The cinematic James Bond is 50 today. Dr No was released 50 years ago today with a budget of $1 million. It went on to take $60 million at the box office. A second James Bond adventure was made the following year, From Russia With Love, which achieved greater box office success than its predecessor and a global icon was born. The longest running film franchise in history sees the latest 007 adventure 'Skyfall' released in the UK on the 26th of this month. It's estimated that one out of every five people on the planet have seen at least one James Bond film in their lifetime.

Like the Rolling Stones, James Bond is a true British Icon, and I am very proud to be celebrating two 50th anniversaries in 2012.

Happy Birthday James Bond!

The only true James Bond:

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Come On
The only true James Bond:

You are joking aren't you?

....what about Pussy Galore????????



ROCKMAN

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Silver Dagger

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Come On
The only true James Bond:

You are joking aren't you?

Nope, I find Connerys bond-movies just boring and too serious...

I think this guy is the best Bond yet - and probably the closest to Ian Fleming's original character. Looking forward to Skyfall!

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Come On
The only true James Bond:

The only real James Bond:

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Come On
The only true James Bond:

The name is Templar, Simon Templar (yes it was said in a few episodes).

Too cool

Bond ? James Bond ?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-10-06 04:09 by Max'sKansasCity.

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Come On

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Silver Dagger

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Come On
The only true James Bond:

You are joking aren't you?

Nope, I find Connerys bond-movies just boring and too serious...

To each their own. I found Roger Moore's Bond a bit too cartoonish..

Live and Let Die is a great film, sadly Roger's film just got silly after that with jokes that Carry On would have rejected. "Hiss off!" for example.

Connery was my favourite but all the Bonds have in my opinion done at least one classic. As for the one nearest to Fleming either Craig or Dalton.

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Braincapers
Live and Let Die is a great film, sadly Roger's film just got silly after that with jokes that Carry On would have rejected. "Hiss off!" for example.

Connery was my favourite but all the Bonds have in my opinion done at least one classic. As for the one nearest to Fleming either Craig or Dalton.

Bond should never have been played for cheap laughs which is where Eon/Roger Moore went wrong. The menace was gone and you never truly felt he was in danger unlike, say, Connery in front of the laser or Craig being poisoned in Casino Royale. Now the thrill is back and Bond has become darker again. It's a spy thriller not a spy spoof.

FYI - James Bond is hosting SNL tonight.

Roger Moore was dismal as Bond. He had no menace and reduced the films to episodes of Get Smart. If he would have brought more to the game, the films could have risen above the poor writing. Moore had none of the physical abilities, looked stiff, and was far too comedic. Most probably because the writers could not write menacingly for an actor only skilled in parody.

The new version of Casino Royal was probably the most true to Ian Flemming's Bond. It was dark, taunt, and a tough movie. The torture scene was brutally effective (something Moore could never have pulled off). It was a shame that Quantum of Solace was so horrible after such a strong debut. Solace was unoriginal, boring, and just plain lazy writing. Craig was as good as he could be with that source material. But Craig has gone back to the source material more than anyone, by playing him vulnerable, and dark.

Sean Connery was great in Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball. Marginally so in You Only Live Twice. Terrible in Diamonds for Ever. And then there is Never Say Never, which was just a waste of time in so many ways. Another re-write of Thunderball... But compared to Moore, Connery was phenomenal, and Moore cast a pale shadow over the myth of James Bond.

Then there is the unsung hero of George Lazenby. He did very well On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The film was ok, but Lazenby did very well with that he had to work with. He was very physically believable, no toupees, and his sardonic wit had just the right mix of dark humor and menace. Craig reminds me a lot of him.

Dalton and Brosnan weren't all that bad, and if the writing would have been stronger they probably would have risen to the occasion.

I wish they would go back to the books and do the films closer to how the books were written, and with Craig it would work.

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Max'sKansasCity
FYI - James Bond is hosting SNL tonight.

What?! No, surely you're mistaken, James bond died February 14, 1989. Look it up again. Must've been a typo.

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stonesnow

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Max'sKansasCity
FYI - James Bond is hosting SNL tonight.

What?! No, surely you're mistaken, James bond died February 14, 1989. Look it up again. Must've been a typo.

Yeah, probably a typo.... just watching it now... after baseball... and SNL is not very funny... again...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-10-07 08:56 by Max'sKansasCity.

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Max'sKansasCity

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stonesnow

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Max'sKansasCity
FYI - James Bond is hosting SNL tonight.

