It could be the best in terms of anything
Paul Newman: The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, Exodus, From the Terrace, Paris Blues, Hud, Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man, Sweet Bird of Youth, Harper, Lady L, Hombre, Torn Curtain, Winning, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Secret War of Harry Frigg, The Prize, What a Way to Go!, The Outrage, and A New Kind of Love.
Gregory Peck: To Kill a Mockingbird, Mackenna's Gold, The Chairman, Cape Fear, Captain Newman, M.D., How the West Was Won, Behold a Pale Horse, Marooned, Mirage, Arabesque, The Stalking Moon, and The Guns of Navarone.
Steve McQueen: The Sand Pebbles, The Great Escape, Love with the Proper Stranger, The Magnificent Seven, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Cincinnati Kid, Bullitt, The Honeymoon Machine, The Honeymoon Machine, The War Lover, Soldier in the Rain, Nevada Smith, Baby the Rain Must Fall, and The Reivers.
Dustin Hoffman: The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy, The Tiger Makes Out, Madigan's Millions, and John and Mary.
Peter O Toole: Lawrence of Arabia, Becket, The Lion in Winter, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Kidnapped, The Day They Robbed the Bank of England, The Savage Innocents, What's New Pussycat?, The Sandpiper, Lord Jim, How to Steal a Million, The Bible: In the Beginning..., Casino Royale, The Night of the Generals, and Great Catherine.
Henry Fonda: How the West Was Won, Firecreek, Once Upon a Time in the West, Madigan, The Boston Strangler, Fail Safe, Sex and the Single Girl, The Longest Day, Advise & Consent, Spencer's Mountain, The Dirty Game, In Harm's Way, A Big Hand for the Little Lady, Welcome to Hard Times, The Best Man, The Rounders, Battle of the Bulge, and Yours, Mine and Ours.
Toshiro Mifune: Shinsengumi, The Battle of the Japan Sea, Red Lion, Safari 5000, Hell in the Pacific, Samurai Banners, The Day the Sun Rose, Admiral Yamamoto, Japan's Longest Day, The Sands of Kurobe, Samurai Rebellion, Grand Prix, The Mad Atlantic, The Adventure of Kigan Castle, Rise Against the Sword, The Sword of Doom, Fort Graveyard, The Retreat from Kiska, Sanshiro Sugata, Samurai Assassin, Red Beard, Legacy of the 500,000, The Lost World of Sinbad, Whirlwind, Chūshingura: Hana no Maki, Yuki no Maki, Attack Squadron!, High and Low, Yojimbo, The Youth and his Amulet, Sanjuro, Tatsu, Three Gentlemen Return from Hong Kong, Salaryman Chushingura Part 1 & 2, The Story of Osaka Castle, The Youth and his Amulet, Ánimas Trujano, The Last Gunfight, The Gambling Samurai, The Bad Sleep Well, Man Against Man, and Storm Over the Pacific.
Montgomery Clift: Judgment at Nuremberg, The Misfits, Freud: The Secret Passion, The Defector, and Wild River.
Burt Lancaster: Judgment at Nuremberg, Birdman of Alcatraz, Elmer Gantry, Seven Days in May, The Leopard, The Professionals, The Unforgiven, The Young Savages, The List of Adrian Messenger, A Child Is Waiting, The Hallelujah Trail, The Train, The Swimmer, The Scalphunters, Castle Keep, and The Gypsy Moths.
Marlon Brando: Mutiny on the Bounty, The Fugitive Kind, One-Eyed Jacks, Morituri, The Chase, Bedtime Story, The Ugly American, Reflections in a Golden Eye, Candy, The Appaloosa, The Night of the Following Day, Burn!, and A Countess from Hong Kong.
Tony Curtis: Captain Newman, M.D., The Boston Strangler, Sex and the Single Girl, Spartacus, Pepe, The Rat Race, The Great Impostor, The List of Adrian Messenger, 40 Pounds of Trouble, Paris When It Sizzles, The Outsider, Taras Bulba, Goodbye Charlie, Not with My Wife, You Don't!, The Great Race, Wild and Wonderful, Boeing Boeing, Chamber of Horrors, On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who..., Rosemary's Baby, Drop Dead Darling, Don't Make Waves, Monte Carlo or Bust!, and Who Was That Lady?.
Robert Redford: The Chase, Tall Story, Situation Hopeless... But Not Serious, War hunt, Inside Daisy Clover, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Barefoot in the Park, This Property Is Condemned, Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here, and Downhill Racer.
Anthony Perkins: Tall Story, Psycho, The Trial, Phaedra, Pretty Poison, Five Miles to Midnight, Goodbye Again, The Fool Killer, Une ravissante idiote, Le glaive et la balance, The Champagne Murders, and Is Paris Burning?.
John Huston: Candy, The List of Adrian Messenger, The Cardinal, Casino Royale, and The Bible: In the Beginning
John Wayne: How the West Was Won, The Sons of Katie Elder, The Longest Day, True Grit, El Dorado, Cast a Giant Shadow, The War Wagon, The Green Berets, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Hatari!, North to Alaska, The Alamo, The Comancheros, The Greatest Story Ever Told, Circus World, Hellfighters, and The Undefeated.
Jack Lemmon: The Great Race,Pepe, The Apartment, The Wackiest Ship in the Army, The Notorious Landlad, Days of Wine and Roses, Under the Yum Yum Tree, Irma la Douce, How to Murder Your Wife, Good Neighbor Sam, Luv, The Fortune Cookie, The Odd Couple, and The April Fools.
Marcello Mastroianni: 8 1/2, La Dolce Vita, La Notte, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Divorce Italian Style, Marriage Italian Style, The 10th Victim, Adua and Her Friends, Il bell'Antonio, Ghosts of Rome, La Notte, Family Diary, Family Diary, The Organizer, Kiss the Other Sheik, Me, Me, Me... and the Others, Casanova 70, Shoot Loud, Louder... I Don't Understand, The Poppy Is Also a Flower, Ghosts – Italian Style, Amanti, Break Up, The Stranger, and Diamonds for Breakfast.
James Stewart: How the West Was Won, Firecreek, The Flight of the Phoenix, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Cheyenne Autumn, The Mountain Road, Two Rode Together, Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation, Take Her, She's Mine, Shenandoah, Dear Brigitte, Bandolero!, and The Rare Breed.
Robert Mitchum: What a Way to Go!, Cape Fear, The Longest Day, El Dorado, Home from the Hill, The Sundowners, A Terrible Beauty, Two for the Seesaw, The Last Time I Saw Archie, The Grass Is Greener, The Way West, Mister Moses, Rampage, Man in the Middle, Anzio, 5 Card Stud, Villa Rides, The Good Guys and the Bad Guys, Secret Ceremony, and Young Billy Young.
Robert Duvall: Captain Newman, M.D., True Grit, To Kill a Mockingbird, Bullitt, The Chase, Nightmare in the Sun, Countdown, and The Detective.
Jean-Paul Belmondo: Breathless, That Man from Rio, Seven Days... Seven Nights, Trapped by Fear, Classe Tous Risques, The Lovemakers, Two Women, Lettere di una novizia, Love and the Frenchwoman, Le Doulos, Famous Love Affairs, Cartouche, A Man Named Rocca, Mare matto, The Winner, Sweet and Sour, Banana Peel, A Monkey in Winter, Backfire, Greed in the Sun, Weekend at Dunkirk, The Shortest Day, Magnet of Doom, Tender Scoundrel, Is Paris Burning?, Casino Royale, Male Hunt, Crime on a Summer Morning, Pierrot le Fou, Up to His Ears, Ho!, The Brain, Mississippi Mermaid, and Love Is a Funny Thing.
Kirk Douglas: Seven Days in May, The List of Adrian Messenger, Spartacus, Is Paris Burning?, The War Wagon, The Way West, Lonely Are the Brave, The Heroes of Telemark, Town Without Pity, The Last Sunset, For Love or Money, The Hook, The Arrangement, The Legend of Silent Night, The Brotherhood, A Lovely Way to Die, and Cast a Giant Shadow.
Charles Bronson: The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Battle of the Bulge, Villa Rides, Guns of Diablo, X-15, The Bull of the West, 4 for Texas, Lola, Once Upon a Time in the West, Guns for San Sebastian, The Dirty Dozen, A Thunder of Drums, Kid Galahad, Master of the World, The Sandpiper, This Property Is Condemned, The Meanest Men in the West, and Adieu l'ami.
Orson Welles: Casino Royale, Is Paris Burning?, The Trial, Kampf um Rom, The Thirteen Chairs, The Merchant of Venice, Battle of Neretva, Tepepa, The Southern Star, I'll Never Forget What's'isname, A Man for All Seasons, David and Goliath, La Fayette, Austerlitz, Crack in the Mirror, The Tartars, The V.I.P.s, Chimes at Midnight, In the Land of Don Quixote, Marco the Magnificent, House of Cards, The Immortal Story, and Oedipus the King.
William Holden: Paris When It Sizzles, The Wild Bunch, The World of Suzie Wong, The Lion, Satan Never Sleeps, The Counterfeit Traitor, Casino Royale, The Devil's Brigade, The 7th Dawn, Alvarez Kelly, and The Christmas Tree.
Frank Sinatra: Cast a Giant Shadow, The Detective, 4 for Texas, The Manchurian Candidate, Tony Rome, Pepe, The Devil at 4 O'Clock, The Road to Hong Kong, Sergeants 3, Come Blow Your Horn, None but the Brave, Paris When It Sizzles, Lady in Cement, The Oscar, Assault on a Queen, The Naked Runner, Von Ryan's Express, Marriage on the Rocks, and Robin and the 7 Hoods.
Elvis Presley: G.I. Blues, Kid Galahad, Wild in the Country, Follow That Dream, Blue Hawaii, It Happened at the World's Fair, Girls! Girls! Girls!, Fun in Acapulco, Roustabout, Viva Las Vegas, Kissin' Cousins, Frankie and Johnny, Girl Happy, Harum Scarum, Tickle Me, Clambake, Easy Come, Easy Go, Double Trouble, Stay Away, Joe, Live a Little, Love a Little, Speedway, Change of Habit, The Trouble with Girls, Charro!, Spinout, and Paradise, Hawaiian Style.
Edmond O'Brien: The Wild Bunch, The Longest Day, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Fantastic Voyage, The Great Impostor, The Last Voyage, The 3rd Voice, Birdman of Alcatraz, Man-Trap, Moon Pilot, Sylvia, Rio Conchos, The Hanged Man, The Outsider, Synanon, The Doomsday Flight, The Love God?, Flesh and Blood, The Viscount, and To Commit a Murder.
Ben Johnson: The Wild Bunch, The Rare Breed, The Undefeated, Hang 'Em High, Cheyenne Autumn, Will Penny, One-Eyed Jacks, Ten Who Dared, Tomboy and the Champ, and Major Dundee.
Warren Oates: The Wild Bunch, The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond, The Rounders, Ride the High Country, Private Property, Mail Order Bride, Hero's Island, In the Heat of the Night, Welcome to Hard Times, The Shooting, Return of the Seven, Smith!, Crooks and Coronets, The Split, Something for a Lonely Man, and Lanton Mills.
Sidney Poitier: In the Heat of the Night, Lilies of the Field, A Patch of Blue, To Sir, With Love, A Raisin in the Sun, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Paris Blues, The Long Ships, Pressure Point,All the Young Men, The Bedford Incident, The Greatest Story Ever Told, The Slender Thread, Duel at Diablo, For Love of Ivy, and The Lost Man.
Rod Steiger: The Longest Day, In the Heat of the Night, The Pawn broker, Doctor Zhivago, No Way to Treat a Lady, Three into Two Won't Go, Seven Thieves, The Mark, 13 West Street, World in My Pocket, Convicts 4, Time of Indifference, Hands over the City, A Man Named John, The Loved One, The Girl and the General, The Sergeant, and The Illustrated Man.
Ernest Borgnine: The Dirty Dozen, The Wild Bunch, The Legend of Lylah Clare, Pay or Die, The Last Judgment, Barabbas, The Italian Brigands, McHale's Navy, The Flight of the Phoenix, The Oscar, The Split, A Bullet for Sandoval, Ice Station Zebra, Chuka, Go Naked in the World, Black City, and Man on a String.
George Kennedy: The Boston Strangler, Charade, Strait-Jacket, McHale's Navy, The Sons of Katie Elder, The Dirty Dozen, Shenandoah, The Flight of the Phoenix, Guns of the Magnificent Seven, The Good Guys and the Bad Guys, Cool Hand Luke, The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come, The Man from the Diners' Club, The Silent Witness, McHale's Navy, Mirage, Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Island of the Blue Dolphins, In Harm's Way, Hurry Sundown, Bandolero!, The Ballad of Josie, Gaily, Gaily, and The Pink Jungle.
Strother Martin: McLintock!, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Cool Hand Luke, Hurry Sundown, Sanctuary, Shenandoah, Harper, Nevada Smith, The Sons of Katie Elder, The Wild Bunch, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, True Grit, An Eye for an Eye, The Flim-Flam Man, Showdown, Invitation to a Gunfighter, and The Deadly Companions.
Clint Eastwood: The Dollars Trilogy, Hang 'Em High, Where Eagles Dare, The Witches, Coogan's Bluff, and Paint Your Wagon.
Eli Wallach: How the West Was Won, The Magnificent Seven, The Misfits, The Tiger Makes Out, Lord Jim, How to Steal a Million, A Lovely Way to Die, Seven Thieves, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Genghis Khan, The Poppy Is Also a Flower, How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life, Ace High, Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man, The Brain, Mackenna's Gold, Kisses for My President, Act One, The Moon-Spinners, and The Victors.
Lee Van Cleef: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Posse from Hell, The Big Gundown, Sabata, Death Rides a Horse, Commandos, Day of Anger, and Beyond the Law.
Richard Burton: The Sandpiper, Where Eagles Dare, Ice Palace, The Longest Day, The Bramble Bush, Zulu, Becket, Cleopatra, What's New Pussycat?, The Night of the Iguana, The Spy Who Came In from the Cold, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Taming of the Shrew, Candy, Boom!, The Comedians in Africa, The Comedians, Doctor Faustus, Staircase, and Anne of the Thousand Days.
Paul Scofield: A Man for all Seasons, The Train, and Tell Me Lies.
Warren Beatty: All Fall Down, Splendor in the Grass, Bonnie and Clyde, Lilith, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, Mickey One, Promise Her Anything, and Kaleidoscope.
Albert Finney: Tom Jones, The Entertainer, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Two for the Road, The Victors, Night Must Fall, Charlie Bubbles, and The Picasso Summer.
Lee Marvin: Hell in the Pacific, The Professionals, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Comancheros, Paint Your Wagon, Point Blank, The Killers, Donovan's Reef, Cat Ballou, Ship of Fools, Sergeant Ryker, Hell in the Pacific, The Dirty Dozen, and Point Blank.
Anthony Quinn: Behold a Pale Horse, Barabbas, Zorba the Greek, Lawrence of Arabia, Guns for San Sebastian, The Rover, San Sebastian 1746 in 1968, The Secret of Santa Vittoria, A Dream of Kings, The 25th Hour, The Happening, Lost Command, Marco the Magnificent, The Visit, A High Wind in Jamaica, Heller in Pink Tights, The Savage Innocents, Portrait in Black, The Guns of Navarone, The Magus, and The Shoes of the Fisherman.
Michael Caine: Hurry Sundown, The Magus, Zulu, The Ipcress File, Alfie, The Italian Job, Deadfall, Funeral in Berlin, Billion Dollar Brain, Battle of Britain, Gambit, The Wrong Box, Woman Times Seven, Play Dirty, Foxhole in Cairo, Solo for Sparrow, The Wrong Arm of the Law, The Bulldog Breed, and The Day the Earth Caught Fire.
Rex Harrison: Cleopatra, My Fair Lady, Doctor Dolittle, The Happy Thieves, Midnight Lace, The Agony and the Ecstasy, The Yellow Rolls-Royce, Staircase, The Honey Pot, and A Flea in Her Ear.
Sean Connery: The Longest Day, Dr. No, Marnie, Goldfinger, From Russia with Love, Macbeth, The Frightened City, On the Fiddle, Anna Karenina, Shalako, The Red Tent, You Only Live Twice, Un monde nouveau, The Hill, A Fine Madness, Thunderball, Woman of Straw, and The Bowler and the Bunnet.
