Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Alientraveller (talk | contribs) at 18:11, 10 March 2008 (he's linked already because he directed GoldenEye). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The James Bond film series are spy films inspired by Ian Fleming's novels about the fictional MI6 agent Commander James Bond (codename 007). EON Productions have produced twenty-one films between 1962 and 2006, and another film is planned for 2008. In addition, there are two independent productions and an American television adaptation of the first novel. Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman co-produced the EON films until 1975, when Broccoli remained the sole producer. Since 1995, Broccoli's daughter Barbara and stepson Michael G. Wilson have co-produced them. Six actors have portrayed 007 so far.

Broccoli's and Saltzman's family company, Danjaq, has held ownership of the James Bond film series through Eon, and maintained co-ownership with United Artists since the mid-1970s. From the release of Dr. No (1962) up to For Your Eyes Only (1981), the films were distributed solely by UA. When Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer bought UA in 1981, MGM/UA Entertainment Co. was formed and distributed the films until 1995. MGM solely distributed three films from 1997 to 2002 after UA retired as a mainstream studio. Beginning in 2006 with Casino Royale, MGM and Columbia Pictures co-distribute the franchise, as Columbia's parent company, Sony Pictures Entertainment, bought MGM in 2005. MGM will begin to solely distribute the films once more in 2010. The twenty-one Bond films have grossed over $4 billion dollars in the worldwide box office, being the second most profitable film series ever after Harry Potter.

Development

Previous attempts to adapt the James Bond novels resulted in a 1954 television episode of Climax!, based on the first novel, Casino Royale. Ian Fleming desired to go one step further and approached Alexander Korda to make a film adaptation of either Live and Let Die or Moonraker, but Korda was not interested. On 1 October 1959, it was announced that Fleming would write an original film script featuring Bond for producer Kevin McClory. Jack Whittingham also worked on the script. However, McClory was unable to secure the financing for the film, and the deal fell through. Fleming used the story for his novel Thunderball (1961).

In 1956, producer Albert R. Broccoli expressed interest in adapting the Bond novels, but his colleague Irving Allen was unenthusiastic. In 1961, Broccoli, now partnered with Harry Saltzman, purchased the film rights to all the Bond novels (except Casino Royale) from Fleming. However, numerous Hollywood film studios did not want to fund the films, finding it "too British" or "too blatantly sexual". The producers wanted $1 million to either adapt Thunderball or Dr. No, and reached a deal with United Artists in July 1961. The two producers set up EON Productions and began production of Dr. No.

A contest was set up to 'find James Bond', and six finalists were chosen and screen-tested by Broccoli, Saltzman, and Fleming. The winner of the contest was a 28-year-old model named Peter Anthony, who, according to Broccoli, had a Gregory Peck quality, but proved unable to cope with the role. The producers turned to Sean Connery for five films.

Due to a a non-EON Bond film, Never Say Never Again being released in 1983, Octopussy saw Roger Moore returning for the role, though he showed interest in departing from James Bond after For Your Eyes Only.

In 1989, MGM/UA was sold to the Australian based broadcasting group Quintex, who wanted to merge the company with Pathé. Danjaq, the Swiss based parent company of EON, sued MGM/UA because the Bond back catalogue was being licensed to Pathé, who intended to broadcast the series on television in several countries worldwide without the approval of Danjaq. These legal disputes engendered a six-year hiatus in the series. Then Timothy Dalton was expected to play Bond in a third film as he had originally signed for a three-film contract. Production was set to start in but was postponed to 1994 owing to the disputes. It never began and in April 1994, Dalton resigned from the role. To replace Dalton, the producers cast Pierce Brosnan, who had been prevented from taking over the role from Roger Moore in 1985 because of his contract with Remington Steele. By then, the world had changed drastically. Brosnan's GoldenEye was the first film of the series to be produced since the disintegration of the Soviet Union. This cast doubt over whether James Bond was still relevant in the modern world, as many of the previous films pitted him against Soviet adversaries. Much of the film industry felt that it would be "futile" to make a comeback for the Bond series, and that it was best left as "an icon of the past" However, when released, the film was viewed as a successful revivification that effectively adapted the series for the 1990s.

After the success of GoldenEye, there was pressure to recreate success in its follow-up Tomorrow Never Dies, both from MGM, which had recently been sold to billionaire Kirk Kerkorian who wanted the release to coincide with their public stock offering, and the worldwide audience, with co-producer Michael G. Wilson saying "You realize that there's a huge audience and I guess you don't want to come out with a film that's going to somehow disappoint them." The rush to complete it meant the budget spiralled to around $110 million.

