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|'''[[Sean Connery]]''' |
|$55,400,000 |
|$160,000,000 |
|50.8 million |
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===Other films pertaining to James Bond=== |
{{main|James Bond parodies}} |
James Bond has long been a household name and remains a huge influence within the cinematic spy film genre. The ''[[Austin Powers]]'' series by writer and actor [[Mike Myers (actor)|Mike Myers]] and other parodies such as ''[[Johnny English]]'' (2003), the "[[Our Man Flint|Flint]]" series starring [[James Coburn]] as Derek Flint, and ''Casino Royale'' (1967) are testaments to Bond's prominence in popular culture. 1960s TV imitations of James Bond such as ''[[I Spy]]'', ''[[Get Smart]]'', ''[[The Wild Wild West]]'', and ''[[The Man from U.N.C.L.E.]]'' went on to become popular successes in their own right. The latter having had contributions by Fleming towards its creation; the show's lead character, "[[Napoleon Solo]]," was named after a character in Fleming's novel ''Goldfinger'' and Fleming also suggested the character name April Dancer, which was later used in the spinoff series ''[[The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.]]''. A reunion television movie, ''[[The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.]]'' (1983), is notable for featuring a cameo by George Lazenby as James Bond; for legal reasons, his character, a tribute to Ian Fleming, was credited as "JB". |
==Music== |
{{Main|James Bond music}} |
"[[The James Bond Theme]]" was written by [[Monty Norman]] and was first orchestrated by the [[John Barry (composer)|John Barry]] Orchestra for 1962's ''Dr. No'', although the actual authorship of the music has been a matter of controversy for many years. Barry went on to compose the [[Film score|scores]] for eleven Bond films in addition to his uncredited contribution to ''Dr. No'', and is credited with the creation of "[[The 007 Theme|007]]", which was used as an alternate Bond theme in several films, and the popular orchestrated theme "[[On Her Majesty's Secret Service]]". Both "The James Bond Theme" and "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" have been [[remix]]ed a number of times by popular artists, including [[Art of Noise]], [[Moby]], [[Paul Oakenfold]], and the [[Propellerheads]]. |
Barry's legacy was followed by [[David Arnold]], in addition to other well-known composers and record producers such as [[George Martin]], [[Bill Conti]], [[Michael Kamen]], [[Marvin Hamlisch]], and [[Eric Serra]]. Arnold is the series' current composer of choice, and was recently signed to compose the score for the his fourth consecutive Bond film, ''Casino Royale''. |
The Bond films are known for their theme songs heard during the title credits, sung by well-known popular singers (which have included [[Tina Turner]], [[Wings (band)|Paul McCartney & Wings]], [[Tom Jones (singer)|Tom Jones]], [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]], and [[Duran Duran]], among many others.) [[Shirley Bassey]] performed three themes in total, and is the only singer to have been associated with more than one film. ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' is the only Bond film with a solely instrumental theme, though [[Louis Armstrong]]'s ballad "[[We Have All the Time in the World]]", which serves as Bond and his wife Tracy's love song and whose title is Bond's last line in the film, is considered the unofficial theme. The main theme for ''Dr. No'' is the "James Bond Theme", although the opening credits also include an untitled [[bongo]] interlude, and concludes with a vocal [[Calypso]]-flavoured rendition of "[[Three Blind Mice]]" entitled "Kingston Calypso" that sets the scene. ''[[From Russia with Love]]'' also opens with an instrumental version over the title credits (which then segues into the ''James Bond Theme''), but Matt Monro's vocal version also appears twice in the film, including the closing credits; the Monro version is generally considered the film's main theme, even though it doesn't appear during the opening credits. |
==Video games== |
{{Main|James Bond games}} |
[[Image:Everything or Nothing.jpg|200px|right|thumb|''[[Everything or Nothing]]'' was Pierce Brosnan's final appearance as James Bond]] |
In [[1983]], the first Bond video game, developed and published by [[Parker Brothers]], was released for the [[Atari 2600]], the [[Atari 5200]], the [[Commodore 64]], and the [[Colecovision]]. Since then, there have been numerous video games either based on the films or using original storylines. |
Bond video games, however, didn't reach their popular stride until [[1997]]'s ''[[GoldenEye 007]]'' by [[Rare (video game company)|Rare]] for the [[Nintendo 64]]. Subsequently, virtually every Bond video game has attempted to copy ''GoldenEye 007''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s accomplishment and features to varying degrees of success. In [[2004]], [[Electronic Arts]] released a game entitled ''[[GoldenEye: Rogue Agent]]'' that had nothing to do with either the video game ''GoldenEye'' or the film of the same name, and Bond himself plays only a minor role in which he is "killed" in the beginning during a virtual mission similar to the climax at Fort Knox in the film ''Goldfinger''. |
