Most watched Bond movies?
chrisisall
Western Mass, USAPosts: 9,104MI6 Agent
This isn't about best films, just the ones you happened to have watched the most times in your life thus far, and here are mine:
1) Diamonds Are Forever (first Bond I ever saw, in the theatre, as a kid)
2) Tomorrow Never Dies (loved Michelle Yeoh as the Bond girl)
3) The Living Daylights (OMG once I got the Blu ray it was over & over)
4) Goldfinger ('Nuff said)
5) Never Say Never Again (yeah, not a great film, but I was so into it when it came out & the CED was cheap so I watched it a lot)
6) License To Kill (love the movie, but it hurts in places, not a fully happy visit)
7) Man With The Golden Gun (pure nonsense fun)
8) You Only Live Twice (pure nonsense fun)
9) SPECTRE,
tied with the last two.
Dalton & Connery rule. Brozz was cool.
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Comments
Oof, if I had to guess I'd say casino royale is probably number one for me, followed by the world is not enough.
It’s probably Daylights, I loved it as a kid.
DAF for me. I've seen that an insane number of times, many of which were in the cinema cos we didn't have home video on those days. One time I stayed in the local fleapit all day and caught every viewing.
Dr. No.
Gonna go with TSWLM. I was obsessed with that when it came out and watched it constantly. It's a comfort movie for me.
Thunderball, Spectre and License to Kill for me. Although i love Brosnan the best, i always go to those 3
I've been getting some 4K's recently, and a few months ago I decided I needed a couple of Bonds in 4K, so I got SPECTRE because my Blu ray looks a little washed out and reviews said the 4K looked better, and they were correct. Then I got YOLT because I figured the lush locations in Japan would pop more, and yes they do! Then I was thinking of getting DAF in 4K, but I was like I've seen it a billion times. Probably as many times as Star Wars.... so I didn't get it. Then yesterday for some reason I couldn't get the song out of my head, so when I got home from work I put on DAF, and about 6 minutes in I shut it off & ordered a 4K of it. I cannot deny it, I love the movie. It's like the ultimate comfort food. I started this thread because I was curious if others watch (or have seen) an imperfect Bond more often than their favourite ones...
Ahhh, first loves...
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Almost totally with you except
While I do like Star Wars and have watched it often, I've definitely seen certain Bond movies more often (eg DN, DAF)
And although obviously never say never again, I think I've had enough improving my Bond movies (taped off tv, then Betamax, then VHS, then DVD, then better DVD (?×2), then Blu-Ray....) so no 4K for me.
My last TV was a 24" 1080 screen, and everything looked GREAT on it, but we moved, and the only place a TV could go was clear across the room, so we had to get a bigger one (55"), and some blu rays just don't look so perfect on it, so that's why I've been getting some 4K's. I miss my 24" TV!!!! But I must say YOLT looks AMAZING now!
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I’m waiting to upgrade my tv before I buy the 4k versions…ooh, and I’ll need something to play them on too 🤗
I’ve absolutely no idea which Bond movie I’ve seen the most as I’d love to know 🤣
If your TV is 1080, and not bigger than 24- 32 inches, no need to upgrade IMO. Unless you just want to, that is....
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The Sean Connery 007 4K UHD (Ultra High Definition) Bluray set is worth the price.
Beautiful transfers.
It’s not that simple…if your tv is ‘only’ 1080 then you are wasting your time with 4k transfers…your tv will downscale the 4k image…you’d be better to stick with Blu-ray 🙂
At the moment I only have YOLT on 4K, and it looks astounding.
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OHMSS followed by the first five in the series in no particular order. LTK would be another one with multiple viewings. I’m watching them all again for the weekly watch thread, something I would rarely do.
Probably Thunderball or Moonraker. My first telly Bond, my first cinema Bond. Not perfect but thoroughly entertaining.
Thunderball looks great in it, it's the HDR which really does it. It looks so sunny and beautiful- it actually kind of feels like going on holiday!
I haven't watched my DAF 4K yet but will get around to it.
For repeat viewing, a Bond film has certain requirements:
1) A witty script, delivered by actors with fine comic timing, in particular the actor playing Bond.
