Tonights marathon is all about showing the best of each interpretation of the character of James Bond on film. Originally beginning in 1962 with the release of Dr. No, the character of James Bond has been played by a total of six actors to this day beginning with Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig. The mission of tonight's marathon is not to cover all 24 Bond movies but to pick a film from each actor and show the different styles they bring to the character. One also sees how the movies evolve too as well as the character of James Bond, whose generally considered one of movie history's greatest heroes. This is a brilliant way of getting ready for the release of Spectre. For tonight's marathon, we have the following Bond movies on the menu:
Goldfinger 1964, On Her Majesty's Secret Service 1969, The Spy Who Loved Me 1977, The Living Daylights 1987, Tomorrow Never Dies 1997, and Skyfall 2012
Goldfinger 1964, On Her Majesty's Secret Service 1969, The Spy Who Loved Me 1977, The Living Daylights 1987, Tomorrow Never Dies 1997, and Skyfall 2012
Now this feels like an epic buildup of the Bonds. The James Bond franchise is one of the most successful and longest running in movie history as it continues to get bigger with each movie in regards to its box office appeal. The question of which actor did the finest job in the title role is debatable but the general consensus appears to swing towards Sean Connery favor. Connery has the benefit of being the first actor to portray the title character on screen and did so a total of seven times with Roger Moore tied for the same amount. George Lazenby did it once with On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Timothy Dalton playing the role twice, Pierce Brosnan a total of four times beginning with GoldenEye in 1995, and Daniel Craig matching Brosnans total with the newly released Spectre. The character of James Bond has become a pop culture icon since his first screen appearance in 1962 and has been hailed by Premiere magazine as the fifth greatest movie character of all time. The success of Dr. No spawned 22 spy films in the year 1966 alone to capitalize on the success of the Bond character which had a major impact on the spy genre.
The first movie of the marathon is the third film in the Bond series titled Goldfinger starring Sean Connery. Goldfinger was a significant film in the series because it was the first Bond film to win an academy award for best sound effects and opened up the fan base to large critical acclaim. The film was a huge box office success making back its budget within the first two weeks and introducing special elements on the film that became reused consistently in future Bond movies such as heavy use of technology and gadgets, and an extended pro credits sequence that has nothing to do with the storyline. Goldfinger centers around Connery's Bond investigating a smuggling of gold magnate. While conducting the investigation, he uncovers a plot to contaminate the Fort Knox gold reserve. Goldfinger became one of the fastest grossing films in box office history upon its release and has become known as the film that molded the character into the James Bond that we know today. It is because of Goldfinger we get the line "A martini. Shaken, not stirred", and the high tech gadgets that Bond is known for using in his later movies.
The second movie of the lineup is George Lazenbys 1969 James Bond entry titled On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Nominated for a Golden Globe for most promising newcomer for his solo performance as Mr. Bond, the story places the character of James Bond attempting to gain the attention of a mob bosses daughter. While doing so he goes undercover to discover the true reason behind the research of antagonist Blofeld in the Swiss Alps involving beautiful women from all walks of life. Although considered a fine entry in the series, the film is often overlooked because of it being George Lazenby's only attempt at taking on the Bond role. The film has received praise for its visual background, its ski chase scenes, having one of the best Bond girls in the series with the character of Tracy do Vincenzo, and its iconic final sequence that involves the first and only time in the history of the series in which Bond actually gets married. Filmmaker Christopher Nolan cites On Her Majesty's Secret Service as his favorite Bond film and cited it as being a major inspiration for his own spy film titled Inception.
The third movie in the lineup is Roger Moore's 1977 Bond entry titled The Spy Who Loved Me. Nominated for three academy awards including Best Song, Best Score, and Best Art-Set Decoration, the story centers around James Bond investigating the hijacking of British and Russian submarines carrying nuclear warheads with the assistance of a KGB agent whose lover he end up killing. The Spy Who Loved Me garnered acclaim for having slick and menacing villains and strong wit which made it the best of Roger Moore's outing as Bond. The film also begins the level of absurdity that appears in later installments in the series.