Spencer Tracy: Judgment at Nuremberg, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Inherit the Wind, The Devil at 4 O'Clock, and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
Chishû Ryû: Late Autumn, Otoko wa Tsurai yo, The Human Bullet, Japan's Longest Day, The End of Summer, An Autumn Afternoon, The Human Condition 3, and The Last War.
Martin Balsam: Psycho, A Thousand Clowns, Trilogy, The Good Guys and the Bad Guys, Around the World of Mike Todd, Me, Natalie, Around the World of Mike Todd, Hombre, Among the Paths to Eden, After the Fox, Harlow, The Bedford Incident, Seven Days in May, Suspense, Youngblood Hawke, Everybody Go Home, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Ada, Cape Fear, Route 66, and Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?.
Alan Bates: Zorba the Greek, Georgy Girl, Far from the Madding Crowd, Women in Love, King of Hearts, The Fixer, The Entertainer, Zorba the Greek, Nothing but the Best, Whistle Down the Wind, A Kind of Loving, The Caretaker, and The Running Man.
Alain Delon: Is Paris Burning?, Famous Love Affairs, Rocco and His Brothers, Purple Noon, The Leopard, Le Samouraï, The Yellow Rolls-Royce, Lost Command, L'Eclisse, The Joy of Living, The Devil and the Ten Commandments, Love at Sea, Carom Shots, Any Number Can Win, Joy House, The Unvanquished, Once a Thief, Texas Across the River, Adieu l'ami, Jeff, The Sicilian Clan, La Piscine, Spirits of the Dead, The Girl on a Motorcycle, The Last Adventure, and Diabolically Yours.
Peter Sellers: What's New Pussycat?, Casino Royale, Woman Times Seven, Dr. Strangelove, Lolita, The Millionairess, Never Let Go, Two-Way Stretch, The Wrong Arm of the Law, The Dock Brief, The Pink Panther, Only Two Can Play, Mr. Topaze, Waltz of the Toreadors, Heavens Above!, A Shot in the Dark, The World of Henry Orient, A Carol for Another Christmas, Casino Royale, Woman Times Seven, The bobo, The Party, The Magic Christian, and I Love You, Alice B. Toklas.
George C. Scott: The List of Adrian Messenger, The Hustler, Not with My Wife, You Don't!, The Flim-Flam Man, Dr. Strangelove, The Power and the Glory, The Crucible, The Yellow Rolls-Royce, The Bible: In the Beginning..., This Savage Land, and Petulia.
Walter Matthau: Charade, Fail Safe, The Fortune Cookie, The Odd Couple, Strangers When We Meet, Lonely Are the Brave, Mirage, Ensign Pulver, Island of Love, Who's Got the Action?, Candy, Cactus Flower, Hello, Dolly!, The Secret Life of an American Wife, and A Guide for the Married Man.
Jean-Louis Trintignant: Z, A Man and a Woman, The Great Silence, Austerlitz, Horace 62, Un homme à abattre, La Longue marche, Trans-Europ-Express, Le Combat dans l'île, So Sweet... So Perverse, L'Américain, Mata Hari, Agent H21, Journey Beneath the Desert, Il Sorpasso, Col cuore in gola, Death Laid an Egg, Les Biches, My Love, My Love, The Man Who Lies, Metti, una sera a cena, My Night at Maud's, The Libertine, The Sleeping Car Murders, Diamond Safari, Spotlight on a Murderer, Nutty, and Naughty Chateau.
Max von Sydow: The Greatest Story Ever Told, Shame, Hour of the Wolf, The Virgin Spring, Through a Glass Darkly, Bröllopsdagen, 4x4, Winter Light, Hawaii, Adventures of Nils Holgersson, The Mistress, Made in Sweden, The Passion of Anna, The Quiller Memorandum, Svarta palmkronor, The Reward, and Here Is Your Life.
Richard Attenborough: The Sand Pebbles, The Great Escape, Doctor Dolittle, The Angry Silence, Upgreen – And at 'Em, The Dock Brief, Only Two Can Play, The League of Gentlemen, All Night Long, Séance on a Wet Afternoon, The Third Secret, The Flight of the Phoenix, Only When I Larf, Guns at Batasi, The Magic Christian, Oh! What a Lovely War, and The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom.
Melvyn Douglas: Hud, Hotel, The Crucible, Companions in Nightmare, Rapture, Inherit the Wind, Lamp At Midnight, Advance to the Rear, A Very Close Family, The Americanization of Emily, and Billy Budd.
Woody Strode: Spartacus, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Sergeant Rutledge, The Last Voyage, Two Rode Together, The Sins of Rachel Cade, Che!, Once Upon a Time in the West, Boot Hill, Genghis Khan, Shalako, Black Jesus, The Professionals, Tarzan's Three Challenges, and 7 Women.
Yûsuke Kawazu: The River Fuefuki, Ken, Manji, Kiri no Hata, Cruel Story of Youth, Genocide, Fighting Elegy, and Black Lizard.
John Cassavetes: The Dirty Dozen, Rosemary's Baby, A Child Is Waiting, The Killers, Devil's Angels, Roma come Chicago, If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium, Machine Gun McCain, and The Webster Boy.
Laurence Harvey: The Outrage, Kampf um Rom, The Manchurian Candidate, The Ceremony, The Alamo, The Long and the Short and the Tall, BUtterfield 8, Walk on the Wild Side, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, The Running Man, A Girl Named Tamiko, Darling, Of Human Bondage, Summer and Smoke, Two Loves, The Doctor and the Devil, Rebus, The Spy with a Cold Nose, The Magic Christian, L'assoluto naturale, The Charge of the Light Brigade, A Dandy in Aspic, Life at the Top, The Outrage, and The Winter's Tale.
Omar Sharif: Mackenna's Gold, Behold a Pale Horse, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, The Poppy Is Also a Flower, The Fall of the Roman Empire, Funny Girl, More Than a Miracle, Che!, Mayerling, Trois hommes sur un cheval, The Appointment, Genghis Khan, The Yellow Rolls-Royce, El mamalik, The Night of the Generals, Lawet El Hub, Nahna el talamiza, Gharam el assiad, Hobi al-Wahid, The Beginning and the End, The River of Love, A Rumor of Love, and There is a Man in our House.
George Peppard: How the West Was Won, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Carpetbaggers, House of Cards, Home from the Hill, The Victors, The Subterraneans, P.J.,What's So Bad About Feeling Good?, Pendulum, Operation Crossbow, The Third Day, Tobruk, Rough Night in Jericho, and The Blue Max.
James Garner: The Great Escape, Grand Prix, Duel at Diablo, 36 Hours, The Pink Jungle, A High Wind in Jamaica,Hour of the Gun, The Americanization of Emily, Cash McCall, The Children's Hour, Boys' Night Out, Action on the Beach, The Art of Love, Grand Prix: Challenge of the Champions, The Thrill of It All, Move Over, Darling, The Wheeler Dealers, Marlowe, Support Your Local Sheriff!, The Man Who Makes the Difference, Once Upon a Wheel, The Racing Scene, A Man Could Get Killed, How Sweet It Is!, and Mister Buddwing.
Donald Pleasence: The Great Escape, The Night of the Generals, You Only Live Twice, Creature of Comfort, Will Penny, Fantastic Voyage, The Greatest Story Ever Told, The Hallelujah Trail, The Caretaker, Suspect, No Love for Johnnie, The Shakedown, The Flesh and the Fiends, The Hands of Orlac, Hell Is a City, The Wind of Change, Circus of Horrors, Sons and Lovers, The Big Day, Dr. Crippen, Cul-de-sac, The Inspector, What a Carve Up!, Eye of the Devil, Matchless, Arthur? Arthur!, The Other People, The Madwoman of Chaillot, A Story of David, and Spare the Rod.
James Coburn: Charade, The Americanization of Emily, The Magnificent Seven, Hell Is for Heroes, The Great Escape, Our Man Flint, In Like Flint, The Man from Galveston, The Murder Men, Hell Is for Heroes, What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?, Duffy, Candy, The President's Analyst, Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round, Waterhole No. 3, Major Dundee, A High Wind in Jamaica, The Loved One, and Hard Contract.
Cary Grant: Charade, The Grass Is Greener, That Touch of Mink, Walk, Don't Run, and Father Goose.
Horst Buchholz: The Magnificent Seven, One, Two, Three, Fanny, Nine Hours to Rama, Marco the Magnificent, The Empty Canvas, Ankle Bone, Cervantes, That Man in Istanbul, Johnny Banco, and How, When and with Whom.
Jackie Gleason: Soldier in the Rain, The Hustler, Gigot, Requiem for a Heavyweight, Skidoo, Papa's Delicate Condition, How to Commit Marriage, and Don't Drink the Water.
Arthur Kennedy: Lawrence of Arabia, Barabbas, Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man, Claudelle Inglish, Cheyenne Autumn, Murder, She Said, Anzio, Shark!, A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die, Hail, Hero!, Nevada Smith,Murieta, Fantastic Voyage, Attack and Retreat, Joy in the Morning, Monday's Child, and Day of the Evil Gun.
Peter Finch: Kidnapped, The Trials of Oscar Wilde, The Day, No Love for Johnnie, In the Cool of the Day, I Thank a Fool, Girl with Green Eyes, The Pumpkin Eater, The Flight of the Phoenix, Judith, First Men in the Moon, Far from the Madding Crowd, 10:30 P.M. Summer, Come Spy with Me, The Greatest Mother of Them All, The Legend of Lylah Clare, and The Red Tent.
Hugh Griffith: How to Steal a Million,Exodus, Mutiny on the Bounty, Oliver!, The Counterfeit Traitor, The Citadel, Point of Departure, The Day They Robbed the Bank of England, The Inspector, Tom Jones, Term of Trial, The Poppy Is Also a Flower, Hide and Seek, The Bargee, The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders, On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who..., Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad, The Sailor from Gibraltar, The Fixer, Il marito è mio e l'ammazzo quando mi pare, and Brown Eye, Evil Eye.
Jason Robards: A Big Hand for the Little Lady, Hour of the Gun, Long Day's Journey into Night, A Thousand Clowns, Act One, By Love Possessed, Isadora, Tender Is the Night, Divorce American Style, A Big Hand for the Little Lady, The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Any Wednesday, Once Upon a Time in the West, and The Night They Raided Minsky's.
George Seagel: The Southern Star, No Way to Treat a Lady, Invitation to a Gunfighter, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Lost Command, The Quiller Memorandum, The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, King Rat, Act One, The Young Doctors, The Bridge at Remagen, The Girl Who Couldn't Say No, Bye Bye Braverman, and The New Interns.
Rod Taylor: Chuka, The Time Machine, Sunday in New York, The Glass Bottom Boat, 36 Hours, The Birds, Hotel, Nobody Runs Forever, The Hell with Heroes, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Seven Seas to Calais, Colossus and the Amazon Queen, Dark of the Sun, The Liquidator, Young Cassidy, Fate Is the Hunter, Do Not Disturb, and A Gathering of Eagles.
Robert Ryan: Ice Palace, Billy Budd, The Longest Day, The Wild Bunch, The Dirty Dozen, Battle of the Bulge, The Professionals, Anzio, Captain Nemo and the Underwater City, A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die, Hour of the Gun, Custer of the West, The Busy Body, The Canadians, King of Kings, and The Crooked Road.
Christopher Plummer: Battle of Britain, The Sound of Music, The Fall of the Roman Empire, Inside Daisy Clover, The Royal Hunt of the Sun, Lock Up Your Daughters, Nobody Runs Forever, Oedipus the King, The Night of the Generals, and Triple Cross.
Michel Piccoli: Le Doulos, Contempt, Diary of a Chambermaid, La Guerre Est Finit, Les Creatures, The Young Girls of Rochefort, Belle De Jour, Danger: Diabolik, Dillinger is Dead, The Milky Way, Topaz, Lady L, The Day and the Hour, Masquerade, L'Invitée, Climats, Les Petits Drames, Adieu Philippine, La dragée haute, Le Bal des espions, Amazons of Rome, All About Loving, The Sleeping Car Murders, The War Is Over, The Game Is Over, Belle de Jour, Benjamin, Shock Troops, La Chamade, and La Prisonnière.
Tatsuya Nakadai: When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, Yojimbo,The Human Condition: A Soldier's Prayer, Immortal Love, Sanjuro, Harakiri ,High and Low, Kwaidan, The Sword of Doom, The Face of Another, Samurai Rebellion, Kill!, Goyokin, Portrait of Hell, Get 'em All, Daughters, Wives and a Mother ,Miren, A Woman's Life, Pressure of Guilt, Love Under the Crucifix, The Blue Beast, The Other Women, Kumo ga chigieru toki, Hakari, The Legacy of the 500,000, Saigo no shinpan, Blood End, Arijigoku sakusen, Kwaidan, Saigo no shinpan, Fort Graveyard, Cash Calls Hell, Illusion of Blood, Kojiro, The Age of Assassins, The Daphne, Today We Kill... Tomorrow We Die!, Rengō Kantai Shirei Chōkan: Yamamoto Isoroku, Blood End, Hitokiri, Eiko's 5000 Kilograms, and The Battle of the Japan Sea.
James Mason: Lolita, Duffy, Mayerling, The Sea Gull, Age of Consent, The Blue Max, Stranger in the House, The Deadly Affair, Georgy Girl, The Fall of the Roman Empire, The Pumpkin Eater, Genghis Khan, Lord Jim, The Uninhibited, Hero's Island, Torpedo Bay, Tiara Tahiti, The Trials of Oscar Wilde, The Marriage-Go-Round, and Escape from Zahrain.
Vincent Price: The Last Man on Earth, Witchfinder General, Convicts 4, Confessions of an Opium Eater, Tower of London, Tales of Terror, The Raven, Diary of a Madman, The Haunted Palace, The Masque of the Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, Twice-Told Tales, Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, The Comedy of Terrors, City Under the Sea, The House of 1,000 Dolls, The Pit and the Pendulum, Nefertiti, Queen of the Nile, Rage of the Buccaneers, Beach Party, House of Usher, Master of the World, Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs, Spirits of the Dead, The Trouble with Girls, The Jackals, More Dead Than Alive, and The Oblong Box.
Jack Nicholson: The Raven, Easy Rider, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Shooting, Head, Hells Angels on Wheels, The Trip, The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Psych-Out, Thunder Island, Back Door to Hell, Ride in the Whirlwind, Flight to Fury, The Wild Ride, The Broken Land, Studs Lonigan, Too Soon to Love, and The Terror.
Rock Hudson: Lover Come Back, Send Me No Flowers, The Last Sunset, Marilyn, The Spiral Road, Come September, Strange Bedfellows, Man's Favorite Sport?, A Gathering of Eagles, A Very Special Favor, Seconds, Tobruk, Ice Station Zebra, The Undefeated, Blindfold, and A Fine Pair.
Charlton Heston: El Cid, The Pigeon That Took Rome, 55 Days at Peking, The Greatest Story Ever Told, While I Run This Race, All About People, The Agony and the Ecstasy, Number One, Planet of the Apes, Counterpoint, Will Penny, Major Dundee, Khartoum, The War Lord, The Five Cities of June, and Diamond Head.
John Gavin: Psycho, Midnight Lace, Back Street, The Madwoman of Chaillot, Thoroughly Modern Millie, OSS 117 – Double Agent, Tammy Tell Me True, Spartacus, Pedro Páramo, A Breath of Scandal, and Romanoff and Juliet.
Stephen Boyd: Lisa, Billy Rose's Jumbo, Fantastic Voyage, The Poppy Is Also a Flower, The Big Gamble, Slaves, The Caper of the Golden Bulls, Shalako, Assignment K, The Bible: In the Beginning..., The Fall of the Roman Empire, Genghis Khan, The Oscar, The Third Secret, and Imperial Venus.
Dick Van Dyke: Bye Bye Birdie, Mary Poppins, Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N., The Art of Love, What a Way to Go!, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Divorce American Style, The Comic, Some Kind of a Nut, Fitzwilly, and Never a Dull Moment.

