Asp9mmOver the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,535MI6 Agent
edited December 2016
I've had the finished tome in my hands for a day or so now, so I thought I'd let folks know what I reckon. So heed my learnings...
First of all, this is almost a lifetimes worth of passion, knowledge, collecting madness and research with an utter enthusiasm for the subject that will leave you dumb-founded in it's depth of detail and set in granite facts.
It's a thick book ( and I mean measurement thick, not Higgins thick). And I'm going to call it a book as this isn't a magazine or article inflated to fill the latest 007 magazine release... THIS IS A BOOK, a large solid book that it's an absolute sacrilege that it couldn't be published in hardback, beautiful, leatherbound goodness. And it's genuinely a book that will be a constant reference too, so you should get another as back up. This will be the one go to reference on this subject that will be used by auction houses for decades to come. Value will go up on this. It's THAT good.
Each film has its own chapter, which is devoted to explaining the role and history of the PPK in the Bond films. It lists every PPK Bond has used on screen, where possible with the serial numbers and accompanying picture of the gun as it is today and as it was represented in the film. The author and Mr Rye have used many behind the scenes photographs never seen before too. It also lists the various stunt PPK's and serial numbers they have. Yeah, they have them, and so we all know what weapons are screen used, and what those pesky Ebay sellers and auction houses have tried to pass off as screen used. No more, this book lays all of those myths to rest.
This epic book also goes into great detail about the guns used by villains, sidekicks, M's and Beans. It shows how some of the finest weapon/props rivaling the Golden Gun have been made and utilised on screen, but never shown in their amazing and full glory. What a waste. We all think the Glock/KPOS is cool in SPECTRE, but the Sterling AR180 in the TND's pre-title sequence is soo much cooler in every way. Yet we don't see it pulled out of Brozzas funky leather jacket and see it unfolded, extended and locked... it just appears in his hands without explanation. Why not, how could this have happened... Mook film makers!!!
There's more. There's the P99 history and how much of the time it's a PAK, there's detailed listings and pictures of all the suppressors used and how brilliant is it that they all survive to this day. There's holsters aplenty, plus detailed descriptions of how and why they came about and the history and stories of them on set. Some of which you'll be surprised about. Galco in GE and TND? Yes and then again.. no.
But still more. Stories and anecdotes from armourers and prop makers on set. The PPK that got lost in a Scottish lake. Of fakes that got passed as real, of presentations and oddities, of Boothroyd and Fleming. Of a small bit of metal that's become a beloved Bond icon. Fan-fookin-tastic.
My only criticism is the fact the author failed to comment on the Falcon picture on page 60. Cocked PPK in a Null/Falcon design holster. He tries to draw that and it's BANG... new armpit please :v
It is incredibly and almost nerdily detailed and some people may struggle when the author goes into detail about weapon specifics, but he's a Bond weapon geek, it's all good, and it's all trouser rubbing, skipping around the coffee table greatness. I'm not going to be putting this down for years. It's going to get frayed worn and sticky. Pages 98 to 100 have already got stuck together somehow Bone the cat!!!! What a book. THE book!!!!!!!
Thanks to everyone for their posts but for them I wouldn't have been aware of this book. Asp9mm glowing review very helpful. I've ordered mine today I bought the Craig cover it would be interesting to know the break up between Connery and Craig
I had been swithering back and forth but ASP's review just made up my mind. Ordered a copy and now can't wait to get it. -{
Yes, ASP's review was the clincher for me as £25 is a lot for a magazine - termed as an essential book and reference guide, makes the price a bit more palatable!
While I was there also picked up a few of the magazines that I missed over the last few years!
I went for the Craig cover as the image looked sharper than the Connery one, but it would be interesting to know which one is selling more...
Japanese proverb say, "Bird never make nest in bare tree".
Wow, that's quite the review and all the more so coming from someone who knows what he's talking about! I ordered this when it was first announced back in the summer and I am now more glad than ever that I did. Now I just can't wait for it to arrive!
Less a 'magazine', and far more a book at 120 pages, it arrived with fanfare and ceremony due to the very high gloss gold foil padded envelope. On receiving such an item, one immediately knows one is in Graham Rye territory.
I have only read the first three chapters thus covering, on a chapter per film basis, information and goodness up to and including Goldfinger.
It is already safe to say the author's research, knowledge and affinity for this topic is complete. One is presented with a veritable landslide of important sounding model numbers and vital differences between the 'a' version and the 'b' version. A chap who, by his own admission, is called upon by auctions to 'take a look at this and tell us what we're looking at.' So, so far, so assuring.
That said, it is already becoming quite a chore to read. While the presentation and printing is as per ones expectations for all things coming from the Rye stable, getting to the information has had me reading, re-reading, re-thinking and almost trying to edit in my mind where the story is. The benefits of an editor have unfortunately not been considered.
