under all the cheese, though.
It’s okay to be comepletely wrong about Goldeneye
Appreciate the love for Dalton! Although to call the Dalton villains forgettable is heresy to me lol, as I (and many others) find Sanchez to be one of the absolute best Bond villains of all time. A shrewd, cold blooded businessman, where loyalty means everything. He wasn't interested in world domination or delusions of grandeur. Just don't f*ck with him or his.
Connery is my favorite bond. Dalton is the most underrated. Criminally underrated imo.
Totally agree with you about Dalton. Moore is my favorite Bond but mostly because he was Bond when I first became a fan of the series. The books are really good as well....well, most of them.
My first Bond film was "Live and Let Die", and it has a very special place for me, from the villains to the music, from the lovely ladies to the gadgets, not to mention it being the first time Bond Appearently encountered the supernatural with Baron Samedi, it's just good time all around for me, also i don't care what anyone says, Moonraker is a lot of fun
Might be silly, but Ross Kananga who owned that alligator farm actually ran across those alligators. They weren't props either. They were real
George Lazenby is criminally underrated as Bond!
For whatever reason my editing professor used the car chase from quantum of solace as an example of “good action editing”
Run away
QoS has a terminal case of Greengrassitis.
Franz Sanchez wasn't very memorable? Damn
I grew up on bond films and I actually completely agree with you on all the favorites for each actor. The continuity of the Craig films burned me out though, I feel like he never got around to just being Bond, like you said he's always either almost the Bond we know or he's already washed up and ready to retire; just write a fun adventure damn it!
Yeah, it would’ve been great if it you start with Casino Royals, then go on a few more standard kind of Bond adventures and then closed it out with SkyFall. Would’ve made those two great Craig entries far more meaningful. You would feel like you got a good glimpse over the entire span of his career in this timeline.
@@TheGeorgeD13 yh I always thought that was what was missing from Craig’s bond. Every movie seemed to have massive stakes in it which can dilute over time. I would have loved to have seen maybe two classic adventures and then as you say have sky fall to bring back the bigger picture
@@benwratha6628 Casino Royale had fairly minor stakes. The conflict was over terrorists being funded at first and ended with Vesper life being at stake.
I understand your point. But to be fair, I think all movies, before Casino Royale (at the exception of On Her Majesty and Licence), are "fun adventures".
We had 17 movies about "fun adventures". Maybe it was enough.
To me, this new way of portraying Bond worked.
When I got to see a new Bond movie, I want to know how they are able to recreate what I already know.
This is like my fav channel to get a notification for I’m always gonna learn something 👏👏👏 great job my man!!
I quite like Tomorrow Never Dies as well. It's a lot of fun and the villian is wonderfully over the top.
GE has a strong place for a generation of fans. The N64 game, and later the movie, made me a 10yr old Bond fan. Brosnan was my role model stylistically through early high school. Hurts to admit but over the years, watching the rest of the movies, the majority of them are better than Brosnan's run.
GE is a really good film, and it revived the franchise after a 6yr hiatus, but it doesn't quite strike that FRWL, CR quality. LTK gets a ton of flack for feeling too "80s action movie" but GE feel even more painfully 90s in ways, and the soundtrack really, REALLY dates it. As soon as the tank using starts I'm immersed in a Bond film. The rest of the time I'm watching a good Pierce Brosnan 90s action movie. Love the idea of a 00 being the villain but the rest of the story feels smaller in concept. Even finding out what Koskov was up to is more intriguing than "Who's got the EMP?". Natalya is one of the best Bond girls for sure, Onattops a great henchman, and Bean plays Trevelyan flawlessly. Still a really quality film with a lot to love but as a Bond movie it doesn't do anything too striking to me.
I still take Brosnan's run over Spectre, which may be my least favorite one. His run ranges from very good to OK, and while Pierce does what he's sposed to he isn't an interesting Bond.
if I remember correctly, one of the major reasons why Goldeneye is so liked is because the game it's based on was so groundbreaking. That, and the intro is pretty memorable.