Casino Royale was a reboot of the franchise, establishing a new timeline and narrative framework not meant to precede any previous film. This not only frees the Bond franchise from more than forty years of continuity, but allows the film to show a less experienced and more vulnerable Bond. The casting involved a widespread search for a new actor to portray James Bond, and significant controversy over Daniel Craig when he was eventually selected. Brosnan fans threatened to boycott the film in protest.

Films

Up to 1987's The Living Daylights, the James Bond films bore titles from the original novels and short stories of Ian Fleming. Following this, the next five films all had original titles, leaving six Fleming titles that had yet to be used in the official series. With the announcements of Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008), the remaining four to be used are Risico, The Hildebrand Rarity, The Property of a Lady and 007 in New York.

Traditions

The series has its cinematic traditions which date from the first film, with occasional exceptions. At the start of each film, the gun barrel sequence is shown, accompanied by the opening bars of the James Bond theme. The view is of Bond as seen through the barrel of a gun that is being trained on him by an unknown assailant. Bond wheels around and shoots directly at the gun/camera, followed by the assassin's blood spilling across the barrel. In Dr. No, this was followed by the main title sequence, but in all but one of the subsequent films, a pre-title sequence follows that is loosely connected to the film's plot, and which is, in turn, followed by the opening credits. These title sequences incorporate visual elements reflecting the film's theme and, often, silhouettes of nude or provocatively clad women. A contemporary artist usually sings during this sequence, and an instrumental version of the main track may also feature as a leitmotif during the film.

Besides Dr. No, the lone film to vary from this combination of sequences, to date, has been Casino Royale (2006). This film is a reboot of the franchise, establishing a new timeline and narrative framework; and many of the conventions of the series were consciously left out of the movie, or are re-introduced. To this end, the gun barrel sequence is not used to start the film, but is instead re-introduced to conclude the pre-title sequence that depicts Bond's qualifying for "00" status, leading directly into the opening credits. As of January 2008 it had not yet been announced as to whether Quantum of Solace will reinstate the gunbarrel introduction.

So far only two Bond films, Casino Royale and On Her Majesty's Secret Service, do not end with Bond kissing the main Bond girl, making love to her, or implying that he will do so (in both cases this is due to the female character being deceased by the film's conclusion). Sometimes Bond's superiors catch him during his embraces. Every film except Dr. No (1962) and Thunderball (1965) has either the line "James Bond will return..." or "James Bond will be back" at the end of the closing credits. Until Octopussy (1983), the title of the next film to be produced was also be named, although these were sometimes incorrect, as the filmmakers decided to adapt another novel, or in the case of A View to a Kill, the final title of the film was shortened from the original proposed title, From a View to a Kill.

With the exception of the 2006 version of Casino Royale, every Bond film to date includes a sequence in which Bond interacts with Miss Moneypenny, the personal assistant to M, Bond's superior. A running joke throughout the film series is Moneypenny's unrequited love for Bond and his playful flirting with her. A fantasy sequence in Die Another Day marks the only time in the EON film series in which Moneypenny was actually shown in a romantic embrace with Bond. The character was dropped from the reboot film Casino Royale, the first Bond film (official or unofficial) in which Moneypenny did not appear, and the character will not appear in Quantum of Solace, either.

Another ongoing tradition is the technical briefing, in which Bond receives special equipment from Q Branch to be used in his mission. In Dr. No, this consists of the armourer, Major Boothroyd, instructing Bond on a new firearm, the Walther PPK, but beginning with From Russia with Love the briefings involved various gadgets and technology, and Boothroyd was now referred to as Q. Each Bond film thereafter up until Die Another Day contains a technical briefing of some kind, usually given by Q, with the exception of Live and Let Die, in which Q does not appear and Bond himself describes his mission equipment to M and Moneypenny, and On Her Majesty's Secret Service in which Q does not brief 007 but is shown briefing M about a gadget. Q is often shown joining Bond in the field, taking with him a portable workshop and staff and an off-and-on tradition showed these workshops established in unusual locations, such as an Egyptian tomb in The Spy Who Loved Me and a South American monastery in Moonraker. On two occasions, in Octopussy and Licence to Kill, Q takes active roles in Bond's missions. With the 2006 Casino Royale reboot, the character of Q was, like Moneypenny, dropped, and although Bond still receives a supply of mission equipment, no technical briefing is shown on screen. It has been announced that Quantum of Solace will not feature Q, either.

