How did you view James Bond before you got into the series?

Absolutely_Cart

I used to be a total outsider who knew nothing about James Bond. I knew there was more than 1 James Bond. "Did they take turns or something"? As I heard a little about it, I knew Connery was the first and Craig is the most recent. Forgot the other 3. I knew the basics: the drinks and the girls, but that's it. I didn't even know there was a Timothy Dalton until a die-hard Bond-fan friend told me, 6 months ago.

I also had standard misconceptions that people who never seen a Bond film could have. "Bond is only for macho men as some weird male empowerment fantasy. I don't care about martini, womanizing and being rugged". I thought Bond fans idolized Bond as a hero, when in reality, Bond is just a parody of high-ranking military men in the 50's, characterized with some good qualities. Bond never takes itself too seriously.

Once I saw Goldfinger I wanted to watch more Bond films.

Thunderpussy

I got into Bond very young, so can't really say I knew much about him,
Until they were shown on tv, and I was hooked with Dr No. )

Barbel

For an old guy like me, that's like asking what I breathed before I knew about air.

Higgins

your own farts? :v

Barbel

.... 8-) pity that cruise wasn't longer...

Thunderpussy

Where's an Iceberg when you need one ! )

Moore Than

I also got into Bond very young. My first memory is watching a clip on TV of the Las Vegas car park chase scene from Diamonds Are Forever at the time of its release. Also, at that time I became a fan of Roger Moore through watching him in The Saint and The Persuaders. I was blown away by Live And Let Die (particularly the boat chase), and Roger as 007 was the icing on the cake. Been a Bond fan ever since.

AlphaOmegaSin

When I got into Bond, I was not even aware that the Films were based on Books -{

Thunderpussy

For a time I worked for a large pharmaceutical company. I did
Security ( dressed very like Elliott Carver's security guys ) )
At one point they brought over a crowd of Indian chemists, chatting
With one, I discovered he too loved the Bond films, but as with AOS
He knew nothing about the books. )
Another point about the Bonds, is their great scripts. Especially the
Fantastic banter between Bond and villain. -{ even as a kid. I'd have
Been about 9, watching an upcoming films programme on TV. They played
The Bond and Felix going into the bar for a drink, with Bond delivering the
" I once had a nasty turn in a booth" ) line. Even at that young age, I knew that
Was very smart and Funny. {[] and probably led to my always trying to find the
Funny side of things.

DEFIANT 74205

I also got into Bond very young, so I can't for the life of me remember what I thought of Bond before I became a fan. Hell, I might not even have been sure that there was such a thing. My first memory of Bond was watching him hanging from the rafters - I think it would've been in The Man With the Golden Gun - which is a distinct possibility since it was partially filmed in Hong Kong, and I grew up in Hong Kong in the 1980s.

Absolutely_Cart wrote:

I thought Bond fans idolized Bond as a hero, when in reality, Bond is just a parody of high-ranking military men in the 50's, characterized with some good qualities. Bond never takes itself too seriously.

I don't think either of these characterisations are entirely accurate. Bond is a chain smoker, a heavy drinker, a "cold-hearted, cold-blooded, ruthless, tough killer" as written Ian Fleming in the book The Spy Who Loved Me, who, while he finds his job distasteful, does it as well as he knew how and moved on.

AlphaOmegaSin

Book Bond lived like each Day was his last, hence the Drinking, Cars and Women -{ Due to the Possibility that he could be killed on his next Assignment.

Silhouette Man

I'm afraid as I knew about it from an early age I have no idea except for the fact that I found it all very exciting! Hell, I still do after all these years! -{

AlphaOmegaSin

1+ -{

Blackleiter

Barbel wrote:

For an old guy like me, that's like asking what I breathed before I knew about air.

Same here! )

Thunderpussy

One of my favourite stories ( which is true) is I have a very early memory of watching
OHMSS on holiday as a kid ( slept through most of it ) but always remembered bits of
it, and couldn't think what it was until I watched it many yeats later. I would have been
about 5. )

chrisisall

Blackleiter wrote:

Barbel wrote:

For an old guy like me, that's like asking what I breathed before I knew about air.

