Poll: Rank the Bond directors

[Kristatos]

Here are my rankings. Your mileage may vary (at least I hope so, otherwise it will be a pretty dull debate):-


1. Lewis Gilbert: I know this will be a controversial choice, and that it seems odd to list the director of my least favourite Bond film as my favourite Bond director. But even Moonraker had its good points, and they were mostly down to Gilbert’s greatest strength as a Bond director: he knows how to make films seem big. No other director’s Bond films seem quite as epic in scope as Gilbert’s.
2. Terence Young: The director who really established Bond. Though undistinguished as a director, his main advantage is that he lived a Bondian lifestyle himself, and was able to transmit that effortless upper-class cool to his distinctly working-class leading actor, Sean Connery. Plus, he presided over the series’ golden age, from Dr No to Thunderball, although he handed over the director’s chair on Goldfinger shortly after the start of production, to….
3. Guy Hamilton: OK, he directed some turkeys (DAF and TMWTGG), and LALD probably would have been better with someone else at the helm, but Goldfinger is generally credited as the film where the series found its unique voice, and while its hard to know exactly how much different it would have been had Terence Young stayed on, it would be churlish not to give Hamilton at least some of the credit for that.
4. Peter Hunt: Probably would have been higher had he directed more than one Bond film. He did a pretty good job of working around his leading man’s deficiencies in the acting department, except in OHMSS’s final scene, and his fast-paced editing on earlier films makes him as much an architect of the Bond style as Sean Connery, Terence Young, Maurice Binder, Ken Adam and John Barry.
5. John Glen: Deserves credit for directing five consecutive Bond films, no mean feat, but the fact that they varied so wildly in quality makes it hard to place him higher, or to regard him as anything more than a journeyman.
6. Roger Spottiswoode: A fine action director who was well suited to the “action, action uber alles” mentality of the Brosnan years.
7. Michael Apted: The best director ever to work on a Bond film, if one judges his overall filmography, but his attempt at a more character and plot driven Bond film wasn’t quite as good as it should have been.
8. Martin Campbell: You all know my views on Campbell by now, so I won’t bore you with them again.
9. Lee Tamahori: The cross-dressing incident just confirms what we already knew – Tamahori is Edward D Wood Jr with a studio budget.

[Kristatos]

Does nobody else want to play?

[carl stromberg]

Did someone say something?

I agree with most of your points, especially those concerning Lewis Gilbert.
I thought Tamahori did an ok job with Die Another Day.

Rankings:

1. Lewis Gilbert:
2.=Terence Young
Guy Hamilton
Peter Hunt
4.John Glen:
5=Roger Spottiswoode
Michael Apted
Martin Campbell
Lee Tamahori

[stockslivevan]

Terence Young - Set the standard, clearly knew how to construct a film and get some memorable performances by the casts.

Peter Hunt - Carried Young's direction with something new. Should have stayed on after OHMSS.

Martin Campbell - Managed to make good debuts for two Bonds. Pretty solid.

Lewis Gilbert - He does get some great shots, but he can't get a good performance by anyone to save his life.

Guy Hamilton - Decent at times but overall sent the series out of direction, especially in the '70s.

John Glen - Bland. That's all I gotta say.

Michael Apted - Good director, failed on TWINE.

Roger Spottiswoode - Oh wow. The director of Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot and Turner and Hootch is a great choice for a Bond film!

Lee Tamahori - Look what the cat dragged in.

[Kristatos]

Guy Hamilton - Decent at times but overall sent the series out of direction, especially in the '70s.

Truth be told, I was seriously toying with the idea of placing Hamilton lower, possibly below Glen, but to me, the fact that he directed Goldfinger, albeit with help from Terence Young, is such a huge deal that perhaps it has artificially inflated his reputation in my eyes.

[stockslivevan]

Guy Hamilton - Decent at times but overall sent the series out of direction, especially in the '70s.

Truth be told, I was seriously toying with the idea of placing Hamilton lower, possibly below Glen, but to me, the fact that he directed Goldfinger, albeit with help from Terence Young, is such a huge deal that perhaps it has artificially inflated his reputation in my eyes.

Hamilton and Glen do have their high points (GF and TLD) and their low (TMWTGG and AVTAK). But I don't think they should have been given the director's chair at all.

