What is the best order to watch the films?

Za_Claw · February 2014

It is time for me to share all the Bond movies with my youngest son.
But here is my question(s).
Which would be the better approach - Dr. No - Skyfall or a chronological timeline?
Like this -
1. Casino Royale- an obvious choice
2. Quantum of Solace- Sequel to Casino Royale
3. Dr. No
4. From Russia with Love- because comments about Dr. No.
5. Thunderball- Following the SPECTRE timeline
6. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
7. You Only Live Twice- Blofeld didn't recognize him in On Her Majesty's Secret Service so these so YOLT should come after.
8. Diamonds Are Forever
9. Live and Let Die
10. Moonraker
11. Goldfinger
12. A View to a Kill
13. For Your Eyes Only
14. The Spy Who Loved Me
15. The Man with the Golden Gun
16. Octopussy
17. The Living Daylights
18. License to Kill
19. GoldenEye
20. Tomorrow Never Dies
21. The World is not Enough
22. Die Another Day
23. Never Say Never Again- Bond is old and M re-activating the 00's

Is there a better order for the timeline? And I don't know where to put Skyfall
I think at #3. because at the end of Skyfall, the new MI6 office is identical to the one from the old movies and Moneypenny begins working as M's liaison and he gets an Aston Martin so it's after CR and before Goldfinger but it's Judi Dench's final mission so it should/could be after Bronson's films, and there is a GoldenEye reference.

Thunderpussy · February 2014

Congratulations on passing Bond on to another generation.n {[] -{

If it was Me, I'd show CR, QOS and Skyfall , then take him back to
Dr No through to DAD, to show him how the films have changed
over the years.

Sadly both my daughters have no interest in Bond, unless B Cumberbatch
gets the gig.

)

Smiert-Spionam · February 2014

I would leave the 'chronological' timeline to the hardcore Bond fans like you and I tbh. When I finally have kids and introduce them to Bond I would start off with a couple of choice classics (Goldfinger/The Spy Who Loved Me/Goldeneye) as it was these films that got me into Bond in the first place. I would also chuck in a new film (in your case Skyfall or Casino Royale). Then if he likes what he sees introduce him to the best of the rest (LALD, TLD, FRWL etc).

Everyone has a different story about how they got into Bond and what their first experience of the 007 phenomenon was. I look forward to hearing your son's version of events on this forum in a few years time :007) -{

Za_Claw · February 2014

Thanks Thunderpussy and Smiert,
I thought about something similar. I thought about starting with Live and Let Die, not because it is one of the best but because it was my first. I was nine years old and my friend's parents managed the local theatre and they allowed us in for free and we could stay as long as we wanted (even PG rated ones). It was the summer of 1973 and we watched it again and again, almost every showing. I was hooked from then on. So LALD holds a special place with me.

Peppermill · February 2014

I would do one of two things. Or watch the movies in order (DN through SF, that whole timeline thing really bothers me. So CR was before DN? Then why didn't he bring that cell phone to Crab Key? Would have saved him a lot of time). Or just watch the ones you really like first. Maybe FRWL is a bit too low key to watch as one of the first, maybe something like a spectacular movie is a good start.

Blackleiter · February 2014

Smiert-Spionam wrote:

I would leave the 'chronological' timeline to the hardcore Bond fans like you and I tbh. When I finally have kids and introduce them to Bond I would start off with a couple of choice classics (Goldfinger/The Spy Who Loved Me/Goldeneye) as it was these films that got me into Bond in the first place. I would also chuck in a new film (in your case Skyfall or Casino Royale). Then if he likes what he sees introduce him to the best of the rest (LALD, TLD, FRWL etc).

Everyone has a different story about how they got into Bond and what their first experience of the 007 phenomenon was. I look forward to hearing your son's version of events on this forum in a few years time :007) -{

I like this approach. -{

Kabraxal · February 2014

Thunderpussy wrote:

Congratulations on passing Bond on to another generation.n {[] -{

If it was Me, I'd show CR, QOS and Skyfall , then take him back to
Dr No through to DAD, to show him how the films have changed
over the years.

Sadly both my daughters have no interest in Bond, unless B Cumberbatch
gets the gig. )

He might be able to pull it off.... buuuuut, I'd rather him play the villain. But then I was a huge fan of his awkward near sociapathic take on Sherlock and his work in Star Trek Into Darkness was amazing. He would be very believable as someone that could physically and mentally match Bond.

As for the topic itself... depends on the viewer's aeshtetical leanings. If you know they can deal with older SFX and some differences in timing/pacing then I'd recommend Dr. No through Skyfall... it's chronological enough to make sense and generally, I find the quality fairly equal, though you will have a few sharp downturns and obvious spikes (verying on taste of course as this board shows). If they have issue with older SFX, the drastic shift from the Craig trilogy to the older films will be jarring.

