Ep. 35 - Ranked! The Bond Films!

This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] J.J.: You know what's crazy?

[0:01] Olaf: What's that?

[0:02] J.J.: You know, this podcast is something that we have joked about or just referenced offhandedly like, wouldn't that be a thing?

[0:11] Olaf: Yeah, no, not true.

[0:12] J.J.: But then, you know, we never did anything. It just it came and it went and we forgot about it. And I go back to our talking every couple of years.

[0:22] Olaf: Yeah, that's what I was going to say. Our lives, when we would talk about it, were not intersecting or intertwining nor they are now. We just finally decided it didn't matter. We're still going to do this.

[0:35] J.J.: Well, we have always had that like really great friendship that we had when we met.

[0:40] Olaf: Right.

[0:41] J.J.: But then it's it's never withered or deteriorated through time, through time and distance. We just it's almost like it just kind of pauses when we're not around each other.

[0:53] Olaf: Right.

[0:54] J.J.: So that when we talk, it's it's always right back to where we left off, which is great. And there's a lot of people who have that out there. And if you don't, I'm sorry, because it's great.

[1:07] Olaf: But a year ago, you were at my place. You were in town for work, but we got to hang out just for a little bit.

[1:13] J.J.: Yeah, not even that much.

[1:14] Olaf: Yeah, because schedules were crazy. So you were you were staying with me, but I wasn't there. And my work schedule was opposite of your work schedule. So we just lucked out and we had an evening free together.

[1:30] J.J.: And in that evening, we sat down in my living room and you just started going through my movies.

[1:37] Olaf: Right.

[1:38] J.J.: And skim through your movie library.

[1:41] Olaf: Yeah. With some with an opinion.

[1:43] J.J.: Yeah. But even bigger than that was what we talked about after my movie.

[1:51] Olaf: Yes. We got on the topic of rankings and you had talked about how you had all these old lists of movies, movies and franchises and stuff that you had ranked.

[2:05] J.J.: And some we've done and with some and with some we will continue to do. The big one, the very big what's what? Honestly, what really set this off?

[2:17] Olaf: Yeah, I think so.

[2:18] J.J.: The movie library, but that could have been another. We should be recording this podcast.

[2:23] Olaf: Never happened.

[2:24] J.J.: But I think what really put a fire under us was what we're going to talk about today.

[2:29] Olaf: Right.

[2:30] J.J.: Which I'm just as excited now as I was then to talk about because it's something that's been a recurring conversation piece.

[2:36] Olaf: Yeah.

[2:37] J.J.: Between the two of us since then.

[2:43] Olaf: Yeah. But we've had to refrain because of it.

[2:47] J.J.: Right. Because we always knew we would come back to this.

[2:50] Olaf: Yeah.

[2:51] J.J.: So before we get into anything, guys, let's come to the movie theater.

[2:55] Olaf: We're already there right here together. So, guys, let's get back to the movie theater.

[3:01] J.J.: So a combination of going through your library and noticing that because he's got a very eclectic movie library, Olaf does. And within that library, he has, I would imagine and correct me if I'm wrong, pretty much every movie from this franchise that we're going to be talking about. Is that correct?

[3:30] Olaf: Every minus every official.

[3:31] J.J.: OK, right. Every official movie from this franchise is in. You have.

[3:37] Olaf: Yeah, I do not have the unofficial non-canon one.

[3:44] J.J.: And I also do not have the parody.

[3:46] Olaf: Right. OK.

[3:47] J.J.: And so if you haven't read the explanation or the liner note, we are ranking the franchise. And by we, it is going to be me or I will be ranking my top 25 official canon James Bond movies.

[4:12] Olaf: Now, remember, we normally just do 20 top 20.

[4:24] J.J.: Right. And some would argue that's too much. But because it's this is a special occasion where we are diving into what started this whole thing to begin with.

[4:37] Olaf: And we are here together in the same space. We're doing 25.

[4:44] J.J.: And we both have a very mutual love for this franchise.

[4:50] Olaf: Yes.

[4:51] J.J.: Yeah. I love James Bond. You love James Bond.

[4:54] Olaf: Absolutely.

[4:55] J.J.: We are very opinionated when it comes to James Bond.

[4:56] Olaf: I think what's really nice about this is that there are twenty five. So if there had been like twenty two, I probably would have done my top 20 and just breezed over the bottom two.

[5:01] J.J.: Now, if you've listened to our podcast and we hope you have and if you're new, go back and listen to some of our previous episodes where we've ranked movies.

[5:14] Olaf: You'll but if you're familiar with this, you'll you'll know that J.J. is about to upset you.

[5:20] J.J.: He's he's about to say things that are crazy.

[5:27] Olaf: I like I like how he says, you know, we rank movies. I rank movies and Olaf then will get all up in arms and tell me I'm wrong and tell me how much I don't like certain movies because of where I've put them.

[5:43] J.J.: Yeah. And so it was because of this that I learned how much you dislike Tom Selleck, a national treasure.

[5:51] Olaf: Well, I love Tom Selleck. I like him a lot.

[5:53] J.J.: Yeah. You tolerate his film career is, you know, up in the air. There's a lot of great movies he's done, but we're not talking about Tom.

[6:07] Olaf: So he was never in the running to play this character of James Bond. So, you know, let's leave Tom out of it.

[6:12] J.J.: OK. Love you, Tom.

[6:13] Olaf: Yeah. So, yeah, we're going to go through my what I consider to be my top 25 James Bond movies. But as far as the subject of James Bond, there will be other episodes where we'll rank possibly the theme songs or the Bond villains or talk about specific Bond movies.

[6:33] J.J.: Yes, we will tackle the Bond movie franchise throughout episodes.

[6:42] Olaf: Right.

[6:43] J.J.: And we were talking just before we started. And from what I understand, you have altered your list from the last time we did this a year ago.

[6:58] Olaf: So I had a list already made when we initially had this conversation that started it all.

[7:04] J.J.: I feel like I gave I think I ran down angry about this list since I ran down the list for you.

[7:12] Olaf: Yeah. And you had your opinion. And again, what started it all is we should be recording this.

[7:17] J.J.: Yeah. And so here we are now in that year. I've had some time to reflect and time to relook.

[7:23] Olaf: Now, you looked at my list and you were like, wow, that's making a lot of sense here.

