How would you introduce the Bond movies to your kid?
sasja
CopenhagenPosts: 1MI6 Agent
Hello all, I humbly come in search of your expertise. My 7-year-old has managed to persuade me into letting him see a Bond-movie, but it's been a long time since I saw one, and I have not watched all of them - yet. The question is which one to show him, and if I can maybe show him more than one or if he's simply too young.
So at what age would you introduce your son/daughter/nephew/niece to the Bond movies, and which movie(s) would you show him/her? I'm thinking:
[list=*]
[*]Not too much violence/gore/darkness (not too concerned about the language and sex)[/*]
[*]Plot not too difficult to follow[/*]
[*]Lots of good cheering moments - action sequences/spy gadgets/outwitting bad guys etc[/*]
[/list]
Part of me wants to start at the beginning with Dr. No (for my own sake too, as I haven't seen some of the movies), and I like the fact that the early movies apparently score relatively low on the violence (according to imdb at least). On the other hand, what he wants the most is probably the fantastic action which the later movies' bigger budget may be better at delivering.
What do you guys think? Millions of thanks from me and a future Bond fan.
So at what age would you introduce your son/daughter/nephew/niece to the Bond movies, and which movie(s) would you show him/her? I'm thinking:
[list=*]
[*]Not too much violence/gore/darkness (not too concerned about the language and sex)[/*]
[*]Plot not too difficult to follow[/*]
[*]Lots of good cheering moments - action sequences/spy gadgets/outwitting bad guys etc[/*]
[/list]
Part of me wants to start at the beginning with Dr. No (for my own sake too, as I haven't seen some of the movies), and I like the fact that the early movies apparently score relatively low on the violence (according to imdb at least). On the other hand, what he wants the most is probably the fantastic action which the later movies' bigger budget may be better at delivering.
What do you guys think? Millions of thanks from me and a future Bond fan.
Comments
It pains me to say this but I think Moonraker and You Only Live Twice work for kids
http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/44475/which-movies-should-i-make-my-gf-watch-whos-never-seen-james-bond/
http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/37782/best-007-outing-to-show-a-friend/
http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/45639/what-bond-film-would-you-choose-to-introduce-someone-to-the-franchise/
Plenty of ideas there. Welcome to AJB, sasja, please have a look at our introduction for new members: http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/45180/introduction-how-to-use-the-forum/ and feel free to introduce yourself here: http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/33334/tributes-thread/page/62/
I agree. I loved Moonraker at an age younger than 7.
GE is pretty violent compared to the others, and the plot is more complicated that the others too.
Easy to follow stories.
Yes, your right there. I'll replace GE with TSWLM.
AJB007 Favorite Film Rankings
Pros and Cons Compendium (50 Years)
But in all seriousness, I remember loving Moonraker when I was a kid. YOLT is still a favourite and quite suited for kids. I would avoid anything after 1979.
After that, talk to your friends and relatives who are Bond fans, and see which ones they recommend. -{
Thinking more about this question, I agree with always shaken.
Hello Blackleiter, it's uncanny, you are giving me a Mad Men moment in my real life. I was a kid in the 60s, in Mad Men terms, I am younger than Sally Draper, about the age of her brother Bobby, and YOLT was the first Bond I ever saw. I agree 100pct that it is a great way for a kid to see his/her first Bond film. Spaceships swallowing each other, fast sports cars, villains in cars that get dropped into ocean, the villain is bald, weird looking, pets a cat, and hides out in a secret volcano lair, and the beauty of Japan is tremendous for a young person to take in. Connery was pretty restrained in his hooking up with Tiger Tanaka's cute Japanese agents, compared to his carrying on with other females, might be considered almost chaste by today's standards. That opening score with lava flows, Japanese style lettering and umbrellas, pretty girls posing, was eye opening, especially on the big screen, and the Nancy Sinatra vocals are a keeper.
PS wanted to get back to you on Bernie Casey/Jeffrey Wright as Felix. Casey was a big dude and I recall he was a pretty good wide receiver for LA Rams in late 60s, with Roman Gabriel as qb, Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, Fearsome Foursome (talking old old school), so he brought physicality to the role. This Felix just might take on Bond in a major disagreement re: the mission, and can lean on Bond perhaps literally to get his point across. Very formidable, no pushover, and would keep Connery on his toes.
