Which are the most INTERESTING films and why?

M 'n' MM 'n' M Posts: 105MI6 Agent
I've been trying to finalise my "ultimate ranking" and the process got me to realise that the films i like most i like not because they're always the coolest, or the most exciting, or the most exotic - but because there's something about them that makes them interesting. And it explains why i don't like some others, so TND is a firm favourite of a lot of members, but i don't find it interesting. Whereas Octopussy has something intriguing about it. And LALD has the fascination of voodoo. Even DAF had a different vibe to it because it focused on the diamond trade (at least for half the film) which felt fresh for a Bond film.

So - which ones are the interesting ones?

Comments

  • heartbroken_mr_draxheartbroken_mr_drax New Zealand Posts: 2,073MI6 Agent
    Still comes down to personal opinion really, here are the ones that I think are interesting. Remember, IMO!

    TWINE - The psychological battle between M, Bond and Elektra is intriguing to me. I find this an interesting twist to the normal formula.
    FYEO - Other than it being a brilliant film, I find Roger Moore acting far straighter and interesting and fulfilling watch.
    MR - The special effects and scale of the film are impressive. Space scenes are tense and interesting.
    TSWLM - The scale and special effects, similar feeling to MR.
    LALD - Voodoo elements, on-purpose removal of many traditional Bond trademarks.
    1. TWINE 2. FYEO 3. MR 4. TLD 5. TSWLM 6. OHMSS 7. DN 8. OP 9. AVTAK 10. TMWTGG 11. QoS 12. GE 13. CR 14. TB 15. FRWL 16. TND 17. LTK 18. GF 19. SF 20. LaLD 21. YOLT 22. NTTD 23. DAD 24. DAF. 25. SP

    "Better make that two."
  • am747am747 Posts: 720MI6 Agent
    edited December 2015
    M n M wrote:
    Whereas Octopussy has something intriguing about it. And LALD has the fascination of voodoo. Even DAF had a different vibe to it because it focused on the diamond trade (at least for half the film) which felt fresh for a Bond film.

    So - which ones are the interesting ones?

    Based on your criteria:
    * DN - Beautiful and vibrant Caribbean environment. The music (Jump up, etc.) and background score is catchy
    * FRWL - Unique train sequence. A intriguing journey of Istanbul including its tunnels. Hitchcockian feel
    * TB - Underwater and Caribbean sequences. Overall, the movie has a nice peppy feel to it which is hard to describe (similar to DN)
    * YOLT - A beautiful journey of Japan and its culture. Interesting villain's lair. Romantic background score
    * OHMSS - Alpine environment (Can be described as TB in snow)
    * LALD - Voodoo theme
    * TMWTGG - Scaramanga's Island theme
    * TSWLM - Fascinating Egyptian locations. Unique underwater villain's lair
    * OP - Indiana Jones meets Bond feel
    * SP - A visually striking film. It is as if a photographer stitched some of his best landscape and city architecture pictures together

    {[]
  • M 'n' MM 'n' M Posts: 105MI6 Agent
    am747 wrote:
    M n M wrote:
    Whereas Octopussy has something intriguing about it. And LALD has the fascination of voodoo. Even DAF had a different vibe to it because it focused on the diamond trade (at least for half the film) which felt fresh for a Bond film.

    So - which ones are the interesting ones?

    Based on your criteria:
    * DN - Beautiful and vibrant Caribbean environment. The music (Jump up, etc.) and background score is catchy
    * FRWL - Unique train sequences. A intriguing journey of Istanbul including its tunnels
    * TB - Underwater and Caribbean sequences. Overall, the movie has a nice peppy feel to it which is hard to describe
    * YOLT - A beautiful journey of Japan and its culture. Interesting villain's lair. Romantic background score
    * OHMSS - Alpine environment (Can be described as TB in snow)
    * LALD - Voodoo theme
    * TMWTGG - Scaramanga's Island theme
    * OP - Indiana Jones meets Bond feel
    * SP - Visually striking film. It is as if a photographer stitched some of his best landscape pictures together

    {[]

    Nice choices - emphasising the importance of location. Have we lost that element or is it because more people have seen more places so the thrill has gone. In a way skyfall tried to reintroduce through the back door by using Scotland - so obvious and accessible but very beautiful
  • hehadlotsofgutshehadlotsofguts Durham England Posts: 2,107MI6 Agent
    LTK. It's the first film that explores the idea of Bond going rouge. (Hope i spelt that right!
    Have you ever heard of the Emancipation Proclamation?"

