I think it was bad timing with Dalton that led to his early departure from the franchise. There was that legal issue with the franchise, which led to the hiatus between Licence to Kill and GoldenEye. Dalton was initially signed for three films. I think it’s a shame that he didn’t get to do more personally. As much as like Brosnan I would have liked to have seen Dalton continue.

Licence to Kill was the franchise's first significant box office disappointment. Although it did well enough overseas to still make a profit, it was an outright flop in the United States. While a lot of that was due to bad timing (the movie was released during a highly-competitive summer and got crushed by competition like Batman, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Lethal Weapon 2), it felt clear at the time that the audience had moved on and the franchise would need to be retooled for the 1990s.

My problem with the Dalton movies (I like Living Daylights despite two of the series worst villains and a pretty useless Bond girl) is that Eon continued to trot out John Glen to direct even though his time really had passed. They are still top rate productions, but compare them to the other action movies of the late 80's and they look like they're from another century. That and Glen was clearly simpatico with Roger Moore and his sense of humor and to say that didn't work for Timothy Dalton is an understatement.

Licence To Kill had maybe my favorite pair of Bond Girls. Welcome to my Wheelhouse.

I finished watching the 4K BD of Skyfall last night. Looked fantastic!

Yeah, I knew about that. It seems like that’s attributed at least in part due to the PG-13 rating and the darker tone the movie had. Not sure if at the time people were ready for a Bond film with a darker edge. Plus like you mentioned it can’t out in a packed summer.

All of the Brosnan movies were also PG-13, but (as you note) their tone was lighter. I definitely consider Licence to Kill a clear precursor to the Daniel Craig era. It would have been a lot better received if it had come out 10 years later. In 1989, however, audiences still expected a Bond film to be pretty campy and funny.

The Living Daylights straddles the line between the Roger Moore era and the darker direction that Dalton wanted to take the character. Although its tone is a little heavier than, say, A View to a Kill, and Dalton tries to give the character a harder edge, the script was written before Dalton had been cast and still has a lot of dopey, Moore-style humor in it. The running gag with the Walkman strangler who only listens to a single Pretenders song over and over again is especially dumb.

So I was kind of thinking of just filling in the gaps for the missing Bond Blu-ray’s in my collection but apparently they must be out of print as a lot of them are seeming to fetch high prices and aren’t available on Amazon. Guess I’ll probably wait and see if there’s a set with all twenty-five films after No Time to Die releases.

Which ones are you missing?

Thunderball
You Only Live Twice
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Live and Let Die
The Spy Who Loved Me
Moonraker
For Your Eyes Only
Tomorrow Never Dies
The World is Not Enough
Spectre

So I have a good majority of them but kind of missing a good chunk.

It's been long covered in this thread, but the Bond 50 box set came out 8 years. I don't know how many titles you owned then, but was it not on your radar or in your budget back then?

I wasn’t a fan of the packaging for that. Plus I had a bunch of them individually and didn’t want to double dip. I will say the packaging is better for that set versus the later one that includes Spectre as it’s really plain packaging (I watched a YouTube video where someone unboxed it).

I’m debating on getting those 4K bundles at iTunes for roughly $5 per film and just getting my Bond collecting over with. But then, given that I’m likely to only watch them a couple more times each in my life, perhaps I’ll just live with my DVds and BDs. Should have sold all my discs when there was a market....

Well based on what Mike86 said, there's still a market for a lot of them since they're OOP. Same with the box sets.

Honestly, save your money. You'll be long dead before you even can even entertain the idea of re-watching that way. Just enjoy the physical media you currently have for any potential future re-watch. I know you have a massive backlog, so it's not really practical IMO to triple, quadruple up. The extras are all the same on the iTunes versions and the BDs.

I know a chunk of those were re-released a few times, namely in the Sean Connery (Vol. 2) & Roger Moore (Vol. 1 & Vol. 2) Blu-Ray Collections but it seems like those have gone out of print as well.

The DVDs of most of those films seem plentiful. I saw an entire Endcap filled with them at Walmart earlier today. I wonder if new releases were planned to coincide with the release of No Time To Die.

Some of those are fairly cheap via sellers on Ebay with good feedback.

I have to say, I think Casino Royale (2006) is brilliant. It really took Bond and gave it to this generation. The Madasgacar scene is just a perfect update and a damn good foot chase. Rarely seen in Bond. Mostly amazing vehicle chases. But the free running and Bonds’ more gruff approach was perfect. Still kept vintage of old Bond flicks, but updated. Just works and so enjoyable. Near perfect film. Craig is my favorite Bond, followed by Connery, then Brosnan...

I just never have understood the Daniel Craig love-fest.

He is, without a doubt, my least favorite Bond. No contest.

I think he gets a lot of love from Casino Royale. That’s a good Bond film, especially of the more modern ones. I think his other films have been a mixed bag. Quantum of Solace is pretty much meh all around. I liked Skyfall quite a bit and would say it’s my favorite or second favorite of his Bond films. I don’t remember Spectre much at all honestly and don’t think I’ve seen it since it released.

I definitely get that he doesn't work for some people. Personally, I like him but as a kind of Elseworlds Bond. I've come to view his films as a departure for Bond that explores what the character would be like if he were more tortured, with a detachment that's more brooding than "cool". That's certainly not for everyone though.

Right, he’s a Bond for today. I think he’s perfect at it. They had to reboot and this was the in thing, with Bourne, Nolan’s Batman to a degree, etc. I think all his performances are gruff, but nuisances that see some growth. Yes, he’s anti-suave and doesn’t wear a 3 piece suit 24/7, but the dashingness of Moore, Connery, Brosnan he is not and that’s not really what sells anymore. I think he’s right though. He still stays true, mostly to character. Though some of the movies outright suck, he still played the iconic character well in all imo.

A big thing that’s turned me off of Craig’s Bond is how much he seems to bitch about playing the part. It comes across in the films at times too. Like he just seems uninterested in being there or something.

I mean the guy is playing one of the most iconic characters of all time and acts like it’s a huge burden on his life or something. He’s only done five films over fifteen years and has had a steady career aside from Bond.

i like him as an actor, but I’m ready for someone else to be Bond.

I really dig Craig's Bond (he's in two of my Top 3 Bond films) but it's definitely unique. It's not quite Fleming's Bond, nor is it the standard Cinematic Bond, but somewhere in between. Likewise, Dalton's Bond shares a lot with Fleming's Bond, but lacks much of the warmth and "sociability" of the character. He's deadly serious and earnest. When he tries to do quips, show off any humor, or be the ladies man, it feels forced upon his character.

Dare to say, I think Fleming's Bond purely translated to the cinema would be an entirely boring character. He was affable, efficient, and analytical. Connery gave him more charisma. Moore gave him more humor. Craig gave him more intensity. Brosnan made him more of a smug fratboy. Dalton made him more deadly serious. Lazenby gave him a ridiculous flying uppercut finishing move.

It's fine to feel that way, of course, but if bitching about the role is a big thing for you, well Sean Connery - while he was doing the role - bitched a LOT more than Craig has done.

So, without Craig and Connery, you've just eliminated the two best Bonds of all time.

For anyone interested, Pierce Brosnan recorded a video commentary for Goldeneye a few days ago. It's for the entire movie. He's watching in real time as the video is recorded at his home in Hawaii. I know most here don't really like or have the patience for commentaries, but how often will you see the star of a Bond movie record one 25 years later?



If you want to watch it in sync with the movie, cue to around 2:35 to start.