[7:30] J.J.: So I now the changes, the moves I've made on this list are not drastic moves.

[7:39] Olaf: OK, there's one or two that you may not even know have moved on this list.

[7:44] J.J.: Well, it's been a year. All I remember is the rage.

[7:49] Olaf: Right. So there might still be that.

[7:51] J.J.: OK, because again, it's not like I've moved something that was in the 22 spot up to 12.

[8:00] Olaf: Yeah, it's not nothing major like that.

[8:01] J.J.: Another difference between this episode and other ranking episodes is I actually have my list that I had made shortly after this conversation a year ago that we may or may not be privileged to get because, again, I'm always the one on trial.

[8:16] Olaf: I'm going to keep this one to myself, but it'll be nice to reference to just see how wildly wrong you are.

[8:27] J.J.: Oh, and how brave I am to be vulnerable enough to put myself out here on the front line and give you my list is without the protection of just being able to look at it.

[8:39] Olaf: Brave and crazy considered the same thing.

[8:43] J.J.: They can be sometimes you look at that person, you go, he is so brave, he's insane. But I admire his bravery for stepping out and showing us this list of his.

[8:50] Olaf: Or they could just be saying, well, he's just crazy. And that's OK, too.

[8:55] J.J.: And that's what, you know, this is all about. You know, you guys letting us know maybe where you would rank these.

[9:01] Olaf: OK, so I think I think we've I think we've stalled long enough.

[9:07] J.J.: So without further ado, we are getting into J.J.'s top twenty five James Bond movies.

[9:14] Olaf: Now, just to reiterate, there are two films that are not on here because they want neither are canon.

[9:21] J.J.: Right. And one of them isn't even like considered an alternate universe. It's just a parody.

[9:28] Olaf: So it's just a parody.

[9:29] J.J.: Yeah. Right. And that was the original 60s casino with David Niven, Woody Allen, Peter Sellers.

[9:34] Olaf: Peter Sellers.

[9:35] J.J.: That is not on this list. And the other movie that is not on this list is the Sean Connery. Nineteen eighty three.

[9:44] Olaf: Never say never again.

[9:45] J.J.: Right. Which is just a remake of one of his other Bond films Thunderball.

[9:50] Olaf: So those two movies are not on this list. This is strictly top twenty five James Bond, the canon films that everybody knows.

[9:55] J.J.: OK, so hit me with the first twenty five.

[10:03] Olaf: Sorry. All right. There's twenty five. Hit me with the first five.

[10:10] J.J.: OK, at number twenty five, bringing up the rear is Pierce Brosnan's last outing as 007 James Bond. That is die another day.

[10:20] Olaf: Now, this is incredible because I think this is the first time we've actually agreed on the first movie you have.

[10:29] J.J.: Don't get used to it, everybody. This might be the only time we match because I also have die another day at the bottom. It is a hot pile of garbage.

[10:40] Olaf: Well, that's not fair because the very opening before the music starts, before Madonna comes in with arguably one of the worst Bond songs.

[10:46] J.J.: Yeah, that's not even a hot take. I'll die on that hill with you.

[10:52] Olaf: The opening opening is great.

[10:58] J.J.: Let's just take a pause there because the opening is not great.

[11:04] Olaf: It's good.

[11:05] J.J.: It is fun. But the very first thing is them surfing into the waves. You kind of see one and then you see two and then you see three people come in the waves. And it's pretty cool.

[11:14] Olaf: I mean, and then you're right. It does kind of have this.

[11:20] J.J.: It's got potential.

[11:21] Olaf: There's potential there. And there's a big battle.

[11:24] J.J.: And then.

[11:25] Olaf: Oh, but then it's all downhill after once the theme song of the movie starts.

[11:31] J.J.: It is completely downhill. There's no way to mute the theme song.

[11:36] Olaf: Then it's kind of cool because you get to see what's happening to him.

[11:41] J.J.: Yeah. And it's the first time we really see him get tortured.

[11:44] Olaf: Yeah.

[11:45] J.J.: What's unfortunate about this one is it one. It's his last bond.

[11:49] Olaf: Yeah. Which he didn't know that. But it was his last bond.

[11:53] J.J.: It was the 40th anniversary of James Bond. So they do a lot of throws. Halle Berry's entrance is very a call back to Ursula Andress from Dr. No.

[12:00] Olaf: You get to see all the gadgets from the previous Bond movies.

[12:04] J.J.: So there were certain callbacks which were nice. But the movie, like you said, is a pile of garbage.

[12:09] Olaf: It's so moving on because we're only at 25.

[12:13] J.J.: And I write if it's that bad. I don't like we will spend time talking about how bad this movie is later.

[12:17] Olaf: So No. 24 is part of the Daniel era of Bond movies.

[12:24] J.J.: Oh, boy.

[12:25] Olaf: And this is Quantum of Solace.

[12:31] J.J.: Oh, my gosh. Did we just agree again?

[12:34] Olaf: No.

[12:35] J.J.: OK. Well, everybody, Quantum of Solace is 24 now in their defense. It came out. They were shooting this movie during the writer's strike, so they weren't even working off of a finished script.

[12:49] Olaf: So but still, this movie could have been better.

[12:52] J.J.: And again, we're not going to get into a deep dive of any of these. But for me, this movie is not good. And it's not as good as it could have been.

[12:59] Olaf: No, I agree. It has some great elements and it has moments where I'm like, oh, yeah, this is a Bond movie.

[13:02] J.J.: But yeah, it does struggle.

[13:04] Olaf: And it had a lot to live up to live up to.

[13:09] J.J.: And it was working against a lot.

[13:10] Olaf: Yeah. With the writer's strike and everything.

[13:12] J.J.: And it is in my bottom five of twenty five. But yeah, the.

[13:16] J.J.: Had a movie below that, so. Uh, 23. And this is what I like about this series, is that obviously there have been. It's hard to imagine, sorry to interrupt, Daniel Craig being in the bottom five. Bottom five. Well, it's true because. Out of 25 movies. Out of 25 movies. But in his, to his credit. You gotta think most of Roger Moore. Well, and that's like we say diminishing returns. The more you do, the possibility of having one in the bottom five is possible. And to his credit, this is the only one of his that's in my bottom five and probably most people's bottom five was Quantum of Solace. Uh, 23 is a Roger Moore Bond outing. And for me, it's the 1979. Let's go to space. Moonraker.

