Quantum Of Solace Prep: James Bond Review
November 12th, 2008

So there’s this here new James Bond movie coming out this Friday: Quantum Of Solace. I’m reasonably psyched to check it out for several reasons, namely, Daniel Craig continuing his take on Bond after Casino Royale, and the storyline which partly promises “revenge” for the death of Vesper Lynd.
Bond has gone on “revenge” quests before, but never satisfyingly: He hunted down Blofeld at the start of Diamonds Are Forever for the death of his wife Traci Di Vicenzo in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, which took place in like – minutes, and in Licence To Kill he avenged the death of his longtime American CIA friend Felix Leiter which unfortunately resulted in a very average action flick. Anyhow, neither situations were executed well. I believe Quantum Of Solace will do a better job.
Overall, Sean Connery is still my favorite Bond, with From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, and Thunderball being the triumphant trilogy. Roger Moore peaked out with The Spy Who Loved Me and then turned in a few entries where he resembled a walking corpse. Dalton didn’t get enough goes before being sacked, and Brosnan started off strong but got no help from progressively stupider plots and ended up battling a shaved Korean in an ice palace, set to the worst song Madonna ever recorded. But amazingly, Daniel Craig seems to have successfully “rebooted” the series and Bond is on an upswing.
Anyhow, if by the two preceding paragraphs it seems I’ve followed Bond a bit too closely, I shamefully admit I have, as a while I back I watched all of the James Bond movies and reviewed them, plus ranked the movies, listened to the theme songs, read a book, and thought way too much about Bond that someone running a blog as hobby would consider appropriate.
Here are links to all my previous James Bond articles. At the very least, consider it prep for Quantum Of Solace. Enjoy.
- My Ranking: The Best And Worst James Bond Films
- Slammerworm Ranks 23 James Bond Movies From Best To Worst
- The Seven Hottest James Bond Women
- Best And Worst Bond Songs
- Book Review: The Man Who Saved Britain: A Personal Journey Into The Disturbing World Of James Bond
Bond Films In Chronological Order
- Dr. No
= 4 stars - From Russia With Love
= 5 stars - Goldfinger
= 5 stars - Thunderball
= 5 stars - You Only Live Twice
= 3 stars - On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
= 4 stars - Diamonds Are Forever
= 3 stars - Live And Let Die
= 4 stars - The Man With The Golden Gun
= 3 stars - The Spy Who Loved Me
= 5 stars - Moonraker
= 2 stars - For Your Eyes Only
= 4 stars - Octopussy
= 3 stars - A View To A Kill
= 3 stars - The Living Daylights
= 5 stars - Licence To Kill
= 3 stars - Goldeneye
= 5 stars - Tomorrow Never Dies
= 2 stars - The World Is Not Enough
= 4 stars - Die Another Day
= 2 stars - Casino Royale
= 5 stars - Bonus: Never Say Never Again
= 3 stars - Bonus: Casino Royale (1967)
= 3 stars
Note: Sean Connery played Bond in 1-5, 7, 22, George Lazenby in 6, Roger Moore 8-14, Timothy Dalton 15 and 16, Pierce Brosnan 17-20, and Daniel Craig 21 and the new Quantum Of Solace.
I can't wait to see this movie…..finally a James Bond for dudes! I was sold during the first few minutes of Casino Royale (the newest one) when the the chase began. There is just never a dull moment. I don't know if Bond movies will ever find Bond Babes to equal the likes of Ursula Andress and Jacqueline Bissett, but no other Bond would ever respond the same way when asked if he wanted his Vodka Martini shaken or stirred. “I don't give a shit!”
Yes, that was a classic moment when we saw this Bond respond in such a gruff
manner. But it makes sense as more than just a reboot for reboot's sake, as
Casino Royale was like the “origin story” of Bond – before he was sent on
many missions and became more refined and developed a taste for martinis and
steaks.
Argh…just mentioned this movie on your Star Trek trailer post, thought you had passed it over. Daniel Craig rocks. Bond hasn't had “swagger” since Sean Connery, and now it's back. Now if I could just get my wife to go with me.
Yes, my favorite Bond (as you can probably infer from above) was also
Sean Connery. I think Craig has a good shot at reinstating the
manliness of Bond once again.