Bond Films: Skyfall

Skyfall is (as of this writing) the most recent Bond film, and the third with Daniel Craig. It's the third since the series formally rebooted, starting Bond at more or less the beginning of his career, and with one of the earlier works, Casino Royale. This makes it more interesting that Skyfall deals with age, and obsolescence, with parallel stories involving Bond and M, played by Judi Dench. Skyfall is also familial, playing the villain as a dark parallel of Bond, the flip side of an all-business, manipulative M.

The basic plot of Skyfall is: after apparently during an operation in Istanbul, Bond comes back in to assist with the investigation of a series of hacks and attacks on MI6. Using bullet fragments from his earlier wounds, MI6 identifies his assailant, and Bond tales him to Shanghai, where he gains another clue leading him to Macau. He meets the girl, who takes him to Silva, the antagnoist. After some repartee, and the killing of the girl, Silva is captured and taken to MI6 for interrogation. However, his capture is part of his plan, and he escapes, and Bond must race to save M. They evacuate to Bond's ancestral home in Scotland, using the original Aston Martin first rolled out in Goldfinger, and after a very intense series of shootouts and explosions, Bond defeats his nemesis, only to see - well you'll have to see for yourself.

Skyfall is one of the better Bond films. It's easy to say that about a recent Bond film, since it's of-the-moment, but all the same, I think this will hold up well. It dives a little more into Bond's psyche and the history that shaped it. Javier Bardem, as Silva, brings a borderline queeny, pathological affect to what might otherwise be a run-of-the-mill villain. Skyfall also brings in more of the cyber-intelligence element to what is otherwise a throwback - Bond has little in the way of gadgets, save for a gun he never fires, and a radio the size of a piece of gum. Later, this theme of old-fashioned spywork is reinforced when Bond, armed only with a couple of shotguns and a knife, defends against a platoon of men with helicopter support.

Bond Films: Dr No

Dr. No is the first EON Bond film, the first to star Sean Connery, and actually pretty serviceable as a Bond film overall. It was refreshing to see without irony all the elements that have been subsequently parodied: the spy talk, the secret island base, the tragic villain. This Bond film also makes use of SPECTRE, as do several other of the Connery films, being the fictional world-wide criminal conspiracy. SPECTRE is like al-Queda with class.

The plot of Dr. No is basically: A British spy is assassinated in the Caribbean and Bond is sent to investigate. In fairly short order he makes contact with the CIA and retraces his predecessor's footsteps, learning of a mysterious, privately owned island that the locals are afraid to go near. After landing on the island, Bond meets a woman (the girl) who gathers shells, and they are captured by Dr. No. Over dinner Dr. No reveals his plan to use a powerful, nuclear-powered beam to disrupt an important test flight by NASA out of Cape Canaveral. Bond thwarts the plot, destroys the island, and rescues the girl.

Notably, Felix Leiter, his CIA contact, is played by Jack Lord, who later went on to the Hawaii 5-0 series. In the first few movies that had Felix, a different actor played him each time.

Compared to later Bond films, including others of the same period, the movie is a little rough around the edges. The pacing is almost TV-movie like, with long expository sequences rather than set-piece action sequences. This makes it almost retro - compared to later Bond films, almost charming in its lack of pretense. Bond is more or less believable as a spy, and Dr. No, despite his formidable resources, is a tragic character, disfigured as a punishment by his former employers and committed to his cause.

I'd rate Dr. No as a must-see Bond film, if only provide a starting point to compare the others to.

Bond Films: Introduction

I recently decided to watch all of the James Bond films by Eon, in order of production. Thanks to the magic of Netflix, this is now possible.

I hadn't realized this was the 50th anniversary of Bond films, and I was only dimly aware that a new one was coming out. So, I'm in no rush.

There are about two dozen Bond films to date. They were made more or less every two years, sometimes more quickly, with longer gaps at other times.

There are a few recurring elements I'll use shorthand for: the villain, the girl, the gadget(s), the MacGuffin which drives the plot.

I also want to compare not so much the actors, but the films as plots.