I watched "Maverick" (1994).

Ah, the art of making a traditional Western film just for the sake of it. Honestly, given how irrelevant the traditional style has become, I'm not surprised people don't mention this all too much when looking back at 1994. (Then again, it’s usually at most two dozen movies anyone cares about from then. What, you mean to tell me this is in a different league than Pulp Fiction?) I’m pretty sure the selling point of Maverick was that it's cool to be a regular Western film and not something as revolutionary as, say, Unforgiven, but nowadays that's not particularly inviting. Especially when it overshadows other points like its appealing cast. Even if such a movie is well-liked (which it is), why bother to watch a new movie that tries to be charming in an old-fashioned way when there are already countless movies of its class? The most inviting time to watch this was when it came out, and with each passing year it gets less interesting to consider watching.
Perhaps that's why it's taken me so long to get around to watching Maverick. That, and the fact I don’t really like Richard Donner as a director. In his later years, anyway. That guy has talent to spare, but his best days were well behind him at this point and while he was always a fair choice for a visually striking but precisely broad scope for handling plenty different ranges of material, a lot of his later work seemed to see him lack a real grasp on the material he was given and turned the stuff he made ranging from middling to godawful. My hopes were that if he gave this material the right level of energy, we had something good here.
And wouldn't you know it, I was right. For the most part. But the fact that I can relax knowing Donner made an overall better movie than Radio Flyer in the 90s is good enough for me.
Sure, it's a pretty lightweight endeavour, meaning if you don't like anything here then all bets are off, but this TV adaptation (knew about the original 50s show but never watched it) is quite a fun, feel-good sort of entertainment. Of course, given its lavish $75M-and-it-sure-looks-like-it budget (correct me if I'm wrong, as I was wrong before I watched this movie since I thought the title went to the cheap looking $70M film Wolf, but isn't this the second most expensive film of 1994 behind True Lies?) the look of the film is splendid. Donner's reliably marvellous sense of cinematography and set design are all aces, as are the Academy-recognised costumes. Randy Newman's score adds a nice touch, pretty great in occasional scenes. But really, this movie wouldn't be even half as fun if it weren't for the cast. Especially Mel Gibson as the titular Bret "Bert" Maverick.
Gibson and Co bring a much needed sense of energy and humour to the script, keeping plenty of the colourful characterisations in check as we travel around the map. The cast are all game, from prime con men to bank robbers to Indians to people of all travels like the Russian leader. They're great, if a bit too lightweight and underutilised--potential implications of her character notwithstanding, I kept forgetting Jodie Foster was in the movie until she would make her reappearance. Thankfully, Gibson is plenty enough of a hero to anchor and carry the film; he's charming as all get-out, funny, and quite talented in plenty methods, especially in balancing out getting on top and being a nice guy. Sympathise with him as he goes from a coward to a brave man willing to sacrifice himself for those around him, relying on his father's quotes and quick wits to survive. And magic, apparently. All leading up to the big poker game on the river. Ah, the old days of looking forward to seeing a new Gibson film...
For a movie that lends itself to the legacy of being a Western by being one for the 90s, it's a good effort for the most part. Do wish it was a bit more...fun, to be honest. And a bit broader in establishing the aspects of a poker game. And not so aimless towards the end. (What, you thought this was Casino Royale before Casino Royale? At least Martin Campbell can claim to have a steady hand on his material in his movies on any point in his career.) Donner is a bit of a letdown in staging plenty of the big showdown scenes--they're fine, but you'd expect to let the film do some of the workmanship in providing entertainment value rather than being all showy and hoping the light material and cast did all the work. Scenes like Maverick taking over the reins on a horse-powered journey gone wrong tend to succeed more on the charms of its cast than the spectacle of seeing him try to hang on for dear life. Not to mention such an anticlimactic scene where Maverick has to escape his bedroom on the boat. Typical 90s Donner, but despite my quibbles, it's great the movie is already entertaining enough as it is. It’s just that those quibbles could be brushed aside to make this a pretty great blockbuster for rediscovering rather than sheer adequacy. Great that it’s pretty spectacular in its lavish look, too (hard to think of someone better than Donner to make this as broadly beautiful as it is). Also pretty hilarious.
Seriously, I didn't expect this to be so funny. Then again, it's a Gibson/Donner collaboration, and if they want to do Lethal Weapon any way they can, so be it. (Unless it’s Conspiracy Theory, in which case I’ll order the gravy and go back to watching JFK.) Hilarious Danny Glover cameo included. ("I'm getting too old for this...") Likely the film's greatest asset in maintaining a steady level of quality, and it goes far enough to be some good fluff. Sure, it’s not the best thing you could ask for, but it’s always nice to kick back and relax to such entertaining fluffy stuff, no? Especially for those more into Westerns than I am.
Sorry if I rambled quite a bit, but I found this pretty fun to write about the way everyone seemed while making this.
7/10
P.S. Anyone down for a Top Gun/Maverick hybrid? Just for the sake of it?