If I were EON, I would done more to keep Terence Young and Peter Hunt at helm. They were vital to the popularization as much as Connery was. I would have had Young direct all the 60s, have Hunt direct the 70s and possibly the 80s.

Lewis Gilbert needed better scripts and better acting. Tom Mankiewicz's writing would have been perfect with Gilbert's epic scope.

[Kristatos]

If I were EON, I would done more to keep Terence Young and Peter Hunt at helm. They were vital to the popularization as much as Connery was. I would have had Young direct all the 60s, have Hunt direct the 70s and possibly the 80s.

I've read differing accounts as to why Young quit Goldfinger, but it sounds like there wasn't a whole lot EON could have done to keep him on board. I don't know that Young would have been the right director for OHMSS, I think Hunt did the best he could with it.

[stockslivevan]

I always had the impression that Young wanted a raise but Cubby would rather hire another director than pay up because "it's Bond that sells, not the director" so by a producer's logic, he was expendable (this is the guy who knew using the Star Wars craze would pay off). Young would only return when McClory offered a better deal, then Cubby would take over again for YOLT and off goes Young again.

Young seriously deserves more credit than he usually gets, he really helped shape the character of Bond on film. I think if Young was there for YOLT, we would have had a more enthusiastic Connery, because he always seemed quite fond of him from all those interviews. He always mentions him whenever he talks about his Bond experience.

[Dr. No]

Great topic.

1. Terence Young: Dr. No set the standards. It was a brilliant mix of Fleming's book and the fantastic.
He also directed 3 of my favorite Connery Bonds; Dr. No, FRWL & Thunderball

2. Michael Apted: I really like what he did with TWINE. I've got to wonder how much better it would have been if the producer had let Brosnan have control of the character.

3. Roger Spottiswoode: Decent director, did a good job with teh story and special effects. Any weakness this film has I attribute to last minute re-writes and bad casting.

4. Peter Hunt: Did good job with OHMSS, but it's not one of my favorites. I will give him credit for successfully mixing the previous Bond elements and being the first to have the grapes to direct a non Connery Bond.

5. Lewis Gilbert: I didn't rank him as high, but YOLT and TSWLM are two I like two watch over an over.

6. Guy Hamilton: I'm not sure about him either. LALD was good.DAF and MWtGG were ones I didn't really care for.

7. John Glen: 1981-89 I agree he did some good ones, but was hit or miss in the quality department. I don't know if that was his fault or the producers (nepotism).

8. Martin Campbell: I really like goldeneye, although there are some very dull scenes where the movie stalls. It was also the major attempt to PC Bond, I know LTK & TLD had some, but this was obvious attempt to empower the female characters in the Bond world. Like the some of the scenes ripped off from GE for CR

9. Lee Tamahori: Kept the story on course and clear. Did well with the action scenes and special effects. Maybe a bit too much CGI and too greatly influenced the Matrix. Again any problems with the story is the producers and writers fault.
But it was the first film to show Bond captured, abandoned and seriously tortured. Broke new ground and did it with style.

[carl stromberg]

We should add that incompetent Swiss git now!

[katied]

We should add that incompetent Swiss git now!

I don't think Forster is that bad..the award for worst director HAS to go to Tamawhorey.


My choices for the best:


Hamilton


Campbell


Young

[stockslivevan]

I can't believe someone voted for Tamahori.

[Kristatos]

I can't believe someone voted for Tamahori.

Wasn't me.

[katied]

I can't believe someone voted for Tamahori.

I know, right!

[Gary Seven]

Lee Tamahori did a good job with his material. Marc Forster's shoddy work was the final nail in the coffin of Quantum of Solace. So, controversially, Tamahori did a better job than Forster. Although Forster is probably the better director.

[Mazer Rackham]

I think you can save yourselves the trouble of adding Marc Forster to the game.


Terence Young

Peter Hunt

Lewis Gilbert


John Glen
Guy Hamilton
Martin Campbell
Michael Apted
Roger Spottiswoode
Lee Tamahori
Marc Forster

[Lord Shark]

1. Terence Young
2. Peter Hunt
3. Lewis Glibert
4. Guy Hamilton
5. Martin Campbell
6. John Glen
7. Marc Forster
8. Roger Spottiswood
9. Lee Tamahori
10. Michael Apdted