Fans of the long-running 007 film series agree, nearly universally, that Quantum of Solace starring Daniel Craig as James Bond is easily one of the best twenty films in the series. According to a recent study, which polled over 500 self-affirmed fans of the James Bond films, Solace is viewed very favorably when compared with the two bad films in the series, Moonraker and Diamonds Are Forever.
Since Ian Fleming’s fictional British Secret Agent, James Bond, first came to film portrayed by Sean Connery in 1962’s Dr. No, there have been 22 official films in the series and an additional ‘unofficial’ film, Never Say Never Again, also starring Connery. Five other actors have played James Bond in the long line of films: George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig.
Franklin Blofeld, no relation to the fictional Ernst Stavro Blofeld who was a primary antagonist to James Bond early in the series, is a Bondographer who has studied the James Bond film series since seeing Roger Moore in Octopussy in 1982. Beginning with the 1987 release of The Living Daylights starring Timothy Dalton, Blofeld began performing a poll to compare each new film to the laughably dated Moonraker and Diamonds Are Forever.
“In reality,” said Blofeld, “it doesn’t matter if each new film is excellent, or even good. It doesn’t have to be. It just has to be better than Moonraker and, to a lesser extent, Diamonds Are Forever. As long as the filmmakers have done that, they have succeeded. As long as there are no laser space shuttle fights, moon buggy chases, or Jimmy Deans, we’re doing okay.”
According to Blofeld’s most recent poll, Quantum of Solace was rated by over 99.5 percent of respondents as being better than Moonraker. Over 98 percent also rated Quantum as being better than Diamonds Are Forever. This clearly rates the newest addition to the series as among the top twenty official films, along with Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Live and Let Die, The Man With The Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View To A Kill, The Living Daylights, License To Kill, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, Die Another Day, and Casino Royale.
Blofeld explains that Never Say Never Again is not included in his polling due to its questionable status in the Bond canon and potential legal repercussions from EON Productions, owner of the Bond franchise. He does, however, personally consider it a valid (if imperfect) Bond film. “In reality, it was a Bond film. It had Sean Connery playing Agent 007, James Bond, so there’s really no question. In fact, you could say that, in a way, all Connery films—Finding Forrester, for example, or Dragonheart or The Hunt for Red October—are really Bond films in a sense. The same can be said about George Lazenby.”
Bond producers have not yet announced the next addition to the series, but Daniel Craig is expected to return for another outing as the suave secret agent. Blofeld intends to continue producing his poll as long as producers make Bond films. “Moonraker and Diamonds Are Forever are really blights on the whole Bond genre, and it’s part of my job to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” said Blofeld. “If it does, I might have to start focusing on Star Trek. I sure hope we don’t have a repeat of Star Trek V.”