My Favorite James Bond Vehicles

 

MY FAVORITE JAMES BOND VEHICLES: 

Aston Martin DB5 (used in GOLDFINGER)

You HAVE to pick the classic DB5 as the greatest James Bond vehicle. 007 will be forever linked to Aston Martin, although for various eras in the Bond movie series the company's cars did not appear. 

Aston Martin DBS (used in ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE)

No major gadgets, but it's the car Bond was driving when he first saw his great love Tracy, and sadly when he lost her. 

Lotus Esprit (used in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME)

For whatever reason Roger Moore's Bond didn't drive Aston Martins, but he did have this unique-looking speedster that could go underwater. Moore is associated with the Esprit the way Sean Connery is associated with the DB5. 

Aston Martin DBS V12 (used in CASINO ROYALE)

A fantastic vehicle, but Daniel Craig's Bond only gets about five minutes use out of it before it gets totaled. (When you think about it, that's what happens to every Aston Martin that is used by Craig's Bond.) 

AMC Matador Coupe (used in THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN)

It's not just a AMC Matador...it can be converted into a flying car, and it's used by Christopher Lee. What more do you need?

My Favorite/Least Favorite James Bond Music

 

THE BEST JAMES BOND SOUNDTRACK COMPOSERS:

1. John Barry
2. David Arnold
3. Everyone else

MY FAVORITE JAMES BOND SOUNDTRACKS: 

ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE, John Barry
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, John Barry
GOLDFINGER, John Barry
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, John Barry
CASINO ROYALE (1967), Burt Bacharach

Yes, I know this movie isn't part of the official Bond series, but on my blog I can do whatever I want. 

MY FAVORITE JAMES BOND OPENING CREDIT SONGS: 

"Goldfinger", performed by Shirley Bassey in GOLDFINGER
"A View To A Kill", performed by Duran Duran in A VIEW TO A KILL

The best thing about the movie by far. 

"Live and Let Die", performed by Paul McCartney in LIVE AND LET DIE

Does anyone else think it ironic that the "nice Beatle" wrote and sang such a misanthropic tune?

"Nobody Does It Better", performed by Carly Simon in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
"You Know My Name", performed by Chris Cornell in CASINO ROYALE (2006)

An off-the-wall pick, but it stands out over the recent mediocre Bond title songs.  

MY LEAST FAVORITE JAMES BOND OPENING CREDIT SONGS:

"The Living Daylights", performed by a-ha in THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS

If you can understand the lyrics to this song, you should apply for a job as a translator at the United Nations. 

"All Time High", performed by Rita Coolidge in OCTOPUSSY

A fitting song for AM Easy Listening radio, but not for a Bond film. 

"Die Another Day", performed by Madonna in DIE ANOTHER DAY

What's worse--the song, or Madonna's cameo in the film?

"Writing's On The Wall", performed by Sam Smith in SPECTRE
"No Time To Die", performed by Billie Eilish in NO TIME TO DIE

I watched this movie less than a week ago from writing this, and I literally remember nothing about the title song. 

NO TIME TO DIE

 

In the (very, very long) pre-credits sequence of NO TIME TO DIE, Daniel Craig's James Bond visits the grave of Vesper Lynd. It occurred to me while watching this that Craig has been mooning over Lynd's death  for most of his time as 007. The Craig-Bond films are all basically one large story, and NO TIME TO DIE is the summation of this era. 

This time around, Bond is up against a villain named Safin (Rami Malek), who has a link to 007's other great love, Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux), who was the daughter of Mr. White, the man who was mainly responsible for Vesper Lynd's death, and Mr. White used to work for Spectre and Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), and Safin wants to get revenge on Blofeld.....yes, it's all connected. 

Like SKYFALL and SPECTRE, this is a long, lumbering movie that is impressive technically and visually, but doesn't seem to hit the mark. There's plenty of complications thrown in the plot that do nothing but increase the film's running time. There's also two different female agents (Lashana Lynch and Ana de Armas) who look like supermodels and kill a bunch of people. 

The villain's plot concerns biological warfare, which is rather timely....but Rami Malek makes the mistake of being weird instead of threatening, a mistake that has happened too many times in Bond films. 

I know I'm constantly harping on movie running times, but the climax is very drawn out here, and it doesn't help that co-writer-director Cory Joji Fukunaga is more keen on heavy dramatics than energy. Daniel Craig's Bond has gone through a lot of suffering during his tenure--and he goes through even more here. But is that something you want to see when you go to a Bond film??

