Critics and writers pick their favourite James Bond films from the series
04-Nov-2006 • Bond News
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What is strange about this is that Casino Royale, closely based on Ian Fleming's original novel and its central themes of sex and sadism, is specifically aimed at restoring integrity to the franchise. And Craig - undeniably attractive, credibly dangerous but prepared to bleed on screen, and up against the erotically promising Eva Green as Vesper Lynd - has it in him to be the best Bond since Sean Connery, perhaps the best ever.
Of course, even if Craig silences his critics it won't stop the debate about who is the best Bond. Connery will always have the edge, as he was closest to Fleming's creation. There will always be those who favour Roger Moore's camp, flippant 1970s incarnation, or who hold a torch for Timothy Dalton's dour renegade or Pierce Brosnan's bland smoothie.
Bond retains his unique place in the national psyche because every fan feels they own him. Here, as a taster for the 21st film in the "official" 007 canon, our experts pick their favourites. Or, rather, their favourite so far...
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
Derek Malcolm, film critic
Too many of the Bond films have been mere popcorn movies, full of impossibly spectacular chase scenes, silly gadgetry and chauvinist schoolboy humour masked as wit.
There was a time, however, before the formula grew predictable, when a new Bond release was a real event. This was certainly true when From Russia with Love came out in 1963, followed by Goldfinger in 1964. The two films set a standard which has rarely been equalled. Absurdly melodramatic perhaps, but they were thrillers that could be held up as among the best of their time.
My favourite is From Russia with Love, for several good reasons. The first is that Sean Connery, whom everybody now regards as much the best Bond, seemed to have settled comfortably into his role.
The second is that the film is served by a cast which, though lacking a great seductress (Italian actress Daniela Bianchi had to be dubbed), was pretty darned watchable. There was Robert Shaw as Spectre's ace killer, the great Lotte Lenya, muse of Kurt Weill, as another Spectre agent, and Pedro Armendariz, the fine Mexican actor, in his last screen role as Bond's Turkish ally.
Added to that was the endearing Desmond Llewelyn's first go at Q. The cast mattered, as did John Barry's fine score and the expert direction of Terence Young.
What do I remember most vividly? Two sequences. The first is the brutal fight scene, still sometimes cut for telly, between Connery and Shaw aboard the Orient Express. The second is the excitingly vivid chase scene between 007 and a helicopter. Try as they might, the succeeding Bond movies haven't done better.
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
Charlie Higson, comedian and creator of Young Bond
My favourite is You Only Live Twice (1967). It's probably not the best Bond movie, but I was nine when it came out and I remember being absolutely obsessed by it.
It starred Sean Connery, and so he will always be James Bond for me. This, though, was the film that convinced him that he had had enough. The shoot in Japan, at the height of Bondmania, was insane, and he felt that the character was becoming overshadowed by the gadgets, the sets and the action.
The script was by Fleming's friend Roald Dahl and it was the first Bond movie to deviate significantly from the book, which was no bad thing as it was not one of Fleming's best. Dahl picked out a few elements - the Japanese setting, the volcano, Bond working alongside the Japanese secret service with their ninja tactics - and spun them off into an outrageous fantasy.
It became the model for most subsequent Bond movies, and Donald Pleasance as Blofeld became the model for all Bond villains (and Dr Evil, of course).
With his scar, his bald head, his unplaceable foreign accent, his tank full of killer fish and his lair inside a volcano, he had it all. That lair must have cost billions more than he ever could have hoped to make from his international extortion schemes, and when you throw in the cost of his space rocket - well, it's all gloriously nonsensical. But one nine-year-old was mesmerised, and I will always be that boy when I see the film.
Young Bond 3 is published by Ian Fleming Publications in January.
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
Charlotte O'Sullivan, deputy film critic
This was the most subversive of all the Bond movies. It was made in 1971 and stands as a wry reflection of its times, touching on the controversy surrounding the Moon landings and the era's burgeoning sexual politics. Seriously. The producers originally wanted Jane Fonda for Tiffany Case - the first American Bond girl - but wisecracking, world-weary Jill St John was a strong second choice.
The emphasis is on script rather than stunts. The plot hops from the spooky crematoriums of California to the bleak pleasure domes of Las Vegas, while characters get to say things like "God-damn!. and "bastard!" (adults-only language had been forbidden up to then).
The film was made at a time when it looked as though the franchise might be dying out. Having earlier quit the role, Sean Connery was coaxed back for an unprecedented fee, plus a share of the profits. Economic constraints, as much as anything else, meant the new Bond movie had to be leaner and sharper.
