Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Young Adult Author
I previously ranked some of the James Bond movies here, here, and here. I watched Die Another Day last weekend with my son. I had remembered this as being the best of the Pierce Brosnan films, and though I haven’t seen the others since they first came out in theaters, I’m pretty sure my opinion still holds in that regard. I picked this one because my son takes fencing lessons, and this movie has a big fencing scene. In fact, that turned out to be the best part of the movie.
Since the Bond movies are formulaic and their quality is based on how well they fulfill the formula, I created a little rubric to rank the Bond movies, with several categories a movie can get points in. A Bond film gets 2 points if the movie is one of the top 3 Bond movies for a category, and 1 point if it’s in the top 7, plus a couple special categories. Here are the criteria, with a maximum of 14 points available:
Story/Plot–2 points–Is the plot coherent and logical? Are the stakes high? (2 points, top 3; 1 point, top 7)
Action–2 points–Are the stunts exciting? The car chases thrilling? (2 points, top 3; 1 point, top 7)
Villain–2 points–What’s a Bond movie without dastardly villains and their henchmen? (2 points, top 3; 1 point, top 7)
Setting–2 points–The Bond movies are all about exotic locations. (2 points, top 3; 1 point, top 7)
Gadgets, Vehicles, Lairs–2 points–What’s the cool stuff? (2 points, top 3; 1 point, top 7)
Bond girls–2 points–The ladies, oh yes, the ladies. (2 points, top 3; 1 point, top 7)
Sean Connery or Daniel Craig?–1 point–These are the best Bonds (no need to debate) and get an automatic extra point if appearing in the film.
Musical theme–1 point if in the top 5
Rejiggered points for other movies:
Live and Let Die (-1) for Gadgets/Vehicles/Lairs
The Man With the Golden Gun (-1) for Bond Girls
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (-1) for Setting
Goldfinger (-1) for Action
And, here are the updated results:
1) The Spy Who Loved Me, 12 points
2, 3) Goldfinger, Casino Royale (tied with 9 points)
4) On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (8 points)
5, 6) Skyfall, Thunderball (tied with 6 points)
7) Spectre (5 points)
8, 9) Live and Let Die, Die Another Day (4 points)
10) The Man With the Golden Gun (3 points)
Pingback: Ranking From Russia With Love – Nicholas Bruner