At 163 minutes, No Time to Die is the longest James Bond movie. Daniel Craig ends his run as 007 by being called out of retirement to undertake a mission in Cuba. Bond meets up with his old friend Felix (Jeffrey Wright) and two fascinating women. Ana de Armas (Craig’s co-star in Knives Out) plays a screwball agent full of surprises. And then there’s Lashana Lynch, the present 007. She’s impressive, too.
What’s not impressive is the villain: Rami Malek’s mumbling psychopath who plans to spread his deadly nanobots all over the planet. I was less than impressed with the final confrontation between Bond and his old SPECTRE nemesis, Blofeld (Christoph Waltz). The love affair between Bond and Vesper Lynn is replaced by a love affair between Bond and Dr. Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux)–a step down in my opinion.
Director Cary Joji Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation), keeps this long film chugging along with frequent chase scenes and a body count higher than a John Wick movie!
I’ve enjoyed Daniel Craig as James Bond. But No Time to Die delivers a mixed message of suspense and the blandness of an awkward retirement party. What’s your favorite Bond movie? GRADE: B
Just saw this today. I would probably give this a B+. I’m a big Daniel Craig Bond fan. The best since Sean Connery. Bond. No Time to Die starts out really well with a great action scene. After that a few problems set in. It’s about 20 minutes too long. The villain isn’t very interesting. The climactic showdown is a letdown and goes on for too long. I don’t care for Lashana Lynch. Just found her annoying. But the film is beautifully shot. Some great action scenes.
My favorite Bond film is probably Skyfall followed by From Russia For Love. The worst On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and any thing with Roger Moore.
Steve, I didn’t sense much chemistry between Craig and Lynch. You’re right about the film being beautifully shot. Loved the action scenes! But the climatic final scene was a huge letdown. The “retirement” party was lame, too.
My favorite (but far from the best) Bond film is THUNDERBALL for its heady vulgarity.
Dan, I think Octopussy tops THUNDERBALL for heady vulgarity.
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE.
I’ve deliberately not read anything about this one. We’ll see it eventually, but we’re in no hurry. There is, in my opinion, NO good reason for this being so long. Two hours is an acceptable length for almost anything unless it’s an epic – LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, GONE WITH THE WIND, BEN-HUR. James Bond? No.
Jeff, I think you and Jackie should accelerate your timeline for NO TIME TO DIE. Spoilers abound!
Haven’t seen this one yet, but I will. For me, Daniel Craig is the best Bond since Connery although his movies, except for CASINO ROYALE, haven’t much impressed me. My favorites are the early ones, especially FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and GOLDFINGER.
Jeff is probably right that nearly three hours is too long for a Bond movie, although my favorite movie of the last 2-3 years, Tarantino’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, is about the same length as this one.
Michael, I’m with you on ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD. My first Bond movie was GOLDFINGER back in 1964. Loved Odd Job’s murderous hat!
Goldfinger, although I have not seen many of them. Did like Skyfall and To Russia With Love also. I think we can accept a longer movie more easily when there is more than one major player. The Tarrantino had two and also a lot of humor.
Yes, that was surprisingly good fun for me too. Craig is a good Bond, but he is a very dour presence and rarely smiles.
Jeff, in an interview, Daniel Craig says that there’s another KNIFE’S OUT movie in the works.
Patti, NO TIME TO DIE contains a bit of humor, but not much. Like you, I’m a fan of GOLDFINGER, my first Bond film.
And my favorite theme song.
Patti, I bought the soundtrack to GOLDFINGER back in 1964 and played it until the grooves wore out! Fabulous music! Shirley Bassey nailed the theme song!
I liked Dr. No, From Russia with Love and Thunderball as much as any. I haven’t seen any of the Craig ones.
Rick, Daniel Craig’s Bond is more dour and serious.
GOLDFINGER for the win—although I’m not a huge Bond fan, so I have not seen all the movies. I always liked that Honor Blackman, as “damned good pilot” Pussy Galore, was age-appropriate. Later Bond girls seemed decades younger than whoever was playing Bond at the time. My favorite theme song (aside, of course, from La Grande Shirley singing “Goldfinger”) is A-ha’s “The Living Daylights”—which is very downbeat and minor-key-ish. Love it!
Deb, I love the John Barry music in the early Bond movies. Diane played Adele’s theme song to SKYFALL constantly!
“Live and Let Die” was one of the less annoying Wings songs.
Shirley Bassey also did “Diamonds Are Forever” and (apparently, I don’t remember it) “Moonraker.”
I liked “Nobody Does It Better” by Carly Simon from THE SPY WHO LOVED ME.
Jeff, I liked “Nobody Does It Better,” too. Here are the Bond theme songs I like:
Shirley Bassey, ‘Goldfinger’ (‘Goldfinger,’ 1964)
Wings, ‘Live and Let Die’ (‘Live and Let Die,’ 1973) …
Duran Duran, ‘A View to a Kill’ (‘A View to a Kill,’ 1985) …
Rita Coolidge, ‘All Time High’ (‘Octopussy,’ 1983) …
Tina Turner, ‘GoldenEye’ (‘GoldenEye,’ 1995) …
The theme song for No Time to Die by Billie Ellish is instantly forgettable.
A second Knives Out has finished shooting. A third one is planned.
Steve, I’m not a Billie Ellish fan. I find her songs depressing. Good to hear the second KNIVES OUT will be in theaters in 2022. And, I’m happy to hear a third one is in the works!
I enjoyed the Bond films more in my early youth; the aggressive dumb of nearly all of them gets under my skin. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE is one of the better early ones, even with the early Bond arrogance and misogyny, but at least he wasn’t the bumbler he was in GOLDFINGER and he was easily matched, or nearly so, but a whole host of other characters in the film.
Of the latter-day ones, and maybe a bit better than RUSSIA, I’d probably plump for GOLDENEYE, the only Brosnan film worth a damn, and the early sequence where we see the mass-murder he had to engage in actually take a toll on him was a good touch. Also, Famke Janssen. Among a better than usual supporting cast.
Best soundtrack…well the 1960s CASINO ROYALE *did* have “The Look of Love” going for it. And Joanna Pettet and such a cast of women…
Todd, I’ll have to find my CASINO ROYALE soundtrack and give it a listen.
One of the most earwormy scores for the “main sequence” Bond films for me was for YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, even with the somewhat clunky but still wistful lyrics on the title theme. Sinatra not quite up to Bassey, but…
From IMDb reader comments on CASINO ROYALE (1967):
The soundtrack album is a big hit with audiophile purists and is considered one of the finest examples of analogue recording. The original LP can fetch up to $50 or more in mint condition. The vocal track “The Look of Love” sung by Dusty Springfield is exceptionally transparent. You can “hear” the room through the microphones.
Todd, now I really want to find my CASINO ROYALE soundtrack! I remember that it sounded great!