After subjecting myself to the debacle that is Die Another Day, I’d likely find any Bond film better, but The World Is Not Enough is undoubtedly a superior film, and a decent entry into the canon. In some ways it’s better than GoldenEye as the plot and directing style is certainly reminiscent of classic, Roger Moore era Bond films. However, a few crucial flaws mar the movie.

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The fourth (and final) James Bond film to star Pierce Brosnan, sadly, is probably his worst. Die Another Day reminded me of another truly cringe-worthy sequel: Batman And Robin - where Batman went campy and the cartoony characters conversed in cliches based on their names (”have an ‘ice’ day”). Die Another Day is another obscene location for the Cheesecake Factory, serving cheese with cheese on top and cheese on the side, all due to laughably ridiculous situations, comical characters, and so-impressive-they’re-dumb computer special effects, resulting in contender for worst Bond film ever. It’s Moonraker bad.

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This one was very entertaining. Pierce Brosnan isn’t my favorite Bond (in Tomorrow Never Dies I found him tedious) but in GoldenEye he displays a charming, youthful energy. If one smashed Sean Connery, Roger Moore, and George Lazenby together, you’d get Brosnan (note my intentional omission of Timothy Dalton).

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Note: There a slight discrepancy of the spelling between of the word License and Licence - I guess from the American and British useage of the word.

This Bond movie is more than a bit off; I don’t know how else to put it. While I appreciate the attempt at a more realistic, serious Bond, there’s a fair amount slightly too unique about it, the result being that I didn’t really “get” it, or enjoy it all that much. Gosh, I’m hard to please, but I suppose it’s understandable after watching about twelve James Bond movies in succession.

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The Spy Who Loved Me is easily the best Roger Moore Bond outing. It evokes From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, and Thunderball - my favorite of the Sean Connery Bond adventures, but adds new elements that keep things varied, entertaining, and in a few spots, surpasses the earlier Bonds.

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I still found the decidedly eighties entry in the James Bond Franchise, A View To A Kill enjoyable, despite its cheesy, made for television vibe. I also must plead guilty to some personal bias - the setting is Silicon Valley, with some scenes occurring in San Francisco proper (Fisherman’s Wharf, the Civic Center, and a hatchet-battle atop the Golden Gate Bridge). I work right across the street from Pier 39, so seeing some parts of The City I’ve walked through, held my interest during some admittedly lame plot turns. The Duran Duran theme song is also cool.

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Moving through the James Bond films, Octopussy is the second-to-last one starring Roger Moore (the last being A View To A Kill. In this oddly named adventure, he’s older and looks more than a bit tired. Overall, the film is decent with a fair number of definite thrills, but a few minor organizational gripes harm it, and frankly, I found myself pretty bored during the first half. Maye I’ve just seen too many Bond movies (no surprise).

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After the over the top, outer space location of Moonraker, the twelfth James Bond adventure is contrastingly low-key and sublime. It seems to be an intended return to the basics, and as a result For Your Eyes Only is reminiscent of the sixties’ Sean Connery films. Most notably, the crazy sets and at times overbearing cartoony humor (which plagues some of the early Roger Moore Bonds) is pretty much eliminated here - save for a few Bond quips and the odd finalies to chase scenes. I enjoyed this film.

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It’s not a good sign when you’re part-way into a movie and realize you’ve seen it before, but forgot. I can’t recall exactly where I first saw Tomorrow Never Dies - probably on cable or an airplane ride. Overall, it’s an entertaining flick, but not anything to write home about - and if my experience is any indication - forgettable.

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Moonraker features James Bond (Roger Moore) investigating Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale), an evil genius who wants to destroy the world and rule over a new one of his making. He’s developing a nerve gas through his company Drax Industries. The investigation of “why” takes Bond to Venice and Brazil, and eventually into outer space, where Drax has built a space station, from which he plans to deploy his lethal gas onto Earth, killing everyone, and then colonizing the planet anew with his loyal people.

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