But honestly I agree, Goldeneye is kinda "Eh?" for me as well. I tried watching it multiple times with my friend who loved the game back when we were kids (seriously, it was the only game we played some days!), and I really just couldn't get into it. Tried it again last year, and I just couldn't help but turn off the movie.
Which is funny cause to me, in terms of most memorable face for Bond, is Pierce. He's just got that look, and it works well for him. Just wish the films were better.
It’s no doubt his best Bond movie because the rest were dire. If not for the game he’d have nothing. Sad because he could’ve been much better if not for the rubbish they saddled him with. You can see glimpses here and there of what he could’ve been if given better material.
I feel he had great potential that ended up being wasted. He always seemed above the material they gave him.
Not really. The video game came out 2 years after the movie. Tomorrow Never Dies was only 2 months from being released when the video game came out.
The reason Goldeneye is so liked is because it had the longest gap between Bond movies between License to Kill and Goldeneye and Brosnan was already popular from Remington Steele.
the russian clerk was Miss Italy, Daniela Bianchi
Your experiment did indeed pay off. I haven’t seen a bond retrospective with more insightful commentary and most of all a good perspective. It’s crazy you only watched them now, but it certainly worked.
I tend to put the Connery and Moore films together in my head as "the classic Bond movies." I love both actors and both eras tremendously. I contradict myself when asked, "Who is your favorite Bond?" Because I tend to say my favorite performance is Sean Connery in Dr. No and From Russia With Love. But Roger Moore is my favorite OVERALL Bond. I think that's, in part, because he seemed to be having such fun in the role and that's infectious. But I get it. That very fact can also be a detriment for some viewers. I suppose my best defense for Moore is to say= His movies are amazing fun when you're in the right mood for them.
But I can't say I'm surprised by the lack of love for the Moore era in this video. Pretty much all the opinions expressed here are common among the internet 007 community. Right down to the love for Dalton (which was noticeably absent when his films were in theaters). I enjoyed Dalton and was disappointed when he wasn't brought back.
I disliked the Brosnan era when it was in theaters but, for some reason, have come around to liking it in recent years. I guess it grew on me.
As for Craig, I think he was GREAT in the role but the movies (outside Casino Royale and Skyfall) often let him down. Spectre and No Time To Die are actually my least favorite 007 movies.
I disagree with you on your comments towards "Skyfall", I felt like that film was the more organic and thematic sequel to "Casino Royale" in ways "Quantum of Solace" just wasn't. If "Casino Royale" was basically the film that gave us an understanding to why Bond is the icon that we know him as, "Skyfall" is the film that displays why Bond is relevant and why he still works in a modern age despite what many would call dated.
Sure '"Spectre" really missed the point in that, but to be fair it is clearly Mendes was not as passionate as he was in "Skyfall" as he originally wasn't interested in returning, but it is clear the producers wanted to cash in on the "It's All Connected" phase that the MCU popularised similar to how "Skyfall" felt like a response to "The Dark Knight" which is a lot more nature to me as that film was influenced by Bond films/
Skyfall was an ok movie but i think his point was it really should have been the final Craig movie. It felt like we were missing 3 movies on Bond in his prime during the Craig era.
Skyfall made no sense. How does Bond go from the brash new agent that needs discipline to the veteran who is being questioned as to whether he is still relevant in the space of a single film?
It would be fine if Craigs movies weren't one overarching story arch. But once Spectre came along and tied them all into one story arch it completely ruined Skyfall.
@@linkvagar2336 To quote Rachel Green in regards to your very surface level observation: "IT'S A METAPHOR".
The point of the old vs. new theme is not fucking age, it's his methods and ideals. In a day where so many jobs becoming obsolete because of robots and digital technology, the point of the film is to prove why the old school methods of Bond work in the then modern day.
There's an element of "you had to be there" that can benefit enjoyment of the Bond films and their respective eras. Of course you can enjoy them if you weren't there but having firsthand perspective into the mindset of the eras they were made makes them make sense. I can simultaneously love Casino Royale for its gritty modern take and Moonraker for it's insane over-the-top hokiness because they both appeal to the different eras of my life.
