Bond Memoirs ?

Thunderpussy

I haven't found a thread about you Bond Memoirs, so I thought I'd start One. )
Have any Members got any good stories of First getting in to Bond, reading the Books
or watching the Movies for the first time. Was it by yourself or were you taken ?

I was only about 5 when I remember been taken to see OHMSS ( I slept through most
of it ) but did remember the car chase and a bit of skiing, Not until it was shown on TV did
I work out what film I'd seen on holiday as a kid.
Begged an older Brother to take me to LALD, ( which I though was amazing ) -{ compared
to what was on 70's TV. It wasn't untill 77 that I saw a Bond film on my own TSWLM.
It was the local feapit Cinema and quite a contrast to all the glamour on screen, but with
the early Bonds now been shown on TV I was already hooked spending many afternoons
looking through old book shops for the books and begining to Pre-order the Gardner Hardbacks
as I got news of their up coming release.
I was working as a waiter in a local club ( I was around 16) and phoned in sick as LALD was
being shown on ITV. ) ( did the sick voice and everthing , Peter Kay )

It would be very interesting to read about other fans exploits over the years.

hehadlotsofguts

I was 5 when I Watched a bond film for the first time. It was FYEO. Didn't understand it and thought it was boring. Got back into bond sometime later when i had received GE and TND on VHS, I still remember that bit before every film where it showed different parts of the films with a voiceover by a Scots guy ("There's more than one Bond to take on all those villains" etc) I later expanded my collection with FRWL and AVTAK. Watched the films until the tape was stuffed.

I read FRWL at school. Enjoyed the book and thought the film was faithful to it

Thunderpussy

I remember watching an episode of QI with Stephen Fry in which
he said he got into Bond at school from reading the Books and advised
anyone that ws the way to do it. As a 12 year old Bond reading about
all that sex and violence. )
FRWL is a fantastic Bond story hehadlotsofguts, I still remember how
sleazy R Klebb's attempted seduction scene was.

hehadlotsofguts

"A real labour of love as the say" Felt sorry for Tania in that scene, very sleazy

Napoleon Plural

My parents liked the early Connery films, so they were a big event on TV in the 1970s. That said, the whole thing ignited with just Goldfinger and Thunderball when I was 5 or 6, as these were the ones that got shown repeatedly! It was a long time before I got to see Dr No and FRWL, I was past 10.

Dr No I got to see at a season of Bonds shown at the London Pavilion I think it was called, a now extinct cinema. Great to see in colour, on a double bill with Moonraker.

TSWLM puzzled me a bit as it seemed quite overblown compared to TB, without the preparation of YOLT, which was yet to come on TV. TB seemed a smaller, quirkier, sexier film than TSWLM, which was blockbuster Bond.

I too picked up second-hand Fleming novels from 'antique' shops ie local junk shops, for 10p a time. Without the internet, there was no way of knowing what order the films actually came in, info was quite nebulous, oddballs like the 67 film Casino Royale threw a spanner in the works and left one feeling rather bewildered and cheated. But the books did give a list of the chronological order of the books, even if you quickly learned not to expect a jet pack sequence in Thunderball.

Thunderpussy

I miss the fun of trawling through old book shops Not only to find a Bond novel,
But some reference book on the film etc, which you didn't know existed. Now
I just download them from Kindle, It's just not the same thing.

Dutchfinger

Great to read this kind of stuff! I think I have already posted how I first got in touch with Bond arround here one day, but since this thread is dedicated to this anyway, here's my story:

I didn't get in touch with Bond as early as most of the guys arround here, the reason for that being that I was born in 1990.
When I was arround 8 or 9 years old, I first watched a Bond movie with my dad. There just happened to be one on the tv one night and it was Moonraker! I remember already being aware of James Bond. I had seen Pierce Brosnan's face on several magazine's and commercials, I knew HE was James Bond but never really seen any of the movies. So I was suprised when my dad explained that the guy starring in Moonraker was also James Bond, and that there had been several actors who played the role...

That opening sequence of Bond jumping out of the airplane blew me away! I have fond memories of that night, my dad had to explain a lot of the stuff that was going on. Like how Bond could move faster when free falling if he moved his body forwards, and how his body got heavier in the centrifuge scene. I remember thinking Roger Moore's line to moneypenny: "I fell out of an airplane without a parachute" was really funny as a kid. Although my dad probably wouldn't remember that night at all these days, I would always remember!

Shortly after, I caught more Bond movies on the tv, I remember seeing Licence to Kill and the ending of You Only Live Twice. So constantly did I see completely different actors play the role. When I was a 12 year old, my parents got Die Another Day on DVD. It was the newest Bond movie at the time and as was showcased in the movie, it was made quite clear that it was the 20th. Moonraker and Die Another Day aren't exactly the best movies to start of with of course... But for me as a young kid, it was enough to make me realise I wanted to see them all! James Bond was cool, the action was awesome, and as my hormones were starting to get to life, I started to realise the girls were really hot too!
So over the years I started collecting all of the other Bond movies whenever I got the chance. Goldeneye instantly became one of my favorites!

Now a 22 year old, I think I can safely say I have become a diehard fan. I have watched all of the Bond movies countless times. If any one were to ask me in which year a certain Bond movie came out, who starred in it, who the Bond girl was and who directed it, aren't exactly hard questions at all... On this forum though, that really isn't a unique skill )

Thunderpussy

You know you're a real diehard Bond fan, when
you can quote years,actors &directors at the drop
of a hat. As well as quoting endless lines from the
films. :-)

ixtore

I was 9 years old when I saw Dr. No. I immediately searched out the Fleming books and read them. Somehow, I missed FRWL on it's first go-round, but saw a double bill with Dr. No shortly thereafter, so I was caught up. Then came Goldfinger (even then, I realized that the car - as much as I loved it - was a far cry from Fleming's AM with reinforced bumpers). I was hooked at, "Oh and 007 - please leave the Beretta ..."

Thunderpussy

Only today watching an old episode of " pie in the sky " I was
able to point out to my wife and daughter ( not that they were
that interested )
That the actor playing the part of a car hire guy, was the pilot
from the PTS of FYEO. :-)

Thunderpussy

In some ways my life has come full circle ( Tech wise anyway ) )
The other night I lay in Bed watching OHMSS on a tablet, which I'd
last done as a Kid listening to it on an Audio tape, I'd tapped off the TV.