I always felt like Spectre was over-hated. It's a good movie, with good action and cinematography. The story is very meh as we know but everything else from the acting & music was spot on, kinda as usual for Bond films. Not great like Casino and not as bad as View to a Kill or some of those other ones. Even tho I love the Roger Moore movies for the memes and I still say he has the best Villains period
Just the whole ending of Spectre was dumb.. why make this silly maze for bond to walk through with the pictures put up. Like, can you imagine Blofeld designing that before bond got there?
I know that’s not a fun gripe but it really takes the piss out of the writing. And the whole brain drill just does nothing. They could have written a wild ending with that but they dropped it. Dumb
Agreed. Total waste of Waltz. Also irks me to no end when films don't end on the romantic climax, but then have a smaller, unnecessary ending. Could have used a decent story editor. When they all get away from Blofeld's base only to have the post climax shootout in London?
Speaking only for myself here, but if I was a supervillain who got to the level where I could have my own fortress, you'd have to come and get in and me! I'd never abandon it!
Not gonna lie, I loved the last part of Spectre being in London as a way of wrapping up Craig's run as Bond on his hometurf.
If only for that final scene on the bridge, where Bond quite literally has to choose between his career as a killer on one side and a future with Madeleine on the other. It's a perfect bookend to illustrate his growth and healing, contrasted to being consumed with revenge after Vesper died.
Mind you, I don't acknowledge NTTD as part of my canon for this very reason.
Okay, totally, totally agree here, because I thought that was what was happening, too. When he spares blo and it ends with him driving off with Madeline. I thought that was at least a decent way to end his run, bc it did show growth.
And I totally agree about nttd. I watched the first hour or so, but then stopped. It was doing nothing for me!
I really like 2/3rd of Spectre because it was finally a recognizable Bond film in the DC era. But then it shits the bed so spectacularly with the Brofeld revelation, Bond’s dumb escape from the Desert lair and the whole London denouement. Like so many things in the DC era (I’m looking at you, Skyfall) the scriptwriters simply don’t have any discipline.
IMO the movie is a fine movie...it just is boring. Which in my mind for a Bond movie is worse than bad haha. Plenty of bad Bond movies I love to watch to be entertained by.
I just feel like Casino Royale and Skyfall set the expectations tremendously high, the other Craig movies are comparably lacking. But when you look at all James Bond movies, neither are that bad.
Every rewatch brings some new perspective. I’ve personally always liked but not loved QOS. I like 4/5 of the Craig movies, the outlier being Spectre, and I think my enjoyment of the other Craig movies is why I dislike it so much. It’s not bad, but it’s boring, and it wasn’t content to just be a boring movie on its own, it had to retcon all the other good movies and make them worse too. The head canon I’ve made up for myself is that a lot of the stuff didn’t actually have anything to do with Brofeld he just made it up to fuck with Bond.
I can’t get there on NSNA being better than Thunderball though, and I say that as someone who also think Thunderball is probably the most overrated of the Bond films.
I think the new perspectives after the multiple rewatches makes all the movies go down the scale. In between rewatches, we see other movies, some of which had better story telling. Every movie we watch shifts the bar we use to measure to measure good films. If the latest Bond film blows you away at the theater so you go back to see again that same week, the call it a good or even great movie. If it helps you fall asleep or run to the restroom or snack bar or kitchen without caring about what you missed, then say that it sucked.
I’m a Roger Moore fan but he made some stinkers. But Casino Royal is epic Bond storytelling. Hell epic spy storytelling with an edge that felt new.
All that said, I’m ready for a sophisticated and refined Bond again.
I get specter getting hate but I loved QoS when I watched it the first time and when I watched it few weeks ago. It’s a good movie. I’ll die on that hill.
I get that as well when I watch them all in order. As far as Quantum and Spectre. Two of the most visually stunning films in the entire series for sure.
It's been a while since I've seen both so my comparisons could be more precise. Beat for beat they are the same movie. Bond is Batman. M is Commissioner Gordon. Silva is the Joker with a crazy Joker plan to kill M/Gordon.
Other similar elements is that the DB5 is a stand in for the Batmobile. Bond family home is Wayne manor complete with cave system.the housekeeper is Alfred.
This is my problem with the Craig movies. They are chasing fads and stealing ideas from recently successful movies.
Hmmm I really don’t see it. You could say this about most action adventure movies. Batman is Potter. Gordon is Dumbledore. Joker is he that shall not be named.
I agree with a lot of this. QoS is in my opinion the most over hated movie in the entire series. Conversely, Thunderball is the most overrated. I can see where it would have been huge at the time, unmatched spectacle, etc. But it’s a slog these days, in my opinion. I’d much rather watch the first three Connery movies than sit through Thunderball again.
