Licence to Kill

Bond's friend Felix is about to get married. On the way to the ceremony at Key West, the two are pulled into an ongoing operation to arrest drug lord Franz Sanchez. In a very adventurous manner, Felix and Bond land in front of the church Felix is to be married in.

While Sanchez escapes by paying off DEA agent Killifer while Felix and his new wife are surprised by Sanchez' henchmen in the honeymoon suite. When Bond learns that Felix has been badly injured and his new wife was killed, he is out for revenge. His first victim is Killifer (Ed from Twin Peaks!), who gets fed to a shark, with his bribe money as a sendoff. M flies in to send him to a new assignment in Istanbul, Bond refuses and quits. M revokes his licence to kill and he is taken into MI6 custody, which of course he escapes. James Bond is now a rogue agent.

He teams up with a former CIA agent, following Sanchez to the Republic of Isthmus, where he poses as an assassin looking for work, earning Sanchez' trust. Bond's assassination attempt of the drug lord is foiled by agents of the Hong Kong Narcotics Bureau, which has been undercover trying to discover Sanchez' operations headquarter. Bond is again captured by the MI6 and about to be sent back to London. Yet, once again he escapes, this time with the help of Sanchez, who believes the Hong Kong agents to be responsible for his assassination attempt. Bond slowly worms his way into the inner circle of the drug operation.

The genius of the drug operation is that cocaine is dissolved in petrol and sell this 'fuel' to Asian drug lords (repeatedly referred to as 'the Orientals'). The sale runs through a televangelist named Joe Butcher (which is really kind of genius - the selling, not the name). The money making plot is the process to get the cocaine from the petrol again, the information is sold by Sanchez.

The grand show-down takes place in Sanchez' laboratory, where Bond is discovered by Sanchez henchman Dario, who betrays him to Sanchez, which leads to the final fight between him and Bond. With all that petrol around, this can only end in fire and explosions. Poor Dario ends up in a giant shredder.

I'm starting to like Timothy Dalton as Bond. The villain here is played by Robert Davi, but the (to me) significant baddie is a very young Benicio del Toro as Dario. The televangelist is played by Wayne Newton, somewhere in the middle of his plastic surgery transformations.

Quite entertaining and much more straight-forward in plot than many other Bond films.

6/10

The Living Daylights

James Bond, in this incarnation played by Timothy Dalton, has to deal with a defecting KGB officer that is to be brought to save haven (my beautiful Vienna!) before taking him to Britain.

But is is all a ploy by the KGB guy, who in reality is in cahoots with an American arms dealer. He is also buying diamonds and with them paying for drugs. So really, he has quite a few irons in the fire. The only one to see through the original ruse - why, James Bond, of course.

The lady by his side is a lovelorn cellist who assumes Bond is helping her to reunite with her KGB agent (who is willing to sacrifice her in a flash). So we travel to Bratislava, Vienna, Tangiers and Afghanistan, always following the bad guys from the agent to the diamonds to the drugs.

Yes, it is a lot to take in.

My biggest bother is that Bond activates a bomb with a timer to blow up the drugs. The bomb is on a plane that is set to take off, shortly. Why he would the timer set to ten minutes only is beyond me. He is obviously just setting himself up for trouble. But, this is a James Bond film, so...whatever.

As for Timothy Dalton - I liked him more than I thought I would.

6/10

A View to a Kill

What starts out on an estate dedicated to breeding horses takes us to Sillicon Valley, that obviously needs to be wiped out. All this courtesy of one Mr. Zorin, formally part of a Soviet (of course it's the Soviets) experiment on children. They were treated with steroid to make them stronger and smarter.

Bond is undercover as a potential buyer of horses. He gets found out, knocked unconscious and pushed into a lake by Zorin's sidekick May Day (yes, May Day). Do you know how in films car doors never open underwater? James Bond does not have that problem at all. The door pops right open.

This is not the only occasion he spends under water in this film, he ends up there much later again - this time with May Day, whom he has previously bedded (obviously) and who is at this point pissed off at Zorin because she thought 'that creep loved me'! Zorin is willing to sacrifice everyone from his posse for his ultimate goal, which has to do with microchips (not that anyone cares). May Day and Bond team up to get out of their shared conundrum with May Day sacrificing herself to get back at Zorin.

There is a zeppelin and a blond woman stumbling through scenery, also one overly long unnecessary car chase with San Francisco law enforcement.