[14:00] Olaf: Okay. So I had Moonraker at 24 and Quantum at 23.

[14:05] J.J.: Okay. And that's arguable in as far as them being interchangeable. Moonraker is so bad. It is. It's bad on a lot of levels. Um, it arguably could be the bottom. It could be. There's an argument to be made that it could be the worst Bond movie. But if you've ever seen Pierce Brosnan parasailing off an icy cliff and then drive off in an invisible car.

[14:27] Olaf: Yeah. There's reasons why Die Another Day is the last movie. Um, and on a side note, it's going to be a lot of fun to dive into these movies individually. It's going to be great. We may end up doing that sooner than later. Uh, but yeah, Moonraker is definitely for me. It will always be in the bottom three. Uh, I think it's bad.

[14:47] J.J.: Um, number 22 and you, it's, this is funny that you mentioned Roger Moore as him sort of living in the bottom of a, of this list because he did seven movies. He did seven movies and you know, diminishing return, diminishing return ish.

[15:06] Olaf: Yes, no doubt. I don't know. I, cause I felt like he was kind of, he ebbed and flowed, but at the end he did more, not either. He wasn't ebbing or flowing and it wasn't his fault.

[15:20] J.J.: Um, well I would say yes or no because he struggled just because of how old he was. Right. Then that's one of the reasons why at number 22 is his last outing as Bond, which is the 1985 A View to a Kill.

[15:35] Olaf: Oh, a lot of people will say he was very long in the tooth. He had no business being James Bond. Um, at that age, cause it just, you can tell it's, it's almost like when Connery does a Never Say Never Again because he wants to, he just, it doesn't, even he said at the time that he was making that movie that he was too old and yeah, I mean, it was weird for him with his, uh, love interests in the film because she was so much, so much younger and you could tell. I mean it was obvious.

[16:03] J.J.: Now are there highlights to this movie? Absolutely. Absolutely. Christopher Walken, Christopher Walken, chews up the scenery. You got a great, uh, sidekick, a town may play by Grace Jones.

[16:20] Olaf: Yeah, no, no. There's, there's some, and the theme song. No, there are a lot of great moments and things about it, which is why I'm like, you put this in the bottom five because when I think about quality of movie, it's not, it's, there are a lot of things that turn me off to this movie. I feel like it's got a lot of heart. I feel like despite, uh, Roger Moore reaching the end of his tenure, his tenure as Bond, um, he still pulls it off. He still makes it work. Like we know he's too old. Everyone, he knows he's too old. We know he's too old, but he still makes it work.

[17:04] J.J.: And he does, but the story even in and of itself is pretty thin, like the plot and all this other stuff. But again, Christopher Walken saves, Christopher Walken and Grace Jones sort of save this movie in terms of, uh, quality. It could be lower, but it would be hard to be lower than the three we've already mentioned.

[17:36] Olaf: Well, we disagree because I did not have this in my bottom five.

[17:53] J.J.: Wow. Okay. Number 21. And this is the top of my bottom five. This is number 21 is another Roger Moore movie, of course, which is the movie he did before A View to a Kill, which is Octopussy.

[18:07] Olaf: Okay.

[18:08] J.J.: So that was low. That was probably where I had Octopussy at 22.

[18:16] Olaf: Okay. And that's again, this movie sucks. And I think for me, I, there's this sort of, uh, special place for this movie because it was on TV a lot. It was on TV a lot, but that didn't make it better.

[18:30] J.J.: No, I like the theme song. I love Maud Adams as you know, the, the quote unquote Bond girl to use a term. Um, even though she's very strict, I mean, she's not your typical Bond girl. Um, this is her second outing in a Bond movie. She was fantastic. Uh, Louis Jourdan is the bad guy.

[18:48] Olaf: No, no, trust me. This movie is ridiculous. It's so dumb. He played, he's dressed up as a clown at one point. They go to the circus. It's all about Fabergé eggs. And I know it's, it's, I hate it.

[19:02] J.J.: And he looks terrible as the clown. It's like, and I get it. He becomes almost a parody of himself.

[19:09] Olaf: Yes. No, I agree. It's so bad, but for whatever the movie opens with clowns.

[19:15] J.J.: Yeah. It goes, they got to set that up. It's a circus. It's a traveling circus, the spy, the other double O agent running. And the whole time he's like, he's out of breath. He's scared. He's running for his life, but he's dressed up as this full clown and he's got a stupid little red balloon.

[19:31] Olaf: But any, and I know hit me over here. And the, but the twin like circus performers that throw the knives, the twin brothers. But I love the opening. They remind me of the twin bad guys in G.I. Joe. Maybe that's what they were modeled for. I don't know.

[19:53] J.J.: Um, but again, it's in my bottom five, um, a clear, and it's only one step higher than your, than where you have it. So it's not like I have it. It's not like I have it at 15 or even, you know, you have it above A View to a Kill and again, how dare you?

[20:05] Olaf: All right. Moving right along. Uh, now we're at number 20.

[20:14] J.J.: We're into the top 20. That was a, that was a very, uh, A View to a Kill is in your bottom five.

[20:21] Olaf: Yes. Okay. Yes. Now there an argument could be made and we talk about, Oh, making adjustments, reflection, and all this other stuff. My number 20 could be in the bottom five. I could, there could be an argument could be made that I could maybe swap, you know, A View to a Kill for, um, for this next movie. But my number 20 is Sean Connery's official last outing as Bond, which is the 1971 Diamonds Are Forever.

[20:47] J.J.: Okay. So, all right. So I had Diamonds Are Forever at 21.

[20:55] Olaf: Okay. So that means A View to a Kill I had at 20. See, so as, um, worked up as you are getting, you and I are because you're wrong, but our, our, the bottom six movies are all the same. They're just in slightly.

[21:12] J.J.: I mean, we're talking they, it's not like, right. Because I have them in the correct order and you have them in this weird, crazy or because A View to a Kill is by far more fun and exciting than Diamonds Are Forever. It's way better than Octopussy.

[21:34] Olaf: And yet you have it below both of them. That's bananas.

[21:42] J.J.: Um, now don't get me wrong. Diamonds Are Forever. Great theme song. It is Shirley Bassey. It was one of many that she did.

[21:48] Olaf: Yeah.

[21:49] J.J.: And you kinda, you get Blofeld back sort of.

