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In amongst my various reading activities, I have a couple of longer reading projects going on. One is a complete re-read of Guy Gavriel Kay’s books, and the other is a partial re-read, coupled with first-time reads, of Ian Fleming’s James Bond books. I call the Fleming a partial re-read because going into this project, I had only actually read about half of his Bond material, up to (and including) Dr. No. Now I am onto books I haven’t read, and the one I’m reading now is For Your Eyes Only, which is not a novel at all but a collection ofDown the rabbit hole….

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(NOTE: As this review heavily references ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE, I have revised and reposted my long essay about that film as well.) After a series of production false-starts, headaches, and then a global pandemic, No Time To Die, the twenty-fifth James Bond film and the last one featuring Daniel Craig as Agent 007, finally arrived in late 2021. For a while it seemed like the movie would never get here: Craig’s reluctance to return after the grueling SPECTRE shoot, and then a troubled development phase with scripts being reworked and writers and the original director coming and going, and then delays inDown the rabbit hole….

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A repost, with some revisions and additions throughout, to accompany my review of NO TIME TO DIE, which is coming tomorrow. I wrote this more than ten years ago, and if anything, my esteem for ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE has only increased since then. I rewatched the film on one leg of our recent journey from Buffalo to Honolulu, and the film still holds up. Here we go. Additions to the post’s original text will be in blockquoted offsets. Far up! Far out! Far more!!! Sometimes I change my mind about movies. Sometimes I don’t. Some movies meant aDown the rabbit hole….

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And at last, here we are: the top five James Bond movies. I like that my top five has quite a bit of variety: it spans more than 40 years of films, and five of the six men who have played James Bond are here. I’ve always considered it a point of personal pride that my Bond fandom does not center on one or two particular actors; you’ll never find me offering up an opinion of who the best Bond was, or the worst. I find such discussions limiting and honestly downright boring, and not just in terms of James Bond. When youDown the rabbit hole….

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So here we go: the first half of my person Top Ten James Bond movies! Let’s refresh our rankings to this point: Part One: 26. LIVE AND LET DIE 25. DIE ANOTHER DAY 24. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME 23. GOLDFINGER 22. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER 21. A VIEW TO A KILL Part Two: 20. TOMORROW NEVER DIES 19. QUANTUM OF SOLACE 18. THUNDERBALL 17. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE 16. SPECTRE Part Three: 15. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN 14. NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN 13. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH 12. DR. NO 11. MOONRAKER With lists like this, the ones at the top probably end up as vexing as the ones at the bottom, especiallyDown the rabbit hole….

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With this entry, we move from my bottom half of the Bond rankings into the top half. It’s worth remembering that this is all relative: there’s only one movie, Live and Let Die, that I find basically unwatchable. Every one of these movies entertains me on some level, so when I throw rocks at a particular movie, one shouldn’t assume I’m throwing particularly large or hard rocks, or that my aim is very good. By way of refresher, here’s my ranking as we enter this post (nos. 21-26 here, nos. 16-20 here): 26. LIVE AND LET DIE 25. DIE ANOTHER DAY 24. THE SPY WHODown the rabbit hole….

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Continuing my Official And Correct Ranking of the James Bond films! This time we will go from Number 20 to Number 16. Our first entry contained the one Bond film I outright dislike, followed by several that just don’t do a whole lot for me and which are almost never my flick of choice when I decide I want to watch a Bond movie. With this list, we start getting into “Not my favorite, but watchable and sometimes I’ll turn it on for fun” territory. Here’s the ranking thus far: 26. LIVE AND LET DIE 25. DIE ANOTHER DAY 24. THE SPY WHODown the rabbit hole….

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Starting my ranking of all the James Bond movies (here’s the introduction to this exercise), starting at the bottom and working our way up to my favorite Bond movie of all time! Without ado, here we go: 26: LIVE AND LET DIE This is the only Bond movie, the only one, of which I will say: “I do not like this movie.” I do not even own a copy of Live and Let Die, and any instincts I have toward completeness are insufficient to make me even want to get a copy of this movie. I find it a slow,Down the rabbit hole….

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It’s only natural that with the arrival of a new James Bond movie, the eternal cottage industry of ranking all of the movies up to that point revs up production again. I’ve seen a whole lot of these articles popping up the last month or two, and as I start writing this I’m listening to a podcast that is generating a ranked list of the Bond films via a “draft” like a sports draft. That particular podcast is taking its sweet time: two episodes, each of which is more than four hours long! So we have a group of peopleDown the rabbit hole….

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 Actress Diana Rigg has died. She lived a long life (82 years) and did a lot of amazing work, but for me, she will always be Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo, also known as Tracy…who would, very briefly, be Mrs. James Bond. Rigg was the greatest Bond Woman in the long history of Bond Women, and she is a huge reason why On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is the greatest Bond movie ever made. Thank you for the wonderful work, Diana Rigg! Here’s Louis Armstrong with his signature ballad from OHMSS. Share This PostDown the rabbit hole….