4/10

Octopussy

In case you wondered, 'Octopussy' is a woman. She lives on an island with women on it. Lots and lots of women. And, yes, Bond beds her.

Now that we got that out of the way, here's the story in a nutshell:
Bond has to follow a general stealing jewelry from the Russian government. The trace leads him to an Afghan prince and the title-giving Octopussy. He unscovers some plot that involves...wait for it...nuclear weaponry. And Fabergé eggs. Obviously.

The locations this time around are East Berlin and the much more exotic India. Some of the character's names include Kamal Khan (the Afghan prince), Orlov (the general), Gobinda (bodyguard and henchman), Mischka & Grischka (circus artists), Gogol (Russian writer a Soviet general) and - my favorite - Penelope Smallbone (assistant to Moneypenny). None of the cast names rings a bell for me (other than the usual suspects).

This features an abundance of ridiculous and very obvious one liners, that more often than not miss the mark (I think). It's all very silly, really. Also, if you suffer from Coulrophobia, do not watch this!

Ok, maybe that's just me. I was never much a fan of the franchise, only having seen the occasional film (and remembering Goldfinger rather fondly). I only became a fan when Daniel Craig took over and decided to watch all Bond films - from earliest to latest. It looks like anything that become before the re-vamping with Craig as Bond was not for me (I suspected as much). At this point, I'm in it for the villains, who are not much to speak of in Octopussy.

4/10

Never Say Never Again

This is the one James Bond film that is not officially part of the series. From the very first instant - when the beginning credits set in - we know that everything is different. There is no shadowy figure in the round seeker of a gun turning towards the camera and shooting followed by a song performed by the superstar of the moment. There is a different M, a different Q, even a different Felix.

But the story is very James Bond-y and the original 007 is back (again). The location is as exotic as ever and the cast is fantastic: Klaus Maria Brandauer, Max von Sydow, Edward Fox, Kim Basinger, Rowan Atkinson. The fashion (other than Bond's classic tuxedo) is painfully 1980's.

The woman in the picture does not only commit a typical 1980's fashion crime, she is also totally bonkers. For instance, she insists on being the best lay Bond has ever had and wants him to put that in writing. James, of course, has been handed a pen out of Q's little shop and shoots her with it. The crazy bitch is not the only woman that ends up in Bond's arms before he saves the day.

Some more recurring themes: a casino and some deep sea diving. Nothing new, but an interesting attempt of trying to secure a piece of the franchise cake. It remains the only one thus far.

6/10

For Your Eyes Only

With For Your Eyes Only James Bond returns to earthly grounds - no outerspace or underwater adventures.

But first and before the credits we have to say some goodbyes. First, Bond visits the grave of his late wife and then disposes of his old foe Blofeld (for copyright reasons).

What follows is some old-school secret agent adventures. Almost immediately we start into a fist fight followed by a car chase (perusing the rather slow but cultish 2CV), but not 007 is behind the wheel but the latest Bond girl Melina, dead set on avenging her parents' deaths. So while looking for the culprits, Bond also has to keep Melina safe and keep her from killing people.

And where does a secret agent go the chase bad guys when beaches and exotic lands are not an option. Why, of course, the alps. There he meets Bibi, an infantile ice skating protegé, who offers herself up to him but gets turned down. By the notorious womanizer James Bond. Together Bibi and Bond go and watch the biathlon, primarily the east German champion Erich Kriegler, who of course is in cahoots with the bad guys...and he is armed and on skis. Cue ski chase (not a new theme in the series).

Also after Bond - a young Charles Dance as Claus. While he is after Bond they both jump of a ski jumping ramp. Obviously. Then Bond is off on his skis again, chased on skis and motor bikes. Later he gets attacked in the ice rink by guys in hockey gear. Lucky for him, his pursuit of the bad guys then leads him to warmer areas, namely Corfu (and later Albania).

Oh, the point of all this is to retrieve the Automatic Targeting Attack Communicator (ATAC) before it falls into the hands of the Soviets, as the transmitter can order attacks by the Royal Navy's fleet of Polaris submarines' missiles. In the end, Bond makes sure nobody gets his/her hands on it by simply destroying it.

It ends with Bond in Melina's arms. Of course.

