James Bond U.S. Poster Rankings: No. 1

It's been a long ride.  24 posters in all.  Most are probably glad to see this final post, not because they are excited for the reveal of my favorite domestic one-sheet poster from the James Bond film series, but instead because they want me to move on to something new.  Well, like I've said in several posts before this one, this is my blog and I'll post what I'm interested in, and what I am interested in is movies, especially 007 movies when a new one is soon to be released.

 

So without further ado, let's see what tops the chart of my favorite artwork used in United States theaters to promote a James Bond film.

 

 

1. Casino Royale

You might look at the above poster and say, "Really, that's the best of the lot?"  I agree.  Compared to other posters in this series it is very light on action and plot details.  It provides very little in the way of teasing the viewer and is probably not the most creative in design or marketing.  So what exactly is it that makes me adore this poster so much that I would frame and hang it in my living room?  The answer to that question is one word: subtlety.  I could probably add another word to why I like this poster and that would be elegance.

 

There are only two people found in the frame, so there really isn't a whole lot to break down as to what I am talking about.  Let's start with the subtlety of the poster.  The major draw of the 007 film series is the action, women, cars, locations, explosions, and stunts.  These films have created an iconic hero who is cool under pressure and always saves the day.  So without having any explosions on the page, Bond fighting a henchman drawn in a corner of the canvas, or a car flying across the page with a rocket in pursuit, how do you express that level of excitement we expect from these films?  In the case of the Casino Royale poster you have our hero brandishing a silenced Walther PPK while sporting a disheveled appearance with the tuxedo shirt unbuttoned and loose bowtie around his neck.  By giving Daniel Craig's incarnation of Bond a more tousled appearance, it gives the viewer an idea that his version of 007 would be one that gets his hands dirtier than his predecessors.

 

Timothy Dalton's take on the character was also one that was more down-to-earth and hardened, which could be seen in his film posters as well.  Here is one from License to Kill with the same unbuttoned look as Craig.

 

 

Along with the characteristics of Bond movies listed above, this film series is also one filled with sophistication.  Bond eats the best food, drinks the most expensive wines, stays in the most luxurious hotels, and sports the most chic outfits.  While his tuxedo is not properly fitted with the bowtie undone and shirt unbuttoned, he is still in the tux.  He is also walking away from the Casino Royale, which is a name that signifies class and refinement.  But what really fits the bill of elegance is Vesper's dress.  The low-cut, flowing gown is an outstanding costume and has become one of the most memorable outfits of the series, trailing behind only Bond's tuxedo and Honey Rider's bikini from Dr. No.

 

While the poster alone does a great job of showing off Eva Green's beautiful figure, it doesn't truly do the dress justice as when she is seen entering the poker room.  At that point even Bond's draw drops at how gorgeous she is.

 

It is because of the simplicity of Bond's aggressive manner and Vesper's stylish formal wear that I love what the artist has conveyed in this poster.  It sums up so much of what the 007 movies are about in two simple images.

'Writing's on the Wall' Released; A Mixed Bag

The theme song to the upcoming James Bond film Spectre was released today.  There are elements I really like about "Writing's on the Wall" and then there are some other aspect's I'm a little underwhelmed by, but overall I like the song.

 

The orchestration is top notch.  If it were an instrumental like "The James Bond Theme" from Dr. No or the theme to On Her Majesty's Secret Service it would likely be rated much higher.  I feel the song will fit in nicely with the film's score.

 

However, the lyrics and Sam Smith's singing is not as well received.  It should be noted that for the most part I don't enjoy the love ballads when it comes to a James Bond theme song.  The exception to that is "Nobody Does it Better" from The Spy Who Loved Me.  Smith doesn't ever really belt out the lyrics, which I'm not in love with in the first place, and when it finally gets to the end of the song and you think he is going to pull a Shirley Bassey and end on a powerful note, it somewhat sputters out.  He never really reaches the crescendo I was expecting.

 

Overall I feel the song is going to grow on me, unlike "Another Way to Die" from Quantum of Solace, which started off well liked and slowly moved back the more times I listened.  My initial reaction would be that among the Daniel Craig-era themes, it is behind "Skyfall" and ahead of "You Know My Name," which is the tune from Casino Royale.

