All Time High: Bond in the 80s

There's something amiss this movie season. Anyone else feel the void? We need a chain-smoking British agent to take down all the world's evil-doers -- while wearing an Armani tuxedo and sipping a vodka martini ... shaken, not stirred.

Say what you like about Pierce Brosnan's turn as Agent 007, but naturally I still yearn for the simpler days of James Bond. Give me a really catchy theme song, an aging action star in the lead role and some cheesy dialog, and I'm ready to run out and tackle Blofeld, Kristatos, Kamal Khan and Max Zorin all on my own.

We'll have to wait until November 2008 to see the latest 007 installment -- "Quantum of Solace" (trailer) -- although I'm not sure I can handle another beating like Daniel Craig took at the end of "Casino Royale." (And I'm betting he can't either.) So until then...

RANKING THE BOND FLICKS OF THE 80s:

6. A VIEW TO A KILL (1985): Aside from the Duran Duran theme song and Christopher Walken as the villain, put the final flick by Roger Moore at the bottom of the list -- perhaps all-time.

5. NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN (1983): Sean Connery's comeback is not considered a Bond "franchise" flick, but with Kim Basinger and Max von Sydow, it's very watchable.

4. OCTOPUSSY (1983): Note quite an "All Time High," as Rita Coolidge sings in the opening credits, but Maud Adams has our attention as the jewel-smuggling circus owner and proprietor of a female-only island.

3. LICENSE TO KILL (1989): Bond fans blast Timothy Dalton's two-film turn as 007, but I loved the guy -- surly, unliked by his fellow agents and still years away from torturing us in "Beautician and the Beast." Plus, this one's filmed in Key West and involves the return of American agent "Felix Leiter." Add in Wayne Newton as the hilariously sleazy "Professor Joe Butcher," and it's a contender for the top spot.

2. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (1987): Dalton's first appearance as Bond takes viewers to Gibraltar, Bratislava, England, Austria, Tangier and Afghanistan. When was the last time a Bond movie took you to so many locales? Then hand over the theme song duties to a-ha and cast future Bond ally Joe Don Baker as the villain. I find it hard to rank this flick as only second-best.

1. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY (1981): Perhaps a Bond film at its more formulaic, which suits me just fine. A classically haunting theme song by Sheena Easton, the stunningly beautiful Carole Bouquet as "Melina," who seeks to avenge her parents death (then skinny dip with Bond through the closing credits). "Fiddler on the Roof's" Topol as nut-chomping ally "Milos." And, in the clinching casting move in Bond history, "Ice Castle's" Lynn-Holly Johnson as the young ice skating nymphet. She's for your eyes only too (but rest easy -- she was well over 18 when she played the role of "Bibi.")

Comments

[Cait]

My man, have you gone mad? FYEO is just about unwatchable. And while AVTAK is campy it doesn't deserve to be at the bottom of the stack here. (And there's worse in the series - catch The Man With The Golden Gun sometime.) My personal list would have The Living Daylights in the #1 position, Octopussy second, and AVTAK third.

[Miguel]

You know what?Timothy Dalton`s movie License to Kill is the best of the bunch.I never liked the Roger Moore era.Sean Connery`s the best Bond obviously.

[Neil]

The 80's was a strange time for Bond films. Timothy Dalton was just too bland for me. He didn't have much personality. I was actually a pretty big Roger Moore fan but it became apparent by the time that View to a Kill came out he was getting too old. I am actually a pretty big fan of For Your Eyes Only so I would agree with that as the number one. My dad would take me to every new James Bond movie because my mom hated these movies. I think For Your Eyes Only was the last one we went to see together.

[John Hays]

The trailer for Quantum of Solace is up:

http://tinyurl.com/6gdhua

Oh, and the only good part about View to a Kill is the them song. For Your Eyes Only was decent. I'd say this list is in good order, and that's coming from a big Bond fan.

[Al]

I'm with Hays. Steve, nice call. Too bad "The Spy Who Loved Me" couldn't be on this list. That skiing scene at the beginning is just classic.

I loved Bibi...mmmmmm.

But you already know that "Living Daylights" just kicks butt. I find it amazing that the Bond people made the entire Fleming book just be the opening scene (when Bond is waiting for a sniper in Germany) and then on top of that, made a very good movie.

"We have nothing to declare!" "Except the cello!"

[jane]

I just realized it's been years since I've seen any of these gems -- waaaaay too long. Need to remedy that tout de suite.

PS: Dalton was good. Connery is king. Craig is smokin' hot. There you have it.

[Clark]

I know this is violating 80s nation protocol, but the greatest Bond theme song of all time is "Live and Let Die". It's absolutely perfect. It might even be the greatest pop theme song of ANY movie ever.

[Bassnote]

I watched very few Bond movies after Sean Connery. Not true, I did see most of the Roger Moore Bonds, but ignored all the other Bonds.