    " I don't listen to hip hop!"
  • am747am747 Posts: 720MI6 Agent
    edited December 2015
    M n M wrote:

    Nice choices - emphasising the importance of location. Have we lost that element or is it because more people have seen more places so the thrill has gone. In a way skyfall tried to reintroduce through the back door by using Scotland - so obvious and accessible but very beautiful

    The thrill and feel for locations is still there. In some films, they stand out or feel a part of the film. While in some they are overshadowed by the action on screen or take the backstage :)

    The Scotland sequence in SF also reminded us about the drive through Switzerland in the Aston in GF .... Both SF and GF are good examples of films that have a few such sequences but the entire film does not necessarily have that feel
  • broadshoulderbroadshoulder Acton, London, UKPosts: 1,363MI6 Agent
    Gonna say OHMSS..

    The Alps before Christmas. Everything's covered in snow. That Swiss village looks incredible with people carrying skis and the helicopter journey is incredible. you get the impression of a real community surrounds Piz Gloria. And the Christmas theme is pushed to the forefront with a ice skating celebration.

    "Oh Look, Eggnog on Christmas eve.." You actually get a time and place in OHMSS
    1. For Your Eyes Only 2. The Living Daylights 3 From Russia with Love 4. Casino Royale 5. OHMSS 6. Skyfall
  • chrisisallchrisisall Western Mass, USAPosts: 9,061MI6 Agent
    FRWL because it's not just beautiful locations, it's a time capsule.
    TMWTGG because it's way bizarre.
    OP because it takes so many twists & turns and ends up a solid spy flick.
    LTK because we see just how driven & ruthless Bond can be.
    QOS because the plot is contemporary & Greene is a singular psychotic sleazeball.
    Dalton & Connery rule. Brozz was cool.
    #1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
  • Agent PurpleAgent Purple Posts: 857MI6 Agent
    Purely on the basis of how interesting they are, as opposed to how they fare in my ranking, here are some, in no particular order:

    -YOLT: Gotta love Bond in Japan. I get a kick out of the location shots in this film.
    -CR: Not one of my favorites, but I love that shot of a beach in the Bahamas. I also dig that shot when we see the train at Montenegro. Venice is also sweet.
    -TB: Again, not one of my favorites, but the tropical scenery is nice.
    -FRWL: Gotta love Istanbul.
    -L&LD: I feel Hamilton had the most impressive use of locations in L&LD out of all his Bond films. You really feel New York, New Orleans, and the fictional San Monique.
    -AVTAK: My 2nd least fave Moore film, but I still love Paris and Frisco here, Glen sure knew what he was doing.
    -TMWTGG: The Asian locations are nice, bar that dumb martial arts school scene.
    -MR: Venice and Brazil are fantastic.
    -TSWLM: Yes, I included every single Gilbert film on here. What can I say, he's my fave Bond director, and it's mainly because all 3 of his films are a treat to me when it comes to locations, and they are all complimented with great set design imo. They just please my visual sweet tooth very much. Sardinia and Egypt feel like experiences here.
    -TWINE: It feels like a puzzle. I feel the urge to pay attention to detail here to try to understand the plot. And it gets me wrapped up in the film in a unique way.