Connery & Lazenby's era led the way by fitting in with the popularity of the 60's spy genre. And it's not a coincidence that fans remain attached to the positive and negative masculine traits Bond is known for at the time. Moore's era ran through the more flippant 70s and fun-natured early 80s. Easily a time period that became immediately dated as soon as it ended. Dalton's era tapped mostly into the the classic 80s action hero template but played it safe with increasingly taboo subjects like Bond's chauvinistic tendencies and crass sexuality. Brosnan's era was driven by too much self awareness, the reboot mindset that took hold in the 90s, and an increasing overreliance on computer graphic imagery in the film industry. His films merely got caught in the industry's obsession with revisting elements of past films. The 90s had everyone thinking every preposterous plot of an old film could be remade better with CGI and an emphasis on a more believeable "realism".
Craig's era spiralled into existence from the direct influence of the Jason Bourne films, which I'm surprised you didn't mention more. Self awareness of Bond's franchise tropes held his films to an obsessive requirement of making everything sophisticated, gritty and logical. Which really limited their ability to go into more farfetched elements without a layer of dramatic on top. The modern day audience has a more vocal disdain for anything even remotely corny or cheesy and the filmmakers have struggled to a fault in coming to terms with defining Craig's Bond because of it.
My hope for the franchise is that the filmmakers come to terms with having a Bond capable of showing faces that we may not always like to see, both light and dark. That way we can get more opportunities to see his dramatic, sinister and comedic moments. A well-rounded Bond, not just one always on the edge.
Good video. Enjoyed your breakdown and reasonings surrounding what you think of the Bond franchise.
I started late into the Brosnan ones and while I liked them then they haven’t held up. This became even more so after watching every previous movie and the Daniel Craig movies. I feel Brosnan had the potential to be really good as James Bond but he kept getting poor scripts and mostly bad directors. That and the series was struggling to find its footing after the Cold War ended. His video games were better than his movies. His movies felt really naff after seeing all the other movies and they went too far into the realm of ridiculous but lacked the charm of the Roger Moore movies and they tried to be more serious at the same time which conflicted with the ridiculous nature of his movies. I tend not to rewatch his Bond movies. I prefer the older ones for how ridiculous and cheesy they are and I prefer the Daniel Craig movies that do a better job at capturing the essence of Bond but in a more gritty way. I also like the Timothy Dalton Bond movies because they were a light version of the Daniel Craig movies. Boy do I wish he got more movies. Guy was so underrated.
For some reason during the Brosnan era they decided that "have Bond appear more vulnerable" meant that they should just show him in more physical pain.
He gets beaten up in the first two films, in the third he fractures his clavicle and gets violently choked by the villain, the fourth literally begins with him being tortured, and all throughout the films he's constantly yelping or grunting during action sequences.
Having him be a masochist super-spy who can tank absurd amounts of damage and essentially shrug off having PTSD is an interesting angle and goes right along with Ross's "Bond is a crazy person" idea, but they never really did anything with it.
They were trying to do what they would do better with Daniel Craig. They made Brosnan too inconsistent to do it effectively. That and the awful scripts kept getting in the way. He’d keep alternating between witty to being invulnerable to vulnerable to angry in a very uneven way. Seriously, just watch the Dr Kaufman scene up until the garage chase and the torture scene in TWINE up until the submarine to see. It’s ridiculous how inconsistent they made him. Don’t know if anyone could have done it well.
@@Gamingnstuff131 Yes, that's very true.
Comparing the torture scenes in Die Another Day vs. the scene in Casino Royale highlights your point quite nicely.
The latter is the culmination of everything that happens in the second act, informs the third act, and is genuinely rather disturbing, whereas the former is only there to add false dramatic weight to the opening of the film and is completely forgotten about as soon as Bond escapes the MI6 ship and lands in Hong Kong.
