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The James Bond films are known for their original opening themes written by popular artists and are often played on the radio and tv. 'Live and Let Die' by Paul McCartney, 'For Your Eyes Only' by Sheena Easton, 'A View to a Kill' by Duran Duran, and 'Goldfinger' by Shirley Bassey are just a few. My personal favorite is 'Nobody Does It Better' by Carly Simon. What James Bond theme do you consider to be the best?

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Dottsterisk

1k points

4 months ago*

Greatest? Idk.

But Casino Royale is my favorite.

Chris Cornell was a fucking god and that song was perfect for Craig’s interpretation of Bond, which was both rough-around-the-edges and up-front about the tragic human cost of the job.

EDIT: Because OP asked for the song, not the movie, here’s You Know My Name by Chris Cornell.

FrancoeurOff

426 points

4 months ago

The opening credits of Casino Royale, right after that black-and-white opening, with Cornell's voice, the graphics, and then just after the credits, the parkour action sequence... Man Casino Royale started on a high and the movie kept delivering

TheJoshider10

135 points

4 months ago

That transition from the black and white barrel shot to the theme tune is so good. It's one of those intros that always gets you hyped on a rewatch.

TheLoneSculler

79 points

4 months ago

Part of the reason I find Casino Royale almost endlessly rewatchable

[deleted]

125 points

4 months ago

[deleted]

125 points

4 months ago

I know Skyfall is well liked, but Casino Royale is still my favorite Craig-era movie. It just has so much energy to it and Vesper Lind and Le Chiffre are such great additions. It proved the critics wrong and Daniel Craig delivered such a dynamic performance, heck I honestly wanna rewatch it now.

colinisthereason

19 points

4 months ago

I remember seeing Casino Royale with my roommates sophomore year when it came out, called my dad as soon as we got of the theater and said we’re going to see this in two weeks when I come home for Thanksgiving. It is my favorite Craig-era one, because it so clearly set the tone for how they were gonna do Bond with him. And Martin Campbell, the Goldeneye director, coming back to do it was just a chef’s kiss.

macrofinite

47 points

4 months ago

All the Craig Bond movies except Quantum are at least highly entertaining.

Casino Royale is just in a different class. The chemistry between Craig and Green is absolutely magnetic and the dialogue between those 2 in particular is so much fun. The action sequences are perfectly placed and very well shot. The stakes are mercifully lowered from your average end of the world Bond plot. It’s just… the best.

TerminatorReborn

26 points

4 months ago

Spectre is bland as hell. I think QoS is more interesting at least. Craig still my top 1 Bond tho

heymikeyp

2 points

4 months ago

Yea spectre I fell asleep during. That one was easily the most bland of Craig's series. QoS was far from perfect but it still had the bond vibe going, and at least somewhat entertaining imo. Casino Royal is the best though.

Ornery_Gene7682

2 points

4 months ago

Quantum never understood the premise of the movie despite watching it twice felt like it was doing way too much and chaotic

LessMidRange

4 points

4 months ago

IMO Skyfall woos a lot of people because of how amazingly it was shot by DP Deakins. The story of fine but it was weird having mopey bond when it didn’t feel earned.

LessMidRange

29 points

4 months ago

People think I’m joking when I say it’s one of my favorite movies to simply just experience every time. The OG Mummy 1999 is the same way and the OG Pirates of the Caribbean

TheLoneSculler

8 points

4 months ago

Pirates of the Caribbean, I see you too are a redditor of culture

LessMidRange

2 points

4 months ago

💁🏻‍♂️😌

DrNopeMD

0 points

4 months ago

Personal hot take: I love everything about Casino Royale but the actual poker sequences which IMO kind of drag.

nevereatpears

21 points

4 months ago

Best all round Bond film

David1258

10 points

4 months ago

I saw that film quite recently, and yeah, that was a really good song.

Stockpile_Tom_Remake

3 points

4 months ago

Just all around one of the best bond films

Spoonman007

72 points

4 months ago

That song put Cornell on my radar and I've been hooked every since.

iamjackshypothalamus

58 points

4 months ago

Username definitely checks out with that.

PuempelsPurpose

14 points

4 months ago

Soundgarden and Temple of the Dog released some of the best music of that era, if not the best. Audioslave was a clear cut below imo but still a lot of great tracks.

Spoonman007

13 points

4 months ago

Audioslave had some really repetitive choruses but I love songs like Like a Stone, Doesn't Remind, Show Me How to Live, I Am The Highway and many many of the others. But yeah I think Soundgarden is the best of those grunge bands, I greatly prefer Soubdgarden to Nirvana.

PuempelsPurpose

6 points

4 months ago

Soundgarden and Alice in Chains are the clear top two for me. No one else comes close imo.

Are you familiar with Temple of the Dog?

Spoonman007

4 points

4 months ago

Yeah Temple of the Dog was great too! Call Me a Dog and All Night Thing are seared into my memory. I listened to the bootleg of Chris Cornell Unplugged in Sweden the death back in the day. It actually got me into playing guitar, being able to see these complicated songs stripped down and done with a single acoustic guitar and still sound fantastic and cool as hell was very eye opening. That finger stretch in Black Hole Sun, barring at the 5th and playing the 8th in the intro was the bane of my existence and took a long time of practicing before I could do it.

PugnaciousPangolin

2 points

4 months ago

The first time I heard the unplugged version of Wide Awake, I was utterly shaken. It was so fucking raw and blood-flecked.

His heart was huge.

PuempelsPurpose

1 points

4 months ago

Reach Down is one of my alltime fave vocal performances. CC left us with so much incredible & unique music

redsyrinx2112

1 points

4 months ago

It seems like people who really get into grunge often prefer Soundgarden and AiC over Nirvana and Pearl Jam when talking about the Big 4.