    I think I gave enough examples.
    "Hostile takeovers. Shall we?"
    New 2020 ranking (for now DAF and FYEO keep their previous placements)
    1. TLD 2. TND 3. GF 4. TSWLM 5. TWINE 6. OHMSS 7. LtK 8. TMWTGG 9. L&LD 10. YOLT 11. DAD 12. QoS 13. DN 14. GE 15. SF 16. OP 17. MR 18. AVTAK 19. TB 20. FRWL 21. CR 22. FYEO 23. DAF (SP to be included later)
    Bond actors to be re-ranked later
  • The Wicker ManThe Wicker Man EnglandPosts: 434MI6 Agent
    OHMSS is my most interesting film of the series because -
    1. You care about these characters, so much so that when Tracy is murdered at the end it is a genuinely heartbreaking moment for the viewer.
    2. Direction is spot on. Even from the start with the PTS, filming Lazenby in silhouette makes it intriguing. The film has a look and style unique to the series.
    3. Lazenby himself. His only Bond film makes it interesting to me.
    4. The music is awesome. Scenes like Bond in Gumbold's office become even more tense and interesting because of the score.
    5. The film has momentum. Where other Bond films start off strongly and sometimes fade towards the end, not so with OHMSS. This film starts strongly but gets even better, all the time building up to one of the finest finales ever.
    6. Bond is actually a spy. Working undercover it is interesting to find out along with Bond just what is happening at Piz Gloria.
    7. Locations. How can Piz Gloria not be interesting.
    8. Escape from Piz Gloria. The most exciting sequence in a Bond film? It gets my vote.
    9. The script. "You must give me the name of your oculist". "But today is the thirteenth Commander" - "I'm superstitious". It is always clever.
    10. That ending. Bond always ends up with the girl, not this time.
    11. Action. Some of the most interesting stunt work and with that score, fantastic.
    12. The plot. The story is fascinating and the long running time of the film just flies by.
    I love so many Bond films but OHMSS sits head and shoulders above the rest. -{
    1.ohmss 2.cr 3.frwl 4.ltk 5.gf 6.tswlm 7.sf 8.op 9.tld 10.dn 11.lald 12.tb 13.fyeo 14.ge 15.mr 16.yolt 17.tnd 18.avtak 19.sp 20.twine 21.qos 22.tmwtgg 23.daf 24.dad
  • am747am747 Posts: 720MI6 Agent
    OHMSS is my most interesting film of the series because -
    1. You care about these characters, so much so that when Tracy is murdered at the end it is a genuinely heartbreaking moment for the viewer.
    2. Direction is spot on. Even from the start with the PTS, filming Lazenby in silhouette makes it intriguing. The film has a look and style unique to the series.
    3. Lazenby himself. His only Bond film makes it interesting to me.
    4. The music is awesome. Scenes like Bond in Gumbold's office become even more tense and interesting because of the score.
    5. The film has momentum. Where other Bond films start off strongly and sometimes fade towards the end, not so with OHMSS. This film starts strongly but gets even better, all the time building up to one of the finest finales ever.
    6. Bond is actually a spy. Working undercover it is interesting to find out along with Bond just what is happening at Piz Gloria.
    7. Locations. How can Piz Gloria not be interesting.
    8. Escape from Piz Gloria. The most exciting sequence in a Bond film? It gets my vote.
    9. The script. "You must give me the name of your oculist". "But today is the thirteenth Commander" - "I'm superstitious". It is always clever.
    10. That ending. Bond always ends up with the girl, not this time.
    11. Action. Some of the most interesting stunt work and with that score, fantastic.
    12. The plot. The story is fascinating and the long running time of the film just flies by.
    I love so many Bond films but OHMSS sits head and shoulders above the rest. -{

    You built a nice case for OHMSS as the most interesting :)
  • MilleniumForceMilleniumForce LondonPosts: 1,214MI6 Agent
    I think every Bond film is interesting in some way:

    DN - First attempt at the formula, of course the formula was altered a bit by the time GF came around.

    FRWL - Feels the most like a proper spy film in the entire series.

    GF - The first film really to use the standard formula

    TB - Unusually focuses a lot on underwater stuff

    YOLT - First of the 'big and bold' Bond films

    OHMSS - More grounded, follows the novel (unusual for a Bond film to do that after this!)

