James Bond - My favourite Sean Connery films in order

To me, Sean Connery plays a great Bond in the majority of his films for the franchise. His cheeky smile, charm and white make you fall in love with a man who you know is going to break your heart. His fight sequences are great and he really brought Bond to life.

He was lucky enough to start so many Bond legacies that have echoed through all of the 22 films over the past 50 years.

Even though his Bond was more of a womanizer, he will always be one of my favourite Bonds.

Each of his Bond films built on the other and they weren’t afraid to try things out. You could tell that the directors got more confident with the character over time.

So, here are my favourite Sean Connery films in order:

1 - Goldfinger - With Pussy Galore and my favourite villian we are lead on one great Bond Adventure. I gave it 9/10 - Read my review here: http://bit.ly/17Daqtg

2 - You Only Live Twice - A great end to Sean Connery’s Bond and a great Bond film where East meets West. Will “Little Nelly” and ninjas, what could go wrong? I gave this film 8/10 - check out my review here: http://bit.ly/ZRBV0h

3 - Doctor No - The film that started a 22 film franchise that has lasted over 50 years. if you really want to find out the origins of the modern Bond. This is one to watch. I gave it 8/10. Check out my review here: http://bit.ly/16ucJNF

4 - Thunderball - Even with the epic voice of Mr Tom Jones singing the theme song, I found it hard to get on with this Bond. Even though he had a jetpack and fought off the villain in an underwater fight scene. This was not one of my favorites, I gave it 5/10. Check out my thoughts on it here: http://bit.ly/ZJdG30

5 - From Russia with Love - From great start with Dr. No, you can tell this is the Bond where they tried something different. It was more of a serious spy thriller than a Bond for me. I gave it 4/10. Check out my thoughts here: http://bit.ly/10NUnni

6 - Diamonds are Forever - It’s great to see Sean back after the brief stint from Geroge Lazenby. For me, it might an echo of Goldfinger, but it lacked so much for me. I gave it 3/10: Read my review here: http://bit.ly/19ixLRV

What do you think? What would your order be? Let me know in the comments below.

James Bond review - On Her Majesty’s Secret...what

First off, let me say, poor George Lazenby.

It’s very hard to take over the very iconic role of James Bond following the brilliant acting of Sean Connery. George lacked a lot of the charm and the sparkle that Sean brought to the role. His love scenes seemed very flat and he looked a bit dead behind the eyes. His fight scenes were quite impressive, and this was one of things that got him the role.

For me, this film was trying so hard to be the new Bond, to move it on from where previous films had left the character. Showing Bond fall in love and then to see his new wife die before his eyes was a hard thing to watch and very different to how we have seen Bond before.

I might be quite biased as I have just watched Diana Rigg in The Avengers as the amazing Mrs Emma Peel, in Doctor Who as the evil Victorian villain and Game of Thrones as the forthright grandmother. I would say that she was a brilliant Bond girl. She was action packed, intelligent and beautiful. She gives Honor Blackman in Goldfinger a run for her money, in my honest opinion.

Another big difference in this film is the portrayal of Blofeld. In You Only Live Twice, he comes across as the crazy, evil villain. In this film, he seems a lot more sophisticated and clever. His new lair in the Alpes is very special, but not as spectacular as his previous places.

To be honest, I wasn’t really impressed by this Bond and am not surprised that George didn’t come back for a second. He actually quit the role just before this film premiered. The overall film feels very slow to me and not one that I will be revisiting again soon. The story is ok, and the honey trap scenes in Blofeld's Alipine HQ are fun. The action sequences are very well done, and the ski chase is impressive, but not enough to save the film.

I’m going to give it 5/10.

What did you think? Is this actually your favourite Bond? Let me know if the comments below.

James Bond review - You only live.... Once really.

There might be a few spoilers in this review... you have been warned.

When I watch a new Bond, I have my notebook at the ready to take write down all of the key quote, plotlines and observations. I showed these notes to Pete the other day, he started to giggle at a few things I had written about You Only Live Twice. 