Quotations

Bond's famous introduction, "Bond, James Bond", became a catchphrase after it was first uttered by Sean Connery in Dr. No. On June 21, 2005 it was honoured as the 22nd historically-greatest cinema quotation, by the American Film Institute in their 100 Years Series. From Russia with Love, Thunderball, and You Only Live Twice are the only films in which Bond does not give his trademark introduction (although, in Thunderball, the character of Fiona Volpe somewhat mocks him by saying it to him while they're in bed together).

Bond evinces a preference for vodka martinis, and his instruction, "Shaken, not stirred", was honoured by the AFI as the 90th most-memorable cinema quotation. The description is first uttered by Dr. No in the 1962 film. Bond himself first uses the line in 1964's Goldfinger. In You Only Live Twice, Bond is offered a "stirred, not shaken" martini and, when asked if that is right, he politely says "Perfect. Cheers". In Goldeneye, Valentin Dmitrovitch Zukovsky describes Bond as being "Shaken, but not stirred" by his recent abduction. In Casino Royale the in-joke is James Bond's "Do I look like I give a damn?" reply to a bartender's query of "shaken or stirred?"

The film Casino Royale features a cocktail recipe of Bond's own creation, named "Vesper" after Vesper Lynd, the main Bond girl.

Bond girls

A Bond girl is a character portraying Bond's love interest or sex object. In most films, they are victims rescued by Bond, ally agents, villainesses or henchwomen. Some, such as Honey Ryder, solely seduce the secret agent and have no direct involvement in his mission. Two of them — Gala Brand and Vivienne Michel — appear only in the novels and have been excluded from the films.

Sylvia Trench is the only recurring Bond girl, while Swedish actress Maud Adams has played two different Bond girls in two films, The Man with the Golden Gun and Octopussy. Bond has fallen in love with only Tracy di Vicenzo in On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale, but both of them die at the end of the respective films.

Universal Exports

Universal Exports is used as a cover name for the British Secret Service in the films. It has been featured repeatedly in the films in various ways such as a direction sign in Dr. No, the abbreviation "UnivEx" in From Russia with Love, a brass name plate in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Bond's helicopter in For Your Eyes Only, a building with a sign in The Living Daylights, an identity card in The World Is Not Enough, and a folder in Casino Royale. Bond has also given his introductions as a Universal Exports employee in You Only Live Twice, Octopussy, Licence to Kill, The World Is Not Enough, and Die Another Day.

Vehicles and gadgets

In most films, Q designs a variety of automobiles that are useful in Bond's missions, with the models of Bentley, Aston Martin, Lotus, BMW and Ford being driven frequently. The most famous car is the Aston Martin DB5, seen in Goldfinger, Thunderball, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies and Casino Royale. The films have used a number of different Aston Martin DB5s for filming and publicity; one of which was sold in January 2006 at an auction in Arizona for $2,090,000 to an unnamed European collector. It was originally sold for £5,000 in 1970. Bond also shows his taste for aircraft, like a gyrocopter in You Only Live Twice and an Acrostar Jet in Octopussy, as well as marine vehicles such as a Lotus Esprit that could convert into a submarine in The Spy Who Loved Me and other submarines resembling an iceberg (A View to a Kill) or an alligator (Octopussy).

Originally, in the novels, gadgets were relatively unimportant. However, they took on a higher profile in the film version of From Russia with Love, and their use has continued ever since, notable exceptions being Dr. No, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and For Your Eyes Only in which Bond was given few gadgets. As noted above, with occasional exceptions, in most films Q would present and demonstrate Bond several tools assigned for the mission, and every device would be indispensable to Bond's success. A running joke established in Goldfinger is Q's continued disgust at how his equipment is often lost, damaged or destroyed by Bond during missions.

Reception

The films have been awarded two Academy Awards: for Sound Effects (now Sound Editing) in Goldfinger (1964) and for Visual Effects in Thunderball (1965). In 1982, Albert R. Broccoli received The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.

In 2007, IGN chose the James Bond series as the second best film franchise of all time, behind Star Wars.

