James Bond (films)

The adventures of fictional secret agent James Bond have become a successful film series, with twenty-one titles made by EON Productions as of 2007. In addition there are two independent productions and one Fleming-licenced American television adaptation of the first novel. It is currently the second longest film series, to date, next to the Blondie series with 28.

The James Bond Eon Productions films are generally described as the "official" films and, although its origin is unclear, this term is used throughout this article. Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli and Harry Saltzman co-produced the official films until 1975, when Broccoli remained the sole producer. Since 1995, Broccoli's daughter Barbara and stepson Michael G. Wilson have co-produced them. Six actors have portrayed 007 so far.

The most recent official film is Casino Royale, with Daniel Craig as James Bond, which premiered on 14 November 2006,^[1] with the film going on general release in Asia and the Middle East the following day.^[2]. Daniel Craig will also return for the next title in the series, scheduled for release in 2008.

Broccoli's and Saltzman's family company, Danjaq, has held ownership of the James Bond film series (through Eon), and maintained co-ownership with United Artists Corporation since the mid-1970s, when Saltzman sold his share of Danjaq to United Artists. From the release of Dr. No (1962) up to and including For Your Eyes Only (1981), the films were distributed solely by United Artists. When MGM bought UA in 1981, MGM/UA Entertainment Co. was formed and distributed the films from Octopussy (1983) to GoldenEye (1995). MGM solely distributed the series from Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) to Die Another Day (2002) after the United Artists brand was retired as a mainstream studio, although UA has to this day continued to hold partial copyright on the series with the Danjaq company. Home entertainment rights to these films are controlled by MGM Home Entertainment and distributed through 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Beginning in 2006 with Casino Royale, MGM and Columbia Pictures co-distribute the franchise, due to a partnership led by Columbia's parent company, Sony Pictures Entertainment, acquiring MGM in 2005. Home entertainment rights to Casino Royale and any future MGM–Columbia releases belong to Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, as Columbia serves as the films' majority partner.

Actors

The first actor to portray 007 was Sean Connery in Dr. No, released in 1962. Fleming so appreciated the Scotsman's portrayal that he added a Scottish background to the novels mentioning Bond's father. Accounts vary as to Fleming's initial choice for the cinematic James Bond.

Connery stayed as Bond for five films, and after Timothy Dalton turned down the role, feeling he was too young for it,^[3] Australian George Lazenby was cast in On Her Majesty's Secret Service in 1967. However, Connery returned for the next movie, Diamonds Are Forever (1971).

1973's Live and Let Die featured Roger Moore's debut as Bond. Moore would have the longest run as 007, appearing in six other films.

The role subsequently went to Welsh actor Timothy Dalton, who was contracted in 1985 for three films as James Bond. Dalton starred in The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989), with the third film slated for 1991. However, legal ownership problems of the James Bond franchise delayed release until 1995, by which time the decision had been taken to cast a new actor. Persistent rumours state that Dalton's third film was going to be The Property of a Lady, but the story, treatment, and draft screenplays were called Goldeneye.^[4]

In 1994, Irish actor Pierce Brosnan was hired as James Bond (Brosnan was initially approached after Moore relinquished the role, but his contract with TV show Remington Steele made him unavailable and Timothy Dalton was chosen^[5]). Brosnan's debut, GoldenEye (1995), was the franchise's highest grossing film at that date, and he starred in three more films. Brosnan is the only actor who did not star in a James Bond film titled after an Ian Fleming novel and is the second actor to have not been from the United Kingdom.

The latest James Bond is Daniel Craig, hired in 2005 for a three-film contract. Craig proved a controversial choice, as some fans considered him inappropriate for the role,^[6] but his debut in Casino Royale was both to critical acclaim and a box-office hit. Craig is to star in the 22nd Bond film, with a release scheduled for 2008.

In the course of the official series, American actors have been engaged to play James Bond on two occasions — and have been approached at other times as well. John Gavin was contracted, in 1970, to replace George Lazenby, but Connery was well-paid to re-appear in Diamonds Are Forever.^[7] James Brolin was contracted in 1983, to replace Roger Moore, and prepared to shoot Octopussy when the producers paid Moore to return. To date, the only American to play James Bond is Barry Nelson, in the 1954 American television adaptation of Casino Royale.

