With the recent release of the latest James Bond film, there have been a lot of articles ranking the various movies or choosing their favorite Bonds or some such click-baiting palaver. While scrolling through a few of these, it occured to me that I’ve never actually seen the vast majority of Bond flicks. I’ve only ever seen most of the original Connery films in bits and pieces, replete with commercials and pan-and-scanned to death. My youthful movie-going years coincided with what I assume to be a low point in the series–the late Roger Moore years. Watching the likes of Moonraker and Octopussy at the theater somehow didn’t thrill me into becoming a huge fan of the series.
I mostly passed on the post-Moore era Bonds, as well, catching just enough of them to form general opinions of Timothy Dalton as the grumpy one and Pierce Brosnan as the even-glibber-than-Moore one. It wasn’t until Daniel Craig brought his particular brand of well-chiseled surliness to the role that I reconnected with the series, largely on the strength of my wife’s desire to watch Craig take off his shirt on the big screen. Clearly, she’s not alone in this, as Craig’s Bond has brought the series to its greatest box office heights.
As someone who fancies himself an action movie fan and a person who generally likes to think he knows something about popular films, I feel that the Bond-sized hole in my film background has become untenable. With that in mind (and noticing that Hulu just added a ton of old 007 flicks), I’ve decided to embark on a quest to watch every Bond movie, in order. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Wikileaks have asked me to record my impressions, which I have gladly agreed to do. We start at the beginning, Sean Connery in…
Dr. No (1962)
Let’s be honest. I’m pretty much the last one to the party for most of these flicks, so for the most part I’m not going to bother laying out the storyline and whatnot. You’ve all seen Dr. No and know what it’s about: a half-Chinese bauxite-mining magnate with delusions of grandeur tries to shoot down some American rockets, and James Bond comes along and kicks him into a vat of boiling, radioactive water. The flick is very much a product of the early 60s, which is obvious from the moment halfway through the opening credits when the classic Bond theme clumsily gives way to a freaky calypso breakdown complete with twisting dancers in brightly colored silhouette. It’s also obvious from the way Bond gropes Moneypenny on his way into the office.
Not that she minds. Connery’s Bond is established from his first scene as being completely irresistible to every woman who sees him. They break into his hotel room for quickies, ogle him as he walks away, and generally throw themselves at him in a way that I found surprisingly straightforward for 1962. 
This is clearly an inherent aspect of James Bond’s persona, and it makes some sense when it’s a young Sean Connery playing the role. He naturally exudes a sexy charisma. You get that women would throw themselves at this guy. I’ve got to say, I never got the same vibe from 50-something Roger Moore. But that’s a discussion for another day.
Connery’s Bond certainly makes the most of his allure. He’s really only about a half-step removed from Archer in his willingness to risk everything for the chance of scoring with a hot babe. In fact, he jeopardizes his entire main mission in the film for just that reason. After carefully planning and sneaking onto Dr. No’s private island, Bond and his local helper Quarrel spend the night hiding out near the beach. The next morning, Ursula Andress wades out of the surf, shells in hand, and Bond instantly jumps out of hiding to flirt with her. He has no idea who this woman is. None. Is she Dr. No’s fiance? Is she a Russian spy sent to meet Dr. No? Who knows? Who cares? Bond sees a hot woman in a bikini and that’s all he needs to know. Everything works out in the end (well, maybe not for Quarrel), but his approach still strikes me as risky for a master spy.
As an action movie fan, I must say that I was rather shocked at how clumsy the actual action scenes are. I know that modern Bond flicks are known for their lavish action set-pieces, but there’s little sign of that here. Look, director Terence Young is never going to be mistaken for Johnnie To, but there are some truly dire action scenes in Dr. No. The big car chase is mostly Connery in front of a green screen. The climax of the chase, in which Bond narrowly scrapes under a truck, isn’t even really shown. Of course, the car chasing Bond drives off a cliff and explodes for no reason. Bond’s final face-off with Dr. No himself features fight staging on par with an average episode of Six Million Dollar Man.
I also found it interesting that as much as Bond flicks are known for their high-tech spy gadgets, in Dr. No, Bond is portrayed as being much more interested in old-school spycraft than techno wizardry. He has to be talked into giving up his 10-year-old Beretta in favor of the Walther PPK, and doesn’t really use any kind of spy gadgetry at all in the course of the flick. This Bond is more like a spy from a Graham Greene novel than the superhero he would evolve into over the course of the series.
Overall, Dr. No‘s an above-average spy flick, with a surprisingly easy-to-defeat villain and a light touch that makes the whole thing go down easy. It’s easy to see why it was a hit, and why the producers quickly got busy shooting a sequel.
Dr. No Tally Sheet
Women Slept With: 3
- card player/stalker Sylvia Trench
- dubiously “Chinese” spy Miss Taro
- conch aficionado Honey Ryder
Gadgets: 0
Villain Defeated By: Kicking him into a vat of radioactive water
Total Men Killed: 3
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