By contrast, Connery looks knackered and paunchy. Legend has it that the actor had his toupee ripped off in one of the fight scenes. His debauched appearance, however, strikes the perfect note for a film that really should have been the secret agent's final bow.
DR NO
Andrew Lycett, Ian Fleming biographer
I'm more a fan of the books, so my favourite James Bond movie is the one which sticks closest to the novel: Dr No (1962).
This was the first screen version of Bond, and the best. It made a star of Sean Connery, who skilfully portrayed the hard, occasionally violent professionalism of 007. Dr No in his lair provided the benchmark for all Bond villains. And Ursula Andress emerging from the sea in her bikini was simply one of the great film images of all time.
The backdrop of Fleming's beloved Jamaica could not be bettered. The island's charms are beautifully evoked, down to the infectious calypso music.
We recognise producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman putting their mark on the franchise. They introduce elements, such as the criminal organisation Spectre and Bond's American sidekick Felix Leiter, which are not in the book, but which they knew would crop up in later films.
They also injected a sense of humour which comes across not just in Bond's throwaway lines, but also in details such as Goya's painting, The Duke of Wellington - recently stolen from National Galley but proudly hung on Dr No's diningroom wall.
Andrew Lycett's Ian Fleming is published by Phoenix.
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
Simon Winder, social historian
From Russia with Love stands head and shoulders above the other Bond films. It is the only one to offer a wide range of really juicy acting roles. It is the only one to use a great location (a blue-grey, grimy Istanbul) in a non-postcard way. It has some spectacular sets by Syd Cain - the Spectre training camp, the Venetian chess-contest palazzo, Blofeld's boat. The theme song is pretty awful, but John Barry's orchestration comes to the rescue.
Sean Connery looks perfect: saturnine and nasty and a long way from the tubby ninja Bond of You Only Live Twice or the frankly seedy Bond of Diamonds are Forever. It has a Pole playing a Czech, a German playing a Russian, a Mexican playing a Turk and an Italian playing a Russian.
There are some wonderful items of male clothing - the suits, ties and hats Connery wears are just breathtakingly agreeable. And it has not one but two of cinema's most happy and reliable assets: a homicidal, solitary killer and a steam train.
My mother went into labour with me prematurely from the excitement of watching it in an Ealing cinema in late November 1963. Without From Russia with Love I would have been born in December and fallen in with that glum clump of people who get both birthday and Christmas presents in one go. So I perhaps admire From Russia with Love from a slightly special angle - but a legitimate one.
Simon Winder is the author of The Man Who Saved Britain: A Personal Journey into the Disturbing World of James Bond (Picador).
ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE
Samantha Weinberg, author of The Moneypenny Diaries
An unfashionable choice, perhaps, but it's the one in which, in 1969, 007 is played by Australian model George Lazenby - who even if he wasn't a bad actor, would have failed simply by not being Connery.
Disguised as a heraldry expert in a kilt he infiltrates Blofeld's mountain-top lair. There he finds a gaggle of giggling beauties, several of whom he seduces - despite being engaged to Contessa "Tracy" di Vicenzo - to uncover the bald cat-lover's evil masterplan.
But it still makes me gasp and laugh and, uniquely among Bond films, cry. The plot is the closest to Fleming's original story, in all its imaginative preposterousness. There is a great ski chase, some realistic fights, a sharp script and, in Blofeld and his sidekick Irma Bunt, gloriously overblown villains.
But it's the emotional high notes that resonate; the quiet tears snaking down Miss Moneypenny's cheeks as she watches Bond drive away on honeymoon, and moments later, after Tracy (played by Diana Rigg) is shot by Bunt, the sight of Bond cradling his new wife's body as his enemies drive off. For those, I can forgive anything, even the absence of Sir Sean.
Secret Servant: The Moneypenny Diaries by Samantha Weinberg (writing as Kate Westbrook) is published by John Murray.
GOLDFINGER
Nick Curtis, Evening Standard writer and Bond fan
The finest in the series is undoubtedly Goldfinger (1964). It has everything - a taut plot, that beautiful Aston Martin, a Shirley Bassey title song, the set pieces of the golf game, the laser beam and the stirring finale at the Ken Adam-designed Fort Knox.
There's the unbeatable hat-trick of fresh-faced Tania Mallet as Tilly, the gilded Shirley Eaton as Jill, and husky Honor Blackman as the filthily named Pussy Galore. But above all Goldfinger has Connery at the top of his game.
Never, before or after, did he capture Bond's cruelty and charm so deftly. There is a physical insolence in his challenge to the women, as much as in his aggressive squaring off against Goldfinger. He is active, virile, vital - and also funny.
Connery drives the plot, rather than being driven by it, and he says the word "Pooosssy" like no one else. He's the perfect Bond.
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