James Bond Marathon

[Tom]

The Big "James Bond" Marathon

As it seems to be, that I am not the only one who needs a little incentive to watch the Bond movies again, I am opening this collective marathon.
Here is the schedule for this event
I only included the official Bond movie. The original "Casino Royale" and "Never Say Never Again" are not included, but feel free to also review those any time.
Each Bond week will start on a Monday and ends on a Sunday.
I am thinking that Quantum of Solace will already be available on DVD when we get to the finish line at the end of June.

Week		Title	Year	Rich	Tom	Dragonfire
Jan 26 - Feb 01		Dr. No	1962
Feb 02 - Feb 08		From Russia with Love	1963
Feb 09 - Feb 15		Goldfinger	1964
Feb 16 - Feb 22		Thunderball	1965
Feb 23 - Mar 01		You Only Live Twice	1967
Mar 02 - Mar 08		On Her Majesty's Secret Service	1969
Mar 09 - Mar 15		Diamonds Are Forever	1971
Mar 16 - Mar 22		Live and Let Die	1973
Mar 23 - Mar 29		The Man with the Golden Gun	1974
Mar 30 - Apr 05		The Spy Who Loved Me	1977
Apr 06 - Apr 12		Moonraker	1979
Apr 13 - Apr 19		For Your Eyes Only	1981
Apr 20 - Apr 26		Octopussy	1983
Apr 27 - May 03		A View to a Kill	1985
May 04 - May 10		The Living Daylights	1987
May 11 - May 17		Licence to Kill	1989
May 18 - May 24		GoldenEye	1995
May 25 - May 31		Tomorrow Never Dies	1997
Jun 01 - Jun 07		The World Is Not Enough	1999
Jun 08 - Jun 14		Die Another Day	2002
Jun 15 - Jun 21		Casino Royale	2006
Jun 22 - Jun 28		Quantum of Solace	2008

Additional Bond movies, which can be included optionally:

		Title	Year	Rich	Tom	Dragonfire
		Casino Royale	1967
		Never Say Never Again	1983

[Dragonfire]

I can do this..though I probably won't watch the first few again since it hasn't been that long since I watched them.  But I can still talk about them a bit and then join in with the viewing once it is time for On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Oh, I think Quantum of Solace is supposed to be out on DVD in the next few weeks.

[Rich]

Tom, can you list the 2 'other' films as randoms, I'd like to watch them as part of the marathon.

And does anyone know how and why Never Say Never Again was made in 1983 outside of the usual studios and production team??

[Achim]

Tom, can you list the 2 'other' films as randoms, I'd like to watch them as part of the marathon.

And does anyone know how and why Never Say Never Again was made in 1983 outside of the usual studios and production team??

Something about the rights. Someone (I don't know who; I guess one of the producers who left the team) wanted to make another Bond film to cash in on the success. The only avaiable rights for any of the books, or he still owned that one, was for Thunderball, hence the remake.

Why? Money.
How? Rights for "Thunderball" were available.


I might chime in when you watch Goldfinger and Thunderball and then again for Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace (which supposedly is crap but I'll probably buy anyway; and yes, it comes in March). I also own the original Casino Royale (hey Rich, another one out of the usual studio and production team) but it's not long enough since I have seen it last.

[Jon]

Tom, can you list the 2 'other' films as randoms, I'd like to watch them as part of the marathon.

And does anyone know how and why Never Say Never Again was made in 1983 outside of the usual studios and production team??

Achim is fundamentally right, but actually it goes back much further to Fleming himself. The book Thunderball was in some sort of legal wrangle because he'd based it on another story by someone else. This other person used his rights on Thunderball to remake it. Apparently he tried again in the 90s but MGM squashed it.

[Mark Harrison]

I might chime in when you watch Goldfinger and Thunderball and then again for Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace (which supposedly is crap but I'll probably buy anyway; and yes, it comes in March).

Quantum of Solace is due on March 24.  Along with Blu-rays of Goldfinger, Moonraker, The World is Not Enough and Never Say Never Again. I'd do the marathon, but I only have the existing Blu-rays.  Never owned or watch any of the other Bonds. Not sure why I've never seen them until now, but at this point I'm waiting for them to hit Blu-ray rather than picking the rest up on DVD.

[Tom]

Tom, can you list the 2 'other' films as randoms, I'd like to watch them as part of the marathon.

I have listed them below the official Bond series.