[Douglas Arthur]

I never thought Dalton got a fair shake as Bond and was disappointed he only did two flicks. I think Craig's characterization owes more to Dalton's darker version than any of the others, but that's just me. And just because no one else has mentioned him...the forgotten Bond, George Lazenby.

I do have to agree with your opinion about View To A Kill. Easily the worst of the entire series, and for me, I don't even like the theme song, so it was total suckage for me. I remember being sorely disappointed by it, though I was thoroughly amused by his alias being Sinjin Smith, which was a top Volleyball player at the time (along with Kartch Kirally).

[jane]

I've got your back on that one, Clark. "Live and Let Die" is indeed brilliant. And is neck and neck with my personal favorite Bond theme (yes, from the swingin' '60s):"Goldfinger," as emoted by the incomparable Dame Shirley Bassey.

Topic: "Octopussy" wins for best Bond flick name of the '80s. No question.

[John Hays]

Jane - Great title, film didn't pay off the title, though, which is disappointing!

[Spears]

"The Spy Who Loved Me" is my all-time favorite, but alas was a 70s flick.

[John Hays]

Interestingly enough, Fleming's novel "The Spy Who Loved Me" had NOTHING to do with the film (much like most Moore Bond films), and was actually the only novel written in a woman's point of view, with Bond not appearing until halfway through it.

[DoctorDrew]

This list is OK, but it is kind of like arguing which is better - Bud, Miller, Coors.

In the end they are just weak American beer flavored beverages.

Bond is Connery.

Moore was a wise cracking, OddJob judo chop stealing who lack the machismo of Connery's original.

I think Dalton is adequate. Brosnan was awful.

That's what I say.

[Marissa]

I have nothing to add. I just had nothing better to do.

[Rick in Scottsdale]

Growing up I was a huge fan of the 007 franchise, but Roger Moore was ridiculous as James Bond. Ever see him without a shirt on? Looks like Barbie's Ken could kick his butt.

I recently watched the Daniel Craig version. It was a surprising departure all the way around, a good movie, but not a Bond movie. Doesn't exactly get your testosterone pumping to watch the hero get his privates pounded to matching minute steaks. (Though his pursuit through the consulate was amazing!)

But while Craig is buff, he's the ultimate fighter, grunt version of Bond to Moore's effete fop. There's still no style, no man's man/ladies' man thing going on. And no fun.

Connery could ask for a martini shaken not stirred and I believed it. But Moore? He's a crisp chardonnay. Dalton? He doesn't drink. Brosnan? Whatever light beer's on tap. And Craig would ask for a boilermaker, and a bottle of Mercurochrome.

Having said all that, the only title on the 80s list worthy of Bond is NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN (even with a salt and pepper Connery).

[Tonianne]

RE: "There's still no...ladies' man thing going on."

Hmmm. Perhaps if the lady is K.D. Lang. Or Jodie Foster. Or Kristie McNichol, even.

But I assure you the rest of us ladies would happily provide the whisky and beer chaser, and be at the ready with the mercurochrome when/should things get ugly.

Badass troglodyte over an erudite effete? No fun, indeed...

[CHAD]

never been a bond fan. i guess i was born too late. the only ones i have seen are the brosnan flicks. i miay have seen a few of the roger moore ones back in the day on showtime.

[Rick in Scottsdale]

Tonianne, LOL.

By "ladies man" I mean charm, flirty repartee, not brute force grunting.

James Bond had an ethos; he's not just a handsome gorilla in an expensive tuxedo, the way Craig played it. Surely there are countless out-of-work English actors who can muster the looks and the style of Connery?

(But in all honesty, it's probably the producers and directors who wrongly asked Craig to play it brute force rather than like a suave Connery clone.)

[ian]

I too have a hard time with a Bond other than Connery. Roger Moore was alright in some of his installments, but he lacked the coolness of Sean.

All other Bonds pale in comparison to the greatness that is Sean Connery.

Munchos!

[Tonianne]

Rick, I really was only messing with you. My hormones aside, and from a literary and artistic standpoint, I wholly sympathize with franchise purists who were disappointed with the latest Bond casting.

But from an economic standpoint, I don't think the producers and directors "wrongly" asked Craig to play it brutish but rather, were simply responding to the needs of a capricious market.

I would submit that considering the current political, social and economic climate, a more foppish and nuanced Bond would not have resonated with today's audience. Hollywood's paradigm is shifting and its ideas of masculinity are being adapted to the needs of Middle-America. It's "wartime," and gender roles and expectations as portrayed in popular culture must respond in kind. Craig's bond - while no doubt a huge departure from the traditional Bond - possesses a symbolic virility which the audience can at this point in time, best identify with.

Traditional ideas of masculinity are always shifting, as is evidenced by the popularity of John Wayne, James Dean, Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood, Alan Alda, Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, and now Jason Statham. It is interesting to see how such shifting representations of masculinity are manifested in pop culture, whether in a Bond film or on a Ken doll. Remember what popular action heros looked like during the Reagan administration? Schwarzenegger, Stallone, and Seagall. The 90s saw a kindler/gentler/more sympathetic male, and Ed Norton's brilliant line from "Fight Club" punctuated the shift beautifully ("Now why do guys like you and me know what a duvet is? Is it essential to our survival, in the hunter-gatherer sense of the word? No. What are we then?")