My top notes were:

• SPACE
• Screen play by Roald Dahl?!
• Little Nellie
• MONORAIL
• Friggin Ninjas

From it’s start in space, I knew this Bond film was going to be pretty epic and end up at at the top of my favourite Bond list. 

Before the title sequence has rolled, we are thrown into the story with a US Space capsule mysteriously disappearing and World War 3 nearly erupting as the US blame their Russian enemies. We also find our lovable hero in Hong Kong on a romantic encounter with a Chinese women when he is mysteriously assassinated in front of our very eyes. This scene also included one of Pete’s favourite lines - “You give good duck, Mr Bond.”

What also surprised me at the beginning was seeing Roald Dahl’s name on screen. The only things I knew he had written were his children's books, but it was great to see his name associated with this film.

The film includes some epic fight scenes. I’m don’t want to give away more of the story, but after Bond is chased from the Osato Chemicals, we see the enemies car lifted off the road by a helicopter wielding a giant magnet. This was pretty cool!

But more excitingly we are introduced to “Little Nelly”. When the contraption is first mentioned, I had no idea what he was referring too. Later on, with the return of Q, we are introduced to one of my favourite Bond gadgets, which I think is even better than the jet pack in Thunderball; the gun laden mini helicopter. The fight scene involving this little baby and four gunships is brilliant.

One of things I like about this film is that it is quite different to the other films in terms of locations. We have been to tropical islands in Dr. No and around the US with Goldfinger, but it was interesting to see James explore a totally different culture. I love the rapport he builds with Tiger and especially his scenes with Aki. It’s so sad when tragedy strikes. :(

This film also sees the introduction of one of the biggest villains from SPECTRE, who has been mentioned several times before, but we have never seen. We actually don’t see him to till the very end of the film, but he is a brilliant villain. His headquarters are in a frigging volcano that includes a bloody monorail (I love a good monorail). The final fight scene of this film is brilliant in terms of scale and destruction!

There are too many awesome parts of this film to mention, but I this is definitely at the top of my list to watch again. It was a great film, with a good story. Welcome back, Mr Bond.

I gave it 8/10.

What did you think? Is this your favourite Bond? Let me know in the comments below.

Now that is a Goldfinger

With an extravagant villain, Nazi gold, a Bond girl called “Pussy” who runs a flying circus and Q returns with his amazing spy car, Bond is really back!

If you cannot tell already, I really liked this Bond film. The storyline was really interesting and very different to the first two films. James knows who the enemy is, but gets close to him to find out more without the need to hunt him down and kill him.

Pussy Galore, was a perfect Bond girl for me. She was passionate, determined and strong minded. She was a perfect match for James Bond. In the original book by Ian Fleming, Pussy Galore was a lesbian. Honor Blackman was a perfect choice for this character, especially after her stint in The Avengers. Apparently producers were so determined for her to be in the film that they even wrote in her Judo ability. Honor was also the oldest women to play a Bond girls, as she was 37 at the time of filming.

Goldfinger was also a great villain. He knew what he wanted and knew how to get it. His base was even more amazing, with lasers and moving walls. He had extravagant plans to steal the gold reserve at Fort Knox. It’s the type of grand plan that makes a bond film very interesting. I also loved his assistant Odd Job.

One of my favourite scenes is when James is strapped to a table and about to be killed by a laser. The classic exchange between James Bond and Goldfinger was brilliant.

James Bond - “Do you expect me to talk?”

Goldfinger - “No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die”

As mentioned before, this is the film when the real spy gadgets come into play. The great banter between James Bond and Q is what you know and love about them. The car is also amazing. A beautiful Aston Martin DB5. Originally this was going to be an E-Type Jaguar, but they decided not to take part in the film. To be honest, I think they made a better choice with this iconic car.

I loved this film, it is my favourite Bond film so far! I will definitely be watching this one Bank Holiday weekend.

I give it 9/10

But what do you think? Is this your favourite one too? Please put your comments below

Steve Whiting