I did like the various references to ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE, even though they give you a hint and a half about what's going to happen in the end. 

If you are a fan of the other Craig-Bond movies, and you like the way Craig portrays 007, you'll appreciate NO TIME TO DIE more than I did. I loved CASINO ROYALE, and I still do. But having all the Craig-Bond films be direct sequels, instead of entries in a series, was, in my opinion, a bad idea. 

When I wrote a blog post for SPECTRE, I said that I would love to see a film where Daniel Craig is Just Plain Bond--where he's on a mission that isn't connected to anything that happened before, and there's nothing in it that is linked to his personal life. Unfortunately we won't see that now. And there's plenty of folks who think there's no point in making any more Bond movies period. 

Personally, I believe a "James Bond redefined for the 21st Century" isn't really James Bond at all. What I would love to see is all the Fleming novels adapted as they were written, in the order and the time period in which they were written. 

And we all know that will never happen. 

ASIDE #1: At the screening of NO TIME TO DIE I attended, I'd say the theater was about half-full....and I was one of the youngest people there. And I ain't no spring chicken. Make of that what you will. 

ASIDE #2: I thought NO TIME TO DIE was a rather generic title for a Bond film. But I inadvertently found out the title does have a connection to the Bond series. 
In 1958, Albert Broccoli (who would later co-produce the first official Bond films with Harry Saltzman) produced a WWII picture called NO TIME TO DIE! (It's also known as TANK FORCE!)
But it's still a generic title. 

My Favorite/Least Favorite James Bond Allies

 

Being an ally in a James Bond movie is like wearing a red uniform shirt on the original STAR TREK TV series--you're not gonna last very long. 007's allies are usually comic relief and/or sacrificial lambs, and they are so expendable that for the most part they don't make much of an impact. 

There is one ally that hasn't gotten killed off yet (even though he almost was in LICENCE TO KILL): CIA agent and Bond buddy Felix Leiter. Unfortunately throughout most of the official Bond series Leiter was played by a different actor, and he was never presented very well. Because of that the character hasn't become as important on the big screen as he was in Ian Fleming's novels. (I bet there's a ton of James Bond movie buffs who don't even know who Felix Leiter is.)

Let's not forget the classic triumvirate of Bernard Lee as M, Desmond Llewelyn as Q, and Lois Maxwell as Moneypenny. They were just as much allies to Bond as any gun-toting agent, and seeing them in a Bond film is always a highlight. 

MY FAVORITE JAMES BOND ALLIES:

Bernard Lee as M (multiple films)

With all respect to Judi Dench, Bernard Lee was the true M. He totally defined the character with his commanding presence and sometimes sardonic manner. He was the perfect paternal-like opposite to 007. 

Pedro Armendariz as Kerim Bey in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

Armendariz set the template for all the overseas intelligence officers Bond would encounter throughout the series. It's hard to believe that Armendariz was dying of cancer during the making of FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, because he's so full of life and energy. 

Desmond Llewelyn as Q (multiple films)

Llewelyn wound up outlasting nearly everyone from the original Bond team, and whenever he would first show up in a 007 film, he always got an enthusiastic response from the audience. Yes, he was put in a number of silly situations, but the way he interpreted the role was perfect. He's the true Q. (John Cleese was terrible, and I haven't warmed up to Ben Wishaw's quirky millennial take on the role.)

Jack Lord as Felix Leiter in DR. NO

The best Felix Leiter (although that isn't saying much). The main reason I picked Lord as #1 Leiter as that he seems like the type of guy that would go drinking and carousing with 007. (I've never believed that Bond would hang out with the other many movie Leiters.) 

MY LEAST FAVORITE JAMES BOND ALLIES: 

John Cleese as Q in THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH and DIE ANOTHER DAY

The big reason why Desmond Llewelyn was great as Q was that he wasn't trying to be funny. Cleese is funny, but he doesn't belong in these films. One of the many bad casting decisions made during the Pierce Brosnan era. 

Rik von Nutter as Felix Leiter in THUNDERBALL

Probably the worst movie Leiter. Nutter looked like a beach bum who decided to hang out with James Bond for a few days, and he had no effect on the plot whatsoever. 

Clifton James as J.W. Pepper in LIVE AND LET DIE and THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN

James wasn't really an ally--he was more like annoying comic relief. The real question is....why does a slow-witted corpulent sheriff from the American South need to be in two James Bond movies??