@@jonreededworthy7518 it’s a lot like having him fall off the hot air balloon in TWINE. Aside from a couple scenes, it didn’t factor into the movie at all. They utilized the shoulder injury better in Skyfall to explore the character better, even if it didn’t entirely make sense.
Having him “be in pain” all the time makes the character come accross as a sissy. He has to be wimpiest version of James Bond. James Bond shouldn’t be portrayed as a wimp.
Roger Moore was a tongue in cheek Bond, but his films fit '70's audiences very well. Sean Connery was the best and left a tough act to follow.
I think, that time had been good to the other Bond actors. They were criticized in their time. Looking back, for instance, George Lazenby looked like he was just about to hit his stride, so he may have done well, if he'd stayed with it.
Fascinating to see how somebody who had never watched them felt about them all.
I really started to panic at 14:11 because i thought i was losing my fucking vision.
Thank you for praising On Her Majesty's Secret Service. It is so much better than most people think. They just dismiss it because of Lazenby.
Timothy Dalton is in fact a King.
Something I have thought a lot about in my discussions with fellow fans...
It's interesting how different fans see and relate to James Bond over the years.. I grew up in the 80s/90s when, if you asked anyone to describe a typical 007 movie, I doubt the words "dark" or "gritty" would even come up. And not just because of the Moore/Brosnan eras. Even going back to the late 60s and early 70s, Bond was starting to develop a certain iconic public image that usually did not include darkness or grit. That's probably why the movies responded in kind with the likes of "From Russia With Love" giving way to movies like "You Only Live Twice" and "Diamonds Are Forever" even before Roger Moore took over.
But NOW, post Daniel Craig, even people who have never seen a Bond movie go into them expecting the grittier character. This is something that Ian Fleming purists (who, frankly, dislike the majority of 007 films) used to insist on and talk about online, while those who came to the character through the movies never gave much thought to it.
I'm not attempting to review anything or say one side is wrong or right. I'm only saying that I don't think the Moore era got anything "wrong." That WAS how people saw 007 by the time he took over. Largely due to public expectations, that's where the franchise went. That seems impossible to fans who came to Bond through Fleming or Craig but I think it's true.
A stuntman really did jump on those alligators. That was all real.
Brosnan is the man!! The only Bond that gets critiqued for being "too perfect" lol!
100%. people are like, "hes too pretty to be james bond." Lol
@@jambler15 these days wouldnt b surpried if the next bond is "too pretty" 🙃🫣🤣
@@toptrollking Ha. I kno right. Assuming we'll eventually get a Bond 26....
@@jambler15 ya it might be too offensive
My favourite Pierce Brosnan Bond film still remains The Thomas Crown Affair, heh.
You hit the nail on the head with the Craig Era, guy is the new kid on the block in the 1st movie then is over the hill by the 3rd movie....
What a fantastic video. As a massive fan of the series, I'm happy to see a newcomer be so positive towards the series. So glad to see some love for Dalton as well. The only point of the entire video I'd disagree with is your view of Brosnan's era but maybe my Irish blood makes me biased. Still though, excellent video and I hope you enjoy rewatching these films in years to come!
Happy to see that you liked Tomorrow Never Dies, not so happy to see you didn’t like Brosnan’s era that much
Jumping on alligators may seem silly at first, until you realize the stunt was performed with real alligators.
Moore is the definitive Bond
I sincerely admire your restraint in talking about Brosnan for like four minutes before playing the windsurfing tsunami clip.
I still think Goldeneye was the best of brosnan's tenure, Tomorrow Never Dies had an interesting concept but it was monumentally generic, Jonathan Price was laughably bad as the villain. Goldeneye represented russia after the cold war as well as giving us two great bond girls and a compelling villain who knows bond's every move. My only wish is that Dalton got to make his 3rd film (Which would've been Goldeneye) he would've added some serious drama to an already great bond story.