Brolin's three screen tests were publicly released for the first time as a special feature named James Brolin: The Man Who Would Be Bond in the Octopussy: Ultimate Edition DVD.^[8]

Every actor who auditions for the Bond role must always perform a scene from From Russia with Love, where he hears a noise and investigates, only to discover a beautiful stranger on his bed.^[9]

Films

¹ Based on 2006 Consumer Price Index (http://www.bls.gov/cpi/).
* Figure as of February 2 (source - MI6.co.uk). This will increase as Casino Royale is still in cinema release in most countries.
** Estimate based on average ticket price of $6.58 (source - BoxOfficeMojo.com).

Note: Casino Royale (1967, David Niven) and Never Say Never Again (1983, Sean Connery) are excluded, because they are not Eon Productions films, hence not of the "official" series. See below for more information. Never Say Never Again was a revamped version of Thunderball.

Five Ian Fleming titles have thus far never been used as film titles: The Property of a Lady, Quantum of Solace, Risico, The Hildebrand Rarity, and 007 in New York.

Film traditions

The Eon Productions film series has its cinematic traditions, which date from the first film in 1962.

Gun barrel sequence

Main article: James Bond gun barrel sequence

Since Dr. No each film has begun with the James Bond gun barrel sequence, introducing secret agent 007, which was created by title sequence director Maurice Binder. Filmed through a rifled gun barrel (a bullet's perspective), the view-to-a-kill is of James Bond walking right-to-left, then quickly turning left and shooting. The gun barrel reddens with his would-be assassin's spilling blood, and then lightens to a white circle. Casino Royale marked the first Bond film without the gun barrel sequence opening the film — it occurs in a shortened form just before the opening credits. There was a minor difference in the Die Another Day sequence: 007's bullet flies towards the viewer, which did not happen in previous incarnations. George Lazenby and Daniel Craig were covered by the opaque red colour in the gun barrel sequences of On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Casino Royale respectively, whereas all other films have simply had Bond tinted red. A new rendering of the gunbarrel and the blood was introduced in Casino Royale, and it is also the first to show Bond in a "real world" situation (rather than walking across a white void). In addition, it is the first sequence to begin with Bond facing away from the camera and turning 180 degrees to shoot rather than walking right-to-left. According to liner notes on the CD release of the soundtrack album for the non-EON film Never Say Never Again, a version of the gunbarrel sequence was planned for that film and a musical score composed, but was not filmed.

Pre-title sequence

After the gunbarrel sequence, every film (excepting Dr. No) begins with a pre-title sequence teaser (a.k.a. the "opening gambit"). Usually, it features 007 finishing a mission (before assuming the film's main assignment), and is not always related to his major objective. Some teasers do pertain to the story and plot (e.g., Live and Let Die and Moonraker), while others do not (e.g., Goldfinger and For Your Eyes Only). Since The Spy Who Loved Me, the opening gambits have featured elaborate action sequences, which have become progressively grandiose. The World Is Not Enough (1999) features the longest opening gambit, at more than 15 minutes, whereas most last seven to ten minutes.

