Best James Bond Moments (What are your faves?)
- Thread starter IndyFanChuck
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DarkKnight
Sr Member
one of the movies in the opening credits a girls unzips her shirt and in her cleavage the "oo7" pops out
Lazenby says he did a better take where he cried, but they wouldn't use it. "James Bond doesn't cry".
In Doctor No, Bond is a real government employee. Screw up and you'll be demoted. As the series progresses he become a superhero. A spy that everyone knows. Moores version especially is fantasy.
I'd say the general feeling is reality over stupid stunts, scripts, and gadgets. And yet they keep veering back toward old habits instead of thinking of a good spy script.
burningman
Well-Known Member
I'm with you solo
I am just now getting into the books and am liking them immensly. I love the brutal bond who is actually not a very likeable guy. I've read 2 and am now half way through FRwL (interesting that I'm half way through and Bond isn't even shown yet just mentioned.)
But I agree wqith all your point and examples for the same reasons. I do think that craig is doing a really great job with Bond. It's funny too because I loved Casino but hated the scene when he was saved by the one gadget in the film as if the weapons guys read the script and said..yup you are gonna need this built in difibrulator.
I've always said if bond is going to get gadgets then repourpose them (disassemble, etc.) to use them in a new unique way that has nothing to do with the original intended function.
Anyway great post Solo..thanks for summing it up so well.
BTW I grew up on Roger Moore and loved him but have changed my mind on Bond as I got older and learned more about the original Bond.
I am just now getting into the books and am liking them immensly. I love the brutal bond who is actually not a very likeable guy. I've read 2 and am now half way through FRwL (interesting that I'm half way through and Bond isn't even shown yet just mentioned.)
But I agree wqith all your point and examples for the same reasons. I do think that craig is doing a really great job with Bond. It's funny too because I loved Casino but hated the scene when he was saved by the one gadget in the film as if the weapons guys read the script and said..yup you are gonna need this built in difibrulator.
I've always said if bond is going to get gadgets then repourpose them (disassemble, etc.) to use them in a new unique way that has nothing to do with the original intended function.
Anyway great post Solo..thanks for summing it up so well.
BTW I grew up on Roger Moore and loved him but have changed my mind on Bond as I got older and learned more about the original Bond.
There's a scene in, I believe, Dr. No where Bond comes back to his hotel room after a rough night of work. He searches the room--I think he had placed a hair on his door on his way out that he found disturbed when he got back--for bugs or cameras, etc., then fixes himself a drink. The scene takes its time and there is no dialog spoken. By the time James sits down in a chair and holds the icy glass to his forehead, I'm totally drawn into his world. Nothing happens in the scene of consequence, but it drips with a feeling of poignant realism, in my opinion. Sadly, I believe most moviegoers today would find it mundane and boring.
The Wook
The Wook
Solo4114
Master Member
I grew up watching the old Bond films on videotape. My first theatrical Bond was The Living Daylights and I loved it. But I definitely grew up with gadgety, wise-cracking, superhero Bond. That Bond is basically "Film Bond" and that's fine, he can be entertaining. I just get more enjoyment out of "Literary Bond" precisely because of his shortcomings. He's a far more believable -- and therefore far more heroic -- character than superhero Film Bond.
Film Bond is kind of like a 1950s superhero like Superman or Batman. He's got a super power or knowledge or a gadget to get him out of just about any situation, and he seems to generally come out without a scratch.
Literary Bond regularly gets the crap kicked out of him but STILL manages to triumph. Literary Bond's adventures clearly take a toll on him, though. From what I can recall, in just about every book I've read (and I've read all of them up through OHMSS with the exception of The Spy Who Loved Me, which even Fleming said was crap), there's SOME passage about how hard his life is on him. Either the interminable boredom, the physical danger AND damage he takes, or the psychological toll of being a paid assassin who also has to live in society (as opposed to living apart from society). The books give a better sense of the tension that's always part of Bond's character -- the enjoyment and slight self-loathing about his job.
It's WAY more complex than Film Bond, and that's probably why I like it. I also think Casino Royale proves that you can successfully merge the two. Bond can still do amazing film-only things (IE: the fight sequences, especially that crane fight), but you can also show the effects his job has on him. That was on of my biggest gripes about Quantum of Solace. It was just one long incoherent action sequence made up with enough jump cuts to satisfy a kid with ADHD who's hopped up on cocaine, Cap'n Crunch, and Speedy Gonzalez cartoons. There was maybe, oh, fifteen minutes total of character development, or even addressing Bond AS a character (as opposed to "Hey, look, it's a dude beating people up").
Robot Monster
Sr Member
So many great moments from the films but I'm going to be sentimental and go with Q's last scene.
Never let them see you bleed and always have an escape plan. Then he exits via trap door.
Never let them see you bleed and always have an escape plan. Then he exits via trap door.
Probe Droid
Master Member
I grew up in the 60s, so 2+2 is 4 and Connery is Bond. I've enjoyed Brosnan also until the films became gadget catalogs. The less said about Moore the better, and don't like Craig. He's too cold.
I've read many of the books and they're dated but still great fun. Quick reads too.
I've read many of the books and they're dated but still great fun. Quick reads too.
I can't beleive I'm the first to drop this in here...
the opening of Thunderball.
Bond spots Spectre agent Bouvar is disguised as his widow. Bond kills him and then escapes flying a jetpack to his Aston Martin DB5 parked outside.
the opening of Thunderball.
Bond spots Spectre agent Bouvar is disguised as his widow. Bond kills him and then escapes flying a jetpack to his Aston Martin DB5 parked outside.