Vijay Amritraj in OCTOPUSSY 

"Hey, since we're making a James Bond movie in India....let's hire a pro tennis player who's a native of that country to appear in it--and let's have him use a tennis racket in a action scene! It'll be hilarious!!" 

My Favorite/Least Favorite James Bond Ladies

 

I realize that in the 21st Century, referring to a person as a "Bond lady", let alone a "Bond girl", will annoy some folks...but what do you want me to call them?? This is a list of my favorite/least favorite leading female performances in the James Bond movie series. 

What has always cracked me up is how, whenever a new Bond film comes out, the leading lady of the production will be interviewed by a major magazine or talk show, and she will invariably exclaim, "This is a Bond girl unlike we've ever seen before!!" (I think all the actresses who work on Bond movies are contractually obligated to say that.) The fact is, the female roles in the Bond films have been far more varied than most presume. (Has everyone forgotten that when Ursula Andress first encountered Sean Connery in DR. NO, she pulled a knife on him?) The "Strong Independent Female who looks great and kicks ass" trope that is all over the entertainment world is something the Bond series was featuring decades ago. 

MY FAVORITE JAMES BOND LADIES

Daniela Bianchi as Tatiana Romanova in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

In my very modest opinion, the most beautiful of all the Bond ladies. No, she didn't get to wear a skintight outfit and beat up and kill a bunch of heavily-armed men, but she did star in the greatest Bond film of them all, and play her character exactly the way Ian Fleming wrote it in his novel. 

Eva Green as Vesper Lynd in CASINO ROYALE

Green gave the best overall acting performance of any woman in the entire Bond series. 

Diana Rigg as Tracy in ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE

The only woman to marry 007 onscreen. A top-flight actress was needed to co-star along the inexperienced George Lazenby, and Rigg did her share and more. 

Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore in GOLDFINGER 

Yes, we all know about her character's name....but Blackman set a standard that many future Bond ladies were not able to live up to. 

Sophie Marceau as Electra King in THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH

Technically Marceau could qualify as the main villain in this movie as well. Either way she's the best thing in the film. The idea of a Bond girl becoming the overall threat is an intriguing one, unfortunately the script didn't take full advantage of it. 

MY LEAST FAVORITE JAMES BOND LADIES

Denise Richards as Christmas Jones in THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH

"Isn't it cute that Denise Richards was cast as a nuclear scientist??"                                                                   (Long pause)                                                                                                                                                      No. 

Tanya Roberts as Stacey Sutton in A VIEW TO A KILL

The ex-Charlie's Angel will forever be known as the only Bond lady to have a blimp sneak up behind her. 

Halle Berry as Jinx in DIE ANOTHER DAY

Definitely the most overrated Bond lady. Berry got a huge amount of publicity for being in DIE ANOTHER DAY, and she even got as much room on the poster as Pierce Brosnan. But her character is really just a mediocre version of Michelle Yeoh's in TOMORROW NEVER DIES, and Yeoh did a far better job. 

Britt Ekland as Mary Goodnight in THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN

Not exactly Ekland's fault....the character was just a klutzy ditz (a very rare thing in the Bond series, by the way). 

My Favorite/Least Favorite James Bond Villains

 

James Bond Month continues with my favorite (and least favorite) James Bond villains. I'm not just going to rank the main villains here--I'll also be dealing with the henchmen....or should I say henchpeople? Or supporting villains?

One thing you will notice on these Bond lists is how much I favor things from the earlier films in the series. There's more to that than me being a whiny old white guy. Much of the ingredients that we take for granted in every Bond film were developed and established in the very first 007 entries. That especially holds true for the villains. Every major Bond villain owes something to Dr. No and Goldfinger, and every minor Bond villain owes something to Oddjob. 

So here's my favorite major--and supporting--Bond villains. 

MY FAVORITE JAMES BOND MAJOR VILLAINS: 

Gert Frobe as Auric Goldfinger in GOLDFINGER

An easy choice, but Frobe's characterization still influences the Bond series to this very day. 

Joseph Wiseman as Dr. No in DR. NO

Wiseman, a fine actor, doesn't get enough credit for making Dr. No a serious, realistic threat. 

Telly Savalas as Blofeld in ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE

The best movie Blofeld, although in all honesty, I wouldn't call any of them great. Telly's Blofeld gets extra points for getting out from behind a desk and actively participating in the mayhem. 