• Dr. No: No pre-title sequence.
• From Russia With Love: Grant follows Bond around a maze and eventually kills him, only for the victim to be revealed as a stand-in wearing a Bond face mask.
• Goldfinger: Bond destroys a heroin factory and kills an assassin.
• Thunderball: Bond attends the funeral of a SPECTRE agent, discovers that he is actually posing as his own widow at the funeral and kills him.
• You Only Live Twice: An American space capsule is captured in outer space. Bond fakes his own death to divert enemy attention.
• On Her Majesty's Secret Service: Bond prevents Tracy from committing suicide and fights the henchmen sent to watch over her.
• Diamonds Are Forever: Bond pursues Blofeld and kills him in a mudbath, as revenge for Tracy's death at the end of the previous film. However it is later revealed that this 'Blofeld' was a stand-in who had undergone plastic surgery.
• Live and Let Die: Three British agents are killed in separate locations. The first is electrocuted through his headphones during a UN conference, the second knifed during a funeral procession in New Orleans, and the third bitten by a poisonous snake during a cult ritual on the (fictional) island of San Monique. This is the only pre-title sequence of the series not to feature James Bond.
• The Man With the Golden Gun: An assassin tries and fails to kill Francisco Scaramanga.
• The Spy Who Loved Me: A nuclear submarine is captured by an unseen enemy. Bond engages in a downhill ski chase with Russian agents, one of whom he kills, before escaping by skiing off a precipice and deploying his parachute.
• Moonraker: The Moonraker space rocket is stolen mid-flight. Bond is pushed out of an airplane by Jaws, a henchman from the previous film. They fight over a single parachute while falling through the air.
• For Your Eyes Only: A helicopter collects Bond from his wife's graveside, but it is remotely hijacked by a man in a wheelchair closely resembling Blofeld. Bond regains control of the helicopter just before it crashes, uses the feet of the helicopter to scoop up the man in his wheelchair, and subsequently drops him down a chimney stack.
• Octopussy: Bond is captured while attempting to blow up an enemy aircraft hangar. He escapes with the aide of a female assistant and a small one-person airplane stored in the back of a horse trailer. When a surface to air heat seeking missile is launched to destroy the plane, Bond flies into the hangar at high speed, escaping as the doors are being closed and leaving the pursuing missile to destroy his original target.
• A View to a Kill: Bond recovers a microchip from 003's body in the snow and escapes an attack from enemy agents.
• The Living Daylights: Bond is one of three agents who parachute on to Gibraltar for a training mission. An assassin sabotages the mission and murders one of the agents, leading Bond to pursue the killer by clinging onto the roof of his truck as it races through the narrow streets. The truck eventually veers off the side of a cliff and Bond uses his reserve parachute to escape.
• Licence to Kill: Bond and Felix Leiter are en route to the latter's wedding when they make an emergency detour to attempt capture of the drug baron Sanchez. They eventually succeed by attaching a helicopter winch to the villain's small plane in midair, then parachute-jumping from the helicopter to arrive at Felix's wedding.
• Goldeneye: Bond bungee-jumps down an enormous dam to gain entry to a Soviet chemical weapons factory, meeting fellow agent Alec Trevelyan (006) inside. Together they destroy the factory, but in the process 006 is captured and appears to be shot dead. Bond escapes by climbing inside a falling aeroplane and avoiding crashing into the mountainside.
• Tomorrow Never Dies: Bond discovers a terrorist arms bazaar in the mountains. After a military Admiral authorises a missile to be launched at the base to 'take out half the world's terrorists' Bond alerts the authorities to the presence of a plane carrying nuclear weapons at the base. After a gunfight Bond escapes in the plane just as the missile destroys the base behind him, thus narrowly averting nuclear catastrophe.
• The World is Not Enough: Bond recovers Sir Robert King's money and delivers it back to MI6 headquarters, only to discover that it contains a bomb, which kills King when he arrives to collect it. Bond gives chase to a female assassin seen in a boat outside the MI6 building, but she commits suicide before Bond can capture her alive.
• Die Another Day: Bond poses as a South African diamond smuggler in an attempt to kill a corrupt North Korean general, but his identity is revealed by an MI6 mole, and he is captured. His subsequent torture inside a North Korean prison is continued during the opening credits (the only time the credits have contributed to the film's plot).
• Casino Royale: In the only black and white sequence from any film in the series, Bond is a shown earning his 'double 0' status with two professional assassinations, killing a corrupt MI6 section chief and his contact.

Five of the twenty-one films have title themes and theme songs not featuring the film's title in the lyrics:

• The medley beginning Dr. No (1962)
• The eponymous, instrumental title themes "From Russia with Love" (1963) and "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969)
• The songs "All Time High" (Octopussy, 1983) and "You Know My Name" (Casino Royale, 2006).

Opening credits

After the teaser, come the opening credits: an arty display of naked and semi-naked women dancing, jumping, and shooting weapons. This title sequence is both a trademark and a visual staple of the James Bond film series. Maurice Binder was the creator and best-known designer of the opening credits, from 1962 until 1989, for fourteen of the films. The opening title sequences of the series' second and third films were designed by Robert Brownjohn in Binder's absence; they feature credits and action footage projected on models (see below). With Thunderball, Binder returned. Since his death, in 1991, Daniel Kleinman has designed the credits, and added computer-generated (CG) images to them. During the credits, the film's title song is sung by a contemporary artist, although instrumental opening credits were used in From Russia with Love and On Her Majesty's Secret Service, while Dr. No opens with a medley of instrumental and vocal music.

