General all things James Bond thread

[Captain Comics]

I may have asked this before, but I'd like to ejjimicate myself on the Bond movies. The way I envision doing so is to buy Blu-rays with some extras, so I can watch the movies (in order, naturally) and learn about each one in the process.

As it happens it won't be completely a "let's review" situation, as there are a few Bond movies I haven't seen. I haven't seen most of the Roger Moore vehicles, and none starring Pierce Brosnan. Yeah, those are probably the weakest of the lot, I know. But they're on my bucket list.

So my question is: How can I find what I want? Amazon has a couple of collections on offer, but it doesn't tell me much about them. There's one collection that's all of the Broccoli movies through the first Craig outing, and then a bunch of sets separated by actor. All very nice, but what about extras? 

Also, when I Google some of the DVDs, it turns out they're European and won't work on American players. Maybe you should mention that, Amazon!

If anybody owns any Bond movies, advice would be most welcome. I'd rather not buy each movie individually -- the most expensive way to collect them -- but I'm almost certainly going to have to get Never Say Never Again that way, and also the David Niven Casino Royale if I decide to get it. Maybe On Her Majesty's Secret Service, too, if I go the collection-by-actor route, since George Lazenby just had the one.

But right now I have no idea what to do, so I turn to the Legionaires. Help me, fellow fans, you're my only hope!

(Oh, right, wrong franchise.)

[The Baron]

I haven't seen many James Bond movies, but if you want to see something really awful, watch the 1967 classic O.K. Connery, which starred (I sh*t you not) Neil Connery (Sean's younger brother) plus  several Bond actors, including Adolfo Cieli, Anthiny Dawson and Lois Maxwell, as well as Guido Lollobrigida, Gina's cousin.  

It was released in this country as Operation Kid Brother, and wwas features in Show 508 of Mystery Science Theater 3000 under the name "Operation Double 007".  I've never seen an un-MSTed version of this, even Joel and the Bots weren't  able to do much with this one, so  God knows what a "clean" version would be like..

[Richard Willis]

That sounds comprehensive, and I can shuffle them to put the "Blofeld trilogy" in order. Should Spy Who Loved Me come before or after the Blofeld books?

This Wiki page indicates that Bond is on a mission after Thunderball and likely before OHMSS when he stumbles upon the situation in the book. The page also tells us that nobody (including Fleming) was happy with the book. The movie by that name was so different because Fleming would only allow that title to be used. It could probably be read at any point, since it doesn't directly relate to the Blofeld trilogy.

The Spy Who Loved Me (novel) - Wikipedia

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"You want cachet. Typo, I assume."

You're kind.

"I mentally pictured a cache of Playboys that I literally would want for the articles."

A Freudian slip, perhaps. ;)

"...Robert Gardner..."

John Gardner.

"Are there any other reading-order problems I should know?"

Not really, no. Most of the books make a passing reference to the previous one in the opening chapter, but otherwise could be read in any order (although stylistically they change a bit toward the end, as I mentioned).

"That sounds comprehensive..."

Yep, all 14. John Gardner wrote 14 then stopped because he didn't want to write more than Fleming did.

"Should Spy Who Loved Me come before or after the Blofeld books?"

I would put it before. There's going t be a reference to Thunderball, but not a spoiler. (You can think of it as foreshadowing.) Before Thunderball will also put it right after For Your Eyes Only (the short story collection), and stylistically it is a better match with those. 

[Captain Comics]

Richard Willis said:

I assume you already know this, but for anyone who doesn't know:

Most (or all) Blu-ray players will upgrade the image of a standard DVD so that it won't look grainy on today's TVs. There is a very slight difference in the picture from real Blu-ray, but IMO it's not enough to matter. Similar to photo editing software, I believe this is performed by suppling matching pixels to fit between the ones on the DVD. This is done so rapidly that there is only a hesitation of a few seconds at the beginning of playing the disk. During the play there is no hesitation.

I deal with that process all the time in photoshop, blowing up photos but avoiding pixelization for online use (Daily Memphian) and before that print (Commercial Appeal). So I get it. But, WOW, I never knew that was going in video in my own house! Thanks!

[Captain Comics]

The Baron said:

I haven't seen many James Bond movies, but if you want to see something really awful, watch the 1967 classic O.K. Connery, which starred (I sh*t you not) Neil Connery (Sean's younger brother) plus  several Bond actors, including Adolfo Cieli, Anthiny Dawson and Lois Maxwell, as well as Guido Lollobrigida, Gina's cousin.  

It was released in this country as Operation Kid Brother, and wwas features in Show 508 of Mystery Science Theater 3000 under the name "Operation Double 007".  I've never seen an un-MSTed version of this, even Joel and the Bots weren't  able to do much with this one, so  God knows what a "clean" version would be like..