A question to you all:
At what point do you recommend to watch Never Say Never Again?
As far as I see, there are three points where it could fit.
1) After "Thunderball" as it is a remake of it
2) After "Diamonds Are Forever", the last official Connery Bond
3) After "Octopussy" where it was released theatrically

[Jon]

I have a feeling it was out before Octopussy, but in any case, surely around that time.

Bond films act as a barometer for what audiences were watching at the time. It's obvious which ones were successful or not (regardless of your own opinion) which forms a good idea for what the audience wanted. Therefore it's more interesting to see them as they were released, especially as this was the first Bond versus the first successful replacement.

Never Say Never Again was a big success on release, but probably because of the novelty of having the original Bond. The real series was coming to the end of the Moore era and was slightly more successful. Over time, Octopussy has garnered more respect; it was View to a Kill where people felt it was going too far, hence a badly timed gear shift with Dalton.

[Tom]

I have a feeling it was out before Octopussy, but in any case, surely around that time.

Wikipedia says, that Octopussy came out in the summer and Never Say Never Again in the fall. Originally both were supposed to come out at the same time, but the studios changed their mind after all.

[Jon]

Fair enough then! But it should definitely be watched at that point. It'll be interesting to compare NSNA with a Bond that was running out of steam anyway because there was an opportunity to steal their thunder and they missed the mark.

[Achim]

Now that it gets repeatedly mentioned in this thread I have the growing urge to purchase Never Say Never Again; despite repeatedly hearing it's actually quite bad

[Dragonfire]

I've seen it on tv...I've seen worse movies..but it wasn't that great.  I've been tempted as well just so I'd have all the Bond movies..even unofficial ones.

[Tom]

Title: Dr. No
Year: 1962
Director: Terence Young
Rating: FSK-16
Length: 105 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Mono, German: Dolby Digital Mono, Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono, Commentary: Dolby Digital Mono
Subtitles: Danish, English, Finnish, German, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish

Stars:
Sean Connery
Ursula Andress
Joseph Wiseman
Jack Lord
Bernard Lee

Extras:
Booklet
Commentary
Featurettes
Photo Gallery
Scene Access
Trailers

My Thoughts:

A good start to the franchise. Sean Connery is a great Bond. The story moves along a little slow from today's point of view, but we see a lot of stuff which became signatures for the Bond movies. Ladies' man Bond, car chase, villain with a secret lair on an island. A villain whose look obviously was inspiration for other villains and parodies (Dr. Evil for example). A bond girl with a funny name (Honey). Bond imprisoned in an easily escapable room instead of being killed on the spot.
No real gadgets this time around, but Bond gets his signature gun.

Rating:

[Rich]

Dr. No



Released in 1962, this first James Bond movie remains one of the best and serves as an entertaining reminder that the Bond series began (in keeping with Ian Fleming's novels) with a surprising lack of gadgetry and big-budget fireworks. Sean Connery was just 32 years old when he won the role of Agent 007. In his first adventure James Bond is called to Jamaica where a colleague and secretary have been mysteriously killed. With an American CIA agent (Jack Lord, pre-Hawaii Five-O), they discover that the nefarious Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman) is scheming to blackmail the US government with a device capable of deflecting and destroying US rockets launched from Cape Canaveral. Of course, Bond takes time off from his exploits to enjoy the company of a few gorgeous women, including the bikini-clad Ursula Andress. She gloriously kicks off the long-standing tradition of Bond women who know how to please their favourite secret agent. A sexist anachronism? Maybe, but this is Bond at his purest

A great start, and a perfect formula to what was going to be such a successful run of films. Bond is edgy in Dr No, faithful to the book, and maybe a little less camp than he became. Sean Connery for me will always be 'The Bond' and his introduction to the audience is masterful, remember that sweeping pan around the card table in the casino, and Connery drawling those immortal words "Bond, James Bond"
On the critical side, it is obviously more primitive than later outings, the ending is a bit of an anti-climax, and it is relatively low budget.
However, the lack of gadgetry and explosives works for me, I find Dr No more intimate, gritty, a deeper sense of danger, providing a more gripping thriller laced with heady intrigue. The villains from here became the norm in later outings, megalomaniacs, normally with a deformity, high tech base etc etc.
And Ursula Andress' arrival on the beach mmmm
I hope everyone has seen this film, I remember my kids watching it on video when they were younger and absolutely loving it also. It is a must-see.
 

[Rich]

Admin / Mods - any chance of popping this up with a sticky and removing the xmas marathon thread?
thanks
Rich