The World is Not Enough: An Underrated Masterpiece

Book Rey Mysterio If He Never Joined WWE in 2018 - Part 2: Booyaka

Part 1 here
In this part, we saw Rey Mysterio jump onto the scene of NJPW. He started off hot, taking on his two amigos in Jushin Thunder Liger and Hiroshi Tanahashi respectively. At King of Pro-Wrestling, he defeated Liger - but fell to The Ace in a match for his G1 Climax briefcase. He then won the IWGP United States Championship off of Cody to end his offspring of Bullet Club, and would embark on a title reign. He successfully defended against Bandido last time we saw him, and now he moves onto his next challenger.
Book Rey Mysterio If He Never Joined WWE in 2018 - Part 2: Booyaka
G1 Supercard:
Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Tomohiro Ishii - IWGP United States Championship
Rey Mysterio skips out on the New Japan Cup, and instead prepares for the G1 Supercard. It will be the biggest show NJPW have held in America, and since he’s the United States Champion he will be defending. Rey ventures off to GCW for Joey Janela’s Spring Break, taking part in the Clusterfuck as a surprise entrant. On Night Two, after Janela faces off with Jungle Boy - he calls out Rey to a match for a later date. Mysterio doesn’t respond, instead he’s in Madison Square Garden to face off against a New Japan semi-finalist, Tomohiro Ishii. He lost to Okada in the semis, and is angry. He wants to take his anger out on someone, and the IWGP United States Champion is his next victim.
He fought in the inaugural title match but came up short to Kenny Omega, but now he has his chance to become the first Japanese man to hold it. After seeing Mayu Iwatani retain the Women of Honor Championship, we move to our next match - as Tomohiro Ishii walks out to a loud MSG pop. In the front row are Mysterio’s daughter, Aalyah and his wife. Then we see his son, Dominick, as a young lion at ringside. He got kicked in the head by Minoru Suzuki earlier so he’s just having a great time. They’re dad then enters out in the same gear he wore to the actual WrestleMania that weekend, as the villain “Mysterio” from Spider-Man Homecoming. He walks out with the gold Tomohiro lusts for, and rolls inside to pose with it on the second rope.
The bell is rung and Mysterio goes to lock up - BUT ISHII GRABS HIM INTO A RELEASE GERMAN SUPLEX!! HE FOLLOWS WITH A BRIDGING GERMAN!! 1.........2.....KICK OUT BY REY REY!!! Mysterio is shocked at the sudden attack, and scurries up in the corner. ISHII GOES FOR A CLOTHESLINE BUT REY TURNS IT INTO A CRUCIFIX PIN!!! 1........ISHII KICKS OUT AND IS HIT BY A ROUNDHOUSE KICK!! REY WITH A HEADSCISSORS TAKEDOWN!! Rey regains and takes a moment to intake what’s happening, and GOES FOR A SHIRANUI!! ISHII COUNTERS WITH A SPIKE DDT!!! 1..............2..........KICK OUT INTO A POWERBOMB!!!! 1.............2..........TOMOHIRO LOCKS IN A BOSTON CRAB!! There is no escape for Mysterio from this rabid dog - who is hungry. Ishii locks in the hold and cinches it tighter.
REY GOES TO FLIP HIM OUT, BUT ISHII GETS RIGHT BACK UP AND HITS HIM WITH A BOOT TO THE HEAD!! ISHII LIFTS HIM UP INTO A SNAP SUPLEX!! Tomohiro Ishii is now on the hunt, as he starts to unleash chops. OPEN HAND TO THE CHEST!! Rey falls to the mat, but is scooped back up into OVERHEAD CHOP!! Rey crumples to the mat again and starts to cough. ISHII THROWS HIM OUTSIDE INTO THE ARMS OF HIS SON!! ISHII THEN WITH A BIG BOOT ON THE FLOOR TO DOMINICK, AND THROWS HIM INTO THE APRON!! Ishii looks down at the fallen young boy - BUT IS THEN HIT BY A ENZIGURI FROM REY!!! MYSTERIO HITS A FRONT DROPKICK INTO THE RING POST!! HE THROWS HIM BACK INSIDE AND DIVES WITH A FROGSPLASH!!! 1.............2..........KICK OUT!!! ISHII ROLLS THROUGH AND LIFTS MYSTERIO UP INTO A VERTICAL SUPLEX!!! 1...........MYSTERIO GETS OUT!!!
The crowd are going nuts at these two guys fighting spirit. ISHII GOES FOR A GERMAN SUPLEX, BUT REY FLIPS OUT AND HITS A HEADSCISSORS!! HE GOES FOR A 619 - BUT ISHII SPINS HIM TO THE OUTSIDE!! TOMOHIRO RUNS THE ROPES, BUT IS HIT BY A SPRINGBOARD CROSSBODY!! He lifts Ishii up and runs the ropes, TO HIT A BULLDOG!! INTO A TORNADO DDT!! He calls for a 619, as Ishii crawls to the ropes. HE HITS IT!! HE DIVES FOR THE SEATED SENTON - BUT NO NECK TOM CATCHES AND HITS A BRAINBUSTER!!! 1...............2..............MYSTERIO KICKS OUT!!! Everyone explodes that Rey kicked out, and Ishii is still that angry dog - but he just got a whiff of a juicy steak. Tom lifts him up, looks him dead in his dead eyes - AND HEADBUTTS HIM TO SHIT!!
ISHII FURTHER TARGETS THE HEAD WITH AN ENZIGURI!! HE RUNS FOR A LARIAT, BUT REY DUCKS AND HITS A MYSTERIO-RANA!! ISHII KICKS OUT AND ROLLS INTO THAT LARIAT!!! ISHII GOES FOR A BRAINBUSTER, BUT MYSTERIO EVADES AND HITS THE MYSTERIO-EXPRESS!! ISHII NO SELLS AND IS HIT BY A ENZIGURI!! ISHII NO SELLS AND HITS REY WITH A THREE AMIGOS!! He mocks his fallen friend Eddie with those moves - and that fuels Rey’s fire. REY WITH A SPRINGBOARD SEATED SENTON!! HE HITS A HEADSCISSORS AND CALLS FOR A 619!!! HE CONNECTS!!! SPRINGBOARD SPLASH!!!! 1...........2........KICK OUT!!!!!! ISHII LIFTS HIMSELF UP WITH A PRIMAL ROAR, AN HITS THE ISHII DRILLER!!!!! 1................2................3!!!! TOMOHIRO ISHII WINS AND BECOMES YOUR NEW, AND FIRST EVER JAPANESE, IWGP UNITED STATES CHAMPION!!!!
Tomohiro Ishii defeats Rey Mysterio (12:51)
PROGRESS Chapter 88: Super Strong Style 16:
Marty Scurll vs. Rey Mysterio
With his United States Championship lost, ending his 92 day reign, Mysterio heads away from Japan for a while to regain himself. He’s confirmed to show up at PROGRESS‘ Super Strong Style, but later revealed that he won’t actually participate - instead wrestle on the last night in a standard singles match with no prizes but merit. Meanwhile, his opponent is scheduled to be...Marty Scurll. A man who hasn’t appeared in PROGRESS in a long while, mainly because he’s in the middle of a ROH World Championship reign. Having begun his reign in June of 2018, Marty still holds it. He’ll return to PROGRESS for this night however, as he wants to face Rey…badly. After Dominion last year when Rey lost to Marty, he’s wanted to defeated him one on one. A year of wait, and he finally gets his chance. The ultimate hero vs. The ultimate villain, it’s like a comic book finale.
In the lead up, Marty cuts a promo on Mysterio. In it he is as snivelling as ever, offering his wife Angie a night with him and calling Dominick “a giant lummocks“. Then when the third night of the Super Strong Style 16 arrives, we hear Rey Mysterio’s entrance music for the first time in PROGRESS history, as he enters to a raucous pop from the Alexandra Palace. Alexandra Park in London lose their minds for the Lucha Libre legend, who comes out in Black Knight attire (a Marvel superhero from Britain). The fans love him and he shakes hand with Jim Smallman as he enters. Marty Scurll’s reception is mixed, but he certainly wants it to be vocally harsh. He takes beer out of fans hands and spits it at them, which certainly turns their reactions around.
The two men stare down after the bell is rung, a seismic stare. Rey puts his hand up with two fingers, but so does Scurll. They then both do the “2-0-5” taunt in sync. The crowd laugh, which Marty doesn’t like. He taunts on the second turnbuckle to earn their ire. Rey does the same and receives a good response. Scurll then jumps off and walks over to Rey - WHO DIVES AT HIM WITH A HURRICANERANA! They then run the ropes, AND MARTY CATCHES HIM WITH AN ARM DRAG HANDSPRING! MYSTERIO HITS HIS OWN ARM DRAG! Marty runs the ropes but Rey goes for a FRONT DROPKICK - but Marty halts so Rey misses the boat. SCURLL THEN DOUBLE FOOT STOMPS ON THE LUCHADORS FEET!! He lifts him up and starts to chop his chest.
Marty finishes the chops, AND THEN HITS A ROPE-ASSISTED ENZIGURI!! He stomps on Rey while he shouts at fans who boo him, telling them to be louder. He smashes his knee into a kneeling Rey, and then lifts him into a Gory Special!! REY ESCAPES WITH A SUNSET FLIP!! HE RUNS THE ROPES AND GOES FOR A SPRINGBOARD CROSSBODY, BUT SCURLL CATCHES WITH A SITOUT SUPLEX SLAM!! HE RUNS THE ROPES AND HITS A PENALTY KICK!! HE LOCKS IN AN OCTOPUS HOLD!! He wrenches on it, but Rey shuffles to the ropes. Scurll then slides outside to shout at a fan who insulted him. SCURLL IS THEN HIT BY A SUICIDE DIVE INTO A HEADSCISSORS BY MYSTERIO!! REY THROWS HIM INSIDE AND HITS A FROGSPLASH!!! 1................2............KICK OUT!!! MARTY DOESN’T DIE AFTER THE SURPRISE ATTACK!!
Rey is now out of his trance of being beaten down and is back in the fight. Scurll goes for a Wheelbarrow Bodyscissors but Rey counters with an Arm Drag! HE GOES FOR A SUNSET FLIP PIN BUT SCURLL BREAKS OUT WITH A LANZA!! SCURLL THEN LIFTS REY UP FOR A GERMAN SUPLEX!! HE CONNECTS, AND GOES FOR ANOTHER! BUT MYSTERIO FLIPS OUT AND HITS A HEADSCISSORS!! HE THEN CONNECTS A BASEBALL SLIDEFOLLOWED BY HEADSCISSORS!! Rey is on a roll as he dances like Eddie outside. Scurll goes to push him into a fans seat, but Mysterio ducks and PUSHES HIM INTO THE APRON!! They then fight there. Scurll knocks Rey off and CONNECTS A SUPERKICK FROM THE APRON!! HE THEN DIVES OUT WITH A MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR!!
Now they’re both on the ground. Scurll is dead and so is Rey. They crawl up by the fans laps. Scurll asks a fan to hold Rey in place as he lines up a Penalty Kick. MYSTERIO EVADES BEFORE THE KICK CONNECTS AND PUSHES HIM ONTO A GROUP OF FANS SEATS!! HE THEN DIVES OFF THE SECOND ROPE WITH A CROSSBODY - OVER THE FANS HEADS TO SCURLL!! They’re both even more dead than before and spend time climbing out of the wreckage, through fans and bent and fallen chairs. Rey navigates his way back while Marty writhes in the agony. Once back in the ring Mysterio dives for a Seated Senton - BUT IS HIT BY A SUPERKICK!! SCURLL HITS THE BLACK PLAGUE AND ROLLS INTO THE CROSSFACED CHICKENWING!! REY GETS HIS FOOT ON THE ROPES!! Scurll angrily lets go, throwing the luchador to the mat.
They’re back up and the contest is still on. Rey knocks Scurll down with a SUNSET FLIP INTO A ROUNDHOUSE KICK, AND THEN HITS THE DROPPIN DA DIME!!! 1.............2...........KICK OUT!!! MYSTERIO LIFTS SCURLL UP AND GOES FOR A BULLDOG, BUT MARTY HITS A BACKBREAKER RACK DROPPED INTO A FACEBUSTER!! SCURLL JUMPS FOR A TORNADO DDT - BUT MYSTERIO CATCHES WTH A DROPKICK!! HE THEN FLIES WITH HIS OWN TORNADO DDT!! 1...........2.........SCURLL ROLLS OUT AND GOES FOR THE TORNADO DDT, BUT MYSTERIO CATCHES HIM WITH A SUPER HURRICANERANA!! MARTY LANDS ON HIS FEET AND HITS THE PARTY’S OVER!! HIS OLD FINISHER BUSTED OUT ON THIS OCCASION!!! HE COVERS, 1...............2...............MYSTERIO KICKS OUT JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME!!!
They roll outside to recover after the big rush of counters. Scurll is first up and walks over to Rey’s daughter and wife. He tries to chat them up, BUT REY TURNS HIM AROUND INTO A THROW INTO THE RING POST!! HE HITS A BIG BOOT INTO THE STEEL!! Rey then sets up a wooden table, and brings Scurll up to the apron. They both trade forearms there. Marty jumps to the second rope, possibly looking for a TORNADO DDT!! REY BRINGS HIM DOWN AND HITSMA HURRICANERANA OFF THE APRON!! SCURLL CRASHES DOWN THROUGH THE WOODEN TABLE ONTO THE WOODEN FLOOR!! Scurll grabs his back in utter agony, his spine crushed by the wooden table and floor. Rey then picks him off the mat and rolls him inside.
Rey is looking to end it now, as he climbs up for a SPRINGBOARD SPLASH!! HE THEN LOOKS FOR A 619, BUT SCURLL HITS A EUROPEAN UPPERCUT!! SCURLL THEN GOES FOR A KNEELING REVERSE PILEDRIVER!! MYSTERIO COUNTERS WITH A ROLL UP FOLLOWED BY A FRONT DROPKICK AFTER THE KICK OUT! REY THEN CLIMBS UP FOR A DIVING WEST COAST POP!! 1............2.........KICK OUT!! REY GOES FOR ANOTHER - BUT ITS CAUGHT!! MARTY CATCHES HIM INTO A BIRD OF PREY!! HE HITS A TORNADO DDT!! HE FINALLY LOCKS IN THE CROSSFACED CHICKENWING!! REY ESCAPES AND SWINGS AROUND THE ROPES IN A 619 BUT IS HIT BY A SUPERKICK!! SCURLL THEN LOCKS IN THE CROSSFACED CHICKENWING WITH A BODYSCISSORS!! REY TAPS OUT!!!
Marty Scurll defeats Rey Mysterio (19:58)
Dominion 2019:
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Rey Mysterio - IWGP Heavyweight Championship
At Wrestling Dontaku, we see Kazuchika Okada and SANADA face off for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in Night Two’s main event on May 4th. Afterwards, Rey Mysterio appears on video where he says he will return to New Japan at Dominion to take on Okada for his IWGP Heavyweight Championship. The Rainmaker then states that in his post-match press conference, that he’s always wanted to face Rey Mysterio and that he’ll be happy to do it. Rey is a good and honourable man who deserves this title match after 25 years of wrestling. Okada is happy to give him the opportunity but makes sure Mysterio knows, he won’t win.
Later in the month is AEW’s Double or Nothing. The highly anticipated show features a plethora of talent and star studded match ups, after the Jacksonville and Las Vegas rallies individually. Rey Mysterio appears at neither however despite heavy rumour and speculation. However, to open the show we see the Casino Battle Royale. In this we get a bomb dropped on us - the debut of Mysterio in AEW. Entering as the Joker, he comes and cleans house. It comes down to him and Adam Page, who face off in a 5-minute long battle. The winner will face either Kenny Omega or Chris Jericho at All Out for the AEW World Championship so the stakes are high. In the end, Hangman eliminates Rey after a Buckshot and Superkick combo.
Then two weeks later is Dominion. For the first time ever, Rey Mysterio will challenge for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. After a hell of the show we reach the main event. We’ve seen Dragon Lee vs. Will Ospreay, and Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito, and now we’re here. Rey Mysterio cuts a promo earlier in the show about how this means the world to him, this opportunity, and that he needs to win. He will never get a chance like this again, and can’t waste it. Mysterio represents is no-nonsense ordeal, as he comes out dressed as The Punisher. He’s got the navy singlet, with a skull across it. His mask then has the skull as well on it. Mysterio taunts on the second rope, but then Okada comes out. It’s the same thing he felt against Tanahashi and Liger, just being in the presence of someone on another world.
When the bell rings, they don’t lock up straight away. They take in the magnitude of the stage and suck it all in. About a minute passes of this, before they lock up. They get into a collar and elbow, and Rey spins into a waist lock. Okada arm drags him off and cinches in a chinlock. Rey tries to flip out but Okada simply lowers down with him. HE THEN HITS A BELLY TO BACK SUPLEX!! Okada cinches in another chinlock. Rey gets up and Irish whips Okada to the ropes. The Rainmaker rebounds and connects a Shoulder Block to take Mysterio down. Rey gets up while Okada runs the ropes, and hits a HEADSCISSORS! Mysterio ducks under a clothesline and cinches the waistlock. He takes Okada down and applies a nerve hold, then hits a Spinal Tap!
Okada lifts himself up and runs the ropes for a Short-arm Lariat! Rey stumbles back and rolls into a VICTORY ROLL!! 1........2.....KICK OUT!! OKADA GETS UP WITH A SHOULDER BLOCK, AND THEN RUNS THE ROPES FOR A RONT DROPKICK INTO THE CORNER!! Mysterio takes a Bret Hart sell of falling on impact. OKADA LIFTS HIM FOR A FLAPJACK BUT REY FLIPS OUT AND HITS AN ARM DRAG!! HE RUNS THE ROPES BUT IS CAUGHT IN A WHEELBARROW !BODYSCISSORS, THAT IS COUNTERED WITH A BULLDOG!! FLYING HEADSCISSORS BY MYSTERIO!! HE RUNS THE ROPES BUT OKADA HITS THE FLAPJACK AND FOLLOWS WITH A MILLION DOLLAR DROPKICK!! Okada then lifts Mysterio up and throws him to the corner, and starts to apply shoulder blocks.
Okada Irish whips Mysterio who LEAPFROGS THE RAINMAKER AND HITS A MYSTERIO-EXPRESS!!! 1..........2.......KICK OUT!! OKADA WITH ANOTHER SHORT-ARM LARIAT!! Okada connects a European Uppercut to a kneeling Rey! This is the cut off, and The Rainmaker starts to stomp down on him. He lifts Mysterio up and Irish whips Rey, who jumps to the second rope AND DIVES OFF WITH A DIVING HURRICANERANA!!! OKADA ROLLS THROUGH AND CONNECTS A OPEN HAND CHOP!! DROPKICK!! HE LIFTS REY UP FOR A BACKBODY DROP BUT MYSTERIO EVADES AND HITS A SPINNING WHEEL KICK!! Rey is back in the fight, and runs the ropes for a RUNNING CROSSBODY!! HE HITS A TILT-A-WHIRL TORNADO DDT!! 1..........2........KICK OUT!!!
Rey pulls himself up by the ropes, hoping the comeback got him. He punches the air, but lifts The Rainmaker up. He heads to the apron and awaits Okada - BUT SUNSET FLIPS OVER! REY ROLLS HIM AND HITS A ROUNDHOUSE KICK!!! Mysterio then runs the ropes but OKADA WITH A BIG BOOT!! HE HITS THE HEAVY RAIN!! 1........2.........KICK OUT!!! REY PULLS HIMSELF UP AND HITS A LOU THESZ PRESS!! HE GOES FOR A SHIRANUI - BUT OKADA DUMPS HIM ONTO THE MAT!! Rey doesn’t get up from that one, feeling the pain. Okada stomps on him and kicks the head, THEN GOES FOR A DDT!! MYSTERIO SLIDES OUT AND HITS A HEADSCISSORS!! HE RUNS THE ROPES AND CONNECTS THE 619 OUT OF NOWHERE!! He climbs the ropes and points to the crowd - DIVING SPLASH!! 1.........2.........KICK OUT FROM THE RAINMAKER!!!
Rey gets desperate to end it and HITS A BASEBALL SLIDE TO THE OUTSIDE!! HE FOLLOWS WITH A SUICIDE DIVE INTO A HEADSCISSORS!! Okada falls into the guardrail both times, feeling the steel on his back. Rey goes to Irish whip but Okada reverses into his own. Rey then hops the guardrail and awaiting to see what Okada does. OKADA THEN DIVES OVER THE GUARDRAIL WITH THE SCOOBY DOOBY DOO!!! They both lay dead, as the referee counts down from 20. Eventually they get back up, after a lot of stumbling and tumbling. They get back in and REY DIVES WITH THE WEST COAST POP!! 1.........2.......OKADA ROLLS OUT OF IT WITH REY ON HIS BACK!!! ALABAMA SLAM!!! KICKOUT!!! HE LOCKS IN THE DEEP IN DEBT BUT REY GETS OUT!! HE RUNS TO THE CORBER BUT SO DOES OKADA WHO HITS A RUNNING BACK ELBOW!! HE THEN CONNECTS THE AIR RAID CRASH NECKBREAKER!!! 1...............2.............KICK OUT!!!!
Both guys have kicked out a bunch of times, but now they’re down to the last minute. They’ve gone over 20 minutes and start to trade forearms. They double down after their fifth blows. They crawl by the corners - AND REY HITS THE AIR MYSTERIO!! HE RUNS UP FOR A MYSTERIO-RANA!!!! 1...........2........OKADA ROLS OUT AND HITS A SCOOP SLAM!! HE THEN CLIMBS THE ROPES - AND DIVES WITH A DIVING ELBOW DROP!! HE LIFTS HIM UP FOR A RAINMAKER - BUT MYSTERIO DUCKS UNDER AND HITS A POISONED RANA!!! HE DIVES IN WITH A SPRINGBOARD SITOUT FACEBUSTER!! REY GOES FOR ANOTHER MYSTERIO EXPRESS, BUT OKADA COUNTERS AND LOCKS IN THE DEEP IN DEBT!! MYSTERIO ESCAPES, BUT IS LOCKED IN WITH A COBRA CLUTCH!!!! REY REACHES THE ROPES!!! HE GOES FOR A 619 BUT OKADA CATCHES AND HITS THE RAINMAKER!!!! 1................2.................3!!!!!!
Kazuchika Okada defeats Rey Mysterio (26:13)
Fyter Fest 2019:
The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) vs. Rey Mysterio and The Lucha Brothers (Fénix and Pentagon Jr.) - Six-man Tag Team Match
With the launch of All Elite Wrestling, many peoples attention have been grabbed. Double or Nothing as we know saw Rey Mysterio make his shock debut to open the main show as the Joker slot in the Casino Battle Royale. Him and Hangman Adam Page had a war as the final two, ending with Page winning. Now comes Fyter Fest, however this scheduled match between The Elite and The Lucha Bros/Pac has been altered. Pac pulls out and so the replacement is revealed on The Road To Fyter Fest, where Rey Mysterio is interviewed and then he announces he will be the partner of the Lucha Bros. This is the official main event of Fyter Fest, as the actual last match is Unsanctioned.
The Young Bucks enter first dressed as Ryu and Ken each, both posing on the stage until…the lights go down. A fan walks on stage, but then they go down again. KENNY APPEARS AS AKUMA’S RAGING DEMON!! He holds the finger gun over the fans body and makes his way down to the ring with his Elite stablemates. Then comes The Lucha Brothers. On the stage are Fénix and Pentagon dressed in their skull masks and hoodies. They both walk out but point to the centre, WHERE OUT COMES REY MYSTERIO!! Rey unhoods from his blue cloak to reveal his normal mask. He is dressed as Death from the Castlevania series in line with the whole skeleton aesthetic as well as for the video game tie-in.
“Round 1 – FIGHT!” yells Justin Roberts as Nick Jackson and Rey Mysterio start us off. They go into a lockup and start to push forward and back. Nick lifts himself to the second rope and tightropes it, before jumping down with an Arm Drag. Rey rolls through with that but jumps back in a Rana. They both run the ropes but Nick leapfrogs and Mysterio rolls under, then springboards off with a Crossbody. A cover goes nowhere and Nick kips up for his own arm drag, followed by a Back Body Drop that Rey flips out of. They then go to a stalemate at this point and reposition in their respective corners. Kenny whispers to Nick while Mysterio stretches on the ropes. They both then move forward to the centre.
Rey hits an Overhead Chop and follows with an Open Hand to the chest. He does this while maintaining wrist control. He then hits a Roundhouse Kick and an Enziguri, and runs up the ropes, then dives off with a CROSSBODY! Nick goes for a Superkick once up, but Rey spins him into a Spinning Wheel Kick attempt, which Nick spins and they HIT STEREO SUPERKICKS!! THEY THEN DOUBLE DOWN WITH CLOTHESLINES!! While their down, in come the others. EVERY TRIO IS IN THE RING AND A BRAWL BREAKS LOOSE! Kenny and Penta are going at it while Matt and Fénix do battle. They trade slaps and chops and kicks, until Mysterio and Nick are back up. REY HITS A AIR MYSTERIO TO NICK JACKSON!! The Lucha Bros then hit Superkicks to Kenny and Matt to take them outside. ALL THE LUCHADORS THEN DIVE OUT AFTER THE ELITE!!
They all enter the ring and isolate Matt. The Bros hit Superkicks and hold him in place for a MYSTERIO EXPRESS!! Nick comes inside but is hit by a Hook Kick, and then with a SEATED SENTON FROM REY!! FÉNIX WITH A DOUBLE SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT TO NICK!!! 1……..2…..KICK OUT!!!!! The Bros roll out and Nick and Mysterio keep going. They trade forearms, until Rey tags in Fénix. Fénix comes in hot with a Springboard Front Missile Dropkick to Nick. He looks for a double team with Pentagon, BUT NICK HITS THEM BOTH WITH A DROPSAULT!! HE TAGS IN MATT! MATT COMES IN WITH A TOPE CON HILO TO BOTH GUYS!1 HE HITS A NORTHERN LIGHTS ON PENTAGON WITH AN O’CONNOR ROLL ON FÉNIX!! 1………2……KICK OUT!! HIM AND NICK THEN HIT DOUBLE SLINGSHOT SITOUT FACEBUSTERS!!
Matt then gets a tag to Kenny Omega. OMEGA IS IN! Kenny runs straight forward with a Dropkick to Pentagon sending him outside. He hits a Backbreaker to a tagged in Mysterio , 1……2….KICK OUT!! HE GOES FOR THE YOU CAN’T ESCAPE!! BUT IT IS INDEED ESCAPED! MYSTERIO DIVES OFF THE TOP WITH A MOONSAULT!! Kenny recovers himself, BEFORE DIVING OUTSIDE WITH A RISE OF THE TERMINATOR TO PENTAGON!! PENTAGON CUTS HIM OFF! Cero…Miedo – AND THEY START TO FIGHT ON THE OUTSIDE!! They go to the apron where Pentagon lays in some chops, BUT OMEGA WITH A KOTARO KRUSHER ON THE APRON!! THE BUCKS THEN SEND FÉNIX TO THE FLOOR WITH A BACK BODY DROP + CANNONBALL SENTON COMBO!!
Now all The Elite are inside and isolate Rey Mysterio. The Elite triple team him, with Matt and Nick holding Rey in place for A V-TRIGGER!! FOLLOWED BY A GERMAN SUPLEX!! KENNY HITS THE YOU CAN’T ESCAPE!! MATT FOLLOWS WITH A TOP ROPE ELBOW AND NICK WITH A SWANTON!!! 1………2……KICK OUT!!!! They pick him up and The Bucks try to double team. MYSTERIO MOVES AND MATT SPEARS NICK!! ENZIGURI FROM MYSTERIO TO OMEGA!! HE TAGS IN PENTAGON!! Pentagon comes in and chops everyone, and then hits a Double Japanese Arm Drag on Matt and Nick! SUPERKICK TO KENNY FOLLOWED BY A LUNGBLOWER!! Kenny rolls out, but then FÉNIX SPRINGBOARDS TO THE OUTSIDE WITH A TORNILLO TO OMEGA!! REY FOLLOWS WITH A SUICIDE DIVE!! PENTAGON THEN HITS A LANZA TO MATT BACK IN THE RING AND COVERS! 1………2…….KICK OUT!!!
MATT FIRES BACK!! RUNNING CANADIAN DESTROYER TO PENTAGON – FOLLOWED BY A SPEAR!! Omega tags in and fights off all the luchadors, AND HITS DRAGON SUPLEXS ON ALL OF THEM!! Pentagon cuts him off again, AND SUPERKICKS NICK! HE TOSSES FÉNIX ONTO HIM WITH A MOONSAULT!! REY THEN HITS A WEST COAST POP ON KENNY!! 1…….2…..KICK OUT!!!! Mysterio then picks him up and hits THREE ROUNDHOUSE KICKS!! THE WHOLE MATCH THEN BREAKS DOWN INTO A SUPERKICK PARTY!! The Elite rally, BUT EAT SUPERKICKS!! THEY FIRE BACK WITH HADOKENS!! EVERY LUCHADOR HIT BY LIGER BOMBS!! NICK THEN WITH ASSISTED 450 SPLASHES ON FÉNIX AND MYSTERO!! PENTAGON MAKES THE SAVE! NICK WITH A SLINGSHOT X-FACTOR!! PENTAGON WITH A SLINGBLADE! OMEGA WITH THE V-TRIGGER!!
FÉNIX THEN FLIES IN WITH A CUTTER!! NICK CUTS HIM OFF WITH A NECKBREAKER!! FÉNIX THEN HITS THE SPANISH FLY TO NICK, OFF THE ROPES, INTO MATT AND PENTAGON ON THE FLOOR!! This takes those guys out but we still have Mysterio and Omega. KENNY HITS A V-TRIGGER OUT OF MIDAIR, AND THE TIGER DRIVER 98!!! 1………..2………KICK OUT!! KENNY WITH ANOTHER V-TRIGGER AND GOES FOR THE ONE-WINGED ANGEL – BUT REY HEADSCISSORS OUT!! HE CALLS FOR THE 619 AND CONNECTS IT!! HE THEN FLIES HIGH WITH THE WEST COAST POP TO FINISH OMEGA!!!!! 1……………..2………………3!!! THE LUCHADORS WIN THE BOUT, AND REY MYSTERIO PINS KENNY OMEGA CLEAN!!
The Lucha Brothers and Rey Mysterio defeat The Elite (20:20)