Um. Gag. Koff.

[Captain Comics]

John Gardner.

Obviously a typo.

"Should Spy Who Loved Me come before or after the Blofeld books?"

I would put it before. There's going t be a reference to Thunderball, but not a spoiler. (You can think of it as foreshadowing.) Before Thunderball will also put it right after For Your Eyes Only (the short story collection), and stylistically it is a better match with those. 

I've done some more research, like this:

_________________________________________________________

 IAN FLEMING

1953: Casino Royale

• TV show: “Casino Royale”: In 1954, CBS paid Ian Fleming $1,000 ($10,090 in 2021 dollars) to adapt his novel Casino Royale into a one-hour television adventure, "Casino Royale," as part of its Climax!
• Casino Royale (1967) starring David Niven. d. Diverse Hands.
• Movie #21. Casino Royale (2006) starring Daniel Craig. d. Martin Campbell. Preceded chronologically by Forever and a Day (Fleming/Morris).

1954: Live and Let Die

• Movie #8. Live and Let Die (1973) starring Roger Moore. Guy Hamilton. Theme: “Live and Let Die” by Paul and Linda McCartney and Wings.

1955: Moonraker

• Movie #11. Moonraker (1979) starring Roger Moore. Lewis Gilbert) Theme: “Moonraker” by John Barry, sung by Shirley Bassey.

1956: Diamonds Are Forever

• Movie #7. Diamonds Are Forever (1971) starring Sean Connery. Guy Hamilton. Theme: "Diamonds Are Forever" by John Barry, sung by Shirley Bassey.

1957: From Russia, with Love

• Movie #2. From Russia with Love (1963) starring Sean Connery. d. Terence Young. Theme: “From Russia with Love” by Lionel Bart and sung by Matt Monro.

1958: Dr. No

• Movie #1. No (1962) starring Sean Connery. d. Terence Young. Theme: “James Bond Theme” by Monty Norman

1959: Goldfinger

• Movie #3. Goldfinger (1964) starring Sean Connery. d. Guy Hamilton. Theme: “Goldfinger” by John Barry, sung by Shirley Bassey. Trigger Mortis follows chronologically (Fleming/Morris)

1960: For Your Eyes Only (short stories)

"A View to a Kill"

• Movie #14. A View to a Kill (1985) starring Roger Moore. d. John Glen.

"For Your Eyes Only"

• Movie #12. For Your Eyes Only (1981) starring Roger Moore. d. John Glen

"Quantum of Solace"

• Movie #22. Quantum of Solace (2008) starring Daniel Craig. d. Marc Forster.

"Risico"

"The Hildebrand Rarity"

1961: Thunderball (Part 1 of “Blofeld Trilogy”)

• Movie #4. Thunderball (1965) starring Sean Connery. Terence Young. Theme: ???
• Never Say Never Again (1983) starring Sean Connery. Irvin Kershner. Theme: ???

1962: The Spy Who Loved Me

• Movie #10. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) starring Roger Moore. Lewis Gilbert. Theme: The theme song, "Nobody Does It Better", was composed by Marvin Hamlisch, written by Carole Bayer Sager, and performed by Carly Simon.

1963: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Part 2 of “Blofeld Trilogy”)

• Movie #6. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) starring George Lazenby. Peter R. Hunt. Theme: “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” by John Barry and “We Have All the Time in the World” by John Barry, sung by Louis Armstrong

1964: You Only Live Twice (Part 3 of “Blofeld Trilogy”)

• Movie #5. You Only Live Twice (1967) starring Sean Connery. Lewis Gilbert. Them: “You Only Live Twice” by John Barry, sung by Nancy Sinatra.

1965: The Man with the Golden Gun

• Movie #9. The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) starring Roger Moore. d. Guy Hamilton. Theme: John Barry, sung by Lulu.

1966: Octopussy (short stories)

“Octopussy”

• Movie #13. Octopussy (1983) starring Roger Moore. John Glen)

“The Living Daylights”

• Movie #15. The Living Daylights (1987) starring Timothy Dalton. John Glen)

"The Property of a Lady"

“007 in New York”

 

UNCOUNTED MOVIES

Casino Royale (1967)

Never Say Never Again (1983)

 

ORIGINAL MOVIES

Movie #23. Skyfall (2012) starring Daniel Craig.  d. Sam Mendes, Theme: “Skyfall” by Adele.

Movie #24. Spectre (2015) starring Daniel Craig. d. Sam Mendes, Theme: “Writing’s on the Wall” by Sam Smith/Jimmy Napes.

Movie #25. No Time to Die (2021) starring Daniel Craig. d. Cary Joji Fukunaga. Theme: “No Time to Die” by Billie Eilish.