Jeff Wright is more the classic Quiet Man, who observes, takes it all in, figures out connections, and if all hell broke loose, I figure he slips out the side door, punches the special cellphone to the CIA, and says, "Langley, we have a problem here...." Very different kind of agent, both effective. Good chatting with you again,
Thanks, regards, Felix the Leitercat -{ B-)
Hello Matt, you are on the right track with Moonraker and YOLT, but I think anything from the Connery/Moore era would work. The thing about the Connery films is that violence was often not fully shown, but hinted at, and filmmakers use the power of suggestion to a great effect. Yes, a bad guy flunky gets thrown to the sharks in Thunderball, but you can feel the suspense and power of the scene without showing the shark chomping the guy in half like in Jaws. Violence of that era was shown in a way that made you use your imagination, the cinematography shots and the edit cuts made scenes like that creepy in your head. But the villains act seriously enough so that you feel the menace and Connery is the OG tough guy/charmer/seducer/fighter--he is kind of old school cinema manhood, not like today's sometimes very different characterizations for male heroes.
Really by today's standards, it's pretty much tamer, but still great stories, dialogue and acting, and for the Moore era, the producers made a decision to keep it entertaining for a family audience so they eased up on some of the violence.
Would avoid License to Kill, which I like personally but I was much older when I saw it--I am a Bannerman to the House of Dalton. There's a lot of coke, killing, really heavy duty on the gunfire. The violence of the modern 90s and 2000s cinema action adventure genre influenced Pierce and Daniel's work, so the violence, tamed down for Moore, stepped up a tad for Tim D, was really jacked up for Goldeneye and the ones that followed. Tomorrow Never Dies might not be a good call cause it's the most machine gun city of any Bond film I can recall. I found Die Another Day extremely convoluted, with face morphing, identity switches and I thought the invisible car was silly. Halle Berry does a fine acting job and has a very curvy redeeming quality, but perhaps you might leave her on the shelf till later on in life. Feel free to check out my reply to Blackleiter nearby, I was in elementary school when I saw YOLT and it made me a fan forever.
Good luck passing 007 to the next generation.
Felix the Leitercat. -{ B-)
I would say start with the video games. Go to either a flea market, eBay, or whatever and get an N64 with the GoldenEye 007 N64 and then introduce them to the movie and then spread from there.
If not this, I would certainly start with the 90s films.
1: Brosnan 2: Craig 3: Moore 4: Dalton 5: Connery and 6: Lazenby
So you were born in 1985 and grew up with James Bond this way? For a parent who doesn't want to introduce Bond through too much violence, this is one of the most violent ways to show someone about James Bond.
AJB007 Favorite Film Rankings
Pros and Cons Compendium (50 Years)
The N64 game is still an amazing game. I've played a number of James Bond games since, and nothing compares to the multiplayer on that game. At least that's what my friends who aren't even Bond fans say. I'm not really a gamer. The N64 GoldenEye game got a lot of people into James Bond, at least all of my friends (I was already a Bond fan through Connery's and Moore's films). GoldenEye made for a much better video game than a movie. I'm convinced that anyone who says they love the GoldenEye movie just loves it because of the game. But the game was responsible for creating most Bond fans who were born in the 1980s and early 90s.
1: Brosnan 2: Craig 3: Moore 4: Dalton 5: Connery and 6: Lazenby
Ideally, introduce Bond through the books.
If not then YOLT is a good thing with its piranhas, minicopters. The last thing you should do is introduce the films via video games...
But it still is James Bond going in with guns a blazing. I tried to get middle school kids to understand that the video game has objectives and it's not just about shooting, and they didn't understand that. They didn't understand why they kept on failing the levels even though they made it all the way through. That's also why GoldenEye the film is just as bad because so much of it is James Bond shooting everyone in sight. That's what Brosnan's first two Bond films are. Compare that to Sean Connery's and Roger Moore's Bond films, which aren't at all like that. In Moonraker, Bond only shoots a gun once, and it's a hunting rifle!
One of the good things about You Only Live Twice is that the story was written by a man who is best known for his children's stories: Roald Dahl.