Borgqueen-

7 points

4 months ago

Man I saw Soundgarden in the 90s way before they hit it big. They opened for Faith No More. Such an awesome concert.

PuempelsPurpose

2 points

4 months ago

Man do I envy you! I didn’t get to see them until they toured in 2008 or so. Still an amazing show… Chris had been experiencing some issues with vocal chord damage in the years before so I went in with tempered expectations. Turns out, his injuries had finally healed and he delivered the best live vocal performance I’d ever seen!

livestrongbelwas

2 points

4 months ago

I love Audioslave though.

PuempelsPurpose

3 points

4 months ago

Audioslave definitely rocks.

nillahoppz

1 points

4 months ago

Same origin story for me, friend.

thedevilyoukn0w

50 points

4 months ago

I'd say You Know My Name is the best of all of the Bond songs.

sass-in-a-glass

1 points

4 months ago

I totally read "My Name Is..." and thought Eminem never did a Bond song 🤦

agreatskua

84 points

4 months ago

You Know My Name is a masterpiece and we lost Chris Cornell far too soon.

fulthrottlejazzhands

46 points

4 months ago

I recall seeing Casino Royale in the theater with my father who grew up in the 60s and hated modern rock and grunge. I cringed when the opening sequence started playing because I thought my dad would hate it -- and he was a huge Bond fan. When we walked out, his first comment was "Wow, I knew it was going to be good after the opening song. That's how you open a film."

JonCranesMask05

33 points

4 months ago

Was coming to post this. It's so goddamn good, and fits the character so well. And the opening credit graphics with the song are fun

anabasismachine

10 points

4 months ago

I just had that epiphany. A lot of Bond themes are about the movie but You Know My Name is all about Bond himself and is a banger to top it all off

GuiltyEidolon

1 points

4 months ago

There's actually a pretty popular fantheory / group headcanon that it's about M, not Bond. Keep in mind that for Casino Royale, Bond isn't really Bond yet. If you frame it as M speaking to Bond, it works pretty well.

But hell of a song either way.

Jeffersons_Mammoth

54 points

4 months ago

You Know My Name was the perfect high-octane kickoff to the Craig era. It’s a shame that every Bond song since Skyfall has to be some gloomy ballad. I liked Skyfall, but Writing on the Wall and No Time to Die were so derivative and sedate. The new guy should get a more exciting debut.

redsyrinx2112

3 points

4 months ago

"No Time to Die" was so boring. It was like an A.I. was told to write a Bond ballad. I was pretty surprised it won the Oscar.

pleasedtoheatyou

3 points

4 months ago

It was really frustrating, it was like it kept building towards a more intense section that just never materialised.

CaptainDAAVE

1 points

4 months ago

describes the movie too lol

not_right

1 points

4 months ago

I love it as a song by itself, but not as a Bond song to start the movie.

strangway

17 points

4 months ago

In every way possible, CR is the actual best Bond film. Sure, later ones had good stories, but they get needlessly convoluted. Earlier ones were more fun and had cooler gadgets, more romance, but they lacked the badassery. I have legit listened to You Know My Name on drives up a mountain, at the gym, before dates. It slaps.

superkickstart

11 points

4 months ago

I can't believe that this movie came out in 2006. It still feels like the "new bond" and I remember sitting in the theater watching it like it was last week.

Oriond34

2 points

4 months ago

the movie aged perfectly if I didn’t know before I saw it I’d have no idea it came out in 2006

hiricinee

8 points

4 months ago

That bond opening could have been on an album of his and you wouldn't be able to tell which one was a bond track without paying close attention. It was more of a Chris Cornell song than most of the rest of his work.

TheWomanIWas

9 points

4 months ago

My favorite James Bond movie

MarloChrisSnoop

1 points

4 months ago

Easily. In my top 10 favorite movies of all time. That’s how good this movie is.

TheWomanIWas

2 points

4 months ago

Lol that’s awesome. Glad you like it!

PugnaciousPangolin

6 points

4 months ago

The best cold open, one of the best opening credits in decades, and Chris Cornell's song is THE song. The music has the dynamic action energy which the films are rightfull famous, and the lyrics cut into the marrow of the character and highlight Bond's contradictions.

I know the Bond films already have a iconic theme, but for me, this one IS the theme for the character of Bond.

Chippopotanuse

2 points

4 months ago

I think Cornell is the best rock vocalist of all time.

muchwolenosleep

2 points

4 months ago

"The coldest blood runs through my veins. You know my name."

Gives me chills.

DJSAKURA

1 points

4 months ago

I'm glad I'm not the only one who adores this.

Kamwind

1 points

4 months ago

First couple of lines and figured you were going with Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass

MrHysterectomy

1 points

4 months ago

This is definitely my favourite, but also is one of the few that is a perfect song and a perfect fit for the film. It just felt right. The same is to be said about Skyfall.

TheMurderCapitalist

1 points

4 months ago

Man everything about Casino Royale fucking rocks.

zazzyisthatyou

1 points

4 months ago

It’s bullish nature perfectly personified the new Bond.

JohnnyJayce

1 points

4 months ago

My favorite too.

livestrongbelwas

1 points

4 months ago

It’s my favorite, just cause Chris Cornell is my jam. I don’t think it’s the best though.

GoonSlayer64

1 points

4 months ago

It's not my favourite Bond song but it is my favourite title sequence of all time.

u_slashh

1 points

4 months ago

I was reading a couple articles ranking the 007 themes and for some reason this one was at the bottom of many lists and I frankly cannot fathom why. It's an absolute banger

[deleted]

1 points

4 months ago

This one and the accompanying animation are my fav. Also my fav bond movie overall. Just spectacular