... - Bond

Bond, James Bond

You only live twice: once when you're born and

once when you look death in the face. ― Ian Fleming

 

The James Bond series focuses on a fictional character and became the second-highest grossing film series to date, which started in 1962 with Dr. No, our first example, starring Sean Connery as Bond. 

 

Here is a bit of trivia for you.  Casino Royale, the first book by Ian Flemings, was made into an hour-long episode for television, in 1954, as part of the dramatic anthology series Climax Mystery Theater making American actor Barry Nelson the first James Bond. The episode aired on 21 October 1954 as a live production.  Unfortunately, due to the restriction of a one-hour play, the adapted version lost many of the details found in the book, although it retained its violence.

Dr. No

Dr. No is a 1962 British spy film and has the distinction of being the first James Bond film. Although the first of the Bond books to be made into a film, Dr. No was not the first of Fleming's novels, Casino Royale has that honor.

Plot:  James Bond is sent to Jamaica to investigate the disappearance of a fellow British agent. The trail leads him to the underground base of Dr. Julius No, who is plotting to disrupt an early American manned space launch with a radio beam weapon.

Here: Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress), her book-name is Honeychile Rider but for the film her name was shortened and changed to Honey Ryder, emerges from the ocean in a white bikini with two large sea shells and is considered a classic James Bond moment.
 

 We changed our mind.  We were going to write about individual Bond films, include an image, maybe give a little trivia but there have been so, so many and the images just keep growing that we decided to just give you a sampling of what's out there... of what has been done and let you enjoy.  So here they are (remember, this is only a sampling):

 

With the new century brought new James Bond films.  First was Casino Royale in 2006, Quantum of Solace in 2008 (the lowest in boxoffice returns) and  then appeared the latest, Skyfall in 2012.  Here is a tribute.

 

 

The world of espionage grasped the popular imagination over the past years, and James Bond was the main reason for this.  The Bond series drew on contemporary fears in order to reduce the implausibility of the villains and their villainy.

 

In the films, Bond dramatically saved America. We watched as he; stopped Dr. No (in the first of the films) from "toppling" a crucial American missile test (1962), prevented Goldfinger (in the third film) from rendering the Ft. Knox gold reserves radioactive (1964), and thwarted Largo's attempt to blow up Miami in (the fourth film), Thunderball (1965)... and on, and on.  All that time, though, it was America saving Bond, a British character.

 Also, James Bond was the epitome of what every man wanted to be. He drank immense amounts of alcohol, had sex with innumerable women and killed hundreds of people with immunity.

 

After all these years, James Bond, 007 still remains a vibrant franchise and continues to enthrall audiences with a lethal combination of action, characters and story.

 *****

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