Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure (1959)
Feb 25, 2006Jungle Hero
One of the best of all Tarzan films made under producer Sy Weintraub who dispensed with the cutsie elements of the earlier films and focused on gritty adventure
Sean Connery
Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959)
Jan 6, 2002Disney Leprechaun Film
This leprechaun fantasy is one of the best and most underrated live-action films Disney ever made. The effects are at a peak of the era and the film plays with a sublime charm that proves absolutely winning
Dr No (1962)
Jul 15, 2001James Bond Film
The first of the James Bond films. While the formula of the series is not quite established yet, this is a slick exciting work that did a number of groundbreaking things and created some iconic images
Goldfinger (1964)
Mar 17, 2001James Bond Film
The third of the James Bond films and the point where everything that has been defined as the formula of the series - the gadgets, the villains, the henchmen, the cars, the world domination plots - falls into place perfectly
Thunderball (1965)
Jul 16, 2001James Bond Film
The fourth James Bond film and crippled by the misfortune of coming just after Goldfinger, which defined the formula and became the peak of the series. By contrast, this is stuck with having to make everything bigger and more spectacular
You Only Live Twice (1967)
Dec 2, 2001James Bond Film
The fifth James Bond film takes the series to Japan. New director Lewis Gilbert is determined to outdo what has come before in terms of the spectacular, especially WITH the construction of the massive volcano set
The Red Tent (1969)
Apr 23, 2015Ill-Fated Expedition to the North Pole/Ghosts of the Dead
On the face of it, this is not the most likely of films to be included – a depiction of the ill-fated true-life expedition to cross the North Pole in a dirigible in 1928 – but is for a wraparound wherein the survivor is judged by a tribunal of ghosts. A beautifully made and epical film
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Jan 1, 2002James Bond Film
The seventh James Bond film where Sean Connery was inveigled back to the role with a heft salary increase. However, the result is the worst of all the Connery Bonds with an incoherent plot and uneven action scenes
Zardoz (1974)
Jan 26, 2011Barbarian Disrupts Utopia of Immortals
Most science-fiction films lack worthy ideas, this is one that contrarily suffers from too many and collapses under the weight of its pretensions to profundity
Meteor (1979)
Jan 2, 2013Meteor Collision/Disaster Movie
An effort from the heyday of the 1970s disaster movie that was a big flop when it came out. Widely ridiculed for its bad special effects, it is a film I am partially prepared to defend, it setting aside the usual soap opera dramatics of these films to make an interesting parable about Cold War tensions. It also prefigures Armageddon with its plot of trying to divert a meteor on a collision course with Earth
Time Bandits (1981)
Jul 29, 2002Gonzo Adventures Throughout Time
Highly enjoyable Terry Gilliam film about a young boy who joins a group of dwarves on a series of adventures though time
Outland (1981)
Feb 7, 2001Action Set on One of Jupiter's Moons
The film‘s Space Western idea aside – the plot is High Noon transplanted into orbit – this is a solid and well-made science-fiction film with Sean Connery as a long marshal on Jupiter's moon Io
Wrong is Right (1982)
Jun 10, 2002International Political Thriller/Stolen Nuclear Weaponry
A sprawling international political thriller/satire about stolen nuclear weapons starring Sean Connery as a journalist
Never Say Never Again (1983)
Aug 25, 2002James Bond Film
Rogue James Bond film made outside the regular series due to a complicated copyright battle. Sean Connery was inveigled back the role and this has some standout casting that is a welcome relief from the unserious Roger Moore films
Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1984)
Nov 1, 2002Sword and Sorcery
Cannon Films make an adaptation of the Mediaeval legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Routine 1980s fantasy cinema with Sean Connery looking embarrassed as the Green Knight
Highlander (1986)
Aug 18, 2000Immortal Combat
Before this was spun out into a series of sequels and tv series, the first film had an original and captivating idea about immortals warring across the ages, Everything is propelled into high gear by Russell Mulcahy's visually dazzling direction
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Feb 15, 2001High Adventure/Holy Grail Quest
Third of the Indiana Jones films. This comes with all the breakneck action sequences and Sean Connery doing a fine comic turn as Indiana's irascible father but also plays to a much greater slapstick emphasis
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
Jun 28, 2002Tom Clancy Techno-Thriller/Advanced Submarine
The first and best Tom Clancy adaptation about a hi-tech Soviet submarine whose captain goes rogue. Director John McTiernan conducts the undersea maneuverings with gripping psychological tension
Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)
Mar 21, 2001Immortal Combat/Dark Future
Probably THE worst sequel ever made. The script’s treatment of continuity to the first film is utterly incoherent, while director Russell Mulcahy and most of the cast go at it with unrestrained OTT excess
Medicine Man (1992)
Jul 8, 2000Cancer Cure in the Amazon Rainforest
John McTiernan was one of the great action directors of the 1980s but this drama with Sean Connery as a scientist in the Amazonian rainforest and his bickering relationship with Lorraine Bracco failed to come off
Just Cause (1995)
May 9, 2001Wronged Man Legal Thriller/Serial Killer
Sean Connery stars as a law professor in a courtroom thriller about a wrongly convicted man. However, this gets sidetracked into being a The Silence of the Lambs copycat
First Knight (1995)
May 27, 2002Arthurian Legends
A version of the Arthurian legends that has stripped out Merlin and all of the magic and mounted it as an historical romance. With Sean Connery as King Arthur and Richard Gere as Lancelot
DragonHeart (1996)
May 28, 2000Rogue and Dragon
This places an amusing spin on the standard dragon fantasy, having the dragon and its would-be slayer team up to fool the peasantry out of money. The Sean Connery-voiced dragon looks like a big CGI cartoon
The Avengers (1998)
Dec 16, 1999Chic Spies/TV Series Remake
The Avengers was the height of 1960s chic. Amid the 90s/00s fad for big screen remakes of tv shows, this was a miscalculated disaster that gets everything about the original wrong from the casting to the droll humour
Entrapment (1999)
May 6, 1999Millennial Caper Thriller
Caper thriller with the gimmick of being set on the turning of the millennium, this is otherwise an empty-headed exercise where slick marketing triumphs over credible scripting over even connection between the leads
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
Sep 2, 2003Teamup of Characters from Victorian Fiction/Graphic Novel Adaptation
The much hated adaptation of the Alan Moore graphic novels. It is undeniable fun watching the crossover between various fictional Victorian characters, while the production design is amazing