Same here! )

Before Bond I breathed Lost In Space, Star Trek, I Dream Of Jeannie & Ron Ely's Tarzan.
At 11 I graduated to the hard stuff.

Moore Than

chrisisall wrote:

Before Bond I breathed Lost In Space, Star Trek, I Dream Of Jeannie & Ron Ely's Tarzan.
At 11 I graduated to the hard stuff.

One of my first ever memories is of the one eyed monster that appeared in the Lost In Space episode The Magic Mirror. I don't recall being scared at the time but it certainly stuck in the memory. Having just Googled an image I am now more inclined to laugh.

Grindelwald

I prolly watched AVTAK music video on MTV in summer '85 but didn't know what 007 was until '88 when I saw YOLT.

Absolutely_Cart

yea - it was funny how many of the bond songs i really liked without even knowing about the movies very well.

Bondage007

I loved JB since I was real young, he was a cool dude with gadgets and cars with gadgets who had an awesome tank scene

002

I was very young and always knew that James Bond was something that all members of my family liked. Ours was a very manly, rugby-playing, farming, mechanically-able family with many of our family having had some kind of military service.

I knew of both Sean Connery (the "old, and best, Bond") and Roger Moore (the "new one" who was "not as good as the old one") from those older, more educated parents and uncles.

Matt S

Before I got into James Bond, I simply thought he was a secret agent who wasn't as funny as Maxwell Smart.

CoolHandBond

I'm old enough to have seen them all as they were released in the cinema - I was 6 when I saw DN. I didn't know anything about Bond before I saw DN apart from my dad saying that this new film he had seen in London was terrific and he took the family to see it in our home town.

Silhouette Man

Well as I became a fan as soon as I discovered him as a child I can't answer that question as such - I've always liked Bond and always will. -{

Thunderpussy

Same with me SM, I can't remember a time I wasn't into Bond.

DR NO-ah

Yep..in it since the beginning! (of my life)

Xfire2k15

I got into Bond very young too. TLD was the first Bond movie I saw.

The_Commander

I was 6 1/2 years old when my grandfather took me to see TSWLM and we went back twice more that summer. I was gobsmacked by the ship that could swallow submarines whole, the baddie's lair that rose up from the sea, the ultimate henchman, Barbara Bach and her slinky dresses (yes, really at that tender age), the ski jump in the PTS and THAT car!

I wasn't aware of things generally before Bond - my world consisted of Tom & Jerry, maybe the Pink Panther and such stuff like that.

I've just felt the same emotions all over again, having just watched the full Spectre trailer and come October 26th, I'll be 6 1/2 all over again.

Dutchfinger

I was born in 1990 and was defenitely aware of Bond during the 90'ies. Pierce Brosnan was my thought of what Bond was, he was on all the magazine covers, even in gaming magazines and such. The things AC stated in his original post of viewing Bond as being something negative about "macho, womanizing". To me, those were the things that really appealed to me as a kid.

Moonraker was the first Bond movie (from memory) I ever saw, that happened to be on tv, it was then that I learned more actors had played James Bond. As I grew up and started to turn into those weird type's of spieces of Bond-o-hollics that actually started to learn when in which year each of the Bond movies were released, and who directed each of them and all that crap, I started learning that Bond was even more than "Just" something about macho's and womanizing.

Don't think I will ever get tired of this franchise - A few breaks from it every now and then, sure, but get out of it? It's just not possible anymore !

The Debonair Bond

I remember watching Die Another Day at a friends house when I was 10 or 11, but I think I was a bit young and my tastes where a bit different to get into Bond, and I was introduced with the wrong film.

I really didn't think much of Bond for a long time, I was rather indifferent towards it, until I saw Skyfall in my senior year. That instantly made me the fan I am now

chrisisall

So many kids here! )
I knew nothing of Bond until I saw an ad on TV in 1971, and being a fan of beam weapons from Star Trek & Lost In Space, when I saw the space laser I knew this was something I had to see. Needless to say it was the start of something much bigger than mere focused light affection...