    DAF - Uses a very vibrant and interesting location - 1970s Vegas, and has the feel of an American film rather than a British film (as in the locations and the music used etc)

    LALD - Deals with Voodoo

    TMWTGG - Deals with some Kung Fu aspects

    TSWLM - Again, the underwater stuff and the fact that after TMWTGG this film really was 'Everything or Nothing'.

    MR - Deals with space

    FYEO - More grounded in reality, definitely has a spy feel to it like FRWL

    OP - Deals with the circus

    AVTAK - Old man Bond, Christopher Walken and Grace Jones. Need I say more.

    TLD - Same as FYEO and TLD

    LTK - Feels more like abig american action film like Die Hard

    GE - The same as TSWLM, and as the first Gond film post Cold War

    TND - Deas with media and conspiracies

    TWINE - Just how the film looks, it looks very dull, like a TV movie.

    DAD - Feels like a Roger Moore film

    CR - Unusual for an action film of the time, focuses less on action and more about the poker scenes

    QoS - Not really much interesting about this.

    SF - Feels like a patriotic Bond film, spending most of the time in the UK, feels more like Bond at home.

    SP - Like a Brosnan film made today.
    1.LTK 2.AVTAK 3.OP 4.FYEO 5.TND 6.LALD 7.GE 8.GF 9.TSWLM 10.SPECTRE 11.SF 12.MR 13.YOLT 14.TLD 15.CR (06) 16.TMWTGG 17.TB 18.FRWL 19.TWINE 20.OHMSS 21.DAF 22.DAD 23.QoS 24.NSNA 25.DN 26.CR (67)
  • am747am747 Posts: 720MI6 Agent
    edited December 2015
    TMWTGG - Deals with some Kung Fu aspects

    I thought that the film was about an assassin who uses a golden gun with golden bullets, charges $1M in 70s money per hit, and lives on an exotic Island, and presumably wants to target Bond .... The Kung Fu aspects are a minor part of the film from what I gathered. You would not watch TMWTGG for Kung Fu :)
  • heartbroken_mr_draxheartbroken_mr_drax New Zealand Posts: 2,073MI6 Agent
    am747 wrote:
    TMWTGG - Deals with some Kung Fu aspects

    I thought that the film was about an assassin who uses a golden gun with golden bullets, charges $1M in 70s money per hit, and lives on an exotic Island, and presumably wants to target Bond .... The Kung Fu aspects are a minor part of the film from what I gathered. You would not watch TMWTGG for Kung Fu :)

    haha nice :))
    1. TWINE 2. FYEO 3. MR 4. TLD 5. TSWLM 6. OHMSS 7. DN 8. OP 9. AVTAK 10. TMWTGG 11. QoS 12. GE 13. CR 14. TB 15. FRWL 16. TND 17. LTK 18. GF 19. SF 20. LaLD 21. YOLT 22. NTTD 23. DAD 24. DAF. 25. SP

    "Better make that two."
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    At the time " everyone was kung fu fighting #" :D
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • M 'n' MM 'n' M Posts: 105MI6 Agent
    OHMSS is my most interesting film of the series because -
    1. You care about these characters, so much so that when Tracy is murdered at the end it is a genuinely heartbreaking moment for the viewer.
    2. Direction is spot on. Even from the start with the PTS, filming Lazenby in silhouette makes it intriguing. The film has a look and style unique to the series.
    3. Lazenby himself. His only Bond film makes it interesting to me.
    4. The music is awesome. Scenes like Bond in Gumbold's office become even more tense and interesting because of the score.
    5. The film has momentum. Where other Bond films start off strongly and sometimes fade towards the end, not so with OHMSS. This film starts strongly but gets even better, all the time building up to one of the finest finales ever.
    6. Bond is actually a spy. Working undercover it is interesting to find out along with Bond just what is happening at Piz Gloria.
    7. Locations. How can Piz Gloria not be interesting.
    8. Escape from Piz Gloria. The most exciting sequence in a Bond film? It gets my vote.
    9. The script. "You must give me the name of your oculist". "But today is the thirteenth Commander" - "I'm superstitious". It is always clever.
    10. That ending. Bond always ends up with the girl, not this time.
    11. Action. Some of the most interesting stunt work and with that score, fantastic.
    12. The plot. The story is fascinating and the long running time of the film just flies by.
    I love so many Bond films but OHMSS sits head and shoulders above the rest. -{

