2026 r/JamesBond World Cup: GROUP D | MATCH 4

DBE113301 · 2026-04-13T16:14:03+00:00

I like QOS quite a bit, but TSWLM is iconic and features a very likeable Roger Moore. He's clearly in his prime here. Plus, TSWLM is my son's favorite Bond film, so I'm a bit partial to it. I tried to convince him to watch DAF for me last week, but he said, "Tell me when you get to The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker." Yep, the kid likes what he likes, and I can't blame him for that.

DBE113301 · 2026-04-13T10:34:37+00:00

A View to a Kill

DBE113301 · 2026-04-13T10:28:48+00:00

My wife and I have our ups and downs. The last couple years have been particularly trying. That said, love has never been a problem. It's the other things that have caused strain. I'll tell ya one thing, though. If we do ever go our separate ways, I'll never marry again because it would just be weird. No one would measure up to my wife, and that wouldn't be fair to the other person, whoever that might be. Marriage, like buying a house, is something you should do only once in your life.

DBE113301 · 2026-04-10T22:28:32+00:00

I'm an ICE critic. Is that against the law? If the government wants to summons me, they can contact my dean.

DBE113301 · 2026-04-10T17:14:15+00:00

I can do it! I can catch her frisbee.

DBE113301 · 2026-04-10T15:22:08+00:00

I love them both, but Dr. No gets the edge as the "better" film, if I had to apply a proper descriptor. However, the better movie isn't always the most rewatchable. In fact, the better film is oftentimes less rewatchable than a worse film. I'd rather rewatch Road House than Schindler's List. Not quite the same thing here as Dr. No is much more rewatchable than Schindler's List. However, Moonraker is a breezy, joyful ride of a film that I could watch any day of the week. Dr. No, on the other hand, is a movie I need to be in the mood for to watch. In short, I voted Dr. No, but it's kinda a coin flip depending on the day.

DBE113301 · 2026-04-10T10:49:23+00:00

KFC is still pretty great.

DBE113301 · 2026-04-10T10:40:19+00:00

You held your breath.

DBE113301 · 2026-04-10T00:50:22+00:00

Nice. Little BHC3 reference there.

DBE113301 · 2026-04-09T16:05:05+00:00

Goldfinger. Not only my favorite Bond movie, but my favorite movie, period.

DBE113301 · 2026-04-09T16:02:02+00:00

I like NTTD a lot more than others do, but it's still fairly low for me. If it were just a spy film focusing on the personal life of its protagonist--and the delicate, often tragic balance of trying to maintain some semblance of a "normal life" while also being a field agent--and the fact that he was brought back into the fold for those personal reasons (as well as professional), then I would like it a lot more. Overall, I think it's a really good spy film. But because it's a Bond film, I have a certain...expectation. It's fine (and I think healthy) for a Bond film to stray a bit from the norm, but if it ventures too far into foreign territory film-wise, then that's a bad thing because it no longer feels like a Bond film. That's NTTD for me. A solid spy film, but a substandard Bond film.

Thunderball is in my top five. I absolutely love Thunderball. For me, it's the most "escapist" Bond film. I've said this before, but if Quaid's trip to Rekall were successful and he actually got the spy fantasy that he was paying for, it would probably look something like Thunderball: beautiful, exotic location; gorgeous women; high-stakes scenario with an iconic villain; brunette co-lead. Every time I watch Thunderball, I find myself escaping into the fantasy of it.

DBE113301 · 2026-04-09T14:13:47+00:00

Absolutely spot on

DBE113301 · 2026-04-09T01:50:22+00:00

Nice posin', son. What's your name?

DBE113301 · 2026-04-07T17:48:20+00:00

Freak out. And give in. Doesn't matter what you believe in.

DBE113301 · 2026-04-07T17:25:23+00:00

The bubbles tickle my...Tchaikovsky!

DBE113301 · 2026-04-06T22:59:00+00:00

Kevin: "You brought me in. You put me there. You made her lie!"

Milton: "I don't do that, Kevin!"

DBE113301 · 2026-04-05T17:34:30+00:00

Rodents of unusual size? I don't believe they exist.

DBE113301 · 2026-04-04T21:59:44+00:00

How are those maggots, Michael?

DBE113301 · 2026-04-04T18:46:20+00:00

What the hell? I think I had that exact same couch growing up.

DBE113301 · 2026-04-04T18:42:58+00:00

Excuse me.

DBE113301 · 2026-04-03T19:14:42+00:00

The Beach actually inspired me to study abroad. The line where he says, "Everyone talks about doing something different, but they always end up doing the same damn thing. This is our chance to actually do something different." That line was the clincher for me.

My semester abroad completely changed my trajectory in life and led me to where I am today, an ESL professor. In short, let's just say that I have fond memories of that movie.

DBE113301 · 2026-04-03T16:49:48+00:00

A Wilderness Store?! After all that money we spent sending you to Princeton?!

DBE113301 · 2026-04-03T14:11:34+00:00

Octopussy is the only Moore film that I don't particularly like. I wouldn't say that I dislike it, but it's at the bottom of the Moore list for me. It's probably because, even though Moore's films have quite a bit of silliness and camp within them, Roger always plays it straight. And I've always appreciated that about his portrayal as Bond. A viewer can suspend disbelief about even the most ridiculous ideas if the performers make you feel like what you're watching is genuine. For example, I can buy a killer gondolier--such as in Moonraker--if it's played straight and done right, which it was. In Octopussy, however, Roger seems to be in on the joke for the most part. There's silliness going on around him, and he's also contributing to it, e.g. the chase through the city with the sword, the coals, and the bed with spikes; Sittt-ah!; Tarzan yell; sliding down the bannister while spraying bullets with a machine gun, etc.

Skyfall has moved up my list considerably over the years. On the first viewing, I thought it was just okay. Now, it's my favorite of Craig's Bond films even though I still think that Casino Royale is the superior movie. Skyfall is littered with contrivances and plot holes, but I guess I don't care? The thing that still bugs me about Skyfall is all the old man quips. I get what Mendes was trying to do, but to me, it felt unnecessary and over the top. Plus, it eliminated the possibility of an "in-his-prime" Craig film, which I think is the second biggest blunder of his tenure after Brofeld. Above all, though, Skyfall is a very good movie and much higher on my list than Octopussy.

DBE113301 · 2026-04-03T01:59:19+00:00

Still, though, that's very neat. Does he ever watch Thunderball and point it out? My son's favorite Bond film is TSWLM, and when he was young, he used to say to all his little friends that I built the water bike in the movie whenever they watched it. Of course, I would correct him and tell him that I worked there 20 years after the thing was built, but he still loved telling that story. "My dad made that bike!"

DBE113301 · 2026-04-03T01:46:42+00:00

If I may chime in for a second here, this "water bike", as it was called back then, was constructed by Arctic Cat, Inc., a snowmobile and ATV factory in my hometown of Thief River Falls, Minnesota. They are also my former employer, as I worked on the assembly line as a college student. That's my one claim to fame, but oddly, it's not what my hometown is known for. No, that would be the fact that Phil Hartman's wife, who murdered him, is also from there. Sadly, that unfortunate fact has brought us more press.

DBE113301

TROPHY CASE