The fourth movie of the marathon is Timothy Dalton's 1987 entry titled The Living Daylights. Generally regarded as one of the worst Bonds due to Dalton's performance being more serious toned and darker, he brings the energy, excitement, and weight of the actors to come after him in the series. The film centers around James Bond on edge to stop an evil arms dealer from beginning another world war. In order to stop the evil Whitaker and General Koskov, Bond crosses all seven continents in order to stop them. An interesting piece of trivia regarding Timothy Dalton as Bond is he was originally planned to take the role after Sean Connery concluded with You Only Live Twice but declined feeling he was too young for the part being only 22 years old at the time. Talk about things working out later in life.
The fifth movie of the marathon is Pierce Brosnans 1997 Bond entry titled Tomorrow Never Dies. Riding high off the success of GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies was a bigger blockbuster with more high tech gadgets, bigger budget and scope. Also co starring Lois and Clark's Teri Hatcher and International female superstar Michelle Yeoh, the film centers around James Bond teaming up with a female Chinese spy to stop a media moguls plan to create a third World War between China and the UK in a quest to obtain global media coverage. Tomorrow Never Dies was a bigger success than GoldenEye but didn't receive the same level of acclaim in regards to storytelling. One can make the argument that GoldenEye felt like it was still attached to Timothy Dalton's set of Bond movies and Tomorrow Never Dies is more of Pierce Brosnans film. The action, music, gadgets and chemistry between the two leads is definitely stronger than GoldenEye's even if the script doesn't necessarily top it. The film also introduces the character of M played by Judi Dench on the film who goes onto play a much larger role in Skyfall. As much as Pierce Brosnan was praised for playing the role of Bond, he himself felt that he never truly nailed the part personally.
The sixth and final movie of the marathon is the 2012 Bond entry and the most successful one of them all titled Skyfall. With Daniel Craig in the lead role with Judi Dench and Javier Bardem in strong supporting roles, Skyfall centers around Bond being forced go prove his loyalty to M by going against an old enemy from her past. When Bonds secret organization MI6 comes under attack, he must track down and neutralize the threat no matter how personal it gets. Skyfall was a huge critical and box office success, winning two Oscars out of five nominations including Best Song, Sound Editing, Cinematography, Music, and Sound. Daniel Craig having already been praised for his surprise turn in Casino Royale, received even greater acclaim with Skyfall placing him as one of the best James Bonds in the history of the franchise. It is also here that Bond and M played by Judi Dench have their most personal working relationship fleshed out and the end being the most powerful and epic of the series. Ralph Fiennes and Naomie Harris also make respectable entry's into the series as M's new replacement as Bonds manager and Bonds new secretary from the series named Eve Moneypenny. Skyfall is as exciting and epic as Bond movies get.
So what is this marathon trying to say when you put all the movies together and examine all the Bonds. The marathon says that the character of James Bond is bigger than just one actor playing him and is a character that is going to live on in movie history forever in the same vein as Batman and Superman. No actor is truly terrible in the role of Bond and its all a matter of opinion in regards to who did the best and worst job. The Bond franchise changed the face of the spy genre forever and continues to do so to this day. Each actor who played the part of Bond brought something never seen before to the part and made it their own in some form. Without one of the actors in the pack, Bond probably wouldn't be where its at now in the eyes of the general public as well as movie history.
The second movie of the lineup is George Lazenbys 1969 James Bond entry titled On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Nominated for a Golden Globe for most promising newcomer for his solo performance as Mr. Bond, the story places the character of James Bond attempting to gain the attention of a mob bosses daughter. While doing so he goes undercover to discover the true reason behind the research of antagonist Blofeld in the Swiss Alps involving beautiful women from all walks of life. Although considered a fine entry in the series, the film is often overlooked because of it being George Lazenby's only attempt at taking on the Bond role. The film has received praise for its visual background, its ski chase scenes, having one of the best Bond girls in the series with the character of Tracy do Vincenzo, and its iconic final sequence that involves the first and only time in the history of the series in which Bond actually gets married. Filmmaker Christopher Nolan cites On Her Majesty's Secret Service as his favorite Bond film and cited it as being a major inspiration for his own spy film titled Inception.