I think the expectations were too high coming after Casino Royale. It’s not better than CR, and it’s best viewed right after CR since it picks up immediately after, but it stands on its own just fine too. I’ve read complaints about the editing but it didn’t bother me. Many people talk about it and rank it as one of the very worst Bond movies and I don’t think that’s even close to fair. I don’t see the issues with it that they do.
I don’t hate it, but the action sequences were horribly chopped up in the cutting room, and Green was kind of a weak villain (but I think he’s supposed to be). Compared to CR, it’s not great, but it still has some cool moments and imo is the closest Craig Bond has gotten to the earlier movies.
If JB was a religion, that last line got you excommunicated. Overall (to include that last line) I get where you’re coming from, and you’re not wrong. Barbara Carrera might be my favorite Bond girl. I always liked her before NSNA, and the rocking boat scene… well, I’ll get excommunicated with you!
Upon my last marathon I was also surprised how much more I liked NSNA. Fatima Blush is such an over the top henchwoman/secondary antagonist, it was such a joy to watch.
Overall NSNA somehow felt more coherent as a movie and it tackles Connery's age pretty well imo.
Yeah it really does feel a LOT more coherent, especially the beginning, and Blofeld honestly looks like I would have imagined him looking, very sophisticated. I wish most of his scenes weren’t cut.
It was more of his on-stage demeanor….he acted typically English, but wasn’t the complete womanizer (to the same extent) that Connery and Moore were. He seemed to be a bit more serious in his role.
Dalton’s Bond was the closest to the character in the novels and I really enjoy his on-screen presence. He forms relationships with characters that seem authentic and that makes his Bond even more compelling to me. He seemed to genuinely care for Kara, and I have often wondered what happened to her after TLD, and his dedication to avenging Felix is an aspect of LTK that I really admire.
I agree. Daniel Craig was closer in demeanor to Dalton than to Brosnan. The continuity between TD, PB, and DC just seems disjointed. I know that TD was offered the Bond role previously, and in many ways, was a better bond than PB. But, JMHO.
Thank you! I agree completely. I think people who say Die Another Day is too silly have never watched a lot of the other movies (Die another Day is silly, but still).
The thing about most of the Bond movies is that although they are certainly cheesy by today's standard -- especially the Moore stuff -- they were pretty consistently some of the best-made action adventure films at the time.
They invested in stunts, shooting on location, paying their stars, and so on. Compared to the ripoffs like Dean Martin's Matt Helm character, the Bond films were consistently a cut above. For that reason they're fun to watch, kind of like a time capsule.
I agree though that maybe only 1/3rd of them are truly rewatchable in 2024.
(EDIT: The gap probably started to close in the 80s when Dalton was competing with better action franchises like Lethal Weapon and Die Hard, and in the 90s/2000s when Brosnan was up against Schwarzenegger and the emergent Bourne franchise. Credit to Craig's run -- they really did set a new bar, which forced other franchises like Mission: Impossible to get better.)
Well I am old so I of course completely disagree with you as I do not like the Craig Era at all as to me they aren’t really bond movies more like Jason Bourne films .
All the previous films before Craig are awesome and I have watched them all countless times .
As for Thunderball and Never Say Never Again I love them both and could watch them anytime .
I finally just picked up The Never Say Never Again Blue Ray to add to my collection where it sits in between Octopussy and A View to a Kill .
Some of the earlier ones are definitely better. In fact, most are better than Quantum of Solace. Spectre gets too much hate. I actually liked it. Q of S is probably about 15th-20th imo.
I always felt like Spectre was over-hated. It's a good movie, with good action and cinematography. The story is very meh as we know but everything else from the acting & music was spot on, kinda as usual for Bond films. Not great like Casino and not as bad as View to a Kill or some of those other ones. Even tho I love the Roger Moore movies for the memes and I still say he has the best Villains period
Just the whole ending of Spectre was dumb.. why make this silly maze for bond to walk through with the pictures put up. Like, can you imagine Blofeld designing that before bond got there? I know that’s not a fun gripe but it really takes the piss out of the writing. And the whole brain drill just does nothing. They could have written a wild ending with that but they dropped it. Dumb
Agreed. Total waste of Waltz. Also irks me to no end when films don't end on the romantic climax, but then have a smaller, unnecessary ending. Could have used a decent story editor. When they all get away from Blofeld's base only to have the post climax shootout in London? Speaking only for myself here, but if I was a supervillain who got to the level where I could have my own fortress, you'd have to come and get in and me! I'd never abandon it!