 

KINGSLEY AMIS

Colonel Sun (1968)

 

JOHN GARDNER

Licence Renewed (1981)

For Special Services (1982)

Icebreaker (1983)

Role of Honour (1984)

Nobody Lives for Ever (1986)

No Deals, Mr. Bond (1987)

Scorpius (1988)

Win, Lose or Die (1989)

Licence to Kill (1989, novelisation)

• Movie #16. Licence to Kill (1989) starring Timothy Dalton. d. John Glen.

Brokenclaw (1990)

The Man from Barbarossa (1991)

Death is Forever (1992)

Never Send Flowers (1993)

SeaFire (1994)

GoldenEye (1995, novelisation)

• Movie #17. GoldenEye (1995) starring Pierce Brosnan. d. Martin Campbell.

Cold (1996)

 

RAYMOND BENSON

"Blast From the Past" (1997, short story)

Zero Minus Ten (1997)

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997, novelisation)

• Movie #18. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) starring Pierce Brosnan. d. Roger Spottiswoode.

The Facts of Death (1998)

"Midsummer Night's Doom" (1999, short story)

"Live at Five" (1999, short story)

The World Is Not Enough  (1999, novelisation)

• Movie #19. The World Is Not Enough (1999) starring Pierce Brosnan. d. Michael Apted.

High Time to Kill (1999)

DoubleShot (2000)

Never Dream of Dying (2001)

The Man with the Red Tattoo (2002)

Die Another Day (2002, novelisation)

• Movie #20. Die Another Day (2002) starring Pierce Brosnan. d. Lee Tamahori.

 

SEBAUSTIAN FAULKS

Devil May Care 2008

 

JEFFREY DEAVER

Carte Blanche (2011)

 

WILLIAM BOYD

Solo (2013)

 

ANTHONY MORRIS

Trigger Mortis (2015, comes after Goldfinger chronologically)

Forever and a Day (2018, comes before Casino Royale chronologically)

With a Mind to Kill (2022)

__________________________________________________

That's a first draft, with lots of errors and omissions. But here are two you probably have an opinion about, Jeff:

• There are still a couple of Fleming short stories that haven't been adapted; and
• "Quantum" is an organization that is mentioned in a couple of different novels and short stories before being dealt with. But I don't know (yet) all the places it appears. In the Craig movies, it is reduced to a division of Spectre.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Your theme song list is spotty, so here's a complete list (same title as movie unless noted).

MOVIE THEMES:

Dr. No - James Bond Theme by the John Barry Orchestra

From Russia with Love - Matt Monro

Goldfinger - Shirley Bassey

Thunderball - Tom Jones

You Only Live Twice - Nancy Sinatra

On Her Majesty's Secret Service - The John Barry Orchestra (instrumental)

     We Have All the Time in the World by Louis Armstrong (vocal, end theme)

Diamonds are Forever - Shirley Bassey

Live and Let Die - Paul McCartney and Wings

The Man with the Golden Gun - Lulu

The Spy Who Loved Me - Nobody Does It Better by Carly Simon

Moonraker - Shirly Bassey

For Your Eyes Only - Sheena Easton

Octopussy - All Time High by  Rita Collidge

A View to a Kill - Duran Duran

The Living Daylights - A-Ha

License to Kill - Gladys Knight

Golden Eye - Tina Turner

Tomorrow Never Dies - Sheryl Crow

The World is Not Enough - Garbage

Die Another Day - Madonna

Casino Royale - You Know My Name by Chris Cornell

Quantum of Solace - Another Way To Die by Jack White and Alicia Keys

Not that you asked specifically, but this is the best soundtrack album:

All of the 23 songs above are on disc one, in order. That leaves out the following...

Skyfall - Adele

Spectre - Writing's on the Wall by Sam Smith

No Time to Die - Billie Eilish

The second disc is 27 tracks of other notable soundtrack music.

"There are still a couple of Fleming short stories that haven't been adapted..."

"The Hildebrand Rarity" refers to species of exotic fish that was used as a murder weapon (by being shoved down someone's throat) and was folded into one of the movies (For Your eyes Only, I think); "Property of a Lady" was folded into the movie Octopussy; for that matter, the short story "Octopussy" was folded into the movie Octopussy (which otherwise has nothing to do with the original) as a story James Bond relates to one of the other characters in the the film. Similarly, "Quantum of Solace" isn't really a James Bond story at all; it is a story told to James Bond and the movie has nothing to do with it whatsoever except for the title. I have never read "007 in New York."

THE FIRST BOOK: I wouldn't want to color your opinion but Casino Royale is my least favorite of the books overall (except for perhaps The Man with the Golden Gun. If you start at the beginning, keep in mind that I think they get better.