[21:54] Olaf: No. And there's a lot of problems with Diamonds Are Forever starting with his terrible hairpiece. And I love Connery, but at that point he had already been using one prior.

[22:00] J.J.: Oh, he'd been using it for a long time. I think he was using it for Dr. No.

[22:04] Olaf: No, I think he had it for Dr. No. He had his hair for Dr. No.

[22:11] J.J.: Um, so Diamonds Are Forever. Again, they it's a full embrace of the seventies. It's the first movie, uh, that was shot and made in the seventies. It's somewhat of a continuation of the movie prior that he wasn't in, in terms of his motivation at the beginning, but the movie itself, I just never been a fan of it. Never been a fan of Diamonds Are Forever.

[22:29] Olaf: And again, we've said this countless times. We are going to talk about these movies individually. So I can watch Diamonds Are Forever and enjoy it way more than Octopussy, which is why it's higher than Octopussy because, uh, yeah, yeah. But yeah. Talk about being too old.

[23:00] J.J.: Oh, he was in and that's, and he hasn't even done Never Say Never Again.

[23:04] Olaf: Right. Which is crazy.

[23:05] J.J.: Which is 12 years later.

[23:08] Olaf: I know he's so much older, but when you think about how old he actually was, and this is kind of bizarre to me, he was 41 when he did Diamonds Are Forever, which is not that old. When you think about the other Bond actors that played Bond into their forties and didn't look as weathered as Sean.

[23:16] J.J.: And again, Roger Moore finished at 70.

[23:22] Olaf: No, no, no. He was in his late fifties. He just looked like he was in his seventies.

[23:27] J.J.: No, no, he was only in his late fifties. I know. I know. I know.

[23:33] Olaf: Um, but no Connery was like 41 when he did Diamonds Are Forever. I like to think that I look better than Connery, but then you'd be walking around with this piece.

[23:39] J.J.: I don't have the hairpiece. So maybe that's the problem. Maybe if I'd had the hairpiece, it would suddenly age me like 20 years.

[23:44] Olaf: Uh, okay. Moving, moving along, moving right along. All right. So we are, we are out of the bottom five. We've just cracked the top 20, the top 20. We're at number 19, number 19. And this is where it's going to start getting a little interesting. I think, um, at number 19, um, we've got another Pierce Brosnan. Pierce only did four movies. We've already, and he's already got one of them in the, in the bottom. He did four movies. Only two of them are great. He's 50, 50.

[24:08] J.J.: Well, this is where it's going to get interesting. Uh, I have at number 19, The World Is Not Enough.

[24:18] Olaf: And I, so do I.

[24:24] J.J.: Oh, ding, ding. We have a bingo.

[24:29] Olaf: Bing. This easily could have been his worst one, but he then had to go and do Die Another Day.

[24:37] J.J.: Right. Uh, right. But the thing with The World Is Not Enough is it's not great. It's, it's the weakest of, of what he had done so far out of the three that he'd done, but it's not awful either.

[24:52] Olaf: It has, it has a lot of good stuff. It does. It's got a lot of what I consider to be like classic James Bond things, the skiing, some of the music, um, and he was playing situations.

[25:06] J.J.: He was playing Bond a little harder.

[25:12] Olaf: Well, and he got, he gets his character gets injured, but it doesn't save you from the horrible miscasting of Denise Richards, which is not, you know, it's not, it's not a knock against her. It's just,

[25:25] J.J.: I mean, I was trying to be nice, but then I see, I see the look on J.J.'s face.

[25:30] Olaf: It's almost like she couldn't handle the dialogue and then they miscast her and whatever this is that she's supposed to be. No one was going to believe she's a nuclear scientist.

[25:40] J.J.: Right. And then her name was just Christmas Jones. Dr. Dr. Christmas. Just ridiculous.

[25:50] Olaf: Um, I do like the theme song to this movie. Um, but by Garbage.

[25:57] J.J.: Yes, they hate it.

[26:00] Olaf: By the way. I know, but the song I love, I always liked the song that it was, it was really unfortunate to hear because I've always liked this song and I've always enjoyed the band. Uh, and then I learned, I watched like a little documentary that they'd kind of enjoyed the experience and then they show up to the screening and they were so upset with how it had been altered. And I'm like, what's wrong with it? It sounds great. So I don't know. It, it, it does make me sad though, knowing that they hate that they didn't, they don't really like.

[26:34] J.J.: They felt mistreated and all this stuff. So the song is great, but it still makes me a little sad because I do enjoy them and yeah, I hate to think that they had a terrible experience, right? Because the song's a banger.

[26:50] Olaf: Yeah, no, I agree. This is where I'm going to really upset you. At number 18, you're getting a back-to-back Pierce Brosnan for me and that—oh, okay. I forgot about this. This is at number 18. I have Tomorrow Never Dies.

[27:06] J.J.: How dare you!

[27:11] Olaf: I know! How did—it's Tomorrow Never Dies is his best Bond, and that, my friends, is what we call crazy and insanity.

[27:19] J.J.: Oh, yeah, it is not. Yes, it is, man. GoldenEye was a fantastic opening act for him.

[27:25] Olaf: Yes, but Tomorrow Never Dies is when he was like, "I have done that. I am now Bond."

[27:32] J.J.: It's not like GoldenEye is an origin story. He'd been playing Bond on TV for like a decade.

[27:37] Olaf: Okay, let's just—Tomorrow Never Dies is a quintessential James Bond film in general. Like, minus who Bond is, it has all the elements. It has amazing set pieces. Amazing. I can't wait to talk about this movie as a standalone because it's not like I don't think it's good. It's fantastic. It's got a great soundtrack, it's got a great opening song, it's got a good villain, it's got great action.

[28:09] J.J.: No, no. Look, I'm repeating myself because it's so good.

[28:15] Olaf: Yeah, and you have it at what?

[28:18] J.J.: I've got it at 18.

[28:20] Olaf: 18?

[28:27] J.J.: I do. How dare you! How dare you?

[28:33] Olaf: Spoiler alert: Tomorrow Never Dies is in my top 10.

[28:41] J.J.: Well, look, man, this isn't your list, okay? I cannot believe that you would have it at 18.

[28:43] J.J.: Wow. That's what I got. And look, it's not as—GoldenEye is a good movie, but it's missing so many things that we had come to know.

[28:47] Olaf: That's what I got.