Casting Bond should never lead to changing the character. This is why women, orientals, Russians, Latinos, Americans and yes even black people should never ever ever ever ever ever be casted as James Bond. James Bond is a 6-ft Caucasian British gentleman. I hope the next Bond is a brunette or black haired man again. Let's get back to casting Bond closer to the novels so the character will remain the James Bond we know and love.
I really liked all the actors, but Dalton was the best James Bond and License to Kill was the best movie.
Good job. You wrapped up the franchise better than anyone.
LICENSE TO KILL and CASINO ROYALE are my favorite Bond movies. I think QUANTAM OF SOLACE is a very underrated film, I enjoyed it much more the 2nd time around. LIVE AND LET DIE, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME and GOLDFINGER would round out my top 5.
Kind of a fun fact here, from Russia with the love was Ashley the last movie President John F Kennedy ever saw before his assassination. In fact the first two movies were made because Kennedy loved the book version of from Russia with love so much.
Also some other things I wanted to add, the reason why the gun barrel sequences at the end of Skyfall is because the movie opens with a pseudo-version of the gun barrel and the Director thought it looked weird having two gunbarrel sequences back to back. Also, the Daniel Craig films are actually on a different timeline than the other actors. So when keeping that in mind Blofeld being Bonds adoptive half-brother actually kind of makes sense because you can just ignore the original timeline of Connery through Brosnan
As far as Bond actors are concerned, Roger Moore was the gem!
The Daniel Craig movies had the right idea but totaly the wrong implementation.
Originally the bond movies was shot out of order because Dr No and from Russia with love was the one that could be cheapest to film with a then very limited budget. They was to shot one every year (and almost manage). The budget increase sharply and i would say when Thunderballt and you only live twice it was almost bloated. All Roger Moore movies have lower budget than Iive twice, except moon raker. Its almost like big budget destroyes movies (granted, i love moon raker).
Dalton movies and Golden eye (that effectively is a Dalton movie) had a higher budget, but was also packed action movies with a lot of expensive sets.
Now Die a other day had more than twice the budget of Golden Eye... why.
From Thunderbolt to Die a other day, there was one Bond every 2:nd year except from The Dalton gap.
The Craig movies averages about 4-5 years between them. That don´t work. He agees to much. Craig have been bond for 19 years! Moore was for 14. Connery 9... Brosnan 7.
That was a great essay, and it's refreshing to see that even our tastes in Bond films and actors are alike (especially with that TND call). Thank you!
Being born at the end of the 80's and growing during the 90's, my default fav Bond was Brosnan and even though I didn't enjoy every Bond movie with him as a kid/teenager, I remember being outrage that Craig was chosen to be the next Bond (he was buffed, blond, blue eyes etc) and I skipped Casino Royal for years...And ironically, I actually became a huge fan of Craig as Bond (and Craig in general). Casino Royal and Skyfall are two of my favourite movies of all time (and I'm not a huge spectacle movie fan anymore). I think the direction and photography are out of this world in Skyfall, one of the most well shot movie in the action genre. And the songs are like engraved in my brain at this point.
Now, I never liked Quantum (I don't remember a frame from this film except the mindnumbing fast-cuting intro), and was kind of baffled by Spectre. I thought that last one in particular was trying to be serious and goofy at the same time, relying on twists from the 60's but wanting the audience to be emotionally invested as in a more modern/brooding hero movie post-Nolan Batman. It kind of let me on a sour note.
And though two of the Craig era Bond films are some of my favourite movies, I think you nailed it very well analysing how they don't really work as a four (soon five) parters. I feel like we should have had Casino Royal, one or two movies, then Skyfall, but with an ending close to Spectre, with James retiring and a teasing for a new 007. And then a new reboot with another actor.
Oh and, I now is far too late now, but Idris Elba would have been soooo good in that role é_è
I still need to continue my watching of the series with Moonraker.
Great stuff Ross!
The set designs are very great for being so old.....all the exotic locations still holds up
First video I’ve seen on this channel. I saw these films over 40 years. You saw them all at once, yet our opinions on each Bond and the movies as a whole are similar. We don’t necessarily agree on our liking of each film because I didn’t like Casino Royale but I loved Quantum of Solace, but you do at least find Goldeneye unremarkable, which makes two of us. It was also fun seeing how you more or less predicted how No Time To Die would pan out (old retired Bond). I actually liked that movie but opinions were all over the map.