A list of some surprising good fantasy books involving pirates.

Perhaps nowhere does storytelling so totally reverse reality as when it deals with pirates. It’s difficult not to like swashbuckling rogues tweaking the noses of the uptight British ninnies as they ply their brave way across the wild, lusty seas.
Of course, actual pirates were about as romantic as the tortures they would inflict on prisoners, including holding lighted matches to the victim’s eyes or keel-hauling, where a sailor had a rope tied to each arm and thrown off the bow of a ship. The unfortunate was then dragged along the length of ship, scraping against the sharp barnacles and probably drowning.
Fun fact: “Avast!” means “Stop!” or “Stand still!” not “Hello, fellow pirate!”

21. Corsair by Chris Bunch – 2001

Swashbuckling captain Gareth Radnor has taken command of the Steadfast. But the young captain intends more than seeking his fortune. He wants vengeance against the Linyati slavers who murdered his family. Crewed by a motley band of adventurers, his carrack plunges through the salty waves, striking at the Linyati wherever it can.
And then he discovers something more compelling even than revenge: The Linyati aren’t human…

“Hard edged, salty… a fantasy adventure that will keep you up at night reading.”
—Terry Brooks, author of the Shannara series

20. The Mark of Ran by Paul Kearne – 2004

Book 1 of 2 in The Sea Beggars Series
In a world abandoned by its Creator, an ancient race once existed, with powers so extensive that they were seen as both angles and demons. Rol Cortishane was raised in a remote fishing village, ignorant that the blood of this long-forgotten race runs in his veins. Driven from home, Rol is trained in the assassin’s craft and tutored by the beautiful but troubled Rowen. Now they’ve set their sights across the sea in search of the Hidden City and an adventure that will make them legends, if it doesn’t kill them first.
In the non-fantasy world, the Sea Beggars (the name of this series) really existed. They were a confederacy of Dutch nobles, who, from 1566, opposed Spanish rule in the Netherlands. They arrived in large numbers to complain to the king, but some wit told the ruling Spanish regent not to worry, for the large group was “only beggars.” The angry group of nobles did not forget the appellation and henceforth called themselves the Beggars. The most successful Beggars operated at sea (i.e., were pirates) and were known as the Sea Beggars.

19. Of Shadow and Sea by Will Wight – 2015

Book 1 of 2 in The Elder Empire Series
The Guild of Navigators (i.e., swindlers and pirates) has been paid a fortune to secure the Heart, a cursed artifact that will give wild power to its bearer. The Guild’s only lord is greed, their only loyalty to gold, and they would sell the Empire’s freedom for the promise of a quick coin.
Author Will Wight is well regarded for his likable characters and irreverent tone. Most epic fantasies tend to be high-minded and serious, but Wight has a decidedly more down-to-earth approach.

18. Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton – 2009

I’m not a giant Michael Crichton fan. Generally, I think his ideas and research are more interesting than the actual books he creates. This one’s fun, though.
This book was unknown until after Crichton’s death—his assistant found it on a computer. However, there’s evidence Crichton was working on it, on and off, since the 1970s.
Pirate Latitudes is a caper novel set in the high seas with a strong regard to the reality of the times. Because of this, it probably doesn’t belong in a fantasy list like this one. However, it’s a damn fine pirate tale, and that’s good enough for me.
The Historical Novel Society notes: “Crichton’s portrayal of Port Royal and its inhabitants is far more grounded in reality than Disney’s portrayal. Crichton does not gloss over the slavery, addiction and brutality of colonial Jamaica, nor does he endow his characters with abilities beyond their training or station in life.”
So don’t expect Jack Sparrow.

17. The Fox by Sherwood Smith – 2007

Book 2 of 4 in the Inda Series
You might want to read the first book in the series, Inda, before diving into this one.
Young prince and military genius Inda, forced to turn mercenary after conspirators engineered his exile from Choraed Elgaer, is gathering allies for a sea campaign against the piratical Brotherhood. But Inda’s attention soon shifts toward the ambitious Venn Empire, which wants to use him as a political pawn.
The hardcover version of this book is significantly cheaper than the paperback. Go figure.

“[L]ively… spare yet complex characterizations and a narrative that balances sweeping action and uneasy intimacy.”
—Publishers Weekly

16. Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding – 2011

Book 1 of 3 in the Tales of the Ketty Jay Series
This is magical steampunk, so it’s a little nuts. I mean that as a compliment.
Sky piracy is a bit out of Darian Frey’s league. Fate has not been kind to the captain of the airship Ketty Jay—or his motley crew. They are all running from something. Crake is a daemonist in hiding, traveling with an armored golem and burdened by guilt. Jez is the new navigator, desperate to keep her secret from the rest of the crew. Malvery is a disgraced doctor, drinking himself to death. So when an opportunity arises to steal a chest of gems from a vulnerable airship, Frey can’t pass it up. It’s an easy take—and the payoff will finally make him a rich man.
But when the attack goes horribly wrong, Frey suddenly finds himself the most wanted man in Vardia, trailed by bounty hunters, the elite Century Knights, and the dread queen of the skies, Trinica Dracken. Frey realizes that they’ve been set up to take a fall but doesn’t know the endgame. And the ultimate answer for captain and crew may lie in the legendary hidden pirate town of Retribution Falls. That’s if they can get there without getting blown out of the sky.

“Beautifully crafted prose and some remarkably imaginative scenes…and Wooding’s sprawling, multifaceted world and rough-and-tumble action will delight steampunk fans.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

15. The King’s Buccaneer by Raymond E. Feist – 1992

Book 5 of the Riftwar Cycle
Long recovered from the ravages of the Riftwar, the land and people of the kingdom of the Isles thrive. Nicholas, the youngest son of Prince Arutha, is intelligent and gifted but vastly inexperienced. In hopes of hardening him, his father sends him and his irreverent squire, Harry, to live at rustic Castle Crydee to learn of life beyond the halls of privilege. But within weeks of Nicholas and Harry’s arrival, Crydee is viciously attacked by unknown assailants, resulting in murder, massive destruction, and the abduction of two young noblewomen. The raiders have come from a pirate haven and are no ordinary foe, while an enemy connected to dark magical forces threaten the lands Nicholas will someday rule—if he survives.

“Feist once again delivers a superior, rousing adventure.”
—Publishers Weekly

14. The Pyrates by George MacDonald Fraser – 1983

The Pyrates is satire, send-up, and love-letter to what swashbucklers have become. It’s a Naked Gun take on Errol Flynn pirates. If you don’t know what “Naked Gun” or “Errol Flynn” is then I envy you because you’re about to discover some great stuff.

13. Isle of Swords by Wayne Thomas Batson – 2008

Book 1 of 3 in the Isle Chronicles
Captain Declan Ross searched for riches that will free him and his headstrong daughter, Anne, from the piracy business forever. Bartholomew Thorne, an infamously ruthless pirate, seeks to destroy Ross and any who stand in his way of the legendary treasure hidden by a mysterious order of monks.
Despite featuring a scene where a monk gets skinned alive, this book won a “Mom’s Choice Award” for family-friendly entertainment. Depends on the family, I guess.

12. Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch – 2007

Book 2 of 3 in the Gentlemen Bastards Series
Initially poised to rob the Sinspire, the notoriously thief-proof casino where the penalty for cheating is death, Locke and his partner, Jean, are unwillingly sidetracked into joining and then leading a pirate crew, swindling their way across the sea as they had previously done on land.

“[C]harming, unpredictable and fast on its feet and stands surprisingly well on its own given its convoluted plot.”
—Publishers Weekly

11. Pirate Freedom by Gene Wolfe – 2007

Fresh from the monastery, the former novice finds himself inexplicably transported back to the Golden Age of Piracy, where an unexpected new life awaits him. At first, he resists joining the notorious Brethren of the Coast, but he soon embraces the life of a buccaneer, even as he succumbs to the seductive charms of a beautiful and enigmatic señorita. As the captain of his own possibly cursed ship, he plunders the West Indies in search of Spanish gold. From the stormy waters of the Caribbean to steamy tropical jungles, Captain Chris finds danger, passion, adventure, and treachery as he hoists the black flag and sets sail for the Spanish mainland.
Where he will finally come to port only God knows…

“Wolfe…[fills] his story with duels, treachery, ship-to-ship combat and an abundance of accurate period detail.”
—Publishers Weekly

10. The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V. S. Redick – 2008

Book 1 of 4 in the Cathrand Voyage Series
Six hundred years old, the Imperial merchant ship Chathrand is a massive floating outpost of the Empire of Arqual. And it is on its most vital mission yet: to deliver a young woman whose marriage will seal the peace between Arqual and its mortal enemy, the Mzithrin Empire. But Thasha, the young noblewoman in question, may be bringing her swords to the altar.
For the ship’s true mission is not peace but war—a war that threatens to rekindle an ancient power long thought lost. As the Chathrand navigates treacherous waters, Thasha must seek unlikely allies—including a magic-cursed deckhand, a stowaway tribe of foot-high warriors, and a singularly heroic rat—and enter a treacherous web of intrigue to uncover the secret of the legendary Red Wolf.

“Insane god-kings, miniature warriors and sentient animals fight over a powerful ancient artifact in Redick’s dramatic, complex debut… Both adult and young adult readers will find much to enjoy in this tale of sea-faring and bloody diplomacy.”
—Publishers Weekly

9. Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini – 1922

Book 1 of 3 in the Captain Blood Series
This book is a little more subtle than its title would suggest.
Dr. Peter Blood, is an Irish physician who was once a sailor and a soldier. In the aftermath of the Monmouth rebellion, Dr. Blood is arrested for treason. While he did not actually participate in the rebellion, rather he aided a wounded rebel, he is tried and convicted nonetheless. The sentence for treason is death, but King James II has the sentence commuted and instead sells Captain Blood and his fellow rebels into slavery.

“Glorious… I never enjoyed a novel more than Captain Blood.”
—Norman Mailer

8. The Assassin’s Curse by Cassandra Rose Clark – 2012

Book 1 of 2 in The Assassin’s Curse Series
Ananna abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to an allying pirate clan. She wants to captain her own boat, not serve as second-in-command to her handsome yet clueless fiancé. But her escape has dire consequences when she learns the scorned clan has sent an assassin after her.
And when the assassin Naji finally catches up with her, things get even worse. Ananna inadvertently triggers a nasty curse—with a life-altering result. Now Ananna and Naji are forced to become uneasy allies as they work together to break the curse and return their lives back to normal. Or at least as normal as the lives of a pirate and an assassin can be.

“Clarke’s debut harkens back to the best in fantasy/adventure, offering rock-solid worldbuilding, satisfyingly perilous obstacles and a protagonist whose charismatic ’tude goes way beyond spunk. Ananna’s voice grabs readers from the beginning…and doesn’t let go.”
—Kirkus (starred review)

7. Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb – 1998

Book 1 of 3 in The Liveship Traders Series
Bingtown is a hub of exotic trade and home to a merchant nobility famed for its liveships—rare vessels carved from wizardwood, which ripens magically into sentient awareness. Now the fortunes of one of Bingtown’s oldest families rest on the newly awakened liveship, Vivacia.
For Althea Vestrit, the ship is her rightful legacy. But the fate of Althea and the ship may ultimately lie in the hands of a ruthless buccaneer who plans to seize power over the Pirate Isles by capturing a liveship and bending it to his will.

6. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne – 1870

While his description of this new thing called a “submarine” is fun even for modern readers, it’s the brilliant but tortured Captain Nemo who steals the show as one of, if not the, best pirate in English literature.

5. The Walrus & the Warwolf by Hugh Cook – 1988

Book 4 of 6 in the Chronicles of an Age of Darkness Series
On his 16th birthday, churlish Drake Douay finds himself exiled from his homeland amid a treacherous crew of pirates on the open sea. Through battles with sea monsters, mysterious cults, weird technology of a bygone age, and the warring gangs of two pirate lords, Drake explores a world of dark fantasy and betrayal with his keen wit and a sharp sword—his only protection from an early death.
Readers are usually divided: this is either one of their favorite books, or the long litany of adventures becomes boring after a while.

4. Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed – 2012

Book 1 in the Crescent Moon Kingdoms Series
A finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Crawford, Gemmell, and British Fantasy Awards, and the winner of the Locus Award for Best First Novel.
The Crescent Moon Kingdoms, home to djenn and ghuls, holy warriors and heretics, are at the boiling point of a power struggle between the iron-fisted Khalif and the mysterious master thief known as the Falcon Prince. In the midst of this brewing rebellion, a series of brutal supernatural murders strikes at the heart of the Kingdoms. But these killings are only the earliest signs of a plot for the Throne of the Crescent Moon that threatens to turn the great city of Dhamsawwaat, and the world itself, into a blood-soaked ruin.

