Dr No is a brilliant film. I love a gadget as much as any other Bond fan, for good or bad the series wouldn't be the same without them, but I like the fact that in this film Bond relies on his gun and brain to overcome the enemy.
Another plus is the build up to this character Dr No. He is referenced so many times throughout the film, you hope that eventually when you do see him it won't be a disappointment, and then when he does appear on screen he is great. Dr No and Bond's scene together remains one of my favourites from the entire series. -{
Dr No is a brilliant film. I love a gadget as much as any other Bond fan, for good or bad the series wouldn't be the same without them, but I like the fact that in this film Bond relies on his gun and brain to overcome the enemy.
Another plus is the build up to this character Dr No. He is referenced so many times throughout the film, you hope that eventually when you do see him it won't be a disappointment, and then when he does appear on screen he is great. Dr No and Bond's scene together remains one of my favourites from the entire series. -{
{[]
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Dr No is a brilliant film. I love a gadget as much as any other Bond fan, for good or bad the series wouldn't be the same without them, but I like the fact that in this film Bond relies on his gun and brain to overcome the enemy.
Another plus is the build up to this character Dr No. He is referenced so many times throughout the film, you hope that eventually when you do see him it won't be a disappointment, and then when he does appear on screen he is great. Dr No and Bond's scene together remains one of my favourites from the entire series. -{
I agree, they nailed the establishment of Bond the character (from his actions/mannerisms) and the build up to Dr No is great. Don't think we had a similar suspenseful build up until Skyfall
Dr No is a brilliant film. I love a gadget as much as any other Bond fan, for good or bad the series wouldn't be the same without them, but I like the fact that in this film Bond relies on his gun and brain to overcome the enemy.
Another plus is the build up to this character Dr No. He is referenced so many times throughout the film, you hope that eventually when you do see him it won't be a disappointment, and then when he does appear on screen he is great. Dr No and Bond's scene together remains one of my favourites from the entire series. -{
I agree, they nailed the establishment of Bond the character (from his actions/mannerisms) and the build up to Dr No is great. Don't think we had a similar suspenseful build up until Skyfall
To be honest I think the build up to establishing Dr No is great.
First of all a name on a file, then Felix reveals his name, then we have Professor Dent picking up the tarantula and the voice sounds ominous, then when he is captured we see his shadow, then finally its "one million dollars Mr Bond" and we get to see him.
He's only in two scenes but Dr No is my favourite villain..
1. For Your Eyes Only 2. The Living Daylights 3 From Russia with Love 4. Casino Royale 5. OHMSS 6. Skyfall
Pros:
-Connery creating the character of James Bond before your eyes.
-Terence Young's masterful direction.
-Peter Hunt's editing.
-Ursula Andress.
-Bond's introduction. "I admire your luck, Mr..." "Bond ,James Bond".Absolutely timeless.
-Jamaica location.
-The James Bond Theme. Thank God for John Barry.
-Maurice Binder's iconic gunbarrel.
-Supporting cast, all of them perfect. Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, Zena Marshall, Eunice Gayson.
Cons:
-Monty Norman's OST. So 50s and old sounding.
-Low budget, very noticeable at times ("dragon").
-I never particulary enjoyed Joseph Wiseman's performance. Not menacing enough.
DN is one of the key movies in cinema history. It's the grandaddy of modern action movies. As such, it has an historic value and it's also very enjoyable. That said, and due to its lack of budget, it hasn't aged well. When I first saw it, it did disappoint me, because I was expecting a "James Bond movie", a spectable, which it's not. It's not a spectacular movie. Of course now I focus more on its true values, specially a 31 year old Sean Connery effortlessly creating a character that lasted over half a century. Remarkable.
IMHO Dr. No is THE perfect Bond movie.
It's small, it's colourful, it's true to Fleming, and it has Barry's theme.
FRWL was a bit tame, GF a bit OTT, and from there it just kept growing....
In a purist sense, I totally agree with you. It's the perfect Ian Fleming's James Bond movie.
IMHO Dr. No is THE perfect Bond movie.
It's small, it's colourful, it's true to Fleming, and it has Barry's theme.
FRWL was a bit tame, GF a bit OTT, and from there it just kept growing....
In a purist sense, I totally agree with you. It's the perfect Ian Fleming's James Bond movie.