To be fair to the end of QoS, the end of CR has a quick exchange indicating that Vesper had been played, too, which helped subtly shift the tone and meaning of his line "The b*tch is dead" to be, not a write off of her betrayal, but a way to keep M from realizing at first that he's about to go off on a roaring rampage of revenge against those who did him and Vesper wrong -- especially against her. "The dead don't care about revenge," so it wasn't mainly about himself. Incidentally, I think QoS despite its very different style works well as the butt-kicking 90 minute finale to an epic 4-hour Bond origin story. Too bad they couldn't stop trying to do an origin story (while also shifting into an old-man-who-should-retire mode, good grief.)
Best part though is that Vesper turns out to be the ORIGINAL Moneypenny. As practically declared in their opening exchange when M's accountant arrives. "You must be the money." "Every penny."
I want to watch this video, but first, I must become Japanese.
Konbanwa
Never seen a single Harry Potter movie, and I'm ok with that
First, and I can just hear the shrieking of Dan from Eyebrow Cinema in the distances. Can't wait to watch this!!!
He's outside my apartment, he won't leave
Not that you care but Tomorrow Never Dies is my second favourite Bond film and the one that cemented me as a Bond fan. Basically a British take on a Jerry Bruckheimer film - for me, right movie at the right time.
Sir James Bond was actually retired in Casino Royale 1967, he retired after giving Mata Hari, his love, to the british army, but it turned out he got a daughter, Mata Bond, that looked like Mata Hari
Damn no Brosnan love at all hahah I thought GE to TWINE was a solid run. I make no excuses for DAD though… that’s a rough one but it wasn’t Brosnans fault.
Glad Timmy got some love, to me it’s the biggest tragedy in Bond history that Dalton didn’t get at least 1 more.
Tommorow Never Dies is also my favorite Brosnan Bond movie.
mine too
It's basically "let's make Goldeneye but better" and then after TND it goes off a cliff.
Though something I found interesting, Toby Stephens(who plays the villain in Die Another Day) now voices James Bond in the BBC radio dramas
I am outraged you didn't love Goldeneye.
Great vid. In my opinion the way to really create a theme-perfect Bond movie, and also inject some freshness into the formula at this stage, would be to do a 60s period piece - and take it seriously. Cold War and everything.
Brosnan is the best Bond because he was the perfect balance of Connery and Moore. He was able to be charming without sacrificing the danger. His films are also the best of the series, even his weakest being Die Another Day is still a really fun time. His other 3 are all top 10 Bond movies.
Oi, sir! Have only just discovered your vid So, firstly, well done! Secondly, as a uni professor, and film school graduate, I applaud your visual content and commentary. Your analysis of the Moore Era is spot on, save that goofy American sheriff. That bloke was hysterical, as well as a strong social statement. As a Welshman, I was OTM to see Dalton as Bond. However, I disagree, for Daylights is the better film. As to B-era, well, you are correct. Sadly, I must yield. Firstly, Goldeneye had Bond diving from one plane to another? Later, Bond wind-surf a tidal wave? Madness! As to Craig, you are again spot on. However, you neglected to mention that the bloke looks more like Elmer Fudd than Bond. OMG! What were they thinking? The character, like it or not, must be handsome. Lastly, I must ask you to re-examine OHMSS & Lazenby. Examine his acting and physicality, they're surprising. Like Sean, he was hired because of his movement. The man was dashing, swift, posh, and ruthless. In the end, well done, you! Cheers!
The Brosnan era is every under rated. At least he looked like he wanted to be there unlike Craig who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else.
