Favourite Sean Connery film?
Jarvio
EnglandPosts: 4,236MI6 Agent
How would you rank the Sean Connery films? Here is how I would rank them.
1 YOLT - Always been my favourite Connery film. I think it's very underrated. Spectacular moments, particulaly seeing Blofeld's face for the first time. Excellent locations. The volcano lair is brilliant and I love Tokyo. Women are below average, but that's not enough to spoil the film.
2 - Dr No - It started the Bond film franchise off. I think it was particulaly well made, and flowed together really well. It builds up great, and I love how the main villain is not properly seen until the end. The suspense is wonderful. Honey Rider is, and always will be my favourite Bond girl. Connery's performance is excellent to say it's his first Bond film.
3 - DAF - Underrated. I found it very enjoyable. Some great elements. Cool locations. I loved the oil rig showdown. Not too keen on Charles Gray as Blofeld though.
4 - GF - Almost tied with DAF. Great elements once again. Good story, lots of memorable moments, good villains. For me, it wasn't action-packed enough, and that's what brings it down for me.
5 - FRWL - Pretty decent, and almost tied with DAF and GF. Interesting story. Drags on in places though. First time we see Desmond as Q, and Connery's performance is excellent.
6 - TB - Boring. Absolutely boring. I could never engage with TB, it always bores me to tears. Largo is a good villain, and Fiona Volpe is enjoyable, and Connery is excellent. But the film in general bores the hell out of me, too much water, and really slow moving. And I hated the way it was edited. The stupid way that the screen scrolls when the scene changes.
Overall, I think Connery is excellent as Bond. His portrayal as 007 is irreplacable. His films, for me, aren't the best. I prefer the Moore films. But the Connery films are still good, and Connery himself is bloody excellent!
1 YOLT - Always been my favourite Connery film. I think it's very underrated. Spectacular moments, particulaly seeing Blofeld's face for the first time. Excellent locations. The volcano lair is brilliant and I love Tokyo. Women are below average, but that's not enough to spoil the film.
2 - Dr No - It started the Bond film franchise off. I think it was particulaly well made, and flowed together really well. It builds up great, and I love how the main villain is not properly seen until the end. The suspense is wonderful. Honey Rider is, and always will be my favourite Bond girl. Connery's performance is excellent to say it's his first Bond film.
3 - DAF - Underrated. I found it very enjoyable. Some great elements. Cool locations. I loved the oil rig showdown. Not too keen on Charles Gray as Blofeld though.
4 - GF - Almost tied with DAF. Great elements once again. Good story, lots of memorable moments, good villains. For me, it wasn't action-packed enough, and that's what brings it down for me.
5 - FRWL - Pretty decent, and almost tied with DAF and GF. Interesting story. Drags on in places though. First time we see Desmond as Q, and Connery's performance is excellent.
6 - TB - Boring. Absolutely boring. I could never engage with TB, it always bores me to tears. Largo is a good villain, and Fiona Volpe is enjoyable, and Connery is excellent. But the film in general bores the hell out of me, too much water, and really slow moving. And I hated the way it was edited. The stupid way that the screen scrolls when the scene changes.
Overall, I think Connery is excellent as Bond. His portrayal as 007 is irreplacable. His films, for me, aren't the best. I prefer the Moore films. But the Connery films are still good, and Connery himself is bloody excellent!
1 - LALD, 2 - AVTAK, 3 - LTK, 4 - OP, 5 - NTTD, 6 - FYEO, 7 - SF, 8 - DN, 9 - DAF, 10 - TSWLM, 11 - OHMSS, 12 - TMWTGG, 13 - GE, 14 - MR, 15 - TLD, 16 - YOLT, 17 - GF, 18 - DAD, 19 - TWINE, 20 - SP, 21 - TND, 22 - FRWL, 23 - TB, 24 - CR, 25 - QOS
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
Comments
In terms of his performances, I rank them thusly:
FRWL
GF
TB
DN
DAF
YOLT
In terms of the actual movies:
FRWL
GF
TB
DN
YOLT
DAF
Confident and serious in FRWL, this is the best of the early Bond adventures. I am sure he was equally as good in Goldfinger, but the dead animal toupee looks just to silly for me to take him seriously.
His best work as an actor is not in Bond, but in "The Man who Woud be King" with "Untouchables" not far behind. An equally well-acted flm was "The Offense".
When Connery was working with Sidney Lumet,(Like Wayne/Ford and Eastwood/Siegel) he was at his acting peak.
Bond’s Beretta
The Handguns of Ian Fleming's James Bond
For Connery's best acting gig, I'd have to go with Outland. Recently, it was named second greatest performance in a film behind Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia.
1- From Russia With Love; as a film, only OHMSS comes higher than this one for me. The scene between Bond and Red Grant in this one might just be the finest in the whole series, for me at least.
2- Goldfinger; remains very entertaining. Certainly a little more light-hearted than previous two, but a lot of the humour is very funny and Connery is obviously having a lot of fun here.
3- Dr. No; this is still amongst my favourite Bond films even though it is the debut. Great template setter and pace-wise, still stands up.
4- You Only Live Twice; the other three movies are weaker, imho. Certainly here Connery's performance is very much through-the-motions, but the pace and spectacle makes one forgive that to a certain extent.
5- Diamonds Are Forever; maybe the silliest Bond film ever (after the lift punch-up, little in this is taken at all seriously) but Sean's performance is fun and this is an entertaining entry, imho.