Yes
Not gonna lie, I loved the last part of Spectre being in London as a way of wrapping up Craig's run as Bond on his hometurf. If only for that final scene on the bridge, where Bond quite literally has to choose between his career as a killer on one side and a future with Madeleine on the other. It's a perfect bookend to illustrate his growth and healing, contrasted to being consumed with revenge after Vesper died. Mind you, I don't acknowledge NTTD as part of my canon for this very reason.
Okay, totally, totally agree here, because I thought that was what was happening, too. When he spares blo and it ends with him driving off with Madeline. I thought that was at least a decent way to end his run, bc it did show growth. And I totally agree about nttd. I watched the first hour or so, but then stopped. It was doing nothing for me!
I really like 2/3rd of Spectre because it was finally a recognizable Bond film in the DC era. But then it shits the bed so spectacularly with the Brofeld revelation, Bond’s dumb escape from the Desert lair and the whole London denouement. Like so many things in the DC era (I’m looking at you, Skyfall) the scriptwriters simply don’t have any discipline.
IMO the movie is a fine movie...it just is boring. Which in my mind for a Bond movie is worse than bad haha. Plenty of bad Bond movies I love to watch to be entertained by.
Yeah, can’t be bothered to “hate” it. Can’t muster the energy to feel anything strongly about it. Only Bond movie I’ve fallen asleep in, lol
Spectre felt like a greatest hits playlist held together with a thin yet still ridiculous plot.
Majority of Bond films are good. In my ranking four are actually bad, others 4/10, averaging in 7 or 8/10.
I consider 4 bad. Maybe I'm just a more generous reviewer.
If I considered 4/10 bad, then would give the good films 5/10 and higher LOL.
I suppose I am comparing Bond to all movies. And, since I love almost all the Bond movies, a 4 is definitely low on that scale.
I just feel like Casino Royale and Skyfall set the expectations tremendously high, the other Craig movies are comparably lacking. But when you look at all James Bond movies, neither are that bad.
Every rewatch brings some new perspective. I’ve personally always liked but not loved QOS. I like 4/5 of the Craig movies, the outlier being Spectre, and I think my enjoyment of the other Craig movies is why I dislike it so much. It’s not bad, but it’s boring, and it wasn’t content to just be a boring movie on its own, it had to retcon all the other good movies and make them worse too. The head canon I’ve made up for myself is that a lot of the stuff didn’t actually have anything to do with Brofeld he just made it up to fuck with Bond. I can’t get there on NSNA being better than Thunderball though, and I say that as someone who also think Thunderball is probably the most overrated of the Bond films.
I think the new perspectives after the multiple rewatches makes all the movies go down the scale. In between rewatches, we see other movies, some of which had better story telling. Every movie we watch shifts the bar we use to measure to measure good films. If the latest Bond film blows you away at the theater so you go back to see again that same week, the call it a good or even great movie. If it helps you fall asleep or run to the restroom or snack bar or kitchen without caring about what you missed, then say that it sucked.
I’m a Roger Moore fan but he made some stinkers. But Casino Royal is epic Bond storytelling. Hell epic spy storytelling with an edge that felt new. All that said, I’m ready for a sophisticated and refined Bond again.
I get specter getting hate but I loved QoS when I watched it the first time and when I watched it few weeks ago. It’s a good movie. I’ll die on that hill.
I get that as well when I watch them all in order. As far as Quantum and Spectre. Two of the most visually stunning films in the entire series for sure.
QoS is fine. It just needed a few more months of development to bring it up to great. Specter is just a Dark Knight remake.
Why dark knight remake?
Oops. I confused Specter and Skyfall. Skyfall is the Dark Knight remake.
I don’t see it, explain?
It's not exactly TDK but people over hype the "Villain getting caught on purpose "
It's been a while since I've seen both so my comparisons could be more precise. Beat for beat they are the same movie. Bond is Batman. M is Commissioner Gordon. Silva is the Joker with a crazy Joker plan to kill M/Gordon. Other similar elements is that the DB5 is a stand in for the Batmobile. Bond family home is Wayne manor complete with cave system.the housekeeper is Alfred. This is my problem with the Craig movies. They are chasing fads and stealing ideas from recently successful movies.
Hmmm I really don’t see it. You could say this about most action adventure movies. Batman is Potter. Gordon is Dumbledore. Joker is he that shall not be named.
That's nonsense lmao Sounds like "they both have an antagonist AND a protagonist!"
I agree with a lot of this. QoS is in my opinion the most over hated movie in the entire series. Conversely, Thunderball is the most overrated. I can see where it would have been huge at the time, unmatched spectacle, etc. But it’s a slog these days, in my opinion. I’d much rather watch the first three Connery movies than sit through Thunderball again.
Why do people hate QoS?