The third movie in the lineup is Roger Moore's 1977 Bond entry titled The Spy Who Loved Me. Nominated for three academy awards including Best Song, Best Score, and Best Art-Set Decoration, the story centers around James Bond investigating the hijacking of British and Russian submarines carrying nuclear warheads with the assistance of a KGB agent whose lover he end up killing. The Spy Who Loved Me garnered acclaim for having slick and menacing villains and strong wit which made it the best of Roger Moore's outing as Bond. The film also begins the level of absurdity that appears in later installments in the series.
The fourth movie of the marathon is Timothy Dalton's 1987 entry titled The Living Daylights. Generally regarded as one of the worst Bonds due to Dalton's performance being more serious toned and darker, he brings the energy, excitement, and weight of the actors to come after him in the series. The film centers around James Bond on edge to stop an evil arms dealer from beginning another world war. In order to stop the evil Whitaker and General Koskov, Bond crosses all seven continents in order to stop them. An interesting piece of trivia regarding Timothy Dalton as Bond is he was originally planned to take the role after Sean Connery concluded with You Only Live Twice but declined feeling he was too young for the part being only 22 years old at the time. Talk about things working out later in life.
The fifth movie of the marathon is Pierce Brosnans 1997 Bond entry titled Tomorrow Never Dies. Riding high off the success of GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies was a bigger blockbuster with more high tech gadgets, bigger budget and scope. Also co starring Lois and Clark's Teri Hatcher and International female superstar Michelle Yeoh, the film centers around James Bond teaming up with a female Chinese spy to stop a media moguls plan to create a third World War between China and the UK in a quest to obtain global media coverage. Tomorrow Never Dies was a bigger success than GoldenEye but didn't receive the same level of acclaim in regards to storytelling. One can make the argument that GoldenEye felt like it was still attached to Timothy Dalton's set of Bond movies and Tomorrow Never Dies is more of Pierce Brosnans film. The action, music, gadgets and chemistry between the two leads is definitely stronger than GoldenEye's even if the script doesn't necessarily top it. The film also introduces the character of M played by Judi Dench on the film who goes onto play a much larger role in Skyfall. As much as Pierce Brosnan was praised for playing the role of Bond, he himself felt that he never truly nailed the part personally.
The sixth and final movie of the marathon is the 2012 Bond entry and the most successful one of them all titled Skyfall. With Daniel Craig in the lead role with Judi Dench and Javier Bardem in strong supporting roles, Skyfall centers around Bond being forced go prove his loyalty to M by going against an old enemy from her past. When Bonds secret organization MI6 comes under attack, he must track down and neutralize the threat no matter how personal it gets. Skyfall was a huge critical and box office success, winning two Oscars out of five nominations including Best Song, Sound Editing, Cinematography, Music, and Sound. Daniel Craig having already been praised for his surprise turn in Casino Royale, received even greater acclaim with Skyfall placing him as one of the best James Bonds in the history of the franchise. It is also here that Bond and M played by Judi Dench have their most personal working relationship fleshed out and the end being the most powerful and epic of the series. Ralph Fiennes and Naomie Harris also make respectable entry's into the series as M's new replacement as Bonds manager and Bonds new secretary from the series named Eve Moneypenny. Skyfall is as exciting and epic as Bond movies get.
So what is this marathon trying to say when you put all the movies together and examine all the Bonds. The marathon says that the character of James Bond is bigger than just one actor playing him and is a character that is going to live on in movie history forever in the same vein as Batman and Superman. No actor is truly terrible in the role of Bond and its all a matter of opinion in regards to who did the best and worst job. The Bond franchise changed the face of the spy genre forever and continues to do so to this day. Each actor who played the part of Bond brought something never seen before to the part and made it their own in some form. Without one of the actors in the pack, Bond probably wouldn't be where its at now in the eyes of the general public as well as movie history.
Our Bonds for this evening:
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