What?! No, surely you're mistaken, James bond died February 14, 1989. Look it up again. Must've been a typo.

Yeah, probably a typo.... just watching it now... after baseball... not very funny.

Ah, OK, a baseball thing, in your late-night mind you were thinking of Barry Bonds, or Bobby Bonds, and you confused it with James Bond, because we've been posting a lot about James Bond lately here on IORR and it [was] Saturday night, so that's understandable--OK, it's getting late, better tuck in, kiddo,... before the ghost of StonesTod begins haunting your dreams...

Hate to break it to you, but "James Bond" is fictional name played on screen by several actors... it may be based on real people... but no one real spy named James Bond, maybe a bird watcher named Bond ....

I spy an Amazona collaria (Yellow Billed Parrot)



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2012-10-07 19:15 by Max'sKansasCity.

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Green Lady


The first edition was printed in 1936. The author was an ornithologist (obviously) whose family had an estate in Jamaica. In 1948 an English author vacationed in Jamaica with his mistress, stayed at that estate, and picked up a copy of that book.

That must not have been a very exciting mistress.

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tatters

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Green Lady


The first edition was printed in 1936. The author was an ornithologist (obviously) whose family had an estate in Jamaica. In 1948 an English author vacationed in Jamaica with his mistress, stayed at that estate, and picked up a copy of that book.

That must not have been a very exciting mistress.

Or maybe he was just misled by the title...

1962 was a good year...
Rolling Stones, James Bond and another classic: [www.rail-pictures.com].

As to James Bond:
The Spy Who Loved Me has always been my favourite Bond movie. Recently I read the novel and was shocked... I have never, ever seen any movie that has nothing to do with the novel it is 'based on'. Really, only the titles match! (Wikipedia teaches that Fleming did not want the novel to be turned in to a movie...)

To me, Daniel Craig is a great improvement over Brosnan. Not only did I not like Pierce Brosnan (in any role, really), but also he is served with better plots. The Brosnan movies are quite interchangeable and I'm having a hard time remembering their titles.

What I don't understand is why they call Craig the first blond Bond. Moore was blond as well. [www.movie-moron.com]

Now put your clothes back on, and I’ll buy you an ice cream.

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Braincapers
Live and Let Die is a great film, sadly Roger's film just got silly after that with jokes that Carry On would have rejected. "Hiss off!" for example.

Yeah.. but "I think he's attempting re-entry, sir." is a classic line from a Moore film.

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Come On
The only true James Bond:

+1 ...though Connery was of course great and Craig is excellent.



PS: Bond 50 seems to be getting a lot more coverage than Stones 50 in the UK press!

Bond 50 comes with a new movie...

Plus I think Bond is much more of a 'public' concept than the Stones. If Bond 50 was celebrated only with the re-issue of the catalog, a bottle of Bond-wine and a book with recycled photos and stories, and if all the money made with these 'exclusive items' went directly into mr. Bond's personal bank account, I think public opinion would be somewhat less enthusiastic as well.

The Stones were asked to do the theme song for GOLDENEYE (the first Pierce Brosnan Bond film) but turned down the offer.

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whitem8
Roger Moore was dismal as Bond...

The new version of Casino Royal was probably the most true to Ian Flemming's Bond....

Sean Connery was ...Terrible in Diamonds for Ever...

Then there is the unsung hero of George Lazenby..

Roger started OK then it went wrong. He stayed on for at least two films after he started looking way too old.

I agree about Casino Royale but Licence to Kill made a fair stab at the Fleming Bond.

Diamonds is one of my favourite Bonds. I quite like the older, more world weary Bond. Connery is given some good lines and makes the most of them.

No argument on Lazenby. OHMSS is a great film. Lazenby is good in it but showed promise. Still I'd like to have seen Sean playing it. The final scene could have been a real tearjerker.

Dr. No made a huge impact on this pre-teenage adolescent. My mother started to worry when I kept going to see it over and over. Bond was handsome, sexy, graceful, brave, smart, worldly, snobbish, cruel and dangerous. It was deliciously shocking when he told the man "That's a Smith & Wesson. You've had your six." then cold bloodedly shot him through his silencer. From Russia With Love remains my favorite. It's a good movie and the train fight is vicious and legendary. Daniel Craig has pumped some life into the franchise. I like him. I just do not like special effect action movies. They bore me.

Speaking of Bond music: I like the snippet of a song you hear during the Bond/Craig/Heineken commercial. I do not know anything about it or who is singing it, but I'd like to hear more of it.

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Come On
The only true James Bond:

Your aving a larf!!!