Best 007 Pre-Titles Sequence

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

After the gunbarrel... Before the credits... 10 minutes of sex, violence, and exotic locales that seperate the Bond series from every other. Since 1963's From Russia With Love they've had them... what are YOUR favoite entries and why?

 

Because I know they sometimes blend together, here's a brief synopsis of all 19 With ehlp from www.ianfleming.org:

 

1. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE - A large, blond man stalks James Bond through a hedge maze. He ambushes him, garrotes him with a wire pulled from his watch, and apparently kills him. Floodlights immediately illuminate the area and another man appears and announces he's been timing the proceedings. It's revealed that "Bond" is just a man in a mask and it was all a training exercise for some mysterious organization.

 

2. GOLDFINGER - Bond swims to an oil refinery in a wet suit with a fake seagull on his head. After planting explosives in a drug lab hidden in one of the holding tanks, he strips off his wet suit to reveal an tuxedo, then makes his way to a nightclub just as the explosions start. He confers with an associate, then leaves to visit a Flamenco dancer who was performing in the club. While kissing her, an assailant behind him is reflected in her eyes. He and the man scuffle and Bond throws him into a bathtub. When the man goes for a gun, Bond tosses an electric appliance into the tub electrocuting the man as Bond walks away muttering, "Shocking. Positively shocking."

 

3. THUNDERBALL - Bond and a beautiful French woman observe a widow paying her respects at the funeral of an enemy agent. The widow leaves in a limousine. When she gets to her home, Bond is waiting. He attacks "her" – who turns out to be the supposedly dead enemy agent in disguise. Bond kills the man after a lengthy fight, then escapes using a jet pack. He's met by his female friend with his Aston Martin, stows the jet pack in the trunk, then shoots jets of water from under the car's bumper at the men chasing him.

 

4. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE - A story in three parts. First, an orbiting American spacecraft is swallowed by a mysterious rocket. Second, American and Russian diplomats argue over the origin of the assailing spacecraft. The Americans think the Russians were at fault and threaten war over any more interference. The British intercede and claim they have evidence that the rocket came down near Japan, and their "man in Hong Kong" is working on the problem right now. Cut to James Bond in bed with a Chinese girl. She crosses the room and presses a button that folds the bed into the wall. Several men burst through the door and shoot through the bed. The police show up, pronounce Bond dead, and claim that he "died on the job. He'd have wanted it that way."

 

5. ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE - Q is shown in M's office, demonstrating the finer points of "radioactive lint." M mentions that they need to find Bond. Cut to a silver Aston Martin driving along a seaside highway, the driver shown only in shadow. He's passed by a woman in red sports car that he later finds parked on the side of the road, its driver walking into the sea. He races to the water's edge (here we see George Lazenby's face for the first time), and retrieves the woman from the water, announcing, “My name's Bond. James Bond." A gun appears at his head and Bond fights with three men who have appeared behind him. The woman, meanwhile, steals Bond's car from the beach, drives back to her car, then flees the scene. Having defeated his assailants, Bond looks after the woman and says, "This never happened to the other fellow" then looks directly at the camera.

 

6. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER - The sequence begins with a three-scene montage of Bond roughing various people up, asking each of them where Blofeld is (remember that Blofeld killed Bond's wife at the end of the last film). Cut to Blofeld arranging for plastic surgery and several scrub-clad men giving someone a mud bath in some kind of laboratory. They leave and Bond enters, having disabled one of the attendants and taken his place. The man in the mud tries to shoot Bond, but Bond buries him with more mud only to find he's not Blofeld. Blofeld and two of his guards enter, some unfriendly banter ensues, and Bond scuffles with the two guards. Victorious, Bond ties Blofeld to stretcher and rolls him into some kind of hot mud pit. He turns up the heat and leaves with, "Welcome to hell, Blofeld" as the mud bubbles over.

 

 

7. LIVE AND LET DIE - New York – a United Nations representative is killed by some kind of deadly noise projected through his translation headphones. New Orleans – a man standing outside a "Fillet of Soul" restaurant is stabbed to death, then his body is picked up by trick coffin in a passing funeral procession, the participants and music of which go from morose to jubilant as the body disappears. San Monique, an island in the Caribbean – a man tied to a post is bitten and killed by a snake in some kind of Voodoo ritual.

