THE JAMES BOND FILMS: My Personal Ranking.

 

I went to see my first Jame Bond movie on the big screen around 1964. It was GOLDFINGER, and later I had the chance to see the first other two on a double feature at a local second run theater. I saw THUNDERBALL early in 1966 at the height of the spy craze. The movies and TV shows at the time, were full of secret agents and cloak-and-dagger themes. I loved the Bond films and all its imitations, including OUR MAN FLINT, MATT HELM, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., I SPY, GET SMART, MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE, and all the rest of the lesser known spin-offs. 

The spy craze faded as the 70s began but 007 held its ground and became one of the movies' longest running and most successful franchises.  James Bond himself went into several transformations, as different actors succeeded Sean Connery in the role.  When Roger Moore bid farewell to the role, back in 1985, James Bond entered into a very different path, as actors like Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan struggled to make Bond up to date and more palatable to modern audiences.  Daniel Craig entered the scene when the world was changing radically as the 21st century began to see a major turn in morals, attitudes and popular culture. 

The Bond of old suddenly seemed out of place in the era of #MeToo and PC bylaws. Craig and the producers of the James Bond franchise made the necessary adjustments to place 007 in a contemporary setting without disturbing the prevailing status quo. Bond became an angry man, often going rogue and ditching his job with Her Majesty's Secret Service.  His personal life and background began to take precedence in the stories and he stopped being the dashing, womanizing, elegant debonair spy with a license to kill.  He was now made more human, more sentimental, more caring, more down to earth and less elegant. He became a mixture of Jason Bourne, Ethan Hunt and Peter Parker. 

Frankly, that's not the Bond I knew nor the Bond I want to see on the screen. My Bond is an entirely larger than life, fictitious character,  mysterious, enigmatic, easy-going, hard-hitting but classy and elegant with knowledge of the better things in life and somehow, kind of a superhuman. His past is sketchy and not too clear. That is the James Bond we all wanted to be back in the 60s. However, we now live in  a different era. The Bond of old has vanished and the franchise producers are taking a different path to accommodate this day and age's tastes.  So now, sadly, it's farewell to the old James Bond we knew back in 1962, when it all started...

This is my personal ranking of the James Bond films. I love them all but I do play favorites. Not an official list but as far as I know none of them are, as this is purely a matter of taste and done just for fun, which means that no other criteria applies. You may certainly disagree with the ranking positions but again, this is just a very personal choice.

My James Bond rankings on IMDb:

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls011236085/   

NO TIME TO DIE...

 Just came back from watching NO TIME TO DIE. What a huge disappointment!!!! The theme song, unremarkable, dull and forgettable.  Brings you completely down.  The villain is pathetic. Blofeld has no weight whatsoever in the plot. Ana De Armas is easily the best thing in the entire movie. It’s obvious the producers are taking 007 into a very different direction, one that I am not interested in following. Good bye 007, and good riddance!  I’ll keep watching Sean Connery and Roger Moore over and over till I die!!

Sean Connery IS James Bond

Back in 1962, the first James Bond film adventure, DR. NO. was released and the world of movie action thrillers has never been the same since. The suave and dashing secret agent was portrayed by a relatively unknown Scottish actor named Sean Connery, whose film credits up until then were rather lusterless, his best-known work being a Walt Disney fantasy titled Darby O'Gill and the Little People.
But master agent James Bond, the gentleman spy with a license to kill, catapulted Connery into worldwide fame and made him one of the movies top rated actors.
Several other performers have stepped into the role with varying degrees of success but for me, not one of them has been able to replicate the charm, toughness, and command of presence that Connery brought to the role.  He made the part his very own and his face, with the raised eyebrow, sardonic smile and the Walter PPK in his hand, became for me the iconic image of James Bond 007.
The excitement of watching his image on the posters, which repeatedly claimed that "Sean Connery IS James Bond", for each following adventures has never been equaled with any of the other JB incarnations.
Listen to the line: "Bond...James Bond", uttered by Connery on his first appearance at the Chemin-de-fer table in Dr. No, and compare it to the same words spoken by any of the other Bonds.

Not quite the same, eh?
Other 007 incarnations may enjoy the benefit of HD technology, better stunts, more thrills, breakneck pacing and an inordinate use of CGIs to enhance the action but to me, admittedly an older generation baby-boomer, Sir Sean Connery will always be the one true, original James Bond, secret agent 007...forever!