It's also why I enjoy FRWL, TMWTGG & FYEO, and why I *love* Dalton's two (as well as QOS)- smaller & more character (as opposed to spectacle) driven. :007)
In youth, you want to go into space with Roger Moore, as a teenager you want to scale a mountain with Timothy Dalton, as a young adult you want to have the good looks of a Pierce Brosnan with an invisible car. When you become a man, you want to be Daniel Craig, because it looks like he can really shoot a real machine gun and drive down real streets in London.
But, when you retire, you just want to walk across the floor of a nice French hotel, and have nicely dressed women flirt with you.
In youth, you want to go into space with Roger Moore, as a teenager you want to scale a mountain with Timothy Dalton, as a young adult you want to have the good looks of a Pierce Brosnan with an invisible car. When you become a man, you want to be Daniel Craig, because it looks like he can really shoot a real machine gun and drive down real streets in London.
But, when you retire, you just want to walk across the floor of a nice French hotel, and have nicely dressed women flirt with you.
Ah good, it's not just me then! {[]
(Off-topic: when I was younger I preferred to listen to the mature Frank Sinatra's voice ("My Way", "NY, NY", etc)- nowadays I prefer to hear his young voice ("Saturday Night", "If You Are But A Dream", etc). I suppose it's the same phenomenon.)
Dr. No is a pretty good movie to just sit back and drink a nice Margarita to.
Not that I've actually drank one while watching the movie, but I think it makes sense.
"Hostile takeovers. Shall we?"
New 2020 ranking (for now DAF and FYEO keep their previous placements)
1. TLD 2. TND 3. GF 4. TSWLM 5. TWINE 6. OHMSS 7. LtK 8. TMWTGG 9. L&LD 10. YOLT 11. DAD 12. QoS 13. DN 14. GE 15. SF 16. OP 17. MR 18. AVTAK 19. TB 20. FRWL 21. CR 22. FYEO 23. DAF (SP to be included later)
Bond actors to be re-ranked later
In youth, you want to go into space with Roger Moore, as a teenager you want to scale a mountain with Timothy Dalton, as a young adult you want to have the good looks of a Pierce Brosnan with an invisible car. When you become a man, you want to be Daniel Craig, because it looks like he can really shoot a real machine gun and drive down real streets in London.
But, when you retire, you just want to walk across the floor of a nice French hotel, and have nicely dressed women flirt with you.
Bond has been in the service for 10 years and M says casualties have fallen 40% since he has been in charge so does this mean that M is a more recent employee to the service than Bond is?
Of course. Thankfully we have the whole backstory filmed in CR, QoS and SF
Pros
+ Honey Rider and James' relationship is very evocative of the relationship between Craig!James and Vesper
+ Dr. No, like Le Chifre and Dominic Greene from the New!Bond Continuity, feels like a fully realized character in spite of being quite over-the-top conceptually
+ The fight between James and No is quite brutal and really helps sell James' "killer instincts"
Cons
- Not as expository as it could've and probably ought to have been given its status as an 'entry point's for the world of James Bond on film
- The bad guys are able to get the better of James a little more easily and more often than they ought to
Pros
+ Honey Rider and James' relationship is very evocative of the relationship between Craig!James and Vesper
+ Dr. No, like Le Chifre and Dominic Greene from the New!Bond Continuity, feels like a fully realized character in spite of being quite over-the-top conceptually
+ The fight between James and No is quite brutal and really helps sell James' "killer instincts"
Cons
- Not as expository as it could've and probably ought to have been given its status as an 'entry point's for the world of James Bond on film
- The bad guys are able to get the better of James a little more easily and more often than they ought to
I get the impression that you're a big Craig fan, seeing how you compare elements of this movie to elements of the current Bond Era.
I find nothing in common between the Bond/Honey relationship and the Bond/Vesper relationship, but whatever.
"Hostile takeovers. Shall we?"
New 2020 ranking (for now DAF and FYEO keep their previous placements)
1. TLD 2. TND 3. GF 4. TSWLM 5. TWINE 6. OHMSS 7. LtK 8. TMWTGG 9. L&LD 10. YOLT 11. DAD 12. QoS 13. DN 14. GE 15. SF 16. OP 17. MR 18. AVTAK 19. TB 20. FRWL 21. CR 22. FYEO 23. DAF (SP to be included later)
Bond actors to be re-ranked later
I get the impression that you're a big Craig fan, seeing how you compare elements of this movie to elements of the current Bond Era.
