In honor of the release of the latest James Bond movie, Spectre, this week we have a round up of 007 adventures dating from the sixties (From Russia with Love with Sean Connery) to the 21st century (Die Another Day with Pierce Brosnan) with Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton in-between. All of these gentlemen -- including the latest Bond, Daniel Craig, as well as George Lazenby -- did their own take on the famous fictional spy, and I think all of them were very good, if different.
As for the evil organization, SPECTRE, it has been around since Dr. No in 1962. Dr No was working for the Russians in Ian Fleming's novel; Spectre, run by Ernest Stavros Blofeld, was invented for the films [maybe the studio didn't want Cold War problems?] The training center, Spectre Island, was introduced in the second Bond film, From Russia with Love, and really came into its own in Thunderball. As for Blofeld, he was up to his tricks in several later films, including You Only Live Twice.
Hi Bill - So cool that ALL our James Bonds are still with us...my favorites are in this order: Connery, Moore, Lazenby, Brosnan, Dalton and Craig (sorry, Daniel, you are a great actor, just not a great James Bond! And Dalton is soo much better as a character actor after he left the franchise!)
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, but I would almost rate them in the exact opposite order, except that I wouldn't put Connery or Lazenby so far down the list. None of them were awful, thank goodness. I'll have a chance to reappraise Craig, whom I like, when I get to see "Spectre."
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