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50 SHADES OF BOND
Oct. 18th, 2012 12:52 pmAs you probably know, the Interwub is celebrating 50 years of James Bond.
By which they mean 50 years of James Bond films. The actual books by Ian Fleming date back to the early 1950s, so technically Bond has been around for close to 60 years.
On the other hand, the books themselves have become almost incidental to the films – apart from the main character, his general job description, the villain, the love interest and the basic plot device/MacGuffin in each book, there’s usually very little resemblance.
But that’s nitpicking. The character of Bond entered the public mainstream with the film version of Dr No, and is now one of the biggest and most influential cultural icons on the planet.
Which is probably a good thing since the original Bond – the one that Fleming wrote – was a bit of a dick. As the creators of Archer will tell you.
It’s also interesting that Bond has come to define what people think about when they think about secret agents, even though the books and films are about as far away from actual espionage as you can get. Bond may work for MI6, but one could argue (as many have) that he’s not a spy so much as a glorified undercover hit man in a tuxedo.
But who am I to be critical?
The fact remains that James Bond is legend, and the films are the reason why. And rightfully so. James Bond films just push all the right buttons for a lot of people – who wouldn’t want to live in a fantasy world of action, sex, booze, and advanced technology? Okay, maybe it’s mainly a male fantasy world. On the other hand, I know an awful lot of women who wouldn’t mind living in that world.
And the films, for the most part, capture that well. Even the worst Bond film is worth watching for at least some bits, though let’s admit the quality dropped considerably after, say, The Man With The Golden Gun and apart from The Living Daylights, never really recovered until the Daniel Craig reboot.
Which has worked wonders. Apart from injecting new life into the franchise, it arguably had to be done sooner or later. We’re talking about a guy who has been working for MI6 since the early 60s. He should be 90 by now.
Anyway, with all that and a new Bond film coming out next month, it’s a good excuse to rate my favorite Bond things. Because I do have a blog to run here.
Stand by for that.
License to kill,
This is dF
By which they mean 50 years of James Bond films. The actual books by Ian Fleming date back to the early 1950s, so technically Bond has been around for close to 60 years.
On the other hand, the books themselves have become almost incidental to the films – apart from the main character, his general job description, the villain, the love interest and the basic plot device/MacGuffin in each book, there’s usually very little resemblance.
But that’s nitpicking. The character of Bond entered the public mainstream with the film version of Dr No, and is now one of the biggest and most influential cultural icons on the planet.
Which is probably a good thing since the original Bond – the one that Fleming wrote – was a bit of a dick. As the creators of Archer will tell you.
It’s also interesting that Bond has come to define what people think about when they think about secret agents, even though the books and films are about as far away from actual espionage as you can get. Bond may work for MI6, but one could argue (as many have) that he’s not a spy so much as a glorified undercover hit man in a tuxedo.
But who am I to be critical?
The fact remains that James Bond is legend, and the films are the reason why. And rightfully so. James Bond films just push all the right buttons for a lot of people – who wouldn’t want to live in a fantasy world of action, sex, booze, and advanced technology? Okay, maybe it’s mainly a male fantasy world. On the other hand, I know an awful lot of women who wouldn’t mind living in that world.
And the films, for the most part, capture that well. Even the worst Bond film is worth watching for at least some bits, though let’s admit the quality dropped considerably after, say, The Man With The Golden Gun and apart from The Living Daylights, never really recovered until the Daniel Craig reboot.
Which has worked wonders. Apart from injecting new life into the franchise, it arguably had to be done sooner or later. We’re talking about a guy who has been working for MI6 since the early 60s. He should be 90 by now.
Anyway, with all that and a new Bond film coming out next month, it’s a good excuse to rate my favorite Bond things. Because I do have a blog to run here.
Stand by for that.
License to kill,
This is dF