 

8. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN - A midget waiter delivers champagne to a couple on a secluded beach. The servant then welcomes an aging American hit man at another location, takes him to a house, and pays him with an envelope of cash. The servant retreats to a control room and sends the hit man and the man from the beach through some kind of fun house – complete with wax dummies of gangsters, cowboys, and James Bond himself. The man finally kills the gangster, and it's revealed that the servant "tests" his master occasionally by hiring people to kill him. The man then shoots the fingers off the wax dummy of James Bond that appeared previously.

 

9. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME - Some calamity befalls a British submarine. In the next two scenes, the PM and General Gogol have both been advised that they're each missing a submarine. Gogol calls for "Agent Triple-X" who turns out to be a beautiful woman in bed with her lover. Cut to M asking for Bond – Moneypenny says he's in Austria. Cut to Bond with a female friend in a mountain cabin. When Bond he leaves on skies, the woman reveals a radio and advises several men outside that Bond has just left. A chase ensues, Bond kills several men (one of which is the man who was with Triple-X earlier), then skis off a cliff and opens a Union Jack parachute.

 

10. MOONRAKER - A space shuttle is hijacked off the back of a 747 in flight, destroying the plane and killing the crew. M calls for 007. Cut to Bond getting amorous with a flight attendant. She produces a gun and, with the pilot, disables the plane, evidently hoping to parachute to safety while leaving Bond to die. Bond and the pilot scuffle and the pilot gets thrown out the door of the plane (he has a parachute, remember). While standing the doorway, Bond is pushed out of the plane by Jaws (Bond has no parachute). Bond catches the pilot in mid-air and takes his parachute. Jaws catches Bond, tries to bite him in the leg, but Bond manages to pull his own ripcord. Jaws rips his ripcord off accidentally, and flaps his arms in an attempt to fly before landing on a circus big top.

 

11. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY - Bond is paying respects to his dead wife at her grave when he's unexpectedly picked up by a helicopter from the office. Cut to a man in a wheelchair with a helicopter control console in front of him and stroking a white cat. The pilot of the chopper is killed by an electrical charge, and the helicopter is remotely controlled by the wheelchair-bound villain while he taunts Bond through the chopper intercom, evidently planning to kill him by crashing the aircraft. Bond crawls out on the skid of the helicopter, throws the dead pilot out, and takes control . He scoops the villain's wheelchair up on the chopper skid and dumps him down a smokestack.

 

12. OCTOPUSSY - Bond arrives at a horse show set in Cuba which just happens to be next to a military base. Bond is driving a truck pulling a horse trailer. He reverses his jacket and hat to reveal a military uniform. With the help of a pretty accomplice, he poses as Colonel Luis Toro, enters an aircraft hanger, and places an explosive in the nose cone of an aircraft. He's captured by the real Colonel Toro and taken away in a military truck. Bond's accomplice drives up next to the truck and distracts the guards (and the audience) with her cleavage long enough for Bond to pull their parachute cords, sending them flying. He jumps into the four-wheel drive and disconnects the horse trailer. The rear end of the "horse" tilts on a hinge, revealing itself to be just a prop, and Bond takes flight in a tiny jet. The jet evades a missile by flying through the same hanger in which Bond was captured. The missile explodes, destroying the hangar, and Bond lands the jet and rolls to a gas station looking for fuel.

 

13. A VIEW TO A KILL - Scores of ski-clad Soviet troops are looking for something in the Siberian wilderness. Cut to James Bond finding a body under the snow and retrieving a microchip from a locket around the dead man's neck. He's discovered, shot at, and a chase ensues between Bond and Soviet soldiers on skis, a snowmobile and a helicopter. Bond steals the snowmobile, which promptly explodes beneath him. He then uses the ski of the destroyed vehicle to "surf" down the mountain to the tune of the Beach Boys' "California Girls." He loses most of his pursuers, then destroys the helicopter using a smoke flare. A hatch opens up on what appears to be an iceberg but turns out to be a small submarine. Inside is a beautiful girl who radios M. Bond produces caviar and vodka, and explains that "it's five days to Alaska."

