James Bond

“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 CHARACTER: Bond is what everyone wants to be – a suave and fashionable hero – who alternates his attractive persona with a hard as tacks secret agent, capable of staring Harry Callaghan (Dirty Harry) down!

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.