Electronic Arts has to date released seven games, including the popular ''[[Everything or Nothing]]'', which broke away from the [[first-person shooter]] element found in ''GoldenEye'' and went to a [[third-person shooter|third-person]] perspective. It was also the first game to feature well known actors including [[Willem Dafoe]], [[Heidi Klum]] and [[Pierce Brosnan]] as James Bond, although several previous games have used Brosnan's likeness as Bond. In 2005, Electronic Arts released another game in the same vein as ''Everything or Nothing'', this time a video game adaptation of ''[[From Russia with Love (video game)|From Russia with Love]]'', which allowed the player to play as Bond with the likeness of [[Sean Connery]]. This was the second game based on a Connery Bond film (the first was a 1980s [[text adventure]] adaptation of ''Goldfinger'') and the first to use the actor's likeness as agent 007. Connery himself recorded new voiceovers for the game, the first time the actor has played Bond in 22 years. |
==Comic strips and comic books== |
{{main articles|[[James Bond comic strips]] and [[James Bond comic books]]}} |
In [[1957]] the ''[[Daily Express]]'', a newspaper owned by [[Lord Beaverbrook]], approached Ian Fleming to adapt his stories into comic strips. After initial reluctance by Fleming who felt the strips would lack the quality of his writing, agreed and the first strip ''[[Casino Royale#Comic strip adaptation|Casino Royale]]'' was published in [[1958]]. Since then many illustrated adventures of James Bond have been published, including every Ian Fleming novel as well as Kingsley Amis' ''[[Colonel Sun]]'', and most of Fleming's short stories. Later, the comic strip produced original stories, continuing until [[1983]]. |
[[Titan Books]] is presently reprinting these comic strips in an ongoing series of [[graphic novel]]-style collections; by the end of 2005 it had completed reprinting all Fleming-based adaptations as well as ''Colonel Sun'' and had moved on to reprinting original stories. |
Several [[comic book]] adaptations of the James Bond films have been published through the years, as well as numerous original stories. |
==Bond characters== |
{{main articles|[[List of James Bond allies]], [[List of James Bond villains]], and [[Bond girl]]}} |
The James Bond series of novels and films have a plethora of interesting allies and villains. Bond's superiors and other officers of the British Secret Service are generally known by letters such as [[M (James Bond)|M]] and [[Q (James Bond)|Q]]. In the novels (but not in the films), Bond has had two secretaries, [[List of James Bond allies#Ponsonby, Loelia|Loelia Ponsonby]] and [[List of James Bond allies#Goodnight, Mary|Mary Goodnight]], who in the films typically have their roles and lines transferred to M's secretary [[Miss Moneypenny]]. Occasionally Bond is assigned to work a case with his good friend, [[Felix Leiter]] of the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]. In the films, Leiter appeared regularly during the Connery era, only once during Moore's tenure, and in both Dalton films; however, he was only played by the same actor twice. |
Bond's women, particularly in the films, often have [[double entendre]] names, leading to coy jokes, for example, "[[Pussy Galore (James Bond)|Pussy Galore]]" in ''Goldfinger'' (a name invented by Fleming), "Plenty O'Toole" in ''[[Diamonds Are Forever]]'', and "[[Xenia Onatopp]]" (a villainess sexually excited by [[strangling]] men with her thighs) in ''[[GoldenEye]]''. The aggressiveness of Bond's sexual conquests occasionally while his lovers eventually return his advances, he does not take the initial "no" for an answer. Despite Bond's philandering, most end up, if not in love with him, at least subdued by him. Since Brosnan's tenure, however, the character has taken on a (relatively) more progressive outlook on women; he respects the new, female M (played by [[Judi Dench]]) and has let a few women, particularly [[Paris Carver]] and Elektra King, get under his skin. |
Throughout both the novels and the films there have only been a handful of recurring characters. Some of the more memorable ones include [[List of James Bond allies#Tanner, Bill|Bill Tanner]], [[List of James Bond allies#Mathis, Rene|Rene Mathis]], [[Felix Leiter]], and [[List of James Bond allies#Wade, Jack|Jack Wade]]. |
==Vehicles & gadgets== |
{{main articles|[[List of James Bond vehicles]] and [[List of James Bond gadgets]]}} |
[[Image:Aston.db5.coupe.300pix.jpg|200px|thumb|left|The [[Aston Martin DB5]] is the most famous and recognised Bond car]] |