“Ahmed’s debut masterfully paints a world both bright and terrible.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

3. Mad Kestrel by Misty Massey – 2008

In a world where infants with magical powers are torn from their parents to be raised by the mysterious and powerful Danisoba, who have a monopoly on magic, Kestrel has managed to keep her abilities concealed—and herself free. First hiding in back alleys as a street urchin, she hid when they killed her parents, and then served as a young tavern maid before escaping to sea, where magic is cancelled by water.
Now an adult, and the quartermaster of a pirate ship, Kestrel loves the freedom of living on the seas. But her way of life could end if anyone on board learns her closely guarded secret—that she has magical control over the wind.
One day a black ship appears, and her life changes. Its captain is a handsome rogue of whom Kestrel is strangely, constantly aware. When Kestrel’s captain is led into a trap and is arrested, she gathers her crew and sets sail in relentless pursuit…

“This rollicking debut combines swashbuckling sea adventure, fantasy and romance with great success.”
—Publishers Weekly

2. Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie – 1904

Sure, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell are great, but it’s the enmity of the pirate Captain Hook that makes this story exciting.

1. On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers – 1987

This is the inspiration of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie, but it’s different in many ways and stands well on its own.
Puppeteer John Chandagnac, bound for Jamaica to recover stolen money from his uncle, becomes Jack Shandy after pirates attack his ship and force him to join their crew. Shandy’s struggle to accept his new life grounds the story for readers, even as Blackbeard and vodun magicians whisk everyone away to dreamlike lands where the Fountain of Youth itself awaits.

“Powers writes action and adventure that Indiana Jones could only dream of.”
—Washington Post

Blog link.

[SPOILERS] Hot take: Tenet was originally written as a Bond movie

The World Is Not Enough (Bond 19 Review)

My List

Hot take: Quantum of Solace is a critical chapter in the Craig saga and Casino Royale is not completely without it.

Film Rankings with Explanations, Ratings, and Tiers

During quarantine, I've had the opportunity to rewatch every movie in relatively short succession. I've seen them all 2-10 times and have been a lifelong Bond fan. I enjoy every Bond film, even the "bad" ones, but I wanted to try and rank them. I used a scoring system to help me, but ultimately went with my gut (e.g. License to Kill MUST be better than The World is Not Enough). I thought a tier system of ranking was useful, because it really is splitting hairs to rank some of these. Feel free to critique my ratings, my ratings weightings, and opinions!

You could say I have too much time on my hands
Tier 7: The Worst

Die Another Day: Best Sword Fight

- Why it's not irredeemable: For being the lowest ranked film on this list, it's not without its moments. Bond getting caught, tortured, then escaping from MI6 was interesting and novel. The ice hotel was neat, as well as the chase scene. I'll even defend the much maligned invisible car, as the Aston Martin Vanquish is quite a car.
- Why it's not higher: Personally, I think Halle Berry is a terrible Bond girl, alternating between damsel in distress and super woman as the plot demands it. Moreover, Graves and the plot in general is pretty cheesy and boring. Perhaps most damaging is the deadly serious tone of the movie, which doesn't even provide the fun and excitement Brosnan's films generally provide the viewer.
- Most under-appreciated part: The fencing scene is the best action scene of the entire movie. It's surprising it took Bond this long to fence, but seeing them go at it across the club was a blast.

Tier 6: Disappointing

Quantum of Solace: Best Car Chase

- Why it's this high: The action is quite good, likely meriting the distinction of the best car chase in the entire series (the pre-credits sequence). Mathis is a good ally and it is sad to see him go.
- Why it's not higher: My biggest beef with Craig's Bond films is that they are too serious, so when the plot and script isn't top-notch, the movie watching experience is just kind of dull. Quantum of Solace takes a bold risk in making the first Bond sequel, but unfortunately it's just not that good. Greene seems like a rather pathetic Bond villain, and his henchman (the worst in the series?) ends up in a neck-brace after getting tripped by Camilla. Also, the shaky cam is distracting and exhausting.
- Most under-appreciated part: I actually thing the theme song is pretty good! Maybe I'm just too much of a Jack White groupie, but I think it rocks.

Moonraker: Best Locales

- Why it's this high: I'm pleased to see Jaws making a return, as he is an amazing henchman. On that note, the pre-credits sequence with Bond and Jaws falling out of the plane is exhilarating. Holly Goodhead is a very good Bond girl, beautiful, smart, and competent. Roger Moore always does an excellent job playing the role with suavity and wit.
- Why it's not higher: Gosh it's cheesy. Particularly egregious is Jaws' love story. The theme song is terrible and Bond doesn't have any solid allies besides Goodhead and Jaws.
- Most under-appreciated part: They really go all out with the settings here. Obviously, space is pretty polarizing, but I think Bond clearly should go to space at SOME point during the series. In addition, Italy and Brazil were gorgeous views, while Drax's estate is magnificent.

Spectre: Best Shooting

- Why it's this high: Rewatching this for the second time, I realized Lea Seydoux does a good job as the Bond girl, and it's actually quite believable she and James could work out, as she is the daughter of an assassin and can understand him (as Blofeld points out). Seeing Bond show off his marksmanship was quite satisfying, especially that one long shot during the escape from Blofeld's compound. Bonus points for Bond's DB10 and resurrecting the DB5.
- Why it's not higher: The fatal flaw of this film is making Blofeld Bond's adopted brother. How did Bond not recognize him? How is Blofeld able to keep himself secret from British intelligence yet every criminal worth his salt knows of him? The worst part is that it actually cheapens the plot of the other Craig movies. I believe the Bond franchise should stay clear from sequels from here on out. Yes, they can weave a great story if done correctly, but it's so much more difficult to make great sequels (e.g. Star Wars only made two worthy sequels in seven tries) than to do one-offs. As usual for a Craig film, Bond has little charisma (save for his surprisingly good rapport with Moneypenny) and little in the way of jokes to lighten the mood.
- Most under-appreciated part: The train fight scene with Dave Bautista is great! Gosh it was awesome to see them go at it, break through walls, and a priceless expression on Bautista's face when he knows he's done. Bautista is the first decent henchman since the 90s, so glad to see the series go back to this staple.

The Man with the Golden Gun: Best Potential, Worst Execution

- Why it's this high: This Bond movie frustrates more than any other, as it has the potential to be an all-time great. Bond's debriefing starts off with promise, as it turns out the world's top assassin is gunning for Bond! For the first time in the series, Bond seems vulnerable! M makes a hilarious quip as to who would try to kill Bond ("jealous husbands ... the list is endless"). Furthermore, the legendary Christopher Lee is possible the best Bond villain, a rare peer of 007.
- Why it's not higher: Unfortunately, the movie opts to change course so that it's just Maud Adams trying to get Bond to kill Scaramanga. Goodnight is beautiful, but maybe the most inept Bond girl of all-time. They used a SLIDE WHISTLE, ruining one of the coolest Bond stunts ever (the car jump).
- Most under-appreciated part: Nick Nack is a splendid henchman, showing the role can be more than just a strongman.

Diamonds Are Forever: Great Beginning and Ending, but Bad Everywhere Else

- Why it's this high: Is there another Bond with such a great contrast between the beginning/ending and everything in between? Connery shows his tough side, as he muscles his way through the pre-credits scene. Particularly good was the part where he seduces the woman, then uses her bikini top to choke her. At the end, Bond expertly uses his wine knowledge to detect something is amiss, then dispatches Kidd and Wint in style. Other cool scenes include Bond scaling the building to reach Blofeld and Bond driving the Mustang through the alley.
- Why it's not higher: This is one of the films that I find myself liking less and less over time. Vegas, and especially the space laboratory scene, just seem cheesy. Connery is officially too old at this point, and Jill St. John just isn't a very compelling Bond girl. I would've preferred to have seen more of Plenty O'Toole, but alas 'twas not meant to be. Leiter is uninspired as well. Having Bond go after Blofeld for the millionth time just seems tired at this point.
- Most under-appreciated part: Mr. Kidd and Wint are the creepiest henchmen in the Bond universe, but I'd argue they are some of the best. Their banter and creative modes of execution are quite chilling and thrilling.

A View to a Kill: Best Theme

- Why it's this high: Is it a hot take to not have View in the bottom five? Let me explain. I contend Duran Duran's theme is the very best. The ending fight scene on the Golden Gate Bridge is actually one of the most iconic ending set pieces in the series. The plot is stellar on paper, as the horse racing part was a very Bondian side story, and the idea of an attack on Silicon Valley actually seems even more plausible today.
- Why it's not higher: It's self-evident that Moore is way too old for the part. Some parts are just mind-blowingly ridiculous, such as the fire truck chase scene through San Francisco and the part where Stacey is caught unaware by a blimp behind her. Speaking of Stacey, she may be beautiful, but she spends most of the movie shrieking whenever something goes wrong.
- Most under-appreciated part: The scene with Bond and Ivanova is cool (I always like it when he interacts with other spies) and quite entertaining how he fools her with the cassettes.

Tier 5: Below Average

Octopussy: The Most Characteristically Roger Moore Bond Film

- Why it's this high: Maud Adams has great screen presence as Octopussy, and her Amazonian-like women are cool to watch fight. Bond's deft swipe of the egg was nicely done. On a related aside, I wish Bond films would emphasize Bond's intellect more, as it seems the 60s and 70s films would allow Bond to showcase his vast knowledge more frequently than he does today. Gobinda is a fierce henchman, while India in general is a cool location. The plot is realistic, yet grand (war-mongering Russian general tries to detonate a nuke to get NATO to turn on itself).
- Why it's not higher: This is the first Moore film where he simply was too old and shouldn't have been cast. Yes, it's too cheesy at times, most infamously during the Tarzan yell. Bond also doesn't use any cool vehicles.
- Most under-appreciated part: People tend to focus too much on Bond dressing as a clown, but the scene where Bond furiously tries to get to the bomb in time to defuse it is one of the tensest moments in the series. Moore's "Dammit there's a bomb in there!" really demonstrated the gravity of the situation (I get goosebumps during that part).

Tomorrow Never Dies: Most Tasteful Humor

- Why it's this high: Brosnan really settles into the role well here. He gives the most charismatic Bond performance in 15 years or so. His quip "I'm just here at Oxford, brushing up on a little Danish" is an all-time great Bond line. Teri Hatcher is stunning as Paris Carver, delivering a memorable performance with her limited screen time. The plot is original and ages well, highlighting the potential downsides of media power, while Carver is an above average villain.
- Why it's not higher: Wai Lin is good for action, but the chemistry between her and Bond is non-existent. By the end of the movie, Pryce just seem silly (especially the scene where he mocks Wai Lin's martial arts skills). There aren't any good Bond allies, as Jack Wade doesn't impress in his return to the franchise. In general though, the movie has few things terribly wrong with it, it just doesn't excel in many ways.
- Most under-appreciated part: Dr. Kaufman is hysterical. At first, I thought "this is weird," but by the end of the scene I'm cracking up. I genuinely wish they found someway to bring him back for World, but c'est la vie.

The World Is Not Enough: Less than the Sum of its Parts

- Why it's this high: According to my spreadsheet, this is a top 10 Bond film, while on my first watch on this film I thought it was bottom five. I think the truth is that it's somewhere in between. I like the settings, everything from the temporary MI-6 headquarters to Azerbaijan. Elektra is an all-time great Bond girl, with a nice plot twist and character arc. The glasses where Bond sees through women's clothing are hilarious. The sense of danger is strong, with everyone from Bond to M being in danger. The return of Zukovsky is a nice plus.
- Why it's not higher: I think two things really doom this film. First, Renard is totally wasted a henchman. The idea of him not feeling pain is a cool one, but he just seems boring and extraneous. I don't even think Carlyle acted poorly, he was just misused. Secondly, the ending (after Bond killing Elektra which is quite good) is rather terrible. The whole scene in the sub just isn't entertaining or engaging.
- Most under-appreciated part: I'm going to defend Denise Richards as Christmas Jones. Although no Ursula Andress, Richards is absolutely gorgeous and did not actively make Bond's mission more difficult, which is more than some Bond girls can say *cough Britt Ekland. In particular, I found her introductory scene to be quite memorable and convincing. Also, the Christmas quip at the end is quite cheeky.

Tier 4: Solid

The Living Daylights:

- Why it's this high: Dalton brings a breath of fresh air to the franchise here. His more serious take makes for interesting movies that seem more unique than most. I'm happy to see this subreddit appreciate Dalton more than the casual fun does, but I wouldn't go as far as the Dalton fanboys and say he's the best Bond or anything like that. I do wish he got the role sooner and did more films. Moving on to Daylights, it's got a good intro for Dalton and good plot in general. Surprisingly, Bond's fidelity doesn't bother me one bit, as it actually makes sense that Kara falls in love with James by the end, given all they've gone through.
- Why it's not higher: The biggest reason is that the villain is just terrible. Whitaker seems silly and pathetic, a terrible contrast to Dalton's serious nature. I think Whitaker might be the worst in the series, and a Bond movie can't be great without a good villain. Also, Dalton doesn't have much charm and is abysmal at one-liners, which, in my opinion, IS a facet of the perfect James Bond.
- Most under-appreciated part: The Aston Martin Vantage is a beautiful car, and the chase scene across the ice is great! It's both exciting and funny! Not sure why people don't talk about this chase scene and this car more; it's arguably the highlight of the movie for me.

Thunderball: The Most Beautiful

- Why it's this high: Thunderball used to be top five for me and here is why. The underwater scenes, the setting, the score, and the Bond girls are beautiful even to this day. Domino is excellent, while Volpe is a tour de force, oozing sexuality and danger. I think the underwater parts are interesting and novel, creating a staple of sorts for the franchise. The DB 5 is always welcome, and the jetpack use was quite cool for the time (and to some extent now).
- Why it's not higher: Some would say it's boring, while I would more generously admit the plot is slow. Furthermore, the theme song is all-time bad (apparently they could have used Johnny Cash!!!), and there is no great henchman for Bond to dispatch.
- Most under-appreciated part: Two plot ideas I liked a lot: Bond being injured and needing rehab, plus the part where all the 00s meet up and then are sent to the corners of the globe.

Never Say Never Again: Guilty Pleasure

- Why it's this high: Rewatching Never for the third time, I was struck by how fun this movie is. It's exciting, funny, and fast-paced. Basically, it's a more exciting version of Thunderball, with better pacing and better humor. I think Irvin Kershner did a great job managing this star studded cast. Carrera is a firecracker as Blush, Sydow is a convincing Blofeld, and Basinger is a classic Bond girl. Connery clearly has a blast returning to the role, doing a great job despite his advanced age. If anything, this one might not be ranked high enough.
- Why it's not higher: The music is terrible. Normally I don't notice these things, but one can't help but notice how dreadful this one is. The theme is awful as well. I'd argue this is the worst music of any Bond film.
- Most under-appreciated part: The humor! This is one of the funniest Bonds, as I found myself laughing out loud at various parts (e.g. Mr Bean!).

The Spy Who Loved Me: Best Intro

- Why it's this high: There's a lot to love about this one, so I get why this ranks highly for many. It is simply the best introduction, starting with Bond romancing a woman, followed by a skii chase, then jumping off the cliff and pulling the Union Jack parachute! The Lotus is a top 3 Bond car. Jaws is a superb henchman. Triple X was an excellent Bond girl, deadly, charming, and beautiful. Of course, Moore is charming and the locations are exotic (Egypt was a cool locale). If I had to pick one Moore movie for a newcomer to watch, it would be this one.
- Why it's not higher: The theme song is bad, and Stromberg is a below average villain. I also think the last 45 minutes or so of the movie kind of drags.
- Most under-appreciated part: The whole dynamic between Bond and Triple X is great. Whenever Bond movies show Bond squaring off against other spies (see View to a Kill, Goldeneye) it's just a pleasure to watch.

Live and Let Die: Most Suave

- Why it's this high: Roger Moore superbly carves out his own take on Bond in an excellent addition to the franchise. The boat chase is my favorite in the series, and Live and Let Die is my second favorite theme. Jane Seymour is a good Bond girl, while Tee Hee and Kananga are a solid villain/henchman duo. Unpopular opinion: I find J.W. Pepper to be hilarious.
- Why it's not higher: The introduction isn't very good, as Bond isn't even included! The second climax with the voodoo isn't great. Bond blowing up Kananga has aged terribly.
- Most under-appreciated part: When Bond is visited in his apartment by M and Moneypenny, Bond rushes to hide his girl from his coworkers. Finally, when they leave and he unzips the dress with his magnetic watch is one of the best uses of a Bond gadget in the series, showcasing why Moore might be the most charming Bond of them all.

