The Last Time We Saw Every 007...

Best Bond farewell? Sean Connery, without a doubt!

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!!

REMEMBERING SEAN CONNERY

                                                                 Born August 25th, 1930

 

About the JAMES BOND film franchise.

 I'm a big fan of all the James Bond films but after 1971, I always regret it's not Sean Connery who's playing 007.

Somehow, the image set in my mind of how should James Bond look and act, is of Sean Connery which is understandable, since my first encounter with Ian Fleming's super spy was in the film DR. NO, in 1962. As I read Fleming's novels, I always pictured Sean Connery as Bond and whenever I heard the James Bond theme, it was the image of Connery that popped into my mind.  When he retired from the role, it became apparent that no one would ever replace him.  And to this day, James Bond still looks like Sean Connery to me!

THE LONGEST DAY

The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of France (and later western Europe) and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front. 

D-Day 1944, has inspired many films since then, including SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and to me, the best of all, THE LONGEST DAY, released in 1962.

I remember watching this movie around 1964 (back then, movies took that long to be released in Mexico) and, of course, my biggest interest was in watching Sean Connery's brief appearance, since by then, I had seen DR. NO and FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and was eagerly awaiting for the premiere of GOLDFINGER.

Sean Connery asked that his scenes be filmed quickly so he could get to Jamaica in time to star in Dr. No (1962).

In addition to Sean Connery, who made his debut as James Bond the same year this movie was shot, two other actors in this movie were Gert Fröbe and Curd Jürgens, future Bond villains. Also appearing is longtime Bond actor Walter Gotell, who first appeared as the SPECTRE agent Morzeny in From Russia with Love (1963), and later appeared in six Bond films starring Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton, in the role of Gen. Anatol Gogol, head of the Soviet KGB.

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS:

As 2021 slowly but surely steps in, and in the aftermath of the sad and shameful events that transpired on January 6th at Capitol Hill, I feel the need to review some of the things that, for me, make life worth living. These favorite things still bring a smile to my face and give me a sense that, in spite of all the idiocy and brutality in the world, there will always be a reason to be thankful and keep my hopes high!

Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy

Buster Keaton

 

Harold Lloyd

Sean Connery

Cary Grant

Frank Sinatra

Marilyn Monroe

Steve McQueen

Barbara Feldon & Don Adams in GET SMART

Benny Goodman                                            THE PINK PANTHER

 

HUCKLEBERRY HOUND and YOGI BEAR

Mort Drucker

The first 40 years of MAD Magazine

FAREWELL, SIR SEAN CONNERY...

 The news today were devastating...Sean Connery has passed away at age 90. The obituaries and tribute stories are pouring in. Sean Connery became my boyhood idol ever since I saw him in DR. NO and his portrayal of agent 007 proved to be the definitive template for the series. But Connery's achievements didn't stop there. He was a consummate actor who turned out many unforgettable portrayals in now classic films like MARNIE, WOMAN OF STRAW, THE HILL, THE ANDERSON TAPES, THE OFFENCE, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, THE WIND AND THE LION, THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING, ROBIN AND MARIAN, THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY, OUTLAND, TIME BANDITS, HIGHLANDER, THE UNTOUCHABLES, INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, THE ROCK, ENTRAPMENT, FINDING FORRESTER, among many others.  His credits, according to IMDb, number 68.  Sean Connery

                     

My Top Sean Connery Films on IMDb:

Top Sean Connery Films

IN MY LIFE

The voice of Sean Connery