Best of Each Bond?

[Kahran Ramsus]

Well Moneypenny, before her identity was made official, was marketed as a Bond girl. She could have been another MI6 agent, but that wouldn't stop her being a Bond girl. After all, Molly Warmflash was one.

Moneypenny wasn't part of the regular supporting cast either at this point but had only been introduced for the first time in this film. Do you consider she was a Bond girl at the start of Skyfall, but then stopped being one the moment she officially revealed her name was Moneypenny?

If she had a different name, then yes, I would consider her a proper Bond girl. But Moneypenny has been a well-known and established member of his supporting cast since Day 1. That makes her different. Molly Warmflash was in one film. Moneypenny was in 22 (24 if you count NSNA and CR 67). Technically you could say she is, but almost nobody considers her one because of it.

 

[Dark Raven]

If she had a different name, then yes, I would consider her a proper Bond girl. But Moneypenny has been a well-known and established member of his supporting cast since Day 1. That makes her different. Molly Warmflash was in one film. Moneypenny was in 22 (24 if you count NSNA and CR 67). Technically you could say she is, but almost nobody considers her one because of it.

But we didn't officially know she was Moneypenny until the final few minutes. She went by Eve for most of the film. We only suspected she was Moneypenny. But as far as she was concerned as a character up until that point, she wasn't a regular yet and was a Bond girl. And I'm sure only Bond fans online would've only been in the know. The general audience who don't follow things as closely would've thought of her as just another Bond girl named Eve.

 

[Dark Raven]

The Bond girl debate is interesting, I've never thought of May Day or Xenia as Bond girls but rather the female versios of the classic henchman like Oddjob and Jaws, even though May Day kinda turns at the end of A View to a Kill.

Elektra King is the really interesting one as she is a classic Bond girl for half of the movie but then is revealed as the actual main villain in the second half, not just a henchwoman. The way Bond disposes of her as well is probably the most ruthless we see him in the Brosnan movies.



"It depends on your definition of safe sex" line in the scene where she jumps him in the sauna might be my favourite quip from Brosnan's Bond.

EON and the film makers consider the likes of Xenia or May Day as proper Bond girls. It's not only the good ones who qualify. Doesn't matter whether they're good or bad. All that seems to matter is that you're not old or ugly like Rosa Klebb would've been considered.

Your mention of Elektra gets to the heart of it. Either you consider her one or you don't. It can't be that for say, 1 hour of the film you think "yes she's a Bond girl" and then when she turns out to be bad you think "oh damn she's not one after all!"

What if someone like XXX came back in another film but had turned bad? Would she not be a Bond girl anymore? Or if it turned out that Honey Ryder was actually a villain all along but only revealed herself later in another film?

 

[Hunter Rider]

EON and the film makers consider the likes of Xenia or May Day as proper Bond girls. It's not only the good ones who qualify. Doesn't matter whether they're good or bad. All that seems to matter is that you're not old or ugly like Rosa Klebb would've been considered.

Your mention of Elektra gets to the heart of it. Either you consider her one or you don't. It can't be that for say, 1 hour of the film you think "yes she's a Bond girl" and then when she turns out to be bad you think "oh damn she's not one after all!"

What if someone like XXX came back in another film but had turned bad? Would she not be a Bond girl anymore? Or if it turned out that Honey Ryder was actually a villain all along but only revealed herself later in another film?

Well in a film you can go half the movie thinking someone is a good guy and then they are revealed to be bad, the character changes, so by that logic Elektra goes from being a Bond girl to a the main villain, her role in the film's narrative changes from protagonist to antagonist, but I know that the general label of "Bond girl" is attached to any woman in the franchise who is attractive, and Grace Jones.

 

[Mandon Knight]

Filled some waiting time for my meds to take a grip last night with watching Moonraker to try and remember if it's bad as I remember, and yes, yes it is, and worse.

 

[Aximili86]

Ack, Moonraker.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Filled some waiting time for my meds to take a grip last night with watching Moonraker to try and remember if it's bad as I remember, and yes, yes it is, and worse.

Even medication can't improve Moonraker.

 

[:eek:]

The best James Bond films according to the experts (yahoo.com)

George Lazenby: My Bond film has 'aged like a fine wine' (yahoo.com)

 

[Doctor Jones]

But not your performance.

I swear OHMSS would be insanely rewatchable if it wasn't for that piece of wood. Dammit Connery it should have been your last.

 

[The Joker]

Connery - Goldfinger
Moore - The Spy Who Love Me
Dalton - License to Kill
Brosnan - Goldeneye
Craig - Casino Royale

 

[Schlosser85]

Connery- Goldfinger
Lazenby - On Her Majesty's Secret Service (obviously)
Moore - The Spy Who Loved Me
Dalton - License to Kill I suppose, though I don't like either of his movies
Craig- Skyfall, though Casino Royale is also very good

 

[Vaibow]

A Bond girl is a female character that has a significant interaction with Bond - let's not complicate it.

Monneypenny has always been the ultimate Bond girl... why, she is the only constant Bond girl.

 

[Captain Tired]

Connery - From Russia with Love
Lazenby - I'm spoilt for choice here
Moore - The Spy Who Loved Me
Dalton - Licence to Kill
Brosnan - GoldenEye
Craig - Casino Royale

 

[Dark Raven]

Connery - From Russia with Love
Lazenby - I'm spoilt for choice here
Moore - The Spy Who Loved Me
Dalton - Licence to Kill
Brosnan - GoldenEye
Craig - Casino Royale

I'd agree for most except I prefer the Living Daylights to Licence to Kill. I think it had a better score by John Barry and also a better Bond girl. He also had his own Aston Martin. The villain in LTK was better though.

 

[The Batman]

Sean Connery: From Russia With Love. Goldfinger is his most iconic film for sure, but I think FRWL is Connery's best movie in terms of quality and the best in terms of showcasing Connery. Connery is great in GF, but he does get slightly overshadowed by Goldfinger, Oddjob, and the DB5, and Connery's Bond, arguably, is not at his most effective in the narrative.

Moore: The Spy Who Loved Me. It's Moore's best performance in the role, has his most memorable Bond girl, has his best villain in Jaws, and his iconic Lotus Espirit. It's quintessential Moore Bond.

Dalton: The Living Daylights. I prefer the cold war espionage to the more standard 80's action flick that is LTK.

Brosnan: Goldeneye. There's really no other option.

Craig: Casino Royale. Skyfall is probably his most iconic film, and I like it, but CR is a better made film. Vesper is arguably the best Bond girl of all time, I enjoyed the action scenes and the love story, and this is the one film that made a card game compelling to watch. It was a great way to reboot the character.