You Only Live Twice: Best Blofeld

- Why it's this high: Just your classic, fun Sean Connery Bond movie. It was a great decision to send Bond to Japan for his first Asian visit, giving the movie a fresh feel. The ending set piece battle is potentially the best of this staple of 60s/70s Bonds. Tiger Tanaka is one of Bond's cooler allies. Pleasance killed it as Blofeld; when I think of Blofeld, I think of his take. In what could have been cheesy, he is actually somewhat frightening.
- Why it's not higher: The whole "we need to make you look Japanese" part seems both unrealistic (who is he really fooling?) plus surprisingly impotent coming from Tiger Tanaka who seems to be a competent and connected man otherwise. Honestly though, this movie doesn't have a major weakness.
- Most under-appreciated part: The fight scene with the guard in the executive's office is probably the best hand-to-hand fight in the series up until that point.

Tier 3: Excellent

Dr. No: The Most Spy-Like

- Why it's this high: Nearly 60 years later, this film is still a blast to watch, due in no small part to its focus on the little things of being a spy. I adore the scenes where Bond does the little things spies (presumably) do, such as putting a hair across the door, or showing Bond playing solitaire while waiting to spring his trap on Prof. Dent. I also enjoy the suspense of Bond sleuthing around the island, while he and the viewer are completely unaware of whom the villain is until quite late in the film. It's easy to take for granted now, but this film established so many series traditions that were ingenious. My personal favorite is Bond's introduction at the card table: "Bond .... James Bond."
- Why it's not higher: The film just doesn't have the payoff it deserves. Maybe it's just a result of the time and budget, but from the point Bond escapes on, it's just mediocre. Particularly egregious is the "fight" between Dr. No and Bond where No meets his demise.
- Most under-appreciated part: Ursula Andress was a surprisingly well developed Bond girl, with a shockingly violent backstory (she was raped!). Obviously, she is beautiful and the beach scene is iconic, but I was pleasantly surprised to conclude she is more than just eye candy.

License to Kill: The Grittiest

- Why it's this high: On my first watch, this was my least favorite Bond film, as I thought it was too dark and violent to befit 007. By my third time watching, I've decided it's actually one of the best. Fortunately, I don't have to go on my "Ackshually, Dalton did a good job" rant with this subreddit. I liked the wedding intro and the concept of a revenge arc for Leiter (although come on he should've been killed by a freaking shark). Also, Lamora and (especially) Bouvier are great Bond girls. Bouvier is both competent and beautiful, and it's great to see Bond choose her at the end.
- Why it's not higher: The theme song is atrocious, Dalton is so angry (dare I say charmless?) the whole time it's almost puzzling why Bouvier and Lamora fall for him, and Bond doesn't use any cool vehicles.
- Most under-appreciated part: Sanchez is actually a sneaky good Bond villain.

For Your Eyes Only: The Most Underrated

- Why it's this high: I think Moore is a bit underrated as Bond. Yes, he was too old towards the end and yes, his movies were at times too campy, but he himself played the role admirably. He was the most charming and witty of all the Bonds, so by the time he got his first relatively serious plot to work with, he hit it out of the park. Anyhow, the climactic mountaintop assault is one of my favorite Bond action climaxes. Columbo is one of the best Bond allies, and the plot twist where he turns out to be good and Kristatos bad was well-done.
- Why it's not higher: The intro is just silly. Bibi's romantic infatuation with Bond is just ...er... uncomfortable?
- Most under-appreciated part: The theme song is a banger. What a chorus!

Tier 2: Exceptional

Skyfall: The Sharpest Film (From Plot to Aesthetics)

- Why it's this high: One of the best plots of the entire series. The idea of an older Bond who had lost a step, along with making M the focus point of the movie, works very well. Seeing Bond's childhood home is also pretty cool. Bardem's take on Silva is delightful and a lot of fun to watch. Even the cinematography is a series peak, while Adele's them is excellent.
- Why it's not higher: One thing most Craig Bond films suffer from is the lack of a Bond-worthy henchman. Skyfall is no exception. More importantly, Bond girls are mostly irrelevant to the film. Yes, Severine is both beautiful and interesting, but she's scarcely twenty minutes of the film.
- Most under-appreciated part: Setting the new supporting characters up nicely. The Moneypenny backstory was well-done. Casting Ralph Fiennes as the new M is a great choice in of itself, but he also got a nice chuck of background story to help us going forward.

Casino Royale: The First Bond Film I'd Show a Series Newcomer

- Why it's this high: Craig's take on Bond feels like a breath of fresh air. In particular, his hand-to-hand combat scenes are so much better (and more believable) than any other Bond. The parkour chase scene is one of the best chase scenes in the series. Le Chifre is an excellent villain, but, more importantly, Vesper is an all-time great Bond girl. The conversation between Vesper and Bond on the train is probably the most interesting of any film. Bonus points for Jeffrey Wright as Leiter and the Aston Martin DBS.
- Why it's not higher: There are hardly any humorous parts or much charm displayed by Bond in general. More importantly, the movie should have just ended when Bond wakes up in rehab. The rest of the movie feels confused and superfluous.
- Most under-appreciated part: The decision to change from chemin de fer to poker makes for much better (and understandable!) cinema. The poker scenes are the best of Bond's many gambling scenes throughout the series.

Goldeneye: The Most Fun

- Why it's this high: Wow, rewatching Goldeneye I was struck by how entertaining the whole thing is. The opening jump is breath taking, the scene where Bond drives his evaluator around is hilarious, and Xenia Onatopp is a livewire. Sean Bean is a formidable villain as 006, and a great foil to James. Bond and Judi Dench's first scene together is amazing. Goldeneye feels like the first modern Bond, yet so true to the predecessors. Wade and especially Zukovsky are excellent allies.
- Why it's not higher: Simonova is a forgettable Bond girl. She's not annoying, unattractive, or acted poorly, but is just below average in most regards (looks, back story, chemistry with Bond, plot).
- Most under-appreciated part: the action is just so much better than any Bond before it

From Russia with Love: The Best Henchman (Red Grant)

- Why it's this high: Interesting settings, beautiful women, and an engaging story make this a classic. I'm not the first to point out that the scenes with Grant and Bond aboard the train are some of the best in the entire series. Grant is one of the few villains who feels like a match for 007. Furthermore, the addition of Desmond Llewyn as Q was crucial and Kerim Bey is one of the better Bond allies.
- Why it's not higher: The helicopter scene should've just been omitted, especially when combined with the subsequent boat chase. It's just awkward to watch.
- Most under-appreciated part: The gypsy scenes are quite exotic and entertaining.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service: The Most Heartfelt

- Why it's this high: James and Tracy's love story is charming, and when she dies at the end, this is the one and only time in the entire series where the viewer feels genuinely sad. Diana Rigg did an excellent job convincing the audience Bond could finally fall in love with one girl. The skiing scenes were beautifully filmed, and the score was exemplary. Personally, I quite liked Lazenby's take; however, some of his lines and jokes fall flat. To his credit, he looks and acts like Bond more than any other actor.
- Why it's not higher: Honestly, it does drag at times in the first half, plus there is no theme song!
- Most under-appreciated part: Bond's Aston Martin DBS is a beautiful car, combining 60's sports-car beauty with Aston Martin's elegance.

Tier 1: The Best

Goldfinger: The quintessential Bond

- Why it's this high: From the opening ("Positively shocking") to the seduction of Pussy Galore at the end, this film has it all. Goldfinger is an all time great villain, while Odd Job is an exceptional henchman. Connery delivers a master performance, and drives THE classic Bond Car, ejector seat included. The reason I put it #1 is not necessarily because it is the best film (although it is great), it checks all the boxes of what a perfect Bond film should do.
- Why it's not higher: I cannot think of any notable imperfections.
- Most under-appreciated part: The golf scene between Bond and Goldfinger is a delight to watch, demonstrating Bond's wits for the first and only time on the golf course.

Watching the classic films for the first time!

Ranking the P5R Party Members!

