James Bond

[dUnKle]

Everybody likes a good bond movie and that includes me, but im not an anorak when it comes to the 00 agent.

I have just got myself a few of the ROGER MOORE DVDs after getting all the CONNERY and BROSNAN movies and am now wandering what exactly some of the films were about.

How old is BOND supposed to be ? His wife died in 1967 ( I think thats what it said on the grave in FOR YOUR EYES ONLY ) which made her 26, if BOND was around the same age then surely he is now well into his 60s.

Also who were all these bad guys that had it in for him

[Ars longa, vita brevis]

i dont really think bad guys had it in for him, rather vice versa.

i'd say he must be in his thirties, given that i dont think the books are set that far apart on the timescale.

In saying that though, Roger Moore was doing a bit of coffin dodging by the time he finished

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Assumption is the mother of all errors

member formerly known as hank hill, the Jesus H
but he got bored of that so changed to some latin sh*t
'which is nice'

[dUnKle]

Ok fair enough, understand about Bonds age but what is the time span supposed to be between DR NO and GOLDENEYE.

Its obivious that the Sean Connery Bonds are part od a series, The Roger Moore ones seem to be more seperate stories and so do the 2 Timothy Dalton ones but now the last 3 movies seem to have been part of a series again.

Is this how we are supposed to see the stories. SPY MOVIES in the 60s 70s 80s and 90s and now the new millenium ?

If so how much time is supposed to have passed between Goldeneye and World is not enough ?

duncan
Up until very recently I could not decide which of the following two was my favourite Bond movie:
1) Goldfinger
2) Moonraker
With tha advent of Dvd the answer was quite clear....Moonraker. I think Roger Moore plays an excellent Bond and nobody (Connery, Brosnon and Dalton especially Dalton) cannot match his humour and those eyebrow expression says it all!!
I think Bond is ageless and the stories tend to based on current world situation.

coolgools



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RESISTANCE IS FUTILE...YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED!!!

[StuartBooth]

I must be the only one that *really* liked Timothy Dalton as 007.

Mind you, I liked them all in their own way.


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Stuart Booth
Somewhere in Buckinghamshire, England, UK

[DaveH]

Bond's age irrelevant for his character.

The actor portraying him should start off in late thirties or early forties.

I disagree about Roger looking old in View To A Kill. He did but looked his age compared to Sean Connery in Diamonds are Forever (1971) he looked passable.

Connery is also three years younger than Moore and looked absolutely too old and then he gave insult to injury by doing Never Say
Never Again (unofficial crap) at the same time as Octopussy in which he looked about 84.

Dalton was an excellent Bond, as was Lazenby - he really should have done more films but c'est la vie.

In trying to detect continuity between the films, you'll have a difficult job as there really isnt any. Maybe the grave scene at the start of FYEO linking to OHMSS is the most explicit (aside from the running Spectre films of the 60s).

That said TSWLM is pretty much a lift from YOLT!

The nearest you'll get to continuity is the original Fleming novels - eg IIRC one of the reasons that Bond is in the health farm at the start of Thunderball is because he is recovering from the poison which entered his body at the hands (or should that be feet!) of Rosa Klebb at the end of From Russia With Love.

Also You Only Live Twice is set directly after OHMSS with Bond looking for revenge against Blofeld after the death of Tracy.

I read all of the Fleming novels last year - absolutely first class stuff and interesting to see how closely (or not!) the films followed the books and how scenes from one book would end up in another film. Eg Felix Leiter is maimed by the sharks in Live and Let Die (2nd book I believe) but this doesnt happed in the films until License To Kill.

Nice to see another OHMSS/Lazenby fan.

UIP even sent him his fee for Diamonds are Forever. Lazenby turned it down on the advice of his agent who said: "You've done a Bond film now, you don't need to do another you've already made it big in films"

Hope George sacked him in later years!

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My DVD's on E-Bay

[DaveH]

Some excellent points.

Dalton was also my favourite Bond. His performance in Living Daylights is the most accurate and best.

Also OHMSS is the best Bond film.

Connery embarrased the franchise with Diamonds are Forever. (This is the one where the story continues after OHMSS with him looking for revenge for the death of Teresa)

I believe tbe books had YOLT set after OHMSS.

If people went back and watched Connery's performance in Bond, they would see he was only good in From Russia With Love, bits of DR No and bits of GoldFinger. In all the others he was embarrasing.

Dave.

I've watched YOLT, DAF and FRWL over the last couple of weeks. Whilst my overall impression of his last two films is now more favourable, I still think that Connery is overrated. The problem is, that its the "lazy" answer to say he is the best Bond, just as its the lazy answer to say that Lazenby and Dalton are the worst.