5/10

Moonraker

Hugo Drax, an eccentric billionaire (and aren't they all eccentric?) steals a Moonraker space shuttle, that his own company built and that was on loan to the UK. Yes, yes, it is hijacked in mid-air! Why would he steal his own shuttle, you ask? Because he 'needed it', due to some malfunction in one of his own shuttles, he builds for his personal use (one assumes). He needs it to shoot a nerve gas - deadly to humans, harmless to animals - into the earth's atmosphere to get rid of all humanity.

The idea is to spend some time in a space station together with a number of genetically perfect young men and women. Then, after life on earth is deemed safe again (probably Wall-E will report on that) they shall return and repopulate the planet.

The henchmen sent after the inquiring James Bond are one Chang, Asian and therefore expert in martial arts, and the indestructible Jaws, who in pursuit of Bond and one Dr. Holly Goodhead (an astronaut) bites through a cable holding a cable car, among other unpleasantries he showers on the good guys. However, he will take 007's side eventually, because he realizes he is not a member of the master race.

Bond has at this point also survived an attempt on his life by centrifugal force and a rather mundane sniper, he takes out with a hunting riffle. Also, he has jumped out of airplane without a parachute before we even got to the beginning credits (the title theme the third and weakest by Shirley Bassey). Also we have witnessed the demise of one of Drax's unwitting minions who gets chased down and killed by two dogs.

Anyway, the final showdown this time takes place in - drumroll! - in outerspace! With lasers! And villain ejected into the universe!

What nonsense!

3/10

The Spy Who Loved Me

In the year of 1977 the James Bond Travel Agency suggests a journey to Egypt, to experience the grandness of the pyramids and adjoining monuments.

While among the aforementioned monuments, Bond and his rival/associate KGB agent triple X (Barbara Bach) spend a while chasing after Jaw (yes, yes, the guy with the metal teeth) among the vast monuments - before getting chased by him in return. The objective is to retrieve a microfilm. Jaw and his assistant henchman Sandor (a rather short role) were sent by Karl Stromberg (the great Curd Jürgens) to search after said microfilm and kill everyone that comes in contact with it.

What does the villain want this time? Trigger a global nuclear war, of course. Don't they always? There is yet another train trip (a recurring Bond theme), during which Bond and triple X get attacked by Jaw again (What? You thought dumping an entire scaffolding including stones on him would get rid of him? Or even throwing him out the window of a moving train?).

The big showdown takes place in a much more elaborate venue. No, not an island. That is getting rather old and we'll get around to it again in later Bond films (Skyfall anyone?). On a big-ass ship, that captures submarines in its belly. Oh, and don't worry. There's a car chase, too.

Despite all the ridiculousness and repetitiveness, the showdown is awesome.

6/10

The Man with the Golden Gun

Roger Moore's second James Bond adventure unfortunately has nothing on his first one. The story just doesn't hold up to Live and Let Die, despite the villain in this being the great Christopher Lee, which makes it doubly sad. What a waste of talent.

Lee plays Scaramanga, a contract killer, aided by his dwarf Nick Nack (!). The female (of course) assistant Bond has at his side is called Goodnight (*eye-roll*). And as if that weren't comic relief enough, JW Pepper, the dorky small town sheriff from the previous film, is forced on us again. He is still not very funny.

The touristic adventure takes us to Asia again - this time to Hong Kong and Bangkok, where Scaramanga works for one Hai Fat. And yes, we get Asian martial arts - an entire school of martial arts students. They get knocked out by two teenage girls in school uniforms. And with that we have probably covered every cliche conceivable about the Asian continent, no?

Oh yes, there is also a flying car.

Scaramanga invests in solar energy, so he's not really that bad a guy, is he?

4/10

Live and Let Die

The first (real) post Connery Bond (let's forget about Mr. Lazenby, shall we). I know, I know, everyone says that Sean Connery is the best Bond evah. Personally, I believe people say that because he is the original Bond. I am quite happy with Roger Moore.

For me it is thusly:
Sean Connery - like
George Lazenby - meh
Roger Moore - like
Timothy Dalton - I'll get back to you once I have seen him as Bond. My expectations are low.
Pierce Brosnan - *argh* Noooooo! Why? Why? WHY?
Daniel Craig - LOVE

Anyway, Live and Let Die. It starts off with one of my favorite Bond themes performed by Paul McCartney and the Wings. As a rule, the opening credits of any Bond film are great - very artsy and mysterious (usually with naked women).