Howdhee-ho everyone!
So the other day I threw out a Ranking of all the Palaces, and before that one of all the Showtime attacks.
Today I’ll be tackling a ranking of the Phantom Thieves (except for Joker. Because that’s kind of unfair).
As usual, there are spoilers ahead. And this is all just my opinion. It’s cool if you disagree. In fact, if you disagree I’d love to hear your thoughts and reasons!
Anyway, before we begin I’m going to break down what these rankings are based on.
Story - How well are they integrated, and how good is their story.
Confidant - How good is it? Does it flow well?
Codename - Does it fit? Does it sound cool?
Attire - How cool and unique is their costume?
Usefulness - How good are they in combat?
Seems pretty straightforward. So without further ado, let us begin with number 9!
9 - Sumire Yoshizawa
And we’re already going to be controversial! Huzzah!
Look. I know a lot of people love her. But honestly she’s… not all that amazing in my opinion. Time to delve into why!
First off, her story. She is integrated into the story very poorly. She comes up for the odd scene here and there, but she never really does anything of any importance other than drop Kasumi’s pocketbook. But otherwise it REALLY feels like Atlus tried their absolute hardest to just not put her in the game. When she gets her powers she gives a lame excuse as to why she can’t join. Then when she wants to join we’re forced to turn her down with another lame excuse.
Once you get to Maruki’s Palace she becomes the focus… for about 20 minutes. The first like, tenth of the Palace is about her. But once you free her and she joins the Thieves, she unfortunately becomes a sort of background character. She doesn’t really have any motivations beyond “I want to beat Maruki” which is the same motivation everyone has.
I will say, though, that her first awakening is really good. It’s so different from all the other ones because, just like her cognition, it’s all an illusion. So her awakening has this cool illusory effect and the reason for it is basically because people keep telling her she isn’t Kasumi even though she thinks she is.
Now for her Confidant… half of it is worthless. And I mean that literally. Because the first 5 ranks are getting to know Kasumi, not Sumire. When she becomes Sumire again, she literally is the opposite of the first 5 ranks. That means you have half the time to get to know her. And it doesn’t have any real continuity to it. No real flowing, overarching story. It’s sort of just “Hang out with Sumire”. Kinda lame. Sorry.
Now, her Codename is Violet. And I get that “Sumire” in English is Violet but I don’t really see anything Violet about her. Her hair is red. Violets are… er… violet. Her clothes are black. I dunno. It’s just kinda weird. Like, it doesn’t really have anything to do with her. And I don’t feel like a translation is much of a codename.
Now for her attire. It’s cool. BUT… it’s also just fem-Joker. I know that was sort of her original concept. But I don’t really like it. I don’t like that her clothes are just Joker’s clothes but on a woman. Her mask is kinda cool though. And honestly I really like the rapier and rifle. It’s really damn sweet.
Finally; her usefulness in combat. She’s actually pretty solid, but that’s basically only because in the single Palace where she’s available almost every enemy is weak to Bless, which she has. She DOES have a heal ability and high crit though. So even if you’re using her, say, in Mementos or in the challenge battles she’s decent.
Overall; wasted potential. It’s a real shame too because I think if she were actually in this game I could end up liking her.
8 - Makoto Nijima
Hot take pt 2, Nuclear Damage Boogaloo!
Yeah listen. I’m one of the 4 people alive who doesn’t really like Makoto. I know everyone is going to yell at me and downvote this so hard I end up stuck in the chamber of the Holy Grail. But still. This is how I feel.
For story… here’s the thing. Makoto is introduced in a terrible way. As they say, first impressions are hard to erase. And her first impression is incredibly standoffish and rude. And honestly, her like second through fifteenth impressions follow suit. It’s either her being a bitch, or her being really dumb. Then she awakens to her Persona for… no real reason? I’ll get into it more later with other characters, but normally the awakening comes after a powerful realization. So, Ryuji learning that Kamoshida broke his leg on purpose, for fun. Or Ann learning Kamoshida raped Shiho. Makoto… doesn’t learn anything new. Kaneshiro just repeats that he expects to be paid his money. And after she awakens, much like Sumire is for Maruki, she’s not really relevant to the Palace. She doesn’t have some deep, backstory linked reason to take Kaneshiro down. So she just kind of falls in line with the rest of the crew. However, I will admit that she does hold down a pretty necessary place in the group. She essentially is the person forcing the plot forward when others get off track. I don’t really think this adds anything to her character, but I realize that without her it would just be “Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, and Futaba being meme lords while Morgana and Haru laugh to themselves about who knows what.”
And I think most people agree her confidant is bad. Like 80% of it is Makoto being super nosy and poking into a random NPCs personal life while Joker… is there. Like, Joker’s presence is irrelevant here. And unlike basically everyone else, she doesn’t learn anything. She just ends up being right. Her NPC friend’s boyfriend is just trying to sell her off as a prostitute. We don’t even really know how their friendship plays out after that. It just kind of abruptly ends and is pointless.
Her Codename is Queen. Because… she doesn’t play chess. Or Shogi. Nor is she royalty. Nor does she lead the team. Nor is her attire regal. Like the name has nothing to do with her as a character. So yeah. Pretty not great name.
Her Thief attire is… Okay? It's kind of bland. It's just like a grey leather armor set. I don't dislike it, but I do think it's a little uninspired. Oh. And I do truly hate her mask. It's like… And iron slab. That's all. Like I said, it's really not noteworthy.
And now her usefulness… Makoto is weird because her best build is having her be “just okay” at everything. You can build her to be a physical attacker. And she’ll be decent but never eclipse Ryuji. You can build her as a mage but she’ll never eclipse Ann. You can build her as a healer and she’ll never eclipse Morgana. It's best to just have her with decent magic, decent phys, and decent heals. But then… There's not really a reason to use her over the BETTER phys, magics, and healers.
So yeah. Makoto is… She's there. She is a part of the team.
7 - Haru Okumura
“Who is the real criminal here, in this building? Haru Okumura!”
I doubt this one will be as controversial. Unfortunately Haru got the short end when it comes to this game. Her presence (or lack thereof) isn't as bad as Sumire but it's pretty minimal.
So Haru is unfortunately barely involved in her own arc. She is overshadowed by Morgana until he rejoins. She then gets her time to shine when she awakens and then… That's it. That's all she does. It REALLY hurts honestly because I do like Haru. But she got screwed because they gave Morgana an arc here that I don't think he needed. Her awakening scene is really good though. But I’ll be ranking those another day.
Her confidant line is awesome though. Going with Haru and trying to guide her as she stumbles through running the company her father left behind is excellent. You really get a down to Earth view of her larger than life character as she struggles with real emotions. She deals with feeling she can't trust anyone while she tries to pick up the broken fragments of her life by befriending Joker. It's so good. Seriously. I love this confidant. Also vegetables.
Her codename is Noir, which means Black in French. And it’s to remind her that the Phantom Thieves are not necessarily morally good people. It’s interesting, and I think it fits the very French style of her attire. I like it, but I wish she had something more suiting. Though it IS better than Beauty Thief.
Haru’s thief clothes are also cool. They’re one of the only sets that isn't mostly black. Sure she has some black parts, but also some pink and white. And with most of the others having drab, black clothes it really stands apart. Plus her hat is absolutely awesome and looks fantastic. Her mask is cool too. It's the only one that doesn't seem kinda outlandish. And the whole ensemble fits the motif of the femme fatale.
And Haru is pretty useful, but not overly so. I mean, her magic and physical skills are just okay. But she has the two damage reflect skills which are awesome. Really helpful in a pinch. And her gun is great for tech attacks.
6 - Morgana
“Hey! Monamona!”
Now I don’t want anyone to think I dislike Morgana. Because I love my boy. But I do think he gets outshined by everyone else.
In the story, he is essentially the main driving force of the Thieves (and not just because he’s a car). Without Morgana the Thieves wouldn’t have started, and you’d have no idea how to do anything. Plus, he’s always there to provide his take on situations, and assist.
Well, except for one part. The main part that drags him down.
The Okumura arc and Morgana have been discussed into the ground. But if you want my brief take; I think he is definitely in the wrong in the argument, and I don’t really think he grows as a character. It’s more like he shrinks as a character then reverts back to normal.
Now, Morgana doesn’t really have a confidant line. He ranks up automatically. But honestly I don’t mind. Joker spends more time with Morgana than literally everyone else. So I think you get the equivalent feel from just always having him around.
Gods above I hate Morgana’s codename. Because it isn’t a codename. It’s a shortening of Morgana. That would be like someone named Robert going “So my codename is Rob”. Like… that’s not a codename. That isn’t how codenames work. DAMMIT RYUJI WHY COULDN’T YOU HAVE PICKED SOMETHING BETTER?! ...Ah well. This one sucks. Let’s move on.
His thief attire is great too. I kinda wish his head wasn’t so… bobble-heady. But I get that Japanese games tend to do that kind of thing. I do like how it’s essentially a fuzzy onesie with a hood though.
As for his use, remember how earlier I said speccing Makoto as a healer doesn’t eclipse Morgana? That’s still true… BUT… honestly Morgana isn’t that much better. Because healing isn’t related to stats. It’s more related to the abilities they get. And the only thing Morgana gets over Makoto is resurrection spells. Plus he’s super squishy. He has like 200 HP at level 99 which is basically nothing. If he gets hit by a lightning attack it’s basically over. And because his confidant is automatic, you don’t get a lot of his good abilities until later in the game.
Sorry, kitty. I still love you. But you ARE kinda useless…
5 - Yusuke Kitagawa
“A breathtaking sight!”
I love my boy Yusuke. It helps that he’s voiced by Matt Mercer, and that one of his battle lines is “How do you want to do this?” But honestly, Yusuke is one of my favorite characters.
Let’s start off as usual. Yusuke is first introduced as a sort of antagonist… well, it actually may be more accurate to say that WE are the antagonists. Yusuke really just wants to be left alone to make art at first and the Thieves kind of push themselves onto him. It’s a really interesting way to show how some people feel about the Thieves’ ideals. Basically, he doesn’t want to be saved but we want to save him. And while he’s a bit quirky, he is the best part of this arc. And his awakening is sick. as. fuck. Unfortunately though, I do think he falls off after his arc here. He quickly becomes “the guy who is there to just be quirky and weird”. And while that’s okay, I feel like he doesn’t really DO anything after Madarame’s arc wraps up.
I absolutely love his confidant line. Essentially Yusuke is in a slump. He can’t make any art because he feels his heart is clouded. So Joker begins going around with him to try to help him out. Some of the scenes are actually hilarious, like the boat scene, and the church scene. And some are very touching. The main events, too, are fantastic. The part where he presents his painting “Desire” and all the art snobs talk about how bad it is (which I don’t get at all. I think it’s a phenomenal painting) is great because it shows a different, more pessimistic side of Yusuke. Then at the end he takes that very same painting and makes a change to it, then renames it “Desire and Hope” (and it’s still awesome) and everyone praises it because he’s realized that his friends are his “hope” which will keep him from giving into his desires and becoming distorted. This shit is great. I love it. Probably one of my favorite confidant lines.
Obviously Fox works for Yusuke. Because his mask is a fox. It’s pretty self explanatory. It’s not amazing. It’s not bad. It just fits.
And Yusuke’s Thief Attire is awesome. It’s like a leather jacket with a massive collar. And his mask is fantastic. The only thing I don’t really like about his costume is the tail. Not because of how the tail looks, but because of its placement. It’s like… weirdly along his leg instead of in the center of his back. It’s just kind of off-center and it bothers me. But that’s just a bit of a nitpick. Otherwise I love his costume. In fact I think it’s my third favorite behind Akechi and… uh… Akechi. Eh. We’ll get to that later.
Now for his combat ability. By all rights Yusuke shouldn’t be that great. I mean, Ryuji does far more physical damage than him, and Ann does a lot more magic damage. He also doesn’t have any amazing buff or debuff skills. HOWEVER… this man crits more than a weighted 20-sided die. This could just be my own personal experience, but I swear every third physical attack from Yusuke is a crit. It’s bananas. So he’s great, if a bit unreliable, for setting up big Baton Pass damage.
So yeah. I love Yusuke. I just wish he was more important in the story after his recruitment, and a little better in combat.
4 - Ryuji Sakamoto
“FOR REAL?!”
Ryuji gets my fourth spot. I love this boy. But he has one major thing holding him back.
His confidant is ass. But we’ll get to that.
We need to first start this properly. Ryuji is one of the main focuses of this story. I know a lot of people say he stops being relevant after Kamoshida but that’s… just… false? Like. Factually incorrect. I mean, just because his “arc” is done doesn’t mean he isn’t relevant to the plot anymore. He’s more relevant than anyone I have listed before him on this list.
I mean, let’s look at this factually. Ryuji is the primary force pushing to change Madarame’s heart. This isn’t really about Yusuke. But more about how he wants to take down evil people. Without Ryuji, we give up on Madarame when Yusuke decides to kick us out.
Without Ryuji, Makoto gets sold as a sex slave. Ryuji throws himself INTO TRAFFIC to save her. None of the rest of us were going to.
Without Ryuji, Haru’s fiance drags her off and we never help her or recruit her. Because Ryuji is the only one who stands up to him. Well… except for Morgana. But he gets kicked into a brick wall because he’s a cat.
Anyways, let’s talk about him in Kamoshida’s arc. I actually think this is where he’s the weakest. Because this arc is more about Ann than him. We establish that Ryuji wants to stop Kamoshida, and is upset that Kamoshida broke his leg. But that isn’t really his reasoning behind fighting Kamoshida. He wants to take him down for the same reason he wants to take down every Palace ruler. He hates people lording their power over others. I actually like that Ryuji doesn’t really change as a character either, because he is the most pure hearted boy in this game. He doesn’t need to change.
Anyway. His confidant sucks unfortunately. It’s not quite as bad as Makoto, but like hers, Joker isn’t really needed here. This whole thing is basically Ryuji dealing with the track team, who hates him. He does come to the realization that sometimes he needs to accept a loss so other people can feel better, and that he doesn’t need to be liked by everyone so long as his friends like him. It’s nice. But like I said, the storyline is sloppy and Joker being there doesn’t matter for like 90% of it.
Now Skull makes sense. Because his mask… is a skull. And his persona is a Pirate, which are famous for skull imagery. So uh. Ya’know. It works,
I love Ryuji’s Thief garb. It’s cool as shit. A leather jacket, necktie, his awesome mask, and the badass metal spikes on his back are sweet. My only complaint is the complaint I have with a lot of these. It’s… it’s just black. Like, I wish there was more coloration for these costumes. Most of them are like 95% black.
Finally, Ryuji is awesome in combat. He’s definitely the strongest as far as physical damage, he gets Charge to make his physical STRONGER, he has a ton of HP, and he has a full party attack up. As well as some decent lightning damage to hit weaknesses and baton pass but well...everyone has that. Even so, this dude is a heavy hitting tank. He does crazy damage with physical attacks. And he never leaves my team once he’s on… in fact, that’s the case with everyone on the team from here up.
So yeah. I love my son. Stop bullying Ryuji.
3 - Futaba Sakura
“Mwehehehe!”
Little sister gremlin gets the third spot and I love her. Futaba is one of my favorite characters in the game in general.
Firstly, her story is absolutely incredible. I think she has the most relation to her Arc because… well it's ABOUT her. Normally the arcs are about two or three people. For example, Madarame and Yusuke share and arc. Kamoshida, Ann, and Ryuji share an arc. But here this is 100% about Futaba. And I really like how it works. A girl whose mom was involved with dangerous people has her mind shut down while she’s walking with her young daughter. She collapses into the street and dies, and the daughter blames herself and shuts herself away from the world. It hurt the old heart. And even after she joins, Futaba maintains an important role. She fills the role of an informant. We need some info? Futaba’s on it. We need to get into a database? Futaba. We need to rig casino games? Futaba.
Her confidant line is also great. She’s spent years locked away and we need to help her break out of her shell by doing more and more difficult tasks. And it ends in the same location it begins, but with a totally different feeling. It’s a lot like Yusuke’s where he has a painting everyone hates, then one everyone loves. Futaba starts in Akihabara and is terrified of the crowds around her. But at the end she goes to Akihabara and spends hours there, completely on her own, because she was “having fun”. It’s awesome. The only thing I don’t like is the bit with Kana. There’s a part where, for whatever reason, she spies on a grade-school friend whose parents basically forced her into porn modeling. It’s weird, unnecessary, and barely related to the overall “plot” of her confidant.
Now as I said, Futaba plays the informant role. So Oracle works very well. It’s great too because it’s the only name besides Joker that isn’t super on the nose. Until this point we have Skull, Fox, and Panther, who are just named after their Masks, Queen whose name makes no sense, and Mona which is… just his name. Oracle is basically a metaphor for how she guides the party by examining their surroundings and working to guide them. It’s sweet.
Now, I really like her outfit. I think the cool tron looking stuff is great. It’s mostly black with these cool green lines that are fantastic. However… I hate her “mask”. Don’t get me wrong, I think the goggles fit her character. But they just looks do dumb. Like, they make her look like a frog. It kinda sucks.
And Futaba in combat is kind of weird. Because she doesn’t actually fight. Instead she offers party buffs or enemy debuffs as fights go on. She can do things like increase your attack, decrease enemy attack, heal you, give you SP, and more. She gets even more abilities in Royal which are amazing. Futaba plays a small but critical role here that can’t be filled by anyone else (Literally. Morgana tries for the first half of the game).
So Futaba is fantastic. The only things holding her back are her mask, and Kana.
2 - Ann Takamaki
“This beautiful rose has thorns!”
So this probably isn’t surprising since she’s my #2 spot on this list, but Ann is my, as the kids say, “Best girl”. She’s great. Honestly behind my #1 on this list I think she’s just outright the best character.
Time to delve in to why!
First, as I said before, the story of Kamoshida’s arc is very much about her. She is the person who has lost the most to him, and he is actively blackmailing and pressuring her the entire arc. Then, when her best friend tries to kill herself because Kamoshida is a dickhead, she goes into full on revenge mode. But she spares Kamoshida in the end. Not because she’d feel badly about killing him, but because she feels he needs to repent.
The rest of the game is spent with Ann being the kindest member of the team. However we still see that emotional volatility we saw with Kamoshida. For example, she is the person who fights to help Yusuke. Nobody else really seems to care about Yusuke one way or the other. But Ann wants to take down Madarame to help him. Even after the whole nude modeling fiasco. But when Madarame tricks them and reveals that he “killed” Yusuke’s mom, Ann gets PISSED. It’s clear she cares for other people to such an extent that seeing them being treated unfairly makes her angry. Heck, she’s the one who is pushing against Makoto the hardest at the beginning, but when Makoto gets in trouble, Ann is the first one to run after her, and then the first to befriend her and apologize. This continues for the rest of the game. Ann is fucking great. She’s seriously like the most emotional party member in the best way.
We see this more in her confidant, which I think is one of the best ones. It builds off of Kamoshida’s arc, with Shiho in the hospital. Ann is struggling because she wants to show Shiho that she has a “Strong heart” in order to inspire Shiho to get better. But she doesn’t really know how to go about this and asks Joker for help. After a run in with Mika (whose heart I am still upset we did not get to change) Ann decides she wants to be the #1 model around by trying her absolute hardest.
The rest of her confidant revolves around this. She wants to be the absolute best to inspire Shiho. At the end, she succeeds and Shiho not only recovers, but loves life again, all because of Ann.
Then, in her final rank, Ann decides that she wants to keep this drive to be the best. Not for Shiho or herself, but for anyone else who is downtrodden so she can show them that determination can get you anywhere. It’s so damn good.
Now, her Codename. Panther. Because her mask… is a cat mask. And her costume has a tail. That’s it. I dunno. It fits.
Now, I love her costume but not for the reasons you may expect. It is the ONLY costume where the primary color ISN’T. BLACK. There is NO black on her costume. And I also love the color scheme aside from that. The red looks fantastic, and the pink on her gloves is a good compliment. And honestly, I think her mask looks fantastic. It’s one of the best ones.
And finally, her combat skills. She was good in P5, but she is INCREDIBLE in P5R.
First, she is the highest magic damage dealer with a Severe multi-target attack, both fire boost and amp, and like, 85 magic at level 99. If you wanted you could throw on a charm or guard to bump that to 99.
She also gets concentrate so it’s even more ridiculous. And a FULL PARTY variant with her Tier 3 Persona.
She has sleep moves, which are the best for setting up technicals, meaning better baton passes
And she can heal if necessary.
Ann can literally destroy (everything). In my recent playthrough on hard she took out all of Yaldy’s arms during the ominous light converging phase (except the one immune to fire) in a single hit. It’s actually insane.
There is no reason not to use her. In fact, I’d argue she’s the single best party member for combat and honestly, it’s not even close.
Ann is amazing, and I wish more people realized that instead of going “LOL FANSERVICE CHARACTER”
1 - Goro Akechi
“That one got betrayed by its teammate! I wonder how THAT feels!”
Now, let me discuss the thing everyone is going to yell about. I know this is a list ranking the Thieves and he never officially joins but like… come on. He’s on the team for two full Palaces, and both of those Palaces heavily feature him. So I’m counting him. And I know people hate him. But he belongs in the #1 spot. Just follow me on this.
Firstly, the story is more about him than any character. Every single thing that happens up until Shido’s Palace begins involves Akechi. While the Thieves are slowly changing the cognition of the world to make life better, he’s off killing people like Wakaba, Okumura, and all of Shido’s political rivals. He’s involved with the Shujin Principal, who he kills. He was messing around in Madarame’s Palace, as well as Kaneshiros. He killed Futaba’s mom and set up the fake Medjed. He killed Okumura. He set the group up so he can kill Joker. This entire game is as much about him as it is Joker. Hell, Yaldy even selected him to be the anti-Joker. And in the final Palace, he’s got the most riding on it. He wants to beat Maruki KNOWING he’ll die because he doesn’t want others dictating his future.
Then we have his confidant in P5R it is AMAZING. Now, it is just a bunch of random hangouts. However what we see is him slowly coming to be friends with Joker. He sees Joker as a sort of friendly rival. Someone who can actually challenge him. But once Akechi learns that Joker is actually one of the Phantom Thieves he feels betrayed. He realizes the “friend” he made is actually his enemy, and someone he needs to kill. He grows a hate for Joker because his first and only friend turned out to be an enemy. It’s just insane. I love it.
Now his codename, Crow. It’s great because, at first, he says that it’s to disguise his true identity, but in actuality it’s to show his real identity underneath his disguise. Also, Crows are often called a “Murder” and well… you know what kind of person Akechi is.
His attire is also awesome. BOTH of them. I love his first one because it has an almost 1800’s military feel to it. It’s basically a white officer’s uniform with a badass red cape. I’m not the biggest fan of the mask here but I don’t dislike it.
His SECOND outfit, however… It’s so damn good. I don’t even care. He looks like fucking Darth Vader mixed with Spawn. It’s so cool. And the mask is amazing. It’s a black helmet that looks outright demonic. This shit is amazing.
Now for his use as a teammate.
In Sae’s Palace he’s insane. He has almighty attacks, as well as both curse and bless in the forms of normal attacks and insta-kills. And we know insta-kills are B U S T E D.
Then in Maruki’s Palace… holy hell.
So this is my experience and I’ve seen a lot of people disagree. But I’ve had him out damage Ryuji with physical attacks WITHOUT using charge. Laevetain and Riot Gun absolutely obliterate shit. And his ultimate power from his tier 3 is busted. It’s a colossal Almighty attack and it does SO. MUCH. DAMAGE.
Plus he has Debilitate which is just so good.
God. Akechi is amazing. He’s such a good anti-Hero and, I’d argue, probably the best character in the game. Though not necessarily the best *person* (That’s Ann. Fight me if you really want to).
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this, and have been enjoying these rankings. I’ve been having fun writing them and I like hearing you guys’ opinions. So throw your thoughts down below! I’d love to hear from you!
As for what comes next… I was thinking either Bosses, Awakenings, or Teammate Personas. What would you want to see? And do you guys have any ideas?

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