Non-EON films

In 1955, Ian Fleming sold the film rights of Casino Royale to producers Michael Garrison and Gregory Ratoff. These were later sold to producer Charles K. Feldman. Feldman initially went to Broccoli and Saltzman with a proposition to produce the film, however due to their negative experiences with Kevin McClory on Thunderball they declined. Feldman decided to start his own production and approached Connery who offered to do the film for $1 million dollars, which Feldman rejected. Since his previous film, the madcap comedy What’s New, Pussycat?, had been a success, Feldman decided to make a satirical Bond movie in similar vein. Problems ensued however when the star, Peter Sellers, walked off the project with scenes uncompleted, and script re-writes and directorial changes (the film ended up with five) caused the budget to escalate far beyond that of any Bond picture hitherto.

When plans for a James Bond film were scrapped in the late 1950s, a story treatment entitled Thunderball, written by Ian Fleming, Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham, was adapted as Fleming's ninth Bond novel. Initially the book was only credited to Fleming. McClory filed a lawsuit that would eventually award him the film rights to the title in 1963. Afterwards, he made a deal with EON Productions to produce a film adaptation starring Sean Connery in 1965. The deal stipulated that McClory could not produce another adaptation until a set period of time had elapsed, and he did so in 1983 with Never Say Never Again, which featured Sean Connery for a seventh time as 007. Since it was not made by Broccoli's production company, Eon Productions, it is not considered a part of the "official" film series. A second attempt by McClory to remake Thunderball in the 1990s with Sony Pictures was halted by a legal dispute resulting in the studio abandoning its aspirations for a rival James Bond series.

Future

In addition to Quantum of Solace being scheduled for 7 November 2008, Bond 23 has been tentatively scheduled for a worldwide release in 2010. Daniel Craig is expected to be paid £13 million to star in the next two films, earning £5 million for Quantum of Solace and £8 million for Bond 23. In October 2007, MGM chief Harry Sloan stated Craig was signed on for Bond 24 and Bond 25. EON Productions signed on Craig after $100,000 worth of worldwide market research, which showed the actor to be a highly popular casting choice. Craig would stand to earn about $100 million for these four films. Craig denied these comments a month later. After Sony distributes Quantum of Solace, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer will distribute the series on their own.

Influence on films and television

No other franchise has had a closer, if unofficial, relationship with the Bond series than the 1960s spy series The Avengers. Apart from the obvious narrative similarities (a suave British agent deployed against world-dominating villains), a significant number of the cast of The Avengers have appeared in Bond films. In an episode entitled "Too Many Christmas Trees", some time after the departure of the character Cathy Gale (played by actress Honor Blackman), the character of John Steed (played by Patrick Macnee) receives a Christmas card from her. He comments, "It's from Mrs Gale! I wonder what she's doing in Fort Knox?" — the intended destination for Honor Blackman's Pussy Galore in Goldfinger. This comment is made to Emma Peel, played by Diana Rigg, who would later appear as Tracy Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Both the Blackman and Rigg characters are depicted as rather more feisty than the majority of Bond girls of the time, perhaps as a consequence of their combative roles in The Avengers. Macnee himself, a friend of Roger Moore, would later appear as Sir Godfrey Tibbett in A View to a Kill. Joanna Lumley (Purdey in The New Avengers) can also be seen in On Her Majesty's Secret Service in a minor role.

Similarly, four episodes of the TV series Arrested Development ("For British Eyes Only", "Forget-Me-Now", "Notapusy" and "Mr. F") referenced the Bond films. The spoofing of the Bond films is evident in the episode titles, vocal and instrumental music cues, and the gun barrel shot at the end of the episode accompanied by the subtitle "Michael Bluth will return in..."

George Lucas has said on various occasions that Sean Connery's portrayal of Bond was one of the primary inspirations for the Indiana Jones character, a reason Connery was chosen for the role of Indiana's father in the third film of that series.

Japanese manga and anime super-thief Arsène Lupin III from the series Lupin III by Monkey Punch also has several Bond-inspired traits, including use of a Walther hand gun, his desire for women, use of gadgets, and ability to drive a variety of vehicles, much as Bond is shown in the films.

Video game adaptations

GoldenEye 007 was the first first-person shooter James Bond video game. It was based on the film GoldenEye, along with additional and extended missions. It received the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment "Games Award" andf was listed by video game magazine Computer and Video Games the first of "the hundred greatest video games".