[28:53] Olaf: I mean, James Bond, I could watch Tomorrow Never Dies again right now.

[28:58] J.J.: And I don't love it, and I don't think my viewing of it is going to change where it stands because I'm watching it.

[29:04] Olaf: With your eyes closed?

[29:06] J.J.: I enjoy the movie. Michelle Yeoh is great.

[29:11] Olaf: Yeah, you got Henry Stampa. What a goon.

[29:13] J.J.: Yeah, no, no. I know there were, again, certain things I didn't like, but I like Teri Hatcher. I just thought, man, Jonathan Pryce is great. He chews it up.

[29:23] Olaf: Yeah, but I just thought he knew the assignment.

[29:27] J.J.: I just thought, okay. I mean, look, we'll talk about it, but right now it's sitting at 18. It's very comfortable in its cozy little spot at number 18.

[29:35] Olaf: This is where I'm gonna upset you just a little bit more.

[29:42] J.J.: Well, I mean, at this point, because all the way—because of what is right above it.

[29:50] Olaf: There's so much—there's a right above it, but directly above Tomorrow Never Dies is at number 17.

[29:56] J.J.: I've got Spectre above.

[30:01] Olaf: Then that upsets me.

[30:08] J.J.: I know they're all going to now because Tomorrow should be so much higher on this list.

[30:09] Olaf: Oh my gosh, you have Spectre.

[30:16] J.J.: Okay, you're on number 17, right? I have Spectre on my list at number 16.

[30:23] Olaf: Okay. Okay.

[30:29] J.J.: Yeah, but I also had two other Bond movies at 17 and 18, right?

[30:34] Olaf: Which I haven't gotten to, you know.

[30:36] J.J.: But you've already done Tomorrow Never Dies.

[30:41] Olaf: I have because you're insane.

[30:43] J.J.: Some people just like to watch the—Spectre obviously is very uneven. It had a lot to live up to just like Quantum of Solace had to live up to with the movie prior. So did Spectre. I wouldn't have minded that there was a drop in excellence because of where it had come from. It was just they swung too hard.

[31:03] Olaf: Okay, I don't know. The plot was a little too bloated, and they were trying to like George Lucas this thing with poetry and having—

[31:10] J.J.: Well, and they'll connect.

[31:16] Olaf: Yeah, we own—that's the thing with the Daniel Craig Bonds is that they chose to connect these movies.

[31:23] J.J.: And that's a lot of Solace.

[31:26] Olaf: That's fine.

[31:29] J.J.: Yeah, I've got no problem with it either.

[31:34] Olaf: I have no problem with the movies connecting.

[31:36] J.J.: Yeah, I mean, they'd all basically just been stand-alones with like minor connections, the most minor connection, but there'd never been any direct sequel to a Bond film until Solace, and I didn't mind it. We all liked that we were in this direction.

[31:49] Olaf: Yes, but I don't know. I just felt like the plot was just too much.

[31:51] J.J.: Yeah, I agree. I agree, and that's why it's where it is.

[31:57] Olaf: And for me, yeah, I like—I prefer Spectre. I like Spectre over the ones that are below it for me on my list.

[32:02] J.J.: Yeah, it's just crazy to think that from this point on, your whole list is tainted.

[32:09] Olaf: There we go. There it is. There it is. Number seven. Everything's wrong at this number 16 is another Roger Moore. I think this is actually, if I'm not mistaken, the movie that really got this whole thing going in terms of talking about it.

[32:20] J.J.: I don't know. I feel like it was Tomorrow Never Dies.

[32:23] Olaf: No, I've got it at number 16: The Man with the Golden Gun.

[32:30] J.J.: Oh my gosh, what is wrong with you?

[32:36] Olaf: Hey, I rewatched it after our conversation a year ago. I was like, "No, this movie is okay."

[32:40] J.J.: It's okay. And again, it had a lot to live up to from the previous—this was Roger Moore's second movie.

[32:43] Olaf: And I'm sure you're gonna try and defend Roger Moore's second movie like you try and defend Pierce Brosnan's second movie.

[32:49] J.J.: Like I did this, and now I'm Bond, and now here I—first of all, Roger Moore's first movie was fantastic.

[32:56] Olaf: I completely agree. So was Pierce Brosnan's. It was good.

[33:02] J.J.: GoldenEye was good. It has a lot of great stuff in it. I like that movie.

[33:08] Olaf: But no, you know, you are a—look, you clearly hate—

[33:15] J.J.: Tomorrow Never Dies was like, "Now we've got—it's like we're introducing this new Bond."

[33:21] Olaf: Tomorrow Never Dies was, "We have Bond."

[33:27] J.J.: Okay?

[33:30] Olaf: Well, Man with a Golden Gun, Christopher Lee is great. The movie in and of itself, for me, I could take it or leave it, to be honest with you.

[33:37] J.J.: Well, I could take it or leave it.

[33:40] Olaf: Oh my gosh.

[33:44] J.J.: There's a couple of things that really bother—and again, it's carrying over characters from the previous movie, the sheriff they bring back, and it just—it's so—like this was Roger Moore.

[33:46] Olaf: Like if Roger Moore is gonna play everything tongue-in-cheek, which we sort of got a little bit of in Live and Let Die, we're really gonna lean into the hokey wheel.

[33:57] J.J.: They started leaning in that second one.

[34:03] Olaf: They did, and for me, the movie itself isn't strong enough to handle a lot of those hokey moments like other Roger Moore movies that are in on this list that are higher do.

[34:11] J.J.: So that's why Man with the Golden Gun is where it is at number 15 because now we are—we are now in the top 15.

[34:20] Olaf: Top 15. There are two movies that you have not mentioned yet that should absolutely be in the bottom.

[34:24] J.J.: Okay. Okay. No, that's fine. At number 15, Sean Connery is back on the list with You Only Live Twice.

[34:36] Olaf: Okay, so I had You Only Live Twice at 18.

[34:42] J.J.: Okay, so you had the Roger Moore movies above—or at least Tomorrow Never Dies above.

[34:51] Olaf: You Only Live Twice is absurd.

[34:52] J.J.: It doesn't—it is not a Roger Moore level. It didn't age well for sure.

[34:58] Olaf: Tongue-in-cheek, goofy, like no one is buying Sean Connery, who's like he was what, 6'3"?

[35:10] J.J.: Something like that.