Three MI6 agents get killed - in New York, in New Orleans and in the Caribbean island of San Monique, the dictator of which is the villain in this part of the franchise, one Dr. Kananga. There is also a mysterious Harlem drug lord named Mr. Big, that eventally turns out to be Dr. Kananga himself. Bond follows him from New York (where he ventures into a Harlem before the time when a white person would want to be caught alone there) to San Monique. There, 007 meets - and loses - his CIA associate Rosie Carver, who dies too early to be referred to as "Bond girl". This title goes to Jane Seymour as Solitaire - the virginal (until she gets bedded by 007) tarot reader employed by Dr. Kananga (the original Mr. Big).

On to New Orleans, where Bond is captured by Mr. Big's minions. He learns that the culprit uses his fellow countrymen's fear of voodoo and the occult to protect his poppy fields and keep the heroin coming. His plan is to distribute drugs for free (!) through his restaurant chain "Fillet of Soul" to increase the number of addicts and, consequently, paying customers.

Dr. Kananga's plan for Bond is that he be thrown to the crocodiles by his henchman Tee Hee (yes!) Johnson (a name that beats Solitaire, and there is also a Baron Samedi). Our hero escapes by running over the backs of the crocodiles. How about that?

Back in San Monique, Bond rescues Solitaire, who is supposed to be sacrificed, as she is no longer useful for Tarot (not being a virgin any longer and all). They have to survive a shark tank and - even after Dr. Kananga is dead - Tee Hee (who gets thrown off a moving train) before riding off into the sunset (sort of).

9/10

Diamonds Are Forever

Ah, yes, Sean Connery is back. Phew! Glad that Mr. Lazenby was replaced again (I am not a fan).

We start off with the wonderful Shirley Bassey singing the title track. And then...Blofeld dies! Or does he? Of course he doesn't. He is, once again, the über-villain. This time around we are following a diamond trail. Everyone that comes into contact with the stones tends to die of unnatural causes.

The bad people come in twos. First, the dorkiest ever villains in a James Bond film, surely. A gay couple. Not sure what message it sends that you make the first gay people in the franchise overly comical. And while we're at lack of political correctness - very much a sign of the times, of course - again a black woman is likened to a primate. Whereas the black Angel of Death in the previous film ate nothing but bananas, here we go even further. A black woman that turns into a gorilla. Nicely played. (*sarcasm*)

Anyway, back to the villainous duos. Then two beauties beat up James Bond for a bit, before he gets the upper hand on them (literally). They are called Thumper and Bambi, along with Plenty O'Toole yet more specimen of strange names for women in Bond films. The two try to keep Bond away from the missing and illustrious gazillionaire (one assumes), Mr. Whyte, whose properties and general wealth have been used by Mr. Blofeld to start off a nuclear war (yet again).

And speaking of twos: There is more than one Blofeld, thanks to the wonders of plastic surgery. Having a double has, however, not made him any smarter. He lets Bond slip through his fingers yet again when he has the chance to shoot him. He should by now know better than to keep him alive as a possible bargaining chip (or whatever).

In the end, 007 saves the day and the diamonds - now part of a satellite - revolve in space.

6/10

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Several of my friends told me that this particular Bond film is excellent. I don't agree. There are just two many things that bothered me.

First of all, George Lazenby. I understand that he was the most sought after male model for several years in the 1960s and has some martial arts skills. He certainly looks the part. My issue? I don't like his voice. Stupid, I know, but there you are.

Then, there are a few things about the setting, and some bits and pieces.

James Bond frequently speaks to himself - in the most arrogant and pompous manner imaginable. Also, we are led to believe that he is very much in love with Tracy (Diana Riggs, soon to be Queen of Thorns in Game of Thrones). Yet, he will sleep with every woman that crosses his path (see: Angels of Death).

The Angels of Death are a group of brainwashed beauties that über-culprit Blofeld experiments on to find a way to eliminate any species (plant, animal, whatever) if he so choses. This is what he intends to dangle over NATO's head, as he so conveniently explains in details to James Bond. Yes, and why do James Bond villains do that, explain their plans to the opponent?

But let's return to the Angels of Death for a minute. There is a scene with all of them - and an undercover James Bond - having dinner, each one only one type of food, all meat, all potatoes, all corn. So far, so weird. The Chinese woman in the group eats, yes, rice. The Indian eats naan. And the Jamaican eats...wait for it...bananas. WTF? You try putting that in a film nowadays.