    Is that because it's one of the best books and - for once - the writers stuck much closer to it? It often seems like a missed opportunity that the films so rarely used the strong stories and settings of the books
  • The Wicker ManThe Wicker Man EnglandPosts: 434MI6 Agent
    I agree. Two of my favourite films OHMSS and FRWL stick closely to Fleming's vision and are all the better for it. Films like DAF and MR would probably have benefited from sticking to Fleming's story.
    1.ohmss 2.cr 3.frwl 4.ltk 5.gf 6.tswlm 7.sf 8.op 9.tld 10.dn 11.lald 12.tb 13.fyeo 14.ge 15.mr 16.yolt 17.tnd 18.avtak 19.sp 20.twine 21.qos 22.tmwtgg 23.daf 24.dad
  • M 'n' MM 'n' M Posts: 105MI6 Agent
    I agree. Two of my favourite films OHMSS and FRWL stick closely to Fleming's vision and are all the better for it. Films like DAF and MR would probably have benefited from sticking to Fleming's story.

    Yes- it's 35 years since i read Moonraker but i THINK (memory fading) i remember a great scene with a lorry and a load of timber logs. I always wondered why the writers didn't use scenes like that.
  • am747am747 Posts: 720MI6 Agent
    M n M wrote:
    I agree. Two of my favourite films OHMSS and FRWL stick closely to Fleming's vision and are all the better for it. Films like DAF and MR would probably have benefited from sticking to Fleming's story.

    Yes- it's 35 years since i read Moonraker but i THINK (memory fading) i remember a great scene with a lorry and a load of timber logs. I always wondered why the writers didn't use scenes like that.

    I read Moonraker recently and many of its concepts were used in DAD for Graves - has hatred for West (vs. Eng), changes his identity, rises suddenly socially and financially, gets knighted, develops Icarus (vs. Moonraker), loses to Bond in an intense sword battle (the game at the Blades), etc.
  • heartbroken_mr_draxheartbroken_mr_drax New Zealand Posts: 2,073MI6 Agent
    ^ Now that's interesting!
    1. TWINE 2. FYEO 3. MR 4. TLD 5. TSWLM 6. OHMSS 7. DN 8. OP 9. AVTAK 10. TMWTGG 11. QoS 12. GE 13. CR 14. TB 15. FRWL 16. TND 17. LTK 18. GF 19. SF 20. LaLD 21. YOLT 22. NTTD 23. DAD 24. DAF. 25. SP

    "Better make that two."
  • am747am747 Posts: 720MI6 Agent
    edited December 2015
    Some of the films below may be classified as "interesting", while some as "regular". If we remove our critic's hat (Bond in gorilla suit, Tarzan yell, whistle, too many underwater sequences, etc.), they will take us on a non-stop fun ride providing "sit back, switch off your brain and enjoy" entertainment:

    (listed in the order of their release)

    * TB
    * YOLT
    * LALD
    * TMWTGG
    * TSWLM
    * MR
    * OP
    * TLD
    * TND
    * SP

    The old ones have aged well .... It would be interesting to see a ranking with these in the top 10 {[]
  • FiremassFiremass AlaskaPosts: 1,910MI6 Agent
    M n M wrote:
    I agree. Two of my favourite films OHMSS and FRWL stick closely to Fleming's vision and are all the better for it. Films like DAF and MR would probably have benefited from sticking to Fleming's story.

    Yes- it's 35 years since i read Moonraker but i THINK (memory fading) i remember a great scene with a lorry and a load of timber logs. I always wondered why the writers didn't use scenes like that.

    They basically did in FYEO with the barrels of opium.

    I find LALD and TMWTGG to be the most interesting because they are both just kinda weird!
    My current 10 favorite:

    1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
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