The visual elements in the opening titles reflect themes and plot elements in the film:

• Dr. No: begins with multi-coloured dots flashing to the "James Bond Theme", followed by images of nightclub dancers, and ends with the silhouetted image of the "three blind mice" assassins, leading into the first scene of the film.
• From Russia with Love: as the story occurs in Turkey, the credits are projected on a gyrating belly dancer's body.
• Goldfinger: action scenes from the previous and the current film projected on to a gold-painted woman wearing a bikini.
• Thunderball: submarine images of scuba divers, naked women swimmers, and bubbles.
• You Only Live Twice: as the film is set in Japan, Japanese motifs include geishas and parasols, as well as volcanic images.
• On Her Majesty's Secret Service: Britannia, the Union Jack, and the Imperial Crown reflect the regal nature of the film's name. To make the audience feel comfortable with the continuity of the franchise with a new actor playing James Bond (George Lazenby), the opening credits include scenes from earlier adventures, passing through an hourglass. All past Bond girls and villains are shown, with the exception of Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
• Diamonds Are Forever: features diamonds as well as Blofeld's angora cat.
• Live and Let Die: Visions of African-Americans screaming in terror, skulls representing voodoo.
• The Man With the Golden Gun: Women holding the eponymous firearm.
• The Spy Who Loved Me: Bond cavorting with female Russian spies. For the first time, the actor playing Bond (Roger Moore, in this case) participates in the opening credits.
• Moonraker: Rocket flying. Moore again appears during the opening credits.
• For Your Eyes Only: Like Thunderball, its opening credits are aquatic, though more subtle, with images of fish and water surface tension. Sheena Easton is featured singing the title song, (the only singer to appear in a title sequence).
• Octopussy: James Bond is embraced the many arms of a woman similar to the Indian goddess Kali; the film takes place largely in India.
• A View to a Kill: As a reference to the pre-title sequence, women skiing, the movie's first Bond-girl opening her jacket, and fire as a reference to the fire from which Bond and his female associate escape. Lasers are used to project some of the credits.
• The Living Daylights: Guns shooting people, women in the backround
• Licence to Kill: Photography and casino motifs, with silhouetted dancing girls and images of Timothy Dalton.
• GoldenEye: features Communist-era iconography, concluding with girls demolishing statues and symbols with sledgehammers. The two-faced girl is a reference to the Janus criminal syndicate.
• Tomorrow Never Dies: stylistic representations of electronic media: pixels, hexadecimal script, integrated circuitry.
• The World is Not Enough: iridescent oil, control of which is the film's plot.
• Die Another Day: The credits advance the story of James Bond's captivity in North Korea (the first titles to directly tie into the plot of the film). Scorpions, fire, electricity and ice refer to his torture.
• Casino Royale: Rouennais playing card motifs, with duochrome silhouettes of men fighting, as well as a computer screen registering Bond as 007, since the film tells the story of his first mission. For the first time since Dr. No, the gunbarrel sequence leads directly into the opening credits.

The James Bond films are unusual in retaining traditional full opening credits: since the late 1980s (with the release of Lethal Weapon 2) it has become increasingly common for blockbuster films to feature detailed end credits, with only the title displayed at the start.

"Bond, James Bond"

Agent 007's famous introduction, "Bond, James Bond", became a catchphrase after it was first uttered (cigarette in a corner of his mouth) by Sean Connery in Dr. No. Since then, the phrase has entered the lexicon of Western popular culture as the epitome of polished, understated machismo. On June 21, 2005 it was honoured as the 22nd historically-greatest cinema quotation, by the American Film Institute in their 100 Years Series.^[10] In promoting the release of Tomorrow Never Dies, preview trailers featured James Bond Pierce Brosnan saying, "Bond. You know the rest." GoldenEye, in 1995, similarly drew on the public's familiarity with James Bond; its promotional teaser poster reads: "You know the name. You know the number." The theme song of "Casino Royale" is "You Know My Name". CIA agent Felix Leiter is the first man to whom James Bond so identifies himself in the novels. From Russia with Love is the only film in which Bond does not give his trademark introduction.