My view of Connery is that whilst he was superb in his first three films, he really seemed to lose interest after Goldfinger. Whereas Roger Moore was pretty consistent throughout and although he looked too old by the time of View To A Kill, he at least never looked as if he'd rather be somewhere else.

To me OHMSS is the best Bond film, but Goldfinger is the most entertaining (probably followed by Spy Who Loved Me).

What I mean by this is that whilst OHMSS is the best thriller (with License to Kill a close second) it is somewhat unconventional for a Bond film - lacking many of the witty one liners and gadgets. Add a new actor to the mix and its small wonder that the film was not as immediately successful as the others.

Goldfinger was the first Bond to really have all of the ingredients in one film - the sets, the villain, the humour, the gadgets, and it all really works. I dont think you can fault any part of Goldfinger as first class entertainment.

Connery certainly seemed to lose interest after Goldfinger. Is it just me or is Thunderball just a yawn that never really takes off (no pun intended re the pre credit sequence).

Anyway, regardless of any individual likes and dislikes, the DVDs are pretty terrific and its nice to have some documentaries which are more than just publicity puffs. In particular the one on Harry Saltzman I thought was excellent.

[DaveH]

Excellent.

Could not agree more. You have no idea how long me and my friend have been trying to say Connery is overrated.

You're right it is the LAZY option from people who probably saw him in a Bond film over 10 years ago.

OHMSS is the best thriller.

However, Duncan can you confirm that you like Licence To Kill a close second? Are you not getting this confused with Living Daylights (which I think is more of a thriller and the second best Bond film).

Dave.

[This message has been edited by DaveH (edited 23-01-2001).]

well I havent seen Living Daylights for a couple of years, but feel that "License to Kill" is the definitive Dalton film as the script was written for him as opposed to being written for Moore or Brosnan. The drug story is superb and Dalton really shines.

The story and film are a lot more serious than the usual fare and hence this is why it gets my vote as best film next to OHMSS.

[dUnKle]

So am I correct in thinking that up to the BROSANAN Bonds the stories were stand alone but just featured the same characters ?

Is there no time link between the films ? After watching the 3 Brosnan movies again it seems that all 3 are supposed to take place over an 18 month or so period

Also my fav. Bond used to be MOORE, then it was DALTON and now BROSNAN but only cos I like the action in the newer films. I love CONNERY in films such as THE ROCK and THE UNTOUCHABLES but as BOND he just is not as good as people say

Basically there isnt any straight "story" connection between any of the Bond films, ie GoldenEye, TND and TWINE are not a trilogy. They merely share some of the characters and characteristics of the Bond universe as established in the books and previous films.

In the Fleming novels, there is reference to the passage of time, but usually its a throwaway with no influence on the current plot. Eg in Dr No, he arrives in Jamaica and reflects on the last time he was there (Live and Let Die, I think)

The earlier Bond films had some continuity in the form of Spectre and the Blofeld character in From Russia With Love referring to "our agent Dr No" but this is purely an invention for the films. Spectre did not make an appearance in the books until Thunderball and then featured in OHMSS and YOLT.

For reference - the first few films run like this

Dr No
From Russia With Love
Goldfinger
Thunderball
You Only Live Twice
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Diamonds Are Forever
Live and Let Die
The Man With The Golden Gun
The Spy Who Loved Me

wheras the books (IIRC) are

Casino Royale
Live and Let Die
Moonraker
Diamonds Are Forever
Dr No
Goldfinger
From Russia With Love
Thunderball
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
You Only Live Twice
The Man With The Golden Gun

hope this helps - essentially you can watch the films in any order that you like, but production order is as good a way as any so you can see how the "film technology" developed and how the weight piled up on Sean and how the wrinkles piled (and are piling) on Roger and Pierce!

George Lazenby on the otherhand is forever young!

[DaveH]

Yes,

Exactly what did happen to Sean?

Somewhere between YOLT (he looked Jaded) and Diamonds Are Forever he aged about 20 years managing for the older Roger in LALD to look a lot younger!

Yeah, I don;t think continuity is important. The only long recurring theme is the issue of the death of his wife.

The whole SPECTRE thing is more complicated. The reason why Blofeld vanished was probably due to Kevin McClory (who had an idea with Felming to produce Bond Films, in a one off film that later became Flemings' Thunderball book) who may have come up with the Blofeld character.

So when Thunderball the book was written McClory sued and won rights to produce a version of the film which became the worst ever the unofficial Never Say Never...

Blofeld disappeared after Diamonds, might have been because Blofeld was not Flemings or EON's.

Although a bald fellow with a neckbrace and cat appears in FYEO, his name is never mentioned. Could have been a dream.