[35:14] Olaf: Being transformed into a Japanese fisherman.

[35:20] J.J.: Yeah, no, no. Look, there are some absurd things that don't age well at all. Racism didn't—name a thing, the stereotype. However, what you get from You Only Live Twice is one, a great theme song.

[35:36] Olaf: Two, you get the iteration of Blofeld that everybody knows and everybody recognizes, which is Donald Pleasence's performance that you almost forget that this is the only Bond movie he plays Blofeld in.

[35:56] J.J.: Yeah, and for me that supersedes some of the other things.

[36:04] Olaf: It helps. I mean, yeah, it's great too. You got that, and the volcano lair was—and the cat. I mean, all of these things that you get from his character are there.

[36:16] J.J.: And so is that why it's as high as it is?

[36:22] Olaf: It's one of the reasons why it's as high as it is. It's not a good movie, guys.

[36:30] J.J.: It's almost like the Brady Bunch goes to Hawaii, but it's—

[36:35] Olaf: Wow, it's a James Bond goes to Japan.

[36:41] J.J.: And you get to see like this sort of like—he fakes his death and then they put him under this like experimental super high-tech surgery to turn him into a Japanese fisherman, but they just like squint his eyes.

[36:48] Olaf: No, it's a—put another hairpiece on him.

[36:54] J.J.: Yeah, it's not—and he spends most of the film hunched over.

[37:00] Olaf: It's not Mickey Rooney bad, but it's bad.

[37:11] J.J.: Moving right along, number 14, sticking with Connery is the one that started it all, which is Dr. No.

[37:20] Olaf: I've got that at number 14.

[37:25] J.J.: Okay, I have it at 15, but you know Dr. No, you got to give it some love because it did start it all.

[37:32] Olaf: It started—oh, I mean, arguably the book started it all, but—

[37:37] J.J.: Well, but I mean, this was the first Bond movie.

[37:42] Olaf: Yeah, the problem is it's just kind of of its time.

[37:47] J.J.: The—yeah, at that time in our lives, movies were slower.

[37:50] Olaf: Editing in film was a lot slower, longer takes, not a whole lot happens, so it's kind of a boring movie.

[37:56] J.J.: It is. The villain is great.

[38:01] Olaf: I don't even think he had Q Branch.

[38:06] J.J.: He didn't.

[38:07] Olaf: Yeah, he doesn't have Q. You get Ursula Andress, you get the bad guy, you get Dr. No. There's those certain iconic images and things that help sort of—I don't know if you'd have these other movies without Dr. No.

[38:20] J.J.: But I agree with you in terms of pacing.

[38:23] Olaf: It's a slog, right? So that's why it's at 14 for me. And you get the classic James Bond theme song.

[38:29] J.J.: Yeah, but I'm on the Monty Norman. Don't sue me.

[38:35] Olaf: We don't have the right.

[38:41] J.J.: Moving right along to lucky 13, making his debut on my list is a James Bond who was ahead of his time in terms of appeal. At number 13 is Timothy Dalton's first James Bond movie, The Living Daylights.

[39:02] Olaf: Wow.

[39:05] J.J.: Oh, I'm sorry. Was that in your top 10?

[39:11] Olaf: No, but it's still higher.

[39:12] J.J.: And there's still a movie you haven't mentioned that I had down.

[39:14] Olaf: I had it at 17.

[39:21] J.J.: Oh, I think I know which one.

[39:26] Olaf: Oh, man. I think I know what it is. So these are just nuts now.

[39:34] J.J.: So Living Daylights, Timothy Dalton, I always liked as Bond from day one. I thought the first movie was not as strong as it could have been, but for the time and what was going on in the world historically with putting Bond, setting Bond where he was was good, but the bad guy was thin. Like he wasn't that good as a villain.

[39:46] Olaf: Although Joe Don Baker is fantastic.

[40:49] J.J.: Alright, so let's dive into the rankings. Coming in at number 25, we have "Die Another Day."

[41:04] Olaf: Oh, that's a controversial choice right off the bat!

[41:34] J.J.: I know, I know! But hear me out. The CGI was just too much for me, and the plot felt all over the place.

[41:59] Olaf: I get that. It definitely had some wild moments, but I think it has its charm too.

[42:19] J.J.: Maybe, but for me, it just doesn't hold up against the others.

[42:39] Olaf: Fair enough. What's next on your list?

[42:59] J.J.: At number 24, we have "Quantum of Solace."

[43:19] Olaf: Another one that gets a lot of flack.

[43:49] J.J.: Yeah, it really does. I appreciate the attempt to continue the story from "Casino Royale," but it felt rushed and disjointed.

[44:09] Olaf: I can see that. The pacing was definitely off.

[44:29] J.J.: Exactly! And the villain was pretty forgettable too.

[44:49] Olaf: True, true. Who's your number 23?

[45:09] J.J.: Coming in at 23 is "The Man with the Golden Gun."

[45:29] Olaf: Ah, classic Roger Moore!

[45:49] J.J.: Yeah, but it just didn't resonate with me as much as some of the others.

[46:09] Olaf: I think it has some fun moments, though.

[46:29] J.J.: It does, but overall, it felt a bit too campy for my taste.

[46:49] Olaf: I can understand that. What's next?

[47:09] J.J.: At number 22, we have "A View to a Kill."

[47:29] Olaf: Another Moore film!

[47:49] J.J.: Right? And while it has some memorable scenes, it also has some of the most ridiculous moments in the franchise.

[48:09] Olaf: Like the whole San Francisco chase scene?

[48:29] J.J.: Exactly! It’s entertaining, but not in the way I want a Bond film to be.

[48:49] Olaf: Gotcha. Who's at 21?

[49:09] J.J.: At 21, we have "Octopussy."

[49:29] Olaf: Wow, that’s a bold choice!

[49:49] J.J.: I know! But it just felt like it was trying too hard to be quirky.

[50:09] Olaf: I can see that. It definitely has its unique moments.

[50:29] J.J.: For sure, but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

[50:49] Olaf: Alright, moving on. What’s next?

[51:09] J.J.: At number 20, we have "License to Kill."

[51:29] Olaf: Timothy Dalton's first outing!

[51:49] J.J.: Yes! And while I appreciate the darker tone, it felt a bit too serious at times.

[52:09] Olaf: I think that’s what some fans love about it, though.