6- Thunderball; have a hard time accepting this as one of the best Bond films, personally. Some of it is great- Sean is still excellent here and Luciana Paluzzi's performance is terrific- but this really does drag along at times, especially the underwater scenes.
Too much water? I had to laugh
That is the point of Thunderball. Each of the early films had a theme - Caribbean island, gold, Japan, snow or diamonds. Thunderballs is the world beneath the sea. Its just as much a protagonist as SPECTRE.Its perils have to be negotiated by 007 as much as anything else whether they be caught up on the hydrafoil struts as the water boils around him or the sharks/octopi/barracuda which roam the Vulcan or underwater battle.
Life gets more interesting due to the underwater sections. Guns become spearguns, chases happen with seasleds, and in fights masks are ripped off or people takent out by knives. To some people it makes the films slow but to some of us it gives it an exotic ethereal quality (matched with John Barrys moody music) that makes it otherworldly and a perfect location for a James Bond movie..
Too much water! Pah!
2. You Only Live Twice
3. Dr No
4. Thunderball
5. Goldfinger
6. Diamonds Are Forever
I think the editing is a problem, could have added to the pace of the flick. The slow, anonymous frog men make it difficult to get involved in the fight scenes, and the music adds to the slowing effect. I think this is one of Barry's weaker efforts.
Bond’s Beretta
The Handguns of Ian Fleming's James Bond
After just re-watching Moonraker, which was my all-time least favourite Bond film, I actually think that even that is better than Thunderball now.
Thunderball is now my second least favourite Bond film, beating only DAD.
I think TB has some good things going for it, but it's just boring in my opinion, and drags on.
Each to their own though :007)
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
Connery is best in films where he's not hemmed in by the plot, as in TB and YOLT imo. Or NSNA. The film needs to be serious in some way for him to excel, and perversely, Barry's music made DAF more serious for me. I thought Connery's comic timing in that film was superb. It has everything OHMSS lacks and vice versa.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
FRWL
GF
DRNO
TB
YOLT
DAF
The performances:
GF
TB
FRWL
DN
DAF
YOLT
(It should be noted that Connery produced five performances which IMO could be described as masterpieces; DN-TB and DAF. DAF is fifth on my list, but that is only because the other four performances were so fantastic. Contrary to popular opinion, I consider Connery's performance in DAF to be superb and the sixth greatest Bond performance of all time; after Connery's first four performances and Brosnan's performance in TWINE. As for YOLT; I think it was by far Connery's weakest performance, but compared to most other actors IMO it was still pretty good. A disappointing Connery performance still has its rewards.
The films:
GF
FRWL
TB
DN
YOLT
DAF
(There's not much to say. The first four films, in descending order, are all masterpieces. YOLY is IMO a very underrated film but was certainly the weakest of the 60's films and DAF, although it has some brilliant things going for it, is ultimately a little disappointing. Nonetheless all six films are IMO extremely entertaining, albeit some more so than others.)
1 YOLT
2 DN
3 DAF
4 GF
5 FRWL
6 TB
There's nostalgic reasons for why I like YOLT though, and that is a big reason why it's up top. DN second as the way it flows is great and Honey is a classic Bond girl.
I must say, that it is EXTREMELY close with DAF, GF, and FRWL. All are magnificent (as are YOLT, and DN). I struggled to put those in an order. I opted for DAF, because it is not as loved as the other two, which gave me a soft spot for it. I also think it's very interesting, and a different kind of Bond film. GF and FRWL are both great, but some classic dialogue made me opt for GF. However, it was tough, as FRWL has one of the greatest ever Bond moments in, which is the Bond/Grant fight on the train!
I can honestly say that the only Connery film I didn't particulaly enjoy was Thunderball. Fiona Volpe and Largo were good characters, but that's all I liked about the film. Sorry guys, I found it so boring.
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
DN - Still love watcing this film
TB - Stunning underwater scenes
YOLT - Never used to like this, but it has grown on me.
FRWL - I find it a little long and drawn out.
DAF - What a pile of ****!
Maybe, but you've still got it at no 007 in your all-time faves!
Roger Moore 1927-2017
The one exception is the "rogue" Bond movie NSNA, which for my money was a tired, boring and very unsatisfying movie and the only one where Connery really seemed old, tired and out of place.
So, my list would probably go something like this:
TB
DAF
FRWL
GF
DN
YOLT
NSNA (last by a country mile)
TB - Possibly the finest action film performance ever.
FRWL - Smooth and effective
DN - Rough around the edges (thats a good thing)
GF - Perfect, to a fault.
NSNA - Bond is back (Finally)
DAF - Very humorous, funnier than anything Moore did.
YOLT - Overweight and uninterested and it is painfully obvious.
The films:
FRWL
GF
TB
DN
YOLT
NSNA
DAF
2.TB
3.DN
4.YOLT
5.DAF
6.NSNA
No particular reason for order
The best Connery Bond film
Has to be
Undeniably
Not DN, FRWL, GF, YOLT, NSNA and not
DAF
Either, but
Rather the
Biggest Bond Of
All, the one with
Largo and the beautiful
Lucianna Paluzzi.
Now, what was it called again...?
Did care for/see FRWL?
List updated :-)
Out of the Connery films; all of whom I
Love and almost all of whom I would
Defend to the death.
Frankly though, a choice must be made and
Instead of picking the film with a man
Named
Grant, I want to pick the film that is
Everything a Bond film should be and and is truly
Radiant.
Ah well, so it's at no 8 now! Some difference!
Roger Moore 1927-2017
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article2138970.ece