The name’s Bond, James Bond. No other character in cinematic history has a more iconic opening line than that of James Bond. From the shaken martinis, the beautiful locales, the cat-stroking villains all the way to the gun-barrel sequences, the James Bond films have their traditions that over time have cemented themselves to be celebrated hallmarks of what fans should expect when watching a film with the numbers 0-0-7 flashing across the screen. The longevity and legacy of the series is revered to the point that no other film franchise can match it. There have been countless imitators over the years, from Austin Powers to Kingsman, but one can’t simply copy James Bond and expect to get away with it. Despite their traditions, there is always room for the franchise to evolve and adapt with the time.
We’ve come a long way since Dr. No back during the 1960s, and back then the idea of starting a film franchise was arguably laughable so to see where the character is at now is nothing short of a miracle. Dr. No came out when genre movies were all the rage, from action flicks to spaghetti westerns, and romantic dramas. The spy genre was largely untouched bar a few smaller films, but when Dr. No arrived on the scene it created a new way of telling a spy story, one with class and sophistication but also packed a pretty heavy punch. Sean Connery entered the frame and the British hero in a suit was born. Unfortunately, over time different people had different views of where to take the film and Connery didn’t want to play the role forever, even if it feels like he did! So new actors were hired to hold the Walther PPK and stare down the barrel of a gun. Following Connery was George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and of course Daniel Craig. Each actor put their own stamp on the character and thus the idea of a film series that could evolve over time was born.
It wasn’t all about Bond either as there were a lot of memorable villains across the pantheon of films as well, ranging from Auric Goldfinger, Hugo Drax, and Francisco Scaramanga to Max Zorin, they were all iconic foes for the British spy to go up against and they were all played deliciously by talented actors such as Gert Fröbe, Michael Lonsdale, Christopher Lee and Christopher Walken. The same goes for the Women of the film series with Ursula Andress’ Honey Ryder, Eva Green’s Vesper Lynd and Léa Seydoux’s Dr Swann to name some of the many stand-outs that manage to go toe-to-toe with each incarnation of James Bond. Looking ahead, however, we can probably expect to see more politically-drawn villains to match the current state of the world, and a diverse range of stronger Women who are more than just supportive players for Bond’s journey.
Last year’s No Time to Die was a very revolutionary Bond film as it it concluded an epic story that had started back in 2006 with Casino Royale and it tied together all the character arcs for everyone in the “modern” films of the series. In fact, No Time to Die ended on a perfect note to say goodbye to James Bond for good! But we all know that isn’t the case. Each new version of the character has always been seen as a soft reboot, a bit like with Doctor Who. With speculation mounting on who will eventually replace Daniel Craig, there is one thing to be sure, the series will feel fresh and new again but they will also honour their past traditions and will continue to push the franchise to new heights.
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Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions
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