The movies are going off Netflix on April 20, so we may not make it through the Pierce Brosnan movies, but we will watch as many as we can.
To date, we have watched all of the Sean Connery movies through Diamonds Are Forever, plus the George Lazenby movie. Some observations so far:
- Dr. No does not hold up well. Ursula Andress holds up though.
- Jack Lord, of Hawaii 5-O fame, is in Dr. No, as Felix Leiter, but only in the one movie. Felix is a recurring character, but they change actors willy-nilly.
- The famous way that Bond introduces himself is actually initiated by another character, all the way back in Dr. No. Bond asks a female gambler for her name, and she replies, "Trench, Sylvia Trench." When she asks his name, he says, "Bond. James Bond."
- The second movie, From Russia with Love, is pretty good.
- Sylvia Trench shows up again in From Russia with Love, although very briefly. It may be the only time that one of Bond's romantic interests shows up in two movies until Lea Seydoux in the last two Daniel Craig films. For the most part, women are tossed aside and forgotten from one movie to the next. If they survive.
- Robert Shaw, of Jaws fame, is in from Russia with Love, as a bad guy.
- The series owes a lot to Goldfinger. It is a good movie with a good villain, but it also debuts several elements that recur throughout the franchise. For example:
- It has the first big opening theme song. Dr. No does not have one. From Russia with Love has a soft instrumental for the opening, then the song is sung Perry Como style at the end. Goldfinger has a good opening song, sung by Shirley Bassey.
- The plot is over the top, with huge international implications.
- It has the first, and one of the best, nearly indestructible henchmen, Oddjob.
- I think it is the first movie in which a Bond romantic interest gets killed. In any case, the golden girl is one of the most memorable, and in subsequent movies, Bond leaves a trail of dead women in his wake.
- It has one of the first, and most blatant, childishly named female Bond collaborators - Pussy Galore.
- On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the only George Lazenby movie, is a lousy film, surprisingly bad. Telly Savalas and Diana Rigg are in it, but that's no help. If I were watching the series again, I would skip this one.
- The theme song for On Her Majesty's Secret Service is We Have All the Time in the World, sung by Louis Armstrong. It shows up in the middle of the movie. I hope that is the last time we do not have an opening song.
- The two gay assassins in Diamonds Are Forever are fun.
That ends the Sean Connery era, other than Never Say Never Again, which comes after several Roger Moore films. Next film is Live and Let Die.
So about those Daniel Craig films:
- Casino Royale is a good film. The rest are pretty good too.
- The opening music for each of the five films is very decent. Adele's Skyfall is the most well-know, but they are all good. The entire series has an impressive list of performers singing the opening numbers - Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, Nancy Sinatra, Paul McCartney, Carly Simon, Tina Turner, Rita Coolidge, Madonna, Adele, Billie Eilish, among others.
- Craig is a really good Bond.
- All of these films start with a big action sequence. That has become part of the appeal of the franchise.
- Vesper Lynd and Madeleine Swann are two of the best Bond women, because they are not just throw-away sex partners but rather women Bond actually respects and likes.
- Craig gets so many women killed that even Judi Dench's version of M gets disgusted with him.
- The Craig movies kill off not only Bond himself (um, spoiler alert!), but also Felix Leiter, who first showed up way back in Dr. No, and Blofeld, who is hinted at in earlier films but first shows his face in You Only Live Twice.
Best and worst films by Bond Actor:
Sean Connery: Best - Goldfinger. Worst - Dr. No.
George Lazenby: Worst - On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Lazenby didn't make a best film.
Daniel Craig: Best - Casino Royale. Worst - Spectre. Good theme song though.
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