THE FIRST MOVIE: James Bond has something in common with Popeye. Popeye (as you know) had been a comic strip character before he became a cartoon character. When it came time to make the cartoons, Fleischer Studios looked to the strip for a villain. The villain at the time was Bluto. He went on to become Popeye's most famous nemesis, but he had a very small role in the strip (at least early one).

Similarly, James Bond was a hard drinker and was always very specific about his drinks, but it was something different in every novel. When Cubby Broccoli made Dr. No, he went to the book in which Bond ordered a vodka martini (he was actually much more specific than that) "shaken not stirred" and that become Bond's signature drink ever since... in the movies.

Your list of "other" Bond authors omits Christopher Wood, who wrote the movie novelizations of The Spy who Loved Me and Moonraker. As I mentioned yesterday, these were my first "Bond" books, but I got rid of them after I discovered Fleming. Last year a reacquired and reassessed them. His style is very similar to Fleming's and, in the case of The Spy Who Loved Me, better than the original. Both novelizations are, IMO, far, far superior to the movies upon which they are based. 

The movie novelizations are not counted among John Gardner's own Bonds (which stand at 14 as I indicated yesterday). I assume those were what you were referring to when you said yesterday that some of his work made it to the screen, but it was actually the other way around.

I did not know Anthony Morris has a new Bond book out. (doc photo and I discussed the other two over in the "What are you reading (besides comics)?" discussion a while ago. 

[ClarkKent_DC]

Jeff of Earth-J said:

Not that you asked specifically, but this is the best soundtrack album:

It was thanks to this collection that I finally learned the title of "007" (one of my local TV stations used to use it for interstitial music), which far too many people (at least on YouTube) give as the title to "The James Bond Theme."

[Captain Comics]

Your theme song list is spotty ...

Yep, I haven't finished it yet. But I'm also trying to be more precise than just noting who sang a song, because up until Live and Let Die, John Barry wrote/scored them all (maybe -- still checking!). Shirley Bassey, Nancy Sinatra, et al, may have sung them, but Barry wrote them, which I think is both important and impressive.

Your list of "other" Bond authors omits Christopher Wood, who wrote the movie novelizations of The Spy who Loved Me and Moonraker.

Noted! Thanks!

You said yesterday that some of his work made it to the screen, but it was actually the other way around.

I did, and I was wrong. I have it right in the notes, though, where I have "novelization" in parenthesis. The same goes for Raymond Benson, who had three novelizations.

Question: I assume there are novelizations of the last three Craig movies. Who did those?

I finally learned the title of "007", which far too many people (at least on YouTube) give as the title to "The James Bond Theme."

I didn't think "007" was "James Bond Theme," because I've heard "James Bond Theme" at the beginning of most James Bond movies, at least during the "Bond walks into iris, turns, draws and fires" scene, before the individual movie's theme song begins. So I've heard it a LOT more than "007." Besides, "James Bond Theme" is the theme song for Dr. No (or so Wiki says).

What I didn't know is that "007" had a name! I thought it was just part of the score for certain types of scenes. Now I know better. And where it came from: From Russia with Love. That movie has its own theme song, named, of course, "From Russia with Love."

Several Bond movies have important songs in addition to the theme song. The 1967 Casino Royale parody has "The Look of Love" as an original song in addition to whatever the theme song was, and On Her Majesty's Secret Service has "We Have All the Time in the World" in addition to the eponymous theme song. Both songs charted independent of the theme songs in their respective movies.

[Richard Willis]

Since several of the movies use the titles of novels or short stories, I'm surprised that the mysterious-sounding short story title Risico wasn't used.  Offhand, I don't remember the story, but this title could have been used to inspire a movie.

[Captain Comics]

"Well, well, well," as John Lennon once sang.

James Bond returns home.

Ian Fleming Publications will be publishing the original James Bond stories in brand-new editions in 2023, 70 years after Casino Royale was first released. Join us in a year-long celebration of the world’s most famous spy. More to come... #70Yearsof007 pic.twitter.com/cBnAEgLUMS

— Ian Fleming (@TheIanFleming) October 5, 2022

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"I read lots of comic books from the '40s and '50s, with racial stereotypes so awful that even white guys like me cringe."

Wait until you get to Felix Leiter's "Personally, I like Negroes," speech.

"I feel like anything after the original author is fanfic."

Another one of those "fanfic" novels is The Authorized Biography of James Bond by John Pearson. 

"I'm also trying to be more precise than just noting who sang a song..."

I noticed that. Well, my list'll get you started, anyway.

"I assume there are novelizations of the last three Craig movies."

Not that I know of. I don't think movie novelizations are really a thing anymore.