I think the expectations were too high coming after Casino Royale. It’s not better than CR, and it’s best viewed right after CR since it picks up immediately after, but it stands on its own just fine too. I’ve read complaints about the editing but it didn’t bother me. Many people talk about it and rank it as one of the very worst Bond movies and I don’t think that’s even close to fair. I don’t see the issues with it that they do.
I don’t hate it, but the action sequences were horribly chopped up in the cutting room, and Green was kind of a weak villain (but I think he’s supposed to be). Compared to CR, it’s not great, but it still has some cool moments and imo is the closest Craig Bond has gotten to the earlier movies.
If JB was a religion, that last line got you excommunicated. Overall (to include that last line) I get where you’re coming from, and you’re not wrong. Barbara Carrera might be my favorite Bond girl. I always liked her before NSNA, and the rocking boat scene… well, I’ll get excommunicated with you!
Agreed with the Thunderball take, it’s my least favorite film and the only one I don’t like, I appreciate NSNA more.
Upon my last marathon I was also surprised how much more I liked NSNA. Fatima Blush is such an over the top henchwoman/secondary antagonist, it was such a joy to watch. Overall NSNA somehow felt more coherent as a movie and it tackles Connery's age pretty well imo.
Yeah it really does feel a LOT more coherent, especially the beginning, and Blofeld honestly looks like I would have imagined him looking, very sophisticated. I wish most of his scenes weren’t cut.
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Von Sydow is by far the closest to what I imagined Blofeld to be before the big reveal. Very sophisticated looking. Really liked him.
THANK YOU. That's my opinion too, when people talk about them I roll my eyes.
Do you like Goldfinger, the Dalton films, and Tomorrow Never Dies?
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Can you elaborate on why you do not like the Dalton films? Both of his movies are some of my favorite 007 movies, so what do you not like about them?
i second that. Licence to Kill is my favorite of the series and Living Daylights is definitely in my top 10.
I actually really like the Dalton films. But, that’s just me.
Me too, I really like the Dalton films.
It was more of his on-stage demeanor….he acted typically English, but wasn’t the complete womanizer (to the same extent) that Connery and Moore were. He seemed to be a bit more serious in his role.
Dalton’s Bond was the closest to the character in the novels and I really enjoy his on-screen presence. He forms relationships with characters that seem authentic and that makes his Bond even more compelling to me. He seemed to genuinely care for Kara, and I have often wondered what happened to her after TLD, and his dedication to avenging Felix is an aspect of LTK that I really admire.
I agree. Daniel Craig was closer in demeanor to Dalton than to Brosnan. The continuity between TD, PB, and DC just seems disjointed. I know that TD was offered the Bond role previously, and in many ways, was a better bond than PB. But, JMHO.
Thank you! I agree completely. I think people who say Die Another Day is too silly have never watched a lot of the other movies (Die another Day is silly, but still).
The thing about most of the Bond movies is that although they are certainly cheesy by today's standard -- especially the Moore stuff -- they were pretty consistently some of the best-made action adventure films at the time. They invested in stunts, shooting on location, paying their stars, and so on. Compared to the ripoffs like Dean Martin's Matt Helm character, the Bond films were consistently a cut above. For that reason they're fun to watch, kind of like a time capsule. I agree though that maybe only 1/3rd of them are truly rewatchable in 2024. (EDIT: The gap probably started to close in the 80s when Dalton was competing with better action franchises like Lethal Weapon and Die Hard, and in the 90s/2000s when Brosnan was up against Schwarzenegger and the emergent Bourne franchise. Credit to Craig's run -- they really did set a new bar, which forced other franchises like Mission: Impossible to get better.)
Well I am old so I of course completely disagree with you as I do not like the Craig Era at all as to me they aren’t really bond movies more like Jason Bourne films . All the previous films before Craig are awesome and I have watched them all countless times . As for Thunderball and Never Say Never Again I love them both and could watch them anytime . I finally just picked up The Never Say Never Again Blue Ray to add to my collection where it sits in between Octopussy and A View to a Kill .
Tomorrow Never Dies is much better than World is Not Enough IMO. But yeah the older Bond movies were campy AF and that's fine if that's what you want.
Never say never again over Thunderball 🤢🤮. One is top 5, the other is bottom 5.
Ooooooooohhhh man………. Seriously!!!!!! NSNA better than Thunderball!!! Buddy! You’re higher than a Giraffe man!🤣 All good 👍🏼 we all have our opinions.
What about Skyfall?
So he strikes, like thunderball.
Some of the earlier ones are definitely better. In fact, most are better than Quantum of Solace. Spectre gets too much hate. I actually liked it. Q of S is probably about 15th-20th imo.