Hemingway always believed shorter sentences were better. He was famous for them. Very. It allows one to get to the kernel of his point. On the other hand, Leslie Charteris, of Simon Templar Saint fame, loved playing with words and to create whole paragraphs that were in essence just one, well constructed, lucid and free-flowing sentence to cover a multitude of musings. Unfortunately the author, Mark Hazard, an alias(?), is nether.
To paraphrase an example without breaching copyright; 'After I left the club, crossing the road, the road famous for black BX76 weevils, black being the opposite of white and not very interesting at that, for perhaps an errant burger van on rainy weekend nights, I went home.'
Or, the repeating interest in the word 'which'. 'I saw the film Weevils, which won a Oscar, which is an award for films, which is handed out once a year, which is a unit of time seen on calendars, which people hand out at Christmas every year in coded BX76a standard variation boxed packages...'
When faced with this sort of construction, and together with the also not-very-welcoming-with-open-arms attributes of 'BX76a weevil' type information, it is only the strong willed and perhaps those who already have an inkling for the subject matter, that will persevere. For my part, I am taking a rest.
Another shifting of stance which throws ones concentration, is how the author refers to himself. So far, it has run the gamut of all the first and third person references to include, me, myself and I, 'the author' and 'this author'.
I fear all this will be appearing harsh and I am likely to receive the usual messages of, 'Could you do better?' and 'Until you have something to show, you shouldn't critique' but to pre-empt and quell, I do believe one can critique without necessarily having demonstrated one can do the same - otherwise, how would we ever get away with critiquing our actors.
Anyway, as I have said, I have only read to chapter three. This is most certainly Not the definitive review. My only fear is, it may never be.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,757Chief of Staff
simes you are fooling no one...we all know why you have decided to 'attack' this...it's the people behind it and that like it rather than the tome itself...I'd like to say "I expected better from you" - a fair critique at least...but I really didn't
Sorry old boy, a bit harsh I feel? Do we know each other as I fear you may be adding 1 and 1 to make 11. What is that we All Know? As a some time contributor these fora, I might be missing the obvious.
As for the review, such as it was, I said some positive things and I said some negative things; one might say, that being the very epitome of ‘fair’.
And while I appreciate the Web is World Wide, and that English may not be everyone's first language, and without wishing to be rude, I didn’t understand this line...
Comments
Indeedy. The only other person geekier than me on Bond weaponry. The detail in this tome will certainly impress.
Speaking of which, those prices on ASPs have gone up, it looks like!
The printed copies will be with the publisher on the 7th December and hopefully will be shipped the following week.
As stated by our esteemed member Asp9mm .......... 'it'll be worth the extra bit of a wait.'
-{
Bond: “I must be dreaming.”
First of all, this is almost a lifetimes worth of passion, knowledge, collecting madness and research with an utter enthusiasm for the subject that will leave you dumb-founded in it's depth of detail and set in granite facts.
It's a thick book ( and I mean measurement thick, not Higgins thick). And I'm going to call it a book as this isn't a magazine or article inflated to fill the latest 007 magazine release... THIS IS A BOOK, a large solid book that it's an absolute sacrilege that it couldn't be published in hardback, beautiful, leatherbound goodness. And it's genuinely a book that will be a constant reference too, so you should get another as back up. This will be the one go to reference on this subject that will be used by auction houses for decades to come. Value will go up on this. It's THAT good.
Each film has its own chapter, which is devoted to explaining the role and history of the PPK in the Bond films. It lists every PPK Bond has used on screen, where possible with the serial numbers and accompanying picture of the gun as it is today and as it was represented in the film. The author and Mr Rye have used many behind the scenes photographs never seen before too. It also lists the various stunt PPK's and serial numbers they have. Yeah, they have them, and so we all know what weapons are screen used, and what those pesky Ebay sellers and auction houses have tried to pass off as screen used. No more, this book lays all of those myths to rest.
This epic book also goes into great detail about the guns used by villains, sidekicks, M's and Beans. It shows how some of the finest weapon/props rivaling the Golden Gun have been made and utilised on screen, but never shown in their amazing and full glory. What a waste. We all think the Glock/KPOS is cool in SPECTRE, but the Sterling AR180 in the TND's pre-title sequence is soo much cooler in every way. Yet we don't see it pulled out of Brozzas funky leather jacket and see it unfolded, extended and locked... it just appears in his hands without explanation. Why not, how could this have happened... Mook film makers!!!
There's more. There's the P99 history and how much of the time it's a PAK, there's detailed listings and pictures of all the suppressors used and how brilliant is it that they all survive to this day. There's holsters aplenty, plus detailed descriptions of how and why they came about and the history and stories of them on set. Some of which you'll be surprised about. Galco in GE and TND? Yes and then again.. no.