That's funny because my friend recently wanted to do the same thing and we're currently On Her Majesty Secret's Service. I had seen most of them and saw Spectre in theaters and was looking forward to No Time To Die since Craig is my favorite Bond
Great vid - to watch all the bond films with fresh eyes would be amazing
Brosnan may have had Moore's charisma, but you can't deny he also brought the spirit of Connery's cold blooded killer to the role as well. Particularly when he kills Kaufman in Tomorrow Never Dies and Electra King in The World Is Not Enough
'no, for me'.
This is very well made and entertaining. Good job
I agree, Jonathan Pryce as the villain was great!
My blind spot is the Mission impossible movies
WATCH THEM.
I'm sorry but I consider Goldeneye to be a masterpiece, not just because of the great story, but also its political comment about a character like Bond post the cold war. It was also the big comeback on the character after the 6 years gap because of the lawsuits. This movie means a lot for the franchise.
This video just makes me want to watch Austin Powers again
Overall I think we share some common ground here man. Good work!
So is he saying Goldeneye is underwhelming?
Wait, Sean Connery wore a wig as Bond? I thought I was a big Bond fan, but that was something new I learned today.
So, the conclusion is that AVTAK is underrated
RIP Connery and Moore
Hey man that was a really great video! It's awesome to see a new fresh perspective. Dalton is awesome and definitely overlooked.
I typically prefer smaller character driven film's over big dumb blockbusters. So given that what I'm gonna say next is going to sound very odd and contradictory... My favorite Bond film's are usually the over the top goofy ones.
Roger Moore is my favorite Bond followed closely by Brosnan. Roger Moore is the charming British gentleman with dry witt who winks at the audience and always looks like he's having fun. He's a lover not a fighter.
That being said I do enjoy every version of Bond for one reason or another. However I gotta say Craig is easily my least favorite actor to don the tux. He's far to rough for my tastes and far too similar to Jason Bourne.
When I think of James Bond I think of larger than life comic book film's. With evil underwater lairs, submersible cars and jet packs. I find film's like Moonraker to be hilarious and just pure fun.
I only actively strongly dislike a couple of film's in the series. Those being Quantum of Solace, Goldfinger (blasphemy I know) and Diamonds are Forever.
The absolute highlights in the series for me (in no real order) are The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, Live and Let Die, Octopussy, Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, License To Kill (I do love Bond unhinged and out for revenge) Skyfall, Thunderball, From Russia With Love and On Her Majesties Secret Service.
Film's that I know are bad but I absolutely love anyways are Moonraker, A View to a Kill, The Man With the Golden Gun and The World is Not Enough.
Moore and Brosnan are my favourites. I watched the movies as a kid, though.
As a lifelong fan of Bond and stumbling across this video, I really enjoyed listening to your thoughts on the series. I find it interesting that other than choosing Tomorrow Never Dies as your favourite Brosnan film, your favs from each actor were the same as how I would pick them. I'm also going to start using "the best Bond is Connery, but Dalton is my favourite" line to describe my thoughts on that as well. I used to say Dalton was the best Bond, now that I think about it, you kind of nailed it on the head. It would have been interesting where Dalton's Bond would have went with even one more film.
Dalton is the Best Bond!
Although I appreciate the little bit of love you gave to Tomorrow Never Dies as I think it's kind of underrated, Goldeneye is obviously the best Brosnan film. Just as you say any outrage about you not liking Goldeneye doesn't matter, you not liking Goldeneye also doesn't matter. It's still the best film of that era, regardless of your feelings.
Timothy Dalton is my favourite Bond _and I will argue about that till the day I die!_ Personally Living Daylights edges it out for Favourite of Daltons, had to re-watch License to Kill a couple more times to love it. LD, _right out the gate!_
Dr no was released in 1962. From Russia with Love in 1963.
Just wanted to leave a comment expressing how much I enjoyed this video.
I didn't agree with everything you said, but it's your experience, not mine. That being said, I did disagree that Denise Richards wasn't bad in her role as I feel she simply was.
Thank you for the work you put in and good luck with your channel.
I like Pierce Brosnans Bond because die another day was my first bond movie but his bond is pretty goofy. Golden Eye birthed one of the most iconic games for speedruning.