smla02

***

Starring: Roger Moore, Jane Seymour, Yaphet Kotto, and Julius Harris.

00-agent James Bond travels from the swamps of Louisiana to the island of San Monique to capture the suspected killer of three other agents, Mr. Big. There he finds the beautiful psychic Solitaire held under Kananga's control and his right hand man Tee-Hee, who really fits the definition of "right-hand man."

Roger Moore's first outing as Bond breathed fresh (needed) new air into the withering franchise after the below average "Diamonds Are Forever." This movie is filled with action, a good plot (that was actually believable), and the best villains in the series.

Rank in the Series: 3rd

*** 1/2

Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Izabella Scorupco, Sean Bean, and Famke Janssen.

Double-0 agent James Bond, still as suave and sophisticated as he was in the last film, enters Russia in search of the stolen Goldeneye satellite.

After six years without 007, the fans needed a movie like this. Just about everything in this works, from the witty plot to Pierce Brosnan as the new Bond. And I can't review this without complimenting Sean Bean as the series best villain.

Rank in the Series: 1st

*** 1/2

Starring: Sean Connery, Gert Frobe, Honor Blackman, and Harold Sakata.

007 uncovers a gold-obsessed madman's sinister plot to contaminate all of Fort Knox's gold, which in turn would multiply the value of his own gold. Of course, he comes across women whose names are double entendres and a man who has a fascination of bowler hats (I wonder why?).

This is the movie that started the 007 formula: Thrilling pre-title sequence, women with "different" names, henchmen, and smarter sinister plots. And all of that works in this. The thing that worked the best in this is the title character, Goldfinger. Well acted by Gert Frobe and highly developed by the script writers.

Rank in the Series: 2nd