James Bond U.S. Poster Rankings: No. 2

Forgoing all action or possible plot teases, the marketing team on the next James Bond poster found in the United States in 1981 was purely to rev up the male libido with sex appeal.

 

 

2. For Your Eyes Only

Roger Moore can be found centered in the background, posed in a gun-wielding stance.  Yet, the star of the entire film, the 12th of a popular series that had been running for nearly two decades, is probably not the first or even the second thing you notice about the artwork.  What most eyes fall toward initially are the bare legs of a fit woman in high heels and the bare minimum of a swimsuit covering her backside.  Once your pulse returns back to normal and your eyes begin to wander the page, you likely notice the weapon of choice for our mystery woman.  The crossbow with its deadly bolt, or arrow, cocked at the ready.  And then finally you notice the remaining image of British superspy James Bond, surrounded by those provocative limbs.

 

And that is it.  No explosions.  No action sequences from the film transposed to paper.  Nothing else giving the slightest idea of what the film could be about.  It is simply a tag line at the top, Bond and the dangerous mystery woman in the middle, and the film's credits at the bottom.  Even the color scheme is very plain.  The artist(s) was going for one thing and one thing only: sensuousness and a mysterious danger.

 

While the idea of Bond surrounded by bare legs was found in nearly all the posters around the globe, they did add some action to the frame for posters in other countries, such as this one from Germany.

 

 

Although this is my second favorite poster used in the James Bond film series, I doubt I will ever seek out a copy to frame and hang in my house as my wife probably wouldn't appreciate having this artwork in our living room for the grandparents and friends to view while spending time at the Cook home.  However, the final poster to top my list that will be revealed soon is in my living room currently and will probably stay there for quite some time.  Until then ...

James Bond U.S. Poster Rankings: No. 3

Based on the ranking alone, you might think that the next film in this list of the greatest domestic one-sheet posters for the James Bond series would be one of my favorites.  Yet, the opposite couldn't be more true.

 

 

3. A View to a Kill

Roger Moore was 57 years old when A View to a Kill hit theaters, and his age was certainly showing.  Moore hadn't been the most athletic actor to play 007, his stuntmen doing much of the work during action scenes throughout the series and when a dangerous situation required Moore to be viewed on camera, a green-screen was utilized much of the time.  And if that weren't enough, having the 57-year-old bed former Charlie's Angels starlet Tanya Roberts, who was 29 when the film was released but easily looked younger, aged Moore considerably.  The 28-year gap between co-stars was such a difference that it felt like Moore wasn't just old enough to be Roberts' father, but he could have passed for her grandfather.

 

Despite the age difference and the light-heartedness that Moore had brought to the series during his time as James Bond, the image seen in the one-sheet poster above does its job in creating anxiety and conjuring a sense of thrill in the viewer.  What are Bond and his girl doing on the Golden Gate Bridge?  How is our hero able to hold on to the damsel, shoot at the villain in his blimp, and balance himself atop one of America's most beloved monuments to modern architecture?

 

Not only is the idea of a battle between hero and villain on the suspension ropes of the Golden Gate Bridge a thrill in itself, but the angle at which the artist has drawn creates a bit of vertigo for the viewer.  It is an excellent piece of marketing design that teases excitement and provides the perfect amount of intrigue for the upcoming movie, which is exactly what you want with a poster.

 

The Golden Gate Bridge theme was used in most of the marketing materials for A View to a Kill.  The only other action set piece that was promoted was Bond and Mayday at the Eiffel Tower.

 

 

As you can see, this one-sheet advance poster found in U.S. theaters is quite similar to the Golden Gate Bridge artwork, except that Paris is the city in the background, obviously.  However, the sense of a fear of heights isn't quite accomplished with this poster like it is with the one at the top.

James Bond U.S. Poster Rankings: No. 4

I've finally reached the point where my ranking of the domestic marketing posters for every James Bond film cheats a little bit.  The reason I say that the next poster in my ranking is cheating is because there isn't an official one-sheet poster for United States theaters yet for the upcoming Spectre.  Everything released thus far has been a teaser poster.