Because Tomorrow Never Dies had previously been the only one of the pre-Craig films I had seen prior to starting a watch-through of the films last week, the Craig Era films represent for me the 'definitive' James Bond, and my impressions of the earlier films are therefore going to be 'colored' and 'influenced' by my having, for all intents and purposes, experienced the Craig films and what they bring to the table FIRST.
I get the impression that you're a big Craig fan, seeing how you compare elements of this movie to elements of the current Bond Era.
Because Tomorrow Never Dies had previously been the only one of the pre-Craig films I had seen prior to starting a watch-through of the films last week, the Craig Era films represent for me the 'definitive' James Bond, and my impressions of the earlier films are therefore going to be 'colored' and 'influenced' by my having, for all intents and purposes, experienced the Craig films and what they bring to the table FIRST.
I'd really like to know how you can compare Vesper to Honey.
I'd really like to know how you can compare Vesper to Honey.
I addressed it a bit in my Dr. No review, but here's where I see similarities:
In both DN and CR, the female characters who end up at the center of those two stories both interact with Bond in a way that is in many respects 'removed' from the rest of the film in that their interactions, unlike those between Bond and some of his other 'leading ladies' in both continuities, are quite 'self-contained' and intimately personal in their own right.
We don't get to see Honey and James spend as much time with each other as Craig!James and Vesper do (simply because of the pacing of the film), but by the time we get to the final scene, we're still left with the sense that she and James have forged a connection that goes beyond just 'the hero and the pretty girl getting together', which is very much where the Vesper/Craig!James relationship ends up, albeit with more tragic consequences (and in spite of Craig!James coldly telling M 'the bitch is dead').
As a more specific example, the scenes between Honey and James after they've both been detained by No's soldiers and are interacting with each other 'under house arrest', as it were (both prior to and after being drugged) evoked for me the same kind of feelings I got from the scenes where Craig!James and Vesper are interacting both before the card game with Le Chifre (when they're still very much trying to find their own' footing' with each other and haven't yet realized their attraction to each other) and after (when he's talking about giving up his job as a secret agent for her).
I'd really like to know how you can compare Vesper to Honey.
I addressed it a bit in my Dr. No review, but here's where I see similarities:
In both DN and CR, the female characters who end up at the center of those two stories both interact with Bond in a way that is in many respects 'removed' from the rest of the film in that their interactions, unlike those between Bond and some of his other 'leading ladies' in both continuities, are quite 'self-contained' and intimately personal in their own right.
We don't get to see Honey and James spend as much time with each other as Craig!James and Vesper do (simply because of the pacing of the film), but by the time we get to the final scene, we're still left with the sense that she and James have forged a connection that goes beyond just 'the hero and the pretty girl getting together', which is very much where the Vesper/Craig!James relationship ends up, albeit with more tragic consequences (and in spite of Craig!James coldly telling M 'the bitch is dead').
As a more specific example, the scenes between Honey and James after they've both been detained by No's soldiers and are interacting with each other 'under house arrest', as it were (both prior to and after being drugged) evoked for me the same kind of feelings I got from the scenes where Craig!James and Vesper are interacting both before the card game with Le Chifre (when they're still very much trying to find their own' footing' with each other and haven't yet realized their attraction to each other) and after (when he's talking about giving up his job as a secret agent for her).
But Honey is not at the centre of the story and isn't an important character at all. She's really just there to give women someone to relate to. She adds very little to the film. She's really just a pretty girl to have along. Vesper is so much more to the story and to the Bond. Honey really is nothing more than 'the hero and the pretty girl getting together'. Bond and Honey have no special connection. Their relationship is exactly the same as almost every other relationship you'll find in the series.
And might I kindly ask that you stop referring to Craig's Bond as "Craig!James". Use "Craig!Bond" if you absolutely cannot just say "Bond".
^ Honey and Vesper do have different roles to play in terms of their significance to the storyline as a whole, yes, but that's not how I perceived the way in which the two characters interacted with their respective Bonds.
^ Honey and Vesper do have different roles to play in terms of their significance to the storyline as a whole, yes, but that's not how I perceived the way in which the two characters interacted with their respective Bonds.
I think after you watch a few more Bond films you'll find less meaning in Bond and Honey's relationship.
^ If it's going to happen, it hasn't so far, since I've also seen similarities between the way that James and Honey interact and the way that James interacts with Tatiana and Domino in FRwL and TB, respectively (the latter of which I'll touch on more in-depth when I post my full review of TB).