References

1. ^ Michael Fleming (2007-11-04). "Stallone has 'Death Wish'". Variety. Retrieved 2007-11-05. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. Diane Garrett (2007-09-10). "'Potter' toots box office horn". Variety. Retrieved 2007-09-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
3. ^ James Chapman (1999). Licence to Thrill. London/New York City: Cinema and Society. pp. 19–64. ISBN 1-86064-387-6.
4. Lee Pfeiffer, Dave Worrall (1999). The Essential Bond. Boxtree: Pan Macmillan. p. 13. ISBN 0-7522-1758-5.
5. Cork and Scivally, 31.
6. (2000). Inside Octopussy . MGM Home Entertainment. Retrieved on 2007-08-04.
7. "GoldenEye - The Road To Production". mi6.co.uk. 2003-06-23. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
8. "Interview with Dalton". The Daily Mail. 1993-08-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
9. Michael G. Wilson, Martin Campbell, Pierce Brosnan, Judi Dench, Desmond Llewelyn. The Making of 'GoldenEye': A Video Journal (DVD). MGM Home Entertainment. {{cite AV media}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |month2= and |date2= (help); Unknown parameter |year2= ignored (help)
10. Fox, Maggie (1994-06-08). "Pierce Brosnan Is New James Bond". Reuters. Retrieved 2006-11-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
11. Last, Kimberly (1995). "Pierce Brosnan's Long and Winding Road To Bond". GoldenEye (magazine). Retrieved 2006-11-12.
12. Comentale, Edward P. (2005). Ian Fleming and James Bond: The Cultural Politics of 007. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0253345233. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |origmonth=, |month=, |chapterurl=, and |origdate= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
13. Pfeiffer, Lee. "GoldenEye". The Essential Bond: The Authorized Guide to the World of 007. Boxtree. p. 169. ISBN 0752215620. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
14. McCarthy, Todd (1995-11-15). "GoldenEye". Variety. Retrieved 2006-11-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
15. Ashton, Richard (1997). "Tomorrow Never Dies". hmss.com. Retrieved 2007-01-06.
16. "IGN: Interview: Campbell on Casino Royale". IGN.com. IGN Entertainment, Inc. 2005-10-19. Retrieved 2007-03-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
17. "New James Bond Proves Worthy of Double-0 Status". SPACE.com. 2006-10-21. Retrieved 2007-06-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
18. "Blond, James Blond". CNN. CNN. 2006-11-06. Retrieved 2007-04-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
19. ^ "Box Office History for James Bond Movies". The Numbers. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
20. "IGN: Interview: Campbell on Casino Royale". IGN.com. IGN Entertainment, Inc. 2005-10-19. Retrieved 2007-03-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
21. ^ Danny Graydon (2007-06-09). "Daniel Craig boosts Bond franchise. Actor invigorates long-running action film series". Variety. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
22. ""Bond. James Bond" 22nd greatest line in cinema history". AFI's 100 Years… 100 Movie Quotes. Retrieved July 13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
23. "Aston Martin DB5 auction". James Bond car sold for over £1m. Retrieved February 8. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
24. "Academy Awards Database". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
25. "Top 25 Movie Franchises of All Time: #2". IGN. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
26. Dave McNary (2007-07-13). "Hollywood films' dating game: Opening weekends being set for '09, '10"". Variety. Retrieved 2007-07-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
27. "£13m Bond deal makes Craig highest-paid Brit". Guardian Unlimited. 2007-07-24. Retrieved 2007-07-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
28. Paul Bond (2007-10-26). "Sloan sees hope in talks". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2007-11-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
29. Bill Zwecker (2007-11-02). "Talk About Bonded!". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2007-11-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
30. "Roundtable: Room One". HisDarkMaterials.org. 2007-11-27. Retrieved 2007-11-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
31. James Bond Alumni on The Avengers
32. Bond Inspiration For Indiana Jones
33. Fleurier, Nicolas (2006). James Bond & Indiana Jones. Action figures. Histoire & Collections. ISBN 2-35250-005-2.
34. Hollis, Martin (2004-09-02). "The Making of GoldenEye 007". Zoonami. Retrieved 2006-05-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
35. "100 Greatest Games Of All Time". Computer and Video Games (218): 53–67. 2000. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
36. "BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards" (PDF). British Academy of Film and Television Arts. p. 1. Retrieved 2006-05-13.

External links

• James Bond Official Website
• Pinewood Studios - home of Bond
• Bond Lifestyle
• MI6.co.uk One of the largest unofficial James Bond websites online.

• James Bond films
• Film series