 

 

4. Spectre

The above poster is the most recent release of promotional artwork for Craig's fourth outing as 007.  It is the first to show something more than just a single image or person, as you will see below.  Craig is obviously the focal point of the frame in his usual well-fitting suit and Walther PPK at the ready.  Bond girl Lea Seydoux stands behind Craig in an elegant, full-length silver dress.  Both actors have a serious stare as they look directly at the viewer.

 

The final element of the poster is what is in the background.  It is a masked man who is taking part in a Mexican Day of the Dead parade, which will be the setting of the pre-title action sequence.  It is a haunting image and, like the cinematography in Skyfall of Bond approaching the Macau casino surrounded by lanterns on the water, should be one of the visual highlights of the film that audience members take away from the film long after the credits roll.

 

 

This is a variation of the poster at the top.  It changes Craig's outfit to a white tuxedo with a red carnation, which is a throwback to 1963's Goldfinger, starring Sean Connery.  Bond also takes this photograph less seriously as he smirks at the camera and crosses his arms, brandishing a silencer on his Walther PPK.  The other alteration to this poster is the man in the Day of the Dead mask being fainter in the background and there is less color used.  Seydoux doesn't change at all between the two images.

 

There have been two other posters released since the official press conference for Spectre.

 

 

This one was used at the title announcement and looks rather innocuous, but upon further inspection is actually rather interesting.  The shattered glass from a bullet at first seems to be just that, a normal entry hole from a bullet that caused some cracking.  However, if you look a little closer you can see eight cracks that travel downward from the hole.  The entire thing creates the image of an octopus, which is similar to this:

 

 

This is the original symbol for Bond's arch nemesis organization, SPECTRE.  The ring could be found on the fingers of numerous villains and henchmen/women Bond faced during Connery's days as Bond.  The ring will be used in the newest movie, but modernized to fit the universe Craig has created since rebooting the series in 2006's Casino Royale.

 

As you can see, the ring's logo is similar to what is created in the shards of glass on the title announcement poster.  Another connection to the Bond franchise is the fact that the bullet hole is formed in glass.  That may not seem rather important, but, without giving any spoilers away, there is a pivotal scene in On Her Majesty's Secret Service that contains a bullet hole in glass.

 

I absolutely love the poster from the title announcement press conference.  In fact, it has been my desktop image since it was released, which has probably been a little creepy for my co-workers who have seen a bullet hole on my computer screen for several months now.

 

The final teaser poster for Spectre was this.

 

 

Compared to the title announcement poster and the most recent image of Craig and Seydoux, this one is dull and lifeless.  The only real point of interest is that the outfit Craig has on is a reference to Roger Moore's film Live and Let Die.  But other than that, there really isn't much more to say about this poster.

 

Since I don't have an official theatrical one-sheet poster to rate, I will have to go with the latest teaser poster, and it comes in at number four.

James Bond U.S. Poster Rankings: No. 5

We enter the top five of my favorite posters found in United States theaters for the James Bond film series, and although I was only two years old when the movie was made and have no recollection of what really took place, I imagine it was quite a brouhaha when the marketing material was released for this 007 adventure.

 

 

5. Octopussy

The artwork for Roger Moore's sixth outing as James Bond does an excellent job of filling up the frame with the necessary action sequences that would be found in the film, without going too far overboard.  The only criticism I really have with the artistry on the Octopussy poster is the group in the bottom left that features the title character's minions taking on a bevy of henchmen.  The center character, who we would find out during the movie is named Magda, looks like she is lazily holding one man in a chokehold while stretching for ballet as another guy runs into her foot.  Maybe it's me, but she just doesn't come across as menacing or dangerous, which is quite opposite of everything else going on across the glossy page.

 

But enough about the bad.  Looking at what is done well, the picture of Bond in a jet being chased by a missile and the small artwork at the top left showing Bond and a henchman on top of a plane are quite thrilling.  Yet, it is Bond girl Maud Adams hiding behind Roger Moore in his debonair gun pose that really sells me on this poster.  There is something that I can't quite put words to that has me enthralled by her eight arms wrapping around Roger.  Some hands have a deadly purpose while others are being used to titillate our hero.  It is a captivating image that requires multiple viewings to make sure that nothing is being missed the first time.

