In the film that launched the James Bond saga, Agent 007 (Sean Connery) battles the mysterious Dr. No, a scientific genius bent on destroying the U.S. Space Program. As the countdown to disaster begins, Bond must travel to Jamaica where he encounters the beautiful Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) and confronts the megalomaniacal villain in his massive island headquarters!
Title: Dr. No
Series: James Bond, Movie 1 (Sean Connery)
Release: May 8, 1963
Genre: Action- Spy
MPAA Rating: PG
Based On: Dr. No by Ian Fleming
Writer: Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, Berkely Mather
Director: Terence Young
Music By: Monty Norman
Produced By: Harry Saltzman & Albert R. Broccoli
Distributed By: United Artists
Run Time: 110 minutes
There is only one man who is the epitome of style, sophistication, and who still isn’t afraid to g
et his hands dirty. One who is a notorious ladies man and also he’s the spy of spies, that man is James Bond. British author Ian Fleming brought Agent 007 to life in his novels written from 1953 through 1966, and then as Fleming was releasing his book The Spy Who Loved Me, his sixth book in his series Dr. No was adapted for the big screen.
The film wasn’t well received in some countries and in others, the response was nearly overwhelming (mainly in America) so it wasn’t very long before another Bond film was released. Now it’s the longest running film franchise in the world! There have been many actors who have played Bond but the Sean Connery is probably one the most beloved. I know very little about the whole James Bond franchise other than the fact that there are a lot of movies with many actors playing Bond but I believe Sean Connery was him the most (if you count the “unofficial“ films). As hard to believe as it is, I had never seen a James Bond movie until I watched Dr. No (I have heard of them of course) but I don’t believe any actor could be as good as Connery is in the role. 
As much hoopla that surrounds these movies, I was expecting to be blown away by Dr. No or at the very least, watch a damn good movie but it was just ok. I can see why it did spawn so much praise in its day and beget so many other films though. James Bond was certainly a ladies man, wasn’t he? Ursula Andress was the very first Bond Girl (she plays Honey Ryder) and is now considered the “quintessential Bond girl” who “set the standard by which all of the others would be judged.”
What I liked most about the first Bond film was the style of the film and how elegant the fashions are. However, the fight scenes aren't very well choreographed, and look very fake by today’s standards. It has its flaws but the first Bond film was very good nonetheless. It’s a little hard to believe that James Bond was created by the same person who wrote Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang but it’s amazing that a low-budget film was able to not only become a major hit and make an unknown actor into a star, but it helped make Bond… James Bond into an icon that the world will never forget.Links: Imdb.com, Film Wikipedia, Character Wikipedia, Author Wikipedia, Film Franchise Wikipedia, James Bond Wikia
Interview: President of the International Bond Fan Club (BBC News)
Trailer
The only James Bond movie I've seen is the one with Halle Berry in it.
ReplyDeleteI used to watch all of the old James Bond movies with my Dad. It is probably the only reason that I still enjoy them and we actually watched one over Christmas :)
ReplyDeleteI love Sean Connery. His voice is . . . perfect. He was always my favorite James Bond (until Daniel Craig came along) just for that reason. :-)
ReplyDeletelet's face it Tink.. Connery can do no wrong! lol..he is hard to replace as bond. and it really was as much his voice as his good looks and talent.
ReplyDeleteYes, this was a pretty good start to the series. I'm not a huge Bond fan, but I enjoy the movies. Except for Roger Moore. I thought his Bond movies were silly. Almost mocking the Bond saga.
ReplyDeleteI just recently got the book Casino Royale from paperbackswap.com. I've been wanting to read the book that first gave us Bond for a long time. I'll let you know how it is.
I need to watch this one again!
ReplyDeleteBermudaonion: I remember seeing it advertised when it came out but I never saw it.
ReplyDeleteSamantha: Love watching old movies with my parents that they grew up with!
Wendy: I'm tempted to watch the Bond's out of order of release just to see what the big deal is with Craig as Bond. He'd have to be pretty magnificent to replace Connery as people's fav!
DesLily: Amen!
Paxton: From what I've seen so far of the franchise, it seems like Moore is definitely the black sheep of the Bonds. Please do let me know how you liked Casino Royale, thanks!
Lenore: Just be sure to fast forward through the spider scene!
It's been so long since I watched any Bond movies. I'm more exposed to an older Sean Connery, so looking at the picture my first thought was "he looks so young!"
ReplyDeleteI like to see the fashions (clothing, furniture, cars) in the old movies. yes, the special effects can be clunky, but they were advanced for their time.
ReplyDeleteWe'd laugh this out of the theaters if it were released now, our expectations are so high!
Nymeth: I thought the same thing the first time I saw the younger him in a movie. I think it might have been Disney's Darby O'Gill and the Little People. Boy can he sing in that movie!
ReplyDeleteDawn: I like to see how well old movies have withstood the test of time (even fashion-wise). The cars in this movie were just all they had back then but I couldn't help but ooh and ah over them lol. I agree, the critics would tear into this one, not to mention the audience nowawdays!
I do like a good James Bond flick but I haven't seen one in ages. :(
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, the story I heard was the Ian Fleming wrote CCBB because he thought all the kids movies were too violent! The child-catcher in that movie totally creeped me out though, more than any Disney dragon.
I am such a huge fan of Sean Connery.
ReplyDelete