 

14. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS - In an aircraft, M briefs three Double-O agents about to make a mock assault on the radar installations of Gibraltar. After a parachute landing on Gibraltar, one of them is shot by a guard with a paint gun — this is just an exercise, remember? However, some distance away, a mysterious man appears and starts killing people for real – first a Double-O, then a guard. We see Bond (Timothy Dalton in his debut) rushing to the side of a dead man where he find a piece of paper bearing the words “Smiert Spionam.” He runs after the assassin, jumping on the roof of a jeep he's using to escape. The jeep — filled with explosives, naturally — careens out of control while Bond and the assassin fight. The explosives are ignited by gunfire, and the jeep goes over the edge of the rock. Bond activates his reserve chute and it pulls him out of the burning vehicle which explodes just before hitting the water. Bond lands on a yacht and delays his report after meeting the bikini-clad beauty on board.

 

15. LICENSE TO KILL - Somewhere in the Florida Keys, Felix Leiter (having inexplicably switched from the CIA to the DEA) is on his way to a wedding (his own) when he gets word that a plane carrying drug kingpin Franz Sanchez has strayed into American jurisdiction to retrieve his mistress from the arms of another man. Felix postpones his trip to the church to fly via helicopter to Sanchez's location. He takes with him his best man, James Bond, with orders to remain an "observer."

 

Bond joins the DEA agents in the capture of Sanchez' men, but they almost lose the villain himself when Sanchez escapes in a light plane. Dangling from the DEA chopper, Bond "ropes" Sanchez's plane like an errant steer and the chopper tows the plane into custody. Bond and Leiter parachute to the chapel just in time for the wedding.

 

16. GOLDENEYE - In the Russia of Iron Curtain days, a figure with a black bungee cord jumps down the face of a huge dam, then fires a piton into the ground and reels himself down. Thus gaining entry to a top-secret facility, he is revealed as James Bond, on a joint mission with agent 006, Alec Trevelyan. The usual hijinks ensue as the agents set out to destroy the facility. Things take a nasty turn, however, when our boys are caught in the act and 006 is apparently shot dead. Bond effects an escape, with an army in hot pursuit. Stealing a motorcycle, he attempts to transfer to a plane during take-off, only to fall out with the pilot. Back on a motorcycle again, he drives off the edge of a cliff, freefalls to the plummeting and pilotless plane, climbs in and recovers control to escape as the Russian facility goes up in a huge explosion.

 

17. TOMORROW NEVER DIES - At a terrorist arms sale in the Khyber Pass, James Bond uses a camera and satellite uplink to document the illicit sale of arms. When an overzealous British admiral orders a missile strike on the site, he risks exploding a nuclear missile found to be among the weapons. Bond is forced to effect a desperate escape in one of the fighter jets up for sale. He makes it out in the nick of time, only to find himself in an aerial dogfight with the added handicap of a backseat passenger who's trying to garrote him. Thinking fast, he ejects his passenger into the bottom of the enemy jet flying overhead and heads home triumphant.

 

18. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH - In Bilbao, Spain, Bond meets with a Swiss banker to retrieve the 3 million pounds Sir Robert King paid for a stolen, top-secret report. When the polite approach fails, Bond trashes the banker's armed men and questions the banker at gunpoint. Before he can answer, the banker is murdered by the mysterious "Cigar Girl" and Bond effects a daring escape through an upper-story window, one step ahead of the police.

 

Back at MI-6 Headquarters, Sir Robert arrives to claim his cash from his old friend (and lover?) M, and is blown to bits by incredibly complicated and unlikely means. Seconds too late to prevent this, Bond spots the Cigar Girl in a powerboat on the Thames, and gives chase via the gadget-laden "Q-Boat." Cigar Girl meets her doom and Bond narrowly escapes his own, taking a spectacular fall onto the Millenium Dome and suffering a shoulder injury that will plague him throughout the film.