Exotic espionage equipment and vehicles are very popular elements of James Bond's literary and cinematic missions; these items often prove critically important to Bond removing obstacles to the success of his missions. |
Fleming's novels and early screen adaptations presented minimal equipment such as ''From Russia with Love's'' booby-trapped [[attaché case]]; in ''Dr. No'', Bond's sole gadgets were a [[geiger counter]] and a wristwatch with a luminous (and [[radioactive]]!) face. The gadgets, however, assumed a higher, spectacular profile in the 1964 film ''Goldfinger''; its success encouraged further espionage equipment from Q Branch to be supplied to 007. Some films, in the opinion of many critics and fans, have had excessive amounts of gadgets or extremely outlandish gadgets and vehicles, specifically 1979's [[science fiction]]-oriented ''Moonraker'' and 2002's ''Die Another Day'' in which Bond's Aston Martin could become [[Cloaking device|invisible]] due to a technology Q refers to as [[adaptive camouflage]]. Since ''Moonraker'' subsequent productions struggled with balancing gadget content against the story's capacities, without implying a technology-dependent man, to mixed results. |
Bond's most famous car is the silver grey [[Aston Martin DB5]] seen in ''Goldfinger'', ''Thunderball'', ''GoldenEye'', and ''Tomorrow Never Dies''. Although the films used a number of different Aston Martin DB5s on film and for publicity one of them was sold in January 2006 at an auction in [[Arizona]] for $2,090,000 (USD) to an unnamed European collector. That specific car was originally sold for £5,000 in 1970 {{ref|DB5}}. |
In Fleming's books, Bond had a penchant for "battleship grey" [[Bentley]]s, while Gardner awarded the agent a modified [[Saab 900]] Turbo nicknamed the [[Licence Renewed#The Silver Beast|Silver Beast]] and later a [[Bentley Mulsanne]] Turbo. |
==Trivia== |
*Many people assume the Bond producers would never hire an American to portray the character in the official film series. However, American actors have been hired on two occasions, and approached about playing Bond on several others. [[Adam West]] was offered the chance to appear in ''[[On Her Majesty's Secret Service]]'' when Connery chose not to return to the role, but turned down the offer. [[John Gavin]] was hired in [[1970]] to replace Lazenby, but Connery was lured back at the eleventh hour and it was he who appeared in ''Diamonds Are Forever'' instead of Gavin. [[Burt Reynolds]] was also asked by Cubby Broccoli in the early '70s to replace Connery after ''Diamonds Are Forever'', but turned him down. [[James Brolin]] was hired in [[1983]] to replace Moore, and was preparing to shoot ''[[Octopussy]]'' when the producers convinced Moore to return. Several other American actors, including [[Patrick McGoohan]], and [[Robert Wagner]], have been offered the role only to turn it down. To date, the only American to play the role is [[Barry Nelson]], albeit unofficially in the Americanised version of the character in the 1954 TV adaptation of ''Casino Royale''. |
*[[Michael Gambon]], who co-starred with current Bond actor Daniel Craig in ''[[Layer Cake]]'' and ''[[Sylvia (movie)|Sylvia]]'', was asked by Cubby Broccoli to audition for the role in 1970 to replace Lazenby. Gambon spoke of the situation in an interview: ''When he told me he was considering me for the part of 007 himself, I was amazed. I objected, "But I'm bald." "So was Sean &mdash; we'll get around it." he replied. "But I've got breasts like a woman," I continued. "Then we'll use ice packs before the love scenes like we did with Sean," he replied.'' [http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/entertainment/48252004.htm] |
*While initially skeptical about Connery being chosen to play Bond (at one point dismissing him as an "overgrown stuntman"), Fleming liked his portrayal so much that he eventually added background to the character in the novels so that his father was Scottish. |
*Accounts vary wildly in regards to which actor was Fleming's initial choice for the film version of Bond. Sources have suggested that Fleming favored [[Roger Moore]], [[James Mason]], and [[Cary Grant]], among others. According to Sir John Morgan, Ian Fleming's step son-in-law, Fleming favored little-known actor Edward Underdown, who played an Air Vice Marshall in ''[[Thunderball]]''. [http://commanderbond.net/Public/Stories/1716-1.shtml] |
*Dalton was originally contracted for three films, with the third film planned for release in 1991. Although never officially confirmed, numerous sources have suggested the title was to be ''The Property of a Lady'', after the short story from the collection ''[[Octopussy and The Living Daylights#"The Property of a Lady"|Octopussy and The Living Daylights]]''. Legal wranglings over ownership of the Bond franchise, however, led to the series being put on hiatus until [[1994]]. |
