“Bond,
James Bond” – those words will never get old – and whether as a little guy or
nowadays, to me that conjures up Sean Connery at his best.
ORIGINS:
In 1953 Ian Fleming published a book called Casino Royale – little did he know
that his fictional hero would later become as popular as he did. Fleming who had some underground experience
from wartime service had little idea at that time that he’d be writing a number
of other books about his fictional hero – or that the hero would be in movies
for over 50 years. And I’m sure that he never has any though that James Bond
would be still a motion picture hero in 2015.
FILMS: The first James Bond
movie was made in 1962, starring Sean Connery as the legendary hero – now 52
years later, there have been 23 films released (and that’s not counting the
parody of Casino Royale with David Niven and Never Say Never – based on
Thunderball). There have been six actors playing Bond (Connery left the
franchise and then returned for one more movie) countless villains and a bevy
of beauties (after all Bond was a ladies man) in the most colourful and exotic
locations to tantalize the audience. The movies were liked enough that the
parodies existed – that is not to say that they were highly liked – but they
occurred.
VILLAINS: And then there were the
villains. Bond had the best guys – a
woman with a knife in her shoe – or a man with a bowler hat that killed. Who can forget the fluffy kitten hugging
villain who sent his secretary to the pool full or piranhas? Later we met suave
villains who ate from monkey skulls – or Jaws and his bespectacled girlfriend
who went in “two buy two” to fly on a rocket to the moon. Sadly as the franchise has grown up and the
heroes changed the directors needed more realism and recently Craig has almost
become as ruthless as his villains.
Craig is actually the exception to the rule in more than one way. He is blonde (the book hero is dark and tall)
and short – far from suave Craig would be better off in a wrestling ring – but
this proves that in any franchise – the lead character can change according to
the director and producers whims.
THE MUSIC: Throughout
the series there have been numerous artists singing the theme tunes for the
movies – and these singers have made a fortune in just the themes alone. Whether Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, Nancy
Sinatra or Wings, the artists have done well from James Bond.
TOYS: Apart from the music
and the videos and books released, at a certain time it was decided that there
should be James Bond toys. These toys
took the form of guns, hats and rifles – even Matchbox and Corgi cars; Bond was
a hero for young and old.
ACTORS: Once an actor plays
Bond they tend to be typecast. Although
it was many years back – when the name Sean Connery is mentioned – James Bond
comes to mind (although he’s made countless other movies – none as
memorable). This is true also for Roger
Moore (who made numerous other films and TV shows) and Timothy Dalton, Pierce
Brosnan also became Bond and recently Daniel Craig has been the “go to”
Bond. Do all these actors really seem
alike? No. Do they all play Bond as the books depict
him? You’ll have to read the books to
tell.
THE BEST MOVIE: A lot would argue that going back to the beginning
is the best option – Connery was the first and the best. Modern audiences might say that Craig is the
best as he is more realistic and the most “with it”. Then there are some “in betweeners” who would
tout Roger Moore, the spy with a smile, to be the best Bond. Somewhere along the way there is a perfect
Bond – George Lazenby looked good and couldn’t act – Timothy Dalton could act
but wasn’t a good match… It’s a hard call.
The best thing is for you to watch a few Bonds and then maybe to try to
get a Bond book – then you can choose for yourself. Since I personally can’t
answer this question with just one movie I’d say that I like two different
Bonds – Connery and Moore and their movies, Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice
– for Connery and The Man with the
Golden Gun and Live and Let Die for Moore.
Other than that – I appreciate the other actors, but none have lived up
to my expectations.
THE FUTURE: In
conclusion, sure as anything – Skyfall was not the end. We’ve seen M change from
Judy Dench to Ralph Fiennes. Moneypenny and even Q have been portrayed by
different people along the way, but it’s always been a good change. Very soon
there is going to be a new James Bond movie – Spectre (about the bad guys from the early days perhaps?) and I’m
going to be one of the first to see what’s new in the James Bond box of tricks.
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