Adolfo Celi as Largo in THUNDERBALL

Christopher Lee as Scaramanga in THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN

He's in an underwhelming movie, and it has to be said that his character wasn't showcased properly, but you know I gotta put C. Lee on this list. 

MY LEAST FAVORITE JAMES BOND MAJOR VILLAINS:

Mathieu Amalric as Dominic Greene in QUANTUM OF SOLACE

The main reason he gets the top spot here is that I barely remember him, or anything his character did. 

Toby Stephens as Gustav Graves in DIE ANOTHER DAY

The Pierce Brosnan Bond era saw plenty of mediocre villains. 

Jeroen Krabbe as General Koskov in THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS

Charles Gray as Blofeld in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

Gray was an always interesting performer, but he was totally miscast as Blofeld. And did we really need to see his Blofeld in drag??

Christopher Walken as Max Zorin in A VIEW TO A KILL

Walken as a Bond villain seems like a great high-concept idea on paper, but.....

MY FAVORITE JAMES BOND SUPPORTING VILLAINS:

Robert Shaw as Red Grant in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

How many people can you say actually stole a James Bond film from James Bond? Shaw would have made a great 007 himself. 

Harold Sakata as Oddjob in GOLDFINGER

See my comment above about Gert Frobe. 

Luciana Paluzzi as Fiona Volpe in THUNDERBALL

The most memorable of the classic Bond bad girls. 

Caroline Munro as Naomi in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME

Of course I'm going to put Caroline on this list.

Dave Bautista as Hinx in SPECTRE

The Daniel Craig era hasn't had a lot of impressive supporting characters period, but Bautista brought a lot of no-nonsense screen presence to the role. 

MY LEAST FAVORITE JAMES BOND SUPPORTING VILLAINS

Grace Jones as May Day in A VIEW TO A KILL

The fact that Jones was featured on the main poster of this film says a lot about the state of the Bond series in the mid-1980s. 

Goldie as Bull in THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH

Apparently Goldie was some sort of British street music "personality". He wasn't much of a Bond villain. 

Robert Carlyle as Renard in THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH

Technically you could say that Carlyle was the major villain in the movie, but really Sophie Marceau was. Carlyle was only a major disappointment. 

Joe Don Baker as Brad Whitaker in THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS

Now, I know what some of you are going to say...."What about Richard Kiel as Jaws??" He's certainly one of the most remembered Bond villains, but even in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME he was a basically a cartoon character. I could have put Kiel on both my favorite and least favorite Bond supporting villains lists. 

My Favorite James Bond Actors

 

This month the latest James Bond film NO TIME TO DIE finally gets released to theaters. Because of this I will spend all month on this blog writing various best/worst lists relating to the Bond movies. It was something I had planned to do when NO TIME TO DIE was going to be originally released about...what, a year and a half ago?

One thing I have to point out is that these lists will deal with the "official" James Bond movie series as produced by EON productions. 

To start things off, I'll list my favorite 007 actors in order of preference. 

Sean Connery

The obvious choice, but he was the original, and he set the tone for every other Bond to follow. It must be said that he tired of the role very quickly (you can see it as early as THUNDERBALL). 

Pierce Brosnan

I know it will surprise people that I have him listed second, but I felt that Brosnan's Bond was a combination of Connery and Roger Moore. What hurt Brosnan is that he never got to star in a top-notch Bond film. 

Roger Moore

Yes, he's now considered the goofy Bond....but Moore had the charisma and screen presence to pull it off (I believe those attributes are more important to being a successful Bond than having great acting ability). 

George Lazenby

You basically have to give Lazenby an "incomplete" rating--he only got to star in one movie (albeit a great one). I actually think Lazenby's newness to the acting profession helped make his Bond seem more like a real person. He would have made a fine Bond if he had stuck with the series. 

Timothy Dalton

Dalton deserves to get a sort of incomplete rating as well. He only starred in two Bond films, and only one of them was tailored to his personality. Dalton really came along at the wrong time--he would have been perfect for the type of Bond movies being made recently. 

Daniel Craig

Craig is the outlier. His Bond, and the movies he stars in, are so different from the 20th Century 007 productions that they can't be properly compared with each other. Craig's Bond is a sullen, brooding, angst-ridden fellow. You might say that Craig's Bond resembles the Bond from the Ian Fleming novels--except, having read all of those books, I don't agree with that. 

The Daniel Craig Bond reminds me of Christian Bale's Batman. Both actors are fine performers....but I don't get all excited to spend two-and-a-half hours watching them play two of my favorite fictional characters.