With Craig's casting, I believe we are witnessing just another swing of the pendulum.

[Spears]

For the record, I hated "Casino Royale."

Seriously. HATED it. And I can't imagine that "Quantum" will be any better.

I did catch Goldeneye on cable last night, and really enjoyed it again. Still, I prefer Brosnan in roles like "Tailor of Panama."

[John Hays]

FYI to all those Daniel Craig/Casino Royale haters, it's even simpler than your arguments.

It's the novel. I've read the Fleming novels (with the exception of the last one, haven't finished that one yet), and this IS Fleming's Bond. At least, it's his Bond in the first novel, Casino Royale.

Keep in mind, this is an origin story. You've never seen a Bond origin story before. He's SUPPOSED to be rougher around the edges, not quite the ladies man yet. It's an origin. Believe me, as the movies progress, so will his charm, wit, etc....I loved the novels and I loved Casino Royale because it adhered to the novel.

For those of us who enjoyed the novels, we have the faint hope that the film studio might decide to continue in the same fashion and redo all the novels, since barring the Connery films, most of the novels have not really been portrayed on screen.

[Marissa]

I love when Steve's posts become dissertations. This is one smart (myself excluded) bunch of comments.

[Rick in Scottsdale]

Tonianne, you might be right, but I think that you leave out a lot in your well-written analysis. The Bond movies have always done well because regardless of who is playing the lead, there's a satisfying fantasy formula.

In the 60s, it was the British Invasion, so Connery's Bond was the perfect combination of masculinity and the debonair. It was manners with effect. In effete Moore's 70s, there were still the Pop-Eye Doyles, Dirty Harrys and Charles Bronson's DEATH WISH, among many. Each was a wish-fulfillment brute that won great box office. It didn't suddenly come with Reagan, as many like to assert. Americans have always liked a take-charge hero. The only place where film heroes have deviated from the central norm are at the fringes, and while attaining cult status and, at times, a profit, they generally haven't done very well at the box office.

John Hays seems to have a better handle on it, it seems to me. But for me, it's a little late for origins on an icon like Bond. But maybe the reinventionist trend in Hollywood has taken root in that franchise too. Sad (for me). But it will be good to see if the producers heel to John Hays' view. But if they want my money, they better get him up to speed tout suite.

Finally, traditional ideas of masculinity in American have never shifted. Ideas of what NEW duties a man should partake in have, but let's be honest: Alan Alda has NEVER been anybody but a feminist's idea of masculine. ;-)

[Tonianne]

Rick - I never suggested the bankability of the Bond franchise was contingent upon who was cast as the male lead. I said I understood how Craig's casting could have disappointed loyal viewers, like yourself, who expected a more refined Connery or Dalton or Brosnan clone. The only point I debated you on was whether or not producers and directors "wrongly asked Craig to play it brute force rather than like a suave Connery clone."

You nevertheless raise some valid points about the Popeye Doyles and Dirty Harrys of the '70s. No doubt the 1930s Hays Production Code which was replaced by the the MPAA rating system in '68 lent itself to the proliferation of subject matter that was more violent and sexual in nature, with alpha-males populating those roles. (i.e. Charles Bronson in "Death Wish").

We'll have to agree to disagree on whether traditional ideas of masculinity, as you aver, remained fixed. I will continue to see them as fluid within the confines of popular culture, subject to the political, social and economic zeitgeist. If only because images of Tom Hanks, or Tom Cruise, or Shia Labeouf being groomed as the next Indy run counter to any traditional idea of a "take charge hero."

[John Hays]

Hays code? Hey, I had nothing to do with that! ;)

I will admit that my eyebrows raised when Tonianne mentioned Alan Alda as someone's idea of masculinity. I just can't see him crawling through the same air vents as Connery or Willis!

[Tonianne]

John - back in the 70s, Alan Alda was a vocal supporter of the Women's Rights movement. As a result, he became the archetype of the "sensitive male." I cited him above as an example of shifts in Hollywood's images of masculinity.

Clearly my comment about being at the ready with a boilermaker when swim-trunks clad Daniel emerged from the surf illustrates that Alda's brand of masculinity is not a personal preference.

[Dean]

I've been a fan of Bond films since Dr. No. In my opinion, the overall quality (story, acting, etc.) has gone down each time. View To A Kill absolutely sucks. I compare Bond films to the three best...Thunderball, Golfinger, and You Only Live Twice. Didn't like Moore at all. Lazenby should have had more films. Dalton would have been better if replaced by a cardboard stand-up. Brosnon (yawn). I'll admit I like Craig, along with the new direction the films are taking. Keep it real (with a little cheese and lots of eye candy).