But still more. Stories and anecdotes from armourers and prop makers on set. The PPK that got lost in a Scottish lake. Of fakes that got passed as real, of presentations and oddities, of Boothroyd and Fleming. Of a small bit of metal that's become a beloved Bond icon. Fan-fookin-tastic.
My only criticism is the fact the author failed to comment on the Falcon picture on page 60. Cocked PPK in a Null/Falcon design holster. He tries to draw that and it's BANG... new armpit please :v
It is incredibly and almost nerdily detailed and some people may struggle when the author goes into detail about weapon specifics, but he's a Bond weapon geek, it's all good, and it's all trouser rubbing, skipping around the coffee table greatness. I'm not going to be putting this down for years. It's going to get frayed worn and sticky. Pages 98 to 100 have already got stuck together somehow
www.justgiving.com/inMemoryOfLewisCollins
www.helpforheroes.org.uk
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
Spanking your bottom probably
Yeah, and I changed my mind. It's not a book. It's a Bible :x :x :x
No, Mrs. Higgins did that job already
And she doesn't need Donk's bloody book for that
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
www.justgiving.com/inMemoryOfLewisCollins
www.helpforheroes.org.uk
Vive le droit à la libre expression! Je suis Charlie!
www.helpforheroes.org.uk
www.cancerresearchuk.org
brilliantly packaged in GOLD :007) can't wait to get stuck in
good price too
LMFAO!
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
So many reasons that make this even funnier.
Especially for you MicroJif
www.justgiving.com/inMemoryOfLewisCollins
www.helpforheroes.org.uk
Yes, ASP's review was the clincher for me as £25 is a lot for a magazine - termed as an essential book and reference guide, makes the price a bit more palatable!
While I was there also picked up a few of the magazines that I missed over the last few years!
I went for the Craig cover as the image looked sharper than the Connery one, but it would be interesting to know which one is selling more...
Less a 'magazine', and far more a book at 120 pages, it arrived with fanfare and ceremony due to the very high gloss gold foil padded envelope. On receiving such an item, one immediately knows one is in Graham Rye territory.
I have only read the first three chapters thus covering, on a chapter per film basis, information and goodness up to and including Goldfinger.
It is already safe to say the author's research, knowledge and affinity for this topic is complete. One is presented with a veritable landslide of important sounding model numbers and vital differences between the 'a' version and the 'b' version. A chap who, by his own admission, is called upon by auctions to 'take a look at this and tell us what we're looking at.' So, so far, so assuring.
That said, it is already becoming quite a chore to read. While the presentation and printing is as per ones expectations for all things coming from the Rye stable, getting to the information has had me reading, re-reading, re-thinking and almost trying to edit in my mind where the story is. The benefits of an editor have unfortunately not been considered.
Hemingway always believed shorter sentences were better. He was famous for them. Very. It allows one to get to the kernel of his point. On the other hand, Leslie Charteris, of Simon Templar Saint fame, loved playing with words and to create whole paragraphs that were in essence just one, well constructed, lucid and free-flowing sentence to cover a multitude of musings. Unfortunately the author, Mark Hazard, an alias(?), is nether.
To paraphrase an example without breaching copyright; 'After I left the club, crossing the road, the road famous for black BX76 weevils, black being the opposite of white and not very interesting at that, for perhaps an errant burger van on rainy weekend nights, I went home.'
Or, the repeating interest in the word 'which'. 'I saw the film Weevils, which won a Oscar, which is an award for films, which is handed out once a year, which is a unit of time seen on calendars, which people hand out at Christmas every year in coded BX76a standard variation boxed packages...'
When faced with this sort of construction, and together with the also not-very-welcoming-with-open-arms attributes of 'BX76a weevil' type information, it is only the strong willed and perhaps those who already have an inkling for the subject matter, that will persevere. For my part, I am taking a rest.
Another shifting of stance which throws ones concentration, is how the author refers to himself. So far, it has run the gamut of all the first and third person references to include, me, myself and I, 'the author' and 'this author'.
I fear all this will be appearing harsh and I am likely to receive the usual messages of, 'Could you do better?' and 'Until you have something to show, you shouldn't critique' but to pre-empt and quell, I do believe one can critique without necessarily having demonstrated one can do the same - otherwise, how would we ever get away with critiquing our actors.
Anyway, as I have said, I have only read to chapter three. This is most certainly Not the definitive review. My only fear is, it may never be.
As for the review, such as it was, I said some positive things and I said some negative things; one might say, that being the very epitome of ‘fair’.
And while I appreciate the Web is World Wide, and that English may not be everyone's first language, and without wishing to be rude, I didn’t understand this line...
Best.
Connery sales are double that of the Craig version -{
That's surprises me. The Craig covers are much sharper. I guess Connery is still #1 with most fans then.
Mainly with the over 60's like me and Higgins