 

19. DIE ANOTHER DAY - Three men are seen surfing onto a heavily guarded North Korean beach. The lead takes off his mask to reveal himself as James Bond. The three men disbale the beach's perimeter alarms and then set up a signal to divert a helicopter carrying an arms dealer to them. Bond takes the man's place and fits the briefcase carrying diamonds for the dealer's contact with C4. Bond meets with a rogue North Korean officer posing as the arms dealer, but is betrayed by someone who sends the officer's friend Zao Bond's file. Bond manages to escape and chases the officer using his own hovercraft. The two duke it out and Bond sends the craft over a cliff with the villain on it, but holds on to the large bell at the Shinto monestary overlooking it. He checks to make sure that the craft is destroyed in the falls and is captured by the officer;s father, who has him tortured throughout the opening titles.

 

 

My favorites are: GF, TB, TSWLM, TLD, GE, and DAD

[Blue Bacchus 0]

While Goldeneye and Man with the Golden Gun are both strong openers, I'd say my favorite is OHMSS. But then again it's my favorite bond flick, so I'm biased.

[the pinjockey 0]

I have only seen the Brosnan Bond's so for me:

 

1. Goldeneye - I like the fact that before the credits role there is already a major development. And the skydive into the plane was pretty cool.

 

2. Die Another Day - This lost a little for me, because it is very similar to the opening scene of TND in that he gets in the vehicle, turns and fires the whole time, before getting into a chase. But I like the stuff before and after the chase more in this one than TND.

 

3. Tomorrow Never Dies - See #2

 

4. World is Not Enough - This one IMO stinks. The boat chase that never ends.

[Anya 0]

GoldenEye. Trevelyan owns.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

I was never into Bond films until I started watching a lot of the older ones that were on Spike this past week. Man, were a lot of them awesome. A bit goofy, but that's OK.

 

I think I know why I wasn't a Bond fan -- I mostly watched the newer ones and they didn't do much for me. The older ones seem so much better although they don't have all the fancy special effects -- am I wrong on this? Like I said before, I just started getting into the Bond films recently...

[Insane Bump Machine 0]

Goldfinger has the best opening half hour in any Bond film IMO, so that's my choice. Honorable mention goes to Goldeneye since it was the first Bond I watched in the theater and the bungee jump blew me away. And it has Sean Bean in it, which makes it awesome by default.

[Cheex Incarnate 0]

Goldfinger, Thunderball, Diamonds are Forever

 

Nuff said.

 

-Cheex

[Guest Anglesault]

Diamonds.

[Guest Jimbo]

Goldeneye, because the whole set up is pretty frickin' sweet, and it encompases my favorite 2 levels in the video game.

[Guest Vitamin EC]

The Spy Who Loved Me (Union Jack!), The Living Daylights and GoldenEye.

[Boner Kawanger 0]

Well, I have to give an honorable mention to Moonraker, since it inspired some lyrical genius from my good friend Mr. Z and me*. The parachute in TSWLM is a huge markout moment, and I'm an American. GoldenEye's is just so great, and I mark for Sean Bean. And Goldfinger...

 

And if I keep trying to pick one, I'm just gonna keep saying "...and Die Another Day! And You Only Live Twice!".

 

I can't pick.

 

*Hispanic assassins with porn star moustaches

Shoot the controls so Bond's there when it crashes

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

I was never into Bond films until I started watching a lot of the older ones that were on Spike this past week. Man, were a lot of them awesome. A bit goofy, but that's OK.

 

I think I know why I wasn't a Bond fan -- I mostly watched the newer ones and they didn't do much for me. The older ones seem so much better although they don't have all the fancy special effects -- am I wrong on this? Like I said before, I just started getting into the Bond films recently...

One film that they didn't show on SPIKE, that I think you'd really enjoy kkk is License to Kill (1989). It's really low-tech, deadly serious, and it has a lot of fantastic action sequences and strong performances from Timothy Dalton and Robert Davi.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

Also, I'd peg LALD, TMWTGG, AVTAK, and TND as the weakest teasers.

[AmericanDragon 0]

The Man with the Golden Gun

 

Nick Nack owns all.

[Guest Ahhee]

My favorite is The Spy Who Loved Me. I first caught this one on one of those WTBS marathons a few years back. The ski chase was really well shot for the time and the final jump was just outstanding (and really lucky to even be caught on film) You can't help but mark out when that Union Jack parachute comes out and cues the Bond theme.