Solo4114
Master Member
Absolutely. A classic exit. Sadly, doubly so given what happened to Desmond Llewelyn after. Still hard to believe that it was a car wreck that got him instead of just old age or something along those lines...
I may bag on "Film Bond" but that IS a pretty cool moment. I also especially like the pre-credit sequence in Goldfinger where Bond blows up the refinery and spots an attacker in the eye of a girl he's kissing. Goofy? Yep. Campy? You bet. But still cool.
Serafino
Sr Member
Spy Who Loved Me might be tough for many guys to wade through, but the reward is seeing Bond from the outside, it’s worth reading the book just for the pleasure of the “Bond short story” at the end.
Bond definitely is affected by wear through the books. It’s almost better not to read You Only Live Twice because he’s such a complete wreck after the events of OHMSS, his life is changed at that point, and when Fleming tries to ‘reboot’ the character in Man With The Golden Gun the cost to the character’s integrity is too high, and the disconnect from the past makes the character seem sadly faded and one-dimensional. Still if you’re an addict it’s better than nothing, and it’s still Fleming. The non-Fleming written Bond is not worth the paper.
The Wook–yes that’s an awesome scene, one of my favorites too.
I posted last night about book Bond not really being brutal, but the post is missing. In sum: externally he’s cool but not really cold. He’s professional, so the job always comes first, but his internal life is vivid and full of reactions to things: admiration, fear, excitement, anxiety, boredom, friendship, disgust, empathy, anger, humor, camaraderie, disgust, depression.
Bond definitely is affected by wear through the books. It’s almost better not to read You Only Live Twice because he’s such a complete wreck after the events of OHMSS, his life is changed at that point, and when Fleming tries to ‘reboot’ the character in Man With The Golden Gun the cost to the character’s integrity is too high, and the disconnect from the past makes the character seem sadly faded and one-dimensional. Still if you’re an addict it’s better than nothing, and it’s still Fleming. The non-Fleming written Bond is not worth the paper.
The Wook–yes that’s an awesome scene, one of my favorites too.
I posted last night about book Bond not really being brutal, but the post is missing. In sum: externally he’s cool but not really cold. He’s professional, so the job always comes first, but his internal life is vivid and full of reactions to things: admiration, fear, excitement, anxiety, boredom, friendship, disgust, empathy, anger, humor, camaraderie, disgust, depression.
Dave Ward
Sr Member
Love the black and white precredits in Casino Royale...me and my group all put on tuxes and evening dresses to see that movie, and although we're normally pretty sedate, we were out of our chairs when the gun barrel came in with Chris Cornell.
There's also a lovely little moment in one of the earlier Brosnans where a bullet impacts really close to his head on a pillar he's hiding behind, and he has this amazing look on his face, he sort of flinches but raises an eyebrow at the same time. His Bond was over the top in his own sort of way but was pretty cool too.
There's also a lovely little moment in one of the earlier Brosnans where a bullet impacts really close to his head on a pillar he's hiding behind, and he has this amazing look on his face, he sort of flinches but raises an eyebrow at the same time. His Bond was over the top in his own sort of way but was pretty cool too.
burningman
Well-Known Member
COuldn't agree with you more Solo!
Solo4114
Master Member
I haven't made it to You Only Live Twice yet, and I heard The Man with the Golden Gun was kind of...absurd. I heard there were a couple halfway-decent non-Fleming Bond books but, not surprisingly, the bulk of them are dreck.
I suppose "brutal" isn't really the right word, though. You're right about that. Only rarely do I recall Bond taking pleasure in killing someone, and usually then only in the sense of how evil the person was and how they deserved to die, rather than in, say, torturing them or whathaveyou. But he can definitely be cold. Or rather, MAKE himself cold (or perhaps it's what his job does to him?). Anyway, the Bond of THOSE novels is the Bond I want to see on the screen. I doubt that'll happen, though. That'd require him to be far more human than most audiences have grown accustomed to seeing. I suspect they'll wrap up this whole "QUANTUM" thing in the next film (hopefully better than the second one...) and after that we'll see another major reboot.
Solo4114 - You've pretty much summed up my feelings on the Bond franchise. My first Bond film was For Your Eyes Only (and in the theater, Octopussy) so I grew up on moore and I have great affection for his portrayal as it was apart of my childhood. However that said, as i got older I preferred the serious Bond films- the ones that predominantly dealt with Cold War and espionage. Dr. No, From Russia With Love, On her Majesty's Secret Service, The Living Daylights, For Your Eyes Only and Casin Royale (2006) top my list easily.
Connery is probably the best cinematic Bond but for me Dalton was the closest I saw to the literary Bond. I remeber all the hype for that film and seeing it on our old Cinerama screen theater before it closed down in the early 90's. Good memories. I still feel bad Dalton never got a couple more Bond films before he left the role (or was forced out depending on which version you go with). Craig gets honorable mention as well but Dalton looked and played the part as I generally imagine him in the books (and yes I was reading the books even back then despite the fact I was really too young to have been giving them a look!).
Connery is probably the best cinematic Bond but for me Dalton was the closest I saw to the literary Bond. I remeber all the hype for that film and seeing it on our old Cinerama screen theater before it closed down in the early 90's. Good memories. I still feel bad Dalton never got a couple more Bond films before he left the role (or was forced out depending on which version you go with). Craig gets honorable mention as well but Dalton looked and played the part as I generally imagine him in the books (and yes I was reading the books even back then despite the fact I was really too young to have been giving them a look!).
PHArchivist
Master Member
Personally partial to Melina from For Your Eyes Only...
Best Bond Girl, DOMINO. White hot. :love
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