It's the reason comedies such as Steptoe & Son, Porridge and many of those Jeremy Lloyd comedies like Dad's Army get repeated, while equally acclaimed dramas do not; if it's funny, you can watch it time and again, if it's dramatic, well, often once you know how it turns out it's irrelevant.
2) An episodic flavour, with a change of scene or location every 10 or 15 minutes.
I don't like those Bonds which stay with the same scene for too long - OHMSS is a case in point, so is DAD, though that had other issues.
3) It has to look good.
North by Northwest is oft cited as the blueprint for Bond, but what is overlooked is that it looked great, virtually colour coordinated. Most Bonds do have this about them, they don't just look knocked together. There's a reason the Lotus in TSWLM has to be white, for instance. Also, it was a deliberate ploy to show nothing that would date the movie, no shots of the high street and so on, or references to actual PMs or Presidents.
4) Oh, and a knockout song and soundtrack really helps.
Now, of course for the first 25 years I'd argue we got most of that anyway. Since then, well, it's harder to pick them out, not least because the jokes just haven't been that good, or we have actors like Dalton and maybe Craig who didn't make that their forte.
Oh, and maybe
5) A light touch director, nothing too stodgy or longwinded.
Films like YOLT and TSWLM are highly enjoyable but the climax - while visually impressive - does go on and so therefore does the movie when you are seeing it for the umpteenth time.
Short answer: Diamonds are Forever, Goldfinger, Moonraker. maybe Spectre. Obv we see the older movies more because they've been around more.
Bond movies I've seen least?
1) No Time to Die
I've never sat through this twice, it's been on telly but it's just one depressing scene after another.
2) All the Craig films except Spectre
3) All the Brosnan films except The World Is Not Enough and maybe GoldenEye. Even then, TWINE is not a must-see for me.
4) Licence to Kill
5) Never Say Never Again
Though I did see this twice at the cinema.
OHMSS would get the least-seen nod were it not for the fact that it is so very cinematic, and ticks 3) and 4). The jokes don't land and it stays with the same location too much for my tastes.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Ahh, but you'd still get the richer colour pallet!
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But with a higher potential for colour inaccuracies…and you can also lose some sharpness to the image 🤷🏻♂️
I watched my 4K DAF last night, the remastered audio had me hearing subtle things that awoke my memory as an 11 year old in the theatre.... right in the beginning the slight echo of voices in the Making Mud Pies, 007? scene. As for colour, a tint nudge just one tick left brought the skin tones in better. The red of the Mach 1 Mustang just popped off the screen! The day-for-night scene with the scorpion kill looked more fake again (just like in 1971), and more grain was present in the actual night photography (again, just like in the theatre). All in all, $27.66 well spent! Not all 4k's are worth this much, but this one was, to ME.
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And that’s all that matters…🙂
I’ve got the set but have to give this one a go. I really like that they’re faithful to the original presentation, and not making stuff like the day for night look better, that’s great. They don’t even necessarily look ‘better’ than the previous versions in some ways, but they do look more like what they are, which is old movies
One thing I wish they did have were the original distributor logos. I remember going to the BFI to see YOLT (I think? I feel like Lewis Gilbert might have been there) and they played an original print, and it had that slightly psychedelic(!) UA logo at the start from the 60s, and it really makes you feel like you’re watching a film from the period.
Daylights should have the whooshy UA logo, and Goldeneye must have the one with all the stars floating, they don’t feel right otherwise! Spectre and NTTD at least made sure they couldn’t be separated from their logos.
I’ve just been watching DAF as you recommended, it really does look perfect. And is it me or is the music track even better than before? It sounds absolutely wonderful on this.
I tested the original track, and it was fine, but the remastered track just boomed! Bassey's voice was so clear!!
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I finished it and yeah, it’s a really superb transfer, the sunny scenes in the desert feel like real sunshine, and the lighting and contrast of everything just looks wonderful, and yes, for some reason Barry’s score just sounds incredible on this one, it’s so clear.
There is one odd bit; when Felix visits Bond and Tiffany in the bridal suite, the film grain is so high in one shot that Bond appears to be wearing sequined trousers! 😅
Yeah, and the grain on the lift outside the Whyte House is pretty intense as well.
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I also never noticed the lady waving from the hovercraft before 😄
DAF is easily one of my most watched Bonds along with OCTOPUSSY and both Dalton films.