[52:29] J.J.: True, but it just didn’t resonate with me as much as I hoped it would.

[52:49] Olaf: Fair enough!

[53:06] J.J. Gonzalez: Jaws. The most iconic Bond villain. That's the Jaws. Remember that Jaws, everybody. Not the one from... Not the Moonraker. Not the Moonraker Jaws. Because then he turns into a good guy and falls in love. It's so goofy. It's awful. But Jaws in this movie was so amazing and cool and no one had seen anything like it, and that's why it stood the test of time.

[53:30] Olaf Adsit: Yeah, I agree. No, this movie is great and it's like, it is, it's in my top, it's, it's not in my top five and I kind of went...

[53:38] J.J. Gonzalez: You wanted to say that, but then you realized, oh wait, no, I was wrong. Olaf's right.

[53:53] J.J. Gonzalez: So here we are. Here we are. My top five James Bond movies. Number five. His only appearance is James Bond. Now this is surprising. That I have it this high? Yes. Oh, um, I have at number five, On Her Majesty's Secret Service is number five.

[54:09] Olaf Adsit: Yeah, I do not. Now don't get me wrong. I like this movie. It doesn't get enough credit.

[54:21] J.J. Gonzalez: I will agree to that as well. And even though it's his only turn as Bond, because he, unfortunately, he chose not to do it. Well, he, once the movie wrapped, he kind of acted out a bit to the point where the Broccolis were like, we're moving on. No, thank you. He, oddly enough, is the weakest link in it, but even he isn't terrible in this movie. He's not even bad. He's, he's good. He's serviceable as Bond, but he has a lot to carry, uh, in terms of they wanted him to be Sean Connery.

[54:59] Olaf Adsit: Right.

[55:06] J.J. Gonzalez: And so he was trying to be Sean Connery because if you separate that, he's got, he's got the look, he's your, he's kind of checking all the boxes except that he's not British or even close to it. But, oh, this movie, I think again, is, um, you get Blofeld, you get Bond getting married, get Diana Rigg.

[55:21] Olaf Adsit: It's not just getting married. You get Diana Rigg, who to me, another conversation, another episode. She might be the best Bond.

[55:27] J.J. Gonzalez: Yeah. She was great. And you get the Louis Armstrong theme song, man, which seems to age like a fine wine. And it was brought back in No Time to Die in such a beautiful way.

[55:40] Olaf Adsit: Wonderful way.

[55:40] J.J. Gonzalez: Yeah. Completely agree. But, uh, all that said, it is a good Bond movie and, uh, it doesn't get enough credit.

[55:46] Olaf Adsit: It doesn't. I had it at number 13.

[55:54] J.J. Gonzalez: Oh my goodness. Okay. Number four, where you had Spy Who Loved Me, Spy Who Loved Me for me. And this is like, I'm going to disgrace.

[55:59] Olaf Adsit: No, no, I won't. In fact, I'm not going to disgrace this list because I think now with my, the rest of my four, I think people would have these four in their list in some sort of order.

[56:10] J.J. Gonzalez: Uh, we just talked about this movie the other night before we started recording a number four from Russia with Love. I really feel like people would have this actually a little higher.

[56:19] Olaf Adsit: Um, I have a lower, I know because I know what you have it for and I already know what your three or your other three are going to be.

[56:24] J.J. Gonzalez: Do you know where I have mine at?

[56:28] Olaf Adsit: I don't.

[56:28] J.J. Gonzalez: I have From Russia with Love, uh, at number nine.

[56:35] Olaf Adsit: See, and I think that that, I think people would give you a lot of heat for that because that movie we talked about it. You kind of go, what's going on?

[56:42] J.J. Gonzalez: Oh yeah, that's right. And you, there's certain things you forget about it, but you talk about, and you've said this several times, you go, well, so-and-so got to do this Bond. And now in this next one, he is Bond. And I really feel that's From Russia with Love for Sean Connery. He does Dr. No, and it's good. It introduces everybody to the world and to him.

[57:07] But then you get From Russia with Love and even then I have From Russia with Love higher than Dr. No.

[57:12] Olaf Adsit: Well, I know, I know everybody does. It's not, it's not like we're going to put Dr. No above From Russia with Love. I feel like you're putting me on notice when I have it in my top 10.

[57:23] J.J. Gonzalez: You do, you do. Um, but I've been put on notice a lot for putting movies at nine when they should be higher.

[57:32] Olaf Adsit: Okay. And if you, if you are a listener of the podcast, you'll know what I'm talking about, that I've put movies lower. That should have maybe an argumentatively should be higher.

[57:46] J.J. Gonzalez: And in this case, he's coming around, it's coming around From Russia with Love is four. And I think people would have it higher on their lists. And if you do great, cause it is a really good, it's, it isn't Sean Connery's best Bond outing, but it's up there.

[58:05] Olaf Adsit: Top three.

[58:05] J.J. Gonzalez: Here we are. Here we are. If you've, if you're keeping track at home, you know, there's, there's three movies. Obviously we haven't listed. And I feel like the three movies that I'm going to list are three movies that I think most people would have this high. Now it's just a matter of where they land, because where they land, you already know what my number three is.

[58:20] Olaf Adsit: Cause I, I, you told me,

[58:25] J.J. Gonzalez: I told you and I forgot earlier in this list.

[58:31] Olaf Adsit: I know, I know.

[58:31] J.J. Gonzalez: And I already know No Time to Die.

[58:31] Olaf Adsit: Oh, right.

[58:41] J.J. Gonzalez: Which, okay. Because for me, number three, my number three, I think would be people's number one, maybe in some lists and I've got, and it might be your number one, but my number three is Skyfall.

[58:45] Olaf Adsit: Wow.

[58:51] J.J. Gonzalez: Yeah. Number three, number three. So you've got two other movies.

[58:55] Olaf Adsit: I've got two other movies.

[58:55] J.J. Gonzalez: This is Skyfall, which I mean, when you think about my top three and most, I would imagine most of these are almost perfect. Like Skyfall is almost, we can talk about that later and get in depth, but I've got Skyfall number three. I've got it at number three.

[59:02] Olaf Adsit: Uh, my number two, number two, not seeing now I'm super curious because you've got Skyfall, Skyfall at three. So there's two more.

[59:09] J.J. Gonzalez: There's two more. I already know what one of them is.

