Goldeneye Directed by Martin Campbell Written by Jeffrey Caine and Bruce Feirsein UK / USA The Essence of Bond has been shaped and re-shaped constantly over its 50-year run and that has been due to its mostly successful ability to plug into popular zeitgeist and meld that aesthetic with what makes Bond, well, Bond: Q …
Licence to Kill Directed by John Glen Screenplay by Michael G. Wilson and Richard Maibaum UK, 1989 With the release of Skyfall this month, critics have cited the major departures from the Bond formula taken by that film. They credit Daniel Craig for bringing a modern edge to a character that had become ridiculous in the …
The Living Daylights Directed by John Glen Written by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson 1987, USA It wasn’t guaranteed that the Daniel Craig films would successfully reboot James Bond, in part because such a restart had already been tried before. After 1985’s A View To a Kill, in which age had begun to show …
A View To Kill Directed by John Glen Screenplay by Michael G. Wilson and Richard Maibaum 1985, USA As soon as Roger Moore took over the role of James Bond, the franchise quickly devolved into a state of ridiculousness that rendered the entire series beyond parody. A View To a Kill, Moore’s final film as …
Octopussy Directed by John Glen Written by George Macdonald Fraser, Richard Maibaum, and Michael G. Wilson United Kingdom, 1983 1983 presented a unique challenge for the Bond franchise. For the first time since Ursula Andress strolled out of the water, there were going to be two Bond films in theatres in the same year. As …
Following James Bond’s out of this world experience in the financially successful (665 million, adjusted for inflation) if artistically vapid Moonraker, the series’ sole producer, Albert Broccoli, thought it best to venture in a different direction, one that would feel slightly more grounded, all the while still playing on the strengths of his star: cool …
It is no secret that Roger Moore holds the record as the actor who played James Bond the most, his tally an impressing 7. There are a bevy of reasons why this was the case, the most obvious being that each one of his films were massive financial successes, the only bump in the road …
To say that the level of anticipation surrounding this book in the Bond fan community was high would be an understatement. Warren Ellis, a celebrated writer who has co-created fantastic original works as well as thrown his hat into the Marvel ring a few times, was a huge coup for Ian Fleming Publications. What would Fleming’s Bond transported to modern day be like?
For Your Eyes Only Written by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson, based on Ian Fleming’s short stories “For Your Eyes only” and “Risico” Directed by John Glen UK, 1981, You probably have never heard this before, but my favourite James Bond film of all time, For Your Eyes Only, was the first 007 film …
Moonraker Directed by Lewis Gilbert Screenplay by Christopher Wood UK, 1979 Moonraker has the unique distinction of being the most absurd and over-the-top Bond film produced in 50 years of the series. Spy films exist in a genre unto themselves, but the Bond films sometimes like to crossover into other popular genres as well. The …
The Spy Who Loved Me Directed by Lewis Gilbert Screenplay by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum UK, 1977 There’s an undeniable lasting appeal to Bond. Lasting 50 years is certainly proof of that, but there’s something deeper. After all, one can point to Star Trek and Doctor Who as cultural icons that have stood the …
‘The Man with the Golden Gun’ is Bond at his most uncertain.
Live and Let Die Written by Tom Mankiewicz Directed by Guy Hamilton UK, 1973 1973’s Live and Let Die unleashed a new kind of Bond upon the world, a Bond whose bland propriety and vacuous quips would dominate the screen for another twelve years. Roger Moore, taking over for Sean Connery, the third different Bond …
Not only is ‘Spectre’ Craig’s best Bond film, it’s the most definitive artistic statement on the super-spy since ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.’
From McCartney to Madonna, the definitive list of 007’s 24 title tunes
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Written by Richard Maibaum Directed by Peter Hunt UK, 1969 To call On Her Majesty’s Secret Service underappreciated is to call the sky blue. Only in the years since the release of Daniel Craig’s introduction to the series, Casino Royale, has OHMSS begun to be reappraised as a realistic, character-driven …
The most commercially successful Bond film to date is Thunderball. The pic earned over $141 million worldwide, of which more than half was generated domestically in the U.S. The film was such a success, it was remade some 18 years later as Never Say Never Again. This is without a doubt my favourite Bond film …
1: Dr No – Opening Title Sequence The schizophrenic title sequence introduces John Barry’s famous James Bond theme, but instead of transitioning into the now traditional pop song (which uses the title as a lyric), random portions of two calypso songs were used instead. This was also of course the first of Maurice Binder’s many …
Thunderball Directed by Terrence Young Written by John Hopkins and Richard Maibaum 1965, UK Being a relative novice to the James Bond canon, I have never grown accustomed to the many colorful details that have leaked from the Bond films into popular culture. Thunderball, as I discovered, is the home to many of the …
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published November 1, 2012. Fifty years ago this month, Marilyn Monroe passed away from a suspected accidental drug overdose (although conspiracy geeks love to contemplate more nefarious scenarios). The commemoratives are already showing up on magazine and newspaper entertainment pages, cable channels have announced their Marilyn film fests and …
Dr. No Directed by Terence Young Written by Richard Maibaum & Johanna Harwood 1962, UK Author, Ian Fleming had been seeking out a movie deal for nearly a decade until the rights for his novels were finally bought by producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli. Little did they know they would change the landscape …
Spectre Written by John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Jez Butterworth Directed by Sam Mendes UK, 2015 “It’s just a matter of perspective,” says James Bond to evil mastermind Oberhausen as they discuss the difference between killing and dying, and this line best sums up how much an audience will enjoy Spectre, the latest – and quite …