I've also seen differences between the way he interacts with Honey, Tatiana, and Domino and the way in which he interacted with Jill, Tilly, and Pussy Galore in Goldfinger (where his interactions with Tilly reminded me of the way that Daniel Craig's version of the character interacts with Camille in QoS), so it can't really be chalked up to just being part of a 'James Bond formula' for how the character interacts with the female characters he encounters.
^ If it's going to happen, it hasn't so far, since I've also seen similarities between the way that James and Honey interact and the way that James interacts with Tatiana and Domino in FRwL and TB, respectively (the latter of which I'll touch on more in-depth when I post my full review of TB).
Bond has no feelings (besides instinctual) for any of these girls. You Only Live Twice features the first girl Bond seems to have more feeling for, but he's not in love with her like he is with Tracy and Vesper.
^ If it's going to happen, it hasn't so far, since I've also seen similarities between the way that James and Honey interact and the way that James interacts with Tatiana and Domino in FRwL and TB, respectively (the latter of which I'll touch on more in-depth when I post my full review of TB).
Bond has no feelings (besides instinctual) for any of these girls.
That's not the impression I've been left with, so "to each their own".
Comments
Had this restored , turned out pretty well after they got rid of the nasty pen marks on the back -{
Another plus is the build up to this character Dr No. He is referenced so many times throughout the film, you hope that eventually when you do see him it won't be a disappointment, and then when he does appear on screen he is great. Dr No and Bond's scene together remains one of my favourites from the entire series. -{
{[]
I agree, they nailed the establishment of Bond the character (from his actions/mannerisms) and the build up to Dr No is great. Don't think we had a similar suspenseful build up until Skyfall
To be honest I think the build up to establishing Dr No is great.
First of all a name on a file, then Felix reveals his name, then we have Professor Dent picking up the tarantula and the voice sounds ominous, then when he is captured we see his shadow, then finally its "one million dollars Mr Bond" and we get to see him.
He's only in two scenes but Dr No is my favourite villain..
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
Pros:
-Connery creating the character of James Bond before your eyes.
-Terence Young's masterful direction.
-Peter Hunt's editing.
-Ursula Andress.
-Bond's introduction. "I admire your luck, Mr..." "Bond ,James Bond".Absolutely timeless.
-Jamaica location.
-The James Bond Theme. Thank God for John Barry.
-Maurice Binder's iconic gunbarrel.
-Supporting cast, all of them perfect. Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, Zena Marshall, Eunice Gayson.
Cons:
-Monty Norman's OST. So 50s and old sounding.
-Low budget, very noticeable at times ("dragon").
-I never particulary enjoyed Joseph Wiseman's performance. Not menacing enough.
DN is one of the key movies in cinema history. It's the grandaddy of modern action movies. As such, it has an historic value and it's also very enjoyable. That said, and due to its lack of budget, it hasn't aged well. When I first saw it, it did disappoint me, because I was expecting a "James Bond movie", a spectable, which it's not. It's not a spectacular movie. Of course now I focus more on its true values, specially a 31 year old Sean Connery effortlessly creating a character that lasted over half a century. Remarkable.
In a purist sense, I totally agree with you. It's the perfect Ian Fleming's James Bond movie.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
In youth, you want to go into space with Roger Moore, as a teenager you want to scale a mountain with Timothy Dalton, as a young adult you want to have the good looks of a Pierce Brosnan with an invisible car. When you become a man, you want to be Daniel Craig, because it looks like he can really shoot a real machine gun and drive down real streets in London.
But, when you retire, you just want to walk across the floor of a nice French hotel, and have nicely dressed women flirt with you.
Ah good, it's not just me then! {[]
(Off-topic: when I was younger I preferred to listen to the mature Frank Sinatra's voice ("My Way", "NY, NY", etc)- nowadays I prefer to hear his young voice ("Saturday Night", "If You Are But A Dream", etc). I suppose it's the same phenomenon.)
Not that I've actually drank one while watching the movie, but I think it makes sense.
New 2020 ranking (for now DAF and FYEO keep their previous placements)
1. TLD 2. TND 3. GF 4. TSWLM 5. TWINE 6. OHMSS 7. LtK 8. TMWTGG 9. L&LD 10. YOLT 11. DAD 12. QoS 13. DN 14. GE 15. SF 16. OP 17. MR 18. AVTAK 19. TB 20. FRWL 21. CR 22. FYEO 23. DAF (SP to be included later)
Bond actors to be re-ranked later
Great post!!