[59:12] Olaf Adsit: Well, yeah, but because we've been arguing so much and you've been so wildly out of place, I got you, uh, discombobulated.

[59:18] J.J. Gonzalez: What am I missing?

[1:00:02] Olaf Adsit: Well, here you go. Number two is Casino Royale.

[1:00:09] J.J. Gonzalez: Oh, that's what I was missing. Okay. Casino Royale is, is for me, number two, Daniel Craig's first Bond movie. I think number five.

[1:00:17] Olaf Adsit: Okay. You talk about what they were in this Martin Campbell, again, getting brought back to direct, um, much like he did with GoldenEye introducing us to a new Bond. We get some really cool callbacks to, because this is the origin now and we'll, you know, but I've got Casino Royale at number two.

[1:00:35] J.J. Gonzalez: And so my number one Bond movie still after all these years is Goldfinger.

[1:00:45] Olaf Adsit: Okay. Which I don't feel like is not, I'm not getting heat for this. For the most part, when you get to the top two, most people are going to agree or it's, you can flip flop them.

[1:01:01] J.J. Gonzalez: I have at number two, I have Goldfinger.

[1:01:06] Olaf Adsit: Right. You have Skyfall at one.

[1:01:06] J.J. Gonzalez: I have Skyfall at one.

[1:01:12] Olaf Adsit: Right.

[1:01:12] J.J. Gonzalez: To me, Goldfinger is what is quintessential Bond. If I were to introduce anybody to Bond, I would start with Goldfinger because this is where, if we're talking about Connery getting into a groove with, from Russia with Love, now he's really ready to roll with Goldfinger.

[1:01:30] Olaf Adsit: And the nice thing about those older films is you don't have to show them in order.

[1:01:30] J.J. Gonzalez: You don't. Because there's no connective tissue really.

[1:01:36] Olaf Adsit: So you're.

[1:01:36] J.J. Gonzalez: And this is the one where they really introduced Q as well. You get a great villain. You get a great sidekick villain with Oddjob. You get all the elements, the car, the gadgets, everything's great. It all falls into place. The pacing of it, the pacing of it is better, but it's still that time period where everything's a lot slower because there, as much as I love Goldfinger and I've got it at number two, there are areas of the movie that drag a little bit, a little bit, but to me, they're forgivable in terms of, you know, when I see the movie introducing somebody to Bond as a character, as a franchise, this movie is my, my number one, because then he got one of the best Bond songs.

[1:02:24] Olaf Adsit: Oh, you do. You really do.

[1:02:33] J.J. Gonzalez: Shirley Bassey, just nailing it, man.

[1:02:33] Olaf Adsit: Yeah.

[1:02:33] J.J. Gonzalez: I mean, so there you have it. It was like we thought it would be some heated debate because there's so much wrong with your pulling out whatever hair he has, which isn't a lot to begin with. Some wild placements on his list. I don't know.

[1:02:54] Olaf Adsit: So most people would agree.

[1:02:54] J.J. Gonzalez: I don't think so. And that's what makes this so great because I really, especially with Bond, everybody never dies. I really want to know what people think.

[1:03:02] Olaf Adsit: Yeah. We'd love to hear what, where you guys land on these because, uh, I'm pretty sure most people would agree. You're nuts, but what's great about Bond also is you and I have a really what I would consider to be equal appreciation and love for this franchise, for these movies. So it's not like one of us is coming in with a higher interest level in it. Like we both have our opinions.

[1:03:30] J.J. Gonzalez: We're very passionate about this character, this franchise. Uh, we both are fairly knowledgeable.

[1:03:38] Olaf Adsit: I feel like I've forgotten more Bond trivia than most people know.

[1:03:44] J.J. Gonzalez: Possibly. And there's going to be people out there that might, that this is all they do is Bond. So I get that. Um, but in terms of like the films and growing up with them and rewatching them and our, like you say, investment in them.

[1:04:03] Olaf Adsit: Yeah. That's why this particular list we wanted to do in person because this yelling at each other through a computer screen is not the same as yelling at each other.

[1:04:09] J.J. Gonzalez: Yeah. Three feet away from me. Like he was sitting on the couch. I had to reposition. I'm like on one knee. I'm like right into my microphone. I, I'm, you know, I had to really set myself up for my top five.

[1:04:20] Olaf Adsit: Yeah. Cause he really had to defend himself after the atrocious list he had had.

[1:04:26] J.J. Gonzalez: Well, look, I love No Time to Die, but you have it at number three.

[1:04:32] Olaf Adsit: Yeah. That's your body. You are on a, that's you on an Island by yourself.

[1:04:37] J.J. Gonzalez: It's a great it's, but it's not by myself as number three.

[1:04:48] Olaf Adsit: Yes. I don't think so.

[1:04:48] J.J. Gonzalez: Okay. Okay. Mr. No Time to Die. Number 10, number 10.

[1:04:54] Olaf Adsit: There it is everybody. You know, we hope you enjoyed this. We hope that our passion and excitement for these movies will get you to possibly rewatch some of these. So you let us know what you have on your list, uh, what your favorite Bond movie is.

[1:05:05] J.J. Gonzalez: Uh, like we said earlier, this is not going to be the end of the Bond. There's so much more Bond coming your way.

[1:05:11] Olaf Adsit: No doubt.

[1:05:11] J.J. Gonzalez: Uh, and so we love this franchise. So we'll happily revisit it whenever we can.

[1:05:18] Olaf Adsit: Yeah.

[1:05:18] J.J. Gonzalez: Yeah, absolutely. Um, Olaf, but hey, coming to you from the same theater and stay tuned. Cause we've got more content coming and we hope you guys have had a great time with this. We have loved putting this together and, uh, I couldn't be happier to be in the same space with you right now.

[1:05:37] Olaf Adsit: That's awesome.

[1:05:37] J.J. Gonzalez: Yeah. And, uh, as always to be continued.

[1:05:46] Johnny Clay: Back to the Movie Theater is hosted by J.J. Gonzalez and Olaf Adsit.

[1:05:51] Johnny Clay: Produced by me, Johnny Clay, J.J. Gonzalez and Olaf Adsit.

[1:05:55] Johnny Clay: Theme song and incidental music by The Dimes. Visit us at bttmtpodcast.com for trivia, play alongs, merch, and more. That's bttmtpodcast.com. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok and find us on YouTube at Back to the Movie Theater with J.J. and Olaf.