Yes, he is back. The guy who gave us enough reasons to love action films with more than a sprinkling of sex is here again.
James Bond 007 does not need any introduction and is considered the most famous reel hero of all times.
Ian Fleming, the creator of Bond, has long died, but his hero keeps making ripples in the film industry as the unbeatable secret service agent who can fight, shoot, drink, make love, drive fast cars, ride motorcycles and fly airplanes, helicopters and even the space shuttle. He can defuse missiles and even nuclear bombs. Throw him out of an airplane without a parachute, he doesn’t panic, he just survives.
Yes, the world has changed a lot since Dr No, the first Bond movie, was released in 1962 but he continues to charm us. This is the 22nd film in the series and Quantum of Solace will be released in theatres near us this Friday.
So let’s take a look at the Bond saga that has had us hooked to the tales of a womanising spy character.
The “official” James Bond films have been produced by Eon Productions and producer Cubby Broccoli (who died in 1996), later succeeded by producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
They are, Dr No (1962), From Russia With Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Live and Let Die (1973), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983), A View to a Kill (1985), The Living Daylights (1987), Licence to Kill (1989), GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World is Not Enough (1999), Die Another Day (2002), Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008). And Bond23 will be out in 2010.
The unofficial films are Casino Royale, a 1954 TV program starring Barry Nelson, Casino Royale (1967)starring David Niven and Peter Sellers and Never Say Never Again (1983).
Sean Connery was the first to bring James Bond to the big screen with Dr No in 1962. And he is considered the ultimate Bond. He appeared in five more 007 films- From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice and his final effort Diamonds Are Forever in 1971. He also played Bond in 1983’s Never Say Never Again.
The briefest stint came in 1969 when Australian model-turnedactor George Lazenby replaced Connery for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The 1970s saw Roger Moore take on the part, which he held into the next decade to become the longest-serving actor in the role.
A second short-lived Bond arrived in 1987 when Timothy Dalton starred in A View to a Kill – the first of two 007 films featuring the actor. His stint was followed by a six-year absence of James Bond from cinema screens.
Pierce Brosnan made 4 films from 1995’s GoldenEye to Die Another Day in 2002. And the current Bond is Daniel Craig, who made his debut in Casino Royale in 2006. .
And now we come to the most discussed topicwho is the best Bond girl? For the majority of viewers it is Honey Rider in Dr No, played by Ursula Andress.
And remember the scene? Bond is snoozing under a palm on a Caribbean beach when the soft sounds of a woman singing waft over. He leaps up to see a lithe blonde in a cream bikini, with a big knife strapped to her thigh, emerging from the shimmering surf. “What are you doing?” she asks. “Looking for shells?” “No,” he replies. “I’m just looking.” And only a couple of other Bond girls live on in the memory, like Diana Rigg as Contessa Teresa Di Vicenzo in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and Halle Berry as Jinx in Die Another Day. A few scenes where these girls score over Bond include the one where Pussy Galore in Goldfinger, played by Honor Blackman, tells Bond, “You can turn off the charm. I’m immune.” Over the years the heroines of Bond movies have changed from sexy hookers to technocrats, but no prizes for guessing: Everyone ends up in Bond’s bed. Xenia Onnatop in GoldenEye, played by Famke Janssen, was a vampish, leather-clad, cigar-smoking ex- Soviet fighter pilot and was the deadliest girl Bond ever has to deal with.
Will the new Bond girls, Olga Kurylenko and Gemma Arterton, measure up? We will have to wait and see.
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