Later, after an exciting escape from a hilltop, the inevitable car chase. Tracy and Bond get followed by a group of baddies. Both cars end up in the middle of a stock car competition (you know, like you do) and they go faster than all the other cars (like you do). The bad guys shoot out of the window at the Tracy/Bond vehicle - that is, the right window. Never mind that the car they are trying to hit is to their left.

When leaving the race, Bond says, "I told you that crowd will discourage them." What? How were they discouraged? They fucking shot at you with hundreds of people around!

Redeeming features?

Telly Savalas is my favorite Blofeld yet. And one of the Angels of Death is Joanna Lumley.

3/10



You Only Live Twice

Outerspace kidnapping! Piranhas! Ninjas! Blofeld!

Forget what I said about Thunderball having the most ridiculous opening of any James Bond film. This beats it. An American spacecraft gets kidnapped - in outerspace! SPECTRE honcho Ernst Stavros Blofeld wants to ignite a war between the US and the USSR. This in the midst of not only the Cold War but also the race to space between the two superpowers.

James Bond, meanwhile, dies.

Of course he doesn't. This is only to shake some of his enemies off his back. This works on a couple of Blofeld's associates, but the big cheese knows Bond is alive. His no. 11 gets fed to the piranhas for failing to kill Bond.

For some really, really covert business, Bond has to turn into a married Japanese ninja. Obviously. His disguise sports the following reaction: What? That's Sean Connery? Well, I never. This disguise is.....crap.

Bond and his fake wife Kissy Suzuki discover a secret rocket base that Bond enters. He gets discovered (so much for the fancy dress-up), but manages to escape and let in his fellow ninjas and together they save the world from a US/USSR war. In the midst of all this we see Blofeld himself for the very first time, here played by Donald Pleasence

The script for this film was written by Roald Dahl. I declare this the most ridiculous of Bond films (up to this point).

3/10

Thunderball

Could this be the James Bond film with the most ridiculous opening ever?

007 fights with and kills a guy in drag, fresh from a funeral where he/she pretended to be his own widow. Afterwards, the agent flies off in a jetback and drives off in a car with an installed water cannon he and his female companion use on the bad guys. And all of this happens before Tom Jones even belts out the theme song.

Of course, it has nothing at all to do with the film to come. The über-villain is once again Blofeld, in the context of this operation referred to as "no. 1". While meeting with his other numbered associates he sits behind a garage door like barrier, lowered only to cover his face. Through the joints one can see him with - *gasp!* - hair. Also, he is stroking his ever present white cat.

"No. 2" aka Emilio Largo turns out to be the villian Bond needs to fight. Finally! A bad guy with an eye patch!

The plot is yet again straight forward - SPECTRE steals two atomic warheads from a NATO plane to use as a means of extortion. James Bond spends most of the film breaking into hotel rooms and running around in shorts - we are, after all, in the Bahamas. He is assisted in his trials to retrieve the warheads (operation "Thunderball") by an old chum working for the CIA, named Felix and sporting big hair. The resident Bond girl is nicknamed "Domino", continuing the string of rather laughably named females.

All in all, despite its obvious flaws, this film is rather enjoyable. Q has a lovely scene with 007, in which he can live out his adorable grumpiness.

4/10

James Bond Infographic

Goldfinger

Goldfinger marks the first Bond film in which a renowned artist sings the so-called Bond theme. The wonderful Shirley Bassey eventually sang three Bond themes, this one probably being my favorite.

It also marks a rather unfortunate beginning for 007 himself. First, he wears a onesie, then he shows off some back hair (ew!) and he gets his lover killed. She looks very pretty when dead, of course, covered all in gold. This also started the believe that a body covered in gold dies from 'epidermal suffocation' unless you leave a patch of skin on the neck uncovered. Whereas it is possible for toxins or bacteria could enter the body through the skin pores and can lead to injury and in the worst case death, it is highly unlikely to happen in the manner depicted. But it does look pretty.

We also have the first villain played by a respected character actor, making bond villain quite an interesting gig. The late Gert Fröbe plays Auric Goldfinger, aided by his henchman/bodyguard Oddjob (and his murderous hat!). The Bond girl in this has the to date most ridiculous name (and still the legendary one) - Pussy Galore.