I always had the feeling that when Ian Fleming saw Cary Grant in Hitchcock's Notorious, he went "that's the spy I will write books about".
Of course. Thankfully we have the whole backstory filmed in CR, QoS and SF
+ Honey Rider and James' relationship is very evocative of the relationship between Craig!James and Vesper
+ Dr. No, like Le Chifre and Dominic Greene from the New!Bond Continuity, feels like a fully realized character in spite of being quite over-the-top conceptually
+ The fight between James and No is quite brutal and really helps sell James' "killer instincts"
Cons
- Not as expository as it could've and probably ought to have been given its status as an 'entry point's for the world of James Bond on film
- The bad guys are able to get the better of James a little more easily and more often than they ought to
I get the impression that you're a big Craig fan, seeing how you compare elements of this movie to elements of the current Bond Era.
I find nothing in common between the Bond/Honey relationship and the Bond/Vesper relationship, but whatever.
New 2020 ranking (for now DAF and FYEO keep their previous placements)
1. TLD 2. TND 3. GF 4. TSWLM 5. TWINE 6. OHMSS 7. LtK 8. TMWTGG 9. L&LD 10. YOLT 11. DAD 12. QoS 13. DN 14. GE 15. SF 16. OP 17. MR 18. AVTAK 19. TB 20. FRWL 21. CR 22. FYEO 23. DAF (SP to be included later)
Bond actors to be re-ranked later
Because Tomorrow Never Dies had previously been the only one of the pre-Craig films I had seen prior to starting a watch-through of the films last week, the Craig Era films represent for me the 'definitive' James Bond, and my impressions of the earlier films are therefore going to be 'colored' and 'influenced' by my having, for all intents and purposes, experienced the Craig films and what they bring to the table FIRST.
I'd really like to know how you can compare Vesper to Honey.
I addressed it a bit in my Dr. No review, but here's where I see similarities:
In both DN and CR, the female characters who end up at the center of those two stories both interact with Bond in a way that is in many respects 'removed' from the rest of the film in that their interactions, unlike those between Bond and some of his other 'leading ladies' in both continuities, are quite 'self-contained' and intimately personal in their own right.
We don't get to see Honey and James spend as much time with each other as Craig!James and Vesper do (simply because of the pacing of the film), but by the time we get to the final scene, we're still left with the sense that she and James have forged a connection that goes beyond just 'the hero and the pretty girl getting together', which is very much where the Vesper/Craig!James relationship ends up, albeit with more tragic consequences (and in spite of Craig!James coldly telling M 'the bitch is dead').
As a more specific example, the scenes between Honey and James after they've both been detained by No's soldiers and are interacting with each other 'under house arrest', as it were (both prior to and after being drugged) evoked for me the same kind of feelings I got from the scenes where Craig!James and Vesper are interacting both before the card game with Le Chifre (when they're still very much trying to find their own' footing' with each other and haven't yet realized their attraction to each other) and after (when he's talking about giving up his job as a secret agent for her).
But Honey is not at the centre of the story and isn't an important character at all. She's really just there to give women someone to relate to. She adds very little to the film. She's really just a pretty girl to have along. Vesper is so much more to the story and to the Bond. Honey really is nothing more than 'the hero and the pretty girl getting together'. Bond and Honey have no special connection. Their relationship is exactly the same as almost every other relationship you'll find in the series.
And might I kindly ask that you stop referring to Craig's Bond as "Craig!James". Use "Craig!Bond" if you absolutely cannot just say "Bond".
I think after you watch a few more Bond films you'll find less meaning in Bond and Honey's relationship.
I've also seen differences between the way he interacts with Honey, Tatiana, and Domino and the way in which he interacted with Jill, Tilly, and Pussy Galore in Goldfinger (where his interactions with Tilly reminded me of the way that Daniel Craig's version of the character interacts with Camille in QoS), so it can't really be chalked up to just being part of a 'James Bond formula' for how the character interacts with the female characters he encounters.
Bond has no feelings (besides instinctual) for any of these girls. You Only Live Twice features the first girl Bond seems to have more feeling for, but he's not in love with her like he is with Tracy and Vesper.
That's not the impression I've been left with, so "to each their own".