 

The image of Octopussy and Bond together was used in most of the posters around the globe, so there isn't anything better, or worse really.  I scoured the Internet to try and find some sort of better artwork, but Octopussy seems to have not really inspired anyone to be at their creative best.  There is a lot of themes set around the octopus, obviously.  What I was really surprised by was that someone didn't come up with something based around a Faberge egg, as that is a crucial plot device used in the film.

James Bond U.S. Poster Rankings: No. 6

Something you might have noticed by now with posters from the 1960s is that images were framed to give the viewer an idea of the film's story or they were done so to coincide with a tagline.  The latter is certainly the case for the next poster that was found in United States theaters in 1965.

 

 

6. Thunderball

The tagline for Thunderball, "Look Up! Look Down! Look Out!," provided the perfect opportunity for the marketing department to select two action sequences from the movie and highlight them on the domestic poster alongside the customary shot of our hero surrounded by scantily clad women.  And don't forget to alter the words to include Bond's signature number, 007.

 

While the poster for Thunderball seems somewhat generic and repeated after 23 films, do keep in mind it was only the fourth picture in the series.  Also, the artwork that was chosen for the poster, which was also used in several marketing materials around the globe, is actually pretty exciting and motivates me to want to watch the film, even after seeing it as many times as I have.  The jet pack itself makes this movie worth it.

 

Like I mentioned in the previous paragraph, the marketing campaign for all domestic and international advertising was similar, so there really isn't anything much better than the U.S. one-sheet poster.  What that means is we get to look at some other type of artwork for Thunderball.

 

 

This is some fan-made artwork.  It certainly differs from the official poster in that it is much more subtle in what it puts on the page.  It is similar to posters for films like Alien, Jaws, and The Godfather that provide only one or two images that teases the viewer.  The tagline "The oceans are no longer safe" is a little lame, but they do retain the original "The biggest Bond of all," which at the time it was.  Although their choice of trying to create an original tagline is a little underwhelming, the faint image of the eye-patched villain and a stealth bomber sitting on an ocean floor is certainly exciting and would pique a person's interest in that upcoming release.

 

 

Finally, we have something that isn't a poster at all.  In fact, it isn't even for the film version of Thunderball.  Instead this is the cover image of the German re-release of Fleming's novel Thunderball.  Drawn in 2012 by artist Michael Gillette, this single image of a brunette woman in a wetsuit accomplishes everything Gillette wanted to do with his creation: incorporate the novel's story of underwater action into a sexy image.  He certainly accomplished that goal.

The 'Writing's On The Wall' Months Ago; Confirmed Today

After months of speculation wondering who would be singing the title song for the upcoming 007 film Spectre, it was announced today, with the singer himself providing a teaser yesterday, that Sam Smith would be crooning the theme song, titled "Writing's on the Wall."  Smith was selected for the project earlier this year, with the film's director confirming this summer that the theme song was already recorded and fans wouldn't have to wait too long for the official announcement.  British singer Smith had to stay tight-lipped about it when asked by the media.

 

"It was hard actually," Smith told Reuters of the ordeal.  "I think it was harder than normal because everyone kind of guessed at the beginning and said it was going to be me and I had to be really good at lying."

 

After Smith read the script, he said he was so inspired it only took about 20 minutes to write out the lyrics.  Smith collaborated with songwriter and record producer, Jimmy Napes, who has worked with Smith on his recent Grammy-winning tracks.  Regarding the song's sound as to whether it would be a stereotypical Bond song or be more influenced by his own style, Smith said, "I wanted to inject as much of me as I could into the song and then dress it in a Bond way if you know what I mean.  I sing love songs.  That's what I sing and that's what I wanted to do.  I wanted to write a huge love song."

 

Smith was the heavy favorite early in the rumor mill, but since that time others had become media darlings and fan favorites, including Ellie Goulding, Ed Sheeran, Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys, Lana del Rey, One Direction, and Adele, who recorded the previous Bond theme, Skyfall, which went on to win the Academy Award, Critics' Choice Award, Golden Globe, and Brit Award for Best Original Song or Single of the Year.  The theme song won the Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media.

 

"Writing's on the Wall" will be available to purchase and stream on September 25, a month ahead of the UK release of Spectre.  It is the first Bond theme to be recorded by a British singer since 1965's Thunderball by Tom Jones.  While Paul McCartney is British and did record 1973's Live and Let Die, that is considered a group performance since it was with his band Wings.