*With the release of ''Casino Royale'', Craig will become the first actor with blond hair to have portrayed Bond; although Roger Moore did sport sandy colored hair in his first few Bond films, he is not considered a blond. |
*[[Joe Don Baker]] played [[Brad Whitaker]], the villain in [[The Living Daylights]]. Baker shows up in later James Bond films, portraying [[Jack Wade]], one of James Bond's allies in both [[Goldeneye]] and [[Tomorrow Never Dies]]. |
*[[Desmond Llewelyn]] holds a record, appearing in 17 of the James Bond films as "Q," aka [[Major Boothroyd]], and head of Q-branch. In [[The World is Not Enough]], [[John Cleese]] is introduced as Q's assistant, whom Bond teasingly refers to as "R." Despite Cleese receiving a credit as R, there is no hint in the dialogue that this is an official title. In [[Die Another Day]], Cleese becomes the new Q, the old Q having presumably retired. In fact Llewelyn had been killed in a car crash shortly after the release of the previous film. |
*Five Ian Fleming titles have thus far never been used as film titles: ''The Property of a Lady'', ''Quantum of Solace'', ''Risico'', ''The Hildebrand Rarity'', and ''007 in New York''. |
*[[Sean Connery]] starred in the [[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (film)|Motion Picture version]] of [[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]], which has a 'supposed' link to the roots of James Bond's ancestry. |
*[[George Lucas]] has said on multiple occasions that Connery's portrayal of the character was one of the primary inspirations for his [[Indiana Jones]] character. As a tribute to this, when casting his third Indiana Jones film, ''[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade|The Last Crusade]]'', Lucas chose Connery for the role of Indiana's father, with his reasoning being "Who else could play Indiana Jones' father, but the guy who inspired all of this in the first place, James Bond himself!" (Sean Connery) |
*The Clive Cussler book Night Probe features an older British character who was a former MI6 agent who appears to be James Bond. This character has, however, retired due to becoming too famous, but is lured out of retirement for one last mission. |
==References== |
*{{Note|Chancellor}}{{cite book | last = Chancellor | first = Henry | year = 2005 | title = James Bond: The Man and His World | publisher = John Murray | id = ISBN 0719568153}} |
*{{Note|filmfranchise}} {{Web reference | URL = http://www.forbes.com/2005/06/15/batman-movies-franchises-cx_lh_lr_0615batman.html | title = James Bond the second highest grossing film franchise of all time | work = Most Lucrative Movie Franchises | date = June 15 | year = 2005}} |
*{{Note|AFI}} {{Web reference | URL = http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/quotes.aspx | title = "Bond. James Bond" 22nd greatest line in cinema history | work = AFI's 100 Years… 100 Movie Quotes | date = July 13 | year = 2005}} |
*{{Note|DB5}} {{Web reference | URL = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4633986.stm | title = Aston Martin DB5 auction | work = James Bond car sold for over £1m | date = February 8 | year = 2006}} |
*{{cite book | last = Benson | first = Raymond | year = 1984 | title = The James Bond Bedside Companion | publisher = Dodd, Mead | id = ISBN 1401102840 }} |
*{{cite book | last = Chapman | first = James | year = 1999 | title = Licence To Thrill: A Cultural History Of The James Bond Films | publisher = I.B. Tauris | id = ISBN 1860643876 }} |
*{{cite book | last = Cork | first = John | year = 2002 | title = James Bond: The Legacy | publisher = Boxtree/Macmillan | id = ISBN 0810932962 }} |
*{{cite book | last = Lindner | first = Christoph | year = 2003 | title = The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader | publisher = Manchester University Press | id = ISBN 0719065410 }} |
*{{Web reference | URL = http://www.commanderbond.net/?action=Story&SID=2677 | title = Charlie Higson interview with CommanderBond.net | work = The Charlie Higson CBn Interview | date = February 23 | year = 2005}} |
*[http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/series/JamesBond.php Bond franchise Box Office numbers] [http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=jamesbond.htm], [http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1967/0CARO.html Casino Royale Box Office numbers (1967)], [http://www.freewebs.com/moonrakerbondstation2/index.htm Box Office numbers + Inflation] |
==See also== |
{{portal}} |
*[[9007 James Bond]] (Asteroid named after the character) |
==External links== |
{{Wikiquote}} |
; Official sites: |
* [http://www.jamesbond.com James Bond Official Homepage] |
* [http://www.007.com Official Danjaq 007 website] |
* [http://www.ianflemingcentre.com Ian Fleming Publications Official Website] |
* [http://www.jamesbond.com/mmpr/index.php?cat=sites&id=mmpr Miss Moneypenny's Rolodex] |
* [http://www.ianfleming.org Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang! - Website of the Ian Fleming Foundation] |
* [http://www.youngbond.com Young Bond Official Website] |