Drinks

James Bond displays a connoisseur's knowledge (occasionally even showing up his superior, M) of various drinks including champagnes, ports and brandies, understanding both their manufacture and the correct way to serve and enjoy them. He is most well known for his preference for the "vodka martini, Shaken, not stirred", which he first ordered at the end of chapter 14 of Dr. No. The cocktail's style of preparation is first recited on screen by Bond's room service waiter in Jamaica in Dr. No. Later, Dr. No himself recites it in persuading Bond to accept the proffered drink. This catchphrase is honoured by the AFI as the 90th most-memorable cinema quotation.

Strangely, whilst the phrase is associated with every James Bond, Roger Moore never uttered it in a film, and only drank a martini when a female Soviet agent ordered it for him in Egypt. In You Only Live Twice the cocktail's style of preparation is reversed, and a polite Bond accepts a 'stirred, not shaken' martini from a colleague; in Licence to Kill Bond accepts a 'stirred, not shaken' martini from his American girl ally. In Casino Royale the in-joke is James Bond's "Do I look like I give a damn?" reply to a bartender's query of "shaken or stirred?"

The film (and the book) Casino Royale feature a cocktail recipe of Bond's own creation, named "Vesper" in honour of Vesper Lynd, his female companion during much of the story. A Vesper is three measures of Gordon's gin, one (1) measure of vodka, and a half-measure of Kina Lillet.

"James Bond will return..."

Every film, except Dr. No (1962) and Thunderball (1965) has the line: "James Bond will return..." or "James Bond will be back" during or after the final credits. Up until Octopussy (1983), the end-credit line would also name the next title to be produced ("James Bond will return in..."). Over the years, the sequel has been incorrectly named three times. The first, 1964's Goldfinger, announced in early prints that Bond would return in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. However, the producers changed their minds shortly after release and subsequently corrected future editions of the film. In 1977, The Spy Who Loved Me stated that 007 would be back in For Your Eyes Only, but Eon Productions decided to instead take advantage of the Star Wars craze and release Moonraker, whose plot was changed to involve outer space (unlike Goldfinger, however, Eon chose not to correct the credits of The Spy Who Loved Me, so the error remains). Thirdly, Octopussy incorrectly states the next film as being From a View to a Kill, the original literary title of A View to a Kill. In the most recent Bond films, the title of the next film has been omitted, saying simply 'James Bond will return'. The liner-notes of a 'Best of Bond' music compilation CD stated that this was because the early films all used titles from Fleming's novels; having outpaced the novels with the current Bond films, the abbreviated form is used instead.

Film title references

In most movies, the name of the movie is mentioned in the movie:

• Dr. No: Name of the main villain.
• From Russia with Love: Bond writes the phrase on a picture of the Russian girl he has been told to meet.
• Goldfinger: Name of the main villain.
• Thunderball: Codename for the operation to recover the stolen atomic bombs.
• You Only Live Twice: Said by the main villain in response to Bond's faked death. Blofeld: "They told me you were assassinated in Hong Kong." Bond: "Yes, this is my second life." Blofeld: "You only live twice, Mister Bond." (Note: In the original novel, the title was part of Bond's failed Haiku.)
• On Her Majesty's Secret Service: The entire phrase is never said, but Her Majesty's Secret Service is Bond's place of work and named as such when he threatens to resign. Draco also says (of information required by Bond) "I wouldn't tell Her Majesty's Secret Service...". Note that when Bond later visits the College of Arms under the pretence of researching his own family history the genealogist makes reference to the Bond family motto 'Orbis Non Sufficit' and its translation, 'The World Is Not Enough'. This phrase would later be used as the title of the 19th film in the series.
• Diamonds Are Forever: Movie title not stated. (In the book, this title was on a placque in front of the building called the House of Diamonds.)
• Live and Let Die: Movie title not stated. Title is mentioned in the book.
• The Man with the Golden Gun: Nickname of the main villain, mentioned on several occasions.
• The Spy Who Loved Me: Movie title not stated.
• Moonraker: Name of the villain's space program.
• For Your Eyes Only: The instruction is stamped on a folder given to Bond. At the end of the film Melina Havelock takes off her robe saying, "For your eyes only, darling."
• Octopussy: Name of the main Bond girl and the tattoo worn by at least one member of her circus troupe.
• A View to a Kill: Looking at San Francisco Bay: May Day (main henchwoman): "What a view." Zorin (villain): "To a kill."
• The Living Daylights: Bond, after shooting the sniper's rifle: "Whoever she was, it must have scared the living daylights out of her."
• Licence to Kill: When Bond resigns, M says: "Your licence to kill is revoked."
• GoldenEye: Name of the satellite program with which the villain is planning to attack London.
• Tomorrow Never Dies: Movie title not stated. (Note: Tomorrow was the name of the villain's newspaper.)
• The World is Not Enough: Dialogue between the villain and Bond. Elektra: "I could have given you the world." Bond: "The world is not enough." Elektra: "Foolish sentiment." Bond: "Family motto." (see On Her Majesty's Secret Service, above).
• Die Another Day: When Bond learns that the colonel he thought he had killed in the pre-title sequence has survived, he later addresses him by saying: "So you lived to die another day, colonel."
• Casino Royale (2006): Name of the casino in Montenegro where Le Chiffre has organised a high stakes poker tournament.

Radio and television

In 1954, CBS paid Ian Fleming US$1,000 for the rights to adapt Casino Royale into a one-hour television adventure as part of their Climax! series. The episode featured American Barry Nelson in the role of "Jimmy Bond", an agent for the fictional "Combined Intelligence" agency. The rights to Casino Royale were subsequently sold to producer Charles K. Feldman who turned Fleming's first novel into a spoof in 1967 featuring David Niven as Sir James Bond and five other actors (including Peter Sellers) as fake "James Bond"s. The instrumental theme music was a hit for Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. For more information, see the history of Casino Royale.

Bob Holness portrayed James Bond in a South African radio adaptation of Moonraker in 1956, which is the only known radio adaptation.

Before his first appearance in the Eon Bond film Live and Let Die in 1973, Roger Moore played the role in an episode of a TV comedy show called Mainly Millicent^[11] (starring Millicent Martin and guest stars) in the summer of 1964. This episode is included as a special feature (named "Roger Moore as James Bond, Circa 1964") in the newly published Live and Let Die: Ultimate Edition DVD^[12]. The performance was broadcast live and the scene contains several errors: Martin has a drink spilled over her and at one point trips and falls, though both actors stay in character.

When plans for a James Bond film were scrapped in the late 1950s, a story treatment entitled Thunderball, written by Ian Fleming, Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham, was adapted as Fleming's ninth Bond novel. Initially the book was only credited to Fleming. McClory filed a lawsuit that would eventually award him the film rights to the title in 1963. Afterwards, he made a deal with Eon Productions to produce a film adaptation starring Sean Connery in 1965. The deal stipulated that McClory could not produce another adaptation until a set period of time had elapsed, and he did so in 1983 with Never Say Never Again, which featured Sean Connery for a seventh time as 007. Since it was not made by Broccoli's production company, Eon Productions, it is not considered a part of the "official" film series. A second attempt by McClory to remake Thunderball in the 1990s with Sony Pictures was halted by legal action resulting in the studio abandoning its aspirations for a rival James Bond series. Until his death in November 2006 McClory claimed to still own the film rights to Thunderball, though MGM and Eon assert they have expired. For more in-depth information, see the controversy over Thunderball.

The 1973 BBC documentary Omnibus: The British Hero featured Christopher Cazenove playing a number of such title characters (e.g., Richard Hannay and Bulldog Drummond), including James Bond in dramatised scenes from Goldfinger — notably featuring the hero being threatened with the novel's circular saw, rather than the film's laser beam — and Diamonds Are Forever.

Barry Nelson (TV)

Bob Holness (Radio)

Roger Moore (TV)

David Niven

Christopher Cazenove (TV)

Sean Connery

References

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