24 x 007
March 6, 2015 6:45 AM - Subscribe

Thoughts on weekly posts of the 23 official EON James Bond films, leading up to the theatrical release of Spectre (Bond 24) on November 6th?

I know I'm kind of early in bringing it up, but we'd have to start in early June to do one a week and have Spectre land just right for its opening weekend.

Presently the streaming availability for the series is spotty at best...Only Skyfall is on Netflix Instant, some are on premium cable networks' on-demand services, some are only available on disc. However, they do have a history of all showing up on Netflix for certain stretches of time, so hopefully that will work in our favor as the release date of the new one approaches.
posted by doctornecessiter (15 comments total)
 
I just saw that The World is Not Enough already has a post, so there's a week we can take off...Or a week to squeeze in an unofficial one like Never Say Never Again or the 1967 Casino Royale.
posted by doctornecessiter at 7:54 AM on March 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


Sounds like fun!

Don't forget to check your local library for Bond films, or see if you can get them through Interlibrary Loans. They're popular enough that I think most people can access most of the films one way or another.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:11 AM on March 6, 2015


This sounds fun, and I would do my very best to participate in this, although I'm not like Mr. Reliable about Internet Stuff, so no promises. I would definitely show up to talk about how perfect The Living Daylights is, no question. That movie is The Best.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 8:15 AM on March 6, 2015


Also, if you're looking for a 24th, you could start with the Climax! adaptation of Casino Royale, which is on Archive.org and re-posted on YouTube a couple times. This was the first screen adaptation of James Bond, coming out a year after Flemming's book of the same name.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:18 AM on March 6, 2015


The Living Daylights IS THE BEST. I love TDalt. Best song, too.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 9:37 AM on March 6, 2015


Oh, come on, The Living Daylights isn't even in the top half of Bond songs. Which is not to say it's a bad song, as there's a lot of really good songs on the list. 21 good ones and only 2 I actively dislike, by my count.

Fine, since it has to be done, here's my ranking, top to bottom:

Nobody Does It Better (The Spy Who Loved Me)
For Your Eyes Only
Skyfall
The World Is Not Enough
Diamonds Are Forever
James Bond Theme (First used in Dr. No)
We Have All the Time in the World (On Her Majesty's Secret Service)
Live and Let Die
Goldeneye
All Time High (Octopussy)
From Russia with Love
Tomorrow Never Dies
Goldfinger
You Only Live Twice
Licence to Kill
The Living Daylights
The Man with the Golden Gun
A View to a Kill
Moonraker
Thunderball
You Know My Name (Casino Royale)
Another Way to Die (Quantum of Solace)
Die Another Day
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:53 PM on March 6, 2015


The there's Johnny Cash's never-used theme to Thunderball. No kidding. That is a real thing.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:11 PM on March 7, 2015 [2 favorites]


I went ahead and did an FPP about discarded Bond themes. For your enjoyment.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:14 PM on March 7, 2015 [3 favorites]


The Living Daylights has the Best Bond, Timothy Dalton, and that's worth many, many points.
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:47 AM on March 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


like Never Say Never Again or the 1967 Casino Royale

Please don't watch the 1967 Casino Royale. Please. I'm begging you. For your own sake, for your children's sake... for all our sakes. Just don't watch it.
posted by Naberius at 11:56 AM on March 9, 2015


Dalton was a very good Bond, a woefully underrated Bond, and I'm happy to see The Living Daylights get the respect here that seems to elude it in the larger world. It's definitely top tier Bond.

The problem w Dalton was... well, okay, there were two problems, though one wasn't his fault:

a) It was the 80s. Easily the worst decade in which to be James Bond. I mean it was a world of acid wash jeans and LA Gear. It was the time of the Jane Fonda workout video. So there was a current against which anyone would have had to push pretty hard to make headway. It was just a tough time to be Bond.

b) but the main problem was that, as good as Dalton was at playing grimdark, pissed off Bond (and the writers definitely tried to play to this strength - License to Kill is remarkably gritty for a Bond film, especially for the 80s) the series was still too close to the Roger Moore ethos, and Dalton couldn't do funny Bond worth a damn - unless the punchline of the joke was precisely "Bond is pissed off at being forced into this funny situation," like the bit where he's angrily trying to maneuver a cello into the back seat of his Aston Martin in the middle of a getaway where every second counts in TLD. When he tries to laugh at something, or toss off a one-liner, like "amazing, this modern safety glass," or especially "did you just call me a horse's ass?" he just looks silly.

Still, his two outings are among my favorites of the series - I'm slightly surprised in retrospect to find myself remembering them more fondly than the Brosnan films for the most part.
posted by Naberius at 12:16 PM on March 9, 2015


I remember Goldeneye being excellent and the rest of Brosnan being silly as all get out; I'm reluctant to taint my memory of the one movie I liked.
posted by Pope Guilty at 2:24 PM on March 9, 2015


I did a rewatch about five years ago and I'm glad I saw this, because I would like to try to get in on it.
posted by immlass at 7:26 PM on March 15, 2015


This would be a good use of that box set I splurged on a few years back. Watching them in sequence is really interesting in how it shows how screenwriting has changed over the years.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 8:10 PM on March 20, 2015


So when should we start? Early June is approaching.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 10:13 AM on May 11, 2015


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