And on top of it all, Goldfinger also features another well-remembered scene - Bond gets straped to a table and a laser threatens to cut him in half - you know the one I am talking about. Q also gave James Bond a pimped up car to play with (and ruin).

For all the above, this remains one of the highlights of the series and one of the best Bond films to date.

9/10

Skyfall

It's a good thing it is dark in movie theatres because I spent most of Skyfall with a big stupid grin on my face. I only got into the entire series with the arrival of Daniel Craig as 007 and loved Casino Royale. Also, I dimly remember a few scenes from older Bonds I must have seen at some point, though the only one I could still piece together was Goldfinger. I recently watched Dr. No and From Russia with Love and am on a mission to watch every single Bond film.

But so far...Skyfall is my favorite Bond film ever.

It may be much more thriller than action film, but it has a brilliant villain in Javier Bardem. We all expected him to be great but he was GREAT. The story was less a grand scale operation and more of personal vendetta - man against man (and woman) so to say. His first meeting with Bond is one of my favorite scenes.

We learn some more about James Bond's history and the new cast that gets introduced is also very appealing. The new Q was a necessity, of course, and Ben Whishaw fits the young nerd perfectly - his forté being computers more than fancy gadgets (kept to a minimum and made fun of). And with Dame Judi Dench leaving the series - heartwrenchingly - we get a new M, also to my liking this one. (What? Like you didn't know!). Finally, we meet Miss Moneypenny.

Love it! Love it! Love it!

10/10

From Russia with Love

The second James Bond film revolves around a cryptograph, quite a handy device with the cold war going on and such. The evil SPECTRE empire devises a plan to steal on such thing from the Soviets and then sell it back to them. In a film full of agent and double agents the big, bad, mysterious mastermind is only referred to as "Number 1". Yet we are treated to a shot of the (iconic!) white cat!

The bond girl, Tatiana Romanova, is recruited by SPECTRE's number 3 Rosa Klebb as a means to fool the Brits. Poor Tatiana (Tania to her friends) is led to believe she is doing it for Mother Russia, thinking Klebb to be working for SMERSH (whaterever that may be). Incidentally, Klebb is played by one Lotte Lenya, who was born in my hometown of Vienna.

The adventure begins in Istanbul and takes Bond and Tania (with an unfortunate contact from Turkey) via train, truck (already without their Turkish friend) and powerboat all the way to Venice. Hot on their heels is one SPECTRE minion, a well built blond agent.

Now, what is it with people laying out the entirety of their plans to someone they intend to kill? It is one of those story devises I always found rather puzzling and, ultimately, annoying. Here it is used through the blond guy, who thinks himself about to do away with 007. Oh, well.

In the end, British coolness prevails - girl, cryptograph and all.

6/10

Dr. No

The first of many, many James Bond films is Dr. No.

James Bond himself is played, of course, by Sean Connery. Obviously, this is the type of secret agent that defined similar characters for years to come. And this is what James Bond was to be like for a long time - right up to Daniel Craig, who was remodeled in the spirit of re-imagination that took place around the time. Before, it was not possible for a hero of his caliber (or Batman, or Spiderman, etc.) to show any signs of vulnerability. 007 is suave, cool and a ladies' man.

The first so-called Bond girl is Ursula Andress. Her name? Honey Ryder. The names of the Bond girls were persistantly ridiculous and put the female in her place. She is "Honey" as well as "honey" and not only needs saving, she also falls for the hero. She is introduced with the obligatory bikini shot.

The villain is Dr. No, a half-German, half-Chinese recluse, who is a member of SPECTRE (SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion). SPECTRE becomes a theme throughout the series and - as we learn in later films - is headed by evil genius Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Dr. No, as well as several other Asian characters in the film, is played by caucasian actor, Joseph Wiseman. This was in a more innocent time, after all, before casting a white man in the role of an Asian man was being frowned upon.

The plot is straight-forward. Dr. No plans to interfere with the Project Mercury launch with his atomic-powered radio beam. He works from within a well-protected secret lair, filled with quite the art collection - including a Goya painting of the Duke of Wellington, that had been stolen in the year before the film came out and was only recovered in 1965.

Bond strolls through the Jamaican scenery while doging more than one attempt on his life, thanks to his driving skills, his natural suspiciousness and sheer luck. The tarantula scene had to be filmed with a stuntman, as Sean Connery suffers from Arachnophobia.

In the end, he single-handedly takes out Dr. No's entire operation and saves the dame.

5/10