 

Moonraker's was really cool until the point they first turned Jaws into an oaf, signalling the tone for the rest of the film.

[caboose 0]

Goldfinger, The Living Daylights and Goldeneye do it for me.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

I was never into Bond films until I started watching a lot of the older ones that were on Spike this past week. Man, were a lot of them awesome. A bit goofy, but that's OK.

 

I think I know why I wasn't a Bond fan -- I mostly watched the newer ones and they didn't do much for me. The older ones seem so much better although they don't have all the fancy special effects -- am I wrong on this? Like I said before, I just started getting into the Bond films recently...

One film that they didn't show on SPIKE, that I think you'd really enjoy kkk is License to Kill (1989). It's really low-tech, deadly serious, and it has a lot of fantastic action sequences and strong performances from Timothy Dalton and Robert Davi.

Is that the one where the bad guy feeds one of Bond's friends to a shark toward the start of the film? I remember seeing that one in the theaters when I was a kid...

[Boner Kawanger 0]

I was never into Bond films until I started watching a lot of the older ones that were on Spike this past week. Man, were a lot of them awesome. A bit goofy, but that's OK.

 

I think I know why I wasn't a Bond fan -- I mostly watched the newer ones and they didn't do much for me. The older ones seem so much better although they don't have all the fancy special effects -- am I wrong on this? Like I said before, I just started getting into the Bond films recently...

One film that they didn't show on SPIKE, that I think you'd really enjoy kkk is License to Kill (1989). It's really low-tech, deadly serious, and it has a lot of fantastic action sequences and strong performances from Timothy Dalton and Robert Davi.

Is that the one where the bad guy feeds one of Bond's friends to a shark toward the start of the film? I remember seeing that one in the theaters when I was a kid...

Bingo.

[phoenixrising 0]

Love the Goldeneye, The World Is Not Enough, Tomorrow Never Dies and You Only Live Twice teasers.

 

Hate hate HATE the A View To A Kill one. I like the Beach Boys, but man that song is so misplaced there. Just is weird and out of place.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

I got love for the World is Not Enough.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

Living Daylights, Goldeneye, For Your Eyes Only and The Man With the Golden Gun

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Am I missing something or is there a reason Dr. No isn't there?

 

Goldeneye from me.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

Am I missing something or is there a reason Dr. No isn't there?

 

Goldeneye from me.

You forgot that Dr. No doesn't have a pre-titles sequence. The gunbarrel is a direct lead-in to the credits.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

I was never into Bond films until I started watching a lot of the older ones that were on Spike this past week. Man, were a lot of them awesome. A bit goofy, but that's OK.

 

I think I know why I wasn't a Bond fan -- I mostly watched the newer ones and they didn't do much for me. The older ones seem so much better although they don't have all the fancy special effects -- am I wrong on this? Like I said before, I just started getting into the Bond films recently...

One film that they didn't show on SPIKE, that I think you'd really enjoy kkk is License to Kill (1989). It's really low-tech, deadly serious, and it has a lot of fantastic action sequences and strong performances from Timothy Dalton and Robert Davi.

Is that the one where the bad guy feeds one of Bond's friends to a shark toward the start of the film? I remember seeing that one in the theaters when I was a kid...

You are correct.

 

Davi put A LOT into his role, and I've talked to MANY Latin Americans who can't believe the man isn't Columbian. He's probobly the most layered of the Bond villains.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

Licence to Kill is SUCH an underrated movie. My 2nd favorite Bond movie and Davi is by far the most realistic Bond villain.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

TSWLM which begins with one of the most famous stunts ever filmed.

[ArkhamGlobe 0]

To me, the pre-credit sequence in Goldfinger is probably THE defining moment in any Bond film.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

To me, the pre-credit sequence in Goldfinger is probably THE defining moment in any Bond film.

Well, it cleary encapsulates all the elements that make Bond great in the first place. In one 5 minute sequence you get:

• Exotic Locales
• Gadgets
• Action
• Charm (tux under the wetsuit)
• Sex
• Great Sets
• Grim Humor