Agent Kino · February 2014

I really liked the original post's order. Seems very thought out and I might actually watch it that way haha.

AlphaOmegaSin · February 2014

Watch them in Order of Release, or go backwards. Starting with SF all the the way to DN.

Absolutely_Cart · December 2014

The Bond movies are designed to be episodic, so usually it doesn't matter which order you watch them.

But with Skyfall, although its a standalone movie, it's recommended that you watch some of Brosnan's and Craig's other films first.

MilleniumForce · December 2014

I would start with enjoyable, big, spectacular ones, so MR, TSWLM, GE, GF and then the new films, so Brosnan and Craig. Then the rest.

Dutchfinger · December 2014

When introducing Bond to newbie's I always find it extremely tough to start with DN or FRWL. Granted, these are two great Bond movies very close to the original novels and farther away to the perception of what Bond is to a newbie. I am someone who likes to do things in order however, so I always find it hard where to begin... Goldfinger is ALWAYS a safe bet for any Bond newbie to start with! It´s fun, easy to follow, shows you classic Bond and gets people intrested (usually). A while back I did the same with my girlfriend, who even remembered seeing a lot of the scenes from GF anyway and she loved it.

Now recently her intrest in Bond started to grow (partly for me I guess, but it's great! we even went to this great Bond exibition in Rotterdam today, which she loved) She actually wanted to watch all the movies with me. - in order. So this time we started with DN and moved on to FRWL. I warned her that these movies could be different than what she might expect... (My 'fear' of a newbie not liking the first two movies again...) She really liked DN, and got the charm of FRWL but isn't as much into the cold war intreque as I am, so unlike me she liked DN more than FRWL. But ohwell, slowly we're trying to move through all of them. I really like that she's enjoying it. We're even using an advent calender for every movie, since there are exactly 24 pieces of chocolate

) (Counting Bond 24 already)

Anyway to summarize this post, introduce a newbie with GF, can't go wrong there! - And they might want to watch the first two anyway!

Absolutely_Cart · December 2014

To give it context, I was someone who never thought I would be a Bond fan. I was pretty much against mainstream Hollywood and male power fantasies, but then a friend recommended me Goldfinger and I loved it.

Firemass · December 2014

Absolutely_Cart wrote:

To give it context, I was someone who never thought I would be a Bond fan. I was pretty much against mainstream Hollywood and male power fantasies, but then a friend recommended me Goldfinger and I loved it.

You do realize that Bond films are NOT a product of Hollywood ?

AlphaOmegaSin · December 2014

Absolutely_Cart wrote:

To give it context, I was someone who never thought I would be a Bond fan. I was pretty much against mainstream Hollywood and male power fantasies, but then a friend recommended me Goldfinger and I loved it.

The Bond Films are very a much a British Institution and Hollywood has never had anything to do with them.

Thunderpussy · December 2014

I also think it's to the producers credit that all actors who have worked
On a Bond, have commented that it feels far from a big budget event
Movie and more like a small independent film, much friendlier. {[]

Absolutely_Cart · December 2014

AlphaOmegaSin wrote:

Absolutely_Cart wrote:

To give it context, I was someone who never thought I would be a Bond fan. I was pretty much against mainstream Hollywood and male power fantasies, but then a friend recommended me Goldfinger and I loved it.

The Bond Films are very a much a British Institution and Hollywood has never had anything to do with them.

Yes, I agree. I meant moreso in terms of the massive budget, the guns, the sexy girls. It's British for sure, but it feels like Hollywood.

AlphaOmegaSin · December 2014

I hope it stays that way -{ Worst Case Scenario is if Disney purchases the Series

Absolutely_Cart · March 2015

One more thing I want to add to this topic, especially for newcomers to the series who are overwhelmed by all the films.

Don't feel like you have to watch them in particular order.

Some of them are sequential but you can still watch them out of order. I would just recommend you start with the most acclaimed ones or the ones that seem the most interesting to you, and then go from there to watch whichever films you want.

002 · March 2015

I'd forget any *order* and start my (young) sons with the movies that include the sorts of things they like. Something that has lots of action, guns, car chases and GADGETS. So... probably only movies like:

You Only Live Twice
The Spy Who Loved Me
Moonraker or
Goldeneye

would suit them best...

Maybe even Thunderball or Live and Let Die might, at a push, be enough to keep them amused. I don't think any of the others, except maybe (dare I say it) Die Another Day, would entertain them...

What is the best order to watch the films?

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